Nowadays, Mokgetsu, with the Yang Seal, has much more abundant Chakra, so using the Byakugan and consuming some Chakra doesn't matter.
Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato, and his other two disciples have already arrived at the designated location to wait.
Seeing Mokgetsu leading the squad over, Jiraiya quickly walked up and said:
"The Hidden Rock this time is really strange, their intelligence capabilities are ridiculously strong. I don't even know how many spies are in the squad."
To ensure nothing went wrong with the meeting with Mokgetsu, Jiraiya was very discreet. Few people knew, and he even only brought his three disciples.
Now Jiraiya no longer blindly believes in those family ninjas. Even the Jonin of the Sorutobi Clan can produce traitors, so it's not surprising for other families.
His disciples are different. From childhood to adulthood, Jiraiya can ensure they have no problems.
"I've looked at the battlefield intelligence. There are indeed quite a few suspicious points." Mokgetsu nodded, then glanced at the fifty ninjas behind him.
"Except for Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and others, the rest of the ninjas disperse around for vigilance!"
Mokgetsu sent all the ninjas except his disciples to guard the surroundings.
Although Mokgetsu with the Byakugan doesn't need them for vigilance, the fewer people who know about their upcoming conversation, the better.
"Toad uncle, Teacher Minato, are you injured?" Obito couldn't help but ask.
Namikaze Minato smiled and shook his head, indicating he was fine.
"Are you kidding me? I'm one of the Sannin, such a little difficulty can't hurt me. Also, it's not 'Toad uncle,' it's 'Toad Sage!'" Jiraiya knocked on Obito's head to emphasize.
"Alright, Toad uncle." Obito nodded nonchalantly.
In his heart, there were only the Six Paths Sage and Sage Mokgetsu.
Jiraiya: ...
"Sigh, Sohei, we're really pitiful. Even though we're in the same squad as Minato, it's like we don't exist, even though we helped with the training before." Dekai sighed.
"Sohei-senpai, Dekai-senpai, are you injured? I can provide treatment." Nohara Rin asked softly.
"Heh, no need." Dekai chuckled, waving it off. He was just complaining about how the two of them had no presence and were always overlooked.
Ignoring the somewhat provoking Obito, Jiraiya looked towards Mokgetsu.
Letting subordinates guard around is a very normal thing to do, but nearly letting all subordinates do guard work, Jiraiya thought Mokgetsu might have something quite important to say.
Having assessed everyone over on Jiraiya's side, Mokgetsu said:
"Actually, the support troops have already all arrived, besides me, there are five hundred ninjas, including fifteen Jonin and fifteen Special Jonin..."
Mokgetsu first briefly explained the intelligence on the support troops.
"Huh? Wasn't it said that only the vanguard arrived?"
Dekai was a bit dumbfounded, he didn't expect their intelligence exchange to even have falsehoods.
"Worried about the intelligence being obtained by spies, right." Namikaze Minato analyzed.
Actually, when he got the intelligence, he already thought it was a bit strange.
Right now in the Land of Grass, the Hidden Rock Squad is much stronger than Konoha. Sending a squad of fifty elite troops on a forced march to the Land of Grass doesn't make much sense. It can't change the battle situation unless each of these fifty people was as strong as Mokgetsu.
"In that case, do you intend to capture spies, Mokgetsu?" Jiraiya asked.
Mokgetsu is very strong, even by himself, he can make their small troop safer.
But Jiraiya didn't think Mokgetsu would go to such lengths just for that.
If it weren't for seeing Mokgetsu among the so-called vanguard, Jiraiya would definitely refuse to meet to avoid problems.
Mokgetsu nodded and reiterated the explanation given to the support troops.
"Sensing goodwill and malice, that's indeed a good method!" Jiraiya's eyes brightened.
If it was a hateful person with this ability, then using it to identify spies might not be very efficient.
But if the person with this ability is Mokgetsu, Jiraiya thought it would be foolproof.
Mokgetsu treats people kindly and cooks well, under the conditions of the same village ninja, anyone bearing malice towards Mokgetsu, Jiraiya wouldn't dare to imagine what deep hatred they would have towards others.
Mokgetsu can't make everyone like him, but those who don't like him probably wouldn't go as far as "malice," at most they might just be indifferent.
"So it still comes down to Sage Mokgetsu." Obito praised in his heart.
At most, Jiraiya can do some fighting, but Mokgetsu, he seems all-capable.
"My idea is to first use my ability to find the spies, and then use a stratagem to let the spies obtain false intelligence, thus creating a situation favorable to us, Konoha." Mokgetsu pushed his glasses with his right hand and revealed his basic plan.
"That way, the four hundred and fifty ninjas in hiding become a surprise troop!" Jiraiya laughed and patted Mokgetsu on the shoulder, having roughly guessed part of Mokgetsu's plan.
He had to admit that Mokgetsu considered everything very thoroughly, even better than him, an experienced battlefield commander.
Of course, it's also because Mokgetsu has the key ability to break the stalemate that he could think of these strategies.
"What do you think we should do next? Investigate the small sub-troops one by one, or gather all the troops together?" Jiraiya thought for a while and asked.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders didn't include having the support troops merge directly into the Land of Grass Konoha Squad, so currently, Mokgetsu is temporarily at the same level as Jiraiya as a squad commander, and they have to discuss things; no one has the right to order the other.
"Let's gather all the troops. Investigating one by one is too slow, and the possibility of exposing the plan is greater." Mokgetsu thought about it and answered.
Investigating small troops one by one, eventually, we'd still have to gather them, Mokgetsu worried that during this process, a new White Zetsu might appear, by then, cautious Mokgetsu might choose to check everyone again.
So Mokgetsu thought it would be better to gather the troops together for an overall check right from the start, and then directly start the plan.
The faster the plan progresses, the less time the enemy has to think.
"Alright." Jiraiya thought Mokgetsu made sense and agreed.
After the plan was almost fully discussed, Mokgetsu summoned back the subordinates responsible for vigilance and followed Jiraiya to Jiraiya's small troop.
"I'm really sorry, it looks like after the war subsides, you'll have to take care of Kushina yourself, Minato." Mokgetsu said smilingly to Namikaze Minato along the way.
It hadn't been long since Namikaze Minato sent him a letter before Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders came down.
Namikaze Minato showed a somewhat awkward smile and then sighed: "I hope so, lately, there have been way too many unexpected accidents."
He wrote that letter because he had a premonition about the situation in the Hidden Rock war, yet the development of events was still beyond Namikaze Minato's expectations.
If not for Mokgetsu having the ability to sense malice, Namikaze Minato estimated that the Land of Grass squad would remain in a passive defense for a long time, even with reinforcements.
"If spies are the reason for the Land of Grass squad's defeat,
then Teacher Mokgetsu, with his special sensing ability, would definitely be regarded as a thorn in the eyes of the Hidden Rock. Could this be why he was surrounded by numerous masters from the Hidden Rock?" Kakashi pondered.
Kakashi has never been part of the high ranks of any Ninja Squad, but in recent years, he has been on the battlefield quite a bit.
The espionage incident that caused the sudden defeat of the Land of Grass squads must not be an ordinary espionage incident.
"Say less when we get there." Kakashi couldn't help but remind Obito.
Following Mokgetsu, they have now learned quite a bit of confidential information.
Obito's face darkened, "Kakashi, you're underestimating me. I don't blabber about everything I know."
"Heh." Kakashi chuckled without speaking further.
Obito turned red with anger, if it weren't for the timing being inappropriate, he would have wanted to have a bout with Kakashi.
"Just you wait and see!" Obito threw down some harsh words.
To show Kakashi his ability to maintain secrets, he planned not to talk to any ninja outside of those he considered friends once they arrived, so it wouldn't be possible to leak any information.
Kakashi observed Obito's reaction and nodded inwardly.
PS: There will be another chapter later, around three o'clock.