Top Secret Intelligence

On the way to the Anbu, Yichen asked Ming, "Senior Mei, how's the research on the Byakugan going?"

Speaking of this, Mei was actually quite happy. She smiled and said, "Although the Byakugan does have a resistance to ninjas, the resistance is much weaker than that of the Sharingan. Much of our preparation was unnecessary."

"Now all the data indicators for the Byakugan have been listed out in great detail."

"However, research on how to counter the Byakugan has made no progress. While the Byakugan's abilities aren't as domineering as the Sharingan in battle, its X-ray vision is simply too powerful to be countered; no concealed movement can escape its Byakugan."

At this point, Ming sighed, lamenting that Iwagakure didn't have a family with such an excellent bloodline.

This was also within Yichen's expectations. If the Byakugan were so easily targeted, it wouldn't deserve to be placed in Kaguya Otsutsuki's eye socket.

Yichen even suspected that the Byakugan possessed other hidden abilities that had not yet been discovered. These hidden abilities didn't even require the evolution of the eye's shape.

Why is it that Kaguya Otsutsuki's eyes have always remained in the Byakugan state, and then suddenly transformed into the Tenseigan?

However, these are not things that Yichen needs to worry about right now. Yichen's current goal is to use Byakugan to fish.

When Yichen followed Ming to the Anbu, the Byakugan was still in the eye socket of one of the Anbu. This Anbu was actually imitating the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan.

Yichen using Mind's Eye to sense the surroundings and discovered that there were 16 members of the Anbu, which meant four full-strength Anbu Squad were guarding the secret room.

Furthermore, based on Yichen's senses, one of them actually responded. Yichen quickly said, "I am Yichen."

Upon hearing Yichen's words, the ninja who sensed being probed stepped out from the shadows, bowed to Yichen, and then retreated back into the darkness.

Yichen nodded; the strength of the guards was sufficient.

Ming glanced in this direction, then stepped forward and gave a few instructions. Immediately, a Medical Ninja stepped forward, removed the Byakugan from the Anbu's eye socket, and placed it into a bottle containing nutrient solution.

Yichen took the bottle from Ming's hand and examined the Byakugan inside. It was exactly the same as when he first obtained it.

Seeing that Yichen had accepted the Byakugan, Ming asked again, "Should we have these Anbu cooperate with you?"

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll take all four of these Anbu Squad with me."

Two days later, a caravan arrived at an inn in Iwagakure. Such caravans had become commonplace in the Iwagakure in recent years, and the innkeeper, unconcerned, warmly welcomed them in.

Hoping to become repeat customers, the innkeeper warmly approached the caravan after they had settled in, hoping to build a rapport.

The caravan leader, however, was not particularly impressed by the innkeeper's enthusiasm, offering only a few perfunctory words in response.

However, a young man next to the caravan leader responded quite well to the innkeeper's enthusiasm, and the young man even seemed to want to take the initiative to start a conversation.

This made the hotel owner sense something was amiss.

The innkeeper was no ordinary person; he was also a spy for the Cloud ninja. His daily work involved collecting the conversations of the guests, organizing and analyzing what he heard, and extracting the intelligence he wanted.

So the hotel owner took note of the young man's unusual Mind's Eye.

During the ensuing conversation, the innkeeper noticed something else amiss. The young man and the caravan leader didn't seem to have a superior-subordinate relationship.

Their casual conversation suggested they were just hanging out.

The innkeeper was no stranger to this kind of thing; it was not uncommon for two or three caravans to partner up for trade.

However, this young man seemed to be alone, without any companions; the others appeared to be subordinates of the caravan leader.

Could this person be a wandering ninja? The Land of Earth is cracking down hard on wandering ninjas these days, and they are rarely seen in the Land of Earth. In the Iwagakure, it's almost impossible to find one for years.

So the innkeeper didn't immediately think of that possibility. But now, the more he looked, the more it seemed like it. The innkeeper was also a ninja by training, and although this young man looked no different from an ordinary person, in the eyes of an intelligence professional like the innkeeper, some flaws were still discovered.

A wandering ninja has ventured into Iwagakure; he must have some ulterior motive, perhaps containing information useful to the village. The innkeeper hesitated, wondering whether to make contact.

In the end, the hotel owner decided to wait a little longer. The young man didn't seem to be very shrewd, and he had been quite proactive in approaching him earlier. He might lose his composure.

Sure enough, that night, after everyone else had rested, the young man found the hotel owner, ordered a bottle of wine, and then pretended to drink while chatting with the hotel owner.

The hotel owner chuckled inwardly, pretending to chat casually while secretly analyzing the young people's conversation.

As they chatted, the young man seemingly naturally steered the conversation towards ninjas. He then asked the innkeeper if he had any connections to trade with Iwa ninja.

The innkeeper was now fairly certain of the young man's purpose; he definitely had something he wanted to sell to the Iwa ninja.

The shopkeeper simply didn't know what the young man wanted to sell. But whatever it was, the shopkeeper didn't want the Iwa ninja to get all the profits, so he said, half-jokingly and half-admonishingly, "Young man, trading with the Iwa ninja in Iwagakure is simple. Just go to their Contribution Office; they can trade anything there."

"As long as the goods are from an honest source, the price won't rip us off. As for the rest..." The innkeeper shook his head, deliberately refusing to continue.

The young man knew he was dealing in something shady, so when the innkeeper said that, he became anxious and instinctively asked, "Where can we trade the other things?"

As soon as he spoke, the young man realized he was getting a little anxious and was about to explain when the innkeeper spoke up first, "Young man, you're quite curious. You probably don't know how dangerous ninjas are, which is why you want to know about them."

After hearing the innkeeper's words, the young man breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Boss, you're very knowledgeable. Tell me about it." With that, the young man ordered another bottle of wine and some snacks to go with it.

The innkeeper chuckled inwardly, but feigned a cheerful expression and said, "I do know a few things about secret deals with ninjas, but most of them end badly."

"This is Iwa ninja territory after all. If the things being traded are shady, the Iwa ninja can openly steal them, and no one can say anything about Iwa ninja," the innkeeper shook his head.

Seeing the young man's disappointment, the innkeeper added, "If you really want to make a deal, you'd be better off finding ninjas from other villages in Iwagakure. For example, Sunagakure or Cloud ninja; those two villages have good relations with Iwagakure and both have ninjas Iwagakure."

"If there's anything good, the ninjas from these two villages, fearing the interference of the Iwa ninja and not wanting to escalate the situation, will often engage in fair trade."

The hotel owner, fearing exposure, deliberately included Sunagakure in the group.

The young man quickly asked, "Does the boss have any connections in this area?"

The innkeeper knew he had caught the fish, so he deliberately sized up the young man a few times and tentatively asked, "You don't have anything to trade, do you?"

The young man was somewhat embarrassed, unsure whether he should continue to hide it.

The young man was still hesitating when the innkeeper spoke up again, saying, "Young man, ninjas have high standards; they don't look down on ordinary things."

At this point, the young man seemed to realize he couldn't hide it any longer, so he said, "Don't worry, boss, it's definitely a good item. I'm just afraid the buyer can't afford the price. To be honest, I'm a ninja too, and I know it's a good item. If it weren't for the trouble it might cause, our boss wouldn't have bothered to sell it."

The innkeeper said, "I do know a few ninjas, but our relationship is so-so. If you want me to make the connection, I'll have to see the goods first."

The young man hesitated, remaining silent for a long time.

The hotel owner then offered a few more words of persuasion, and the young man finally agreed.

The items weren't in Iwagakure. The next day, the young man led the innkeeper away from Iwagakure to meet their leader.

The process was somewhat bumpy, but in the end the hotel owner saw the actual item, and his heart stopped.

"Byakugan, they actually Byakugan. Why Byakugan? Where did these people Byakugan from?" The innkeeper wanted to ask, but he held back.

Upon returning to the village, the innkeeper immediately relayed this Top Secret Intelligence back to Kumogakure.

That young man was naturally Yichen in disguise after undergoing a slight Transformation Jutsu. The people outside the village who were impersonating Yichen and his companions were the members of the Anbu who protected Byakugan.

After the fish took the bait, Yichen returned to the inn to wait for news from the owner.

Three days later, Yichen received news that the Cloud ninja had decided to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams held by the Iwa ninja.

Ōnoki was initially puzzled. The Chunin Ninja Exams were fast approaching, and many ninja villages from distant areas had already sent their participants. Why was the Cloud ninja suddenly deciding to participate?

After hearing Yichen and Ming's explanation, Ōnoki realized that it was Yichen was behind it all.

Then, Saka suggested that before the Cloud ninja arrived, the innkeeper should know that Yichen had traded the Byakugan to the Sunagakure, to make things even more complicated.

Yichen was overjoyed; this method was indeed cunning.

Two days later, Cloud ninja, a Storm Release Bloodline Ninja the Tanimoto Naoto Ninja, arrived at the Iwagakure with five Genin squads.

However, when Tanimoto Naoto met the innkeeper, he was told that he was too late. The Sunagakure 'Chunin Ninja Exams Squad Leader Jonin there first and exchanged the Byakugan from Yichen and his group.

Tanimoto Naoto frowned, feeling that something was amiss, but the innkeeper insisted that he had personally witnessed the Byakugan. Left with no other option, Tanimoto Naoto instructed his spies in Iwagakure to keep a close watch on the Sunagakure's movements.

Upon returning to the Cloud ninja's residence, Tanimoto Naoto's deputy immediately came up to inquire about the situation. Tanimoto Naoto shook his head and said, "The Sunagakure beat us to it."

The second-in-command frowned; he also sensed something was wrong. He then asked, "What do we do? Go back or continue with the Joint Chunin Exams?"

Tanimoto Naoto thought for a moment and said, "Although our participation in the Joint Chunin Exams was just an excuse, now that it's been made public, we must complete this exam."