Arrangements

Ōnoki's trip was temporarily suspended. After signing the peace agreement, Yichen returned to Iwagakure, but Ōnoki had to stay until the branch was completed before he could leave.

Yichen's style of doing things remained the same as always. He would only take the lead, at most start something, and never interfere in what happened afterward.

Yichen entrusted all the tasks—selecting the branch's specific location, internal structure, infrastructure construction, the relocation and resettlement of civilians, and the paving of roads leading out of the area—to Ōnoki.

Yichen left all the Anbu behind and hurriedly returned to Iwagakure alone using the Light-Weight Rock Technique.

Yichen convened High-Level Meeting and announced the peace treaty with the Land of Snow.

Ming was excited and immediately asked Yichen about the financial situation of the Land of Snow. Sure enough, Yichen did have this information; it had been given to Yichen by a high-ranking official of the Land of Snow.

For Ming, the biggest benefit of signing a peace treaty with the Land of Snow was that it provided a large and stable source of income.

This means that the number of ninja that Iwagakure can train each year can increase significantly, leading to a substantial improvement in Iwagakure's strength.

As Mei received the income and expenditure details of the Land of Snow, he became more and more satisfied. Although the Land of Snow was much smaller than the Land of Earth, Mei didn't mind getting so much for free.

Moreover, Ming could see at a glance that the Land of Snow had economic problems. As long as they fully integrated into the Land of Earth's trade network and the Iwa ninja took charge of national security, he believed that the figures on their reports could see a significant increase.

Saka is more concerned with the population of the Land of Snow. He is in charge of recruiting children for ninja training throughout the Land of Earth, and he has already recruited many talented children for the Ninja Academy during this time.

On average, the children of ordinary people in the Land of Earth are naturally far inferior to those in the Iwagakure, but the Land of Earth has a large population base.

To avoid displeasing the daimyo, Sakaichi raised the requirements for recruiting students again and again, but even so, he still managed to recruit many students for the Ninja Academy.

Among the children's information in Sakade's hands, he also discovered many children with special talents. Not to mention basic talents such as Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and medical skills, he even encountered some unconventional talents, such as Puppet Master talents, tactical talents, and sealing talents.

These were all things that the higher-ups of Iwagakure had not anticipated.

In the minds of everyone in the Ninja World, it is very difficult for a commoner's descendant to produce a talented ninja. Ninja training relies heavily on bloodline, and the constant warfare between various ninja clans during the Warring States period has left a deep impression on the minds of all ninjas.

After the establishment of the ninja village, most of the so-called commoners in the village were people whose ancestors had been ninjas. In other words, the ninja profession has always been passed down in a relatively small group.

Of course, some people have also turned their attention to these commoners. For example, Konoha Konoha has been taking in commoners from the Konoha of Land of Fire since its founding to expand its size. Danzo, for instance, paid special attention to the children in the Orphanage, and the Konoha Orphanage contributed many talented ninjas to Danzo. The most famous of these was Kabuto Yakushi.

However, the chances of finding a talented child among the common people are too low. No ninja village is willing to spend a lot of effort searching among the common people; it's like panning for gold and relying on luck.

After all, selecting children to determine if they have ninja talent requires various tedious tests, especially for geniuses in special fields. Not only are these tests difficult to conduct, but the results are also often inaccurate. Even training them is not easy, and most such children are eliminated during their time at the Ninja Academy.

Yichen also took advantage of the opportunity to train Guardian Ninja for the daimyo, and because someone was going to reimburse the expenses, he was able to conduct a comprehensive selection throughout the Land of Earth.

The Daimyo was very meticulous in selecting his Guardian Ninja, using only the best equipment. This gave Iwagakure a huge advantage. Even so, the ninjas sent out by Iwagakure still haven't finished testing all the eligible children in the Land of Earth.

So when he heard that Yichen had signed a contract with the Land of Snow, Saka immediately thought of the population of the Land of Snow and began to calculate how many ninjas the Land of Snow might provide to the Iwagakure.

Fortunately, the expensive equipment that Daming purchased can still be used, so it won't be idle.

Ikura's perspective on this matter differed from Sakawa and Mei's; he wasn't so optimistic. "Yichen, what will Konoha and the other ninja villages think if we establish a branch directly in the Land of Snow?"

Yichen smiled and said, "Konoha won't interfere. First, the Land of Snow is too far away for Konoha to manage. Second, Konoha is currently the most afraid of disrupting the balance among the Five Great Ninja Villages. They need time, and time will allow them to maximize their advantages. The Land of Fire's abundant resources and Konoha's large number of children can help Konoha quickly recover its strength."

"Compared to Konoha, the Sunagakure, whose strength is also among the strongest in history, is the most likely to intervene. Rasa has great ambitions, and he's not one to hesitate. We still need to be wary of him."

"Furthermore, the Fourth Raikage of the Cloud ninja does seem to enjoy getting involved in these kinds of things, but the Land of Lightning's direction is exactly the opposite of the Land of Snow's, so even if the Fourth Raikage wanted to interfere, he couldn't. Therefore, we don't need to worry."

"As for Kirigakure, they're so busy fighting amongst themselves that they don't have time to bother with us. I'd love to visit Kirigakure again sometime."

"Therefore, there's no need to worry too much about this. Just send more people to the border to guard against the Land of Wind."

After thinking for a moment, Ikura said, "How about I go to the border? Consider it an inspection, and it will also show the Kazekage our stance."

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "Going to the border is fine, but you can't do it openly. Go secretly and don't let the Sunagakure find out. Also, be sure to pay attention to your safety!"

"If the Sunagakure sends too many people, come back. Your safety is more important than border defense. If we lose territory, we can fight it back, but the village can't afford to lose Kage-level experts."

Then Yichen said to Kawakita, "Kawakita, you will personally lead the team to suppress the bandits in the Land of Snow. Now that the Land of Snow been brought under our jurisdiction, it must become as stable as the Land of Earth."

Kawakita said, "Yes, I understand."

Yichen thought for a moment and then added, "Under the premise of ensuring our own safety, we can choose not to wipe out the bandits and wandering ninjas, and try to drive them towards the surrounding small countries."

As soon as Yichen finished speaking, everyone in the conference room was stunned for a moment, and then they all looked at him with an expression that said, "You really are the Yichen I know."

Yichen simply ignored those gazes.

He looked at Saka and said, "Senior Saka, the Third Hokage's side will definitely need a lot of manpower. You can arrange that. We urgently need to open up the mission market in the Land of Snow, so try to send some strong ninjas to be stationed Land of Snow."

"We must make sure the common people and officials of the Land of Snow see all the benefits of hiring us Iwa ninja. At the very least, missions within the Land of Snow must not be leaked out."

At this point, Yichen said to Kawakita, "Leave behind one or two teams of wandering ninjas. If someone chooses to issue missions to ninjas from other countries, you know what to do!"

Kawakita remained silent, but still nodded.

Finally Yichen said, "The Third Generation just left, Ikura and Kawakita are about to leave the village again. Senior Mei, Senior Saka, and Tomoko, the village's work is counting on you all. Please bear with us."

"If all else fails, Kitsuchi, you can lend a hand temporarily."

After Yichen finished speaking, everyone's expressions changed from "I knew it" to "You can be this shameless!"

Because Yichen never concealed the news about the Land of Snow from the beginning, it wasn't long before all parties received accurate intelligence.

The Mist ninja handled the matter swiftly, simply tossing the intelligence scroll aside.

Obito is still undergoing surgery, slowly removing the small rocks from his body.

Last time, Obito suffered a severe injury in Iwagakure and subsequently fell into a coma.

This nearly caused his Genjutsu, which was controlling the Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, to fail.

Although Obito eventually suppressed Karatachi Yagura's control over his body, Karatachi Yagura suddenly erupted during that time, even using the Tailed Beast Chakra, causing quite a commotion.

Fortunately, most people thought it was just Tailed Beast going berserk and didn't connect it to the fact that Karatachi Yagura had been controlled by someone.

However, a Kage who cannot suppress Tailed Beast cannot gain everyone's trust.

The situation in Kirigakure is very strange right now; some members of the Mist Ninja Advisor Group have already begun to openly reject Karatachi Yagura.

Yichen's unintentional actions directly forced Obito to prematurely implement the Bloody Mist Rule over Kirigakure. This was because the Mizukage under Obito's control was now only able to suppress other forces in terms of military strength.

To stabilize the situation in Kirigakure, Obito had to leverage this advantage. And to utilize his military advantage, Obito could only use force to suppress any forces capable of resisting his rule, thus preserving the meager legitimacy afforded by his status as Mizukage.

In the Land of Lightning, in the Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage frowned as he looked at the intelligence report in his hand.

As Yichen had expected, he really wanted to get involved, but unfortunately, the Land of Snow was too far away, and he couldn't bypass the Land of Earth to cause trouble for them from behind.

If he did that, he might face the same situation as his father, the Third Raikage, being surrounded and killed by Iwa ninja.

Unable to intervene directly, the Fourth Raikage wanted to denounce the Iwa ninja in order to gain some diplomatic advantages.

However, after careful consideration, the Fourth Raikage changed his mind.

He summoned a captain in charge of intelligence from the Anbu and asked, "Go and investigate whether the Daimyo of the Land of the Moon has a younger brother."

Upon hearing this, the Anbu Captain immediately understood what his Raikage was thinking. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said, "Lord Raikage, although the Daimyo of the Land of the Moon has several younger brothers, they have a very good relationship and will not rebel."

"Furthermore, the Daimyo of the Land of the Moon lacks both the strength and prestige to rebel."

"Is that so?" Ai looked thoughtful, clearly not wanting to give up easily.