Mokgetsu led the team to join Jiraiya's squad, and Jiraiya personally brought ninjas to greet them.
"Mokgetsu, you finally arrived." Jiraiya laughed as he walked up to Mokgetsu.
Seeing Mokgetsu, Jiraiya subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
Though Mokgetsu was young, he had never dropped the ball in missions and was regarded as the epitome of reliability.
"Please, Mokgetsu, conduct a check on my ninja squad first; we can discuss other matters afterward," Jiraiya continued.
He had ordered the ninja squad to assemble in advance, so Mokgetsu could proceed with the inspection upon arrival.
"Alright, let's start the check." Mokgetsu nodded, instructing his team to handle miscellaneous tasks while he and his disciples accompanied Jiraiya to scout for spies.
[Name: Shikano Masaaki]
[Chakra: 5200]
[Name: Hyuga Yo]
[Chakra: 7200]
Mokgetsu swiftly used Identification Jutsu on the Konoha Ninja Squad in the Land of Grass but discovered no White Zetsu.
"There's no sign of problematic ninjas; they might have fled in advance, or maybe they are using another method to steal intel," Mokgetsu turned to Jiraiya.
It couldn't be a problem with the Identification Jutsu, as even a Transformation wouldn't escape it, let alone White Zetsu.
Mokgetsu suspected that Uchiha Madara had obtained intelligence on him heading to the Land of Grass and withdrew the White Zetsu.
After all, he moved with the ninja squad, not alone, making it easy for White Zetsu to detect their presence.
"I see, maybe we should've assembled sooner; nonetheless, the squad is free of spies now," Jiraiya said with a chuckle, not dwelling on the matter of fleeing spies.
Having no spies is positive, whether they were caught or scared off.
Then Jiraiya led Mokgetsu and the others to a tent serving as the conference room.
"The commander of the Hidden Rock Squad is an old acquaintance, the captain of the Hidden Rock Demolition Squad, Rekiseki," Jiraiya began to share battlefield intelligence.
"Besides Rekiseki, beware of Han and Kitsuchi. Han needs no further introduction; he is a Jinchuriki capable of Complete Tailed Beast Transformation, possessing great power and capable of releasing Tailed Beast Balls.
Kitsuchi is the son of the Third Tsuchikage, wielding a highly potent Earth Release..."
"Doesn't the Hidden Rock Village have two Jinchuriki? Didn't the Four-tailed Jinchuriki, Roshi, come this time?" Obito asked curiously.
He had participated in several wars with the Hidden Rock, knowing quite a bit of their intel.
He mainly asked about Roshi because Roshi made a profound impression on him during the last war due to the relentless barrage of Tailed Beast Balls.
"He hasn't appeared yet; perhaps he's not on the battlefield, or maybe he's still hidden," Jiraiya shook his head.
Currently, few people knew Roshi's intel, and even Onoki was unaware of Roshi's exact location.
Though Mokgetsu knew the intel, he could not reveal it as it was beyond explanation.
"According to reconnaissance, this Hidden Rock Ninja Squad has approximately sixteen hundred men, while on our side, combined, there are about eleven hundred," Jiraiya said, feeling peculiar.
The number of reinforcements was indeed quite small, with only four hundred ninjas.
"Just sixteen hundred ninjas, that's all; Uncle Toad, you handle the Jinchuriki, Teacher Mokgetsu can take on the rest alone," Obito chuckled, looking confident.
They recently defeated a Hidden Mist Squadron with similar numbers but sans the Jinchuriki.
"Does your Teacher Mokgetsu know he's this powerful?" Jiraiya couldn't resist patting Obito's back.
Of course, he knew Mokgetsu was formidable; in the previous campaign against the two thousand Hidden Rock ninjas, Mokgetsu was largely credited for the victory.
However, this achievement was multifaceted, primarily because Mokgetsu successfully guided the Hidden Rock Squad into traps using espionage.
Nonetheless, the reaction of Mokgetsu's other disciples gave Jiraiya a sense of something being off.
He noticed that even the always rational Kakashi didn't counter Obito.
Clack!
Mokgetsu knocked Obito on the head with two fingers, "When did I ever fight sixteen hundred ninjas alone? Do you think Hamaki and the others are invisible?"
To be fair, the Konoha Ninja Squad did serve their purposes, such as preventing the Hidden Mist from escaping Mokgetsu's Ninjutsu range and aiding in distraction.
If not for them, Mokgetsu would have had to expend more chakra.
"Haha, close enough, and many in the squad say they won because of you, Teacher Mokgetsu," Obito scratched his head.
Listening to their conversation, Jiraiya roughly deduced that before arriving in the Land of Grass, Mokgetsu had just concluded a battle.
Thus, Jiraiya promptly inquired about the details.
"Teacher Mokgetsu led half of the ninja squad and encountered a Hidden Mist ambush; then Teacher Mokgetsu used Wood Release..." Obito excitedly described the battle scene to Jiraiya.
Thinking back, he still found it quite impressive; suppressing a ninja squad single-handedly was the type of grand plot typically seen in the latter parts of ninja novels.
Hearing Mokgetsu's use of Deep Forest Emergence and Flower Forest Emergence, Jiraiya wore a baffled expression, feeling as if he were dreaming.
If it weren't a dream, how could things be so absurd; how did Mokgetsu become a master of Wood Release so suddenly?
Jiraiya reached out and pinched Obito's cheek.
"Ah, that hurts, what are you doing!" Obito swatted Jiraiya's hand away, looking disgruntled at Jiraiya.