"Kannabeyama Stronghold was taken!?"
"Yes, Lord Juzo… It only took about ten minutes. Under the cooperation of Lord Rei Kaguya and Lady Mei Terumi, Konoha's shinobi were wiped out cleanly. Our side took over Kannabeyama Stronghold without suffering any losses, along with the large stockpile of kunai, explosive tags, and other supplies inside the stronghold."
The intelligence officer Rei had sent to contact the rear knelt on one knee before Juzo Biwa, who had just come down from the battlefield, and spoke with excitement.
"If the commander of the Konoha unit that came to reinforce them afterward had not been more vigilant, we might even have eaten them as well."
"I see…"
Juzo Biwa's steps paused almost imperceptibly after hearing those words.
As one of the people in charge of Kirigakure's front line in the Land of Fire, Juzo Biwa had naturally led teams to attack Kannabeyama Stronghold before in order to advance the front line.
As for the result…
The fact that Kannabeyama Stronghold had stood firm until Rei's arrival was enough to reveal one or two things.
It should have been a flesh-and-blood grinding mill where both sides constantly invested manpower, using a cruel exchange ratio to block Kirigakure's shinobi from spreading the flames of war deeper into the Land of Fire.
As long as Kannabeyama remained in Konoha's hands, Kirigakure's front line could not fully advance.
But now, that long-resistant Kannabeyama Stronghold, which had even made Fuguki Suikazan, the one responsible for coordinating intelligence, seriously consider whether they should gather all Seven Ninja Swordsmen to take it down…
Had been torn apart so easily by that brat from the Kaguya clan?
"How did he do it?"
Juzo Biwa took a deep breath, hiding the shock in his heart as he pretended to be calm and asked the chunin who had come to deliver the intelligence.
"Lord Rei Kaguya used an ultra-large-scale Hiding in Mist Technique that covered a radius of five kilometers. Lady Mei Terumi cooperated with him using Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique, severely injuring all the Konoha shinobi inside the stronghold. Then Lord Rei Kaguya charged into the stronghold alone while enduring Lady Mei Terumi's Skilled Mist Technique and killed everyone!"
Although the young chunin's description was very simple, after Juzo Biwa listened with a seemingly expressionless face, he realized his back had been completely soaked in cold sweat at some unknown point.
An ultra-large Hiding in Mist Technique that covered a radius of five kilometers?
He endured Skilled Mist Technique and slaughtered everyone inside Kannabeyama Stronghold?
Was that brat transformed from a Tailed Beast?
Otherwise, how could he have such terrifying vitality and chakra volume?
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness he had not mentioned the conversation he had heard before to anyone else.
Otherwise…
Juzo Biwa did not remain immersed for long in the lingering fear of having picked up his life.
He quickly adjusted his emotions and spoke to the chunin who had come to report with a low voice.
"Good. You solved one of the major difficulties before us. I will record this achievement truthfully and report it to Lord Third… Is there anything else?"
"Yes."
The young chunin nodded. His expression was serious as he repeated everything meticulously.
"Lord Rei Kaguya said that for the next while, Kannabeyama Stronghold will inevitably become one of the most intense battlefields between Konoha and Kirigakure. He needs Lord Fuguki Suikazan to assign several qualified sensory-type shinobi and medical-nin to him."
"Lord Rei Kaguya also said that even if personnel originally belonging to other jonin must be transferred, his request must be satisfied… If anyone has any objections, they can express their dissatisfaction to him face-to-face after he returns from Kannabeyama Stronghold."
"He took Kannabeyama. That is a very reasonable request."
Juzo Biwa let out a breath of relief and nodded slightly.
"I will help Rei Kaguya coordinate this with Fuguki… If there is nothing else, go rest first. Once the sensory shinobi assigned to Kannabeyama are in place, you can set off together."
"Yes!"
The young chunin withdrew excitedly.
From his face, Juzo Biwa saw the pride and honor the young man felt at being able to become Rei Kaguya's subordinate, as well as his fanatical worship of Rei himself.
Just like the subordinates who once followed behind him, watching him complete one extremely difficult mission after another for Kirigakure.
Only, Rei Kaguya was younger than him.
Stronger than him.
And more ambitious than him.
"This is Kirigakure's law…"
Kirigakure was a village where the strong were respected. Around a powerful person who could continuously bring victory to the village, followers and worshippers attracted by him would inevitably gather.
When the number of these people grew great enough to challenge the existing order, the replacement of the Kage would become unavoidable.
Juzo Biwa sighed and rose, heading toward the command room where Fuguki Suikazan was.
"I only hope this war doesn't let that brat transform too quickly… If he grows to the point where the Third Mizukage becomes deeply wary of him before the war ends, it will be very difficult for me to handle my position."
…
Rei did not know that he had further shaken Juzo Biwa's loyalty toward the Third Mizukage.
Right now, he was looking at the newly refreshed mission on his system panel, brows tightly furrowed.
[Mission: Battle of Kannabeyama]
[Mission Description: Defend Kannabeyama Stronghold until Kirigakure breaks through the other Konoha strongholds that are still holding firm, forcing Konoha's defensive line to retreat.
During the mission, Mei Terumi's death must be avoided. Control of Kannabeyama Stronghold must not be lost. When the mission is settled, the number of Kirigakure shinobi defending Kannabeyama Stronghold must not be lower than 40% of the current number. If any of these conditions are not met, the main mission will be considered failed.]
[Mission Reward: Keystone Rune — Conqueror]
[Optional Mission 1: Defeat Kushina Uzumaki one-on-one. Reward: One secondary rune draw chance.]
[Optional Mission 2: Defeat the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina Uzumaki one-on-one. Reward: One Keystone Rune draw chance.]
[Optional Mission 3: Repel the combined attack of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. Reward: Two Keystone Rune draw chances.]
[Optional Mission 4: Force Konoha to replace its frontline commander with someone other than Kushina Uzumaki. Reward: Keystone Rune — The Power of Time.]
[Please note: If the main mission fails, all incomplete optional missions will also fail.]
Without requiring him to kill any specific target, the system had actually offered a lavish reward of up to five Keystone Runes for this mission…
How generous.
Then, according to the system's usual nature…
Before each mission was completed, there would probably be some enormous, unpredictable accident, right?
"Whew. Those who come are not kind, and the kind do not come."
Rei exhaled deeply. A flash of madness passed through his deep purple eyes.
"But I accept this challenge."
"Five Keystone Runes, right? Watch closely…"
"I'll swallow them all for you to see!"
After making up his mind, Rei set up a barrier in the room where he was temporarily staying.
Then, with all his strength, he activated the power of the Dead Bone Pulse and began creating Bone Clones that could carry more chakra than Shadow Clones and display stronger combat ability.
After all was said and done, the greatest difficulty of this mission was actually how to ensure that Kannabeyama Stronghold would not be taken by other Konoha shinobi while he was facing Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze as a couple.
Rei knew that Minato Namikaze had left a Flying Thunder God mark on his body.
Once the other party's previous injuries healed and he joined the battlefield, Rei would find it very difficult to avoid being transferred away from the main battlefield by the Flying Thunder God Technique and dealt with separately.
So, in order to prevent Kannabeyama Stronghold from falling due to a lack of high-level combat strength after he was transferred away, he planned to create several more Bone Clones that could inherit around fifty percent of his attributes in order to deal with all kinds of unexpected situations.
"Right. To prevent that guy Minato Namikaze from shamelessly ambushing Mei Terumi, that fragile little thing, I also need to leave the clones a few more special versions of Biscuits…"
"No. I also need to send someone back and have the rear deliver a batch of materials for making ordinary Biscuits. Otherwise, relying only on a few medical-nin of average skill will never be enough. If there are too many non-combat losses, there's no way to complete the main mission…"
At this moment, although the tall, thin body of the young man trembled slightly from the pain of forcibly pulling his own spine out of his body, the light shining in his eyes was firmer and brighter than ever before.