Chapter 573: Top Brass Deploy

Under the leadership of Yagura Karatachi, thousands of Mist ninja rapidly landed and struck at Konoha's defensive forces in the northeastern part of the Land of Fire.

Due to Cloud's large-scale offensive, Konoha was very concerned about the situation in the northeastern Land of Fire.

So it quickly noticed the Mist's attack.

Mist's combat style was quite unique; even without seeing the forehead protector, it could be recognized.

Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been very happy lately; the village had produced a second Wood Style ninja, and it was Mu Yue, a super genius, at least a youthful version of Hashirama Senju, and even hoped to restore the glory of the God of Shinobi.

But before two weeks had passed, news that Mist had invaded the Land of Fire arrived at his office.

Along with it came the discontent of the Land of Fire's Daimyo.

Probably because recently ninja villages had repeatedly broken through the defenses into the Land of Fire, the Land of Fire's Daimyo specifically wrote to Hiruzen Sarutobi, asking him to quickly resolve the invading enemies and ensure the nation's safety.

Although the Daimyo was only nominally superior to the Hokage, this time Hiruzen Sarutobi could only admit fault and make assurances.

Because the basis of the cooperation between Konoha and the Land of Fire was that Konoha, as the military force of the Land of Fire, protected it. Failing to stop enemy ninja was Konoha's dereliction of duty.

"They really know how to pick their timing." Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly.

He had originally thought that Cloud in the Land of Fire had been dealt with, and he could put some effort into investigating Danzo Shimura's death, but then Mist came in.

Now, forget about dealing with Danzo Shimura's death; even protecting the country was not easy. This was another of the Five Great Ninja Villages joining the battlefield.

Looking at the closed door of the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed softly.

When he learned of Danzo Shimura's death, he was greatly shocked, but the grief in his heart was not as great as imagined.

The truly painful moment was when resting after finishing work, too tired to think, he subconsciously had a thought: How had Danzo been so quiet lately, not coming to the Hokage's office? But then he immediately realized Danzo had already died.

In that instant of realization, there was endless melancholy in his heart, and he would feel regret and sorrow from recalling the past.

"Notify the two advisors to come to the Hokage's office." Hiruzen Sarutobi called an Anbu and ordered.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi, he had to avenge Danzo Shimura, but before being the person Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was first the Third Hokage of Konoha.

As Hokage, the highest priority was always to ensure Konoha's safety and interests.

After a short while, there was a knock on the door of Hiruzen Sarutobi's office.

"Enter."

The two advisors walked into the Hokage's office. The Anbu did not come in; they quietly closed the door and stood guard outside.

"Mist has joined the war again, sending ninja troops to land in the northeastern part of the Land of Fire." Hiruzen Sarutobi did not waste time and directly explained the intelligence.

"How dare they? Wasn't last time not painful enough for them?" Koharu Utatane said with a grim face.

"The Daimyo is dissatisfied with this and demands that we resolve the invading enemies as soon as possible." Hiruzen Sarutobi continued.

"Then we really must pay special attention to this." Homura Mitokado showed a serious expression.

If it was not handled well, the Land of Fire's Daimyo would have every reason to reduce the military funding for Konoha.

"To resolve the attacking Mist as quickly as possible, I believe it is necessary for one of the high-ranking officials to lead troops to the battlefield to boost morale." Hiruzen Sarutobi said, his gaze sweeping over the two.

Minato Namikaze had been sent to the Land of Hot Water battlefield the previous day. Compared to Mist, Cloud was an enemy more worthy of attention, so Hiruzen Sarutobi did not plan to recall Minato Namikaze to the Land of Fire to reorganize ninja forces.

Originally, Mu Yue would also have been a good choice, but Mu Yue had only recently developed Wood Style and needed time to train. Hiruzen Sarutobi temporarily did not want to send Mu Yue to the battlefield.

Since neither Minato Namikaze nor Mu Yue could be chosen, there were not many options left.

And Homura Mitokado and the others, as Konoha's high-ranking officials, were certainly qualified and would even have a special effect.

"Well..."

Koharu Utatane hesitated, feeling that the current war situation had not deteriorated to the point of needing a high-ranking official on the battlefield, after all, the high-ranking officials had other important tasks.

But Koharu Utatane also worried that if she said that, Hiruzen Sarutobi might think she was afraid to go because she hadn't been on the battlefield for too long.

"Isn't Mu Yue still in Konoha? He has also mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, and his other abilities are even stronger than Minato's.

Last time, Mu Yue made a great contribution to defeating Mist; he should be able to complete the mission." Koharu Utatane recommended Mu Yue.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and refused:

"Mu Yue has developed Wood Style; he needs time to train."

"Why would he develop Wood Release? Wait! He developed what?" Koharu Utatane asked Hiruzen Sarutobi with a look of disbelief after she realized.

Rather than believe that Mu Yue had developed Wood Release, she would rather believe she misheard.

"Has Mu Yue mastered Wood Release now?" Homura Mitokado also asked with a shocked expression.

For him, this was even more surprising than Kirigakure attacking the Land of Fire.

The two advisors' reactions were within Hiruzen Sarutobi's expectations—after all, this was Wood Release, and this was the second ninja to independently develop it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly nodded and replied, "You heard correctly—he really has developed Wood Release. Ten days ago, I saw him use Wood Release with my own eyes."

"Konoha has produced a second Wood Release ninja."

"How could that be? Is his mother a member of the Senju clan?" Koharu Utatane instinctively thought Mu Yue had Senju blood.

Although it still sounded absurd, it was a bit more reasonable.

"Even the First Hokage's descendants don't have Wood Release. Do you think an ordinary Senju bloodline would work? Perhaps Wood Release is the exclusive Kekkei Genkai of once-in-a-lifetime geniuses." Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected Koharu Utatane's bloodline theory.

"Mu Yue's Ice Release was also self-developed. He might just be the kind of genius that appears once in a century." Homura Mitokado said after a thought.

After eliminating other factors, the remaining result, no matter how impossible, was reality.

"In that case, Mu Yue really isn't suited to go to the battlefield right now."

"I'll go." Homura Mitokado volunteered after thinking it over.

Mu Yue needed time to train and develop, and Koharu Utatane didn't want to go. As Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't easily leave. So it had to be him.

"Homura, be careful on the battlefield." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in agreement and reminded him.

Homura Mitokado was a good choice. Aside from his status and experience, he was also a ninja with formidable strength.

"Don't overdo it on the battlefield. You're not the Homura Mitokado who trained every day anymore." Koharu Utatane also reminded.

After becoming high-ranking officials, they not only stayed away from the battlefield but also neglected their training; their strength had definitely declined.

"I'll be careful. Wait for good news from me." Homura Mitokado showed a faint smile.

After discussing the various matters concerning the ninja forces, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane left the Hokage's office.

"I hope no more accidents happen." Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed in the office.

Now he just wanted to quickly end the war and avenge his old friend, then pass on his position once Mu Yue had fully grown.

Southern Border Forest.

Mu Yue was instructing his students in their training.

He deliberately staggered part of the teaching schedule so he could balance both sides—not neglecting his students' training while ensuring the training team's progress.

"Mu Yue-sensei, has Shisui been busy with something lately? I feel like I rarely see him." Obito asked casually during a break.

"He joined the training team." Mu Yue replied.

"What kind of department is the training team? Training ninjutsu?" Obito, hearing about this department for the first time, asked curiously.

"It has that function. You can think of the training team as a special version of ANBU."

Although it was a classified department, not all information needed to be kept secret.

Kakashi, hearing the word "ANBU", couldn't help but look over with a somewhat surprised expression.

He didn't think ANBU was that impressive, but to ordinary ninjas, it was indeed a very mysterious department, and Shisui had joined something beyond ordinary ANBU.

"It's ANBU?" Obito showed a look of surprise and worry.

"I read a ninja book with a plot like that: the protagonist joined ANBU, discovered high-ranking secrets after carrying out a secret mission, and then..."

"So it's just that kind of thing." Kakashi said speechlessly.

He didn't know much about ANBU either, but ANBU was a department directly under the Hokage. If they really investigated high-ranking officials, it would be at the Hokage's will.

"I'm not saying Shisui will definitely run into that kind of thing. I'm just surprised he suddenly joined such a mysterious department." Obito retorted.

Boom! Rumble!!

In the midst of their bickering, rumbling sounds suddenly came from not far away.

"Is Gai tinkering with a new taijutsu again?"

Obito stood up and looked toward the source of the voice, only to see Might Gai making eagle-claw shapes with his hands, continuously attacking the surrounding trees and ground.

"The combination of the Eight Gates and Rock Breathing is too violent; even a simple claw swipe is devastating." Obito couldn't help saying.

Ever since Might Gai's potential exploded on the Mist Battlefield and his strength soared, he has dominated the inner battles among disciples and has long held the top spot on the rankings.

Only after Kakashi comprehended the Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode did he make the battles more competitive, rather than Might Gai being absolutely number one.

But even so, only Kakashi can slightly threaten Might Gai; the other disciples face slim chances of victory against Might Gai.

His good brother, with whom he once traded wins and losses, now dominates the top rank. Obito is both happy and unwilling to accept it.

He is happy that his friend's hard work has paid off, but unwilling to accept that he himself has been unable to reach number one for a long time.

"After all, it's a forbidden technique that could only be mastered through such arduous training." Kakashi sighed.

Might Gai's training volume is terrifying even for a single day, yet Gai has persistently kept it up for several years. Keep in mind that Might Gai is only twelve years old now, meaning that most of his short life has been spent training.

Obito didn't continue bickering with Kakashi; instead, he seriously refined chakra, and once his chakra was sufficient, he immediately began training the Blue Flame.

When everyone was still young and their bodies hadn't developed, Shisui dominated among the disciples for a while thanks to his extraordinary talent.

Kakashi once defeated all the disciples in a row by relying on his unique Transparent World.

As for him, he occasionally had moments of brilliance in battle, but he never experienced dominating within the team.

He, Uchiha Obito, also wanted to become the strongest disciple that Muyue could be proud of, but unfortunately, his Fire Release in the early and middle stages was too low-tier.

The Blue Flame is strong, but he learned it too late and still hasn't fully mastered it.

At this moment, Obito was focused solely on becoming stronger, so that he could reach his version of domination.

If he could never dominate the inner battles among disciples for his whole life, even if he later fulfilled his dream and became Hokage, he would still feel discontent.

After Kakashi fully recovered his stamina, he quickly began training in Mushin no Itto and Armament Haki.

He only had hope of defeating Might Gai; in overall strength, Might Gai was still considerably stronger.

Might Gai didn't know that his training had stimulated Obito and Kakashi; he was excited about the pleasing progress of his new taijutsu.

"With this level of completion, it's ready to be named." Might Gai began thinking of a name for his new taijutsu.

He believed the name of the taijutsu was also important; otherwise, shouting it out would lack impact.

"I thought of this taijutsu idea this morning, and I got the inspiration from Black Feather. So I'll call it Morning Hawk!" Might Gai didn't agonize too long and quickly settled on the name for his new taijutsu.

Might Gai has his own approach to naming; sometimes it's based on the taijutsu's characteristics, like xx Whirlwind.

Other times, he combines the training time or initial inspiration source time with a fierce beast, such as Noon Leopard.

After the afternoon training ended, Muyue once again went home with Yamato.

"I've taken care of things at the Ninja Academy. You can go directly to school on Monday of next week." Muyue said.

Although he doesn't go to the Ninja Academy much now, he is indeed the vice principal of the academy. Arranging things for Yamato was a simple matter.

"School..." Hearing Muyue say this, Yamato only then remembered that he still had to go to school.

"Yes, thank you for your trouble." Yamato thanked Muyue.

"It's just a small matter. At your age, you should spend some time at school." Muyue said with a smile.

After dinner, Muyue chatted with Yamato for a while before leaving.

"School... what kind of life will that be?" Watching Muyue leave, Yamato began to think.

Shimura Danzo only taught him ninjutsu and the duty to protect Konoha. His understanding of the Ninja Academy all came from Obito and the others occasionally reminiscing about the past.

The school in Obito's words was strange—a peculiar place where you want to go when you can't go, but don't want to go when you have to go.

Might Gai said the school was a place that changes your life; he even put in a lot of effort to get into the Ninja Academy.

As for Kakashi, Yamato hardly ever heard him talk about school matters.

"Wood Release: Flying Leaf Blade!"

Yamato stopped thinking and began training.

When he actually arrives at the school, he will naturally know what kind of place the school is.

Before that, he still has to cultivate seriously. After all, the seniors are already so strong, yet they still cultivate tirelessly every day. As the weakest, he cannot slack off.

Try to update a bit more: xhytd