Ambush and Assassination

Upon learning that most of the Sunagakure ninjas were returning to their village, Tanimoto Naoto immediately summoned all the Jonin) who had been sent by the Kumogakure. There were seven Jonin in total, including Tanimoto Naoto himself, two of whom were Elite Jonin.

The purpose of the Cloud ninja's visit to the Iwagakure was very clear: to obtain the Byakugan. Therefore, without needing any persuasion from Tanimoto Naoto, the group quickly reached a consensus.

One of the Jonin led the failed examinees back to the village, leaving behind the weakest, newly promoted Jonin to oversee the last two teams to advance. The other five went to ambush and kill the Sunagakure.

Unlike the Cloud ninja, the Sunagakure are genuinely here to participate in the competition. Apart from the Elite Jonin the team, they only have one other Jonin among them.

The Jonin would definitely stay in Iwagakure to accompany the Genin team that was advancing in rank, so the Sunagakure Village's returning team would only have one Elite Jonin, and the rest would be either Genin or Chunin.

Tanimoto Naoto was confident that he, along with an Elite Jonin and three other Jonin, could easily complete the assassination mission. His only concern was whether the Sunagakure Tanimoto Naoto resort to desperate measures and destroy their Byakugan.

The day after the wilderness survival competition ended, the Sunagakure and Cloud ninja embarked on their respective journeys back to their villages. However, Tanimoto Naoto quickly separated from the group after leaving Iwagakure.

At this moment, a High-Level Meeting is being held in Iwagakure. The first item on the agenda is which important figures to invite to participate in the final round of the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Ikura said, "We should still invite the Kazekage or the Daimyo of the Land of Wind. There's a good chance we can form an alliance with the Land of Wind, and the Chunin Ninja Exams are a good opportunity."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "The Daimyo of the Land of Wind is inclined to support us, Sunagakure Village is not in a good position. The Land of Wind is indeed a potential ally."

After a pause, Ōnoki continued, "Is the Sunagakure to retrieve the One-Tail Beast progressing smoothly?"

Saka shook his head and said, "According to intelligence, the One-Tail's whereabouts have been tracked, but the Sunagakure has not yet made a move, presumably because they are looking for a suitable Jinchuriki."

Upon hearing this, Yichen did some mental calculations. At this point in time, Gaara had been born yet. If she wasn't pregnant, then the Sunagakure might indeed be unable to find a suitable Jinchuriki.

Mei's eyes lit up, and he said, "As long as the One-Tail Jinchuriki hasn't developed any fighting power yet, the possibility of the Sunagakure allying with us is even greater."

This is easy to understand; the Sunagakure, having lost the Tailed Beast as a weapon of war, was actually quite insecure. At this time, the Sunagakure was most afraid of going to war with other major powers, and the best way to avoid war was to form an alliance and find a reliable ally.

Originally, the Sunagakure could choose between the Konoha and the Iwa ninja, but Sunagakure two Konoha had just fought a major battle, and the hatred between them ran deep. Therefore, there were quite a few Sunagakure ninjas who were inclined to stand with the Iwa ninja.

"Then let's invite the Daimyo Kazekaze of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind together. Besides the Daimyo Kazekaze of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, shall we also invite the Daimyo and Raikage of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning?" Ōnoki asked again.

Saka said, "I think we should just forget about it. The Cloud ninja weren't really interested in the Joint Chunin Exams to begin with, and now that their only seeded candidate has failed, the Raikage will definitely lose face. Let's not add to his frustration."

Yichen deeply agreed; it was best to keep a distance from such a reckless man. If the Third Raikage were to shamelessly launch a sneak attack at close range, even Ōnoki would be in danger.

The higher-ups quickly reached a consensus not to invite the Daimyo and Raikage of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning.

Following Yichen's suggestion, Yahiko and his two companions were also invited. With Yichen present, the possibility of an alliance between the Iwa ninja and the River ninja was very high.

As for Hanzo, no one mentioned him. He was too dangerous; if he were to release poison in Iwagakure, countless Iwa ninja and civilians would die, and no one wanted to take that risk.

With the first agenda item concluded, the meeting moved on to the next.

"Have the Cloud ninja returned to the village and made any moves?" Ōnoki asked Yichen.

Yichen nodded and said, "Hu and I have personally confirmed that Tanimoto Naoto led one Elite Jonin Cloud ninja Jonin and three Jonin away from the group."

Ōnoki nodded, trusting the Byakugan's scouting abilities. "Just to be on the safe side, you and Ikura will go and keep an eye on the Sunagakure, so the Cloud ninja don't pin the blame on us."

Ikura and Yichen nodded in agreement.

Then Ōnoki asked about Yichen's gains during the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Yichen said, "This time, Hu and I are focusing on Lightning Release techniques. We obtained 3 to 5 C-rank Lightning Release from the Cloud ninja, but we still need a few days to test them."

After a pause, Yichen said, "Besides this, there's another gain: my development of Lightning Release might take another step forward. However, right now I only have an idea; I still need to spend time exploring the specifics of the Ninjutsu development."

Hearing Yichen's words, the others became somewhat excited.

Saka spoke first, "Five C-rank Lightning Release? So the Byakugan can be used like this? Looks like we'll have to hold more Chunin Ninja Exams in the future."

Ming shook his head and said, "It's difficult to obtain any advanced Ninjutsu from just some low-level Genin taking the exam."

Ōnoki frowned as well. Holding Jonin Exam was impractical; Jonin were capable of holding their own in any ninja village, and information about Jonin was crucial. No one wanted to reveal their Jonin's abilities to the public.

"At least we've discovered an important use for the Byakugan. In the future, if we receive reports of battles involving ninjas from other villages, we can arrange for ninjas with the Byakugan to gather information on Ninjutsu in advance," Yichen said.

"For example, this time, with two Elite Jonin Cloud ninja and three Jonin joining forces, they will definitely use large-scale Ninjutsu. This is our opportunity."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "That's right, this time we'll have Kureha accompany you. But you must ensure Byakugan's safety."

"Yes," Yichen readily agreed.

At this moment, Ikura asked Yichen, "Yichen, is the development idea for the Lightning Release Ninjutsu you just mentioned Rank A?"

Yichen said, "That's right, it's an upgraded version of my previous A-rank Lightning Release. Although it's still an A-rank Lightning Release, this one will be a ranged single-target attack Lightning Release."

Ōnoki and the others were all surprised. Mei said, "Yichen, are you going to develop another new A-rank Ninjutsu? And it's Lightning Release attack Ninjutsu?"

No wonder everyone is surprised; Yichen has developed so many new Ninjutsu over the years. Just the A-rank ones include: Water Cutting Technique, Rasengan, Lightning Release Stimulation Method, and Chidori. Now, another one, Chidori Flow, is coming.

Yichen alone contributed five A-rank Ninjutsu, three of which were Lightning Release. This left the other higher-ups in disbelief.

The Ninjutsu of Iwa ninja were mostly contributed by various families and ninjas at the beginning of the village's founding. Over the following decades, the ancestors of Iwa ninja gradually developed and supplemented them, resulting in the current Ninjutsu library.

But no one had ever developed A-rank Ninjutsu as frequently as Yichen. This made Ōnoki subconsciously think of the Second Hokage of Konoha.

That was a true genius in Ninjutsu, with a wide variety of Forbidden Technique, from Space Ninjutsu to Soul Ninjutsu. It can be said that the Second Hokage greatly enriched the variety of ninja techniques.

Yichen is far from being as good as Senju Tobirama right now, but that's okay. Yichen is still young and has a long road ahead of him.

Ōnoki had already begun to envision a future where Iwa ninja, like Konoha, would develop one Forbidden Technique after another.

After a while, Ōnoki said, "Yichen, from now on, the village grants you access to all A-rank Ninjutsu and allows you to access all A-rank Secret Scroll."

Seeing Yichen and the others' surprised expressions, Ōnoki explained, "Developing Ninjutsu requires a lot of experience, including the various Ninjutsu developed by predecessors and their various conjectures. Yichen's level of Ninjutsu development is unprecedented in the village. Read more materials, broaden your knowledge, and then strive to develop more new Ninjutsu to enhance the village's foundation."

Upon hearing Ōnoki's explanation, Ikura, Saka, and Mei all looked at Yichen with shining eyes.

Just a few days ago, Yichen added an S-rank Ninjutsu to the Iwagakure Ninjutsu library: Shinra Tensei! Although Shinra Tensei wasn't developed by Yichen, but learned from Nagato, it's still S-rank Ninjutsu, making it perfect for enriching Iwa ninja's repertoire.

Yichen was speechless. He wanted to say, "You're overthinking it. The Ninjutsu I developed all have templates. The Water Cutting Technique is learned from Jiraiya and Senju Tobirama the original work, the Rasengan is a complete copy of Naruto in the original work, the Chidori is learned from Kakashi in the original work, and even the Chidori Flow, which is not yet fully developed, is learned from Sasuke in the original work."

But the others didn't know that. All they knew was that Yichen learned the Rasengan after watching it only once, and even filled in some of the huge gaps in the Iwagakure's Lightning Release.

However, in any case, being able to watch all A-rank Ninjutsu and A-rank Secret Scroll for free is a good thing for Yichen.

After the meeting, due to the urgency of the situation, Yichen did not watch the Ninjutsu. Instead, he and Ikura, along with Hu and the Byakugan -guarding Anbu, left the village to follow the Sunagakure's returning party.

At this moment, Tanimoto Naoto and his group, who had set off earlier than Yichen, had caught up with the Sunagakure's group.

It turns out that Onoki's fears that the Ōnoki Cloud ninja frame the Iwa ninja were unfounded.

It would be too easy to be exposed if someone impersonated Iwa ninja in the Land of Earth. This is because the Cloud ninja would definitely adopt a swift and decisive tactic, while the Iwa ninja would have the home advantage. If the Iwa ninja were really going to make a move, they certainly wouldn't only send five Jonin, nor would they be in a hurry to escape.

Therefore, after careful consideration Tanimoto Naoto chose to impersonate Konoha ninja.

Just like when Yichen went to the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools, Yichen and his Tanimoto Naoto disguised themselves Konoha Anbu.

Tanimoto Naoto had caught up with the Sunagakure team early on, did not rush to make a move. This was because the Sunagakure team was moving relatively slowly and was still quite close to the Iwagakure. Making a move here would easily be spotted by passing Iwa ninja.

In Tanimoto Naoto's mind, exposing his identity was a minor matter, but losing his Byakugan was a major one, and he didn't want to take the risk.

So when Yichen others caught up with the Sunagakure team with the help of the Byakugan, Tanimoto Naoto had not yet made a move.

"We've spotted the Sunagakure, about two kilometers ahead of us." Ku, activating his Byakugan, looked directly ahead of Yichen and the others, then turned to his left and said, "The Cloud ninja are here too. Looks like they haven't made a move yet."

Ikura thought for a moment and said, "Tanimoto Naoto probably intends to make his move far from the village. Let's keep our distance and continue following him."

Yichen naturally had no objections, and the group slowed down to quietly follow behind the two groups. Anyway, with Byakugan around, they weren't afraid of losing them.

About half a day later, the Sunagakure group left the heart of the Land of Earth, but before they reached the border, the Cloud ninja made their move.

It was Hu who first noticed something was wrong. "The Cloud ninja are rapidly approaching the Sunagakure; they're about to make their move."

Yichen said, "Let's go up too and observe the Cloud ninja's Ninjutsu up close."

Ikura nodded as well; he also wanted to see how Yichen and the others used the Byakugan to secretly learn Ninjutsu.

So Yichen and his group, who had been cautiously following several kilometers away, suddenly accelerated and finally got within about 500 meters of the Sunagakure.