Forcing His Way In

As they drew closer to Konoha, Ōnoki and Yichen gradually reduced their flight speed. Finally, when they were still dozens of kilometers away from Konoha, they slowly descended to the ground.

However, neither of them dispelled the Light-Weight Rock Technique or the Camouflage Jutsu; instead, they flew close to the ground among the dense trees of the Land of Fire.

Although Konoha only visited twice, the Iwa ninja's intelligence gathering on Konoha never stopped, and Yichen and Ōnoki were very clear about Konoha's plans.

Konoha and Ōnoki probably knew better than many of the ninja living in Konoha where the Prison were, where the Uchiha Clan was, where the Forest of Death was, where Konoha ninja frequently traveled, Yichen where there were fewer people.

Yichen and his companion chose a direction with fewer passing ninjas and began to wait.

Konoha has Byakugan, so the two didn't dare get too close and just quietly observed from a distance.

Yichen and his companion moved very quickly. At this time, the news from Ikura had not yet reached Konoha. Yichen needed to wait for Konoha to receive the news and send a Kage Level to the border before Ōnoki would allow him to enter Konoha.

While Yichen and Ōnoki were waiting outside, Orochimaru had already successfully infiltrated Konoha.

Orochimaru is Konoha Rogue Ninja, and he has a deep understanding of Konoha's Sensory Barrier. Although Konoha has been making changes over the years, it's too easy for a ninja of Orochimaru's caliber to find a few weaknesses. Not to mention, there are some of his hidden subordinates among Konoha's middle ranks.

Even if he couldn't find a flaw in the barrier, Orochimaru could find his subordinates and, with their cooperation, silently infiltrate Konoha.

At this time, Orochimaru was disguised as an ordinary villager, drinking in an Izakaya).

A short while later, a middle-aged female ninja wearing Cloud ninja Forehead Protector entered the Izakaya. This person was none other than Tawara Ayumi, the vice envoy of the Cloud Ninja envoy Elite Jonin.

On the surface, Tawara Ayumi was only the deputy envoy, but in reality, she was the true leader of this Cloud Ninja envoy. The Fourth Raikage chose her because women are easily overlooked and are more suitable for doing things in secret.

After arriving at the Izakaya, the man immediately requested an empty private room, ordered a pot of sake and a few side dishes, behaving like a normal person dining out.

Orochimaru, disguised as a villager, only glanced at her Forehead Protector before turning away indifferently, muttering to himself, "Damn Cloud ninja, acting like a typical Konoha."

But Orochimaru was sensing the surroundings of the tavern.

"One, two, three... eight. Exactly two Anbu Squad, two Anbu Squad led by Elite Jonin, hmm, there shouldn't be anyone else." After confirming the number and location of the Anbu, an Orochimaru's clothes. The snake swam effortlessly from the blind spot of everyone's sight to Tawara Ayumi's private room.

Upon seeing the little snake, Tawara Ayumi was not surprised. She said softly, "Orochimaru, when will the time you spoke of arrive?"

Orochimaru's voice came from the small snake's mouth. "Three days from now is the time to make our move."

"Three days later?" Tawara Ayumi analyzed the timing. "The birthday of the Hyuga Clan's young lady?"

"The intelligence was spot on. That's right, on that day, all the Hyuga Clan members will gather at their clan's territory. When all the Hyuga members are gathered together, it should be the time when the defenses are at their tightest, but since everyone thinks that way, this is actually when the Hyuga Clan is most relaxed."

"Furthermore, the Hyuga Clan's young lady's birthday celebrations are elaborate, and everyone goes home to rest afterward. That's the perfect opportunity to make a move."

Tawara Ayumi nodded slightly. The two chatted about some more details, and then the little snake turned into smoke and disappeared.

A short while later, a waiter entered the private room. As he served food to Tawara Ayumi, he carefully observed his surroundings. At the same time, his nose twitched slightly, and before leaving, a small black insect fell out of his trouser leg.

Tawara Ayumi glanced at the Kikaichū without saying a word, and began to drink and eat.

The waiter was actually a ninja in disguise using Transformation Jutsu. He was a member of the Inuzuka Clan and had an exceptionally keen sense of smell. His Kikaichū came from his teammate, an elite Chunin the Aburame Clan.

Afterwards, he made several excuses to suddenly enter Tawara Ayumi's room to check. However, Tawara Ayumi didn't say anything; after all, her business was already done.

Until Tawara Ayumi left the Izakaya, the Inuzuka Clan ninja disguised as a waiter didn't notice anything unusual. Similarly, the Kikaichū didn't notice anything either.

Two days later, the Konoha High-ranking officials received news of unusual activity from the Iwa ninja. First, Ikura made a sudden and high-profile visit to the Land of Grass. Then, an intelligence ninja planted in Iwa ninja risked exposure to urgently send back a message: Iwa ninja was mobilizing elite ninja, and their movements were unknown.

The two events combined led the Konoha High-ranking officials to a terrifying suspicion: the Iwa ninja might be planning a surprise attack on the Land of Fire.

Although this was not in line with the usual style of Fox of Stone Yichen, Konoha could not afford to think too much about it, considering that there was also a Cloud Ninja envoy with ill intentions in the village.

The Cloud Ninja envoy claimed to be there to discuss a peace treaty, but during these days of negotiations, the Konoha High-ranking officials had a feeling that the Cloud ninja's purpose was not this, or that they had other intentions.

The Konoha High-ranking officials immediately tensed up.

Before Konoha could make a move, an envoy from Iwagakure swaggered into the Land of Fire.

At the Konoha High-ranking Officials Meeting, Tsunade solemnly stated, "We don't yet know the Cloud ninja's intentions. Taking action rashly would put us in a bad position and could give the Fourth Raikage an excuse to start a war. Therefore, the Cloud Ninja envoy should focus on surveillance."

"The same applies to the Iwa ninja delegation. Before they make a move, we still need to treat them with courtesy, have the Anbu monitor the Iwa ninja delegation, and try to delay them as much as possible so that they don't have a chance to meet the Cloud Ninja envoy."

"We can't let our guard down at the border. Ikura is Kage Level fighter, so we can't underestimate him, but we also can't provoke the Iwa ninja too much. We just need to appear prepared. It would be best to send a ninja who can hold off Ikura."

After speaking, Tsunade looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō. As the Hokage, she couldn't move easily, so it was only these two left.

Unfortunately, these two are not people she, as the Hokage, can order around at will. Whether they go or not, and who to send, is up to the two of them to decide.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Danzo, go to the border."

Actually, Hiruzen Sarutobi himself was the most suitable person to go to the border. Danzo's greater role was in the shadows, such as monitoring the Cloud Ninja envoy and finding out their purpose. Danzo was better at these things.

Similarly, Hiruzen Sarutobi is better at direct confrontations, and he is more professional at dealing with Ikura and any potential subsequent Iwa ninja.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was worried about leaving Shimura Danzō and Tsunade alone in the village. What if the Cloud ninja made any unusual moves, or Danzo suddenly attacked Tsunade again? He knew his best friend's character better than anyone.

Even if Tsunade Danzo down, he would still choose to stand by and do nothing if Tsunade got into trouble.

Shimura Danzō didn't argue with Hiruzen Sarutobi about this matter. While in the village, he was merely Tsunade's deputy, but when leading the army out into the world, he was the one in charge. Whether it was winning over subordinates or eliminating dissidents, it was all up to him.

The incident happened suddenly, Danzo didn't linger in the village. He took the Root member and a group of regular ninjas that Tsunade had urgently mobilized, and headed to the border of the Land of Grass at Hiruzen Sarutobi's urging.

Danzo's departure from Konoha was quite a commotion, and naturally, it did not escape the notice of Yichen and Ōnoki.

Upon seeing this, Yichen smiled slightly and said to Ōnoki, "Third Hokage, I will enter Konoha tonight."

Ōnoki did not stop him, but only told Yichen to be careful. He said that if anything changed, as long as he made a big fuss, he would come to his aid.

That night, Yichen left his hiding place and sneaked towards Konoha.

This time, Yichen still went through the main gate. Since Yichen had decided to force his way in, the main gate was actually more convenient. Because under normal circumstances, the main gate is an obvious flaw in a ninja village's Sensory Barrier.

It's not that the barrier has a flaw, but rather that too many ninjas come and go from here, so it's not surprising that the sensory team detects abnormal fluctuations.

However, Yichen did not intend to enter Konoha with his own face, Yichen used Transformation Jutsu.

Yichen transformed into Orochimaru's appearance and then used Camouflage Jutsu to conceal his whereabouts as much as possible.

However, the Gate Guardians of Konoha were still very responsible, carefully observing the movements outside the gate. Although it was nighttime and Yichen tried his best to conceal his whereabouts, as Yichen got closer and closer, the two Gate Guardians still noticed that something was wrong.

Seeing this, Yichen used a Body Flicker Technique to pounce on the two of them.

As Yichen used his Body Flicker Technique, his Camouflage Jutsu automatically dissipated at the same time. The two Gate Guardians finally saw the source of the disturbance.

The moment they saw it clearly, both of them broke out in a cold sweat. "Orochimaru... Orochimaru."

Upon seeing that the person who arrived was Orochimaru, both of them paused for a moment as they reached for the Signal Flare.

With this slight delay, Yichen flashed several times and arrived in front of the two.

With two karate chops, Yichen knocked both of them unconscious.

The moment Yichen entered the gate, he sensed a Chakra fluctuation. He was familiar with that feeling of being probed; the Iwagakure also had this kind of barrier.

Yichen remained calm and walked slowly forward. Once he was far away from the area, Yichen suddenly accelerated and used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly at high speed. In no time, Yichen's figure disappeared into the depths of Konoha.

Meanwhile, the Konoha Barrier Team.

A Jonin on Jonin the fluctuations in the barrier. He immediately perked up and looked toward the barrier control center. When he saw that the abnormality detected by the barrier was at the main entrance, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He was used to the dozens or even hundreds of abnormal fluctuations that occurred at the main entrance every day.

After carefully examining the type of the fluctuation, the Jonin frowned and muttered to himself, "This fluctuation... is it an unfamiliar Chakra fluctuation? The strength is Jonin, but not Elite Jonin."

After hesitating for a moment, the Jonin placed his hand on the Sensory Barrier to check the condition of the two Gate Guardians. He was immediately shocked by what he found. Judging from the Chakra fluctuations of the two Gate Guardians, they were currently unconscious.

Sensing something was wrong, the sensory Jonin immediately sounded the alarm.

I finally got the contract. Let me try publishing a chapter.