Chapter 621: The Sixth Great Ninja Power?

Rain Country, Six Paths City.

Unlike when they left, since Mu Yue did not notify the Ninja Sect of the specific return time, no Ninja Sect ninjas were there to welcome them when they returned to Six Paths City.

However, after Mu Yue and the others entered the city, news spread quickly. When they returned to the Ninja Sect's compound, a group of Ninja Sect ninjas had gathered.

"Welcome back, Teacher Yusuke!" the Ninja Sect ninjas shouted excitedly.

Although they all knew their leader was very powerful, the opponent was after all the Third Hokage, standing at the peak of the ninja world—it was impossible not to worry.

So seeing Yusuke return safe and sound, the Ninja Sect ninjas were genuinely happy.

In theory, idolizing someone like this is not a good thing, but that someone was Yusuke, the founder of the new Ninja Sect.

In the eyes of many Ninja Sect ninjas, Yusuke was equivalent to the Sage of Six Paths of the new era—he could not be judged by ordinary standards.

"Like I said, I would be back soon," Mu Yue said with a faint smile.

Kakuzu heard this and smiled without saying a word—who would have thought that everything Yusuke said about his strength was the complete truth, not a single word was a lie meant to comfort or boost morale.

Sometimes the truth sounds more absurd than a lie.

No one asked about the outcome of the battle; all the Ninja Sect ninjas tacitly avoided the topic, simply celebrating their leader's return.

Only after Mu Yue returned to the office to work did some people start indirectly inquiring about the battle's result from the accompanying ninjas like Nagato and Rōshi.

From the perspective of reputation and prestige, it wouldn't be shameful for Yusuke to lose to Sarutobi Hiruzen, a senior who had dominated the ninja world for decades.

But losing was ultimately not a good thing. Their leader had been forced to fight for the Ninja Sect, and had barely returned safely—of course, they couldn't actively hurt his feelings.

"We won," the accompanying ninjas answered very simply.

If Yusuke had won with difficulty, out of consideration for maintaining bilateral relations, they might have avoided talking about the battle result.

But Yusuke won so easily, it was almost a crushing victory, and Yusuke didn't specifically remind them not to leak the details of the duel—so there was no reason not to tell.

What did they care if Sarutobi Hiruzen and Konoha lost face? If they had the guts, they could come and fight again.

The Ninja Sect ninjas hadn't forgotten that Konoha's first demand was "Yusuke commits suicide"—clearly Konoha wanted their leader dead, they just didn't expect their leader's strength to be so solid, and the plan backfired, causing them to lose the battle instead.

"Won? Teacher Yusuke beat the Third Hokage?" Many Ninja Sect ninjas showed surprised expressions and asked uncertainly.

They thought it would already be very good if Yusuke could manage a narrow defeat and return safely; they didn't expect an unexpected surprise.

"Not only did he win, he won very easily. Sarutobi Hiruzen was no match for Yusuke at all," Kakuzu explained.

The Ninja Sect ninjas were all stunned—it wasn't even a narrow victory, but an overwhelming one.

The accompanying ninjas nodded inwardly at this reaction—they had been shocked on the scene, and it couldn't be that only they were stunned.

"Won easily! Teacher Yusuke is that strong!" Even Yahiko showed a shocked expression.

He did believe Yusuke could defeat Sarutobi Hiruzen, but he hadn't expected it to be an easy win.

"Did Konoha just watch the Third Hokage lose and do nothing?" Yahiko asked in confusion.

He thought Konoha was targeting Yusuke; according to his speculation, Konoha should have been willing to use any means to kill Yusuke.

Was he wrong?

"Of course not. They wanted to interfere in the battle, but they didn't succeed," Kakuzu said with a disdainful shake of his head.

If not for Yusuke holding back from killing, those Konoha ninjas would all be dead.

"Everyone disperse. No need to worry about Konoha anymore. With Yusuke here, the sky won't fall."

Kakuzu no longer cared about Konoha at all now.

With the strength Yusuke had shown, even the Five Great Ninja Villages, if they wanted to move against the Ninja Sect, would have to carefully weigh whether they could withstand Yusuke's retaliation.

The Ninja Sect ninjas, having received good news, left with joyful hearts.

Their greatest hope had been just for Yusuke to return safely; they hadn't expected that not only did he return, but he also brought them such a big surprise.

The more the Ninja Sect ninjas thought about it, the happier they became, and they subconsciously quickened their pace to leave.

They couldn't wait to share this great news with their comrades who hadn't come for various reasons.

Thus, the news quickly spread within the Ninja Sect. Except for ninjas on missions, basically all the Ninja Sect ninjas in Six Paths City knew that their leader had defeated the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

As time passed, various rumors spread within the Six Paths City.

This aroused the suspicion of the Iwa-nin.

"What the hell is going on? Yusuke isn't dead? What is Konoha doing?"

Inside a stone dome house in the Six Paths City, built in the style of the Land of Earth, an Iwa jōnin expressed his confusion to a companion.

"Who knows? Maybe, as the rumors say, Yusuke defeated Sarutobi Hiruzen and returned safely." The burly Iwa-nin frowned and said.

Yusuke's successful return disrupted their plans.

Originally, their plan was to take advantage of Konoha wanting to kill Yusuke, put some pressure on the Ninja Sect, and make the Ninja Sect become Iwa's hidden agent.

It wasn't for Konoha, but to scheme for the next fifty years.

If they couldn't defeat Konoha, which had the Second God of Shinobi, then they would just bide their time, let Konoha have its fun for fifty years.

"Brother Huoguang, how credible do you think this news is?"

The Iwa-nin who had spoken first looked at Huoguang, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, and asked.

"It's most likely true." Huoguang said after a moment's deliberation.

"Since even the ordinary citizens of the Six Paths City have heard it, it's only a matter of time before the news spreads across the ninja world.

If this were false news, it would inevitably deepen the conflict between the Ninja Sect and Konoha, increasing the likelihood of Konoha sending troops against the Ninja Sect. Only a brainless fool would shoot off their mouth without considering the consequences. Yusuke is clearly not such a fool.

Then the only possibility is that Yusuke is not afraid of creating a rift with Konoha because of this, so Yusuke must have defeated Sarutobi Hiruzen, and not just a simple victory."

"This is not good news for us. We must quickly mobilize forces to investigate thoroughly, then report back to the village." Huoguang said with a serious expression.

Previously, Iwagakure valued the Ninja Sect largely because of Yusuke's personal strength.

Now Iwagakure can't wait for Yusuke to die soon.

Because they had discovered that as long as Yusuke was around, Iwagakure would never be able to control the Ninja Sect.

Even though Ōnoki had already offered considerable benefits, Yusuke's attitude remained firm: economic cooperation was fine, but nothing else.

Yusuke's firmness, coupled with the conflict between the Ninja Sect and Konoha, caused Ōnoki to change his strategy.

Yusuke was very strong, but the Ninja Sect also had Nagato, a top-tier genius who, once grown, might be even stronger than Yusuke.

However, Ōnoki also knew that while Yusuke was alive, not to mention Nagato, even an ordinary Ninja Sect shinobi would never side with Iwagakure.

So Yusuke's death was very important. A Yusuke killed by Konoha would be a good partner for Iwa.

"Yes!" The Iwa-nin nodded in agreement.

Verifying the information was faster than Huoguang had imagined; the Ninja Sect shinobi didn't treat it as classified at all.

The Ninja Sect's attitude made Huoguang believe it a little more.

So he quickly compiled the collected information, added some of his personal thoughts, and sent it back to Iwagakure.

Ōnoki attached great importance to the layout in the Land of Rain. Upon learning that important intelligence had come from the Land of Rain, he immediately set aside other relatively unimportant matters.

"Hmm?" Seeing that Yusuke had defeated Sarutobi Hiruzen, a question mark formed in Ōnoki's mind.

He carefully checked it and confirmed that this was indeed important intelligence from Iwa in the Land of Rain, not someone's prank.

With a grave expression, Ōnoki continued reading the intelligence, scrutinizing it word by word with utmost care.

"Yusuke actually has this level of strength." Ōnoki tapped his fingers rapidly on the table, his expression turning somewhat unpleasant.

When he saw this intelligence, the first thing Ōnoki thought of was not controlling the Ninja Sect, but regretting that Yusuke had not agreed to his plan to ambush and kill Muyue.

If Yusuke had joined in, then even with the Third Mizukage's backstab, they should still have been able to kill Muyue.

But not only did Yusuke not agree to the ambush plan, now he also refuses to die properly, disrupting Iwa's plans.

"If only Sarutobi Hiruzen had died." Ōnoki sighed.

If Sarutobi Hiruzen had died, then it would have been another perfect opportunity to stir up trouble.

But Ōnoki knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen definitely wasn't dead; otherwise, Konoha would not have been completely inactive.

Ōnoki was truly speechless. If either Yusuke or Sarutobi Hiruzen had died, it would have benefited Iwa, but not a single person died.

Now Ohnoki's plans for the Shinobi Sect have been disrupted and he can't move. He wants to mess with Konoha but can't manage it. He can't do anything.

"The Shinobi Sect, Konoha..."

Ohnoki fell into deep thought.

Konoha produces talented people in abundance and has also gained a large amount of money and resources through the war. Without any accidents, it is bound to flourish in the future.

The Shinobi Sect has the powerful Yusuke stationed there, coupled with an excellent geographical location. Its development potential is visibly huge.

"No, we need to determine the details of the battle." Ohnoki felt that Iwagakure still needed to take action.

It's unlikely to compete with Konoha for the top ninja village, but Ohnoki also doesn't want Iwagakure to fall too far behind Konoha.

As for the Shinobi Sect, Ohnoki now doesn't dare to underestimate it either.

If Yusuke's strength is close to or even reaches the level of Hashirama Senju, then the Shinobi Sect is very likely to become the sixth major ninja force, and it's not impossible for the Land of Rain to become the sixth major country along with it.

Of course, Ohnoki absolutely cannot sit by and watch all this happen.

The pie of the ninja world is only this big. If one more major force appears, then the slice that Iwagakure can get will be even smaller.

Land of Fire, Konoha.

The day after the jonin meeting ended, Kakashi finished his morning training and went to the commercial street to buy breakfast. Seeing that the Konoha News had published a new issue, he bought a copy.

The newspaper headline was "From Chunin Teacher to Hokage's Aide".

Kakashi thought to himself, this Konoha News really knows how to write headlines. Even if he wasn't familiar with Muyue and didn't know who the newspaper was reporting about, seeing such a headline would still spark interest in reading.

No other reason, the gap between these two positions is too vast.

Being a chunin teacher is a job that any ordinary ninja willing to take can basically get.

A teacher's salary is lower compared to the commission for going out on missions. It's not busy usually but not easy either. Chunin with ambition generally wouldn't choose to become a ninja academy teacher.

But the Hokage's Aide is different. This is a high-level position that can determine the direction of Konoha. Only ninja with great strength and sufficient contributions can hold it.

Arriving at the breakfast shop, Kakashi skillfully ordered his breakfast, then ate while reading.

"The eighteen-year-old Hanyu Muyue was a young teacher who had just entered the Ninja Academy. With no teaching experience, he first sought advice from seniors, then made improvements during actual teaching activities..."

The newspaper first talked about Muyue's deeds in the Ninja Academy.

For example, he proposed large classes with multiple groups together, alleviating the situation where teachers were overworked due to insufficient faculty at the academy. He established holiday tutoring and internship systems, which significantly improved the quality of genin who graduated that year.

The most praiseworthy was the performance of the class Muyue taught. They led all other classes by a cliff-like margin. Even looking back at records from the very founding of the Ninja Academy, no class could be compared to Muyue's class.

Not to mention being comparable, there wasn't even one slightly inferior. This fully demonstrated Muyue's teaching level.

Teaching a few genius disciples could be attributed to Muyue's good eye for talent, but when an entire class of so many students all excel, there is no other explanation besides ability.

Kakashi graduated early. When Muyue was a teacher at the Ninja Academy, Kakashi had already been graduated for almost three years, so he found reading about Muyue's experiences at the academy quite interesting.

The Konoha News did not spend too much ink on the Ninja Academy. After clearly explaining Muyue's various contributions, it quickly moved on to the Third Great Ninja War.

"The Strongest Konoha Hero of the Third Great Ninja War" — just this subtitle alone, Kakashi could feel Hiruzen Sarutobi's support for Muyue, even using the word "strongest."

However, given Muyue's achievements, there's nothing wrong with using "strongest."

On the Kirigakure battlefield, Muyue first killed the renowned Kirigakure ice release ninja Mizunotsuki Kan and several Swordsmen of the Mist, then in a crucial battle against a Kirigakure surprise attack, he killed a jinchuriki and turned the tide.

In the war with Iwagakure, Muyue turned their scheme against them, using Iwagakure's spy to set a trap, achieving the feat of defeating two thousand with one thousand.

In the second engagement with Kirigakure, Muyue used Wood Release to capture over a thousand Kirigakure ninja, laying the foundation for victory in the final battle.

Any one of Muyue's achievements, if given to any Konoha ninja, would be enough to make that person famous and successful. Reporting them all together, the effect was simply explosive.

After finishing his breakfast, Kakashi could hear many people discussing on the streets of Konoha.

"No wonder Aide Muyue became Hokage's Aide at such a young age. So he has made so many contributions."

"Yes, I dare not imagine how difficult these past few years would have been for Konoha without Aide Muyue."

After listening for a while, Kakashi felt that the votes of ordinary ninja and civilians might show an even bigger gap than the jonin vote.

After all, there might be die-hard supporters of Orochimaru among the jonin, but among the larger base of ordinary ninja and civilians, it's not necessarily the same.

"I heard from the traveling merchant who came yesterday that outside they're spreading rumors that our Hokage-sama was defeated by that Yousuke of the Ninja Sect."

"These small ninja factions are really despicable, even fabricating such rumors to slander our Third Hokage-sama."

"Yeah, and defeated the Third Hokage-sama, what a boast, why doesn't he just say he's the reincarnation of the Six Paths Sage."

Kakashi's steps paused slightly, and after a moment of thought, he walked toward the Southern Forest.