"First, he must possess a Chakra amount far exceeding mine, and then he must have extremely rich battle experience," Mokgetsu replied.
Mokgetsu possesses too many powerful skills, giving him a huge advantage in battles of equal Chakra levels, though due to being transported here, battle experience is his weak point.
"He also needs to master some powerful Ninjutsu and relatively unique Secret Techniques, as well as ways to prevent me from escaping with Flying Thunder God," Mokgetsu analyzed one by one.
With his current strength, if he doesn't find a desire to court death, it's truly hard for him to die.
Kakashi showed a contemplative expression.
By Mokgetsu's standards, even the shadows of the Five Great Ninja Villages cannot entirely meet the criteria, especially since the limitation of Flying Thunder God is hard to achieve.
Could it be encountering a Ninja Squad led by shadows, where one didn't use Flying Thunder God to protect a comrade, resulting in sacrifice?
...
Konoha Village
Hokage Building, conference room.
The expressions of the three Konoha executives were not great, after discussions, they fell into a brief silence.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had his brows tightly furrowed, puffing clouds from the pipe in his mouth.
Currently, Konoha is truly encountering one disaster after another, just like a house leaking continuously during a raining night, or a ship breaking and facing headwinds.
Just suffered defeat on the Hidden Mist side, and now The Hidden Rock Village is causing issues, with a large number of Hidden Rock Squad pouring into the Land of Grass, trying to break through the borders of the Land of Fire.
Although Jiraiya held back the Hidden Rock Squad's impact, he didn't manage to defeat the Hidden Rock Ninja Squad.
Now Konoha is engaged on three fronts, if they can't quickly gain the upper hand, this consumption will be unbearable for Konoha.
"The forces within Konoha Village aren't plentiful right now, if we dispatch another Ninja Squad to support Jiraiya, Hidden Mist might seize this opportunity to directly attack Konoha," Utatane Koharu broke the silence.
Mitokado Homura nodded, as the main base, Konoha is undoubtedly the most important.
Sarutobi Hiruzen put down his pipe and rubbed his forehead. The logic is sound, but simply dragging on isn't a solution either.
"Now we can only see when Mokgetsu can deliver results," Mitokado Homura said.
Knock knock.
At that moment, the door of the conference room was knocked on.
"Enter," Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a deep voice.
High-level meetings generally aren't to be interrupted, so it must be important.
Sarutobi Hiruzen only hoped it wasn't news that Hidden Sand had declared war on Konoha, if so, Konoha would truly be at the edge of despair.
With a creak, Anbu quickly pushed open the wooden door and entered the conference room to report:
"Lord Third, Advisor Honoo, Advisor Koharu, emergency intelligence from the East Coast front line!"
Upon hearing it's intel from the East Coast Battlefield, Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly picked it up to examine.
The battles in the Land of Grass and Land of Hot Water were intense, but the most important battlefield is surely domestically.
"Just mentioned Mokgetsu, and he has delivered us an excellent piece of good news," Sarutobi Hiruzen's worried expression gradually gave way to a look of shock and finally turned into a smile upon seeing Mokgetsu's intelligence.
It's been less than half a month since Mokgetsu's departure, Sarutobi Hiruzen initially thought Mokgetsu might have achieved a minor victory, winning in some aspect.
After reading, he realized Mokgetsu has completely won, even capturing most of the Hidden Mist Ninja Squad, including Karatachi Yagura, a feat never accomplished before!
Sarutobi Hiruzen put the pipe in his mouth, took a shallow puff, and released a mouthful of white smoke, feeling significantly relieved.
Though it's only a victory in one battle, Mokgetsu's triumph is exceptionally crucial.
It's not just due to Hidden Mist's intrusion into the Land of Fire, but also because Mokgetsu's achievements are outstanding.
With those over a thousand Hidden Mist ninjas and Karatachi Yagura captured, Konoha could negotiate peace with Hidden Mist, even demanding compensation wouldn't be excessive.
Then Konoha wouldn't need to worry about Hidden Mist's invasion for a long time, only having to face Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud.
"What's the good news?" Mitokado Homura was curious seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's major shift in mood after reviewing the intelligence.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and handed over the intelligence.
As Mitokado Homura read, his expression turned fascinatingly mixed, full of surprise, delight, and a hint of awkwardness.
Surprised by Mokgetsu's rapid victory, delighted by the numerous captives, embarrassed that Mokgetsu used similar strategies as he did, yet Mokgetsu won a great victory while he suffered heavily and had to retreat.
"It really is good news, it's simply the best for Konoha," Mitokado Homura praised.
Seeing Mitokado Homura like this too, Utatane Koharu became interested and asked for the intelligence from him.
Upon finishing it, Utatane Koharu was stunned, unable to resist asking:
"How fast has Mokgetsu's Wood Release cultivation progressed? He managed to handle most of the Hidden Mist ninjas alone with it."
She remembered Sarutobi Hiruzen mentioned earlier Mokgetsu had just developed Wood Release and needed time and cultivation to mature, how did he randomly wreak havoc on the battlefield?
"Mokgetsu is not just an ordinary ninja, he has profound understanding of other Nature Transformations and Ninjutsu," Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly thought of an explanation.
Ninja cultivation of the first Nature Transformation and mastering multiple Nature Transformations before cultivating new ones are completely different endeavors; the latter progresses much faster.
Chakra cultivation shares commonality, even among different Nature Transformations some experiences are applicable, and the same goes for Ninjutsu practice.
Since Mokgetsu always presented as a genius who breaks conventions, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't ponder too much on it.
He wished Mokgetsu grew even stronger, hoping he reached Senju Hashirama's level within a year, then Konoha would return to its peak.
Unfortunately, that's impossible; Senju Hashirama wasn't known as the God of Ninjas when he was Mokgetsu's age either.
"Since Mokgetsu has achieved such a great victory, we can contact Hidden Mist for negotiations and move Mokgetsu to the Hidden Rock Battlefield to support Jiraiya, thus solving the current dilemma," Mitokado Homura quickly advised.
Although this itinerary could be tiring for Mokgetsu, it's the optimal solution.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Utatane Koharu both agreed with Mitokado Homura's idea.
"After Mokgetsu returns from Hidden Rock, he could fill the Hokage Assistant position," Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly said.
Unless major incidents occur, Sarutobi Hiruzen intends for Mokgetsu to succeed as Hokage.
Having Mokgetsu trained as Hokage Assistant first could ensure a smooth transition without mishaps.
Utatane Koharu instinctively wanted to refuse; Mokgetsu is so young, how could he take such an important position as Hokage Assistant?
But recalling the recent intelligence, Utatane Koharu finally kept silent.
"Mokgetsu is indeed suitable; his achievements speak for themselves," Mitokado Homura nodded in approval.
After all, Mokgetsu has amassed numerous small and large victories, this time setting major accomplishments, with only the Sannin able to outshine Mokgetsu due to their seniority.
But with Sarutobi Hiruzen's backing, even the Sannin couldn't compete with Mokgetsu.
Seeing Mitokado Homura also agree, Utatane Koharu straightforwardly nodded.
...
Besides the victorious Konoha, Uchiha Madara, who sent White Zetsu to monitor the Konoha Ninja Squad, soon received the latest intelligence regarding Mokgetsu.
"Lord Madara, we may need to change plans; Habu Mokgetsu cherishes his disciples too much, bringing them along whenever he heads onto the battlefield," Black Zetsu said helplessly.
Their original plan was to stir chaos in the Ninja World, getting Konoha encircled so Mokgetsu would not be able to guard Obito and the others.
Unexpectedly, Habu Mokgetsu's control was so strong, that several disciples were capable of overwhelming Jonin but still weren't allowed to lead alone and weren't permitted missions.
This made it difficult for them to act.
Because Mokgetsu's strength is too great, equipped with convenient Ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God, dealing with Mokgetsu purely through the existing layout is nearly impossible.
"Bring that Grass Ninja over, we'll use the standby plan," Uchiha Madara said calmly, leaning on his cane with both hands.
"But won't this plan," Black Zetsu expressed concern.
"I have little time left, and this time there will definitely be no issues," Uchiha Madara's words emanated supreme confidence.
Because this time, he's taking action personally; there can be no mishaps.
"Understood, Lord Madara, I'll go immediately," Black Zetsu exited with an appearance of absolute loyalty.
In a dimly lit cave, the aged Uchiha Madara sat alone, seemingly an elderly widow in distress.
But anyone observing his face would instantly dismiss the prior impression, for that deeply lined visage exudes a commanding presence.
"Habu Mokgetsu, the second Wood Release Ninja after Hashirama, don't be too boring..."