Jiraiya's Whereabouts

Yichen has been in a good mood lately. Whether it's the changes in Ōnoki or the progress of Matsutani Shinya and Takuya, it's all good news for Yichen.

Having completely shed the task of developing Lightning Release, Yichen now has virtually no other official duties besides mentoring his apprentices.

The intermittent research and training in Lightning Release over the past year has raised Yichen's proficiency in Lightning Release to a new level. It's not far from his original expectations; Yichen's Lightning Release proficiency is now comparable to his Water Release.

It's time to start developing the second Kekkei Genkai. I've decided, I'll choose the Storm Release, which combines water and lightning.

However, his good mood didn't last long, and the development of his Kekkei Genkai Storm Release couldn't begin immediately because Ōnoki sent his Anbu to inform him of a meeting.

During times of peace in the Ninja World, High-Level Meeting are rarely held. A meeting had just been held when Ōnoki successfully mastered Senjutsu, Yichen couldn't guess the content of this meeting. But his intuition told him that this meeting was not simple.

Sure enough, when Yichen entered the Tsuchikage's Office Building office, he immediately saw a hint of excitement in Ōnoki's eyes.

Ōnoki didn't even sit at his desk; instead, he floated in the air using the Light-Weight Rock Technique.

Seeing this, Yichen became even more curious and cast a questioning glance at Ikura, who had arrived a step earlier than him. However, Ikura shook his head at Yichen with the same puzzled look.

Soon, everyone attending the meeting had arrived. As soon as Ōnoki and the others sat down, he immediately said, "The Anbu have discovered Jiraiya's whereabouts. He has been in the Land of Hot Water recently."

Yichen was taken aback. Jiraiya? Could it be...?

As expected, Ōnoki continued, "I've already sent word to the Cloud ninja, and I believe Cloud ninja 'll take action soon. However, as we discussed last time, Jiraiya has the ally from Mount Myōboku, making him difficult to kill."

"So this time I'm going to the Land of Hot Water myself. After the Cloud ninja make their move to distract Jiraiya, I'll use Dust Release to launch a sneak attack on Jiraiya."

Upon hearing this, Yichen was startled. This method was actually quite good. The Toad of Mount Myōboku couldn't remotely control the situation, so Jiraiya could summon Jiraiya away the moment he encountered danger.

If they could launch a surprise attack using Dust Release before Jiraiya sent a distress signal to Mount Myōboku, the chances of success would be quite high.

Most importantly, with the Cloud ninja acting as targets to draw Jiraiya's fire, Ōnoki could only launch a sneak attack. Even if the attack failed, the Iwagakure wouldn't suffer any losses.

Given Hiruzen Sarutobi's stature, he wouldn't be so bold as to launch a Ninja World War just because of Jiraiya.

After analyzing the situation in his mind, Yichen was also somewhat tempted. Having transmigrated for more than ten years, Yichen was no longer the nerdy guy who had only read the original novel. If he could kill Jiraiya, Yichen would definitely not hesitate at all.

This has nothing to do with whether Jiraiya or not. Yichen wanted to kill Jiraiya simply because the two sides had different positions. After Orochimaru's defection, Jiraiya was almost the most important fighting force that Konoha had on the surface, without exception.

So after hearing what Ōnoki said, Yichen was the first to speak, "Lord Tsuchikage, I'll go with you."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "Sure, we can use the Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly over together."

Ikura, Saka, and Mei exchanged glances. Although they didn't have high hopes for Ōnoki's trip, none of them had any objections.

Because there aren't many Kage Level in the Ninja World who can fly right now; besides Ōnoki and Yichen, there's only the Fourth Kazekage Rasa.

If Ōnoki went alone, everyone might be a little worried about his safety, but with Yichen, the newly promoted Kage Level, added in, they had nothing to worry about.

After discussing the Ōnoki's defenses for a few more minutes while Ikura was away, the meeting ended.

This High-Level Meeting was highly efficient; the top leaders reached a consensus in less than a minute.

After the meeting, Yichen stayed in Ōnoki's office, Ōnoki needed to explain some village affairs before he could leave.

While waiting, Yichen suddenly thought of something and said to Ōnoki, "Lord Tsuchikage, how about we enter Sage Mode and fight in Sage Mode?"

Ōnoki was explaining things to Kitsuchi and the other two when he heard Yichen's words and was taken aback.

Neither Ōnoki nor Yichen can use their Senjutsu in actual combat yet, because the preparations required for entering Sage Mode are extensive and take a long time.

Since ninja battles are often spontaneous, Ōnoki subconsciously didn't include Sage Mode in his combat power calculations.

After thinking for a moment, Ōnoki said, "I'll pass. I've only just learned Senjutsu Sage Mode, and I can't control the fluctuations of Senjutsu Chakra when I enter Sage Mode, so it's easy to give myself away. But you can go and prepare some Senjutsu first. Besides, your sensory abilities will be amplified in Sage Mode, and entering Sage Mode will also increase your sensory capabilities."

Yichen nodded and immediately went to prepare for Sage Mode.

Since learning Senjutsu, Yichen enters Sage Mode once a day whenever he is in the village, and he usually maintains Sage Mode without using Senjutsu Chakra.

So, over the course of more than a year, Yichen's body has become much more adaptable to Senjutsu Chakra. Now, when Yichen enters Sage Mode, his Sage Face Markings is only about half the size it was at the beginning.

However, Yichen still couldn't enter Sage Mode outside of the Natural Energy Seal. But he could still sense the sparse Natural Energy in the outside world.

In addition, Yichen is still unable to leave the liquid Natural Energy and directly enter Sage Mode. However, now that Yichen is practicing immortal Senjutsu, he no longer needs Ikura to protect him with the Black Rod.

Yichen quickly arrived at the Natural Energy experimental area. It was no longer the empty and desolate place it once was; the village had long since built a closed building there.

The entire building is divided into two parts: an experimental area and a Natural Energy Seal area. The experimental area generates liquid Natural Energy, while the sealing area absorbs Natural Energy.

Because Yichen and Ōnoki practiced their Senjutsu every day, the village built this place into a military base.

Given that research into Natural Energy is a top secret of the village, the defenses here are handled by the Anbu.

Even a regular like Yichen needs to have his identity verified to enter.

After exchanging the password with the guards in the Anbu, Yichen went directly into the experimental area.

Today, Uzumaki Yumi was on duty in the experimental area. When she saw Yichen arrive, Uzumaki Yumi greeted him and then took her disciple, Yichen Shimoyama Tamaki to prepare liquid Natural Energy for Yichen.

Seeing this, Yichen didn't linger there and went directly to the Natural Energy Seal next door. After finding a spot to sit cross-legged, Yichen began to adjust his own state.

Although with Yichen's current level of proficiency in Senjutsu, he could manage without being too serious, Yichen still made preparations very carefully.

After a while, Yichen felt a cool sensation on the back of his hand, and then a large amount of Natural Energy rushed in from the back of his hand.

Unlike his earlier chaotic and disorganized state, Yichen easily controlled the Natural Energy entering his body and integrated it with his own physical and mental energy.

Basically, whatever amount of Natural Energy enters, it will be absorbed, until the body reaches its limit, at which point Yichen naturally stops absorbing Natural Energy.

After a while, Yichen slowly opened his eyes. At this moment, some Sage Face Markings had appeared on Yichen's face. However, the coverage area of Sage Face Markings was half that of the first time.

Seeing this, Shimoyama Tamaki Dai, who had just dripped liquid Natural Energy onto Yichen, put away the Black Rod she was holding.

Yichen nodded to her, then walked back through the experimental area to the outside. Just then, Ōnoki also came over after finishing his official business.

Ōnoki wasn't surprised to see Yichen enter Sage Mode so quickly, as he was very clear about Yichen's progress in cultivating Sage Mode.

Without lingering at the entrance of the experiment, Yichen and Ōnoki used the Light-Weight Rock Technique and the Camouflage Jutsu to fly into the sky.

Then the two chatted as they flew towards the Land of Hot Water.

"Let's test the perception range of Sage Mode," Ōnoki Yichen said. This was very important, as it would largely determine where the two of them would hide later.

Yichen nodded. Although he was already aware of the enhancement effect of Senjutsu Chakra, he still closed his eyes and focused all his attention on the S-rank Genjutsu, Mind's Mind's Eye, and then used Sensory Ninjutsu in the air.

After a long pause, Yichen said, "Natural Energy greatly amplifies the Mind's Eye. Under normal circumstances, the effective range I can detect with my using Mind's Eye is three hundred meters. But in Sage Mode, it almost reaches three thousand meters."

"However, the amplification of Sensory Ninjutsu by Senjutsu is smaller. Normally, I can sense objects over 500 meters away when using Sensory Ninjutsu in the air, and even with the boost from Senjutsu Chakra, it only reaches 2000 meters."

"However, Sensory Ninjutsu works better on the ground. Under normal circumstances, my sensory range on the ground is about 4,000 meters. If I were to receive the boost from Senjutsu Chakra, it should be able to reach 16,000 meters."

Ōnoki nodded. He was very clear about the Sensory Ninjutsu that Yichen had mentioned. He could also do it, but he didn't master it as well as Yichen.

He just hadn't expected that Senjutsu would amplify the Mind's Mind's Eye, an S-rank Ninjutsu, by tenfold. This was tenfold in distance, not in intensity. Any Ninjutsu is bound to become more difficult with increasing distance, and the difficulty definitely increases exponentially with the distance.

After thinking for a moment, Ōnoki still asked, "Do you know why Senjutsu amplifies the Mind's Mind's Eye so much?"

Yichen had considered this question before, so his answer was clear, "Although I don't know the principle Mind's Eye's Mind's Eye, the reason I was able to successfully cultivate it was because I unintentionally absorbed Natural Energy that time."

"Furthermore, I suspect that the effects of cultivating the Mind's Eye cannot be improved. After I cultivated the Mind's Eye, my perception distance has remained at around 200 meters, without any increase. Even though my mental strength and physical strength have been increasing, the Mind's Mind's Eye's ability has not changed at all."

"But Senjutsu should be able to gradually enhance the effect of the Mind's Eye. Ever since I mastered Sage Mode, the perception range of my Mind's Eye has been slowly increasing."

Ōnoki nodded. He knew about the wonders of Natural Energy, and although he couldn't understand it, he wasn't too surprised.

"What is the most powerful Senjutsu you can unleash right now?" Ōnoki asked again after a while.