Plan to Split the Tailed Beasts

Meishe's suggestion was quickly approved, and everyone discussed several specific methods of implementation. Then they moved on to the second issue.

Regarding the new Jinchuriki, the higher-ups were very cautious. Finding candidates would not be difficult; there were many ninja in the village, and it would not be hard to pick a few outstanding ones loyal to the village.

The difficult part was how to both seal the Tailed Beasts and allow the ninja to use their power.

The Five Elements Sealing Jutsu was good, but when it came to using a Tailed Beast's power, it was actually inferior to the previous seal. The Five Elements Sealing Jutsu was too sturdy, making it difficult for the Jinchuriki to draw on the Tailed Beast's power.

So everyone held another discussion on the matter. In the end, they came up with a plan: adjust the strength of the five types of Chakra used in the sealing process according to the Jinchuriki's own affinity.

For example, if the Jinchuriki had Earth Release, then when sealing, the other four attributes would provide more power, while the Earth Release portion would provide less.

This would throw the five elements out of balance, allowing the Tailed Beast's power to leak out.

But since the Jinchuriki himself had Earth Release, he could increase the Earth Release power within the seal in dangerous situations, restoring the Five Elements Sealing Jutsu's balance, isolating the seal, and preventing the Tailed Beast from going berserk.

They then discussed how to adjust the proportions and how to leave room to make up for shortcomings, eventually reaching a consensus.

This meeting had yielded tremendous results and had basically resolved several of the most urgent problems. The advisors looked far more relaxed than they had at the beginning.

Just as the discussion was about to end and Ōnoki was preparing to declare the meeting adjourned, Yichen suddenly put forward an idea.

"Lord Tsuchikage, is there any way to split a Tailed Beast into two parts and seal them separately into two Jinchuriki? That would not only reduce the pressure during sealing, but also effectively lessen the destruction caused if the Tailed Beast went berserk."

Everyone froze. They had never considered such a possibility before, but after thinking it over carefully, it seemed remarkably feasible.

As weapons, Jinchuriki were actually used with great caution. No one would ever dare release an entire Tailed Beast.

Usually, they simply used Tailed Beast Chakra, allowing the Jinchuriki's combat strength to reach or even surpass Kage level—while also becoming a Kage-level fighter with such an immense Chakra Amount that it inspired despair.

Compared to ninja, a Tailed Beast's Chakra Amount was practically inexhaustible. Half a Tailed Beast and a whole one made no difference to a Jinchuriki who fought by borrowing Tailed Beast Chakra.

But the destruction caused by half a Tailed Beast would be far less. If it could truly be done, the village's high-end combat power might rise by another level.

After all, Iwagakure had two tailed beasts. Its two current Jinchuriki were both uncontrollable, and people had to be assigned specifically to ensure their safety during ordinary times.

But if two large Tailed Beasts became four smaller ones, the burden on the Jinchuriki would be much lighter, and the personnel responsible for monitoring them could be reduced by an entire level.

The difficulty and safety of the sealing process would also fall within what the village could bear.

Everyone was tempted, but they had no idea how to split a Tailed Beast apart.

All Yichen could do was plant a seed in everyone's minds. They would think about it from time to time, and perhaps one day, someone would come up with a solution.

After the meeting ended, Yichen and the others went their separate ways. Several Jonin were kept behind. Whether or not the Tailed Beasts could be split, they had to begin preparing to reseal the Five-Tails.

This time, they would be sealing the complete Five-Tails. The difficulty would only be greater than last time.

The higher-ups still needed to discuss the details carefully with the Jonin.

Over the following days, Yichen used up the remaining Medicinal Food, then shifted his focus to his work in the Barrier Team. He needed to save up a large amount of Contribution Points to exchange for Sensory Ninjutsu.

The remaining Medicinal Food let Yichen practice Water Style: Water Line Jutsu several dozen more times, improving his proficiency somewhat, but that was all. He was still far from the standard of complete mastery he had set for himself.

His current success rate with Water Style: Water Line Jutsu was around fifty percent, and his hand seal speed was still less than two seals per second, not to mention simplifying hand seals.

Still, the gains were obvious. His understanding of Water Release had improved by more than a single level.

Now, converting Chakra into Water Release was merely a matter of thought. He no longer had to do it deliberately as before, which saved him considerable effort when using Water Style: Water Line Jutsu.

There was also an unexpected gain. Perhaps the Medicinal Food had improved his physique as well. Yichen's physical strength had noticeably increased while he practiced the two Ninjutsu recently.

Yichen's Chakra Amount had now reached 2.1C. However, he was not sure whether this was temporary or permanent.

In the first few days after he finished the Medicinal Food, his total Chakra Amount had even reached around 3C. It gradually dropped over the following days before finally stabilizing at around 2.1C.

Feeling that his strength had improved significantly, Yichen wanted to spar with someone and test his current level. His first choice was Ikura.

Ikura had previously taken leave to train outside. When he returned, his sharpness was impossible to conceal, as if he had become a different person. Although his tone remained as gentle as before, he gave people the feeling that he could suddenly erupt and kill at any moment.

Teacher Ishikawa said that Ikura had likely gone through things that were too brutal during this period, accumulating a great deal of killing intent that he was temporarily unable to adapt to.

Sure enough, after some time, the gentle Ikura returned.

Then, just as he had said before, Ikura came to challenge Yichen.

The result was Yichen's complete defeat. He could even be said to have been instantly defeated. Yichen suspected that Ikura, after this transformation, had already reached Chunin level, because Ikura felt little different from the mist ninja that night.

At close range against a Chunin going all out, Yichen, who was inferior across the board in taijutsu, had no ability to fight back.

While Yichen had been learning Ninjutsu during this period, he had also asked Ikura whether he had learned C-rank Ninjutsu as well.

Ikura's answer had been direct. He had learned C-rank Ninjutsu long ago, but had not been proficient in using it. It was only during this trip for practical training that he had truly mastered C-rank Ninjutsu.

At the time, Yichen had said that once he learned C-rank Ninjutsu too, he would spar with him.

But although Yichen later learned Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, it was only a defensive Ninjutsu. It would hardly make sense for him to cast Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall first and then ask Ikura to see whether he could break it.

But things were different now. He had also learned the half-baked Water Style: Water Line Jutsu, so they could spar with each other.

However, Ikura did not come to class for the next several days. As graduating students, many of them had their own specialized training programs, and many of those were unsuitable for practice at the academy.

For example, Yichen's previous Ninjutsu practice had not taken place at the academy. Instead, he had taken leave to train at the Training Ground in the village specifically designated for newly promoted Chunin to practice Ninjutsu.

That also made it convenient for Yichen to eat Medicinal Food, since the other party's workplace was beside that Training Ground.

However, Yichen did not train with equipment such as kunai, so he went to the academy every day to practice using ninja tools.

And as the top student of Yichen's class, Ikura came from a well-off family and had many resources. It was only natural that he had his own training methods.

It was not just Ikura. Many classmates had stopped coming to class, including Shinohara and Tana, who were relatively close to Yichen.

Ever since Shinohara successfully performed the Three Basic Jutsu, he rarely came to the academy. Instead, he underwent special training with the elders of his family.

Tana and quite a few other students followed Yichen's example and entered relatively safe departments as interns.

More than half a month passed. Only after the matters related to the Barrier Team's expansion had been settled, and Yichen, who had been busy for a while, finally had some free time, did he run into Ikura at the academy.

When Ikura heard that Yichen had learned Ninjutsu and wanted to spar with him, he readily agreed.

The two reported the matter to Teacher Ishikawa. Only after Teacher Ishikawa asked a Jonin on duty at the academy to watch over them did they begin their fight in a relatively secluded place.

This fight was meant to test their Ninjutsu, so Ikura did not use his full strength. Instead, he fought with speed and power roughly equal to Yichen's.

They were competing to see who could seize the initiative to use Ninjutsu and defeat the other under roughly equal conditions of strength and speed.

Yichen was the first to make a move. The reason was simple: he was much more proficient with the Substitution Technique than the other students in his year.

Yichen had simplified the originally four-seal Substitution Technique into three seals. He completed the hand seals in one second, used the Substitution Technique to evade Ikura's attack, then immediately began forming seals for Water Style: Water Arrow Jutsu.

But everyone knew that Water Style: Water Arrow Jutsu required eighteen seals. Since Yichen could not even form two seals per second while using it, it took him a full ten seconds to perform the technique successfully.

Fortunately, Ikura had been startled by Yichen's Substitution Technique. Seeing Yichen preparing to use an offensive Ninjutsu, he did not try to interrupt him or press the attack. Instead, after a delay of one second, he began forming seals for a defensive Ninjutsu—the same Earth Style - Earth Flow Wall that Yichen knew.

While performing Water Style: Water Line Jutsu himself, Yichen watched Ikura's process. Nine seals, roughly two and a half seals per second.

Sure enough, he was much faster.

Ikura took less than four seconds to perform Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, while Yichen, despite starting his hand seals earlier, took ten seconds.

Therefore, a full five seconds passed after Ikura performed Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall before Yichen's attack was released. Fortunately, Water Style: Water Line Jutsu was still very fast. It reached Ikura's Earth Flow Wall almost immediately, then drilled a small hole into it.

Then it was over.

Ikura walked around the Earth Flow Wall and looked at the small hole Yichen had made, unsure for a moment whether they should continue sparring.

Two words summed up Ikura's feelings: Is that it?

After holding it in for a long time, Ikura finally said, "Isn't the contrast between before and after way too huge? Your Substitution Technique is already at three seals per second, right? But when you use a C-rank Ninjutsu, you can't even manage two seals per second? And this is the power?"

The Jonin protecting them was also speechless. When Yichen seized the opportunity to use the Substitution Technique, his eyes had lit up. He had even been waiting for Yichen to launch his attack so he could step in to rescue someone.

But Yichen did not look impressive for even a second. When he used Water Style: Water Line Jutsu again, it was as though he had become a different person. All the smoothness disappeared, replaced by extreme awkwardness.

Yichen was too embarrassed to ask for another match. Ikura had clearly already gone easy on him and deliberately created an opportunity for him to use Ninjutsu, yet Yichen had made a complete fool of himself.

What had I been thinking? Why hadn't I considered this?

All he could say weakly was, "I didn't want this either. The first one I learned was a defensive Ninjutsu. I couldn't exactly seize an opportunity and then defend myself, could I?"

That was the awkward part of being a ninja. Someone like Yichen, who had already learned two C-rank Ninjutsu, was exceptionally impressive. Many ninja did not master C-rank Ninjutsu until they became Chunin.

Even Sasuke, a genius, only knew Great Fireball Jutsu right after graduating, and that alone had surprised Kakashi.

That was why early ninja battles were monotonous and straightforward: taijutsu exchanges.