Gifts

The next day, Yichen and his three companions rode on the back of the great Yuko Great Shark Yuko, leisurely heading towards the coast of the Land of Earth.

The rest was simple. Yichen, the Tsuchikage, gave instructions to the outpost ninjas along the coast, designated a temporary area for the sharks to inhabit, and then returned to the village.

The specific arrangements for the Shark Swarm still need to be discussed with the Advisor Group.

Yichen had been away from the village for more than a month, the longest he had ever been since becoming the Tsuchikage. So when he returned to the village, Yichen felt a little guilty.

However, Yichen is now the Tsuchikage, so the initiative is in his own hands.

During the High-Level Meeting, facing the expressionless stares of Ōnoki, Saka, Mei, and Ikura, Yichen pretended not to see them. He also completely ignored Tomoko's suppressed laughter. Yichen nodded approvingly to Kawakita, with an expression that said, "You did a great job, you didn't disappoint me."

"I went to the Land of Whirlpools this time and made a deal with Orochimaru, exchanging a few Ninjutsu for them." Under the strange gazes of the crowd, Yichen took out the scrolls that Orochimaru had given him one by one.

"This is the Mutual Distraction Explosion Tag Technique, this is the Flying Thunder God Technique, this is the Sharingan Genjutsu Izanagi, this is the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, this is the Spirit Transformation Jutsu." Yichen explained the Ninjutsu recorded on the scroll to everyone one by one.

Seeing that everyone's attention had been diverted as expected, Yichen finally breathed a sigh of relief; this hurdle was over.

At this moment, no one cared about Yichen's thoughts; they were all astonished by these Ninjutsu.

Yichen sipped his tea while observing everyone's expressions. "You're all dumbfounded now that you've all tried to lecture me."

After a long while, Ōnoki and the others finally came to their senses.

Ōnoki really wanted to put on a stern face and give Yichen a lecture, but the uneven curve of his lips made him abandon the idea.

After regaining her senses, Tomoko asked instinctively, "Teacher Yichen, what did you use to exchange with Orochimaru?"

"Cough cough," Yichen coughed quickly and said, "Tomoko Hui, don't worry about this. Anyway, these Ninjutsu now belong to our Iwagakure."

Tomoko was puzzled, but seeing that Ōnoki and the others didn't delve into the matter, she stopped asking.

"In a moment, I will copy these Ninjutsu into the Scroll of Seals. Let's continue our previous topic." Yichen quickly changed everyone's mind.

Ōnoki and the others were used to Yichen's occasional eccentricities; they knew Yichen had secrets and had long since stopped caring about them.

Since Yichen is now the Tsuchikage, would he still do anything to harm the Land of Earth?

Even though Yichen exchanged Ninjutsu for Orochimaru from the Scroll of Seals, Ōnoki said it was worth it.

"On my way to the Land of Whirlpools, I subdued a group of sharks. These sharks possess Chakra and can serve as Summoning Beast. The leader of the sharks was chosen by my disciple Ishinose Kiyoshi, and they have already signed Summoning Contract."

"How strong are these sharks? How many are there?" Saka asked hurriedly. Summoning Beast where the entire group can cultivate Chakra are extremely rare.

Even though sharks aren't a good fit for Iwa ninja, Saka also felt this was a good opportunity to improve the overall strength of the Iwa ninja.

"There are several hundred of them, mostly Chunin and Genin level, with only one Jonin. However, this shouldn't be the maximum number of sharks in this group. There were originally some Jonin level sharks in this group, but they all died in an accident."

"Moreover, because of their enormous size, these sharks are actually stronger than ninjas of the same level in actual combat. Overall, this Shark Swarm has good potential," Yichen said.

Saka nodded, adding, "The upper limit is Jonin, which is quite high for most members of the village. If they sign Summoning Contract and find a fixed partner, their potential can be further increased."

Mei also said, "That's right. If we add the Natural Energy Seal, it's not impossible to cultivate Summoning Beast at the Elite Jonin."

Yichen nodded and said, "That's what I was thinking too. We've temporarily placed them near the seaside outpost. We'll need to discuss the exact location later."

Ōnoki thought for a moment, then pointed to a bay to the north of the map and said, "Let's go here. There are fewer people here, so the Shark Swarm won't easily be spotted. They can also keep watch for enemies coming from the sea. Besides, the structure of this bay is quite good, suitable for setting up Natural Energy Seal."

Yichen and the others took a look and thought it was good, so they decided to go with it.

With the Shark Swarm issue settled, Yichen continued, "Remember that S-rank or higher seal near Uzushio Village? Atsumi Akino and I thoroughly studied that seal this time."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "I remember you said last time that it was a seal that even you had no clue about? So, did you make any progress this time?"

"That's right, we've gained a lot from this research on Sealing Jutsu skills can probably be improved even further. And thanks to Atsumi Akino, we've also discovered many Sealing Runes related to space and Space-Time."

"With the help of these runes, Atsumi Akino has finally made it into the basics of her research on the Flying Thunder God Technique."

"Really?" Ōnoki was overjoyed.

Yichen nodded and said, "Actually, even if Uzumaki Akino learns the Flying Thunder God, its effect won't be as great as the Yellow Flash. However, our biggest gain from this sealing research might be our ability to counter Space-Time Ninjutsu."

"I later destroyed that seal using my Kekkei Tōta. Inside was an alternate dimension, and this seal was used to Sealed Space, so it definitely had a resisting or interfering effect on Space-Time Ninjutsu."

"If we study this carefully and add it to the village's Defense Barrier, then even if a ninja with Space-Time Ninjutsu attacks, we'll have a way to deal with it."

Ōnoki and the others had no objections to this matter. The fact that two users of Space-Time Ninjutsu had appeared in Konoha one after another was really upsetting to them.

Furthermore, Yichen had mentioned to them that Obito Uchiha also knew Space-Time Ninjutsu, which made Ōnoki and the others somewhat wary of Space-Time Ninjutsu.

This matter was not assigned to anyone else, but was to be handled by Yichen himself, because the gains from this Sealing Jutsu were all in Yichen's own mind, and it would be useless to hand it over to others.

At this moment, Ikura asked curiously, "What's behind the seal?"

Yichen explained, "It's an alternate dimension with exceptionally high gravity. I stayed there for three days and learned the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique and the Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique. I also greatly improved my proficiency in the S-rank Ninjutsu, Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in."

"The Third Lord can try it if he has time, but he must be careful before entering. Even in Sage Mode, I can barely stand up. An ordinary person would probably be pressed to the ground and unable to move."

Ōnoki nodded, but he wasn't very interested. His fighting style was already established, and the Light-Weight Rock Technique only played a supporting role in his fighting style.

"Alright, let's discuss what to do with these scrolls." Yichen steered the conversation back to the S-rank Ninjutsu they had brought out at the beginning.

"There's not much to say about the Flying Thunder God Technique. Give one to Atsumi Akino; he discovered Sealing Runes related to Space-Time Ninjutsu, so consider this a reward," Ikura said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. In the entire Iwagakure, only Atsumi Akino possessed some talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu. If they didn't teach it to him, the Flying Thunder God Technique would simply remain idle in the Scroll of Seals.

"The Mutual Distraction Explosion Tag Technique, Yichen, are you planning to use it after Jia Cai Zhi's Paper Style Jutsu is upgraded? This thing consumes too many Exploding Tag; others simply can't afford to use it," Ikura continued.

Yichen nodded and said, "That's right, it doesn't matter who uses it, but if we want to use Exploding Tag without worrying about consumption, we really still have to rely on Kanako."

Ikura nodded, then frowned and said, "Are you planning to give this Izanagi to the Uchiha Clan of Konoha?"

"Hehe, yes, the Uchiha Clan suffered many casualties in the previous Ninja World War, but no one used this Ninjutsu, which means they actually didn't know about it."

"Perhaps the Konoha High-ranking officials are afraid of the Uchiha Clan's growing power and deliberately withheld this Ninjutsu. Now that the conflict between them has escalated, we might as well help fan the flames."

"I originally planned to send this gift to the War Faction of the Uchiha Clan. If the Konoha High-ranking officials decides to attack the Uchiha Clan, they will definitely suffer heavy losses."

"However, I changed my mind on the way back. It would be troublesome if the Konoha High-ranking officials thought that with Izanagi, the Uchiha Clan would be difficult to deal with."

"So I'm thinking about whether to use Izanagi to trade for some good stuff from the Konoha High-ranking officials. If they refuse, we'll threaten to hand Izanagi over to the Uchiha Clan."

Upon hearing Yichen's words, the same phrase simultaneously came to everyone's mind: the Fox of Stone.

However, no one showed it on their faces. Ōnoki said, "Konoha won't believe us. They'll think: even if we make a deal, we'll still hand over this Forbidden Technique to the Uchiha Clan. In the end, the most likely scenario is that the Konoha High-ranking officials will act first and wipe out the Uchiha Clan before we hand the scroll over to them."

Saka said, "That's not bad either. At least at crucial moments, we can control the timing of Konoha High-ranking officials' actions. Just this information about when to act is enough for us to do a lot of things."

Finally, Yichen made the decision. "That's settled then. Let's not hand over Izanagi to the Uchiha yet. Let's see how the situation develops first."

Tomoko said, "There might be another way. We could secretly give the scroll to the Uchiha, while simultaneously luring away several high-ranking combatants from Konoha High-ranking officials, and then instigate the Uchiha Clan to seize power."

Everyone's eyes lit up; this was a good idea. It wouldn't be difficult to transfer one or two Konoha High-ranking officials. For example, if the Kage Summit were held, Tsunade would definitely have to leave.

"Yes, let's keep this as a backup plan," Yichen said.

Seeing that the discussion about Izanagi had ended, Ikura continued, "The Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu has too many side effects, and it's not suitable for many people. Within the village, it's probably only suitable for a portion of the Uzumaki Clan."

Yichen nodded and said, "That's what I think too. My disciple, Uzumaki Riori, is suited for this Ninjutsu. I plan to Ninjutsu it to her in a while."

Uzumaki Riori is Genin and is not qualified to learn Ninjutsu of the level of Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. However, considering that this level of Ninjutsu requires a high level of skill from the user, Yichen suggested that Uzumaki Riori learn it.

Ōnoki thought for a moment and said, "Okay, Riori is a simple-minded girl with a strong sense of belonging to the village, I agree."

No one else had any objections. In fact, if the Uzumaki Clan hadn't been outsiders, Ōnoki and the others wouldn't have needed to weigh the pros and cons.

"The final Spirit Transformation Jutsu is too dangerous, Yichen. Do you want to cultivate it yourself?" Ikura asked.

Yichen nodded and said, "Yes."

Ōnoki warned, "Practicing is fine, but don't use it lightly. This Ninjutsu is very useful, but its weaknesses are even more obvious. With your current strength, there's no need to take the risk."

Yichen naturally understood the weakness of the Spirit Transformation Jutsu: the user's own body was a fixed target. It was said that Tsunade's lover Dan Katō, died because of this in the original story.

Yichen exchanged the Spirit Transformation Jutsu only to learn some Yin Release techniques through Spirit Summoning. Learning them doesn't mean he'll use them; for example, the Kekkei Genkai Storm Release that Yichen developed has never been used.

Although Yin Release hasn't been included in Yichen's training plan yet, the preparatory work can still be started.