Seven Ninja Swords

Yoshimura Kazumasa knew what Yichen was wondering about and said, "I was just asking for your help, Teacher Yichen. I want to set up a branch in the Ninjutsu Development Department to specifically study how to simplify Hand Seals and how to develop new hand seals. I want to compile a complete and systematic method for simplifying Hand Seals for the village."

Yichen was slightly taken aback, not expecting Yoshimura Kazumasa to have such an idea. After pondering for a moment, he said, "I understand. Don't worry, I will fight for it for you at the High-Level Meeting. However, you need to write a document first, summarizing your achievements in Hand Seals over the past two years. The Lord Tsuchikage only opened such a branch because he saw your potential."

"Hehe." Yoshimura Kazumasa took a small booklet out of his Ninja Tool Pouch and handed it to Yichen.

Yichen was taken aback. He hadn't expected Yoshimura Kazumasa to be prepared all along. It seemed that this idea was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather something he had thought through carefully.

Finally, it was Katsuya. Yichen said to him, "Katsuya, you have a strong Genjutsu Talent. Why don't you consider joining the Genjutsu research and development team?"

Katsuya made the same choice as Kanako: he wanted to be the squad leader.

"Teacher Yichen, I've made up my mind. I lack experience. I need to fight, and I need to hone my Genjutsu during missions." Katsuya a determined look.

In fact, the best option for engaging in combat is to join the Anbu, but if Katsuya joins the Anbu, he will only be a low-ranking member, and he won't be able to decide what missions to take. However, if he becomes a squad leader, he can choose missions that are suitable for honing his Genjutsu techniques.

Yichen nodded and said, "Alright then."

At this moment, Team Three and Team Four were officially disbanded.

With the Team Three and Team Four classes disbanded and the new graduating class not yet graduating, Yichen had some free time. He originally wanted to use this free time to improve his proficiency in Light Release.

However, Yichen's methodical training plan was suspended for a simple reason: an unexpected event occurred at the front lines.

In Ōnoki's words, the Mist ninja have gone mad again.

Although all the nations of the Ninja World had long since completed their preparations for war, no one was willing to be the first to take the lead. The Sunagakure, Cloud ninja, and Iwa ninja were all afraid of being targeted by Konoha, and they were all trying to incite other ninja villages to start a war against Konoha first.

Only the Mist ninja Mist ninja seem unconcerned about Konoha's retaliation.

Just yesterday, the Mist ninja, with the Ninja Army, entered the Land of Whirlpools without any attempt at concealment.

At this time, the armies of Iwa ninja, Sunagakure, and Cloud ninja were still in their respective countries, but Mist ninja once again entered the Land of Whirlpools.

It was under these circumstances that Yichen received an urgent notice from Ōnoki and came to the Tsuchikage's Office for a meeting.

After quickly glancing at the intelligence, Yichen's brows furrowed even more deeply than Ōnoki's.

Ōnoki was wondering what had gotten into the Fourth Mizukage, but Yichen was thinking whether the Fourth Mizukage had been controlled by Madara Uchiha. Otherwise, given Karatachi Yagura's previous display of political acumen, why would he act so impulsively?

Or has Madara Uchiha's control over the Mist ninja Karatachi Yagura and directly launch a war?

Whether Karatachi Yagura was actually controlled or not was a matter that could be considered a big deal or a small one, but Yichen had no way of confirming it, which made him extremely distressed.

"Yichen, how do you think Konoha will respond?" Ōnoki asked while Yichen was still deep in thought.

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "Currently, among the Four Great Nations besides Konoha, Sunagakure Village is the weakest in terms of overall strength, followed by Mist ninja. However, in terms of high-level combat power and the number of Kage Level fighters, Mist ninja has the fewest."

"I deduce that Konoha will target the weakest Mist ninja members, and may even resort to methods employed by the Raikou to intimidate us."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "Your thoughts are similar to mine, but the war is changing too fast, and relying solely on intelligence ninjas to deliver messages is not timely enough. So, you should go to the Land of Whirlpools."

Yichen was overjoyed and nodded quickly; he had originally wanted to find an excuse to go out.

Upon seeing this, Ōnoki immediately shouted, "You can't act rashly! You've disrupted Konoha's plans multiple times with your Light-Weight Rock Technique. Konoha has likely already developed a countermeasure. You can no longer move freely like you did during the conflict between Mist ninja and Cloud ninja."

Yichen nodded in agreement. He understood this perfectly. As High-ranking officials, Yichen himself had done his fair share of things like devising specific tactics after obtaining enemy intelligence.

The most recent instance was against Kakuzu. Yichen did not conceal any information about Kakuzu, so after fighting Kakuzu, Yichen cooperated with the Anbu to conduct several tactical training sessions and devised several tactics to deal with Kakuzu.

Similarly, it's impossible that Konoha didn't devise tactics to counter the Light-Weight Rock Technique.

However, Yichen only listened to Ōnoki's warning casually and didn't take it to heart. It wasn't difficult to devise a tactic against the Light-Weight Rock Technique, but as far as Yichen knew, Konoha didn't have such a method against a Flying Kage-level.

Afterwards, Ōnoki and Yichen discussed their views on the future of the war between Konoha and Mist ninja, and then Yichen got up and set off.

However, Yichen did not go to the main battlefield of the Land of Whirlpools, but went to the vicinity of the Land of Waves.

Yichen wasn't particularly interested in the great battle between Konoha and Mist ninja; what interested him was another possible force within Yichen: the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist ninja.

When the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist of the Mist made their long-distance raid on Konoha in the original story, Konoha had already experienced almost the entire Third Shinobi War and its strength had been greatly diminished. At that time, it made some sense for the Mist ninja to choose to Stealing Crystals, but now the Fourth Shinobi War has only just begun, Konoha's strength has not been damaged, and Yichen is not sure if the Mist ninja will do the same thing again.

However, if the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's actions in the original work were spontaneous and not a decision made by the Mist ninja leadership, or orchestrated by Madara Uchiha, then Yichen felt he could still try his luck.

The Land of Fire and the Land of Water are not adjacent; they are separated by the sea. Theoretically, the Mist ninja could land from anywhere along the Land of Fire's long Coastline.

However, considering that ninjas also need supplies, and the Land of Whirlpools is the most suitable location as the main force of both sides, Yichen guessed that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist might land from the direction of the Land of Waves.

If the Mist ninja's sneak attack consisted only of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Yichen thought they could have landed from anywhere. However, Yichen remembered that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were just the vanguard, and a large Ninja Army followed behind them.

In the original story, this unit seems to have been scared away by Shisui Uchiha.

However, regardless of the circumstances, a large-scale Ninja Army launching a surprise attack would still leave traces.

The next day, after a long flight, Yichen arrived over the Land of Waves.

However, after spending an entire day in the Land of Waves, Yichen found no signs of any Ninja Army activity. Yichen also contacted the Iwa ninja intelligence network in the Land of Waves, and their conclusions were consistent: apart from some economic impact due to the war, the Land of Waves remained unchanged.

This made Yichen hesitate. Had the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist not acted alone, or had they landed from another location, or perhaps they hadn't arrived yet?

Yichen was unwilling to miss this opportunity, as there were fewer and fewer parts of the original plot that he could utilize.

After a brief deliberation, Yichen expanded the search area. He began reconnaissance in the nearby seas, centered on the Land of Waves. Since he could fly, the back-and-forth travel wouldn't take much time.

Moreover, even if Yichen went to the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools, there wouldn't be much he could do. If he fully mastered the Kekkei Tōta and possessed powerful ranged attack capabilities, then Yichen wouldn't mind trying to see if he could kill another Kage Level from Konoha.

Now, Yichen felt that his sneak attack during the battle between the two armies wouldn't be of much use.

Just as Yichen began to wander around the Land of Waves, the Military deployment of the Five Great Nations changed.

Konoha, with Hiruzen Sarutobi personally leading the team, planned to eliminate Mist ninja with swift and decisive action. Hiruzen Sarutobi openly led 5,000 ninja, but whether there were other Kage Level ninja accompanying him was unknown.

At least Danzo's whereabouts suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight.

Konoha's move was not foolish; the deterrent effect of a Kage Level whose whereabouts are unknown is far greater than that of someone stationed on a battlefield.

However, the other countries responded quickly as well, with the Fourth Raikage and the Fourth Kazekage arriving at the front lines almost simultaneously.

Their goal is simple: you can hide, I can't find you. But we can force you to come out.

Iwagakure did not take any action, but at the very beginning of the Fourth Shinobi War, Yichen and Ikura took turns stationed at the front lines.

This also demonstrates the strength of the Iwa ninja. They have Three Kage-level Iwa ninja, giving them enough power to ensure that the frontline troops have a Kage Level commander from the very beginning.

The Cloud ninja only has two Kage, one of whom is Jinchuriki, so they naturally cannot do what the Iwa ninja do. Although the Sunagakure also has three Kage, Chiyo has retired and is no longer under the command of the Fourth Kazekage, so their arrangement of Kage-level Combatant is not as flexible as that of the Iwa ninja.

By this point, all three major powers confronting Konoha had deployed Kage Level to the front lines. The atmosphere of war had suddenly changed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi made it clear that he intends to deal with the Mist ninja, Konoha must send out other Kage Level ninja to deter the Three Great Ninja Villages.

But does Konoha have that many Kage Level?

Yes, they do have problems, but unfortunately, they each have their own troubles.

Fugaku is still holding back!

Does anyone know Might Duy?

Although Tsunade has been found by Hiruzen Sarutobi, her hemophobia has not been cured.

Danzo, our Eternal Sister says she can't command him.

Minato Namikaze, being the Hokage, theoretically shouldn't be allowed to go to the battlefield at will.

Kushina Uzumaki was Jinchuriki, and from the Jinchuriki of Land of Whirlpools. This background was originally not a problem, Land of Whirlpools was a traditional ally of Konoha. However, with the rise of Ikura, everyone knows that the Uzumaki Clan has joined Iwagakure and is about to be Marriage alliance to Iwa ninja 'Ikura young genius.

Under these circumstances, Konoha's higher-ups were hesitant to send Kushina to the front lines. What if she were turned against them by the Iwa ninja? Losing a Kage- Kage Level Kushina Konoha would be bad enough, but did they really want to sacrifice the Nine-Tails as well?

Therefore, although Konoha has a large number of Kage Level fighters, Minato Namikaze was unable to send out even one.

Left with no other choice, Minato Namikaze decided to take command himself.

Minato Namikaze had his reasons for doing this; the Flying Thunder God Technique allowed him to support several different battlefields. He was worth two or three Kage Level fighters by himself.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps it was part of the Mist ninja's or Madara Uchiha's scheme, but after Minato Namikaze left Konoha, Yichen discovered the whereabouts of the Mist Ninja detachment.

Flying several thousand meters above a sea area, Yichen carefully observed the fleet below.

Judging from the size of the group, the number of Mist ninja on this route is approximately three thousand. As for whether the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are leading the group, Yichen is worried about being discovered by the Byakugan and dares not approach to scout.

One minute later, Yichen left the sea area and went to the Land of Fire.