The Unclear Situation
Yichen scouted five islands in succession, but he felt something was wrong with three of them and ultimately did not land on them.
Yichen used Camouflage Jutsu and Light-Weight Rock Technique to discover signs of a large gathering of ninjas around the island.
"These islands also have ships coming to deliver supplies. The Konoha ninja are on cross-border missions, so they wouldn't have supplies on this scale. It can only be the Mist ninja," Yichen guessed in his heart.
Yichen had spent a long time on the Land of Earth border, and later became a high-ranking official, so he was familiar with the Land of Earth's normal defenses. Therefore, he immediately noticed the abnormality in the Mist ninja's deployment.
These islands are not far apart, so if the Mist ninja were to set up a large border defense outpost on one of them, Yichen could understand.
However, the fact that so many ninjas were gathered so close together puzzled Yichen.
"Are the Mist ninja on guard against Konoha? That doesn't seem right. This is Mist ninja's home turf; there's no need for them to disperse their main force across the surrounding islands. They could easily have openly deployed their forces to the island where they're negotiating with the Mist ninja Cloud ninja."
"Since they've chosen to hide, they obviously don't want anyone to know. But who are the Mist ninja trying to guard against?"
Thinking about this, Yichen felt that he had misjudged the situation.
Based on Yichen's initial reaction, the Mist ninja were definitely on guard against Konoha. However, Konoha, like Yichen, operated in secret and would inevitably conduct repeated reconnaissance of their surroundings.
Although the Mist ninja had tried to conceal their presence, Yichen alone could easily detect that something was amiss. The Konoha had even dispatched a large force, making it even more impossible for them to be deceived.
So, who is the Mist ninja targeting?
Thinking this way, Yichen suddenly realized, could it be the Cloud ninja?
"This matter must be clarified." Yichen made up his mind. This matter was related to the situation of the entire Ninja World. If the Mist ninja and Konoha formed an alliance, it would be a disaster for the Iwa ninja.
The current Konoha is not like it was at the beginning of Naruto Shippuden. Minato and Kushina died at the Nine-Tails, the Uchiha was wiped out, the Third Hokage is old, Tsunade is suffering from hemophobia, Orochimaru has defected and is also leaving the village to search for his comrades. Konoha only has Danzo who is obsessed with the Hokage position Danzo.
Even if Konoha allied with Sunagakure at that time, it would only maintain its status as the Ruler of the Ninja World.
The current Konoha is teeming with powerful ninja; if they were to join forces with the Mist ninja, they could easily sweep aside the other Four Great Nations.
After thinking for a moment, Yichen followed a ship that had just returned after delivering supplies to its origin.
There were ninjas on the ship, Yichen didn't act rashly. He followed the ship all the way to a medium-sized island before finding an opportunity to use Genjutsu on a civilian crew member.
"Has it been more than ten days already?" Yichen muttered to himself.
Yichen learned from this Supply Station that these people had been supplying the island with provisions for more than ten days. There were about a dozen such small islands, and judging from the amount of supplies, each island had about several hundred to a thousand ninjas.
Upon receiving this information, Yichen could no longer sit still; he had to gather as much intelligence as possible. The Mist ninja were about to make a major move, and Yichen had to respond promptly.
Yichen located several of the most important intelligence ninjas from the Iwa ninja in the Land of Water. After questioning and analyzing them, he realized it was too late. The Mist ninja and Cloud ninja had already completed their alliance negotiations and were just waiting for their high-ranking officials to meet and sign the alliance treaty.
Furthermore, the official signing of the agreement between the two parties' top executives will take place tomorrow.
Yichen glanced at the sky, which was about to brighten, sighed, and got up to head in the direction of the allied islands mentioned by the intelligence ninja.
Based on the intelligence he had just obtained, Yichen was basically certain that the Mist ninja's target this time was the Cloud ninja, and the so-called alliance negotiations were just bait.
In order to deal with the Cloud ninja, the Mist ninja even took the initiative to contact the Konoha.
Yichen didn't understand why the Mist ninja was targeting the Cloud ninja, but he knew that going against Konoha was never a bad thing.
Regardless of what the Mist ninja think, Konoha's plan is determined not to let him succeed.
When Yichen flew over the island, the battle had already begun. Hidden in mid-air, Yichen quickly understood the situation after observing for a moment.
He Yichen's deduction from the intelligence was roughly correct: Konoha and Mist ninja were joining forces to besiege Cloud ninja.
The battle must have been going on for some time before Yichen arrived. Of the Cloud ninja who were originally besieged, only the Third Raikage remained. All the guards and negotiators who came with the Third Raikage had been killed in action.
Upon closer inspection, the people entangled with the Third Raikage nearby were Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, and an old man with gray hair. The old man's identity was clear; his attire made it obvious that he was the Third Mizukage.
The Third Mizukage is mentioned very few times in the original work, and Yichen only knows that he is very old, and according to seniority, he should be higher than the Third Hokage like Ōnoki. Now that Yichen has seen the Third Mizukage, he estimates that his age should be no less than that of the Two Advisors of Iwagakure.
The Third Raikage had no intention of getting entangled with the group any longer; he was currently using Lightning Release Chakra Mode to break through the encirclement.
Looking down from the sky, Yichen could see a steady stream of ninjas closing in on this direction from not far away.
With a rough estimate, Yichen knew that the total number of people was definitely no less than 8,000. Among these 8,000 people, the majority were from the Mist ninja, but there were also quite a few from Konoha.
Mist ninja Yichen able to move troops within its own territory, thus deceiving intelligence agents from various sides. But how did Konoha manage to move so many troops without the knowledge of other countries? Why didn't Iwagakure receive any news at all?
Thinking of this, Yichen felt a chill run down his spine. If Konoha used the same method to mobilize troops and launch a surprise attack on the Land of Earth, would his village be able to respond in time?
However, this was not the time to think about this issue. Yichen wanted to sabotage Konoha's operation, but he knew his own Yichen.
Even if he were to participate, the Three Kage-level from Konoha and Mist ninja would only need to spare one of their own to deal with him. In that case, the Third Raikage's fate would still remain unchanged, and Yichen might even end up getting himself killed.
After thinking for a moment, Yichen flew quickly towards the Land of Lightning.
The Kage from both sides participating in the alliance ceremony couldn't bring too many ninjas, but a large number might follow later. Whether it's useful or not, it'll be Shinya.
This time, Yichen didn't fly for long before he spotted another battlefield in the distance.
Unlike the battle that besieged the Third Raikage, this battlefield involved a large-scale clash between the two sides.
In a stretch of sea, the Cloud ninja and the Mist ninja, some on large ships and others standing on the surface, were engaged in a fierce battle.
The Cloud ninja, numbering approximately three thousand, were overwhelming Cloud ninja Mist ninja numbered two thousand, giving them a significant advantage. However, Yichen, having participated in major battles before, immediately recognized that it would take the Cloud ninja considerable time to achieve a complete victory.
After all, this is at sea, the home ground of the Mist ninja.
It's uncertain how many people will be able to support the Third Raikage after the Cloud ninja wins, and it's even more uncertain whether the Third Raikage will still be alive by then.
Yichen descended to a lower altitude and took a closer look, discovering that the two sides were evenly matched in terms of high-level combat power. On the Cloud ninja side, there were Killer B and A. On the Mist ninja side, Karatachi Yagura was dealing with A, and there was also a ninja with abnormal Chakra fluctuations.
Because this person had appeared on the battlefield of the Land of Whirlpools, Yichen had information about him: the Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
However, this person's use of the Three-Tails' power is far inferior to Killer B's, and he has been constantly suppressed by Killer B. Judging from his stance, he may go berserk at any time.
Yichen thought for a moment and suddenly had an idea.
"Porcelain Release - Kunai Rain." Yichen used his Kekkei Genkai, which could prove his identity, and unleashed a wave of solidified rock Kunai at the Three-Tails Jinchuriki who was entangled with Killer B.
However, Yichen was far away, making it quite difficult for him to injure the Three-Tails Jinchuriki using a bloodline limit he didn't practice much.
A massive amount of Tailed Beast Chakra surged from the Three-Tails Jinchuriki's body, forming a giant tail that swung forcefully at the Kunai flying everywhere, instantly scattering the Kunai Rain that Yichen had created by expending a large amount of Chakra.
However, Yichen was not without effect. Killer B seized the opportunity and unleashed the Eight-Tails' Chakra, delivering a powerful blow to the Partial Tailed Beast Transformation Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
Just as Killer B was about to press his advantage, Yichen's voice came from the sky.
"Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, I'll take you to save your Third Raikage."
At the same time as Yichen's voice came, a flying platform about one meter in diameter, formed from solidified mud, quickly landed in front of Killer B.
Killer B didn't go straight to the platform, but turned to look at A: "Idiot brother, fool brother, do you want to go or not? Answer me quickly."
Ai Ziran also heard Yichen's words, and the rhythm of his battle with Karatachi Yagura paused. He immediately shouted, "Go quickly and come back quickly!"
Upon hearing Killer B immediately jumped onto Yichen's Porcelain Release platform.
Yichen was overjoyed at the sight. He manipulated the circular platform to increase the flight altitude, and then led Killer B over the main force of the Mist ninja towards the battlefield where the Third Raikage was being besieged.
The Mist ninja below naturally wanted to stop them, but they were all held back by the Cloud ninja. The Cloud ninja had a numerical advantage, so it was not easy for the Mist ninja to break free.
The Three-Tails Jinchuriki was quite direct, immediately trying to unleash his Chakra and launch a Tailed Beast Bomb at Yichen. Upon seeing this, not only was Yichen startled, but even the Mist ninja himself was quite frightened.
With Yichen in the air, it wouldn't be easy to hit him directly. The two sides were also close together. Once the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded, it was uncertain whether Yichen would die, but the Mist ninja would definitely suffer heavy casualties.
Karatachi Yagura hurriedly tried to stop him, but in his distraction, he was nearly punched to death by Ai. Although he managed to dodge a fatal blow, he was still injured.
Seeing that the Three-Tails Jinchuriki had dispersed the Tailed Beast Bomb, Yichen, who had narrowly escaped death, dared not be careless and used all his strength to fly towards the first battlefield with Killer B.
Seeing this, Ai breathed a sigh of relief and stopped charging blindly. Instead, he began to command the Cloud ninja army to strive for a greater victory in order to prepare for the later support of Killer B and the Third Raikage.
Yichen naturally couldn't see any of this. The speed at which Yichen flew with Killer B wasn't much slower than when he flew alone. It was just that using the Porcelain Release to carry people was extremely taxing on his mental energy.
Actually, using the Light-Weight Rock Technique to carry someone flying would be the easiest method, but Yichen is a ranged Ninjutsu user and doesn't dare to bring Killer B Bee along. So he opted for this method that consumes a lot of energy.
Fortunately, Yichen possessed strong willpower, and the Two Battlefields were not far apart. Therefore, when Yichen arrived at the battlefield, he could still withstand the strain.
Whether it was Killer B or the Third Raikage, their combat experience was no less than Yichen's, so Yichen didn't need to consider specific tactics. Therefore, as soon as they arrived above the battlefield, Yichen threw Killer B towards the Third Raikage, who was still trying to break out.
Killer B's tactics were pretty much as Flashy had predicted. While he was still in mid-air, a large amount of Tailed Beast Chakra surged from his body, and then the massive Eight-Tails crashed into the battlefield.
This was the first time Yichen had truly felt the power of a fully-formed Tailed Beast, especially the Eight-Tails Ox-Demon, which was second only to the Nine-Tails among the Tailed Beast. The oppressive feeling of that chakra was something that a ninja like Yichen, who needed to carefully calculate the use of Chakra, could not understand.
Please help me come up with two names for the main character and Ikura.