Encounter

Finding the baby was easy, because Yichen had already invaded the core area of the Yuki Clan, so one of the Jonin set aside to cover the retreat of the clan members who were unable to fight.

Using his Mind's Eye's Eye, Yichen easily located the target by following the Jonin's Chakra.

Since Yuki Haku hasn't shown any particularly strong talent yet, he hasn't received any special attention in this critical moment and is currently being held in the arms of a Genin.

Yichen activated the Lightning Release Stimulation Method, suddenly closing in on his opponent and snatching Yuki Haku from his arms before the opponent could react.

The process went incredibly smoothly, and by the time the Jonin arrived, Yichen had already left the area.

Actually, those few Jonin wouldn't take Yichen long to kill if he wanted to. Yichen was just thinking that Iwagakure was going to adopt Haku, and if he killed the Yuki Clan, Haku might harbor resentment towards the village when he grew up.

Having successfully completed his mission, Yichen didn't head towards the core area of Mist ninja to join the fray, but instead chose to run directly towards the outskirts of Kirigakure.

Yichen didn't want to join in the fun, but the fun came to him. Just as he stepped Yuki Clan's territory, Yichen suddenly sensed danger. Holding Yuki Haku, he moved to the side. During the Yichen also used the Horse Elephant Heaven Pull technique on a house in the distance. The house didn't move, but Yichen himself drifted a distance in that direction at high speed.

These are some tips that Yichen learned from gravity-based Ninjutsu such as Banshō Ten'in and Shinra Tensei.

Then a Grey Snake darted out from the ground where Yichen had just been standing, its mouth, larger than Yichen's body, nearly swallowing Yichen whole.

"Huh?"

A figure emerged from the shadows, seemingly surprised that Yichen had managed to dodge the attack that had been lying in wait, and also curious about the method by which Yichen had avoided the attack.

The newcomer was dressed like Yichen, a member of the Mist Ninja Anbu, but from his skillful snake-type Ninjutsu, Yichen had already guessed his identity: Orochimaru.

It seems that the person who shared the same idea as Yichen, wanting to take advantage of the weakened state of Mist ninja, was Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin.

"As Kage Level in Konoha, with his best buddy still fighting on the front lines, he's just here to pick up the scraps. Typical Orochimaru, very upright." Yichen thought to himself, but his feet didn't stop, showing no intention of chatting with Orochimaru.

This is the real Ninja World, not anime. When people meet, they don't chat for ten minutes or so, then add some flashbacks, and only start fighting when the audience gets impatient.

As a ranged Ninjutsu user, Yichen would naturally try to keep his distance from his opponent as much as possible.

"Porcelain Release - Rock Spear"

Faced with the giant Grey Snake summoned by Orochimaru to ambush him, Yichen didn't have many timely and effective methods to use. The Porcelain Release, which didn't require many Hand Seals, was still the most effective.

Mud formed rapidly and continuously around Yichen, instantly coalescing into a massive stone spear. Driven by Yichen, the stone spear hurtled towards the Grey Snake, which had just emerged from the ground and was still unsteady on its feet.

The stone spear was large, but not fast. Although the Grey Snake couldn't dodge it in time, it still had its master. Orochimaru quickly Hand Seals, and an Earth Wall lifted the Grey Snake up, allowing it to dodge Yichen's rock spear.

However, the advantage of Porcelain Release lies not only in its speed of execution, but also in its versatility.

The spear that pierced the Earth Wall below the Grey Snake turned into mud again. Then, to Orochimaru's astonishment, the mud dispersed and quickly wrapped around the Grey Snake's body.

Although the mud enveloped the Grey Snake, it couldn't harm it. Given the Grey Snake's strength, it would probably break free in no time.

But Yichen wouldn't waste his time. With a low shout, the Grey Snake's tail suddenly became uncontrollable, whipping across Orochimaru's body.

Orochimaru perhaps didn't expect Yichen to have this move, or perhaps he thought it didn't matter if he took such a hit, so he didn't dodge at all and was thrown far away, crashing into the wall of a house in the distance.

Yichen came up with this method on his way to Kirigakure, a way to deal with large Summoning Beast or even Tailed Beast.

The principle is to cover part of the Summoning Beast's body with mud, and then, while it struggles due to its spiritual Hon, control its body to attack in the direction of its force.

Yichen's original goal was to make the Grey Snake attack him, but Orochimaru happened to be nearby, so he couldn't help but control the Grey Snake's tail and sweep Orochimaru away.

Yichen was certainly not naive enough to think he could kill Orochimaru with just one blow. Instead of pressing his advantage, Yichen took advantage of Orochimaru being knocked away and quickly left this dangerous place.

Fortunately Yichen, this is Kirigakure. Orochimaru had just set a trap for Yichen when he wasn't paying attention, and now Yichen is on high alert. Orochimaru doesn't want to cause any more trouble.

So after using the Snake Substitution Jutsu to emerge from his original body, Orochimaru did not stop Yichen from leaving. He muttered, "Similar to the Sunagakure's Sand Manipulation Jutsu," and then used Earth Release to burrow into the ground before the main Mist Ninja main force arrived.

Orochimaru didn't want to face the Mist Ninja main force, and Yichen naturally wanted to avoid it even more. Although Yichen was curious about Orochimaru's gains from this trip to Kirigakure, and whether he had acquired Kimimaro and others from the original story, Yichen currently lacked the ability to snatch spoils from Orochimaru.

Yichen made several attacks, but didn't kill anyone. Although he caused a commotion, none of them were as big as Orochimaru's summoning of the Grey Snake. Although the Grey Snake's size was far smaller than Manda's, its tens of meters long body still attracted the attention of the Mist Ninja main force.

Therefore, after the Mist ninja arrived, although they learned through intelligence analysis that there was another intruder besides Orochimaru, they still focused their search on Orochimaru, a well-established and powerful figure.

Therefore, there was no strong obstruction against Yichen's departure from Mist ninja. Yichen only encountered two patrolling ninja when he left the wall of Kirigakure.

Yichen gained the upper hand with his Mind's Eye, forcing his opponent back with two waves of Porcelain Release - Kunai Rain. At this point, Yichen wasn't worried about being exposed anymore, since his Porcelain Mud from his fight with Orochimaru was still there.

Seeing Yichen leave the village, the two patrolling ninja teams hesitated for a moment before deciding not to pursue him.

The brief exchange just now demonstrated the difference in strength between the two sides. If Yichen hadn't been in a hurry to leave, these two teams of Mist ninja would have been no match for him.

Yichen didn't leave Kirigakure directly. Instead, he carried the two-year-old Bai around the Kirigakure again, then ambushed a patrol of Mist ninja, captured one of them alive, and then leisurely flew away.

Looking at the Kirigakure behind him, Yichen knew that Orochimaru was still there. Yichen chuckled and, instead of returning to the Land of Earth, went to the place where the Mist ninja and Konoha had previously besieged the Third Raikage.

Yichen's round trip took quite a while. The battle below had ended, but he didn't know whether the Third Raikage was dead or alive. Yichen estimated that the outcome wouldn't be good. After all, the people who attacked the Third Raikage this time were different from the ordinary Iwa ninja in the original story. This time, there were three Kage Level ninja. Two veteran Kage Level ninja plus the Yellow Flash —this lineup couldn't be compensated for by adding Killer B.

Although Yichen could fly, he didn't dare linger above the main force of the Mist ninja. He threw the captured prisoner down and left. In the distance, Yichen saw that dozens of Mist ninja were slowly taking off.

Secretly relieved, Yichen didn't linger. Before leaving, he manipulated the mud to write a line of large characters in the air: Orochimaru has launched a sneak attack on Kirigakure.

At this time, the Mist ninja and Konoha forces were still united, having just fought a major battle and were in the honeymoon phase. Especially after facing Yichen's interference, both sides suffered huge losses, and they felt like brothers in misfortune. With Yichen as a common enemy, their relationship became much more harmonious.

Then, a line of large characters appeared above their heads, and Yichen even dropped down a witness.

The Mist ninja army was also full of strong individuals; a few Water Release were enough to catch the ninja that Yichen had thrown down.

Actually, this ninja didn't know who had invaded the village. But in this situation, everyone's first reaction wasn't interrogation, but defense.

What would happen if two groups of ninjas, who distrust each other, adopted defensive stances at close range?

Of course, there were all sorts of misunderstandings and frictions.

Therefore, in the short period between Yichen writing those large characters and both commanders coming out to stabilize the situation, at least a dozen conflicts broke out on the battlefield.

Although no one died, quite a few were injured.

Tensions were high between the two sides, as if a single spark could ignite a full-blown conflict.

Was there a trigger? Of course there was, because the abandoned ninja woke up quickly. After waking up, he looked around and soon saw many important figures in the village, including the seriously injured Third Mizukage.

Then he blurted out, "Mizukage, the village has been invaded!"

Good heavens, no one could hear what he said next, both because the huge uproar drowned out his words and because the situation that was on the verge of erupting had indeed broken out.

A Jonin from Konoha who came to communicate was immediately riddled with holes by attacks from all directions.

This battle was not a single one; dozens of battles broke out across the entire area. In the most intense one, hundreds of Mist ninja fought directly against dozens of Konoha ninja.

While the higher-ups in Mist ninja also wanted to stop it, they were more concerned with the accuracy of the intelligence.

The witness, realizing the urgency of the situation, quickly and concisely recounted what had happened in Kirigakure.

Upon hearing that the village had only been invaded by a few ninjas, the high-ranking officials breathed a sigh of relief. However, the thought that the invaders could easily evade the search and remain undetected made them all serious again.

"Could it really Orochimaru?" one of them muttered to himself. There were quite a few skilled ninjas in the Ninja World.

Those who can act with impunity in Kirigakure are all Kage Level, and only exceptionally outstanding Kage Level individuals.

Looking at the ninjas who meet the criteria, Orochimaru is indeed the most likely candidate.

First, he was nearby, being in the Land of Whirlpools; second, he had the ability and intelligence, and since Konoha was involved in the operation, it wasn't surprising that Orochimaru could obtain the information and accurately infiltrate Kirigakure.

Besides, Orochimaru's eccentric personality makes it highly likely that the higher-ups in Mist ninja would consider him capable of such an act.

As a result, the higher-ups who originally wanted to stop the conflict hesitated and all looked at the Third Mizukage.

The Third Mizukage was not in good condition at the moment. Already old, he was disrupted by Killer B's interference, and in the end, he had to unleash his full power, even overdrawing his potential to severely injure the Third Raikage.

At this point, the Third Mizukage was already at his limit. He didn't want to start a war with Konoha at this critical juncture, especially since Konoha had two Kage Level beings on their side, while his own only Kage Level, Karatachi Yagura, wasn't even there.

Although there are many Mist ninja, they are not necessarily guaranteed to win in a real fight.

Therefore, although the Third Mizukage also suspected that the intruder was likely Orochimaru, he restrained his urge to turn against him and instead issued an order to cease the conflict and return to Kirigakure to provide reinforcements. Of course, before that, the Konoha ninja had to be sent away from their own territory.

The Mist ninja and the Konoha did not ultimately engage in a large-scale war, but the tacit understanding that the two sides had worked so hard to establish completely disappeared.

Yichen flew back to Iwagakure with Yuki Haku without any incident. Because he didn't gather any information, Yichen was unaware of the final outcome.

When questioned by Ōnoki, he only revealed what he knew.