Reinforcements Bring Ill News and a New Ninjutsu

Three days passed in constant training and study, and reinforcements finally arrived at the front lines.

"Jiraiya-sensei, why are you late?"

Minato Namikaze asked with a hint of unease. Ninja marches were fast and precise; unless they encountered special circumstances, errors were rare.

"War has broken out on other borders as well," Jiraiya sighed, his brows furrowed, his eyes revealing a touch of exhaustion and worry.

"On the border of the Land of Wind, the Sunagakure Ninja have already selected a Fourth Kazekage and have begun their offensive."

"They intervened under the banner of avenging the Third Kazekage, and Orochimaru is currently leading forces in a standoff against them."

"Kirigakure has also landed near the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, and the Third Hokage has already dispatched the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan there."

"Although the Kumogakure Ninja haven't made a move yet, it is foreseeable that if the situation turns dire, they will step in to claim their share of the spoils."

"Therefore, the troops near the Land of Lightning cannot be withdrawn in large numbers."

Jiraiya was heavy-hearted. He did not doubt Konoha's ability to win, but the thought of the price Konoha would have to pay for that victory left him unable to sleep or eat in peace.

Many of the ninjas heading to the battlefield this time were Genin who had just graduated.

Aside from the Three Basic Jutsu, they knew almost no other ninjutsu; once they reached the battlefield, their chances of survival were slim.

"Sensei, how should we respond to the current situation? Should we first drive out the Iwagakure Ninja deployed in the Land of Grass?"

Minato's brows were also tightly locked. He urgently wanted to understand Konoha's current strategic focus and the priority level of the Iwagakure Ninja.

"The village's intention is to prioritize a defensive counterattack, waiting to see the enemy's deployment clearly before striking a decisive blow. Given the current situation, the village can only fight conservatively."

Jiraiya sighed again. With insufficient manpower, no one dared to act rashly.

If the front line were to be breached by the Iwagakure Ninja, Konoha, lacking the reserves to respond, would be forced into a battle to defend the capital.

"Understood. I will send people to scout the situation of the Iwagakure Ninja and determine their numbers and specific layout."

Minato understood the village's predicament and could only do his best to fulfill his own duties.

"By the way, there is one more thing," Jiraiya suddenly remembered. "Regarding the Uchiha Iori mentioned in your report, the village has agreed to promote him to Jonin."

"This is his Jonin flak jacket. You should hand it to him."

"Also, the Uchiha Clan asked me to bring this sealing scroll to him. The method to undo it is a secret technique of their clan, so you can give that to him as well."

Jiraiya took out the flak jacket and the scroll and handed them to Minato.

He had always kept his distance from politics, but for the sake of his disciple, he had tried to cooperate with the major clans in the village to secure support.

After accepting them, Minato said to Jiraiya, "Iori is like Obito; he is an outlier among the Uchiha."

"He is gentle and enthusiastic, not arrogant and overbearing like the typical Uchiha."

Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully, and Minato continued:

"He recently said he received a gift from his ancestors, gaining the ability to replicate and use spirit weapons, though he cannot store them for very long."

"I have seen him use spirit weapons; both his combat and healing capabilities are impressive. Perhaps he could become a bridge for communication between the village and the Uchiha."

"Spirit weapons? And more than one type? That is truly rare; I have never seen such a thing myself," Jiraiya said, feeling curious.

"I will test his strength this evening to better arrange missions for him. The front line is currently in dire need of individuals who can stand on their own."

Minato arrived outside Uchiha Iori's tent and spoke toward the inside: "Iori, your promotion has been approved. I have your Jonin flak jacket here."

"I apologize; because the timing was inconvenient, I wasn't able to prepare a gift."

Iori smiled and said nonchalantly, "Having Senior Minato's congratulations is enough. Your previous advice on the Body Flicker Technique was already a huge help."

Minato smiled and handed the flak jacket and the scroll to Uchiha Iori:

"This scroll is a promotion gift from your clan. The method to undo it is a secret technique of the Uchiha; you should know how to use it."

Iori nodded at him and took the scroll and the jacket; these were things that must be learned within the clan.

"Then I will take my leave. There is a welcome party for the village reinforcements tonight, and I'll celebrate your promotion then as well."

After Minato finished speaking, he used the Body Flicker Technique and departed. With the arrival of reinforcements, he was responsible for their placement and handover, having only taken the time to meet with Uchiha Iori.

Iori returned to his tent, feeling a bit excited. Following the secret technique, he carefully unsealed the scroll.

Inside the scroll were two B-rank Fire Style ninjutsu: Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique and Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.

There was also the essence and advanced application of the Sharingan, including a special genjutsu: Genjutsu: Sharingan.

It seems the clan is quite generous. The Great Dragon Fire Technique is a decent offensive Fire Style and can be considered a prerequisite for Lightning Style: Kirin, while the Majestic Destroyer Flame is Madara Uchiha's signature technique.

There is also various data on the Sharingan. It's good to have it to fill in the gaps and use as a reference for chakra research.

He pondered carefully. Although he mainly relied on his Noble Phantasms, learning these ninjutsu would enrich his repertoire, especially Genjutsu: Sharingan, which was extremely useful to him.

Once he learned them all, he could even pass them to Medea as data for analyzing chakra.

Learning more ninjutsu is always a good thing. At the very least, this Genjutsu: Sharingan is quite handy—it can hard-control the weak and disrupt the strong, Iori thought silently.

Currently, aside from Madara Uchiha and the questionable Fugaku Uchiha, there is no Mangekyo-level ocular jutsu, so even if I fail, there will be no backlash.

Putting away the two Fire Style scrolls, Uchiha Iori began by studying Genjutsu: Sharingan.

As one of the high-level manifestations of Yin Release power, Uchiha Iori's formidable soul strength could be considered a built-in cheat code.

His training process for Genjutsu: Sharingan went exceptionally smoothly. Not only did he quickly familiarize himself with the activation methods, but he also took the opportunity to refine how he applied his Sharingan.

The experience accumulated by the Uchiha clan over a thousand years was indeed highly practical, and much of it involved nuances Uchiha Iori had never considered before.

Because he was essentially "cheating," he had jumped almost directly from one tomoe to three, often relying on sheer mental power to brute-force his way through various situations.

It's certainly nice to lean on a giant tree for shade; there are people who have already navigated the pitfalls I've encountered or have yet to face.

This definitely isn't the clan's entire legacy; at the very least, there isn't a single mention of Izanagi or Izanami. A family with a thousand-year heritage is truly extraordinary.

Iori felt a sense of lament. Damn, such an awesome clan actually ended up nearly being wiped out.

Fugaku Uchiha was a total waste; he really needed to be kicked out so Iori could take over as clan head himself.

Picking up the Fire Style scrolls, Iori headed toward a nearby river. He didn't dare practice Fire Style near the camp; if he accidentally burned down his own home, the joke would be on him.

Fire Style could be considered the Uchiha clan's signature.

From the basic C-rank Great Fireball to the B-rank Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame, which Madara Uchiha used to take on ten thousand enemies during the Fourth Ninja World War.

And then there were Nintaijutsu techniques like Uchiha Style: Sword Flame Leap, which were standard equipment for the Uchiha clan.

Luckily, I had already touched upon the nature transformation of fire-attribute chakra, and I had long since mastered shape transformation, otherwise these two ninjutsu would have been quite difficult to learn.

In just a single afternoon, Uchiha Iori easily broke through his previous bottleneck and successfully mastered the nature transformation of fire-attribute chakra.

After several intense battles, he had gained many insights, though he hadn't had the time to digest them yet.

By the riverside, a gentle breeze blew, causing the water to shimmer with ripples.

Iori took a deep breath, formed the hand seals, and exhaled scorching flames: "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

The flames erupted from Iori's mouth, a massive torrent that engulfed the river and instantly evaporated the stream.

As expected, it's not very cost-effective. The power is immense, but the consumption is also significant. For the same level of expenditure, using a Noble Phantasm is more efficient. I should let Medea take a look and see if she can optimize it.

Iori thought with a touch of humble-bragging; after all, he was a man with both a cheat code and an external brain.