At that moment, as she watched Brook preparing to fly away, Kurenai suddenly realized that if he left for the battlefield now, she had no idea when she would ever see him again.
She wanted to learn ninjutsu without hand seals, and she also wanted to become one of the Fourth Hokage's reserve guards.
"Lord Brook! Does what you said last night still count? You promised to ask Lord Minato Namikaze to let me become one of his reserve guards!"
Kurenai Yuhi shouted toward Brook, forcing down her embarrassment. Even as she spoke, she could not help glancing at the gentle Fourth Hokage. The moment the words left her mouth, her face turned bright red.
She had actually used the back door in public, right in front of Minato Namikaze himself, and in front of so many clan ninjas no less.
"Hahaha! Good idea! Minato, let her join your reserve guard."
Brook agreed casually with a laugh, then vanished at high speed, disappearing without a trace.
"I understand, Lord Brook."
Minato Namikaze immediately accepted the order as if it were nothing at all.
That scene left the clan heads and ninjas present stunned.
All this time, many of them had tried to place people inside the Fourth Hokage's guard, only for Minato Namikaze to decline them politely. Yet now, one sentence from Brook had accomplished what they could not.
At once, many of them seemed to see a new path.
It turned out currying favor with this mysterious senior was even more effective than approaching Minato Namikaze directly.
The Fourth Hokage truly held Lord Brook in extraordinary regard.
A single sentence from him could easily influence the decisions of Minato Namikaze.
"Congratulations, Kurenai! We're teammates now!"
The watermelon headed Might Guy was the first to step forward and congratulate her. At last, another Chunin had joined the Fourth Hokage's guard.
Right now, Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui both possessed Jonin level strength, while Tenzo had the special power of Wood Release. Compared to them, Might Guy suddenly felt rather average.
"Thank you, Guy!"
Kurenai was overjoyed at being acknowledged. At the same time, she secretly made up her mind to train even harder and become a Jonin as soon as possible.
She could feel the strange looks from the surrounding ninja clans. In terms of actual ability, she really was not on the same level as the outstanding elites from the major clans.
She had truly just been lucky enough to run into Lord Brook.
That was the only reason she had obtained this opportunity so easily.
"Little girl, how did you meet him? How long have you known him?"
Seeing Brook disappear, Tsunade suppressed her anger and forced herself to calm down before narrowing her eyes and questioning Kurenai.
"Lady Tsunade, I only met Lord Brook by chance on the Hokage Rock last night. At first I thought he was just some boastful braggart, but then he used ninjutsu without hand seals on me, so I wanted to learn from him.
"But he said he was too busy. He told me he could ask Lord Minato to take me in as a reserve guard, and then have Lord Minato teach me hand seal less ninjutsu."
Kurenai explained excitedly, her tone filled with relief. She really did feel like she had stumbled into some miracle.
"You only met him last night?"
Tsunade looked like she could hardly believe it. Why would Brook help a weak Chunin like Kurenai? Had he really only said it on a whim?
"Senior Tsunade, Lord Brook truly only returned to Konoha recently. He will not destroy Konoha. He only wants to fight powerful opponents and has no interest in interfering with Konoha's political affairs.
"And with his strength and his Wood Release, there is no need for him to lie. He alone is enough to destroy the entire village."
Minato Namikaze stepped forward to explain. After all, many people were still deeply suspicious of Brook's sudden appearance.
With Minato Namikaze personally reassuring them, the three Legendary Sannin and the clan heads reluctantly suppressed their doubts for the time being. Then they convened a Hokage meeting to discuss troop deployment against the invasions from the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.
In the end, they decided that Jiraiya and Orochimaru would lead Konoha's main force against Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning, while Iwagakure of the Land of Earth would be left to Brook and Minato Namikaze.
As for Tsunade, because of her hemophobia, she stayed behind at Konoha headquarters to manage logistics, coordinate food and supplies, and treat the wounded.
This time, when Minato Namikaze went to fight Iwagakure, he brought along a group of Anbu as well as his newly formed guard unit.
In his own words, he believed completely in Lord Brook's absolute strength.
The other clan heads no longer tried to persuade this civilian Hokage. After all, Minato Namikaze's speed was second to none. If he wanted to retreat, no one in the world could stop him.
When Orochimaru saw that the Uchiha clan, the Hyuga clan, and the Ino Shika Cho clans had all been placed under his command, he subconsciously licked his lips.
Helping Brook collect bloodlines while secretly saving some samples for his own research sounded like a wonderful arrangement, especially when it came to the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.
While the Hokage meeting was still being held, Brook secretly slipped into the Hyuga clan compound through the Kamui dimension, searching for a portal that linked to the moon.
The giant Tenseigan, formed from countless Byakugan, was simply too tempting. After all, the power of the Tenseigan was enough to split apart the moon created by the Hagoromo brothers.
Unfortunately, after searching for quite a while, Brook still found no sign of any portal.
That left him with only one option. He would have to see whether he could send the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path back to the moon first, then use reverse summoning to reach it.
After all, the Ten Tails' outer shell had originally been sealed on the moon. Madara Uchiha had summoned it to his underground base, somehow making that underground lair its new default location.
Later, Uzumaki Nagato had also been able to move the Demonic Statue elsewhere, placing it inside one of Akatsuki's bases.
If even that failed, then Brook would simply try flying there himself.
He had already set his sights on that giant Tenseigan and had no intention of letting it go.
The Byakugan main family of Hamura Otsutsuki's lineage on the moon should already have been wiped out by the branch family. Even the branch family itself was nearly extinct by now, with only a few left alive.
As for the current Otsutsuki Toneri, he was nothing more than a little blind man.
Brook's sudden appearance and absolute authority allowed Konoha to complete its war preparations with shocking speed. That same afternoon, the vanguard force officially departed.
Brook also temporarily set aside the matter of the moon's portal and followed Minato Namikaze to the battlefield in the Land of Earth.
Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, possessed the terrifying Kekkei Tota, Dust Release. Brook intended to devour Onoki on the battlefield and seize Dust Release for himself.
After all, you could never have too many abilities. The Death God's power to devour and fuse had to be fully exploited. He intended to reclaim all the divine powers that once belonged to the God of the Northern Underworld.
------------
This time, Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, once again chose to invade Konoha through the Land of Rain.
Although Hanzo of the Salamander was hailed as a demigod of the ninja world, Onoki had never truly taken him seriously.
To him, Hanzo was still nothing more than the leader of a small hidden village.
Without even informing Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, Onoki personally led ten thousand Iwa ninja into the Land of Rain and stationed them along the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire.
No matter how hard the war was fought, it would not affect the territory of the Land of Earth.
Moreover, the cunning Onoki had no desire to see a small village like Amegakure grow stronger. Since a figure like Hanzo of the Salamander had emerged from the Land of Rain, he intended to turn the country into a major battlefield once again and cripple it completely.
Having only just begun to gain control of Amegakure, Yahiko and the others were stunned to learn that a great war was about to erupt again, and that the battlefield would still be their own homeland, the Land of Rain.
Yahiko and Nagato immediately began integrating Amegakure's forces and moving the civilians near the border with the Land of Fire to safer areas.
At the same time, Konan used the [Illusory Body Technique] to contact their Shinigami and ask for her teacher's help in driving the Iwa ninja out of the Land of Rain.
Inside her room, Konan formed the special hand seals of the [Illusory Body Technique] and sent out her chakra signal.
Meanwhile, Brook, who was on the move, received Konan's call through the Rinnegan's powerful reception ability. He casually found an excuse to step away from Minato Namikaze's small group and used his chakra to manifest Konan's illusory body wherever he wished.
"Teacher, another war is about to break out in the Land of Rain. Please help us."
The moment Konan's chakra projection saw Brook, she spoke anxiously. At the same time, she could not help marveling at how convenient the [Illusory Body Technique] was.
This was the kind of ninjutsu spies and intelligence ninjas could only dream of.
If they had possessed this technique in the past, there would have been no need to risk lives delivering secret scrolls and urgent information by hand.
"Don't panic. Have Yahiko and Nagato lead Asura Path Hanzo and be ready to plunder the Land of Earth's supplies at any time. I'll personally deal with the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki."
Brook's calm answer immediately let Konan breathe easier.
In her eyes, even Hanzo of the Salamander, the so called demigod of the ninja world, had been helpless before their teacher. If that was the case, then the Third Tsuchikage would not be able to escape their teacher's hunt either.
"Yes, Teacher! I'll inform Yahiko and the others right away. Thank you, Teacher!"
Konan's illusion knelt on one knee to accept the order. Then, after stealing a few glances at Brook, she happened to meet his deep Rinnegan eyes. Startled, she immediately lowered her head and ended the [Illusory Body Technique].
With war imminent, she did not dare ask about anything unimportant.
Brook could only shake his head inwardly.
Why were people in this world so precocious?
Even characters like Naruto and Sakura, while still in the Academy, could already talk about liking someone and being infatuated with girls. As for girls like Kurenai and Konan, they were only fifteen or sixteen, not even eighteen yet. On top of that, their strength was still far too weak to interest Brook.
Even Tsunade, the so called "milk cow," was not easy to deal with right now. It really seemed that his best option was still Kaguya Otsutsuki, that naive and innocent goddess.
With a Flying Thunder God, Brook returned to Minato Namikaze's group once more.
"Fourth Hokage, according to the latest information, Iwagakure has deployed tens of thousands of ninja in the Land of Rain. That number is terrifying. Are we really going to fight them with only thirty or forty people?"
A Hyuga Anbu member with the Byakugan had just made contact with an intelligence operative stationed in the Land of Rain and obtained the latest news from the front.
The information had almost frightened him out of his wits.
At first, Iwagakure's vanguard had been only a little over a thousand strong. Yet in just two days, that force had swelled into several tens of thousands. They were clearly determined to launch a full scale war against Konoha.
The last time Onoki mobilized this many Iwa ninja, they had successfully worn down the Third Raikage of Kumogakure to death.
Was he now trying to repeat that same tactic on the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze?
What was even more terrifying was that Minato Namikaze had brought only ten Anbu squads this time, plus his newly formed personal guard. Altogether, they did not even number forty.
How were they supposed to fight tens of thousands of Iwa ninja?
It was only natural that the Hyuga Anbu was afraid. No matter how he looked at it, this mission felt like suicide.
Had the Fourth Hokage placed too much faith in his own strength and Lord Brook's?
If Minato Namikaze and Brook failed, they could always retreat. But what about these dozens of Anbu?
One low rank D Rank ninjutsu from each Iwa ninja would be enough to bury all of them.
When the others heard the news, all ten Anbu squads wore grim expressions. Kurenai Yuhi and Might Guy, the two Chunin, broke out in cold sweat, while even Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shisui fell silent.
Only Tenzo, the former Root ninja, showed no emotion at all.
In his eyes, the mission always came before life.
"Yohoho! Who said you were going to fight? Your job is only to run errands and clean up the battlefield. Leave the rest to me."
Brook, whose Rinnegan was hidden once more, let out a quiet laugh, as if the tens of thousands of ninja meant nothing to him.
His words made the Anbu fall even more silent.
Still, none of them dared refute him. They could only quietly prepare themselves for death.
After all, stories of one man facing ten thousand enemies belonged only in exaggerated myths.
These Anbu were all elites who had lived through the Third Shinobi World War. How could they not understand what ten thousand shinobi truly meant?
They simply could not understand why the Fourth Hokage had not sent a portion of Konoha's main force to this battlefield.
Had this civilian Hokage and his ten Anbu squads really become expendable pieces?
"I can tell from your eyes that you don't really trust me. But I don't blame you. That's natural. After all, you're still young, and you have no idea what true power really is.
Back in the day, I faced fifty thousand enemies with my hands in my pockets. One glance was enough to stun them all. Not a single one understood what an opponent even was."
Brook lounged atop a painted tiger created by a Super Beast Imitation technique and spoke in a completely casual tone.
His outrageous bragging immediately made several Anbu silently begin writing their wills in their minds.
Their Hokage really had been influenced by a madman.
At this rate, they were almost certainly going to die for their country this time.
Unless the Fourth Hokage suddenly came back to his senses and immediately turned around to return to Konoha.
Otherwise, none of them were likely to return alive, not even with a corpse intact.
"Really? Lord Brook, that sounds amazing! I really want to see your eyes!"
Might Guy, with his watermelon haircut, exclaimed in admiration.
The moment he spoke, every member of the Anbu nearly rolled their eyes like Hyuga clan members.
Where had the Hokage found such a hot blooded idiot?
How was he so simpleminded that he actually believed it?
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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