Bait

With the Joint Chunin Exams approaching, Iwagakure is becoming increasingly lively. As the person in charge of the exams, Ikura's affairs are piling up, and Yichen's Senjutsu training is also unable to continue.

Although Yichen doesn't need to be busy preparing for the Joint Chunin Exams, Yichen's not idle either; on the contrary, Yichen has quite a lot to do. At the very least, Yichen has to take care of seven children every day.

Besides his Yichen three disciples and his troublesome younger sister Natsuki, Yichen also had to take care of Ikura's three disciples.

When Nakada Tatsunori, Haraguchi Hampei, and Shimoyama Tamaki Dai were chosen by Ikura to become disciples, Yichen was nearby, and the two classes maintained close contact afterward. Therefore, Yichen was quite familiar with the three of them.

Of the three, Shimoyama Tamaki was actually chosen by Uzumaki Yumi. Ikura Uzumaki Yumi is now a key member of the Barrier Team, and she often brought Uzumaki Yumi Shimoyama Tamaki along when they were conducting research on Natural Energy Seal over the past six months.

Therefore, Yichen knew Shimoyama Tamaki best and had also given her a lot of guidance on Sealing Jutsu.

When Yichen was not in the village, Ikura would occasionally help Yichen instruct his three disciples, so the six of them knew each other very well.

Moreover, they were all graduates of the same year; Matsutani Shinya and Nakada Tatsunori were even from the same class.

The six of them had all developed their own cultivation systems, so there wasn't much that Yichen needed to guide them on. Yichen had to do was watch them cultivate and occasionally answer some of the strange questions the young men and women had.

Unable to cultivate Senjutsu, Yichen could only spend most of his time practicing Lightning Release.

Six months have passed, and Yichen's main focus of training, besides researching sealing techniques, has been developing his Lightning Release. So while progress in other areas has not been very noticeable, his Lightning Release have continued to improve.

After all, in Yichen's original plan, cultivating Lightning Release was part of the main quest, while cultivating Senjutsu Mode was not. Yichen didn't care much about other aspects of cultivation, even S-rank Ninjutsu and the development of Porcelain Release.

Yichen knew very well that S-rank Ninjutsu and Porcelain Release techniques could only increase combat power, but could not elevate Life level. The only way to elevate Life level was to cultivate bloodline limits and Senjutsu.

In Yichen's view, bloodline inheritance was the most important thing.

Yichen's established goals include developing a bloodline with Lightning Release, most likely water and lightning, and less likely earth and lightning.

Whether you choose water or earth, you've already met the standard for fusion, but Lightning Release is still far from sufficient.

Fortunately, after six months of training, Yichen has made some progress.

First, Yichen developed Chidori. Due to the different timelines, Yichen doesn't know if Kakashi has also completed its development, which is not relevant to Yichen's current situation.

Yichen was already a high-ranking advisor, so even if Ōnoki and the others found it strange, they wouldn't suspect Yichen.

For example, Yichen's apparent familiarity with Senjutsu techniques aroused suspicion among the higher-ups, but no one raised any questions. This was because everyone trusted Yichen, and because his status and position were sufficient.

No matter what kind of intelligence Yichen has, no one will interfere.

So even if Kakashi uses the same Chidori as Yichen in the future, no one will say anything.

To be honest, learning Yichen didn't significantly improve Chidori's combat power. Chidori is a close-range attack Ninjutsu, while Yichen mainly focuses on ranged Ninjutsu output, so he doesn't have many opportunities for close combat.

Furthermore, Yichen's close-combat habit is to use Sword Qi, which is difficult to change. Even if he were to use Ninjutsu, the Rasengan, Seal-less Ninjutsu, would be more practical.

The only advantage of Chidori is that it emits a blinding light after use, which not only interferes with Yichen's own vision but also with the enemy's.

However, Yichen possesses the Mind's Eye cheat ability, and after repeated practice, he has become accustomed to the side effects of Chidori. Therefore, using Chidori to catch enemies off guard is still feasible.

But that's all.

Yichen wants to increase his combat power through Chidori, unless he develops derivative Ninjutsu such as Chidori Sharp Spear or Chidori Flow.

These are all ranged attack Ninjutsu, which can be incorporated into Yichen's existing tactical system.

However, developing these Ninjutsu was extremely difficult.

Yichen's Lightning Release was inherently weak. If it weren't for the rapid increase in his Chakra over the past six months, Yichen wouldn't even be able to use Chidori, Lightning Release that consumes a lot of energy.

For Chidori at his current Yichen, Chakra. The reason for this high amount is mainly because Lightning Release is Yichen's fourth chakra attribute, and using advanced Lightning Release would inexplicably deplete his other Chakra.

What's even more infuriating is that after using Chidori twice, Yichen's Lightning Release Chakra was completely depleted, making it impossible for him to continue training. Unless Yichen consumes Chakra of other attributes and then trains it again.

This made Yichen very upset. Because of this, Yichen's progress in the past six months has been very limited. Apart from learning Chidori, he has not made any other substantial progress.

Because of his setbacks in cultivating Lightning Release, Yichen was even more eager to master Senjutsu, hoping to change his current situation through the amplification provided by Senjutsu and to find the possibility of accelerating his cultivation of Lightning Release.

At this point, Yichen had already vaguely sensed the limits of this body. The plan to improve his Life level was proceeding step by step, but the limitations of the body itself were slowly becoming apparent as Yichen's level increased.

Even if Yichen is a time traveler with memories of his past life, it's still far from enough to break free of his shackles.

The successful mastery of the Porcelain Release technique fundamentally elevated Yichen's Life level, but this change was gradual and required time to manifest its effects.

Unfortunately, Yichen couldn't wait.

If Yichen waits ten or twenty years until he has fully developed his body through the Porcelain Release technique before proceeding with the next step of Chakra Fusion, then Yichen believes that even without the Fourth Shinobi War Yichen, he will never achieve his predetermined goal before he dies.

Like Madara Uchiha, who obtained the ultimate Yin and Yang energies, and then sat in meditation before the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path for decades before completing his transformation in his later years and fusing them to create the Rinnegan.

Yichen wouldn't do something like that. If Black Zetsu hadn't thought Madara still had value, the Rinnegan and the Eye of the Moon would have been irrelevant to Madara; once Madara was dead, he was dead.

In order to avoid following in Madara Uchiha's footsteps, Yichen placed his hopes on Senjutsu. Senjutsu can also elevate Life level, but the process is relatively slow. Only by absorbing an unimaginably vast amount of Natural Energy can one cause a leap in life.

Examples include Kaguya, the Sage of Six Paths, Obito, and Madara, who absorbed the Ten-Tails. These individuals incorporated the Ten-Tails, a derivative of Natural Energy, into their bodies, achieving a leap in their Life level.

Even if the amount absorbed is not large enough, one can still achieve a certain degree of extraordinary ability, which manifests as an increase in lifespan.

Example: Three Sage from the Three Great Sage Locations.

Yichen's minimum goal is to have the same lifespan as the three Sages of the Three Great Sage Locations, and then use that extra time to complete a leap in Life level.

Therefore, Yichen's main quest now includes an additional element: cultivating Senjutsu.

Getting back to the main point, Yichen encountered difficulties in his Lightning Release training. Due to insufficient Lightning Release Chakra, Yichen's training progress slowed down.

Therefore, after using two Chidori to deplete his Lightning Release Chakra, Yichen Yichen was once again overcome with the urge to cause trouble for the Cloud ninja.

Last time I caused trouble for the Cloud ninja, I obtained the Lightning Release Stimulation Method. I wonder what surprises I'll get if I do it again.

Unfortunately, the Cloud ninja did not send any ninjas to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams this time.

Thinking of this, Yichen paused. Perhaps he could find a way to lure the Cloud ninja to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams.

But what should be used to lure the Cloud ninja?

Clearly, the B-rank Ninjutsu offered by the Iwa ninja wasn't very tempting to the Cloud ninja remained unmoved. The envoy sent by the Iwa ninja to invite the Cloud ninja didn't even get to see the Third Raikage.

"To attract the attention of the Cloud ninja," Yichen smiled slightly, having found his answer, "Byakugan."

Cloud ninja Yichen Ninja had in the Byakugan before, but after the Mist ninja obtained the Byakugan, the Cloud ninja must have been tempted. Otherwise, in the original story, the Cloud ninja wouldn't have chosen to sacrifice a high-ranking member and threaten war against the Hyuga Clan.

Where is the Byakugan that Yichen brought back? Of course, it's in the Anbu. In the entire Iwagakure, apart from the Tsuchikage's Office Building, the Anbu has the most tight defenses. Research on the Byakugan has also been secretly carried out in the Anbu.

Others may not know about this, but Yichen, this high-ranking official, certainly does.

The research on the Byakugan has always been under Ming's responsibility. Yichen can't just go to the Anbu, take the Byakugan, and run away. Yichen needs Ming's permission first.

However, Yichen has not been very good over the past six months. Yichen Senjutsu has consumed too much funding, yet there is still no hope of success.

"Sigh, there's no other way." Yichen gave a few instructions to the seven children who were cultivating nearby, then gritted his teeth and went to find Ming.

In the office of the advisor Mei in the Tsuchikage's Office Building, Mei frowned as he looked at Yichen and asked, "You said you were going to use the Byakugan to lure the Cloud ninja to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams?"

Yichen nodded vigorously.

After meditating for a moment, he asked again, "I don't care if it succeeds or not, but what about the possibility of losing or damaging my Byakugan?"

Yichen quickly assured him, "Senior Mei, please rest assured. I wouldn't trust anyone else to handle the Byakugan either. I will definitely handle this personally, and I guarantee the Byakugan will never leave my hands."

After hearing Yichen's guarantee, Ming hesitated for a moment but still agreed. She acknowledged Yichen 'Yichen strength and trusted his intelligence.

Since Yichen said he would do it himself, she had nothing to worry about. After all, Yichen Byakugan the one who brought back the Byakugan, so she believed that Yichen valued and cherished them more than she did.

"The Byakugan is currently conducting experiments in the Anbu. Come with me to retrieve it."

"Okay!" Yichen replied cheerfully, which earned him another glare from Ming.

Yichen quickly shut his mouth.