Chapter 439: War Ninjutsu
Land of Water.
Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage Building, conference room.
The Third Mizukage's usual faint smile was gone. In its place was a cold, heavy solemnity that pressed down on everyone present.
"Five of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, plus Reiki," he said, voice clipped. "We lost that much strength, and we still could not kill even one Konoha genius."
He slammed the delivered documents onto the conference table.
"Have I been too lenient with Yagura all this time for such a major operational error to happen?"
Silence.
No one spoke. No one even dared to breathe too loudly.
The losses on the eastern coast were real, and with the Third Mizukage in this mood, not a single person wanted to step forward and defend Yagura Karatachi.
After about a minute and a half, the Third Mizukage's gaze swept across every high ranking official in the room.
Only then did Genji, seated to the Mizukage's right, speak up.
"Yagura did make a mistake," Genshi said evenly. "But this defeat cannot be pinned entirely on him. No one expected Konoha to have a hidden powerhouse who has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"Both Konoha and Hayate Mugetsu hid him far too well."
By logic, bloodline limit users were the hardest to conceal. They were incredibly rare, and even those with slightly above average abilities usually gained a reputation sooner or later.
That was the absurd part about Mugetsu.
He possessed Ice Release, and he had mastered a rare space time ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God, yet he had stayed obscure.
With the level Mugetsu displayed, either ability alone should have made him a target worth tracking.
Instead, Hidden Mist had been forced to spend enormous effort just to obtain intelligence on his Flying Thunder God. Even the battle where Reiki died did not expose it, because Mugetsu not only took away the bodies of key figures, he also destroyed the bodies of other ninja, leaving Hidden Mist with nothing to examine afterward.
Genji paused, then continued, shifting the focus back to Yagura.
"And Yagura did try to salvage the situation. If he had not adjusted in time, our forces might have suffered even greater losses."
"It is his duty as unit commander to adjust," the Third Mizukage replied.
His expression softened slightly, but the chill in his eyes did not fully fade.
Genji lowered his gaze, satisfied.
The public scolding had ended, at least for now.
Although the Third Mizukage looked furious, Genji understood the truth. It was partly performance.
Hidden Mist had suffered serious losses. If the Mizukage did not scold Yagura, the other officials would turn it into a discussion about punishment. Now that the Mizukage had already reprimanded him and appeared to have calmed down, it was no longer appropriate for others to keep pressing the matter.
And if the Third Mizukage were truly disappointed in Yagura, it would not have ended with a few harsh words.
That was exactly why Genji had stepped forward.
He thought highly of Yagura, but he would never clash with the Third Mizukage over him.
It was not fear. With his status, it would not come to that. Genji had already been an elder of Hidden Mist before the Third Mizukage ever took the seat.
What he feared was the signal it might send.
If he argued too hard for Yagura, the Third Mizukage might believe Genji intended to interfere with the selection of the Fourth Mizukage. If that suspicion led to internal strife, it would be far more dangerous than any battlefield loss.
The Third Mizukage tapped the documents once, then looked around the room.
"Yagura requests reinforcements," he said. "He wants the village to continue wrestling with Konoha's ninja forces. What are your thoughts?"
The Third Mizukage personally leaned toward continuing the plan. Wearing down Konoha's strength and dragging them into a prolonged struggle was exactly what Hidden Mist wanted.
But after Yagura's defeat, the Mizukage could not make a direct decision without appearing too autocratic.
The ANBU leader spoke after a moment of consideration.
"I think it is feasible. The more assertive Konoha appears, the more wary the other villages will be. With a powerful Konoha looming over everyone, even if they fight among themselves, they will still be cautious, always guarding against Konoha."
He continued, voice steady.
"The other great villages are not truly united against Konoha. Kumogakure is fighting Konoha, and also clashing with Iwagakure and Sunagakure. In that situation, continuing this battle is an opportunity for Hidden Mist to make a name for itself."
If they could defeat Konoha, Hidden Mist would reach a peak it had never touched before, gaining tremendous fame and prestige.
Another high ranking official spoke next, his lower face wrapped in bandages.
"Continuing the battle is fine," he said in a deep voice. "But in the current situation, I fear we can only defeat Konoha's forces by deploying a jinchuriki as a trump card."
In truth, sending the Third Mizukage himself would have an even stronger effect, but as the leader of a village, the Mizukage could not casually go to the front lines.
And an advisor suggesting the Mizukage take the field would be disrespectful.
"Jinchuriki…" the Third Mizukage murmured, falling silent.
Hidden Mist had two tailed beasts, the Three Tails and the Six Tails.
At present, neither jinchuriki was in a good state.
Especially the Three Tails jinchuriki.
…
After time passed and the news fermented, Obito's life mission progress rose again, triggering another settlement reward.
[System: Disciple Uchiha Obito's strength has increased, his reputation has risen, his experience has grown, and his probability of becoming Hokage has slightly increased. Obtained progress reward: Chakra +1500, Fire Release Skill Extraction Scroll S (Mastery Level), Fire Release Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll.]
[System: Fire Release Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll: Can raise any mastered Fire Release ninjutsu to Mastery Level. If the ninjutsu is already at Mastery Level, the effect converts into an increase of three thousand proficiency points.]
Mugetsu opened the panel and glanced at Obito's total progress.
[Name: Uchiha Obito
Life Mission: It's not those who become Hokage who are recognized by everyone, but those who are recognized by everyone who can become Hokage.
Main Goal: Become the Hokage of Konoha Ninja Village.
Mission Progress: 31%]
Other than Kakashi's more unusual life mission, after the skirmish, Obito's progress was still the highest.
He was two percentage points ahead of Guy, who ranked second, and he remained the only disciple who had triggered three life mission progress rewards so far.
After checking Obito, Mugetsu looked at Shisui's panel.
Shisui was the only disciple who had not triggered a single life mission reward yet.
[Name: Uchiha Shisui
Life Mission: Uchiha and Konoha
Main Goal: Eliminate the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha, allowing the Uchiha to integrate into Konoha.
Mission Progress: 3%]
Mugetsu understood why.
Obito and the others had life missions that did not require anything special. Normal growth alone generated progress.
Obito's goal was becoming Hokage. With his Hokage lineage identity, the more talent he displayed and the more missions he completed on the battlefield, the more his progress would rise. Training and carrying out missions were things every ninja did anyway.
Obito's mission could practically be won by lying down.
If Minato became the Fourth Hokage like in the original story, Mugetsu estimated Obito's life mission could jump by eight percentage points or more in a single burst.
There was a clear difference between being a Hokage's grand disciple and being a Hokage's disciple, not to mention stacking both at the same time.
Shisui's mission was different.
Shisui had to influence decisions inside the Uchiha Clan to generate meaningful progress. But a child under ten clearly could not do that. So his progress remained slow.
"It should improve once Shisui makes a name for himself on the battlefield," Mugetsu thought.
The shinobi world was a world of extraordinary power, where the strong were respected. There was a saying about juniors respecting seniors, but if your strength was enough, you did not need to rely on sayings.
If Shisui became famous on the battlefield, then no matter how young he was, the Uchiha jonin would not look down on him.
The Uchiha valued strength more than most.
Mugetsu closed Shisui's panel and turned to Obito's settlement rewards.
Chakra was self explanatory. You could never have too much.
The extraction scroll was more targeted than the twenty percent settlement. This time it was a Fire Release skill extraction, guaranteed to draw something Fire Release related.
And the mastery level ninjutsu reward had become a Fire Release Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll, making it far more flexible.
Mugetsu liked that. If he obtained more of these, it might even lead to a perfect level skill.
Since there was no Fire Release ninjutsu he wanted to upgrade right now, Mugetsu set the Fire Release Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll aside.
He washed his hands, then prepared for the tense and exciting lottery.
[System: Fire Release Skill Extraction Scroll S has been consumed. Obtained skill: Great Sunny Day.]
As the extraction completed, a surge of related training memories poured into Mugetsu's mind.
In an instant, he became extremely proficient in the Fire Release ninjutsu called Great Sunny Day.
"It's actually a Pokémon weather skill," Mugetsu realized immediately, recalling its description from the games.
In Pokémon battles, Great Sunny Day changed the weather for five turns. During that time, Fire type skills dealt 1.5 times damage, while Water type skills dealt only 0.5 times damage.
Mugetsu used Flying Thunder God to leave the Konoha camp and reached an uninhabited area to test it.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
He first gathered chakra in his throat and exhaled a massive wave of flames.
The blaze formed a giant fireball that slammed into the ground ahead, blasting out a scorched crater.
"Great Sunny Day!"
Immediately after, Mugetsu gathered chakra in his palm. A dazzling orb of light formed there, bright enough to sting the eyes.
He threw it into the sky.
In an instant, within a fifty meter area around him, the sunlight became fierce and oppressive.
Mugetsu could clearly feel the heat intensify.
He gathered chakra in his throat again, carefully matching the exact same amount of chakra as before, and released another Great Fireball.
Boom!
The giant fireball struck, carving out a larger scorched crater than the first.
Next, Mugetsu used the Body Flicker Technique to move outside the range of Great Sunny Day.
The area did not change just because he left. It maintained the Great Sunny Day state.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Outside the Great Sunny Day zone, Mugetsu formed hand signs. Water flowed and coiled around him, then surged upward, forming a roaring water dragon that smashed through trees in a relentless line.
Then Mugetsu stepped into the Great Sunny Day range and tried Water Release again.
Before he even completed the technique, he could feel it clearly.
To produce the same Water Release power within Great Sunny Day, he needed to spend more chakra.
"The effects are similar to the game," Mugetsu concluded after testing Fire Release and Water Release once each, "but they are not rigid like a game rule."
In the games, no matter what level a Pokémon was, Great Sunny Day always applied the same multipliers. Even if Groudon used it, the effect still stayed fixed.
Real ninjutsu could never work like that.
If it did, training would be meaningless.
In the shinobi world, Great Sunny Day had become a localized ninjutsu. Its power depended on proficiency and chakra investment.
The higher the proficiency and the more chakra used, the larger the area covered.
The stronger the boost to Fire Release.
The stronger the suppression of Water Release.
Mugetsu moved farther away, poured in more chakra, and cast Great Sunny Day again. After comparing results, he found that the ratio of chakra consumption to Fire Release increase was not as efficient as Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
"If it is a one on one battle, and the enemy is not a Water Release ninja, then Flame Breathing to enhance Fire Release is the optimal choice," Mugetsu calculated. "If the enemy is a Water Release ninja, Great Sunny Day is better."
Overall, Flame Breathing Chakra Mode was more versatile and handled a wider variety of situations, while Great Sunny Day was highly specialized.
Of course, only children chose one.
Adults wanted both.
These two were completely compatible.
Mugetsu could cast Great Sunny Day first, then enter Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, and then unleash Fire Release.
Under normal circumstances, he would not do that right now.
It consumed an absurd amount of chakra.
Both Great Sunny Day and Flame Breathing Chakra Mode were heavy chakra drains.
Just now, Mugetsu had burned forty thousand chakra and only managed to cover a two hundred meter radius. It lasted only five minutes.
"Still, drawing this skill now is perfect," Mugetsu thought, and his mind immediately jumped to war.
If only one ninja benefited, the cost felt wasteful.
But if a hundred Fire Release ninja received the Great Sunny Day buff at once, the combined increase would overwhelmingly surpass Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
Mugetsu could only call it coincidence.
And not just any coincidence.
This was the Hidden Mist battlefield, where most enemies relied on Water Release.
If he cast Great Sunny Day over the battlefield, it could turn an evenly matched fight into a one sided rout.
Once again, Mugetsu understood the value of S rank extraction scrolls.
There truly were no useless skills.
If the existence of Great Sunny Day spread, Hidden Mist would probably go insane and send ninja to hunt him down.
And Konoha might even form a dedicated Fire Release unit for him.
After all, this was a direct large scale buff.
<><><><><>
[Check Out My Patreon For +50 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]