Expansion

Watching Yichen's dazzling display of skill, the dozen or so Anbu were filled with amazement. They now understood the source of Yichen's confidence in clearing the area.

This kind of powerful figure who uses an S-rank Sealing Jutsu to intimidate others right from the start is beyond Chunin comprehension of these Chunin. Yichen's S-rank sealing technique is indeed much safer than sending a few Chunin duty.

However, this completely isolated the headquarters of the Anbu from the outside world, making it impossible to obtain intelligence or supplies from the headquarters.

"Alright, where are you planning to go now?" Yichen asked the dozen or so people after setting up the seal.

After thinking for a moment, one of the dozen or so people said, "Lord Qing, we need to return to our unit. Since we no longer need to be on duty, we should go and report back to our squad leader."

Yichen nodded and said, "Alright, those who have a clear destination can disperse. The rest of you will come with me in a bit."

"I've settled down on the western edge of the village. If your squad doesn't know what to do, you can come find me," Yichen said to the few remaining members of the Anbu, then left with the remaining seven men.

The remaining members of the Anbu exchanged glances. One of them said, "Let's go back and report to our squad leader. We can't decide this kind of thing."

The others nodded, and then they all went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Yichen led seven still somewhat bewildered Anbu to the temporary base.

Lan, Green Bud, and Tiankong had already come out to greet them after hearing the commotion. Seeing that Yichen had returned with seven Anbu Ninja after just one trip, the three of them wisely refrained from asking any further questions.

"We'll arrange accommodations for them tomorrow. Let's clear out a place for them to rest now. I have to go out for a bit," Yichen said to the three of them.

"Yes," the three of them replied obediently.

Lan and the other two went to tidy up, while Yichen let the seven people enter his room one by one and had each of them give a detailed self-introduction.

After dealing with the four people, Yichen left the temporary residence again.

Yichen walked around the Kirigakure for a while, and then entered a Mu Qi house.

"Master Ninja, what's the matter?" the middle-aged man in the room asked in a panic.

Yichen made a series of hand gestures, then removed his mask.

"Lord Tsuchikage?" The man was taken aback.

This person was none other than Iwa ninja, an intelligence ninja planted in Kirigakure by Iwagakure. Uchiha was also the only Iwa ninja intelligence ninja permanently stationed in Kirigakure. It was because of the intelligence that Uchiha sent back to Iwagakure that Yichen came to Kirigakure.

Yichen said, "Wu, put on this Mist Ninja Anbu uniform. From now on, you can extract Chakra. Your identity is a member of the Third Mizukage's direct Anbu, and your codename is still Wu. Your direct superior is me, and my codename is Qing. Understand?"

After Yichen finished speaking, Wu quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly put on his Anbu uniform. At the same time, he Yichen said, "Lord Qing, what are your orders?"

Yichen took out a scroll and said, "This is information I obtained from the Mist Ninja Anbu headquarters. Could you help me sort through it and see what's useful?"

"You're an expert in intelligence, so I won't go into too much detail. Focus on understanding the information related to the Tailed Beast and ancient legends. Also, compile information about the Third Mizukage for me."

"Once you've finished reading the contents of this Sealing Scroll, come find me on the west side of the village, and I'll give you the other scrolls."

"Also, send a message back to the village, asking them to send two Anbu Squad over. Remember to have them change into the uniforms of the Mist Ninja Anbu. From now on, our communication will use the fourth set of codes."

"Yes, Lord Qing," Wu replied hastily.

After giving his instructions, Yichen returned to his temporary post.

There were noticeably more ninjas around the temporary base than when Yichen left. A full Anbu Squad was openly waiting at the entrance, and three other ninjas were lurking in the shadows, scouting the area.

Yichen ignored the three intelligence ninjas and walked straight towards the visible Anbu Squad.

Upon closer inspection, Yichen immediately recognized two of them as the two Chunin who had previously guarded the Anbu headquarters' logistics warehouse.

Yichen focused his gaze on the squad leader of this Anbu Squad; this must be the squad leader codenamed Feng.

Sure enough, when Yichen looked over, the man stepped forward and introduced himself, "Lord Qing, my code name is Feng. My two subordinates said that Lord Qing could accommodate us here. I wonder if that's true?"

Yichen was taken aback. Someone had come to join him so quickly? But Yichen wasn't in a hurry; he was the one in control.

Yichen sized up Toyo Squad of four. It was a very ordinary Anbu Squad. The team leader, Feng, was Special Jonin, and his three subordinates were all Chunin. Their overall strength was far inferior to that of Nozomi Squad from before.

Come to think of it, if the squad leader had the strength of Jonin, he probably wouldn't have defected so quickly.

Yichen was silent for a moment before saying, "You can join if you want. There's a Chunin 50 meters behind you, and two Chunin 70 meters to your right. If you can keep two of those three Chunin in place, then you can join."

Yichen did not answer Feng's question, but directly made his request.

Feng was taken aback, and his opinion of Yichen immediately rose again. The four of them weren't entirely without vigilance, yet they hadn't discovered a single ninja hiding in the shadows. This made Feng's face behind his mask feel a little burning.

He had originally planned to observe Yichen's situation before making any decisions, but now his thoughts had completely changed. Regardless of whether he joined or not, he at least wanted to show off his skills and demonstrate his value to Yichen.

He turned to his three subordinates and gave them a few instructions. Then the four of them split into two groups. The two who had been watching the warehouse went to deal with the Chunin behind them. He and his last subordinate rushed towards the two Chunin on the right.

Seeing this, Yichen ignored him and went straight into the room.

"Lord Qing." Inside the room, the three members of Yuan Nozomi Squad and the seven who joined later had heard the commotion outside, but they did not go out without Yichen's order.

Yichen nodded and said, "Lan, if that team outside captures two Chunin, let them join. This room is a bit small. Tomorrow, check around to see if there are any other unoccupied rooms so we can find them a place to stay."

"Yes," Lan replied.

Yichen returned to his room and took out a Sealing Scroll, which he then began to examine.

However, Yichen hasn't dealt with such large amounts of text much in recent years, so he's not very fast at picking out useful information.

When dawn broke, Yichen went out of his room and found six more people in the hall: Toyo Squad of four and two prisoners.

Yichen glanced at the two prisoners, then nodded to Feng and said, "The four of you come in here for a moment."

As with the previous procedures, Yichen had the four remove their masks and then inquired about their backgrounds in detail. Finally Yichen said, "You will remain in your current formation for now; you will serve as a combat team and stand by."

"Yes." Overwhelmed by Yichen's imposing presence, Feng completely forgot his original plans and could only obey orders.

"Which side are those three Chunin from?" Yichen asked again after Toyo Squad joined.

Feng said, "Lord Qing, we've interrogated them. The one who acted alone was sent by Lord Yuanshi. The other two have already defected to the Yuki Clan, but one of them escaped when I went to arrest them."

Yichen frowned. Were there no people from Karatachi Yagura? Was it because of the existence of White Zetsu that they didn't need to send intelligence ninjas? But he had already used his Sensory Ninjutsu multiple times within Kirigakure and hadn't detected any White Zetsu clone.

Could it be that White Zetsu is disguised as Mist ninja? But doing so is too risky; it could easily expose the fact that Karatachi Yagura is being controlled.

Yichen didn't know was that Karatachi Yagura's current situation was much more difficult than he imagined. Although Karatachi Yagura still held the title of Mizukage, after the last surprise attack by the Kaguya Clan, he had suffered heavy losses of loyal subordinates, and there were very few subordinates he could command and trust.

Although Karatachi Yagura, by virtue of his position as Mizukage, forcibly recruited some ninjas to his side, he dared not send them out on missions alone, fearing they might never return.

Every time Karatachi Yagura's men went out, one of his trusted confidants would lead the team to ensure that no one was killed in non-combat.

It was precisely because the Yuki and other Bloodline Ninja Clan saw Karatachi Yagura's predicament that they dared to openly confront him. It was also for this reason that Genji rallied so many small and medium-sized clans, refusing to obey Karatachi Yagura's orders.

"Release them. Tell them to tell Genji and Yuki Koru not to send any more people, or I'll kill as many as they come," Yichen ordered, then added, "Alright, you can all go and rest now."

After Toyo Squad of four left, Yichen suddenly remembered something: the Mist ninja possessed a Byakugan, and this Byakugan was in Ao's possession. But to which faction did Ao belong?

The original work only mentions that Ao used his Byakugan to expose that Karatachi Yagura was being controlled by Genjutsu. However, Mei Terumi ultimately rose to power. Mei Terumi possesses Dual Bloodline Limit, so she should be from the Bloodline Ninja Clan.

From this perspective, it seems that Qing should be on the side of the Bloodline Limit families.

However, in the original work, it seems that Mei Terumi's rise to power was inseparable from the support of the Genji, and Ao may have been serving the Genji.

Thinking of this, Yichen went outside again and asked Feng, "Feng, do you know where that Byakugan in the village is now?"

"The Byakugan?" Feng thought for a moment and said, "It seems that a ninja named Ao obtained the Byakugan. After returning to the village, Lord Suigetsukage suggested to the Mizukage that the Byakugan be given to Ao to use, so the Byakugan is with Ao."

"Ao's clan is a medium-sized ninja clan in the village, and they have now pledged allegiance to Lord Yuanshi. With the special abilities of the Byakugan, Ao is likely already Lord Yuanshi's right-hand man."

"Qing is Genji's man, I understand." Yichen pondered to himself.