Konoha's True Face

By the time the perceptive Jonin realized the seriousness of the problem and sounded the alarm, the best opportunity to search for Yichen had already passed.

With Yichen's speed, he had long since left the area near the main gate and penetrated deep into the heart of Konoha. After flying rapidly through Konoha for a while, feeling that the distance was about right, Yichen immediately found a room with an open window by the roadside and flew inside.

Before long, Konoha's Barrier Team will conduct a large-scale search. If Yichen is still running away then, he'll be a fool.

Let's stay here for the night and go out tomorrow when there are more people.

Before entering the house, Yichen had sensed it with his using Mind's Eye and knew that it was inhabited by civilians. As long as the ninjas outside didn't come in, Yichen wouldn't be in danger of being discovered.

As for whether the ninjas outside will come in, Yichen estimates that they won't. When Yichen sneaked in, he was disguised as Orochimaru. If Konoha believes it's Orochimaru, they definitely won't investigate.

After all, given Orochimaru's abilities and his familiarity with Konoha, evading the search would be far too easy.

If Konoha had determined through the Sensory Barrier that the intruder was not Orochimaru but merely a Jonin, then Konoha would not have mobilized such a large force while the Cloud Ninja envoy was still in the village and the Iwa ninja delegation was about to arrive.

Konoha will most likely use the Sensory Barrier to thoroughly examine Yichen's Chakra fluctuations.

However, Yichen was prepared for this.

He took out a cloak with a seal Sealing Jutsu to Chakra fluctuations and put it on. Then he tried his best to use Chakra concealment technique to disguise himself as an ordinary person.

This time, it was easier to be detected than the first time, because Yichen's Chakra fluctuations had already been detected by Konoha's Sensory Barrier, and Yichen was no longer a stranger.

Everything went pretty much as Yichen had predicted. After receiving the alert, the Anbu acted swiftly, with over a dozen squads quickly sealing off the area near the main gate and conducting a thorough search.

The result was naturally that nothing was found. Even the ninjas skilled in tracking, including the Ninja Dog, did not find any useful clues.

After a brief period of commotion, Konoha returned to calm.

At the location of the Cloud Ninja envoy, a Jonin entered from outside and said to Tawara Ayumi, "Captain, there was some unusual activity just now near the main gate of Konoha. From a distance, it looked like quite a few Anbu were searching for something. Someone may have infiltrated Konoha."

"The Anbu has dispersed, and there's been no news of a battle. They probably haven't found the infiltrator."

"Judging from the number of Anbu who went out of Konoha, the infiltrators shouldn't be too strong; they're probably only at the Jonin level."

Tawara Ayumi pondered for a moment and said, "I understand. Don't get involved in this. No matter who it is, our plan remains unchanged. Getting the Byakugan and then escorting them to the embassy is what we need to do."

After a pause, Tawara Ayumi asked again, "Have you found out the reason and where Danzo went when he suddenly left Konoha Danzo the day?"

The man shook his head and said, "I used a well-hidden intelligence ninja, but the other side didn't receive the message either."

Tawara Ayumi frowned and remained silent. Just as the plan was about to begin, one unexpected event after another occurred, making her feel very uneasy.

After thinking for a moment, Tawara Ayumi said to the person in charge of the delegation, "Hashiryu, tomorrow you should directly ask the Konoha reception staff and try to get some information from them."

Hashiryu hesitated for a moment, then said, "The Konoha ninja probably won't reveal this information to us."

Tawara Ayumi shook her head and said, "We're not here to gather information, but to prove our innocence. If we ignore it, Konoha will also suspect us. That will make our plan more difficult."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, Hashiryu realized it was because of this and immediately agreed.

"Also, be more assertive in tomorrow's negotiations. Konoha is definitely in trouble. We can also bring up the terms we agreed on a few days ago and discuss them again. Let's test Konoha's reaction," Tawara Ayumi added.

"Understood," Hashiryu replied with admiration.

Not far from the Cloud Ninja envoy, on the rooftop of the Hokage Building, Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and several Anbu Squad were watching the entire Konoha.

Seeing the Anbu at the village entrance slowly disperse, Tsunade sighed and said, "Looks like they didn't catch anyone."

Sure enough, a short while later, the Anbu Captain in charge of the search quickly arrived at the Hokage Building and reported the results to Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Tsunade, "Tsunade, do you think it's Orochimaru?"

"It's highly unlikely. Given Orochimaru's understanding of the village, he wouldn't choose to force his way in."

"However, we can't completely rule out that it's him. That guy's research is strange; it's hard to say he's developed some kind of Ninjutsu that alters Chakra fluctuations and is deliberately trying to annoy us."

"But regardless of whether it's Orochimaru or not, we don't have the resources to deal with it. We've increased our manpower to keep an eye on the Cloud Ninja envoy. I have a feeling the key to the problem lies with this delegation that suddenly appeared," Tsunade said.

Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for a moment before saying, "If it really is Orochimaru, then hand him over to me."

Tsunade taken aback, then said nervously, "Sensei..."

Before Tsunade could even utter a word of advice, Hiruzen Sarutobi his Teuchi: "No need for persuasion. I need to make amends for the mistakes I made back then."

Tsunade didn't know whether Hiruzen Sarutobi's mistake was failing to guide Orochimaru onto the righteous path, or failing to leave him behind when Orochimaru defected.

But since Hiruzen Sarutobi had already made his decision, Tsunade was willing to let him have it. One was her teacher, and the other was her comrade; Tsunade's inner conflict was no less than Hiruzen Sarutobi's.

For some reason, at that moment, Tsunade suddenly remembered that annoying Dead Last who was always bothering her.

The next day, many villagers in Konoha were talking about the Hyuga Clan's young lady's first birthday.

Many people started talking about Hinata Hyuga, then moved on to Hyuga Hiashi, Hizashi Hyuga, and then to Hiashi Hyuga. They then discussed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and finally the legendary Genin Might Duy. An uncontrollable sense of confidence, a kind of pride in being the number one ninja village, emanated from these people.

Yichen, still wearing the same cloak but with an ordinary face, strolled around Konoha.

Yichen observed and sensed these things, he realized that although Iwagakure's strength had greatly increased in recent years, a sense of self-confidence from top to bottom had not yet taken root. The Iwa ninja, including Ōnoki, still harbored a feeling of fear or apprehension towards Konoha.

When facing Konoha ninja, Iwa ninja always felt a kind of inexplicable inferiority complex.

Yichen visited Konoha twice. Leaving aside the second time Iwagakure Yichen, and his perspective on issues was different from now.

At the time, Yichen didn't notice the Konoha's confidence, but now, as the Tsuchikage Yichen, seeing Konoha pride makes him feel uneasy.

Konoha's strength has been declining over the years.

Yichen still clearly remembers the despairing list he compiled when he analyzed Konoha's top combat force: Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Orochimaru Shimura Danzō, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, Kushina, Fugaku Uchiha Kushina, Might Duy.

If White Fang hadn't committed suicide so early, Konoha would have had double-digit numbers of people with Kage-level Combatant. But now, more than half of them are gone, and there's even a Kage-level experts defected.

Back then, the Land of Fire far surpassed the other Four Great Nations in both military strength and economic influence. Yichen remembered that the Iwagakure was so impoverished that even the pensions for war orphans had to be delayed, which shows how economically the other Four Great Nations, besides the Land of Fire, were being suppressed.

But now, the Land of Fire is suffering from the ravages of wandering ninjas, and even the Daimyo of the Land of Fire is envious of the Land of Earth. Upon hearing that the Land of Earth had invited the Land of Fire to join the trade route, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire couldn't wait to agree.

Back then, the Land of Fire's subordinate relationship with its surrounding smaller countries was quite obvious. For example, Hanzo was a typical pro- Konoha ninja. Furthermore, with just a little instigation from the Konoha ninja, the Land of Grass and the Land of the Falls both began to reject the Iwa ninja. The Land of Fire's influence on these smaller countries was so great that the Land of Earth felt powerless at the time.

But now, the economies of these small and medium-sized countries are basically tied to the Land of Earth. When the Land of Grass was exchanging territory with the Land of Earth, it didn't even consider whether the Daimyo of the Land of Fire would object.

Back then, because of the devastating Second Shinobi War, the number of ninjas in various countries had drastically decreased, but the number and quality of Konoha's new generation far exceeded those of other countries, and their strength recovered extremely quickly.

But this period of prosperity was short-lived. First, the Konoha Anbu suffered near-total annihilation on several occasions. Then, the Third Shinobi War and Fourth Shinobi War, along with two major wars, drastically reduced the number of Konoha ninja, nearly depleting the resources of each ninja clan. After that, the Nine-Tails and Seven-Tails attacked, and Konoha almost lost even its greatest advantage: the sheer number of ninjas.

However, the residents of Konoha still exude a sense of superiority.

Yichen thought that even if he revealed his identity, these Konoha wouldn't look up to him; at most, they would be afraid. They might even look at him like a barbarian.

"What exactly did Konoha do?" Yichen began to ponder deeply.

On Hinata Hyuga's first birthday, all Hyuga Branch Family members will attend, but no one from other clans will be invited. Yichen couldn't understand the Hyuga Clan's mentality behind this seemingly independent kingdom-like approach.

Didn't Hyuga Hiashi ever consider the feelings of the Third Hokage and the Fifth Hokage?

However, this is a good thing for Yichen, as there are no Hyuga members on Konoha Street, which makes him safer.

Yichen seemed to be wandering aimlessly around Konoha, but in reality, he was checking Yichen 'Konoha response to his intrusion the previous night.

After completing the round, Yichen was somewhat puzzled, as he did not detect any ninjas lurking in the shadows in his Mind's Eye's eye.

"Has Konoha given up on searching for me?" Yichen pondered. "Or has Konoha found a specific target for surveillance, and therefore hasn't chosen to release a large number of ninjas aimlessly?"

Yichen hesitated for a moment, then changed direction and headed towards the location of the Cloud Ninja envoy.

Yichen did not approach the location of the Cloud Ninja envoy completely, but stopped about 800 meters away.

Yichen maximized his perception with his Mind's Eye, and then, hiss~.

Has Konoha surrounded the Cloud ninja?

According to Yichen's perception, there were only fourteen ninjas in the Cloud Ninja envoy, but within a hundred meters of these fourteen people, there were at least ten Anbu Squads, which is forty people in total.

Yichen didn't go in that direction anymore. He carefully examined the Chakra of these people and then turned around and went to the Hyuga Clan compound.

The Hyuga Clan compound is located in the central area of Konoha, covering a vast area and not far from the Hokage Building. Yichen estimated that the straight-line distance between the Hyuga Clan compound and the location of the Cloud Ninja envoy was about two kilometers, which is not far considering the vast area of Konoha.