"Such bad luck, it's Yellow Flash."
When the Hidden Rock Ninjas saw Minato Namikaze leading the team appear before them, they instantly felt that the slim chance of escaping had completely vanished.
Minato Namikaze was already famous for his extraordinary speed during the battle against Hidden Rock in the Land of Grass. He was one of the few Ninjas that Hidden Rock feared, second only to Jiraiya.
Now, Minato Namikaze had become even more renowned, having fought to a standstill against the new A and B combo of Hidden Cloud in the Land of Hot Water battlefield, earning the reputation as a powerful Ninja. His danger level had increased once again, and the Hidden Rock Ninjas didn't think they could escape from someone as formidable as Minato Namikaze.
"Don't be so arrogant. You won't need Minato-sensei to deal with you," Obito and Kakashi exchanged glances and took up their combat stances.
The two of them walked ahead, protecting Rin and steadily closing in on the five Hidden Rock Ninjas in front.
Minato Namikaze, meanwhile, threw several Flying Thunder God Kunai to block the possible escape routes of the Hidden Rock Ninjas.
He wouldn't take action in this fight, only providing support and acting as a backup for Obito and the others.
Before stepping out, Minato Namikaze had already sensed the chakra signatures of the five Hidden Rock Ninjas. Only one of them might be a Jonin, while the rest had weak chakra, likely Chunin or Genin, which meant Obito and the others should be able to handle them.
The leader, a Hidden Rock Special Jonin was pleased when he saw Minato Namikaze acting so arrogantly. He thought to himself, "If we can't beat Minato Namikaze, we can surely handle three Ninjas who look to be around ten years old."
"You want to use us as sharpening stones? Then be prepared for the blade to break," the Hidden Rock Special Jonin thought grimly.
Originally, encountering Minato Namikaze would have meant certain death, but with Obito and his team, it was a different story.
As a Special Jonin with three Chunin and one Genin as teammates, they had enough strength to surround and take down a Jonin. He didn't believe that three children—one Jonin and two Chunin—would be a match for them.
However, the Hidden Rock Special Jonin did not relax. He knew that Minato Namikaze would not just stand by and watch. If his subordinates were in danger, Minato Namikaze would surely intervene. But this was their only chance—if they could capture one person, they might have an opportunity to retreat. At worst, they could take down a Konoha Ninja.
"Earth Release: Rock Gun Jutsu!"
At the Hidden Rock Special Jonin's command, the four Hidden Rock Ninjas gathered their chakra and launched stones toward Kakashi and Obito.
"Flame Breathing, Total Concentration!"
"Thunder Breathing, Total Concentration!"
Once ready, Obito and Kakashi immediately focused their breathing.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito gathered chakra in his throat and quickly converted it into fire chakra, blasting out a massive flame.
Whoosh!!
The fierce orange-red flames surged out, quickly forming a giant fireball that hurled toward the five Hidden Rock Ninjas.
The giant fireball engulfed the stones thrown by the Hidden Rock Ninjas and continued to slam toward their position.
"A genius Ninja, huh..." The Hidden Rock Special Jonin tightened his grip on his sword and focused on Obito.
Due to the impressive power of the fireball, several of the Hidden Rock Ninjas had no intention of taking it head-on. They scattered and began evading.
"Flash: Twofold!"
At this moment, Kakashi moved.
He did not waste the opportunity created by Obito. With a burst of chakra in his legs, bright lightning appeared, and Kakashi instantly turned into a streak of lightning, charging forward.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Two bolts of lightning passed by, and blood blossomed. In an instant, two Hidden Rock Chunin were killed under Kakashi's blade.
The Hidden Rock Special Jonin's eyelid twitched. He realized that he probably couldn't avoid such a fast strike.
At this moment, the Hidden Rock Special Jonin understood Minato Namikaze's approach. Minato Namikaze wasn't overestimating himself; it was the fact that these three young kids were no ordinary opponents!
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Taking advantage of the Hidden Rock Ninjas evading the Great Fireball, Rin quickly formed hand seals and used Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu, summoning a water dragon that charged toward the Hidden Rock Ninjas.
Just as the Hidden Rock Ninjas thought they had evaded the Water Dragon Bullet, Rin suddenly changed her approach. The Water Dragon Bullet transformed into a large flow of water, soaking them to the bone.
This was a technique shown by Terumi Mei during the Chunin Exams. Mutsuki had studied it for a while and successfully replicated it, then taught it to Rin.
Since this technique required high proficiency in chakra nature transformation, Rin could only use it while in a Water Breathing concentration state.
"Lightning Release: Purple Electricity!"
Chakra erupted from Kakashi's hands, and a brilliant purple lightning appeared, spreading into large currents that enveloped the Hidden Rock Ninjas.
Having just been hit by the Water Release, the Hidden Rock Ninjas were in deep trouble. Only the Hidden Rock Special Jonin managed to barely hold on, while the other two Hidden Rock Ninjas were immediately knocked down by the lightning.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"
Seeing that the Hidden Rock Special Jonin's speed was limited due to paralysis, Obito wasted no time and directly used a B-rank Fire Release. A large number of flaming shurikens flew toward the Hidden Rock Special Jonin.
Boom!!
An explosion rang out, and the battlefield was left with no Hidden Rock Ninjas still able to stand.
"You all did great, both in teamwork and individual performance," Minato generously praised them.
At the beginning, he had been worried that Obito would go all out and use wide-range Fire Releases without consideration.
While that would win the fight, it would waste a lot of unnecessary chakra, and it could be dangerous if they encountered more enemies.
Obito chuckled, "After all, it's just an A-rank mission, and the enemy isn't that strong."
"If you had done it alone, you'd know whether the enemy is strong or not," Kakashi said flatly.
"That's not a fair point, Kakashi. They're a team too. Why do I have to do it alone?" Obito retorted.
"Alright, stop arguing. Kakashi is just worried that you might get hurt from being careless, Obito," Rin said helplessly, stepping in to mediate.
"I'm worried that your mistakes might cause harm to the whole team," Kakashi emphasized.
"I just..." Obito wanted to argue with Kakashi but was interrupted by Minato.
"Since the mission is complete, let's go rest at the camp," Minato Namikaze said with a warm smile.
Though Kakashi and Obito often quarreled, Minato Namikaze could tell they had a good relationship, and that arguing was just part of their daily interactions.
However, this was still a battlefield, and given that they had spent a lot of energy searching, they needed to rest and conserve their strength.
"Camp? Aren't we heading back to Konoha?" Obito asked in confusion.
"During wartime, Jiraiya-sensei, as the commander of the forces, also has the authority to issue missions. We'll be staying here for a while to carry out more tasks," Minato explained.
Since Minato aimed to relieve the pressure on Konoha, he couldn't just complete one mission and head back. He intended to stay longer and eliminate more enemies.
Of course, to take care of Obito and the others, Minato wouldn't take on overly dangerous missions.
"I see, that's quite convenient," Obito said, having no objections and finding it reasonable. If they went back to Konoha, accepted another mission, and then traveled again, the time spent on the road would be considerable.
The three of them then went with Minato to Konoha's camp in the Land of Grass.
"Ha ha, Minato, with you here, things are a lot easier for me," Jiraiya said, clearly happy to learn that Minato had arrived.
As a ninja, Minato Namikaze was incredibly useful—he could eliminate low to mid-level ninjas almost like mowing grass, deal with powerful opponents like the A and B combination, and provide excellent support in battles against jinchuriki.
"Hey, Toad Old Man, don't forget about me! Are there any tough A-Rank missions? I'll finish them all for you," Obito said, looking like a mission enthusiast.
"Ah, Kakashi's here too. He might just become a famous genius ninja on the battlefield," Jiraiya said, nodding and smiling as he looked at Kakashi.
Obito furrowed his brows, feeling that Jiraiya was doing it on purpose.
"And Rin-chan, we're really short on medical ninjas on the battlefield, you're a big help," Jiraiya said, giving Rin a thumbs-up.
"Damn toad old man, I'm right here, and you can't see me!" Obito, seeing that Jiraiya complimented the rest of the team but didn't mention him, became a bit impatient.
"Goggles kid, show me some respect. Either call me Toad Sage or Jiraiya-sama," Jiraiya said, giving Obito a chop on the head with his hand.
"Otherwise, if you piss me off, don't even think about A-Rank missions. I'll make you do D-Rank missions every day."
"Fine, Jiraiya-ojisan," Obito reluctantly changed his title.
Calling him Sage was out of the question. In Obito's heart, there were only two Sages—Mutsuki Sage and Six Paths Sage.
"You little brat," Jiraiya laughed at Obito's stubbornness.
"Jiraiya-sensei, stop teasing Obito. Let me understand the current situation of the battlefield," Minato said helplessly.
Jiraiya was so laid-back that he wouldn't get upset over someone not calling him "sama." He was just having fun teasing Obito, something Minato was very familiar with.
...
On Monday, Anko arrived at the training ground that Mutsuki had mentioned.
Anko thought she was early, but when she arrived, she found that Mutsuki and Shisui were already there, and she was the only one who hadn't arrived yet.
"Yumi-sensei, and everyone, good morning!" Anko didn't mind such small matters and greeted them with a big, casual smile.
"You all arrived early. I was here three minutes ahead," Mutsuki said with a nod.
"Since we all know each other, we can skip the self-introduction and start the training directly," Mutsuki continued.
The three students nodded in agreement, having no objections.
Then, Mutsuki took out three bells from his ninja tool pouch and said, "The training is simple. The task is to grab the bell from my hand. The one who succeeds will be taught a powerful Ninjutsu or Taijutsu."
Although it was still a bell-grabbing exercise, Mutsuki didn't use the usual method of considering it a success once someone grabbed the bell.
The traditional bell-grabbing exercise was meant to train ninjas' teamwork and awareness of their teammates. However, since there was a large gap in strength between Shisui, Anko, and the others, forcing them to cooperate could have the opposite effect. So, Mutsuki changed the rules, turning the task from a teamwork training exercise into one that rewards success. This bell-grabbing activity would no longer be about cooperation but would test their strength and ignite their interest in training.
"How strong is 'strong'?" Anko asked curiously.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
Mutsuki quickly formed hand seals, then launched a sharp lightning spear that felled a small section of trees. The sound of large trees crashing down echoed through the area.
"Rankyaku!"
Next, Mutsuki concentrated Chakra into his foot and swiftly kicked out several slashing strikes, shattering stones into pieces.
"That's about it," Mutsuki said with a gentle smile after he finished.
He didn't lack strong Taijutsu or Ninjutsu. There were some overpowered Ninjutsu and Taijutsu techniques that he couldn't teach right now because they were too difficult to use.
"Wow, I want to learn that!" Anko's eyes lit up the moment she saw Mutsuki kick out a blow strong enough to shatter stones. It was way cooler than spitting out a Small Fireball.
If she could master that and show off in front of Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, she'd probably be envied to death.
"If you want to learn, come grab the bell. If you get it, I'll teach you today," Mutsuki said slowly, hanging the bell at his waist.
"Mm-hmm," Anko nodded eagerly.
"Yumi-sensei, there seem to be two bags of Dango on the ground behind you, and no one's taking them," Anko said with a glint in her eyes, then immediately reached for the bell at Mutsuki's waist.
Bang!
Mutsuki tapped Anko's forehead with his middle and index fingers, sending her flying a few meters away.
"Damn it, you didn't even fall for it!" Anko groaned in frustration, upset that such a big temptation didn't work.
"Usually, Dango that's left on the ground is already spoiled," Shizune couldn't help but comment.
Shizune is a relatively quiet person, but Anko's flaws were too much; she really couldn't help herself.
"That might not be the case. Maybe someone just forgot to take them," Anko disagreed.
"Flame Breathing, Total Concentration!"
"Fire Release: Successive Great Fireballs!"
Shisui maximized Flame Breathing and shot two massive fireballs toward Mutsuki.
Shisui was very familiar with Anko's abilities because every time they had a practical exam, Shisui had to defeat Anko. He also knew Shizune's skills fairly well, as they had been training together recently, so Shisui didn't expect to team up with them to fight for the bell.
It wasn't that he didn't want to cooperate with his teammates, but the power gap was too big to make it meaningful.
Anko, apart from the Three Basic Jutsu, only knew a D-rank Small Fireball, and Shizune was more of a full-time healer, with all her skills invested in medical techniques.
To put it bluntly, Shisui could take out both Anko and Shizune with just a Shadow Clone, so there was no point in trying to coordinate.
Of course, this was just training. In real combat, Shizune, as a healer, was still very useful, and Shisui wasn't confident enough to believe he would never get injured.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Mutsuki gathered a large amount of Chakra and released a massive water dragon, extinguishing the two incoming fireballs, then continued charging toward Shisui.
Shisui immediately activated his Sharingan, his eyes turning blood-red, enhancing his perception.
Although Mutsuki's Water Release released a large amount of water, it was still not something Shisui could easily block. Only by using his most powerful Fire Dragon Flame Bullet could he counter it, but that would consume too much Chakra. Dodging was more efficient.
Whoosh!
As Shisui dodged the Water Dragon Bullet, Mutsuki concentrated his Chakra, bursting forward and pointing a finger directly at Shisui.
Boom!
Shisui instantly retreated at high speed, landing flat on his back to join Anko and the others.
Seeing Shisui drop at light speed, Anko instantly felt a sense of relief.
Even Shisui, who easily beats her, failed so quickly, so it's definitely not that she's too weak, but that this training is too difficult.
---
Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja