Chapter 435: Promotion
The disciples glanced at each other, quietly trying to read everyone's thoughts from their expressions.
"I'll go back too," Kakashi said after a brief silence.
He needed too much time to recover. If the battlefield situation suddenly took a sharp turn and he still was not fully healed, he would become a burden instead of help.
Kakashi felt it was better to return to Konoha and recuperate properly than to remain in a tense war camp. A stable environment would help him recover faster, and once he was back to full strength, he could return to the front and take missions again.
"Ah? Kakashi, you're going back too?" Obito scratched his head with both hands, looking stunned.
He wanted to stay on the battlefield, but if Kakashi returned to Konoha, then staying here would lose its meaning.
Obito had wanted to compete with Kakashi on the battlefield and beat him fair and square.
If Kakashi left, who was he supposed to compete with?
Even if Obito performed amazingly, Kakashi could still say he would have done better.
"I need three weeks of recuperation," Kakashi replied flatly. "It's more comfortable back in Konoha. Recuperating here even basic movement is restricted."
If he had the choice, returning to Konoha was obviously better. War was not something you treated like a training exercise.
Obito hesitated, then looked toward Mugetsu. "Mugetsu sensei, is Rin going back?"
Since Kakashi was not staying, Obito's interest in this battlefield had dropped sharply. With his current strength, he could not decide the war either way, so whether he stayed or left would not change much.
Obito decided to base his choice on Rin's decision. If Rin stayed, he would stay too and protect her. If Rin returned to Konoha, he would return as well.
"I'll ask her in a moment," Mugetsu replied.
Because she was a girl, Rin was recovering in a different tent. Since more disciples were gathered here, Mugetsu had come to speak with Obito and the others first.
"If Rin goes back too, then I'll go back," Obito said, nodding.
If Rin also left, there really was not much point in him remaining on this battlefield.
Kakashi glanced at Obito and felt a quiet wave of speechlessness. Obito was far too indecisive.
"I want to stay on the battlefield," Shisui said after a long moment of careful thought.
For a long time, he had been the strongest among the disciples.
But after Obito and the others gained practical experience through missions during their internship, Shisui had been silently surpassed.
Shisui was unwilling to accept that. He did not want to keep losing in their internal competitions. He wanted to reclaim the title of Mugetsu's strongest disciple.
So he wanted to use this war to temper himself and make up for his lack of real combat experience.
After the ten day recuperation period ended, Shisui planned to ask Mugetsu proactively for missions.
Beyond sharpening himself, Shisui had another goal. He wanted to complete more wartime missions to build qualifications.
Right now, he was only a chunin. Even a genius chunin was still just a chunin. That rank could not create much impact within the Uchiha.
If he wanted his words to carry weight at the next clan meeting, he needed to raise his rank, and the battlefield was the best place to earn achievements quickly.
"No problem," Mugetsu nodded and agreed.
Aside from Guy, who had to return to Konoha, Mugetsu would not stop anyone else who wanted to remain on the front.
As for Guy, Mugetsu's concern was simple. If an unavoidable battle erupted, Guy might force himself to fight while injured and leave behind permanent damage.
The Eight Gates was terrifyingly strong, and just as terrifyingly dangerous. Guy also stacked Rock Breathing on top of it.
A breathing technique would not harm the body under normal conditions, but drawing power beyond the limit in extreme situations was still dangerous.
Mugetsu then went to Rin and asked her the same question.
"Are Kakashi and the others going back?" Rin did not answer immediately. Instead, she asked about Kakashi's condition first.
After Mugetsu told her the truth, Rin thought for a moment, then gave her decision.
"I want to return to Konoha."
Her reasoning was straightforward. If Kakashi needed that long to recover, then his injury had to be serious. If she returned with him, her medical care might help him recover more smoothly.
At the same time, she could use the time to organize her recent gains and learn more from Tsunade.
After asking everyone, Mugetsu did not arrange their departure immediately. He planned to let them rest for a few more days, then have a shadow clone escort them back.
They had just come off the battlefield, and they were still too injured. If they left right away, someone would have to carry them all the way back. They needed to regain some mobility first.
Mugetsu did not linger long with his disciples. Soon after, he went to carry out the mission Orochimaru had assigned.
Inoichi had already examined the memories of the dead Reiki and the five missing members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Hidden Mist's arrangements were essentially exposed. Even if Hidden Mist reacted quickly, it was impossible to adjust everything instantly.
Mugetsu and his team's mission was to race against Hidden Mist and strike every location they could not correct in time.
However, in this operation, Mugetsu did not rely much on his own most familiar methods.
Instead, he transformed into Reiki and used Ice Release.
"Ice Release: Soaring Ice Dragon!"
With a sweep of his hand, Mugetsu created a massive ice bird that shot forward, charging a position not far ahead. It froze every Mist ninja in its path in an instant.
The Ice Release he was using now was not his own proficient level Ice Release with one thousand proficiency points.
It was Reiki's master level Ice Release with three thousand six hundred proficiency points.
The gap between the two was even more extreme than the difference between a beginner and a master with only a single point of proficiency.
"Ice Release: Freezing Ray!"
For those who dodged the ice bird's strike, Mugetsu followed with a freezing ray and sealed them in ice as well.
Even though he had transformed into Reiki, Mugetsu tried not to rely too heavily on unfamiliar Ice Release techniques. He did not have the Sharingan, and copying ninjutsu purely through talent would be beyond common sense.
"Such powerful Ice Release. How can there be an Ice Release ninja like this among Konoha's forces?" the ambushed Mist ninja cried out in shock.
Bloodline limits were not exclusive to one village. For example, both Sunagakure and Kumogakure had Magnet Release users.
But they had never heard of an Ice Release ninja outside Hidden Mist, much less one this strong.
One Mist ninja swallowed hard as he watched his comrades freeze one after another. "Why does this person's Ice Release feel even stronger than Lord Reiki?"
In a sense, he was not wrong.
Mugetsu's chakra reserves were larger than Reiki. Even with the same level of nature transformation proficiency, Mugetsu could drive it with greater force.
Ice Release was extremely effective against weaker opponents. Mugetsu quickly froze every Mist ninja in the area he was responsible for.
But when he moved toward the next location, he failed to catch his targets. Hidden Mist had already contracted their forces rapidly.
After gathering everyone's results, Orochimaru's lips curved slightly.
"Yagura Karatachi is a decent opponent," Orochimaru said.
Yagura's reaction had been fast, but the operation was still a success. It dealt a clean blow to Hidden Mist's forces along the eastern front in the Land of Fire.
Next, if no external influence interfered, this was a battle of ebb and flow. Yagura would inevitably lose ground.
Orochimaru's victory was only a matter of time.
Inside the conference room, the other jonin showed excited expressions as well. A victory on this scale benefited everyone.
As the meeting neared its end, Orochimaru spoke again.
"From now on, Mugetsu will serve as the unit's Vice Commander."
This was a decision delivered after the response from Konoha's higher ups.
It did not mean Shikaku's Vice Commander position was removed. Instead, both of them would serve as Vice Commanders.
That was common practice in Konoha. One main position could have multiple vice positions.
A jonin who knew Mugetsu offered congratulations. "Jonin Mugetsu, congratulations."
Even though unit commander positions were temporary wartime posts, they carried unusual weight. It was a clear signal that Mugetsu was valued by the village's leadership.
Mugetsu smiled and responded modestly, but his heart remained unmoved.
To him, this was not important. It simply meant he would not be able to return to Konoha anytime soon.
At the very least, he would only return when the unit returned, after Hidden Mist retreated.
Before becoming Vice Commander, Mugetsu had not held a formal battlefield position at all. The reason he had been present at Orochimaru's smaller meetings was due to multiple factors, unlike others who had official roles within the unit.
Mugetsu believed there were two reasons for the change.
First, his contributions were too great to ignore.
Second, Hiruzen's thinking had shifted.
At first, Hiruzen may have planned to recall Mugetsu once the battlefield stabilized. But now, Hiruzen's expectation was clear. Mugetsu was meant to resolve the Hidden Mist problem directly.
Orochimaru, as before, called Mugetsu out and walked with him along the edge of camp.
This time, Orochimaru did not discuss personal matters. Instead, he informed Mugetsu of the rewards that Konoha's leadership had approved for this skirmish.
"If your three disciples pass the assessment, they will become the youngest jonin in Konoha's history," Orochimaru said with a faint smile.
Konoha's standards for jonin were strict. No matter how much of a genius someone was, no one had been promoted to jonin at ten years old.
Some had the strength but lacked achievements.
A very small number met both, but still fell short in other criteria.
Mugetsu's eyes flickered. He wondered whether his disciples becoming jonin would trigger rewards.
Genin and chunin had. Jonin should as well.
"From what I understand of the assessment," Orochimaru continued, "it should not be difficult for your three disciples to pass, based on their strength."
Orochimaru assumed Mugetsu was worried his disciples might fail.
Obito and Kakashi had the strength to hold off a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. And when Guy unleashed his power, he could even fight three at once. Passing should be a certainty.
"Lord Orochimaru, you think too highly of them," Mugetsu said, shaking his head with an easy smile. "Only one of them should be able to pass the assessment."
Their strength was not the issue.
But promotion to jonin was not decided by strength alone.
When other criteria were evaluated, Obito and Guy might not necessarily compare favorably to experienced chunin.
The only one who could pass steadily was Kakashi.
Kakashi was a true all rounder, skilled across the board, even if his stamina in combat was lacking.
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