He lowered his head, not daring to look at Karatachi Yagura's face, because he knew that Karatachi Yagura would certainly be very angry now.
"Minazuki Kan disappeared?" Karatachi Yagura looked at the intelligence Hidden Mist with an expressionless face, his tightly clenched fists indicating that his inner emotions were not as calm as they appeared on the surface.
The intelligence Hidden Mist nodded, "There are traces of Lord Kan's Ice Release on the battlefield, with large amounts of fragmented ice on the ground."
Karatachi Yagura held his face tense and let the intelligence Hidden Mist retreat.
"Minazuki Kan, you're a useless trash who can't accomplish anything!" Karatachi Yagura cursed internally, unable to hold back.
A disappearance was just a nicer way to put it; there were only two possibilities for disappearing on the battlefield: the first was deserting as a traitor, and the second was being killed or captured by the enemy.
Given Minazuki Kan's status, he certainly wouldn't defect; he was the clan leader of the ninja clan and one of the vested interests in the ninja village, with no reason whatsoever to defect.
Since it wasn't defection, then he was either killed or captured. With Minazuki Kan's strength, he shouldn't have been taken alive, so in Karatachi Yagura's mind, Minazuki Kan was already dead.
Karatachi Yagura found it hard to hold back because it was not just Minazuki Kan who had died; five members of the Seven-Swords Ninja had also fallen.
Five out of the Seven-Swords Ninja were gone, leaving just two, which basically rendered them obsolete, only usable as somewhat stronger Jonin.
The death of Minazuki Kan, coupled with the now nominally existent Seven-Swords Ninja, meant they had suddenly lost two major cards.
"This is very disadvantageous for us. Who on earth is the ninja that killed Minazuki Kan? Does Konoha have a powerful Ice Release user?" Karatachi Yagura's expression turned gloomy.
He now wished he could resurrect Minazuki Kan and beat him, and also wished he could just send away the remaining Biwa Juzo and Kuriarare Kushimaru so that the Seven-Swords Ninja could reunite properly.
Although it was just a simple skirmish, it had completely lost the Hidden Mist their advantage in the Land of Fire and even put them at a considerable disadvantage.
The death of Minazuki Kan was not just about losing a strong fighter; inside his head were numerous Hidden Mist deployments such as the camp position, supply routes, and combat plans.
Due to Minazuki Kan's death, Karatachi Yagura had to immediately change all Hidden Mist deployments on the East Coast battlefield, which was no small task.
Feeling the terrifying killing intent inside the tent, the Hidden Mist outside couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, mourning internally for 0.1 seconds for those who had angered Karatachi Yagura.
Although Karatachi Yagura really wanted to kill to vent his anger, he knew this wasn't the time to punish subordinates, so he swiftly ordered a strategic adjustment and summoned Biwa Juzo and Kuriarare Kushimaru to inquire about the details.
Karatachi Yagura first needed to know who the ninja that killed Minazuki Kan was; if it was Orochimaru or Ino-Shika-Cho, then so be it, but if it wasn't them, then it meant a new Konoha powerhouse had arrived on the battlefield.
"I didn't see his appearance, I only saw the Ice Release ninjutsu he unleashed," Biwa Juzo shook his head and said.
Kuriarare Kushimaru also nodded, they left too early.
Karatachi Yagura's face darkened, struggling to suppress the urge to place his fist on their faces.
An ace assassination squad? More like a waste squad!
Kuriarare Kushimaru looked at the furious Karatachi Yagura, utterly bewildered, not understanding who had provoked this battlefield commander; just a short while ago, everything was fine.
"Did something happen? Kurosuki Raiga and the others haven't returned?" Biwa Juzo suddenly remembered something.
It's rare for battles between ninjas to last a whole day and night; it's been some time since they left the battlefield, and logically the fight should be over by now.
"They can't come back; unless something unexpected happened, they were all killed by Konoha ninjas," Karatachi Yagura said coldly.
"You guys are lucky because your injuries spared you from death," Karatachi Yagura made no effort to hide the mockery in his words.
He was truly infuriated; with such losses and not even knowing who the opponent was, how could they continue to fight?
Just the information about the Ice Release was not enough to pinpoint any particular Konoha powerhouse, as there were no Konoha powerhouses known to use Ice Release.
Biwa Juzo and Kuriarare Kushimaru exchanged glances, seeing shock reflected in each other's eyes.
They couldn't have imagined that Minazuki Kan and the others would actually die; what level of power would it take to kill them all—could Orochimaru have joined the battle then?
"Is there any noteworthy genius left in that genius squad?" Karatachi Yagura asked.
Since Minazuki Kan died, those genius ninjas might have survived, and Karatachi Yagura needed to update their information while raising their priority level.
"There is also a younger Uchiha ninja than Uchiha Obito who is very talented," Kuriarare Kushimaru quickly sketched Shisui from memory and handed it to Karatachi Yagura.
After keeping the sketch, Karatachi Yagura asked a few more questions, and seeing that he couldn't get much useful information from the two, he sent them off to rest and recover.
Karatachi Yagura swiftly adjusted Hidden Mist's deployment while reporting the latest intelligence to The Hidden Mist Village.
He lacked sufficient combat power here, and to continue achieving success on the East Coast battlefield, The Hidden Mist Village would have to provide support.
Otherwise, they would be gradually squeezed out by Konoha Ninja Squad until they were driven out of the Land of Fire.
Karatachi Yagura believed that The Hidden Mist should send reinforcements to continue the fight against Konoha because it was a rare opportunity.
Normally, facing such a level of defeat would mean preparing to defend the homeland, but Hidden Mist's opponent was a Konoha being besieged by several fronts.
Now Konoha was in a state of multiple concurrent battles; if Hidden Mist retreated, Konoha wouldn't pursue, let alone invade the Land of Water across the sea.
So Hidden Mist could wage war unhesitatingly; even if they lost to Konoha, there would be no need to worry about reparations.
If Konoha really dared to demand compensation, Hidden Mist could just keep them tied up, seeing if Konoha could withstand a prolonged conflict with three Great Ninja Villages.
...
Hokage Building, meeting room.
All four Konoha senior members had gathered in the meeting room at this time.
"This Habu Mokgetsu actually managed to defeat Minazuki Kan while also killing four members of the Seven-Swords Ninja. Not even Minato could've done any better," Mitokado Homura praised.
They were discussing the latest battle reports from the front lines.
Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled while stroking his goatee; although he was aware of Mokgetsu's strength, he hadn't expected Mokgetsu to achieve such brilliant results in a short time.
"Hiruzen, had you sent Mokgetsu to the battlefield earlier as I suggested, the war situation would be much better now," Shimura Danzo couldn't resist taking a jab at Sarutobi Hiruzen. He had long wanted Mokgetsu to go help Orochimaru gain achievements but was always refused by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Mokgetsu is an excellent member of Root that I nurtured, and I know where he can be most effective," Shimura Danzo emphasized.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu looked at Shimura Danzo with some surprise, not having expected Mokgetsu to be nurtured by him.
"Firstly, Mokgetsu wasn't suitable for the battlefield at that time, and secondly, Mokgetsu's current strength is mainly due to his own efforts, not your nurturing. Did you teach him Combined Ninjutsu? Or the Flying Thunder God Jutsu?" Sarutobi Hiruzen retorted.
He had taught Mokgetsu ninjutsu, and hadn't claimed to nurture Mokgetsu, feeling that Shimura Danzo's remarks were merely self-praise.
In Sarutobi Hiruzen's view, Mokgetsu's current success was due to his talent, hard work, and the ample resources Sarutobi Hiruzen provided him.
Regarding Root, it merely restricted Mokgetsu's development; otherwise, how could Mokgetsu grow even faster after leaving Root?
"Mokgetsu laid a solid foundation at Root!" Shimura Danzo insisted.
He obviously knew that Mokgetsu's current strength was unrelated to Root, that his strength took off after being nurtured by Sarutobi Hiruzen, but he needed to claim some credit for Mokgetsu's growth, as Mokgetsu was his Root ninja, even though it was trained against the rules.
Seeing Shimura Danzo's remark, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't refute him, acknowledging that Mokgetsu was considered elite among Jonin after leaving Root.
After a brief exchange of banter, they continued with the meeting, debating whether to publicize Mokgetsu's feats to boost morale or to keep it secret and use him as a hidden ace.