Accumulated Strength, Explosive Progress

The Iwa ninja leadership held a meeting and ultimately decided to send Yichen's disciple, Kawakita, to lead four teams of moderate strength to Konoha to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams.

This was also Yichen's suggestion. Kawakita's talent has been fully developed. Although he recently received Hanzo's legacy, he still feels the dual limitations of his body and will.

Therefore, Yichen decided to send Kawakita out on some special missions to broaden his horizons and gain more experience. Yichen hoped that Kawakita could open his mind completely and lay a solid foundation for further improving his strength.

As Earth Shadow's disciple, Kawakita's status is also very suitable.

Before leaving, Yichen suggested that Kawakita take the opportunity to challenge Konoha's Elite Jonin as much as possible. In peacetime, it's not easy to gain combat experience, so this is an opportunity.

Of the four teams traveling with Kawakita, one was Tomoko's team.

Tomoko's team has been together for over three years, but none of the three members have yet been promoted to Chunin. Tomoko decided to take them out to broaden their horizons.

In fact, the three of them were already strong enough to advance, especially after they went to Amegakure and witnessed that kind of earth-shattering battle, their growth was very rapid.

However, none of the three possessed any Unique Technique, and their individual combat strength was merely Mu Qi among Chunin. Therefore, Tomoko decided to take them on missions for an extended period. Tomoko hoped that after the team disbanded, her three disciples would have a better chance of survival.

While Kawakita's team was ostensibly deceiving Konoha, there was another group in the shadows, led by Anbu Ikura. Their target was the children of the Uchiha Clan.

The Uchiha Clan has many skilled members, making it impossible for the Konoha Anbu to completely monitor them. Iwa ninja could easily establish contact with the Uchiha Clan by sending any intelligence ninja.

However, replacing a group of the Uchiha Clan infants is not something that one or two intelligence ninjas can accomplish.

The High-Level Meeting of Iwagakure decided to send Ikura out as a precaution against any unforeseen circumstances.

In fact, Yichen wanted to come by himself, but when he heard that he was sending the Kage of a village to contact the Uchiha, Ōnoki and the others wanted to Yichen up.

Yichen is not skilled in Genjutsu. If he were to be controlled by Fugaku Uchiha, Iwagakure would be doomed.

After seeing off Ikura, Kawakita, Tomoko, and the others, Yichen got busy.

Perhaps because they had accumulated enough experience, many of Yichen's disciples made progress during this period.

First was Ogura Saki, who finally completed all the preliminary work for Chakra Fusion and began fusing the Fenghuo attributes.

The process went smoothly, but the experienced Yichen knew that it would take a long time. During this time Ogura Saki would not have much combat power, so Yichen directly dispatched six Anbu Squad to take turns protecting Ogura Saki's safety.

Then there's Kawazoe Yura. This little girl actually developed Sealing Jutsu that counters the Byakugan, and at that moment, she became Quasi-Jonin.

This matter has a huge impact; the Sealing Jutsu to restrain the Byakugan has immense strategic value. Yichen immediately convened a special High-Level Meeting with his Advisor Group.

Four resolutions were passed at the meeting:

First, Kawazoe Yura is directly promoted to Jonin and given the benefits of Elite Jonin. At the same time, Kawazoe Yura's position is directly promoted to the vice leader of the Barrier Team.

Then, this Sealing Jutsu that can counter the Byakugan will be traded to the other Three Great Ninja Villages. Of course, the Iwa ninja will not ask for a low price.

Next, the deal with the Cloud ninja Village required the Flying Thunder God Mark of the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama. This deal had been proposed by the Iwagakure to the Kumogakure when Minato Namikaze was still alive, but it was rejected by the Fourth Raikage. That brute declared that he wouldn't trade it for any amount of resources.

Finally, Iwagakure established a new department specifically for researching various tactics, with a focus on tactics to counter the Byakugan. The position of department head was left vacant for now, to be filled by Ikura upon his return.

The establishment of the new department, although most matters would have to wait until Ikura returned, still significantly increased Yichen's workload.

Following Kawazoe Yura is Kanako. Thanks to Konan's complete instruction, Kanako made rapid progress after returning from the Land of Rain, and finally completed the development of Paper Style Jutsu in just over a month.

When Yichen, Ōnoki, and the others watched as Kanako created paper-like pieces using Chakra, they were all incredulous.

Ōnoki couldn't help but ask Kanako, "Is this really not a bloodline limit, but a secret technique?"

Kanako nodded and said, "Third Lord, that's right. Although this Paper Style Jutsu is strange, it is indeed a secret art that cannot be passed down through bloodlines."

Ōnoki was somewhat disappointed. Among the many ninja clans in the Ninja World, the most numerous were Secret Technique Ninja Clan, followed by the Bloodline Ninja Clan. Originally, Secret Technique Ninja Clan were actually more popular than Bloodline Ninja Clan because bloodline limits could only be passed down through family bloodlines, while secret techniques could be passed down through master-disciple relationships.

However, the Paper Style Jutsu is somewhat mysterious; its requirements for talent are too strange, and it's too difficult to pass down through master-disciple inheritance. Since it cannot be passed down through master-disciple inheritance or bloodline inheritance, the Paper Style Jutsu can almost only be manifested in the hands of Kanako alone.

This is similar to some special Ninjutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals Iwa ninja. Although these Ninjutsu have not been lost, almost no one can learn them.

The most typical example is Ōnoki's Dust Release, and Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God is also in this case. These special Ninjutsu require special talents.

Yichen advised, "Third Generation, no matter what, the village will have gained another secret technique. Moreover, this technique can be upgraded. If we can upgrade the Paper Style Jutsu to the Exploding Tag Release, it will save the village a considerable amount of money."

Ōnoki sighed, stopped worrying about it, and nodded.

Seeing this, Yichen said to Kanako, "First, familiarize yourself with the Paper Style Jutsu Release technique. Once you can use it proficiently, then learn Sealing Jutsu from Yuran and see if you can learn to make Exploding Tag, or use them in conjunction with Sealing Jutsu in battle."

"Yes, Teacher Yichen," Kanako replied.

While Yichen was busy dealing with the changes brought about by Ogura Saki, Kawazoe Yura, and Kanako, Ikura, far away in Konoha, finally met with Fugaku Uchiha in person.

Accompanied by an intelligence ninja, Ikura arrived at an uninhabited Training Ground near the Uchiha Clan, while Fugaku was personally led by the Second Elder.

After glancing at Fugaku Uchiha, whose eyes were bloodshot, Ikura cautiously refrained from approaching, instead maintaining a distance to confront him.

"Clan Leader Fugaku, I am Advisor Ikura from Iwagakure." Ikura lowered his gaze, focusing only on Fugaku's body and deliberately avoiding Fugaku's eyes.

This method was actually proposed by Yichen. As Ikura's good friend, Yichen had practiced with him a long time ago on how to maintain combat power without looking into the opponent's eyes.

Fugaku was not surprised by Ikura's performance. As the head of the Uchiha Clan, who had grown up in battle, Fugaku had seen this kind of thing many times before.

"Advisor Ikura, I wonder how Sokai is doing now?"

"Clan Leader Fugaku, please rest assured, Sokai is doing very well and is currently attending our Iwagakure Ninja Academy. However, this child's talent in both Taijutsu and Ninjutsu is quite average; he has always been at the Dead Last of the Advanced Class."

"However, Sokai's personality is very likable. He made many friends at the Ninja Academy and formed deep bonds with them."

"A few days ago, our Fourth Tsuchikage, Yichen, personally spoke with Sokai and gave him a letter written by the Clan Leader Fugaku. Sokai has now awakened his Sharingan Sokai. Single-Tomoe in his left eye and Two-Tomoe in his right eye."

Fugaku's eyes Awakening Eyes. He'd awakened his Sharingan? He glanced at the Second Elder, noticing the other was just as surprised. Seeing Fugaku's expression, the Second Elder thought for a moment and said, "Clan leader, Sokai was only four years old when he was taken away by the Iwa ninja, and he's only eight now. Moreover, Sokai's talent isn't very good; well, you could say he's at the bottom of the clan. He shouldn't have Awakening Eyes his Sharingan at such a young age."

Fugaku thought for a moment and concluded that perhaps because of his background and different experiences away from home, this child matured earlier than others.

Without dwelling on these matters, Fugaku went straight to the point. "Advisor Ikura, when do you plan to exchange babies?"

"Don't worry, Clan Leader Fugaku, we are ready. We will make the exchange during the second round of the Joint Chunin Exams Konoha," Ikura replied.

Fugaku immediately understood Ikura's meaning. The Hokage would need to be present for the Chunin Ninja Exams, and at that time, Konoha wouldn't be focusing too much on this. Nodding, Fugaku then asked, "What was Iwagakure's response to the requests I made earlier?"

Ikura said, "Before I came here, the Tsuchikage instructed me that if the Clan Leader Fugaku asked about this, I should tell Clan Leader Fugaku one thing: We Iwa ninja will only reveal that we took in members of the Uchiha Clan after the Uchiha Clan has been wiped out."

Upon hearing this, the Second Elder was furious. Although he was a neutral party, that did not mean he was without temper.

However, before the Second Elder could speak, Fugaku Teuchi him. Fugaku clearly remembered the scenes his Mangekyō Sharingan had seen: either Konoha was destroyed or the Uchiha Clan Annihilated.

Fugaku gave Ikura a deep look, then said, "Let's exchange the children at the time you mentioned. There are thirteen children in total: five two-year-olds (two boys and three girls), and eight one-year-olds (four boys and four girls). The location will remain the same."

After saying this, Fugaku turned and left, and the Second Elder followed suit.

Then, with a "bang," Ikura turned into a cloud of smoke. It turned out that from beginning to end, this was just a Shadow Clone.

Only the Iwa ninja intelligence officer remained. He cautiously looked around, then returned to his residence as if nothing had happened.

A few days later, Kawakita led the Iwa ninja to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams. As instructed by Yichen, Kawakita, who had arrived in Konoha ahead of time, had challenged several elite swordsmanship Elite Jonin of Konoha in the past few days. For example, Gekkō Seiya, Elite Jonin of the Gekkō Clan, was Kawakita's first challenge.

To be honest, Kawakita's introduction to swordsmanship can be traced back to the Elite Jonin of the Gekkō Clan, Gekko Seikuu. The first Elite Jonin that Yichen killed was Gekko Seikuu. Then, Yichen used a Genjutsu to present the scene of his battle with Gekko Seikuu to Kawakita, which is how Kawakita truly began to learn swordsmanship.

Therefore, Kawakita's swordsmanship was actually deeply influenced by the Konoha Style Swordsmanship of the Gekkō Clan.

Kawakita's battle with Gekko Seikuu was a failure, but being able to face off against an elite Elite Jonin was once unapproachable in his youth still greatly changed Kawakita's mindset.

Afterwards, Kawakita challenged many sword masters from Konoha. Since both sides were relatively restrained and used wooden longswords, many battles ended in a draw, but Kawakita also won quite a few. Moreover, Kawakita's winning rate increased as the battle progressed.

If Konoha hadn't announced that they wouldn't accept any more challenges due to the approaching Chunin Ninja Exams, Kawakita felt his combat experience could have been greatly improved.

"I've heard that the swordsmanship of the Cloud ninja is even better than that of the Konoha. I wish I could have a battle with the Cloud ninja like this," Kawakita said to Tomoko with some regret.

After thinking for a moment, Tomoko said, "When we get back, let's ask our teacher if she has any ideas. She always has a lot of clever ideas."

Kawakita hesitated for a moment. "Isn't it inappropriate to always trouble the teacher?"

Tomoko rolled her eyes and said, "Teacher is just hoping for a legitimate reason to leave the village so he can avoid the Tsuchikage's political affairs."

Upon hearing this, Kawakita agreed, realizing that his teacher was indeed that kind of person. Without further hesitation, he decided to talk to his teacher after returning to the village.