Chapter 577: Necklace Worth Three Mines

"The current situation is very unfavorable for us. We must eliminate the Mist ninja forces as quickly as possible."

"Inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen was discussing the war situation with Muyue."

""Yes, I will defeat the Mist as quickly as conditions allow." Muyue nodded."

""Then I'll wait for your good news." Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a chuckle."

"If there really weren't any suitable candidates, he truly wouldn't want Muyue to go to the battlefield now — after all, this was a combination of super genius and Wood Release."

""Regarding the troops, Muyue, do you have any requests?""

"As long as the people Muyue wanted weren't on secret missions, Sarutobi Hiruzen could give them to him, to facilitate Muyue carrying out his plans."

""Kakashi and the others. It just so happens they haven't been on a mission for a while." Muyue replied."

"Although this seemed like an ordinary defeat, Muyue suspected that Uchiha Madara had intervened."

"After all, the Leaf falling into its current predicament was itself the result of Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu secretly stirring the pot."

"Muyue could see Madara's goal: simply to make the situation more chaotic and create more opportunities to strike."

"But Uchiha Madara was up against Muyue, who knew the plot."

"He knew Madara was looking for an heir, so Muyue wouldn't give him an opening. No matter how chaotic the situation, with him leading his disciples on missions, Madara's schemes would struggle to succeed."

""Alright, but Kakashi and the others are your disciples, Muyue. Inform them yourself. The ninja forces are already assembling." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded."

"Because of Muyue, Sarutobi Hiruzen had basically never actively assigned missions to Kakashi and the others; it was always up to their own wishes."

"After bidding farewell to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Muyue split off a Shadow Clone to go inform Shisui at the training team, while his main body went to the southern forest."

"In the original story, Madara targeted Obito, but Muyue couldn't rule out the possibility that Madara might consider Shisui as a backup, so Shisui had to be brought along as well to prevent accidents."

"When Muyue arrived at the southern forest, his disciples were still training."

""Everyone, if you need to, go home and pack up. We're about to go on a mission." Muyue called a halt."

"Obito was interested, but before he could ask, Muyue continued:"

""Although this mission won't leave the Land of Fire and is still within the country, it's still going to the battlefield, fighting against Mist ninja forces.""

""So it's a large-scale war mission." Obito's expression turned serious."

"He was no rookie who had never been on a battlefield; he understood the dangers of war."

""It's actually within the country, and with Hidden Mist ninja." Kakashi wore a thoughtful expression."

"Because he had been training wholeheartedly recently, he hadn't paid much attention to the shinobi world situation."

"Even so, Kakashi could still sense something wrong from the overall atmosphere of the Leaf."

""Teacher Muyue, will Shisui be joining this mission?" Kakashi asked after a moment of thought."

"With the Leaf in a bad state now, the chances of something happening to Muyue on the battlefield were also greater."

"They were still far from being as strong as Muyue, but they were no longer comparable to ordinary jōnin, so Kakashi hoped Muyue would bring Shisui as well, for extra strength."

"They had promised to change the future together."

""Yes, I sent a Shadow Clone to inform him." Muyue replied."

""Teacher Muyue, after we prepare, do we return to the southern forest or gather somewhere else?" Nohara Rin asked."

""Go to Training Ground Eleven. The ninja forces will assemble there.""

""Teacher Muyue, and everyone, goodbye. I'll go back to get some things." Nohara Rin was the first to smile, wave, and say goodbye."

"Then Kakashi and Obito also said goodbye and left; they needed to restock their ninja tools."

"Might Guy didn't need to restock ninja tools, but going to the battlefield was no small matter, so he also went home to inform his family."

"Yamato was in class at this time, so Muyue didn't disturb him, but he arranged for someone to inform him."

"Next, Muyue went to Tsunade's house."

"Tsunade was originally quite happy, thinking she could freeload a meal again, but when she heard Muyue say he was going to the battlefield, her face immediately fell."

""Why are there so many bastards in this shinobi world? Can't we have a few more peaceful years?" Tsunade couldn't help but sigh."

Skipping one meal is no big deal; Tsunade was worried that there would be none left to skip in the future.

"Did you come over just to say that, or do you want me to go to the battlefield with you?"

"That's not it—after all, I still have to command the troops. Even if you came to the battlefield with me, Tsunade, I wouldn't be able to cook you three meals a day." Muyue politely declined.

Tsunade's combat strength was decent, her medical skills were top-notch, and she had powerful healing abilities, but her current issues hadn't been resolved yet. Without her full strength, she couldn't be of much help to Muyue.

It was better to let Tsunade stay in Konoha, where it was safer.

"Three meals a day? My appearance fee should be at least four meals a day."

Tsunade said with her arms crossed and a displeased look, not sure if it was because she felt Muyue was underestimating her or if she really thought the compensation was too little.

"Yes, after all, Lady Tsunade, you are the strongest medical ninja in the Shinobi World," Muyude read in a monotone.

"That's common knowledge," Tsunade said, indicating that greatness needed no elaboration.

Then Tsunade thought of something, hesitated, and finally took off the necklace around her neck, saying:

"Are you still studying Wood Style? If so, I'll lend you this necklace for a while. This necklace was left by my grandfather; it has his chakra."

After saying that, Tsunade emphasized, "It's a loan, not a gift. This necklace is very valuable. Sold, it could be exchanged for three mines. When you've finished developing Wood Style, you must return it to me."

Muyue looked at the necklace in Tsunade's hand. This necklace was quite famous, nicknamed the "Death Necklace."

In the original story, Tsunade had given it to three people: Nawaki, Dan Kato, and Naruto.

Of the three, except for Naruto, all died on the battlefield. Although Naruto didn't die, the necklace broke.

Even though it sounded like a cursed item, Tsunade wasn't lying—this necklace really was very valuable. It could even be categorized as a high-level ninja tool, with the effect of suppressing tailed beast chakra.

"I've been busy lately and forgot to tell you, but I've actually mastered Wood Style." Muyue gave a faint smile, made a one-handed hand seal to gather Wood Style chakra, and made a large tree grow in Tsunade's courtyard.

"Huh?!" Tsunade's eyes widened, staring in shock at Muyue and the rapidly growing tree.

Tsunade was dumbfounded. Someone could really develop Wood Style? Wasn't that her grandfather's exclusive Kekkei Genkai?

At that moment, Tsunade even suspected she was under a genjutsu.

She silently formed a seal to dispel the genjutsu, but found that her chakra was very stable, with no signs of being under a genjutsu.

"How did you do it?" Tsunade couldn't help asking.

"By reading the materials," Muyue replied as if it were only natural.

Tsunade: …

She had read those materials too, but she hadn't learned Wood Style. A strong sense of frustration welled up in her heart.

Who would understand? She, the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, hadn't learned Wood Style, but someone unrelated to Hashirama Senju had.

"Why are you so troublesome? You've only just developed Wood Style; there's still a lot for you to learn. So, do you want it or not?" Tsunade reached out her hand to Muyue.

Seeing Tsunade somewhat losing her composure, Muyue stopped talking about Wood Style, took the necklace, and sincerely said thank you.

He didn't need the necklace to research Wood Style, but researching this necklace was indeed useful—if he could master a similar technique, he could make an accessory to give to Kushina.

"Although it's a loan, it's not free—there's interest," Tsunade continued.

"For each day I lend it to you, you owe me one meal. Two days, two meals, and so on until you return the necklace to me."

"I hate it when people owe debts and don't pay back. If you don't repay, I'll beat those disciples of yours half to death, especially that rude brat with the goggles."

Having said that, Tsunade shook her fair fist.

"Then I'll try to get back to Konoha early to repay the debt." Muyue waved goodbye.

Tsunade wasn't good with words. Even though her mouth was full of threats, Muyue could feel her concern.

"You'd better," Tsunade replied with a casual wave of her hand.

"Muyue-sensei, I hope you complete your mission safely and successfully," Shizune said her farewell blessing from the side.

Muyue smiled at Shizune, then turned and walked toward the training ground.

"Lady Tsunade, you're really not straightforward. Clearly you're worried about Muyue-sensei, yet you didn't say a single nice thing," Shizune complained after they entered the house.

As an observer, she had seen it all clearly from the side.

"Of course I'm worried about him. If he doesn't come back, I'll lose that necklace worth three mines." Tsunade said, grabbing Shizune's soft little face with both hands.

"Mmm... that's not it." Shizune struggled to speak.

Although she was still young, she didn't believe everything she heard.

"I think you're too idle, Shizune." Tsunade tugged Shizune's face and directly gave her a medical problem that couldn't be solved in one day.

When Muyue arrived at the training ground, the ninja unit was almost finished assembling.

"Muyue Commander."

"Lord Muyue."

The ninjas on the training ground all greeted Muyue.

Because there were too many people, even though Muyue knew all of them and their names, he couldn't respond to each one individually; he could only nod to the crowd.

"Senior Chen, Jonin Meicun." When Muyue walked over to the jonin holding important positions, he was finally able to respond to each one.

"Muyue Commander, the current unit..." Meicun Yejuan reported the unit situation to Muyue.

This time, both Meicun Yejuan and Teacher Chen were serving as vice commanders.

"So many ninjas, a lot more than last time." Obito, entering the training ground, observed the ninja unit.

Last time, Muyue led a ninja unit of only five hundred; this time there were many more. Obito roughly calculated and felt there might be over a thousand.

"But last time it was to support Toad Uncle, the situation was different."

Kakashi, who was about to speak and explain, slightly turned his head.

"Hey, what's with that look, Kakashi? It's not like I only fight and don't know anything." Obito said discontentedly, seeing Kakashi's slightly surprised expression.

"Oh, then you're really amazing, Obito." Kakashi praised in a completely emotionless tone.

"You're probably the only one who can make praise sound so infuriating." Obito deeply felt Kakashi's sarcasm.

He should have taken a detour; then he wouldn't have run into Kakashi on the way.

"You two get along so well, did you come together on purpose?" Rin Nohara, entering the training ground, saw the familiar scene and greeted them with a smile.

"No way!" x "We just happened to meet on the road." Obito quickly explained.

He hadn't even made plans to come with Rin, so how could he have sought out Kakashi.

"I have no intention of being late; waiting for Obito is a troublesome thing." Kakashi said calmly.

Obito couldn't help glaring at Kakashi; he hadn't been late for a long time, because he could use Shadow Clone to help when he encountered old people.

"Shisui, how's work lately?" Obito suddenly noticed Shisui had also arrived and immediately greeted him.

Compared to bickering with Kakashi, it was better to care about his good friend and fellow clan brother.

Since Shisui had been busy lately, they didn't talk much even when they met.

"Not bad, it's going smoothly." Shisui answered while greeting the others.

After exchanging a few words, they walked together toward Muyue.

Seeing that Muyue was discussing the ninja unit with other jonin, they didn't disturb him and chose to stand aside.

"Cough, cough."

After all the members of the ninja unit had assembled, Muyue coughed twice to signal everyone to be quiet, then began to speak.

"Our opponents are the Mist ninja units roaming the eastern shore..."

Without much speech, Muyue simply explained the mission and led the unit toward the eastern part of the Land of Fire.

"Now the Mist has dispersed their forces again; from the northeast to the southeast, there are traces of many Mist squads active." During the break, the senior members of the ninja unit were holding an operational meeting.

"Split into teams and act separately?" suggested a Konoha jonin.

"That's not very safe. Elder Shuihumen fell into a Mist trap that way." Meicun Yejuan shook his head.

We can't fall into the same pit, after all.

"But focusing our strength on clearing one area would be very inefficient." The Konoha ninja who had spoken first raised a question.

The ninja's mobility is too high, plus the ninja unit is a large target, so before we can even clear out half, the remaining half will have already fled.

For a moment, the jonin couldn't reach a consensus.

On the other side, Kakashi and his few disciples were also sitting together chatting.

Their strength was not weak, but their experience was too shallow. Even Kakashi, who had the most experience, had not been assigned an important post.

"You have to be careful when fighting the enemy. I've asked around—Konoha just lost a battle, and it was caused by this Mist Hidden Unit we're about to fight," Obito said, sharing the information he had gleaned from chatting with other ninja.

"On the battlefield, no matter which village's ninja you are, you must be careful. Konoha's situation isn't looking good lately—it might even come down to Teacher Muyue's life-or-death crisis," Kakashi said in a low voice.

Muyue's death was a mystery, but Kakashi had analyzed it countless times. Whether from the timeline or the plausibility, it should be related to a Shinobi World War—he just couldn't tell which war.

All the disciples' expressions turned serious.

I have to work tomorrow, so I can't stay up late tonight. Only this chapter. (Love Fuzhu ifzzw)(:)