Chapter 346: One Man vs. One Ninja Village
"Lord Sosetsu, there is no need to worry. With Teacher Mugetsu here, all of you will be fine," Kakashi said calmly.
They had not yet truly clashed with the hundreds of enemy ninja, so Kakashi could not accurately gauge their overall strength.
However, Mugetsu was not someone who spoke irresponsibly. On the contrary, he had always been unusually humble. Even when he had been stronger than the Raikage candidate, he had not claimed certain victory.
So if Mugetsu said he could quell this rebellion, Kakashi believed it would happen without any accidents.
"But..." Sosetsu still found it hard to accept.
In his understanding, even being able to fight a few hundred ordinary people was already astonishing, and the other side had hundreds of trained ninja, with several clearly strong elites among them.
Although Sosetsu was not a shinobi himself, the speed at which his own forces had been routed told him very clearly which side was stronger.
"Father, I do not want to leave."
Koyuki clutched Sosetsu's arm with both hands, her eyes shimmering with tears.
Looking at his beloved daughter, Sosetsu could not help but sigh. How could he bear to part with her?
"Mugetsu, I beg you. If it truly comes to that, please at least take Koyuki and escape."
Sosetsu gently set his daughter down and then bowed deeply to Mugetsu.
As a shinobi hired purely to protect Koyuki, Mugetsu had already done far more than required. He had helped expose Doto's crimes, and now he stood ready to fight at Sosetsu's side.
Mugetsu gave a small nod to reassure him, then turned to his three disciples.
"You do not need to attack proactively. Just protect Koyuki and the Daimyo."
Sosetsu could not die, or the Land of Snow would fall into deeper chaos.
And Koyuki was the core of the escort mission from the beginning.
This was not their first mission, so the three quickly nodded, indicating they understood.
With that, Mugetsu walked alone toward the advancing Snow ninja.
"Ice Release: Swallow Snowstorm!"
Kanko gathered chakra in his mouth and spat out a dense storm of snow shuriken that shot out in all directions.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Blossoms of blood exploded across the battlefield as many guards were struck and cut by the whirling projectiles.
"Ice Release: One Horned White Whale!"
"Ice Release: Crushing Dragon Fierce Tiger!"
Seizing this opening, many Snow ninja rapidly formed hand seals and unleashed their jutsu in unison. An entire pack of giant beasts formed from snow and ice thundered toward the guard line, intending to crush them in a single overwhelming wave.
There were some ninja among the guards, but their strength was inherently inferior to that of the Snow ninja. Now that many of them were already injured, they had little power left to resist so many techniques at once.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Just as the guards thought the battle was over, a swarm of tightly packed fireballs burst out from behind them, arcing gracefully over their heads before crashing into the whale of ice and the charging snow tigers.
Rumble!
A fierce blaze roared to life, accompanied by a deafening explosion.
The beast constructs formed from Snow Style were completely annihilated, bursting into white steam and dispersing.
"That is Lord Mugetsu, the powerful shinobi Lord Sosetsu hired! Everyone, do not give up, we still have a chance!"
Asama Santaifu turned and shouted in excitement when he saw Mugetsu approaching.
He did not know much about Mugetsu, but at this point he had no choice but to trust him. The battle so far had already proven that they alone could not defeat Doto's Snow ninja.
"Perhaps he really can do it."
A spark of hope flickered in Sosetsu's heart.
Obito's firm confidence in Mugetsu, Mugetsu's own unshaken composure, and the Fire Release that had just saved them all made Sosetsu feel that Mugetsu might truly create a miracle.
"Kanko, that is Hayate Mugetsu. Are you confident?"
Watching the terrifying power of Mugetsu's fire technique, Doto turned to Kanko with a serious look.
Aside from Sosetsu, the person he most wanted to eliminate now was Hayate Mugetsu.
Ever since Mugetsu had arrived in the Land of Snow, nothing had gone smoothly for Doto.
"A shinobi who can fight a Jinchuriki is indeed formidable, but if this is the extent of his power, I can defeat him even without Chakra Armor," Kanko replied, still full of confidence.
The effect of Mugetsu's earlier attack was impressive, but Kanko believed his best technique, Black Dragon Blizzard, could achieve the same or even greater destructive power.
"If he trains for a few more years, I may not be his match. If this kid does not die here, he might grow into the next Sannin."
Even as he declared that he would be fine, Kanko no longer dared to underestimate Mugetsu.
He had begun training at six years old and had cultivated for over thirty years to reach his current strength, while Mugetsu was still under twenty.
"Good. Then I will leave this front line to you. I will find an opportunity to take men inside and capture Sosetsu," Doto said, immediately relaxing once he saw Kanko's confidence.
Kanko nodded, approving of the plan.
If Sosetsu managed to escape, the fallout would be troublesome.
"You should all pull back a bit. Otherwise, you may get caught in the crossfire," Mugetsu said to the defending guards.
With hundreds of enemy ninja on the field, there was no question that he would be using large scale ninjutsu.
Since he had few reliable ninja on his side, the best way to avoid friendly casualties was to have them withdraw and fight the entire Snow Ninja Village by himself.
Asama Santaifu stared at him, almost wondering if his ears had been damaged in the previous fighting.
"Lord Mugetsu, are you really going to face them alone?" one of the guard ninja asked, unable to hold back.
Mugetsu's performance so far had been impressive, but this idea still sounded insane.
"Lord Mugetsu, there are still many of us who can fight," Asama said, tightening his grip on his sword.
Mugetsu shook his head.
"Your retreat is the best support you can give me. The ninjutsu I am about to use will cover an extremely wide area."
Their intentions were good, but reality was harsh. From Mugetsu's standpoint, they would only be a burden.
His chakra control was excellent, but trying to fight hundreds of ninja while also carefully avoiding friendly casualties would place tremendous strain on his focus, especially since many of the guards were ordinary people.
There were attacks that ninja could desperately dodge, but those same attacks would instantly kill a normal soldier.
One of the guards still wanted to protest when several Snow ninja suddenly charged in.
Swish.
Mugetsu's figure blurred, moving at a speed ordinary eyes could not track. He flashed to the vanguard and unleashed a rapid flurry of punches.
Bang, bang, bang!
The charging Snow ninja were sent flying backward at even greater speed, crashing heavily into the ground or slamming into their comrades.
From Asama's point of view, Mugetsu's silhouette merely flickered, and then the enemies were already airborne.
By the time he processed what had happened, Mugetsu was once again standing calmly in his original position.
"So this is the power of a true strong man…"
For a brief moment, Asama was completely entranced.
"Everyone, fall back. Do not get in Lord Mugetsu's way," he shouted at last.
He chose to trust Mugetsu, believing that this was not arrogance but genuine strength.
The ninja among the guards, who had a sharper eye for power, nodded and began to withdraw.
The Snow ninja had also realized that Mugetsu was no ordinary enemy, but they had overwhelming numbers, so they showed no fear.
They hurled kunai, shuriken, and unleashed ninjutsu in a dense wave toward Mugetsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Switching fully into Flame Breathing, Mugetsu exhaled an enormous fireball that swallowed all incoming attacks.
With his current level in Fire Release, even a basic Great Fireball had frightening power.
"Such powerful Fire Release…"
Cold sweat appeared on the foreheads of the Snow ninja as they stared at the blazing sphere, nearly as big as a two story building.
"Ice Release: One Horned White Whale!"
Kanko immediately rushed forward, pouring a huge amount of chakra into his jutsu to summon an ice whale even larger than the fireball.
The two collided and shattered each other.
The high temperature of the Great Fireball then melted the ice whale into a huge cloud of steam.
Seeing this, the Snow ninja's morale surged again.
Mugetsu was strong, but their leader was also a monster.
At that moment, silver white fragments began to fall from the sky.
Snow.
This was a common sight in the Land of Snow, but on this battlefield, it drew very different reactions.
The defending ninja looked anxious, while the Snow ninja cheered.
"Oh no. Snow makes the Snow ninja's techniques stronger."
The allied shinobi stared at the battlefield with worry in their eyes.
There was already a huge gap in numbers, and now the enemy side was getting a collective buff. How were they supposed to fight like this?
"Kid, it seems even the heavens want you dead," Kanko laughed heartily.
The sudden heavy snowfall felt like another layer added to their already overwhelming advantage.
"Is that so? Actually, the Great Fireball Technique just now was one of the weaker jutsu I know."
Mugetsu's tone remained mild, his composure completely unaffected by the changing environment.
The terrain and weather could affect a shinobi's power, but when the gap was large enough, no environment could bridge it.
"Hmph, boasts and bravado."
Kanko did not believe a word of it.
That Fire Release just now had been strong enough that even he had needed a serious technique to block it. That was nowhere near "weak."
"Flame Breathing, Full Concentration."
Mugetsu's breathing suddenly deepened and synchronized.
His physical abilities and Fire Release chakra nature transformation surged together. Immediately after, he formed hand seals and gathered a massive amount of chakra in his throat.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Whoosh, whoosh!
A tidal wave of flames erupted from Mugetsu's mouth.
The blistering heat devoured all the ice and snow in its path, evaporating the frost on the ground and burning anything flammable to ash.
Even the snowflakes that had not yet fallen melted away midair under the overwhelming heat.
A vast, orange red sea of fire rapidly spread out around Mugetsu.
The temperature spiked so sharply that some of the defending soldiers, despite the heavy snowfall, began to sweat through their armor.
Staring at the terrifying blaze, the defenders who had retreated to a safe distance finally understood why Mugetsu had insisted they pull back.
If they had remained near him, they would have been burned to cinders along with the enemy.
At that moment, Asama was more grateful than ever that Sosetsu had hired Mugetsu.
He felt that even in a great ninja village like Konoha, there could not be many shinobi with strength on this level.
"I told you Lord Mugetsu was super strong, didn't I? With him here, there is no problem," Obito said proudly, standing on a higher vantage point as he looked down at the blazing red sea of fire.
In his heart, Obito felt he deserved at least one third of the credit for all the enemies being roasted by Great Fire Annihilation.
After all, that technique had been his reward at a Uchiha clan gathering, and he had immediately handed it to Mugetsu afterward.
Once Mugetsu learned it, teaching it back would almost certainly be faster than Obito trying to research and master it alone.
"Perhaps issuing that commission was the only correct decision I have made in a long time," Sosetsu murmured, staring at the towering flames.
As Mugetsu unleashed his power, the small hope in Sosetsu's heart quietly grew brighter.
While marveling at the sheer might of Mugetsu's Fire Release, Kakashi never stopped scanning their surroundings, ready to intercept any enemy who slipped past the blazing front.
The castle guards did not inspire much confidence, and with hundreds of enemies on the field, it was normal to expect a few to leak through Mugetsu's net.
"Quickly, use defensive ninjutsu with me!"
Feeling the rising terror of Mugetsu's chakra, Kanko shouted urgently.
Unbelievable as it seemed, Mugetsu had been telling the truth. He really did possess techniques far stronger than the Great Fireball.
Standing at the very front, Kanko could feel the crushing pressure and heat more vividly than anyone else.
He stared at Mugetsu in disbelief.
He had never imagined that the "kid" in front of him could wield Fire Release of this scale.
Inwardly, he cursed Doto.
He had not bothered to send his own scouts to investigate Mugetsu because he had already read the dossier Doto obtained.
After seeing this power, he felt that information might as well have been fake.
But he had no time to brood over where the mistake had been.
Right now, he had to block this inferno.
"Ice Release: Ice Wall!"
Dozens of Snow ninja, led by Kanko, simultaneously cast defensive techniques, raising three enormous walls of packed ice and snow.
A single Snow ninja's defense could never withstand this fire, but dozens working together were different.
The thick walls, each one reinforced by large amounts of chakra, managed to hold back the burning tide.
Under the watching eyes of both sides, the first wall melted away rapidly.
By then, the sea of fire had already shrunk considerably.
The second wall melted, and the flames shrank again.
When the final wall dissolved into steam, the vast sea of fire also disappeared.
Kanko exhaled slowly, a hint of relief in his eyes.
This proved that although Mugetsu was strong, he was not invincible.
If hundreds of ninja worked together, there was still a path to victory.
"Damn it. If only our ninja could also…"
Asama clenched his fists in frustration as he watched the enemy's combined defense.
Kanko had hundreds of ninja to help him hold back Mugetsu's flames, while Mugetsu had no one who could assist him in the same way.
"Very good. You have managed to block another Fire Release. Then let us see if you can block the next one."
Mugetsu smiled faintly.
Although that last technique had been overwhelming, it still was not his full power.
He rarely had a chance to test the limits of his jutsu like this.
As he spoke, he silently activated his Markings and stepped fully into Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
Mugetsu's breathing rhythm shifted dramatically.
Chakra exploded through his body, merging with his refined breathing to burn even hotter and further enhance the power of his Fire Release nature transformation.
His aura soared like a volcano erupting.
"Is this guy even human?"
Feeling that suffocating, scorching pressure, Bingfeng's expression changed again and again.
This was no longer the feeling of facing a budding genius.
This was the pressure of a monster who had already fully matured.
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