Chapter 576: Defeated, Surrounded on Three Sides

"It's a trap, fire the signal flare!" Mizuki Monen quickly ordered.

Although they had fallen into a trap, Mizuki Monen was not too flustered.

Panicking does not solve problems; calmly thinking of a way to break the situation is what a qualified ninja should do.

Whoosh! Bang!

The Konoha ninja who received the order quickly fired the highest-level signal flare.

"Head north!" Mizuki Monen immediately commanded.

Teacher Chen's team was not far from them.

If they met up with Teacher Chen's team in time, they could not only escape the crisis but even turn the tables and counterattack.

"This place of mine isn't one you can come and go as you please." Yagura held an iron staff and flew towards Mizuki Monen.

The elite Mist ninja behind him also made their moves, clearing obstacles for their leader.

"We'll see if you can stop me." Mizuki Monen opened the large scroll hanging on his chest and rapidly formed hand seals to gather chakra.

"Tool Manipulation: Hidden Weapon Strike!"

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!

Dozens of kunai shot rapidly towards Yagura.

Yagura did not swing his iron staff to knock down the kunai; instead, he gathered chakra and extended his right hand.

"Water Release: Mirror Technique!"

A large amount of water surged, quickly forming a huge round mirror in front of Yagura.

Boom!!

The kunai struck the water mirror, causing a series of explosions that made the mirror ripple violently.

Although the explosive tags on Mizuki Monen's kunai were cleverly hidden, Yagura still caught them.

The moment the explosions were blocked, Yagura dispelled the Water Release and charged at Mizuki Monen, swinging his iron staff.

At the critical moment, Mizuki Monen summoned an iron rod and swung it with all his might to block Yagura's iron staff.

Clang!!

Accompanied by a crisp and loud metallic clash, the two iron weapons collided violently. Due to the considerable force from both sides, tiny sparks flew at the point of contact.

Yagura's expression remained unchanged as he pressed down and slid his iron staff against Mizuki Monen's rod. His staff was specially made, with an iron hook at the tip.

Under Yagura's immense strength, the iron hook rapidly sliced towards Mizuki Monen's head.

Mizuki Monen exploded chakra and twisted his iron rod, deflecting Yagura's attack.

His staff techniques were learned from Sarutobi Hiruzen back in the day and were his most proficient polearm style.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Clang! Clang!

The two stepped with steady, powerful strides, swinging their weapons. The iron staff and rod traced silver arcs through the air. Both were evenly matched in strength and speed, making it hard to decide the outcome for a while.

Realizing that close combat would not yield results, Mizuki Monen suddenly burst with power to create distance, hurling his long rod like a spear at Yagura, and then started using a summoning scroll again.

A large bow and several arrows appeared in front of Mizuki Monen.

Mizuki Monen quickly drew the bow and shot two arrows imbued with Wind Release chakra in rapid succession.

Yagura raised his hand again and used a Water Release for defense.

The first arrow sank into the water but did not penetrate the water mirror, only causing large ripples.

The second arrow shot through the constantly rippling mirror surface.

The arrow broke through the water mirror, and the splashing water hit Yagura's face, stimulating his nerves.

In that extreme moment, Yagura twisted his head sharply, and a bloodstain appeared on his cheek.

"I underestimated this guy. So fast and accurate with the bow!" Feeling the wetness on his face, Yagura's heart pounded wildly.

At this moment, his heart, which had been a little buoyant due to his overwhelming advantage, steadied.

This Mito Mon'en didn't become a Konoha high-ranking official without reason—his strength was not to be underestimated.

"Too bad." Mito Mon'en let out a slight breath and put the bow back into the scroll.

This move of his was specially designed to catch people off guard; if it didn't succeed, this battle was essentially useless for it.

"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!"

Mito Mon'en took out a giant shuriken from the scroll and flung it toward Yagura, then rapidly formed hand seals.

Under the effect of chakra, the giant shuriken split into two, then two into four.

"Water Mirror Jutsu!"

Yagura created a water mirror again, but this time it was not for defense—it was for offense.

From the water mirror, a ninja identical to Mito Mon'en rushed out, also using the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu.

Bang! Bang!

Four giant shuriken canceled each other out, and the copied Mito Mon'en still charged toward the real one, disappearing an instant after a single exchange of blows.

"Water Release: Water Pistol Jutsu!"

Hozuki Shingetsu, having freed his hands, seized the opportunity. He made pistol shapes with both hands, aimed at Mito Mon'en, and fired several liquid bullets.

"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!"

On the other side, Momochi Kawa sawa also rapidly formed hand seals, creating numerous water bullets in front of him that shot toward Mito Mon'en.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

Yagura consumed a large amount of chakra to create an extremely thick water dragon.

Suddenly attacked by three powerful ninjas at once, even with Konoha ninjas blocking for him, Mito Mon'en was still injured.

Using the water dragon's impact, Mito Mon'en kept retreating, his eyes constantly scanning the entire battlefield situation.

"Not good—it seems most of the Mist ninja from this invasion are here." Mito Mon'en frowned.

As the highest combat power, he was not inferior to Yagura, but looking at the entire battlefield, Konoha was at an all-around disadvantage. It was unrealistic to fight while retreating.

"Should I force a breakthrough at the cost of many lives?" Mito Mon'en hesitated.

If he sacrificed most of his people, he was confident he could escape with a portion of the elite.

But then this mission could be declared a failure, because they might lose six or seven hundred ninjas.

"No, I have to hold on." Mito Mon'en rapidly formed hand seals, summoning a large number of kunai and shooting them at the surrounding Mist ninja.

He didn't want to give up on so many ninjas here.

Not to mention that most of the seven hundred ninjas here were chūnin—even if they were seven hundred qualified genin, it would take considerable effort to train them.

Konoha was already short on personnel with enemies on multiple fronts; he couldn't give up so easily.

Although Mito Mon'en had a tenacious will to fight, this still could hardly change the tide of battle.

He and Yagura were only evenly matched, and after being injured, he was outmatched by Yagura, while Yagura's elite forces were far more numerous than Mito Mon'en's side.

The number of Konoha ninjas on the battlefield kept dwindling, and Mito Mon'en's resolve kept wavering.

It wasn't that he feared death, but if he didn't choose to sacrifice most to break out, everyone might die here.

"Konoha Dragon God!"

Just as Mito Mon'en was about to force a desperate breakthrough, a green dragon burst through the Mist's encirclement, a powerful storm sweeping up and tearing apart the Mist ninja.

Accompanying it were a large number of ninjas wearing Konoha uniforms.

A delighted expression appeared on Mito Mon'en's face, and he quickly shouted, "Chen Jōnin, let's break out together—don't get bogged down in fighting!"

The Mist's offensive was fiercer than he had anticipated.

Now he was severely injured, and the unit's losses were considerable; it was not suitable to engage in a decisive battle with the Mist.

"If only he had divided his forces into three groups." Yagura wore a regretful expression.

If the arriving Leaf ninja force could be reduced by one-third, then he would also wipe out Teacher Chen's ninja squad along with them.

"Pursue! Eliminate as many Leaf ninja as possible!" Yagura ordered.

It was unrealistic to leave them all behind, but it was still possible to eliminate another portion of Leaf ninja strength.

The two forces chased each other until the Leaf ninja force reached the central-northern region; only then did Yagura give up the pursuit. If he chased further, he might put himself in danger, after all, this was the Land of Fire, and Leaf was fighting on home ground.

Yagura couldn't wait to send news of his great victory back to the Mist Village.

Upon learning of Yagura's battle results, the Third Mizukage first held a meeting to commend him, then sent six hundred Mist ninja to the Land of Waves.

The situation was too good; the Third Mizukage wanted to see if this favorable situation could be maintained. If it could, then he could increase investment and complete their war objectives in one go.

The Mist, having won the battle, was overjoyed, while the other side, Leaf, having suffered defeat, was not in a good mood.

Leaf Hospital.

In a high-class ward, Homura lay on a hospital bed with a look of apology.

Koharu sat on the bed next to Homura, hesitating to speak.

Hiruzen stood by the window, continuously puffing out clouds of smoke.

An eerie silence filled the entire ward.

"Homura actually lost, leading to nearly three hundred ninja killed in action and over five hundred wounded..." Hiruzen recalled the casualty report, his brows deeply furrowed.

This caught him off guard. He had originally thought that with Homura's ability, even if he couldn't quickly eliminate the Mist, he would surely secure a steady advantage and then gradually defeat them.

He never expected such terrible news to arrive suddenly—and this was on home ground.

"Is it because he's been away from the battlefield too long? But it shouldn't be to this extent." Hiruzen glanced at Homura lying on the hospital bed, a question in his mind.

In the past, casualties of this level might have been nothing—only a little over three hundred ninja sacrificed, and among the five hundred wounded, the proportion of serious injuries wasn't high.

But currently, Leaf was in a critical period, not only locked in fierce battle with Cloud, but also with Rock eyeing them covetously.

Suddenly suffering a defeat in such a situation could trigger a chain reaction.

"Sorry, I've let you down." Homura broke the calm first.

If you lose, you admit it; if you're hit, you stand straight. He wasn't the type to make a thousand excuses to justify himself.

"Homura, was there some hidden strong fighter among the Mist ninja force this time?" Koharu couldn't help asking.

"No, it was just a mistake in my decision-making that led to the defeat. In terms of overall strength, my force should have been stronger." Homura shook his head and replied.

"This..." Koharu didn't know what more to say.

After all, since Homura himself said so, she didn't need to make excuses for him.

"Let Muyue go. He's the most suitable person in the village right now." Homura looked at Hiruzen and said.

Although Leaf also had Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade's efficiency in killing enemies on the battlefield was far inferior to Muyue's, so she wasn't a suitable choice.

Moreover, Tsunade herself was quite resistant to going to the battlefield now.

"I was thinking the same thing." Hiruzen nodded.

Although he wanted to give Muyue more training time, plans couldn't keep up with changes.

If he didn't send Muyue, he would have to recall Jiraiya or go himself.

Recalling Jiraiya would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul, likely causing Rock to stir up trouble.

And as Hokage, Hiruzen's every move affected the whole body—he couldn't act rashly. So it had to be Muyue.

After all, this mission was relatively safe: it was a domestic operation on home soil, and the opponent wasn't an excessively strong fighter.

If it were opponents of the level of the Third Tsuchikage or the Third Raikage, Hiruzen would choose to keep Muyue in Leaf and go to the battlefield himself.

Against experts of that level, the risk of trouble was considerable; he couldn't let Muyue, who had the potential to reach the level of the First Hokage, take that risk.

Land of Earth, Rock Village.

"Turned down again—so it seems this is a fundamental issue." Looking at the information from Kitsuchi, Onoki showed a regretful expression.

Forming a joint ninja force with the Ninja Sect to intimidate Leaf in the Land of Rain was no longer possible, unless Onoki first subdued the ninja forces of the Land of Rain.

But that is meaningless; instead, it would only create an unnecessary opponent for oneself.

Just then, a rather urgent knock suddenly sounded from outside the door.

"Enter."

The Iwa Anbu quickly walked into the office and said rapidly: "Lord Third, there is important war intelligence regarding Konoha!"

Onoki instantly perked up, picked up the intelligence delivered by the Anbu, and began speed-reading it.

"Kirigakure defeated the Konoha ninja unit led by Homura Mitokado in the Land of Fire." Onoki was slightly surprised.

Defeating a Konoha ninja unit in a non-Land of Fire area, breaking through the Land of Fire's defense line, and defeating a Konoha ninja unit in the Land of Fire—the significance of the first two events is hard to gauge, but the last one is absolutely the most meaningful.

Moreover, Kirigakure did not defeat an ordinary ninja unit; it was the ninja unit led by Homura Mitokado, a Konoha high-ranking official.

"Perhaps Konoha is not as strong as I imagined." Onoki showed a thoughtful expression.

As a master troublemaker, now that the Land of Fire is so lively, it would be a pity not to join in.

"Notify the higher-ups to go to the conference room," Onoki commanded the Iwa Anbu.

He had the idea of dispatching troops, but this was not something he could decide alone; a meeting had to be held first.

When the latest intelligence from the Land of Fire was placed before the Iwa higher-ups, they all showed expressions similar to Onoki's earlier one.

"Since the war began, we have suffered many losses at Konoha's hands; we can't just let it go. I think we can take this opportunity to dispatch troops," proposed the Iwa elder Zhongjing.

"I think it's worth a try," Onoki stated directly.

Immediately after, the Iwa jonin squad leader Hui also expressed his approval.

In the end, the higher-up meeting unanimously passed the resolution to dispatch a ninja unit against Konoha.

As for the commander of the ninja unit, after some discussion, it was still decided that Lieshi, the captain of the Iwa Explosion Corps, would take the position.

The blame for the last defeat was mainly on the deceased Iwaku and the departed Rōshi from the village; Lieshi, having returned to the village early to recuperate due to injury, was not affected much.

Of course, mainly because there were no other good candidates; some lacked seniority, others lacked strength.