Chapter 563: New S Rank Skills
[Name: Uchiha Shisui]
[Life Mission: Uchiha and Konoha]
[Main Goal: Eliminate the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha, allowing the Uchiha Clan to integrate into Konoha]
[Mission Progress: 30.8%]
Although Shisui's Life Mission progress was still the lowest among all of Mugetsu's disciples, it was far better than before.
When Obito and Guy's Life Mission progress had already broken past forty percent, Shisui had still been stuck in the teens. The gap between them had been enormous.
Now, although he still lagged behind the others, the distance had closed considerably.
Mugetsu then turned his attention to the specific settlement rewards. This time, the increase in progress had been large enough to trigger two settlements at once.
[Disciple Uchiha Shisui's strength has increased, his reputation has risen, and his influence within the clan has grown. He has taken a small step toward resolving the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha. Reward received: Chakra +1400, Ninjutsu Extraction Scroll · S [Mastery Level], Dance of the Crescent Moon [Mastery Level]]
[Disciple Uchiha Shisui's strength has increased, and he has advanced the reform of the Police Force. He has taken a small step toward resolving the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha. Reward received: Chakra +1500, Yin Release Skill Extraction Scroll · S [Mastery Level], Yin Release Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll]
The reward level was consistent with what his other disciples received at the same progress tier, while the specific rewards were clearly tailored to Shisui's strengths.
That was also why Mugetsu always did his best to help his disciples advance their Life Missions.
Rewards gained from other sources had a high degree of randomness, but Life Mission rewards were not only high quality, they also matched the disciple's specialties. Other than being difficult to obtain, they had virtually no downside.
The base Chakra reward from the two settlements alone totaled 2,900, roughly equivalent to the full Chakra reserves of a Ninja Academy teacher. It was the kind of resource Mugetsu could never have too much of.
There were also two S rank extraction scrolls, one general and one specifically for Yin Release.
The Ninjutsu reward was Dance of the Crescent Moon, an A rank genjutsu. Among the native genjutsu of the Ninja World, it counted as a relatively practical and powerful one. The other reward was a Yin Release Mastery Scroll, which would allow him to allocate its points as he wished.
After confirming all of the rewards, Mugetsu washed his hands as usual and silently offered prayers to every god and buddha he could think of before beginning the draw.
After all, these were two S rank extraction scrolls. The ritual had to be done.
He decided to use the ordinary S rank extraction scroll first. With a thought, he activated the scroll and chose to draw. A large roulette wheel immediately appeared before his eyes.
[Ninjutsu Extraction Scroll · S has been consumed. Skill obtained: Ice Age [Mastery Level]]
As the rapidly spinning pointer came to a stop in a blue section, a flood of training memories poured into Mugetsu's mind.
"Aokiji's ultimate move, huh? Not bad," Mugetsu thought, identifying the skill's origin from its name and the memories attached to it.
Ice Age was the strongest technique of Aokiji, one of the Three Admirals from the One Piece world. When used at full power, it could freeze an island solid, and without outside interference, the ice would not melt for a very long time. It was undeniably a powerful offensive skill.
Moreover, Mugetsu's own Ice Release proficiency was already not low, having long since reached the Mastery Level.
Once he finished sorting through the training memories in his head, Mugetsu checked his Ice Release proficiency and found that it had risen even further than before.
Powerful skills could drive the growth of Chakra Nature Transformation. Mugetsu had known that for a long time. When he had extracted One Thought Strike before, it had also greatly increased his Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation proficiency.
Although Mugetsu was not lacking in strong Ninjutsu, a powerful Bloodline Limit skill could still add more variety to his arsenal.
He then turned his attention to the Yin Release S rank extraction scroll.
[Yin Release Skill Extraction Scroll · S [Mastery Level] has been consumed. Skill obtained: Observation Haki [Mastery Level]]
Another enormous wave of training memories surged into his mind, instantly granting Mugetsu mastery over the localized form of Observation Haki.
Compared to Ice Age, Observation Haki was even more famous. The moment Mugetsu saw the name, he immediately recalled its setting in One Piece.
Of course, knowing the original setting was not especially meaningful, because the system always localized abilities from non Ninja worlds.
After organizing the memories, Mugetsu discovered that the localized Observation Haki was not significantly different from the one in One Piece.
At its core, it still revolved around perception and the prediction of attacks.
The biggest change was that, in the Ninja World, Observation Haki required Chakra to activate.
"Among the sensory Ninjutsu of the Ninja World, this should count as top tier," Mugetsu judged.
He had already tested it. His Mastery Level Observation Haki had a sensory range no smaller than the sensory Ninjutsu he had obtained before.
Its range was large enough to cover all of Konoha, and not just the main urban area. It included the entire village, along with the Forest of Death and the surrounding training grounds.
Like many sensory techniques, Observation Haki could also detect the strength of Chakra, as well as the number and location of enemies.
But beyond its basic sensory uses, it had one major advantage that most ordinary sensory Ninjutsu did not.
It could sense incoming attacks during battle.
Even attacks coming from outside his line of sight could be detected through Observation Haki.
And like Armament Haki, it did not require hand seals. As long as Chakra output was maintained, it could be used continuously in battle.
Mugetsu tested it further. If he did not deliberately pursue the maximum range, the Chakra consumption of ordinary use remained within an acceptable range. If he had to compare it, it consumed less Chakra than an Uchiha using the Sharingan continuously.
If he maintained the maximum range at all times, the consumption became quite high, but under normal circumstances, there was no need to do that.
"Secret Technique: Observation Haki!"
Mugetsu had a Shadow Clone attack him, then gathered a large amount of Chakra, performed Yin Release Nature Transformation, and pushed Observation Haki to its limit.
In One Piece, some masters of Observation Haki could see a short distance into the future. Mugetsu wanted to find out whether the localized version still possessed that same ability.
"Is my proficiency too low, or is there some other condition?" Mugetsu wondered when the attempt ended in failure.
After a moment, he shook his head and gave up for now. Most likely, he would only be able to verify that once his Observation Haki reached the Perfect Level.
In One Piece, only a tiny number of top experts possessed the ability to see the future with Observation Haki.
"I'll teach it to them tomorrow and see how it goes."
Like Armament Haki, Observation Haki was a universal skill. It could be useful to almost anyone who learned it.
Although Shisui and the others had Sharingan, the Sharingan's greatest strength lay in dynamic vision and the ability to capture enemies within the user's field of view. Attacks that came from outside that field could not be detected.
So having the Sharingan did not mean Observation Haki was unnecessary. On the contrary, Observation Haki could perfectly complement the Sharingan by covering its blind spots.
Of course, for Shisui and the others right now, there was a problem.
Chakra consumption.
They already had too many demands on their Chakra. The Breathing Technique Chakra Mode consumed it. The Sharingan consumed it. Powerful Ninjutsu consumed it. And on top of that, they were still young and had not yet entered their true high growth phase.
Still, the current issue was not too serious. They could start learning it casually for now, and by the time they truly needed it later, their Chakra reserves would naturally have improved.
...
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
Tsuchikage Building, Tsuchikage's Office.
"The Konoha forces launched assassination strikes in western Land of Grass." Ōnoki frowned as he read the latest frontline intelligence.
It felt wrong to him. Too aggressive.
It did not quite fit the style of the Konoha force stationed in Land of Grass.
"Could it be that their commander has been replaced?" Ōnoki speculated.
The overall style of a Ninja force was heavily influenced by its commander. An aggressive commander would naturally shape the army into a more aggressive fighting force.
But whether the commander had truly changed was not easy to confirm through intelligence, unless a major battle broke out and the commander was forced to enter the field.
Another possibility would be if their intelligence division achieved a major breakthrough and uncovered direct evidence.
"Go inform the other high ranking officials. Tell them to gather in the conference room," Ōnoki said as he rose from his seat and walked toward the door, addressing the Anbu guarding outside.
The decision to be made next would affect the fundamental strategy he had established for Iwagakure since the beginning of the war, so he had to convene a high level meeting with the elder and advisors present.
"All of you, look through the intelligence first," Ōnoki said once the officials had assembled.
A compiled report had already been placed in front of each seat.
"Regarding the request from the Land of Grass forces, what are your thoughts?" Ōnoki asked after everyone had finished reading.
The conference room remained silent for a moment. No one answered immediately.
Ōnoki was in no hurry. He simply watched them.
"If we send reinforcements to the Land of Grass right now, wouldn't all our previous disguises go to waste?" one long bearded Iwagakure elder finally asked after some thought.
Iwagakure had been enduring and pretending to be weak this whole time, precisely to wait for the right moment to swallow its enemy whole. Clearly, that moment had not yet come.
"Elder Muka, you're being too cautious," a white haired high ranking official said, shaking his head.
"Even the weakest of the Five Great Ninja Villages would not be unable to field a force of a few thousand shinobi. Simply reinforcing the front lines will not overturn everything we've done so far."
He did not believe that sending a modest reinforcement force would have such severe consequences. It was not as if they were dispatching a full scale army to attack multiple villages at once.
"I think Advisor Chouki makes a valid point." A burly high ranking official nodded in agreement.
"As long as we do not send too many shinobi, it should not greatly affect our previous arrangements.
"And if we pull the Land of Grass forces all the way back into Land of Earth, not only will Iwagakure lose face before the entire Ninja World, it will also make our intention to preserve our strength far too obvious."
The commander of the frontline forces had put forward two requests. Either send reinforcements and launch a major battle, or order the forces to withdraw fully into Land of Earth and lure the enemy deeper.
On the surface, it looked like a simple choice between two options.
But for the Iwagakure high command, the final choice was theirs.
They could reject both and order the frontline force to continue as before. They could deny the request and issue entirely new commands. Those were all within their power.
"In that case, preserving the status quo may also be a good option. With Kumogakure and Sunagakure's movements still unclear, and the entire Ninja World full of undercurrents, it would be unwise to expose too much of our strength," Elder Muka said, believing they could simply reject the frontline's request and continue observing the situation.
It might not be the best path, but it would certainly be the safest.
"Muka, you're being overly conservative." Chouki frowned.
"Even the frontline forces themselves are already dissatisfied. If this continues, morale will start to fall."
He found it irritating that a man younger than himself could be so stubbornly cautious.
"Kagami, what do you think?" Ōnoki asked, ignoring the two who had begun arguing and turning instead toward the slightly plump, round faced Iwagakure shinobi seated at the far right, who had not spoken yet.
He was the Jonin Commander of Iwagakure.
In terms of formal rank, the Jonin Commander actually held the lowest position among those in the room.
But Kagami was quick minded, and Ōnoki valued his input during strategic discussions.
"Personally, I think we should send reinforcements this time," Kagami said after a moment of thought.
"On one hand, it will appease the resentment building among the frontline shinobi. On the other, it can further conceal our true strength.
"As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Iwagakure has shown far too little power so far. This may actually make the other villages even more suspicious and cautious of us.
"We should send reinforcements and let the frontline force fight normally. If they can win, then let them win. There is no need to deliberately hold back.
"Once Konoha starts worrying that we may launch a full scale invasion into Land of Fire, they will naturally send a large number of shinobi to the border to oppose us. At that point, we can feign weakness, deliberately suffer a defeat, and preserve our core strength.
"Konoha's reputation for strength is deeply rooted. Since the war began, every one of the Five Great Ninja Villages except Sunagakure, which has not openly declared war, has already suffered losses against Konoha.
"If we win first and lose later, it will not truly damage Iwagakure's reputation."
After hearing Kagami's explanation, Ōnoki instinctively nodded.
If the Iwa force could defeat the Konoha force first, it would have another important effect as well. It would stir up greater offensive desire among the other villages hostile to Konoha.
Twenty minutes later, the high level meeting approved the request to send reinforcements and begin active hostilities at the front.
But the meeting did not end there.
How many reinforcements to send, which shinobi to dispatch, and who would command the force were all decisions too important to be made casually.
When the final decision reached Retsuishi, he could not help but burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha, finally! Now we can strike back! This time, we'll show them the power of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps!" A savage grin spread across Retsuishi's face.
The humiliation of constant retreat, the anger over their fellow villagers being assassinated, and his dream of making Iwagakure great again had all mixed together inside him. He now wanted nothing more than to blow apart the Konoha force to his heart's content.
"For the time being, no one is to launch offensive actions. Once the reinforcements arrive, we'll give them something huge," Retsuishi ordered, quickly convening the Iwagakure jonin and commanding them to consolidate their forces.
There were two reasons for doing so.
First, it would create the illusion that Iwagakure was preparing to retreat.
Second, it would preserve their strength. As Konoha's assassination squads became more active, even Konoha's main force had begun to show unusual movements.
If they were careless and got caught off guard now, losing strength before the decisive battle, it would be a disaster.
"Konoha... Jiraiya... Minato Namikaze..." Retsuishi muttered, clenching his fist tightly.
.....
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