Ōnoki Stunned Speechless

When Yichen returned to the village at night, Ōnoki had not yet rested. Not only did Ōnoki, as the Tsuchikage, not rest, but several advisors also did not rest.

The village is currently discussing opening trade routes with the Land of the Falls and the Land of Bears. The negotiations are nearing completion, and various details still need to be discussed repeatedly, keeping the higher-ups busy working overtime.

Despite being busy, they were generally in a good mood. The successful trade route with the Land of Rain demonstrated that the benefits to the village were long-term. The high-ranking officials were happy to be able to establish and improve the relevant systems for trade routes for both the village and the Land of Earth.

When Yichen was taken to Tsuchikage's Office, all the advisors were inside.

Upon seeing Yichen enter, Ōnoki asked, "Yichen, you're back. How did your trip to the Land of Rain go?"

Yichen nodded and said, "It went smoothly. Danzo and Hanzo attacked the Akatsuki Organization, but ultimately failed. They didn't expect Nagato to be a Kage-level experts, let alone that Nagato possessed the Rinnegan."

"The Rinnegan's peculiar abilities caused heavy losses to both the Rain Village and Root. Root had about fifty members when they entered the Land of Rain. Only ten of them retreated with Danzo, and there might be a few more who escaped from the outer perimeter of the battlefield. At most, only thirteen or fourteen Root survived. I've collected thirty-five corpses."

Upon hearing this, all the high-ranking officials, including Ōnoki, were stunned. Chen Yichen remained speechless for a long time.

Yichen waited a while until everyone calmed down before continuing, "Hanzo gathered almost all the village's elites, and out of over a hundred, only a dozen or so remained. I also sealed and brought back nearly a hundred corpses of the Rain Village after their deaths."

"Cough cough cough cough." The crowd could no longer remain silent. You went out alone and brought back over a hundred elite ninja corpses? What are you trying to do? Try to swindle all the village's contributions?

However, that wasn't the most important thing. The Middle-aged Male Advisor, Saka, hurriedly asked, "Yichen, what happened to the Akatsuki Organization? What are the casualties?"

Yichen gave him a strange look, of course he understood what he meant. He must think that the Akatsuki Organization had also suffered heavy losses, and was even wondering if the Akatsuki Organization still existed.

Yichen said expressionlessly, "Aside from the three leaders who suffered minor injuries, the Akatsuki Organization had no casualties. In fact, only three leaders of the Akatsuki Organization participated in the operation."

Everyone was even more speechless. What did they mean by "no casualties"? Shouldn't it be "no survivors"? Was Root too incompetent, or Akatsuki Organization too powerful? Or were they just too old to keep up with the times?

Before Ōnoki could signal him, Yichen proactively recounted the details of what had happened. He emphasized that Nagato had used a Super Almighty Push to alter the terrain, taking with him over a dozen Root member and dozens of Rain Village main force members. This gave everyone a more direct understanding of the Rinnegan's terrifying power.

Ōnoki inquired carefully about the range of Nagato 'Super Almighty Push. Yichen and the others understood that Ōnoki was comparing Nagato's achievements with his own, so they remained silent and waited for Ōnoki's judgment.

After a while, amidst the anticipation of the four advisors and Yichen, Ōnoki slowly shook his head and said, "I'm not sure I can defeat Nagato. My only chance is to use Dust Release to launch a sneak attack."

However, it's uncertain whether the Rinnegan can detect a sneak attack. Furthermore, the opponent can absorb Ninjutsu, so it's unknown whether Dust Release will be effective.

Yichen thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Nagato possesses all Five-Attribute, which is probably due to the Rinnegan's power. The Rinnegan can grant Nagato five attributes, and perhaps it can also absorb all five attributes to Fusion Bloodline Limit."

Then Yichen took out the scroll that sealed Uchiha Island and his Sharingan. After breaking the seal, Yichen handed the bottle containing the Sharingan to Ōnoki, saying, "Lord Tsuchikage, I also found another Uchiha among the Root ninjas. This person is named Uchiha Island, and this is his Three-Tomoe Sharingan."

An advisor picked up the bottle, examined the pair of blood-red, Three-Tomoe Sharingan within, and said gravely, "The Uchiha have joined Root; this is unusual."

The others nodded as well.

Yichen continued, "This Uchiha doesn't get along well with the other Root ninjas. He clearly has the strength of Jonin, but he's not even a squad leader. This time, it was because he wanted to prove himself that I seized the opportunity."

The advisors exchanged glances, and Saka said to Ōnoki, "It's likely that the Uchiha Clan and Root reached a secret agreement. Should we expose them?"

Yichen interjected, "Advisor, Root suffered heavy losses this time, and those losses were all elites. Once Danzo returns to Konoha, his status will likely decline significantly."

"I think we should help Danzo, so that he has enough power to hinder the Third Hokage."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "That's right, Danzo's existence is to our advantage. Let's do this: as usual, spread rumors about Konoha's losses. But instead of reporting the losses, let's target the Anbu."

Everyone nodded.

Then Yichen began to recount how he had threatened and tried to win over Hanzo. Yichen was the village's representative on the side of the Land of Rain, so Yichen actions were not out of line.

Ōnoki and the others were satisfied with Yichen's actions. Although the strength of Amegakure had declined significantly, it was still a good thing to win over Hanzo. Not to mention, the village could also gain huge benefits from the Land of Rain.

After a brief discussion, Ōnoki asked, "Yichen, have you spoken to the Akatsuki Organization? Do you think they'll agree?"

Having learned of Nagato's strength, Ōnoki dared not underestimate the Akatsuki Organization's attitude.

Yichen's answer was simple, "I have convinced the Akatsuki Organization that they will go to the surrounding small countries to expand their influence and work towards opening up trade routes."

Everyone's eyes lit up. They had already experienced the benefits of opening up trade routes. If the Akatsuki Organization could drive the rapid development of the surrounding small countries, then the Land of Earth would definitely be the biggest winner.

After a moment of quiet thought, Ōnoki said to the Middle-aged Male Advisor, Saka, "Saka, go to the capital tomorrow, discuss it with the daimyo, and then lead a team to the Land of Rain."

Saka nodded to indicate that he understood.

Next, Ōnoki turned to Yichen and pondered for a moment.

Yichen knew that the rewards were about to be distributed, and he was really looking forward to it.

As expected, Ōnoki didn't keep Yichen waiting long and immediately said, "Yichen, you completed your mission in the Land of Rain very well this time. I won't give you any other rewards, but go to the Contribution Office and collect an A-rank Ninjutsu for free."

"We'll award you three S-levels for your mission record, but we won't be issuing the contribution bonus. Do you have any other requests?"

Yichen quickly shook his head and said, "Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage, I have no further requests."

Receiving an A-rank Ninjutsu for free was a reward that completely exceeded Yichen's expectations.

Yichen brought back over a hundred Jonin corpses from the Land of Rain, including many Elite Jonin, plus several hundred Chunin. If calculated by contribution points, it's estimated to reach nearly two hundred thousand.

Even with the rewards from the S-rank mission and the Sharingan, the total is only a little over 200,000 points.

However, receiving A-rank Ninjutsu for free means that Yichen can choose a Ninjutsu that costs far more than 200,000.

You should know that Yichen had worked at the Supply Station for two years and only accumulated about 100,000 Contribution Points. He couldn't even exchange for a cheap A-rank Ninjutsu. In the end, he was able to exchange for the Light-Weight Rock Technique because of an unexpected income.

I just went to the Land of Rain, which took about ten days, and I got an A-rank Ninjutsu. And it was A-rank Ninjutsu that I could choose at any price.

Yichen estimated that the village's generosity was not mainly because he had brought back so many corpses, but rather because of the benefits he had obtained from the Land of Land of Rain on behalf of the Land of Earth.

While the extent of this benefit is difficult to quantify, if used to train ninjas, the strength of Iwagakure should also improve significantly.

Besides this A-rank Ninjutsu, Yichen also obtained quite a few scrolls from the corpses during his trip to the Land of Rain.

Among them were seven C-rank Ninjutsu of various attributes, and one B-rank Wind Release. The Wind Release came from an Elite Jonin of Root. Danzo probably didn't expect to lose so many people on this trip to the Land of Rain, so he didn't forbid his subordinates from carrying Ninjutsu Scroll.

However, Yichen Wind Release is not something Yi Chen can master, so he can't practice it yet. Yichen decided to go to the Contribution Office tomorrow to ask if they have this Contribution Office their collection.

As for the seven C-rank Ninjutsu, they include two Wind Release, four Water Release, and one Fire Release.

Water Release include: Water Clone Jutsu, Water Prison Technique, Water Formation Wall, and Water Flow Whip. The last C-rank Fire Style Jutsu is quite unique; it doesn't have much offensive power, but it releases a large amount of light after being used, somewhat like Signal Flare or flashbang.

These Ninjutsu were either beyond Yichen 'Yichen ability to learn or wouldn't increase his strength. Yichen didn't value them much, but for the sake of enriching his tactics, he still decided to spend some time practicing them.

However, there's no rush. Yichen is most looking forward to next is choosing a suitable A-rank Ninjutsu.

In fact, Yichen's goal is quite clear. First of all, among the A-rank Ninjutsu, Yichen can only train Earth Release and Water Release. Under the same circumstances, Yichen prefers Water Release.

Yichen already possesses the Rain Style: Heavy Rain Jutsu, so he doesn't plan to learn any A-rank area-of-effect Ninjutsu in the short term. This is because the unique power of the Water Pressure Line makes the Rain Style: Heavy Rain Jutsu not much weaker than a typical A-rank area-of-effect Ninjutsu.

The range of the Rain Style: Heavy Rain Jutsu is a bit small, but that's alright; it will gradually increase as Yichen's strength improves.

Yichen now needs a powerful single-target A-rank Ninjutsu to serve as his Trump Card.

Yichen's original plan was not to train A-rank offensive Ninjutsu, but to continue improving the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu, making Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu not only powerful in penetration but also capable of cutting.

The goal is to reach the level of the Second Hokage's ability to cut the God Tree.

Of course, the second-generation Water Style: Water Severing Wave used to cut the God Tree must be S-rank. Yichen doesn't have such high requirements now; reaching A-rank is enough.

However, due to the slow development of the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu and the frequent interruptions to his cultivation by various accidents, Yichen is far from successfully upgrading the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu a second time.

These unexpected interruptions to Yichen's training were naturally due to his mastery of B-rank Sword Technique and A-rank Light-Weight Rock Technique. The training of these two Ninjutsu had consumed too much of Yichen's energy.

Furthermore, Yichen also needs to develop the Added-Weight Rock Technique and then practice Chakra Fusion. His schedule is packed full of urgent matters, further reducing the time Yichen can calmly develop the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu.