Chapter 506: Intelligence Jiraiya
Whoosh!
Kakashi's blade, wrapped in yellow lightning, stabbed into the red, fleshy wall. He expected it to split easily, but reality was brutal.
The defense in front of him was tougher than steel. Worse, a strange force clamped down on the White Fang short blade and jammed it in place.
Kakashi could not cut through.
He also could not pull his sword back out.
Without hesitation, he tried to abandon the White Fang short blade and retreat. But several tentacles shot out of the fleshy wall and wrapped around him, binding his limbs and pinning him tight. Then the flesh beneath him churned and shifted, dragging him inward.
Rin rushed to help, only to get caught off guard by Jiraiya's shadow clone and defeated in a clean exchange.
"Tsk. No wonder you earned the title Lightning Fang at this age." Jiraiya glanced at the faintly exposed tip of Kakashi's lightning blade and nodded in approval. "Your sharpness is even greater than White Fang's was when he was young."
Being able to pierce the stomach and intestines of a giant rock toad's belly trap meant Kakashi's offense was terrifying. Ordinary defensive ninjutsu would not have been able to stop that strike at all.
Kakashi blinked, surprised. He had not expected Jiraiya to know the title he earned on the East Bank battlefield.
"Haha. Don't underestimate my intelligence gathering," Jiraiya laughed when he saw Kakashi's expression.
After all, Kakashi and Obito were Minato's disciples. Of course he paid attention.
"I still have a long way to go before I can catch up to my father," Kakashi said, shaking his head.
His output was strong, yes, but combat was not one trick. And his power came with a cost. His endurance was still lacking.
Jiraiya patted Kakashi's head with a big palm. "Why do you and Minato and Mugetsu all learn the same bad habit? What is it with being humble about strength you built with your own hands?"
If Jiraiya had Kakashi's current strength and reputation at eleven, he would have used Wind Release to make a breeze follow him wherever he walked. Orochimaru would have to detour around him. If a dog on the roadside barked, he would kick it on principle.
With that, Jiraiya released the Summoning Technique. The red, fleshy wall vanished quickly, the tentacles dissolving with it.
There was no referee, but it was obvious the battle was over.
Obito had collapsed from exhaustion. Rin had been defeated by a shadow clone. Kakashi had effectively lost his ability to keep fighting.
"Considering your ages, that was not bad," Jiraiya said. Then he pointed at Obito. "But goggles brat, if you want to sign a contract with Mount Myoboku, you still need to work harder."
In truth, their performance exceeded his expectations.
As a unit, their combat power was already enough to complete certain important S rank missions. Kakashi was especially outstanding. His discipline and raw strength were far beyond an ordinary jonin.
If Jiraiya graded them, he would give them ninety eight points out of a hundred.
The two points he deducted were for Obito's mischief.
Of course, Jiraiya was not refusing Obito the contract because he felt offended. He was not that petty.
The real reason was a problem he noticed during the fight.
Poor sustained combat ability.
Obito's Fire Release power changed drastically before and after entering Flame Breathing Chakra Mode. Jiraiya guessed Obito had a secret technique that boosted his abilities, somewhat similar in nature to Sage Mode.
Techniques like that usually demanded absurd chakra. Even Sage Mode required a powerful chakra base just to qualify.
Because Obito's chakra was not yet enough, he could not maintain that state for long. And Summoning Techniques required huge chakra if you wanted to summon a truly powerful ninja beast.
So letting Obito sign with Mount Myoboku right now would be meaningless, which was why Jiraiya told him to keep working.
Obito only needed to grow and raise his chakra reserves. Once that happened, the problem would solve itself, and the Mount Myoboku blood contract would naturally become useful.
"If I don't sign, I don't sign," Obito pouted, acting like he did not care. "In the future, the Fire Dragon will definitely be stronger than those toads."
What attracted him was not the toads. It was the Sage Mode Jiraiya mentioned.
"Goggles brat, you sure are arrogant." Jiraiya asked a question even though he already knew the answer. "Kakashi earned the title Lightning Fang on the battlefield. What title do you have?"
Obito's face darkened. He stayed silent.
He was furious about it too.
Those Hidden Mist ninjas had zero vision. They failed to see the terrifying potential sealed inside his body.
Jiraiya stroked his chin and put on a serious face. "How about I, the legendary Sannin, give you one? Konoha's Fading Fire. You collapsed after throwing a few Fire Release, so you are a bit weak."
Obito's face flushed red.
If he had not run out of chakra, he would have activated Flame Breathing Chakra Mode on the spot and slammed Jiraiya with a Fire Release: Iron Mountain Impact.
"Naturally evil white haired old ghost," Obito roared inside, grievance boiling. "When I get stronger, I will definitely make you pay!"
Still, Jiraiya's words accidentally reminded Obito of a perfect place to earn a cool title.
Hanzo.
Everyone knew the title Sannin was granted to Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru after their battle against Hanzo in the Second Shinobi World War.
And more recently, Ninja Master Sosuke rose to fame and prestige by repelling Hanzo.
From this, Obito reached an obvious conclusion.
Fighting Hanzo meant fame.
Fame meant a cool title.
If he went to fight Hanzo and won, that meant surpassing the Sannin, because even the Sannin could not defeat Hanzo back then.
Obito could not stop himself from fantasizing.
Then Jiraiya suddenly bowed to him with exaggerated solemnity.
"Fire God Obito, I was wrong to doubt you with my toad like vision. Please, you must teach me the powerful Fire Release that defeated Hanzo."
If Jiraiya sounded sincere enough, Obito might even consider teaching him.
"Goggles brat," Jiraiya said with a chuckle, patting Obito's shoulder. "You are so weak you can't even cook. But since you have such a thoughtful heart, I'll leave the vegetable washing to you."
Obito's face went blank.
At that time, he would definitely only teach Jiraiya one thing.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
In the end, the cooking duty fell to Mugetsu, who stepped forward voluntarily. No one objected.
That night, after eating, Obito began training around the camp.
"Training hard is good," Kakashi said, "but there might be major combat missions soon. You'll be exhausted if you overdo it now."
As an elite unit, if Minato's plan succeeded, they would definitely be assigned important combat missions. That was the real reason the higher ups brought them to the battlefield.
"This is the difference between us, Kakashi," Obito replied with forced calm. "You can only see potential missions and internal battles months from now, while I'm already thinking about how to defeat the demigod Hanzo."
Kakashi: ???
Jiraiya did not hit Obito in the head, so why did Obito's brain sound like it had been caught in a door?
Kakashi cautiously pulled out Obito's photo and waved it in front of Obito's eyes.
Obito instantly lost all composure and lunged for it with both hands.
But Kakashi had activated Transparent World in advance. Every twitch was obvious. He sidestepped, retreated, and Obito nearly stumbled past him.
"It seems he's generally normal," Kakashi said in relief, putting the photo back into his ninja tool pouch.
Obito: ...
He hated white hair.
...
Days passed, and Konoha's plan moved forward in an orderly fashion.
On one side, they had Hidden Grass ninjas closely monitor Iwagakure. On the other, they fabricated a failed intelligence operation that "accidentally" leaked the location of a crucial stronghold.
But the outcome still exceeded the expectations of Jiraiya and the other high ranking members of the force.
"Iwagakure really isn't easy to deal with," Minato said with a frown as he read the report from the Hidden Grass ninjas.
For some unknown reason, Iwagakure had suddenly discovered the Hidden Grass defection. After ambushing the Land of Grass ninja force, they vanished without a trace.
"It's not that your plan was flawed, Minato," Jiraiya said, setting the report down and shaking his head. "And it's not that Iwagakure is overwhelmingly capable. It's that the Hidden Grass ninjas are lacking."
Konoha barely even made a move. It was obvious the Hidden Grass side messed up.
Then Jiraiya looked at Mugetsu. "Mugetsu, you agree, right?"
Mugetsu nodded. This was not Minato's fault.
After rereading the report carefully, Mugetsu felt a faint anomaly. The whole incident gave him a strange sense of deja vu.
During the final battle on the East Bank battlefield, Konoha had also suffered a crushing defeat in intelligence for no clear reason. If Hidden Mist had not underestimated Mugetsu's strength, Konoha would have taken a far heavier blow.
If Iwagakure had not chosen to turn on Hidden Grass immediately, but instead pretended not to notice and fed Konoha false intelligence to set up an ambush, the Land of Grass battlefield could have turned into the same trap as the East Bank battlefield.
Of course, from Iwagakure's actual decision, Mugetsu could tell they knew he had arrived with an elite unit. They did not want to gamble.
If it had been Kumogakure instead, Mugetsu suspected they would already be fighting openly. With an advantage in intelligence, Kumogakure did not lack the nerve to wager everything.
"Since we've been exposed," Jiraiya said after thinking, "then let the Land of Grass force fight for us openly. Tell them to search for Iwagakure with everything they've got."
With Hidden Grass strength, Jiraiya did not expect much impact on the front lines. He just wanted them to help Konoha build a wider intelligence net so he could crush Iwagakure and get off duty sooner.
For someone like Jiraiya who was used to traveling, staying on a battlefield for too long was genuinely boring.
"This is the only way for now," Minato said, unable to think of a better solution.
If they could not use intelligence gaps to bait the enemy, then it returned to the old method.
A direct comparison of strength.
And compared to before, Iwagakure had lost Hidden Grass support, while Konoha gained full Hidden Grass cooperation. That shift meant Konoha was making a small profit overall.
Jiraiya sent the updated report to the higher ups and began rearranging the battle plan.
Now that they held an advantage, they should take the initiative as much as possible and steadily grind down Iwagakure's strength.
He sent sensory ninjas to sweep for traces, and dispatched elite squads to strike any location with confirmed Iwagakure activity.
For a time, the Konoha forces held absolute dominance across the Land of Grass.
The Konoha ninjas were fired up, as if they could already see another great victory ahead.
But only Jiraiya and the others understood the truth.
This dominance was an illusion.
The Iwa force had not lost much strength at all.
Iwagakure was simply avoiding direct confrontation.
When the intelligence reached Konoha, the high ranking officials quickly held a meeting to discuss countermeasures.
Hidden Mist, which had once invaded the Land of Fire aggressively, had fallen silent. Kumogakure was busy fighting Sunagakure and did not spend much strength on Konoha. At the moment, Iwagakure was the major village clashing most intensely with Konoha, so the Land of Grass battlefield was treated as a priority.
"Since Iwagakure is afraid to fight, force them to fight," Danzo spoke first. "Have Jiraiya lead the army and assault the Iwagakure border, then point directly at their village. Can they really abandon their own village?"
He believed it was the best plan. It would force the Iwa force to engage and also display Konoha's might.
As the war progressed, Konoha had never proactively invaded a great nation. They had stayed defensive. Danzo believed that was bad for Konoha's reputation.
Thump. Thump.
Hiruzen sat with a thoughtful expression, his right index finger tapping lightly against the conference table.
Danzo's plan was aggressive, but with Konoha's current strength in the Land of Grass, it was not impossible to push into the Land of Earth.
At the moment, Konoha had over eighteen hundred ninjas in the Land of Grass. They had Jiraiya, Minato, and Mugetsu, as well as elite jonin like Shibi and Kosuke. It was the strongest force Konoha had assembled in years.
"It's too aggressive," Hiruzen said at last, shaking his head.
"The Land of Earth is filled with rocky mountains. Easy to defend, difficult to attack. Once our troops push in and their supply line is cut, they'll fall into an abyss." Hiruzen continued, voice steady. "And from what I know of Onoki, Iwagakure has more strength than what they're showing."
Hiruzen was only a few years younger than Onoki. The Onoki he remembered was cunning and sharp. An old fox like that would never expose his full hand so easily.
"How do we know Onoki isn't bluffing if we don't force a battle?" Danzo countered.
He truly felt Hiruzen had softened with age. If it were Hiruzen from ten years ago, he would have approved the plan.
They had made Hidden Mist scatter in fear. Why could they not strike Iwagakure just as hard?
"Instead of gambling that the enemy is as weak as you imagine," Hiruzen replied, "it's better to stabilize the situation and strengthen ourselves."
"Kushina has gradually become familiar with the Nine Tails. In at most a year, she can take the field as a jinchuriki."
Danzo fell silent for a moment.
Hiruzen's point carried weight.
If Kushina could deploy as a jinchuriki, it would be a major boost.
A tailed beast ball was more terrifying than dozens of jonin combining a large scale technique. It was a devastating weapon in mass warfare.
"Then what do we do now?" Danzo asked, unable to find a clean rebuttal. "Just keep dragging it out with Iwagakure?"
"Maintaining the status quo is the best choice," Hiruzen said with a nod.
Konoha was not suffering losses. They had weakened Iwagakure and gained benefits through the Land of Grass alliance.
"In that case," Homura said after thinking, "why not end Mugetsu's squad mission and recall them to Konoha?"
The initial reason for sending Mugetsu was to solve the Hidden Grass problem and help create an advantage. Now that the Hidden Grass issue was resolved and a major battle seemed unlikely, keeping Mugetsu on the Land of Grass front was a waste of combat power.
Mugetsu could handle teaching tasks in Konoha. He could complete high commission S rank missions. And if anything unexpected happened, he could be deployed as support immediately.
Homura's proposal was approved by everyone.
Danzo needed Mugetsu to keep helping train Wood Release ninjas.
Hiruzen wanted Mugetsu to plan the third phase of ANBU training.
As for Koharu, with everyone agreeing, she saw no reason to refuse.
...
After receiving the order, Mugetsu said goodbye to Jiraiya and Minato and prepared to lead the squad back to Konoha.
This result was within his expectations.
In a sense, his strategic significance surpassed even Jiraiya's.
"Ah, we're going back so soon?" Obito asked in surprise. He had been mentally prepared for long term battlefield life.
He thought it would be like the East Bank battlefield, where they would not return until they defeated the Iwa force.
"Mmm. The higher ups' arrangement," Mugetsu answered simply.
"That's good too." Obito scratched his head. "I haven't seen Fire Dragon in a while. I wonder how Grandma's feeding it."
Leaving was a good thing. At least for now, he would only have to deal with one naturally evil white haired person.
"Teacher Mugetsu," Obito asked, unable to hold it in, "when can I learn the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
He thought about Kakashi activating Lightning Release Chakra Mode during this mission, then thought about himself.
Compared to inferior Fire Release, Space Time Ninjutsu was obviously a noble existence.
Only two people in all of Konoha had mastered Flying Thunder God. Minato and Mugetsu. They carried the titles Yellow Flash and Raging Sun Mugetsu, the two most famous young powerhouses in the village.
If he mastered Flying Thunder God, then no matter how strong Kakashi's slashes were, they would be meaningless.
Because Kakashi could not hit him.
"It depends on your situation," Mugetsu replied after appraising Obito's panel. "If you're fast, it should be possible in a year."
[Name: Uchiha Obito]
[Chakra: 16000]
[Skills: Flame Breathing Chakra Mode; Fire Release nature transformation (Mastery: 150/15000); Flame Breathing (Mastery: 250/15000); Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique (Mastery: 20/15000); ...]
With Obito's current chakra, spending a long time on Flying Thunder God would be a waste, because he did not have enough chakra to actually use it freely in combat.
If he trained hard for a year and pushed his chakra beyond twenty thousand, and learned to be more frugal, then he could barely weave Flying Thunder God into his fighting habits.
Obito understood immediately.
He needed to train harder.
"But in a year, there will be two internal battles." Obito scratched his ears and cheeks, wishing he could fast forward to next year.
Facing Kakashi's No Thought Strike, amplified by Transparent World and Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Obito felt like his Fire Release made him look primitive.
"Teacher Mugetsu," Shisui asked, "do you think it's appropriate for me to start training Lightning Release nature transformation now?"
He did not want to learn No Thought Strike. He wanted another element to improve his adaptability.
"My suggestion is to dig deeper into Armament Haki," Mugetsu replied.
Shisui's Yin Release talent was remarkable. In Mugetsu's plan, if Shisui urgently wanted to raise his combat ability, Armament Haki was an excellent choice.
It was not flashy like No Thought Strike, but if Armament Haki became strong enough, it could potentially block both Golden Skyline and No Thought Strike.
"Also," Mugetsu added, patting Shisui's head, "whether it's a training problem or a life problem, you can come to me without any burden."
The rewards from disciple return were too random. If he wanted skills that matched a disciple, life missions were the best route.
Because Shisui's life mission progress lagged behind the others, Mugetsu did not yet have a powerful skill that fit Shisui perfectly.
Shisui nodded with quiet gratitude.
Mugetsu had already done so much, but Shisui could still feel the care in every detail.
"I must change the future," Shisui repeated silently.
He had said it thousands of times in his mind. It was never too many.
It involved the safety of the person he cared about most.
And Shisui could tell the future had already changed.
Based on Kakashi and the others' accounts, Yamato, who traveled from Rouran, did not recognize Mugetsu. He even mistook him for Minato.
But now Yamato had become Mugetsu's disciple.
If history had developed normally, then Yamato would never have failed to recognize Mugetsu. That meant history was shifting, and the new future was unknown.
All Shisui could do was survive in this new future, together with Mugetsu and the other disciples.
After leaving the camp, Mugetsu led the squad back through Hidden Grass, picked up Hana Uzumaki, and brought her along to Konoha.
Because Hana had not undergone shinobi training, their pace was slower than when they came.
For Obito, slow had its advantages.
He could see more scenery and take more photos as souvenirs.
His only regret was that Rin always dragged Kakashi along, instead of just the two of them enjoying the road together.
"This is Konoha..." Hana looked up at the towering wooden gates and then at the calm faces of the people passing by. It was hard to imagine this village was in the middle of a war.
In her blurry childhood memories, once the Land of Whirlpools was dragged into war, the entire country became heavy. Even the most mischievous children became quiet under that atmosphere.
"That's right," Obito said proudly. "This is Konoha, the strongest and safest village!"
"Of course, this isn't Konoha's limit yet. With me here, Konoha will definitely become even more prosperous."
Kakashi felt speechless. If Obito truly became Hokage, Kakashi would only feel Konoha was doomed.
"And us!" Kotetsu and Izumo, on guard duty at the gate, heard Obito's words and instantly got excited, shouting along.
Hearing the familiar voices, Obito finally noticed two juniors he recognized.
"Teacher Mugetsu, Shisui, Obito senpai, long time no see," Kotetsu greeted.
Mugetsu nodded back. He had noticed Kotetsu, Izumo, and Anko crouched behind them earlier. He had just been wondering why they were guarding the gate.
This was not a post someone could guard just because they felt like it.
Gate duty was a D rank mission or higher. According to regulations, these three should not have been qualified yet.
Shisui and Obito also greeted them.
"You guys just finished a mission too? What a coincidence." Obito looked at their headbands with a hint of nostalgia.
The first year juniors he had once guided had all graduated and become shinobi.
Izumo looked awkward. "Uh, we're currently on a mission."
Obito blinked, confused.
Kotetsu and Izumo stepped aside in perfect sync, revealing Anko crouched behind them with her head in her hands, muttering, "Can't see me."
Feeling everyone's gaze, Anko coughed twice and stood up, wearing a fake smile that even a toddler could see through.
"Hey, what a coincidence. Teacher Mugetsu, you guys just finished a mission too. I have something to do, so I'll be leaving first."
She tried to slip away.
Kotetsu and Izumo extended merciless iron hands and yanked her back.
"If it weren't for you, Anko," Kotetsu said bluntly, "being unreasonable and demanding higher level missions and annoying Sandaime sama, how would we get assigned to guard the main gate?"
Anko could even beat some chunin instructors, so of course she could not stand D rank missions that were basically odd jobs.
And when she caused a scene at the mission office, Hiruzen happened to pass by and immediately assigned them a high B rank mission.
Guard the main gate.
It bored them to death. They had to stand there and endure everyone's stares all day.
"What do you mean?" Anko snapped, trying to salvage her image in Mugetsu's eyes. "It must be your previous bad performance that Sandaime sama remembered. This is your punishment!"
She truly felt she was being dragged down by Kotetsu and Izumo.
Hiruzen inspected them several times, and those two were always fooling around. One time, they even used Sexy Jutsu on Hiruzen.
"There was no bad performance," Izumo argued. "It must be your unreasonable behavior that caused this."
Obito could not hold back his laughter.
What a comedy troupe.
How did these three juniors end up as a team like this?
"From my experience," Kakashi said, "this should count as a good thing."
He had graduated early and was not that familiar with them, but since they were Mugetsu's students, he did not mind helping.
"For genin who just graduated like you, guarding the main gate is already a high level mission." Kakashi looked at them. "Your academy grades weren't bad, right?"
"Of course!" Izumo answered instantly. "I got first in theory!"
He and Shisui both got perfect scores. Being tied for first still counted.
"I got first in practical combat!" Anko puffed out her chest. Then she noticed Shisui and lowered her head a little. "First in all three semesters of third year."
Kotetsu scratched his hair. "I often got into the top two."
"Maybe Sandaime sama wants to train you," Kakashi analyzed. "It's rare to get an opportunity like this right after graduation."
There was some comfort in his words, but it was not empty comfort. Ordinary genin did not get gate duty.
Izumo and Kotetsu lit up.
If Kakashi Hatake, the legendary academy genius, said it, then it must be true.
"Izumo, what do you think comes next?"
"Gate duty is training. After training comes responsibility." Izumo's eyes shone. "It should be serving as the Hokage's guard!"
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
These two did not even need comfort. They were so optimistic he did not know what to say.
"When I become Hokage, I'll pick you two as my Shadow Guards," Obito declared grandly.
"Obito nii, really?" Kotetsu's eyes lit up so hard it was almost painful. He immediately started treating Obito like an older brother. If Obito told him pressing a button would make him a Shadow Guard, Kotetsu would press it until it exploded.
In his opinion, a genius like Obito really could become Hokage.
"How could I lie?" Obito patted his chest. "Don't I know your abilities? Hokage Guards are more than enough."
Even if Obito did not fully trust their ability, he trusted Mugetsu's. They were outstanding students from Mugetsu's class.
Kotetsu and Izumo were both ecstatic, declaring that from today on, Obito was their older brother.
Kakashi looked at Anko with pity.
Being on a team with those two was almost like having two Obitos.
"Obito nii, I'll be the Dango Department head!" Anko declared, joining the group.
Obito paused. "What's the Dango Department?"
He had truly never heard of such a department in Konoha.
"A department where everyone has to buy the head a dango every day," Anko answered instantly.
Kakashi: ...
He should pity the team leader.
These were three Obitos.
Anko's shamelessness made Hana laugh softly, and she found herself looking forward to her life in Konoha.
A village that produced such ridiculous, cute ninjas probably would not be too bad.
After entering Konoha, Mugetsu disbanded the squad.
His disciples went together to the southern forest without needing to discuss it.
Kakashi needed to become more familiar with No Thought Strike, and strengthen his body to solve his chakra weakness. If possible, he did not want to collapse after a single slash.
Obito was also burning with motivation. Watching Kakashi break through made him uncomfortable. He had to become stronger too.
Strength was not optional for Shisui, who wanted to change the future. He planned to follow Mugetsu's plan and focus most of his effort on Armament Haki.
With his companions full of fighting spirit, Rin also wanted to become stronger so she could support them more.
After leaving them, Mugetsu took Hana to handle the procedures needed for living in Konoha.
Mugetsu had influence now, so everything went smoothly and quickly.
Because Hana was a surviving Uzumaki, Mugetsu also helped her apply for subsidies, including free housing and a living allowance.
The house was in the main district.
The allowance was eighty thousand ryo per month, enough for Hana to live normally in Konoha.
Mugetsu's efficiency left Hana stunned.
All along, she had been worrying about whether she would have to sleep on a park bench, or under a bridge.
Instead, Mugetsu solved her entire life in a single afternoon.
After handling the miscellaneous matters, Mugetsu took Hana to meet the person she had been curious about the entire way.
Uzumaki Kushina.
.....
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