Chapter 580: Hokage's Aide Muyue

Muyue briefly treated Kikyo Yagura's wounds and led his disciples back to the battlefield.

When he had used the Mushin Slash earlier, he had deliberately aimed wide, so Kikyo Yagura was not dead, only severely injured.

But only Kikyo Yagura survived; the other Mist ninja who had escaped with him all died.

Obito and the others had no room to hold back; they fought to kill, so naturally it was hard to leave survivors.

"Muyue commander, is that Kikyo Yagura? You captured him alive?" Yoshimura Hazan asked hurriedly, looking at Kikyo Yagura Muyue was carrying.

Capturing a strong ninja like Kikyo Yagura alive was extremely difficult.

For someone of Kikyo Yagura's strength and position, who generally knew many secrets of the Hidden Mist Village, it was better to die in battle than to be captured alive by the enemy village.

Because once captured alive, what awaited could be ten times more painful than death.

Difficulty also meant greater benefits. Capturing Kikyo Yagura alive meant they could interrogate him to learn the Mist Village's secrets, or use him to negotiate with the Mist Village.

"Mm." Muyue nodded.

Since she had already seen Muyue single-handedly defeat a thousand-man ninja force before, this time Yoshimura Hazan was not too surprised; she only thought Muyue was meticulous and reliable.

"Even if he brought only a hundred men, I doubt the outcome of this battle would have changed." Yoshimura Hazan sighed to herself.

When they set out, she thought Muyue didn't understand tactics; after the battle ended, she realized she didn't understand Muyue...

The vast majority of the Mist ninja force were unconscious on the ground, and their commander had been captured alive by Muyue. The Konoha ninja force relaxed their tense emotions at once.

When they first saw the Mist force, which was nearly twice their size, some Konoha ninja were already seeing their lives flash before their eyes.

"What relation is Lord Muyue to the First Hokage? A distant relative?" A Konoha ninja couldn't help sneaking a glance at Muyue, trying to find some similarity between Muyue and Hashirama Senju.

Although Muyue's surname was not Senju, it couldn't be ruled out that his mother or grandmother had ties to the Senju clan.

He also used Wood Release, and at his age possessed such great strength—it was hard for people not to think of the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.

This was almost like the next Hashirama Senju, the next God of Shinobi.

Of course, they only thought this; no one actually asked.

After a while, Instructor Chen arrived in a flurry with his forces, looking as if he were facing a major crisis.

Instructor Chen took the lead and used the Body Flicker Technique to rush forward, only to see Mist ninja lying all over the ground and Konoha ninja cleaning up the battlefield.

Instructor Chen was dumbfounded. What the hell was this? Hadn't they encountered the highest-level crisis? Where was the crisis?

He had been ready to break through the encirclement with Might Guy, and this was what he saw.

Instructor Chen's forces were also baffled for a moment; some of them had participated in the previous battle and thought they had fallen into a trap again this time.

Then Instructor Chen noticed something strange: there were many strangely shaped trees and absurdly long, thick vines.

"This is the First Hokage's Wood Release jutsu!" Bits of memory from the early days of Konoha gradually surfaced in Instructor Chen's mind.

He was much more senior than Yoshimura Hazan and had once seen Hashirama Senju in action.

Although it wasn't as overwhelming as the Wood Release in his memory, there was no doubt—this was Wood Release!

"Sorry, Vice-Commander Chen. This time I misjudged the strength comparison. We weren't in danger—the Mist ninja force has been defeated." Yoshimura Hazan explained somewhat awkwardly.

At the time, he saw so many Mist ninja charging out, and Muyue wasn't moving, so he directly called for the signal flare to be fired. But Muyue's strength exceeded his imagination.

"However, your arrival is just right. We've captured a large number of Mist ninja, and we need to consolidate the forces to control them more safely."

Strictly speaking, the signal flare still needed to be fired, but it was the wrong type.

"Did someone use Wood Release?" Instructor Chen looked around, eventually fixing his gaze on Muyue, who was talking with his disciples.

Although Muyue had never displayed Wood Release before, among the Konoha ninja present, only Muyue had the strength to release such a large-scale jutsu.

"It was Commander Muyue." Yoshimura Hazan nodded.

"The victory in this battle is largely due to Commander Muyue. He defeated most of the Mist ninja single-handedly and captured their commander, Kikyo Yagura, alive."

Instructor Chen looked at Muyue in amazement.

Even though he had suspected it, knowing the fact was still astonishing—this was the God of Shinobi's Kekkei Genkai, and it had been recreated so quietly?

Since they had to report the intelligence to Konoha and wait for further orders from the high command, the consolidated forces set up camp nearby to rest.

The Konoha ninja who had witnessed Muyue perform the Flower Tree World Descent frantically recounted the feat of Muyue single-handedly turning the tide of battle, exclaiming that Muyue was the next God of Shinobi.

Soon, all one thousand six hundred Konoha ninja in the entire unit learned of Muyue's heroic performance during the battle.

"Teacher Muyue, what do you think are the essential qualities someone would need to defeat you?" Kakashi thought for a moment and asked Muyue.

He felt that instead of guessing randomly, it would be easier to avoid unnecessary worry by speculating based on the information Muyue provided.

"First, he must have a chakra volume far exceeding mine, and then he must have extremely rich combat experience," Muyue replied.

Muyue had too many powerful techniques; under the same chakra conditions, he had a huge advantage. However, because he was a transmigrator, combat experience was his weak point.

"He also needs to master some relatively powerful ninjutsu and rather unique secret techniques, as well as a means to prevent me from using the Flying Thunder God to escape," Muyue analyzed point by point.

With his current strength, if he himself didn't want to die or court death, it was truly difficult for him to die.

Kakashi showed a thoughtful expression.

Based on the conditions Muyue gave, even the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages couldn't fully meet all the criteria; after all, how could one restrict the Flying Thunder God?

Could it be encountering a ninja unit led by a Kage, refraining from using the Flying Thunder God to protect comrades, and ultimately sacrificing himself?

Konohagakure

Hokage Building, meeting room.

The three Konoha higher-ups all had grim expressions; after their discussion, they fell into a brief silence.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned deeply, pipe in mouth, continuously puffing clouds of smoke.

Konoha was truly like a leaky house hit by continuous rain, a broken boat encountering headwinds.

Having just suffered defeat at the hands of Kirigakure, Iwagakure also started stirring up trouble; a large number of Iwa forces flooded into the Grass Country, attempting to break through the Fire Country's border.

Although Jiraiya withstood the assault of the Iwa forces, he did not defeat the Iwa ninja unit.

So now Konoha was fighting on three fronts; if they couldn't quickly break the stalemate, Konoha could not sustain such attrition.

"There isn't much strength left within Konoha Village now. If we send another ninja unit to support Jiraiya, Kirigakure might seize this opportunity to directly attack Konoha," Koharu Utatane broke the silence and said.

Homura Mitokado nodded. As the home base, Konoha was undoubtedly the most important.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took down his pipe and rubbed his brow. The logic was sound, but constant attrition was not a solution.

"For now, we can only wait to see when Muyue will achieve results," Homura Mitokado said.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, the meeting room door was knocked on.

"Enter," Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice.

Normally, high-level meetings were not to be disturbed, so it must be something significant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi only hoped it was not news of Sunagakure declaring war on Konoha, for then Konoha would truly be cornered.

With a creak, an Anbu quickly pushed open the wooden door and entered the meeting room to report:

"Lord Third Hokage, Advisor Homura, Advisor Koharu, an urgent report from the east coast front!"

Hearing that it was intelligence from the east coast battlefield, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly picked it up and read it.

The fighting was fierce in both the Grass Country and the Hot Water Country, but undoubtedly the most important battlefield was within the country.

"Just as we were talking about Muyue, Muyue brings us an excellent piece of good news," Hiruzen Sarutobi said as he looked at the intelligence from Muyue; the worry on his face gradually gave way to shock, and finally turned into a smile.

It had been less than half a month since Muyue set out; Hiruzen Sarutobi originally thought Muyue might have achieved a small victory, winning in some aspect.

Only after reading it did he realize that Muyue had achieved a complete victory, even unprecedented—capturing a large part of Kirigakure's ninja force, and even Yagura Karatachi was taken prisoner by Muyue.

Hiruzen Sarutobi put his pipe into his mouth, took a light puff, exhaled white smoke, and felt much more relieved.

Although it was just winning one battle, Muyue's battle was immensely critical.

Not only because Kirigakure had invaded the Fire Country's territory, but also because Muyue's victory was on such a grand scale.

With the over one thousand captured Kirigakure ninja and Yagura Karatachi, Konoha could absolutely enter peace negotiations with Kirigakure, and even extort reparations without excess.

Then for a long time to come, Konoha would not have to worry about Kirigakure's attacks, and only needed to face two opponents: Iwagakure and Kumogakure.

"What good news?" Mitokado Homura asked, curious to see such a shift in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mood after reading the intelligence.

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and handed the intelligence over.

As Mitokado Homura read, his expression grew extremely complex — a mix of surprise, delight, and a hint of embarrassment.

He was surprised that Moyue had achieved a great victory in such a short time, delighted at the large number of prisoners, and embarrassed that Moyue had adopted a strategy similar to his own, yet Moyue had won decisively while he himself had been gravely wounded and forced to retreat.

"Indeed, this is good news — the best possible news for Konoha." Mitokado Homura praised.

Seeing Mitokado Homura like this, Utatane Koharu became interested and asked him for the intelligence.

After reading it, Utatane Koharu was shocked and couldn't help asking:

"Is Moyue's Wood Release training progressing so fast that he can single-handedly take down most of the Mist ninja with it?"

She remembered that Sarutobi Hiruzen had previously said Moyue had only just developed Wood Release and needed time to consolidate and train — how was he already slaughtering on the battlefield?

"Moyue is no ordinary ninja after all; he has profound insights into other nature transformations and ninjutsu." Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly come up with a plausible explanation.

Training the first nature transformation as a ninja is completely different from training a new nature transformation after mastering several — the latter progresses much faster.

Chakra training shares common principles; even between different nature transformations there are transferable experiences, and the same is even more true for ninjutsu training.

Since Moyue had always been portrayed as a genius who broke the rules, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't think too much about it.

He only wished Moyue would grow stronger, ideally reaching the level of Hashirama Senju within a year, so that Konoha could return to its peak.

Unfortunately, that was impossible — even Hashirama Senju, at Moyue's age, had not yet become the God of Shinobi.

"Since Moyue has achieved such great results, we can contact Kirigakure for negotiations and also transfer Moyue to the Iwagakure battlefield to support Jiraiya. That would resolve our current predicament." Mitokado Homura quickly said.

Although such a schedule might be strenuous for Moyue, it was the optimal solution.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Utatane Koharu both agreed with Mitokado Homura's idea.

"After Moyue returns from Iwagakure, let him fill the vacancy of Hokage Advisor." Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly said.

If nothing too unexpected happened, Sarutobi Hiruzen intended to pass on the title of Hokage to Moyue.

Letting Moyue gain experience first as Hokage Advisor would make the succession smoother later and avoid mishaps.

Utatane Koharu instinctively wanted to refuse — Moyue was too young to hold such an important position as Hokage Advisor.

But after considering the intelligence just received, Utatane Koharu finally closed her mouth and said nothing.

"Moyue is indeed suitable; his achievements are sufficient to convince everyone." Mitokado Homura nodded in approval.

After all, Moyue had racked up numerous military exploits, large and small, and this time he had accomplished a supremely great feat. Only the Sannin could still outrank Moyue in seniority.

But with Sarutobi Hiruzen's support, even the Sannin could not contend with Moyue.

Seeing that Mitokado Homura had also agreed, Utatane Koharu simply nodded.

Apart from the victorious Konoha, Uchiha Madara, who had sent White Zetsu to monitor the Konoha ninja forces, also quickly obtained the latest intelligence on Moyue.

"Madara-sama, we might have to change our plan. This Hanyu Moyue is too protective of his disciples — he always brings them along on the battlefield." Black Zetsu said helplessly.

Originally, their plan was to stir up the shinobi world and put Konoha under siege, so that Moyue would have no time to look after Obito and the others.

Unexpectedly, Hanyu Moyue's need for control was so strong — even though his disciples could already kill Jonin at will, he refused to let them lead their own squads, and even stopped taking missions.

This left them with no way to make a move.

Because Moyue was not only strong but also mastered the convenient technique Flying Thunder God, making it nearly impossible to eliminate him with their current setup.

"Bring that Grass ninja here. Use the backup plan." Uchiha Madara said calmly, both hands resting on his walking stick.

"But that plan would involve you..." Black Zetsu pretended to be worried.

"I don't have much time left, and this time there will be no problems." Uchiha Madara's words radiated extreme confidence.

Because this time, he himself would act — how could there be any accident?

"I understand, Madara-sama. I will go at once." Black Zetsu withdrew, acting loyal.

The aged Uchiha Madara sat alone in the dimly lit cave, looking like a helpless, lonely old man.

But if anyone saw his face, they would immediately overturn that impression — because that wrinkled face exuded a domineering aura.

"Yusheng Muyue, the second Wood Release ninja after Hashirama, don't be too boring...": xhytd