Agreement

The progress of Tomoko and the others impressed Ikura, and he began to consider taking on apprentices himself. He said, "Yichen, you mentioned last time when you were taking on apprentices that I should also take on a few disciples. But I was too busy at the time. Now I'm thinking, once the next class graduates and I've mastered enough S-rank Ninjutsu, I'll go to the Ninja Academy and take on a few disciples."

Upon hearing this, Yichen chuckled, "Great! There's still a long way to go before the next generation graduates. By then, my three disciples will have grown up quite a bit. I'll take on three more disciples, and we'll have a competition to see whose disciples are more powerful."

Ikura was taken aback and said, "You're going to take on disciples?"

Yichen said, "You've never taken on a disciple before, so you don't know the joy of it. Besides, you have family and aren't lonely. I'm all alone, so having a few disciples to care for is a good thing."

Ikura fell silent. Born into a powerful ninja clan, he had shown exceptional talent in cultivation from a young age, so his family valued him highly and never lacked affection. But Yichen was different. He had been alone since he was three years old and didn't have many friends. It seemed that his social circle consisted of classmates and colleagues. A few disciples could indeed enrich his life.

The topic was somewhat heavy, Yichen didn't like the atmosphere, so he said, "Have you thought about what kind of disciple you want to take in? Someone like you, a well-rounded talent who excels in both Ninjutsu Taijutsu, or someone who can inherit one of your specialties?"

Ikura hadn't really thought about this question before, and said, "I haven't considered it before. I'll see when the time comes and see if there's anything I particularly like. Do you have any suggestions?"

In terms of accepting disciples, Yichen's vision was indeed unique.

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "If the disciple you want to take on is someone who will inherit your mantle, then it's best to find a ninja with the same attributes as you, similar to how the Second Lord took on the Third Lord as his disciple."

"If we can't find a disciple who is a perfect match, we can find several more, each inheriting one or two of your abilities."

"But if your goal is to train outstanding disciples, then you can do what I did and seek out those overlooked geniuses, such as my disciple Tomoko."

"As you know, Tomoko's attributes are actually very different from mine. She can't inherit my fighting style, nor can she inherit my collection of Ninjutsu. But she can become a strong person, and the process is relatively simple."

"Therefore, the type of disciple you choose depends on your goals."

After carefully considering the two scenarios Yichen had mentioned, Ikura firmly stated, "My choice is the same as yours: to select those who are overlooked but have the potential to become disciples of the strong."

"It is my duty to nurture the next generation for the village."

Yichen was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Not bad, not bad, very much in the spirit of Tsuchikage."

Ikura shook his head and said, "I can't compare to you in this respect. Whether it's opening up trade routes or scheming against Konoha, you have more of the qualities of Tsuchikage than I do."

Yichen neither agreed nor disagreed. The mindset of a Shadow is not a good thing. Itachi God captivated countless young men and women in his past life, but what he did to his family is an indelible stain, and the root of this lies in the mindset of a Shadow.

Yichen felt he couldn't sacrifice his family for the greater good.

Perhaps this is the difference between myself and the people of this world. Perhaps after this war, I will become just as cold-blooded.

After the dinner, Ikura went home to continue his S-rank Ninjutsu training, while Yichen returned to the training ground. His three disciples would definitely not leave until late at night.

Since I need to cultivate anyway, I might as well cultivate with my three disciples.

Unlike his previous mood, perhaps due to his conversation with Ikura about his resolve as a Kage, the other newly Chunin, who were previously ignored by Yichen, are now attracting Yichen attention.

Instead of going to find his three disciples, Yichen stood quietly by the Training Ground, watching everyone for a long time. Then he revealed a bright smile.

Since you don't have a family, why bother worrying about things like the Shadow's resolve?

Anyway, people look at actions, not thoughts. As long as you act like a shadow, or people feel that you are acting like a shadow, then you are seen as a shadow in their eyes.

Then Yichen created dozens of clones, each of which went to a Chunin who was training and told them about the shortcomings in their previous training.

These people were stunned at first, then overjoyed. Guidance from Jonin —no, guidance from Elite Jonin. They had been training with Tomoko and the other two for the past few days and knew that Yichen had already become Elite Jonin.

The guidance from Elite Jonin is incredibly rare. Moreover, this Elite Jonin is now a renowned teacher recognized by Iwagakure. Everyone listened to Yichen's guidance with utmost seriousness, wishing they could take out scrolls to record it.

Yichen didn't offer much guidance; he simply gave some opinions and suggestions regarding their training, and pointed out some directional errors in their practice.

After he finished speaking, Yichen's clones all disappeared.

However, instead of immediately starting their training, these people gathered together and discussed the guidance Yichen had just given them.

Although Yichen didn't give much guidance to each person individually, it added up to a considerable amount.

Then, quite miraculously, following Yichen's guidance, these ninjas of similar types began training together.

Seeing this, Yichen simply smiled.

For the next ten days or so, Yichen's three disciples trained at this Training Ground, while Yichen, having nothing else to do, also followed the three to practice his Chakra Fusion.

In his spare time, Yichen would also occasionally give pointers to others.

Ten days is not a long time, Yichen's Chakra Fusion progress is not fast. So far, the fusion speed is still slower than the dissipation speed.

However, after more than a month of training, these newly Chunin are now ready to carry out missions.

Yichen then returned to the Eastern Army with his three disciples.

The number of the Eastern Army did not increase, but the supplies did increase considerably. The previously spacious camp now felt somewhat crowded due to the large amount of supplies piled up there.

Therefore, Yichen suggested to Kitsuchi that they expand the area appropriately, since there were enough resources anyway, and he was good at setting up the seal.

Kitsuchi thought for a moment and agreed, but instead of making arrangements, he handed Yichen a piece of intelligence, saying, "The Cloud ninja are about to lose their temper."

"Uh..." Yichen was a little confused. In Yichen's original deduction, the Sunagakure and the Iwa ninja were the first to fight against Konoha, the Mist ninja and the Cloud ninja would be later, and the Cloud ninja might be the last.

Now, because of the information I provided regarding Minato Namikaze, the time when the Iwa ninja launched the war has been delayed, and the progress of the Sunagakure in expanding the war has also been slowed down.

As a result, even though the Third Shinobi World War has been going on for quite some time, three of the Five Great Nations have not yet joined the war, and the two great nations that have started fighting are only engaging in minor skirmishes.

Fortunately, after such a long standoff, the Cloud ninja finally couldn't hold back any longer.

Intelligence indicates that the Cloud ninja have begun sending troops into the Land of the Moon, and small groups have even infiltrated the Land of Hot Water, which borders Konoha.

The actions of the Cloud ninja quickly drew the attention of Konoha. Konoha, which had initially only deployed a small number of troops on guard, responded immediately by dispatching Jiraiya and Danzo to the front lines.

Sending two Kage Level at once wasn't specifically aimed at the Third Raikage. While the strength of Kage Level is important in a battle, the weaker side can choose to bypass their opponent and directly attack the enemy's Genin and lower. Both sides could then trade Genin and lower for Chunin Genin and lower.

Therefore, Kage Level will not easily intervene until the war reaches its climax.

The reason Konoha sent out two Kage Level was to guard against Mist ninja and Iwa ninja.

The Cloud ninja are conveniently located between these two countries, allowing the two Kage Level to provide support from the front lines. Most importantly, this effectively confuses the enemy, making it difficult for the Cloud ninja, Mist ninja, and Iwa ninja to determine where the Konoha Kage Level will ultimately be stationed.

The effect of Konoha's operation was obvious. After Jiraiya and Danzo went to the front line, the Mist ninja not only did not take the opportunity to launch an attack, but also acted more cautiously.

Yichen looked at the intelligence report and was speechless. When he transmigrated, the Second Shinobi World War was about to break out in full force. He had no idea that there would be such a long warm-up period before the official start of the war.

The Sunagakure is really something. If they want to fight, they should just fight. What are they waiting for? The longer it drags on, the more advantageous it will be for Konoha.

Konoha hadn't even recovered from Second Shinobi War yet. If the various sides were to remain locked in a stalemate for another year or two, Konoha would recover even more strength, making them even more difficult to deal with.

Moreover, military confrontation is very taxing on finances; the Land of Fire can afford it, but other countries may not.

In fact, each country has its own ulterior motives. Unlike during Second Shinobi War, when no country dared to participate in the war, now each country has a new generation about to grow up, and they all think that it would be more advantageous for them to postpone the outbreak of war.

In the original work, the reason why the Cloud ninja and the Mist ninja were able to hold back was most likely because their respective Fourth Generation were undergoing the transformation from Quasi-Kage to Kage Level.

The reason why the Iwa ninja couldn't hold back was because they had no capable successors.

Fortunately, the Iwa ninja no longer need to worry, as Ikura has successfully filled the void.

The standoff between the four nations has another drawback: because of the disharmony among them, conflicts will arise between them before the battle with Konoha officially begins.

Sometimes such conflicts escalate and evolve, even leading to war between the two countries.

After all, not everyone can be as restrained as Yichen, allowing the Cloud ninja scouts to return safely even when they have the upper hand.

Moreover, even if countries exercise restraint, there will still be conspirators who sow discord.

Yichen believed that Danzo would definitely not remain idle. Thinking of this, Yichen became somewhat worried. Yichen was not afraid of going to war with Konoha; it was unavoidable, and worrying was useless.

Konoha is facing four opponents alone; they definitely don't have enough manpower. Even if Minato Namikaze is incredibly strong, he's only one person.

Yichen's biggest concern is the mutual attrition with other countries, such as the Cloud ninja. Yichen feels it's not worthwhile to devote too many troops to dealing with the Cloud ninja.

The Ninja World One Superpower, Many Strong, so everyone should unite against Konoha instead of being enemies with each other.

Yichen shared his thoughts and concerns with Kitsuchi replied, "I agree with your idea. I will instruct the ninjas tasked with the mission to treat the Cloud ninja with caution."