Unexpected Developments
The Sunagakure's successful completion of war preparations was somewhat unexpected for Yichen and the others. The main reason why Yichen was slowly pushing forward the process of gathering ninjas was that he was waiting for Rasa.
During a meeting, Yichen and others analyzed that Rasa should be able to complete the war preparations, but the process would not be quick, as there were too many forces within Sunagakure opposing Rasa, or rather, unwilling to relinquish power.
Yichen believes that Rasa has sufficient strength and a righteous cause, so he should be able to achieve his goal in the end, but the back-and-forth between the two sides should take a long time.
However, Yichen never expected that Pakura, who was Rasa's enemy in the original work, would become Rasa's greatest ally.
This means that Sunagakure now has Three Kage-level Sunagakure, including Chiyo.
Although Chiyo has retired, as long as Chiyo is still in the village, Rasa can confidently take Pakura away from the village to fight without worrying about their home being raided.
From another perspective, Chiyo was also contributing to Rasa's cause.
In addition, Rasa also possesses the Third Kazekage Puppet, which, in the Elite Jonin an elite Puppet Technique in puppetry, can exert Kage Level effect.
If the Third Kazekage Puppet is used well, his strategic importance is no less than that of Jinchuriki.
Thus, the Sunagakure completed their war preparations amidst a series of unexpected events that surprised all sides.
The Cloud ninja's preparations for war went as smoothly as those of the Iwa ninja, and they were also a key force in triggering the Fourth Shinobi War. Under the strong leadership of the Fourth Raikage, the Cloud ninja were the first to complete their war preparations.
The most unexpected thing is that the Mist ninja is the weakest of the Five Great Ninja Villages. However, the Mist ninja was the first to start the war.
About a month after the Five Great Nations had deployed their troops to their borders, the Mist ninja, led by Byakugan user, broke directly into the heart of the Land of Whirlpools. They caught Konoha off guard and surrounded a force of about 800 Konoha soldiers stationed in the Land of Whirlpools.
This story begins when Minato Namikaze.
While Yichen and the others were busy preparing for battle, Konoha was not idle either. After the generational change, Konoha not only did not have any power struggles, but on the contrary, Konoha's preparations for battle were progressing smoothly.
It must be said that Hiruzen Sarutobi was quite politically astute; his choice of this time to pass the Hokage position to Minato Namikaze demonstrated a keen understanding of the mindset of various factions within Konoha.
Everyone, including the Uchiha Clan, had their eyes on Minato Namikaze's age. A Hokage who could potentially hold power in Konoha for the next few decades had to be supported, especially since Minato Namikaze had just taken office and his position was not yet secure.
Therefore, although Minato Namikaze's first batch of orders were to involve various families in war preparations, the families still did their best to cooperate.
In particular, the Uchiha Clan, with Fugaku Uchiha making several rare and strong statements within the clan supporting Minato Namikaze.
Fugaku Uchiha saw Minato Namikaze as a new opportunity to integrate into Konoha.
Despite facing a tremendous external crisis, Konoha seemed to have achieved internal unity all at once. Various ninja clans, such as the Uchiha and Hyuga, along with a large number of Civilian Ninja, rallied around the Fourth Hokage.
To set an example, Minato Namikaze's three disciples, with Kakashi as their captain, also went to the front lines.
Of course, Minato Namikaze took good care of his three disciples, placing them in the Land of Whirlpools, which he believed was the least likely place for war to break out in the short term.
However, Minato Namikaze was unaware that a mastermind was watching his disciple closely.
After faking his death and escaping the final First Shinobi War between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju the Valley of the End, he remained largely uninvolved in major Ninja World events for the next few decades.
However, judging from the original work, Madara Uchiha was not idle; his control over Kirigakure was definitely not simply about controlling the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
Yagura is not yet the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, and Yichen is unsure whether he has been controlled by Madara Uchiha. However, even if Madara Uchiha hasn't controlled Yagura, he still wields considerable influence in Mist ninja.
For example, in this instance, Madara Uchiha was able to directly mobilize the Mist ninja army in order to obtain Obito.
The Mist ninja's attack was sudden, without any prior warning. By the time Yichen received the first message, the Konoha ninja had already been surrounded. By the time Yichen received the second message, Konoha's reinforcements, personally led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, had already repelled the Mist ninja.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi repelled the Mist ninja, the 800 ninja Konoha had stationed in the Land of Whirlpools had been almost entirely wiped out.
Because Konoha suffered heavy casualties in this battle, with only a few ninjas left, the secrecy surrounding the battle was handled very well.
Yichen couldn't find out the details of the battle, only that when Hiruzen Sarutobi through the encirclement, only Rin Nohara and Kakashi, who had transplanted a Sharingan, remained of Minato Namikaze's disciples. The rest of the Konoha ninja were either dead or injured.
The situation in the Ninja World has been completely changed by Yichen, but Obito still died in battle just like in the original story, and Kakashi also obtained a Sharingan just like in the original story.
This only proves that Madara Uchiha was indeed manipulating everything behind the scenes.
So, it seems likely that the Mist ninja will repeat the Three-Tails incident, just like in the original story. Is there any way to gain some advantage from this?
With fewer and fewer parts of the original plot available for reference, Yichen was reluctant to waste this opportunity.
Yichen stood in the Command Center, staring blankly at the intelligence report on the battle between Konoha and Mist ninja, when his disciple Tomoko, walked in with a stack of documents. She was now Yichen's assistant, responsible for handling various daily affairs at the South Front Camp.
Tomoko called Yichen a few times, but Yichen only responded subconsciously and didn't seem to realize what was happening.
Tomoko was curious about what had made Yichen distracted, so she peeked at the intelligence report in Yichen's hand.
She, as his assistant, actually saw this intelligence report before Yichen did, and she couldn't understand what remarkable information it contained that made Yichen stare blankly for so long.
After a while, once Yichen had fully recovered, Tomoko handed Yichen the documents she considered important and that he needed to Yichen, while also asking Yichen if there was anything else about the intelligence from the Land of Whirlpools battlefield that was worth paying attention to.
Unable to bring up the original work with Tomoko, Yichen could only make up a random excuse.
"Among the three disciples of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, one was a member of the Uchiha Clan. This, to some extent, brought the Konoha High-ranking officials and the Uchiha Clan closer together."
"However, now that Obito Uchiha is dead, and more importantly, Obito Uchiha's Sharingan has been transplanted to Kakashi Hatake."
"I'm thinking, could we stir up some trouble and throw Konoha into chaos?"
Tomoko thought about it and agreed, saying, "The Uchiha Clan has provided considerable support to the Fourth Hokage. Why don't we take this opportunity to incite the Uchiha Clan to return to the heart of Konoha?"
Yichen's eyes lit up.
Whether the Uchiha Clan returns to the center of Konoha is not important, but the attitude of Konoha High-ranking officials towards this matter is very important.
If the Konoha High-ranking officials agrees to the Uchiha Clan returning to the heart of Konoha, then the difference between the Third Konoha's and the Fourth Hokage's stance will be laid bare before all the ninja of Konoha.
It might split the Konoha High-ranking officials to some extent. Yichen believed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's resolve when he relinquished the Hokage, but he should know that Konoha's advisors haven't changed; they've only added Hiruzen Sarutobi, the former Hokage.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura are unlikely to make way for a junior whose political views are completely opposed to their own. As for Danzo, his situation is even more complicated.
When that happens, the differing opinions among Konoha High-ranking officials will inevitably affect the war against foreign powers.
If the Konoha High-ranking officials ultimately rejects the Uchiha Clan's request to return to the village center, will the Uchiha Clan still support Minato Namikaze as before?
Is a leader who can't even protect the vital interests of his subordinates worth following?
Even if Fugaku Uchiha could understand Minato Namikaze, what about the other Uchiha? Those arrogant idiots in the Uchiha clan would cause trouble without Yichen's provocation.
Tomoko's idea is good and worth a try, but Iwa ninja in this.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi the Land of Whirlpools, he probably hasn't returned yet, right? Is Shimura Danzō still in Konoha?" Yichen asked Tomoko.
Tomoko paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, Konoha only Hiruzen Sarutobi, a Kage Level assassin, to support the Land of Whirlpools."
"Tell Danzo what we just thought, and have him incite the Uchiha Clan," Yichen instructed.
Tomoko frowned and asked, "Danzo is one of the Konoha High-ranking officials who firmly opposes the Uchiha Clan. How could he incite the Uchiha to return to the heart of Konoha?"
Yichen smiled and said, "It's Danzo. He'll incite the Uchiha Clan after he's made all the necessary preparations. Even if Minato Namikaze wanted to agree to the Uchiha Clan's demands, it wouldn't be possible for it to pass at the High-Level Meeting."
"And with this back and forth, Minato Namikaze's prestige will decline, Danzo will certainly be happy about."
Upon Tomoko thought it made sense and immediately went to make the arrangements. Since the plan was to directly leak the information to Danzo, the operation would be simple; there was no need to expose any spies, and regular ninjas could handle it.
After Tomoko left, Yichen picked up the pile of documents and began to read them.
In Yichen's plan, personal training is always the top priority. Therefore, after being appointed as the commander of the Southern Front, Yichen immediately transferred a group of ninjas he was familiar with to his command.
Among them were his first and second batches of disciples. In addition, there were his former teammates and classmates.
They now hold many clerical positions in the Southern Army, handling various mundane daily tasks for them.
In this way, Yichen can free up time for cultivation.
Even so, there were many documents that he, as the commander of the Southern Front, had to review.
For example, the document that Yichen is currently reading is a summary of the battle situation after the Iwa ninja reconnaissance team encountered Konoha ninja in the past few days.
The two sides were locked in a standoff for about a month. Although minor skirmishes continued, both sides' high command was keen to control the scope of the conflict, so casualties were not significant.
With the steady progress of medical system reforms, many injured ninjas in Iwa ninja are able to receive proper treatment, and the cure rate after injury has increased significantly compared to before.
After reading the document, Yichen began his daily training. Currently, Yichen's focus is on the Storm Release Bloodline Limit.
The development of the second bloodline limit was much more proficient than the first. Whether it was the attempt at Storm Release Ninjutsu or Chakra Fusion, the difficulty for Yichen was far less than the first time.
However, there were still problems in the development of Storm Release, and the problem was the rejection that the combination of two bloodlines caused to Yichen's body.
It was precisely this resistance that slowed down the development of Storm Release.
Even if it's slow, success will come eventually. Yichen estimates that in another month or two, his Storm Release will be able to enter the final stage.
In the final stage, Yichen needs to accelerate the Body changes through medication, at which time Yichen will experience an unprecedented period of weakness. So today, Yichen sent a letter to Ikura, who is assisting Ōnoki in the village, asking him to come to the front line to take his place for a while and protect him.