Chapter 458: The Sun Rises on the Dark Battlefield
When Mugetsu arrived at the meeting tent, only two people were inside: Orochimaru, the commander, and Shikaku, the vice commander.
Once Mugetsu took his seat, Orochimaru spoke at once.
"Since everyone is here, we will begin."
Mugetsu understood immediately. This meeting was not routine.
In the past, even for minor discussions, Orochimaru would call in other key officers from the Konoha force. This time, only the three commanders were present.
"Not long ago, our intelligence personnel discovered a large Hidden Mist stronghold," Orochimaru said, getting straight to the point. "According to the report, we can basically confirm that this location has gathered the main force of the Mist."
He stopped there, letting the weight of the news settle, giving Shikaku and Mugetsu room to think.
Shikaku's eyes narrowed in thought. "Right now, the enemy is exposed and we are concealed. I suggest we send more ninja to monitor their movements first, then conduct a probe."
Mugetsu could hear the direction behind Shikaku's words. Konoha currently had the advantage in overall strength, and they had just won on the intelligence front. Orochimaru would definitely want to seize the initiative and force a decisive battle to erase the Mist's effective strength.
Still, Shikaku did not believe a full scale strike was wise. Even if the intel was accurate, that did not mean there was no trap.
Earlier, Orochimaru had wanted to use information asymmetry to lure the Mist into a major clash. A skirmish had shifted the battlefield, and the plan had been forced to change.
If reinforcements from the Hidden Mist arrived, they could easily flip the same tactic back on Konoha.
"That is possible," Mugetsu said after a moment. "This could be a feint. Any intelligence gained recently should be verified carefully. The Land of Water may have already sent reinforcements."
Because Orochimaru was the commander, Mugetsu did not press the point too hard. He only left the warning where it needed to be. Orochimaru was not the type to charge blindly.
Orochimaru nodded. His thoughts aligned with Mugetsu's. They could use the intel as bait for probing, but they could not gamble everything on the assumption that the enemy truly had no answer to a sudden assault.
Once all three reached a consensus, they moved into the details: how to probe, which teams to use, how to withdraw, and what to do depending on the results.
Mugetsu did not interfere much. He mostly listened.
His strength had increased rapidly, but a few years ago he was still an ordinary person. Expecting him to run a war like a lifelong commander was unrealistic. He could contribute ideas, but the actual structure belonged to Orochimaru and Shikaku.
Once the plan was finalized, Orochimaru immediately pulled together more than thirty small teams into a probing force and ordered them to begin probing around the enemy stronghold.
Even if it was only a probe, the target was the Mist's main force. Too few people would simply be swallowed whole.
After that, Orochimaru, Shikaku, and Mugetsu did not sleep. They waited for fresh intelligence so they could decide the next step.
For shinobi of their level, staying awake for a day was nothing. Their stamina surpassed ordinary people by a wide margin.
What none of them expected was that, before the probing force could report back, the Hyuga ninja assigned to perimeter watch delivered the first urgent message.
To prevent surprise attacks, Konoha rotated Hyuga sentries to maintain constant vigilance around the camp.
"A large number of Mist ninja are rushing our camp," the sentry reported at full speed. "Their numbers exceed a thousand."
Orochimaru stood abruptly, his brows tightening.
This development was beyond what he had anticipated.
The Byakugan was powerful and convenient, but it was not without limits. Compared to traditional sensory ninjutsu, the Byakugan's effective range was smaller. Even a well trained Hyuga jonin generally only saw about 3.5 kilometers.
That was more than enough for a small team to prepare.
But for a clash involving over a thousand shinobi, seeing them meant they were already close. There was not much time left to reshape the field.
"How did we suddenly fall so far behind in intelligence?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in confusion.
He had considered the possibility that reinforcements had arrived and the Mist was feeding them a feint. What he had not expected was for the Mist to locate Konoha's true base directly.
Once, Konoha had leaked camp intel, but Orochimaru had moved immediately after shifting the combat plan. He had even sent teams to build two fake strongholds to mislead the enemy.
Logically, if the Mist had not found the fakes, how could they suddenly find the real camp hidden deep within?
It could not be luck.
"Was it you two again?" Mugetsu's mind flashed to Black Zetsu and Madara.
The Mist might not have intelligence that sharp, but Madara's side absolutely did. White Zetsu was the strongest intelligence asset in the shinobi world.
Mugetsu suspected they had decided he was too troublesome and wanted him removed through war.
Even if he did not die, a heavy loss for Konoha would trigger countless consequences, keeping Mugetsu tied down and creating openings for Madara's plans.
"It seems neither side is going to enjoy a quiet night," Orochimaru said, stepping out of the tent. "Prepare for battle."
The distance left no room for elaborate maneuvering. From this point on, they could only rely on raw strength and immediate response.
Mugetsu and Shikaku followed.
The Hyuga sentry fired an emergency signal.
Across the camp, the resting shinobi snapped awake and began to arm themselves.
Kakashi was the first among Mugetsu's disciples to rise. He immediately moved to wake the others.
Obito was still lost in a beautiful dream.
"I want to create a world where everyone is a jonin," Obito muttered in his sleep.
Kakashi paused, then chose the most efficient weapon available.
"If you do not wake up soon, Rin will become an official jonin."
Obito jolted upright like he had been struck by lightning. Without asking a single question, he scrambled out of bed.
Shisui looked at the flustered ninja outside, then spoke calmly. "Let's find Teacher Mugetsu."
No matter what had happened, finding Mugetsu first was never a bad choice.
The others nodded.
At the same time, Mugetsu finished assembling the Fire Release squad. Using the Byakugan, he precisely located Kakashi's group and ordered them to move together with the Fire Release squad.
After obtaining Great Sunny Day, Mugetsu had already explained its effect to Orochimaru, presenting it as a new Fire Release secret technique he had developed recently.
Orochimaru had said nothing. He simply gathered eighty percent of the Konoha force's Fire Release users and formed the Fire Release squad.
Normally, those members operated with their usual teams. In a major battle, they were required to obey Mugetsu and follow his battlefield command.
For secrecy, only Mugetsu, Orochimaru, and Shikaku currently knew the true effect of Great Sunny Day.
Even the squad members did not know. Mugetsu had never used it in front of them.
"Orochimaru, surprised?" Yagura taunted with a mocking grin, swinging his hooked iron rod to bat the kunai aside. "You thought your brains won the day, but that was only because we let you see it. In the end, it was all an illusion we fed you."
Even he, the Mist commander, had not expected a victory this clean on the intelligence front, but that did not stop him from boasting to crush Konoha's morale.
"Is that so?" Orochimaru sneered, perfectly calm. "Have you considered the possibility that I wanted a large battle even more than you did?"
Even now, Orochimaru was not flustered. In war, the decisive factor was the strength of the force. If Konoha's strength was sufficient, schemes would collapse in the face of it.
Under Great Sunny Day's weakening effect, even if the Mist had numbers, they would not be Konoha's match.
More than the army, Orochimaru's eyes tracked the dangerous individuals within the Mist ranks.
If a jinchuriki was present, the situation would become troublesome.
Whoosh!
Yagura burst forward, flashing to Orochimaru's side and swinging his iron rod down.
Orochimaru raised his right hand without expression.
An enormous thick snake exploded from his sleeve, blocking the strike.
Shikaku immediately formed seals and used his shadow technique, extending darkness to bind and attack Yagura.
"Water Release, Water Gun Technique!"
Mangetsu did not sit back and watch Shikaku succeed. He shaped his hand like a gun, aimed at Shikaku's head, and unleashed the Hozuki clan technique.
Drops of water shot out like bullets, tearing through the air toward Shikaku.
The Water Gun was fast and required no seals. Even if Shikaku abandoned his shadow technique, he was nearly hit.
Choza's timely support saved him.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
In the next instant, more snakes shot from Orochimaru's left sleeve, surging toward Yagura.
Yagura calmly condensed a rope of water. With a flick and a pull, he knocked down every incoming snake.
Around them, the battlefield dissolved into chaos.
Konoha and the Mist collided across the dark field. Strong and weak alike were locked in combat.
Konoha's mood was grim.
They had been ambushed again. The enemy had the numbers. Even though the battle had just begun, it was hard to imagine an easy outcome.
"So many enemies," Obito said through clenched teeth while fighting. "Rin, you have to be careful."
Bang!
Rin gathered chakra and launched an Exploding Fist. The Mist ninja in front of her spat blood as the blow landed.
Compared to Obito and the others, Rin was indeed a little weaker.
But against ordinary shinobi, she was still a genius. A ten year old special jonin was extremely rare.
"You too, Obito," Rin replied softly.
Obito swallowed, then forced himself to focus.
Nine tenths of his attention went into the fight. The remaining one tenth stayed on Rin, tracking her condition.
"Is this going to be the battle?" Shisui could not help worrying as he stared at the chaotic field under the night sky.
Mugetsu possessed the Flying Thunder God, which meant he could retreat at any time.
But Shisui knew Mugetsu would never abandon his comrades.
Then, an incredibly dazzling light tore through the darkness.
It descended onto the battlefield, rose rapidly, and grew brighter and brighter until it hung in the sky like a blazing sun.
Night turned into day.
Every shinobi on the field froze, Mist and Konoha alike, faces filled with disbelief.
Even Yagura, hardened by decades of war, was confused.
He had heard of ninjutsu that could call rain.
He had never heard of ninjutsu that could create a small sun and illuminate an entire battlefield.
"What is going on? Why did the sky suddenly light up?"
"It looks like Lord Mugetsu's ninjutsu."
Ninja near Mugetsu remembered the sphere of light he had condensed earlier.
Then a Mist shinobi shouted in shock, mid battle. "No, my Water Release is weaker!"
He cast a Water Release technique and felt the power drop sharply.
No shinobi failed to recognize the effect of their own techniques. Even genin did not make mistakes like that.
On the other side, a Konoha Fire Release user stared at his hands in disbelief.
"Huh? Why is my Fire Release stronger?"
.....
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