Chapter 668: Might Guy's Life Mission Settlement
Inside the meeting room, the Konoha ninja and the Ninshū representatives sat on opposite sides of the conference table.
Kakuzu did not provoke them this time. He simply watched Orochimaru quietly.
Although he was very dissatisfied with Konoha's ridiculous demand from last time, Ninshū was still the weaker side overall.
Konoha wanted to use its power to pressure them, but they would not back down. However, if Konoha was willing to talk properly, they would not deliberately cause trouble either.
"Our Sandaime greatly admires the strength of your leader, Sōsuke, and wishes to have a ninja battle with him. After this battle, regardless of the outcome, the matter of Danzo will be considered resolved," Orochimaru said.
"Hmm?" Kakuzu looked surprised.
What kind of grudge was this, to target Sōsuke specifically and even challenge him to a one on one fight?
Kakuzu could not understand Konoha's move at all.
A Hokage personally coming out for a duel?
Rōshi also looked surprised, somewhat bewildered.
He had lived for so long, and this was the first time he had seen such a method of resolving conflict, the leaders of both sides dueling to settle the matter.
The strongest Ninja Village was unexpectedly straightforward.
Orochimaru's expression remained calm. Ninshū's reaction was within his expectations, because even he himself had been very surprised when he first heard Hiruzen's request.
Everyone knew that a Hokage possessed immense strength, but a Hokage was not merely a strong ninja. He was also the leader of a Ninja Village, carrying the weight of the entire Village on his shoulders. Because of that, unless there were special circumstances, a Hokage would always remain in the Village and command from the rear.
The matter with Ninshū was not small, but it was not truly large either.
In Orochimaru's opinion, sending a larger ninja squad would be enough to resolve the Ninshū issue. There was no need for the Hokage to personally enter battle.
However, his opinion was useless. Since Hiruzen wanted to do it this way, Orochimaru only had to carry out the mission.
Nagato's expression was subtle, his lips tightly pressed together.
He originally had not wanted to come. Knowing Mugetsu's true identity made him somewhat uncomfortable, but Kakuzu said his presence would improve the situation, so he had come.
"What are Ninshū's thoughts on this?" Orochimaru asked.
"I need to ask the Leader," Kakuzu said after thinking for a moment.
Sōsuke had given him authority, but this request involved Sōsuke himself, so he could not make a rash decision.
Something like suicide could be rejected without even thinking, but for a one on one fight, Kakuzu felt it was hard to say who would suffer a loss.
After all, Sōsuke was so confident in his own strength.
"Nagato, come with me," Kakuzu said, calling Nagato as he stood up.
Nagato nodded and left the meeting room with Kakuzu, heading to Sōsuke's office.
When they reached the wooden door of the office, Kakuzu unhurriedly knocked on the door and only entered after receiving Sōsuke's permission.
"What is it?" Mugetsu put down his pen, looked up, and asked.
"Konoha has given us a new condition. They said that as long as you fight the Third Hokage, no matter the outcome, the matter of Danzo will be considered resolved," Kakuzu summarized.
"You really are hated. Even the Third Hokage himself wants to kill you," Kakuzu sighed.
What admiration for strength? This was clearly a threat after their suicide demand failed, so now they had rolled up their sleeves and wanted to fight directly.
"How should we reply to Konoha? Agree or refuse?"
"Agree to their request," Mugetsu replied.
He was a Shadow Clone newly split from the main body after the meeting, so he already knew about this and had a plan in mind.
He definitely had to agree. Hiruzen's mind was already made up. If Mugetsu did not satisfy him, who knew what new ideas he would come up with?
Mugetsu wanted to save Hiruzen some face, but he had already tried persuading him, and Hiruzen had not listened. There was nothing he could do.
"You decided that quickly. Honestly, how much strength did you use when you fought me back then?" Kakuzu could not help asking.
He knew very well that Sōsuke was not a reckless person. Since he agreed, it meant he felt his life was safe, or perhaps even that he could win.
"If you calculate based on my current strength, less than twenty percent, I would say," Mugetsu thought for a moment and said.
When he fought Kakuzu, his chakra reserves had only been just over one hundred thousand. Now, his chakra reserves had already exceeded two million, and he had a group of highly proficient and powerful skills.
"Less than twenty percent?!" Kakuzu's mouth twitched.
Less than twenty percent, and a single Fire Release technique had instantly taken four of his lives.
Kakuzu was completely relieved.
Hiruzen had truly kicked an iron plate by provoking Sōsuke.
After returning to the meeting room, Kakuzu gave a crisp reply.
"Our Leader also greatly admires the Third Hokage and wishes to fight him."
At this point, the negotiations came to an end. Orochimaru and his team also needed to contact Konoha, report the progress, and await further instructions.
Although the condition had been set, their mission was not complete until the details were finalized, such as the location of the duel.
After the meeting, Nagato returned to Sasori's laboratory.
"Since your Ninshū is about to be finished, why don't we discuss this? I'll help you assassinate some Konoha jonin, and you release me early. Anyway, there isn't much of my sentence left," Sasori said, putting down his tools when Nagato returned.
Initially, his sentence had been ten years. However, because of his prosthetic limb technology and good behavior, he now had only a little over a year left.
"Who told you our Ninshū is about to be finished?" Nagato asked sternly.
"You're about to go to war with Konoha, and you're not finished?" Sasori retorted.
"You might not know how strong Konoha is. Even Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, was repeatedly defeated in its war with Konoha. Can your small force of only a few hundred ninja stop Konoha? There is a limit to naivety."
"Your best outcome is for everyone to scatter and run. Anyway, there are few of you, so Konoha probably wouldn't waste too much effort searching for you across the Ninja World."
Nagato shook his head and placed his hand on Sasori's shoulder.
"Don't worry. With Sōsuke sensei here, everything will be fine."
Although Sasori had not asked for early release because he wanted to run away, Nagato could see that Sasori was worried.
Both of their parents had died at the hands of Konoha ninja, but there were some differences. Sasori's parents had been killed by Konoha ninja on the battlefield.
So it was normal for Sasori to have lingering trauma from wars involving Konoha ninja.
"Worried? I'm only worried about whether Sōsuke left any hidden Fuinjutsu on my body," Sasori denied.
Because of his good performance and the needs of the experiments, Sōsuke had removed the Fuinjutsu on him.
However, Sōsuke's Fuinjutsu skill was too profound, and Sasori did not know whether Sōsuke had completely removed the seal.
Seeing that Sasori was still being stubborn, Nagato did not say much.
He was two months older than Sasori, so he should be more accommodating.
…
Konoha, Uchiha Clan Compound.
After dinner, Shisui went directly to Uchiha Fugaku's house.
These past few days, he had been thinking about how to better complete the mission Mugetsu had given him.
He was not like Obito, who had few friends within the Uchiha Clan, but among the Uchiha Shisui knew, there were not many who met Mugetsu's requirements.
Mugetsu needed Uchiha ninja who could handle high level missions.
Logically speaking, Fugaku, as the head of the Uchiha Clan, would naturally be very clear about the ninja within the clan.
However, in Shisui's opinion, Fugaku was also one of those Uchiha who did not care much about outsiders. Directly following Fugaku's advice might lead to problems, so Shisui had already prepared a backup plan before going to see him.
When Shisui arrived, Fugaku's family had just finished dinner, and the whole family was chatting in the yard.
Seeing Shisui arrive, Fugaku's face broke into a smile.
"Good evening, Shisui niisan," Itachi also greeted Shisui proactively.
"Mm, good evening," Shisui responded with a smile. Then he looked at Fugaku and asked, "Uncle Fugaku, are you free now? I have something to discuss."
Fugaku nodded and led Shisui to the study.
"It's like this. Recently, there have been many high quality requests in the Village, and coupled with the loss of some ninja in the war, Teacher Mugetsu had an idea…"
Shisui relayed Mugetsu's words to Fugaku.
Even if Shisui did not need to find Uchiha with suitable personalities, he would still have had to come to Fugaku.
Fugaku was the captain of the Police Force, and to mobilize a large number of Police Force jonin, discussing it with Fugaku first was only proper.
"That's a bit difficult," Fugaku said, a troubled expression appearing on his face.
"Most of the capable clan members hold important positions in the Police Force. If they are suddenly asked to give up their current positions and perform missions, I'm afraid most of them will be unwilling," Fugaku explained.
Although he did not think separating the Police Force from the Uchiha was that important, if it came down to it, he would definitely side with Shisui.
With Shisui's ability, barring any accidents, he would become the new leader of the Uchiha Clan in the future. If Shisui was not allowed to implement his ideas now, he might become more radical later. At least for now, Fugaku could still help keep an eye on things.
"Mugetsu's idea is beneficial to both the Village and the Uchiha, but pushing reform forward is already a forceful process. If we also ask the clan's jonin to give up their positions, there will be strong opposition within the clan."
If Shisui had not displayed his formidable strength and won the gamble, the Police Force reform would have been difficult to pass at the clan meeting.
"Then we won't strip them of their original positions. They will only temporarily leave their posts for a few years of training," Shisui began explaining his idea.
He had already considered Fugaku's concerns and thought of countermeasures.
Before Hiruzen agreed to the Police Force reform, the Uchiha could not even escape from the Police Force.
This was because it had been an order from the Second Hokage. The Police Force was to be entirely managed by the Uchiha Clan.
In other words, all positions in the Police Force had to be filled by Uchiha ninja. As a large department, the Police Force required a lot of manpower.
Even if some Uchiha initially did not want to work in the Police Force, they had to join in order to fill the positions.
It was just that now the Uchiha had grown used to the Police Force. Coupled with the Police Force's nominally great authority, this had led to the current situation.
Shisui felt that if some people were given the opportunity to take on high quality missions, they might not want to return to the Police Force after a few years.
Performing missions was far more profitable than earning a fixed salary in the Police Force. The reward for one A Rank mission was significantly higher than a month's salary in the Police Force.
"Also, we can organize events where Obito and I talk about the benefits of going out on missions for strength growth," Shisui continued.
As an Uchiha, Shisui felt that traditional Uchiha were actually easy to understand.
In essence, there were two aspects. They cared about reputation, and they pursued strength.
If earning money for Konoha by performing missions was reframed as going out to train for strength growth, Shisui imagined many Uchiha would be interested.
"That does seem highly feasible."
Fugaku thought carefully and had to admit that Shisui's idea struck the key points of Uchiha ninja.
After the Great War, Shisui and Obito's reputations had grown even more. If both of them came out and said that performing missions was more beneficial for strength growth, all Uchiha would believe it.
Shisui and Obito had indeed never joined the Police Force and had always been taking requested missions.
"Besides some information on the clan's jonin, I also need to trouble you to distribute this survey questionnaire to all Uchiha ninja," Shisui said, taking out a questionnaire he had written and placing it on the table.
This was his supplementary plan.
Based on Fugaku's information, combined with the Uchiha's answers to various questions, he would conduct a comprehensive evaluation and ultimately select suitable candidates.
"This is truly humbling, Shisui. You can still think so much for the clan even while training," Fugaku could not help praising him.
This was also why Fugaku sometimes supported Shisui even when he did not fully agree with his ideas.
Shisui genuinely wanted to lead the Uchiha toward a better future, regardless of personal gain.
"It's a pity the last Great War was too sudden and too intense. Otherwise, I could have taken Itachi there to let him witness your performance on the battlefield."
Shisui frowned slightly.
He did not understand what Fugaku was thinking.
How old was Itachi?
Even if Fugaku protected Itachi and prevented anything from happening to him, the brutality of war could still leave unpredictable effects on Itachi.
However, Fugaku was Itachi's father after all, so Shisui did not say much. He simply changed his plans quietly and spent some time with Itachi in the yard after finishing his conversation with Fugaku.
Shisui had already silently rated Fugaku's parenting ability as unreliable.
He even wondered if Itachi's extremism to the point of clan annihilation in later generations was because Fugaku had given Itachi too much psychological trauma, leading to personality problems.
Shisui decided to observe carefully. If Fugaku acted up again, he would increase his intervention to prevent Itachi from being led astray by him.
After leaving Fugaku's house, Shisui did not go home. Instead, he went to Mugetsu's place to report the mission's progress and ask Mugetsu to help identify any gaps.
"Well done. The fact that you could think of these things shows that you've made significant progress," Mugetsu said, quite satisfied with Shisui's performance.
Compared to before, Shisui's thinking was much more flexible now, and he also knew better how to use the advantages he had at his disposal.
Receiving Mugetsu's affirmation, Shisui's confidence grew even stronger.
He wanted to protect his sensei, and he also wanted to protect his clan.
After Shisui left, Mugetsu continued studying Breathing Techniques until it was time to sleep. Then the system suddenly popped up a message.
[Disciple Might Guy's strength has increased, and his reputation has risen. He has made progress on the path to becoming the strongest in Taijutsu.]
[Progress reward: Medium Constitution Boost, Self Selected Draw Scroll Fragment · S+ Mastery Level, Taijutsu Insight Boost.]
The third draw fragment had arrived.
....
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