Kirigakure's Choice

Yichen watched from the courtyard gate for a while before going in and saying, "Riori, are you instructing your younger siblings?"

"Teacher Yichen!" all the Uzumaki Riori exclaimed in unison, "Yes, yes, I'm teaching them how to fight. They don't know how many rows to line up to Great Fireball Jutsu. I'm teaching them how to line up."

Yichen:...

Yichen looked at the five children and said, "Are you practicing lining up to Great Fireball Jutsu?"

Sokai nodded seriously.

Kurotsuchi rolled his eyes.

Bai smiled gently.

Neji didn't dare roll his eyes like Kurotsuchi, and could only Sokai like Hayate.

Karin wasn't familiar with Yichen; she hadn't even realized he was the Tsuchikage yet. While secretly watching Neji, she unconsciously nodded a few times in sync with Neji nods.

Yichen rubbed his temples and said to Uzumaki Riori, "Riori, as the older sister, you still have a lot to teach your younger brothers and sisters."

"They can't just learn how to line up Great Fireball; they also need to learn other things, like Chakra Shape Transformation."

Uzumaki Riori asked curiously, "What is Chakra Shape Transformation?"

Even those Sokai turned their heads to listen attentively to the lesson.

Kurotsuchi covered her face. She had long heard that Lord Tsuchikage liked to bully the Riori organization, and she was right. She had already guessed what Yichen was going to do.

Bai's smile froze for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure.

Neji quickly lowered his head, not wanting his good sister to see his smile, lest she settle scores with him later.

Karin then turned her attention to Yichen, thinking: Is this Sister Riori's Tsuchikage Teacher?

Yichen patted the head of Uzumaki Riori, who was completely unaware that she had fallen into a trap, and said, "Chakra Shape Transformation is about changing your Great Fireball into other shapes."

Uzumaki Riori Hon sensed something was wrong, but still asked without thinking, "How does it change?"

Yichen laughed like a wolf in sheep's clothing, "Just like this."

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique"

Yichen deliberately slowed down his Hand Seals and unleashed a small-scale Great Dragon Fire Technique.

A fiery dragon formed out of thin air, circled once, and then dissipated under Yichen's control.

Uzumaki Riori sensed the danger. She remained silent, pondering what was amiss.

Yichen then said, "For example, like this."

"Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Technique"

Yichen slowly Hand Seals and unleashed the Phoenix Fire Technique.

Yichen spat out many small fireballs from his mouth. Under Yichen's control, the fireballs flew into the sky along different trajectories and finally collided with each other at the same time.

Uzumaki Riori withdrew her gaze from Fire Release fire-style scattering in the air and looked at Yichen.

Yichen took two scrolls out of his Ninja Tool Pouch and handed them to Uzumaki Riori, saying affectionately, "Little Riori, train hard. After you've mastered Chakra Shape Transformation, you can teach your younger siblings."

After saying that, Yichen waved to Deidara, then turned and left, leaving behind Uzumaki Riori staring blankly at the scroll in her hand, and five little brats with different expressions beside her.

As Yichen and Deidara left Kitsuchi's house, they ran into Captain Purple Lightning, who was bringing in fruit. Yichen chatted with Purple Lightning for a bit before leaving, and as they did so, they vaguely heard Uzumaki Riori's heartbroken sobs.

Purple Lightning heard it too. She glanced at Yichen, who was suppressing a laugh, and then quickly walked towards the courtyard where the six children were.

After leaving Kitsuchi's house, Yichen led Deidara to a Training Ground.

Previously, due to the many events of the war, Yi Chen hadn't remembered Deidara. Now that he had seen him, Yichen planned to guide Deidara on how to develop his Explosion Release.

If we're talking about developing Kekkei Genkai, Yichen is definitely the number one in the entire Ninja World.

Therefore, Deidara was quite pleased to receive guidance from Yichen.

As Deidara recounted the problems he had encountered, Yichen nodded in satisfaction.

Yichen admired Deidara's down-to-earth approach. This Deidara in this life lacked the madness and arrogance of the original character, and his personality was much more composed.

It seems that both traveling with Ōnoki and training in the Anbu have honed Deidara's character to some extent.

Yichen was quite reassured by Deidara, and he explained in detail his experience in developing three bloodline limits to Deidara.

He then demonstrated to Deidara the various Bloodline Ninjutsu he had mastered.

It must be said that Deidara was indeed a genius.

Teaching such geniuses is not very fulfilling; often, the teacher can guess what Yichen is going to say after he has only just begun to speak.

Despite my dissatisfaction, the results were quite noticeable.

With Yichen's somewhat nagging explanation, Deidara gained a clear understanding of how to develop Explosion Release. He then proposed the idea of Exploding Clay.

Yichen did not object to Deidara developing the Exploding Clay. Judging from the original work, the Exploding Clay was quite powerful.

It can fly, and its attack methods are varied and numerous, making it difficult to defend against.

Thanks to Deidara's talent and guidance, Yichen didn't need much time to learn.

After giving his instructions, Yichen went to check on Atsumi Akino.

Yichen had not yet witnessed the effects of the reinforced Space-Time Ninjutsu.

However, to Yichen's disappointment, Atsumi Akino was so engrossed in her research that she didn't see Yichen arrive.

Yichen watched for a while but didn't disturb her, then turned and left.

In Kirigakure, a meeting was also being held in the Mizukage's Office.

Those present included Kisame Hoshigaki, the Mizukage; Genji; Mei Terumi Hozuki Mangetsu; and Yuki Koru, as well as several other high-ranking officials.

This meeting was also a meeting Kirigakure discussed its future direction.

Genji spoke first, "I'm sure everyone is aware of the new situation in the Ninja World. How we choose next is crucial."

"Should we continue to follow the Iwa ninja or fight against the Iwa ninja alongside the Konoha, Cloud ninja, and Sunagakure?"

Yuki Koru said, "Lord Yuanshi, please analyze the pros and cons of supporting either side for us."

Like other Bloodline Limit families, the Yuki Clan was almost wiped out. As a result, Yuki Koru has been in a very bad state lately and is unable to calm down and think.

Genji chuckled and said, "The biggest advantage of cooperating with the Iwa ninja is that we have something to offer."

"One thing is undeniable: since we started cooperating with Iwa ninja, we've never suffered a loss."

"Even though we suffered heavy losses in the last two wars, the spoils we received afterward far exceeded our losses."

"That Tsuchikage is quite shrewd; he's never stingy when it comes to generosity."

"Therefore, following Iwagakure in the short term is advantageous for us."

"As for standing against Iwagakure, there's no benefit to it; Konoha can't offer us any advantages."

"However, by joining forces with Konoha, we can curb the rise of Iwa ninja just as we curbed Konoha in the past."

"To prevent the emergence of Great Ninja Village capable of unifying the Ninja World by force."

Yuki Koru concluded, "Does Lord Yuanshi mean that being close to Iwa ninja is beneficial in the short term, but there is a possibility of being swallowed up by Iwa ninja in the future?"

Genji nodded.

Yuki Koru asked, "So, Lord Yuanshi, do you mean we should choose to stand with Konoha and stop the Iwa ninja?"

From a normal person's perspective, one should not abandon long-term plans for short-term gains.

"Hehehehehe." Genji laughed and said, "No, I support standing with the Iwa ninja."

Um~

Everyone looked at Genji in surprise.

Kisame said, "Senior Genji, could you explain why?"

Kisame was close to Iwagakure, and he originally thought that Genji would be against Iwagakure.

Even Kisame himself felt that if he continued to follow the Iwa ninja, the Iwa ninja might actually become powerful enough to unify the Ninja World.

Genji said, "Unifying the Ninja World is no easy task. Whenever there's a crisis, a genius is born in Konoha."

"It's a long way off for Iwa ninja to completely replace Konoha. Iwa ninja's rise is built on the foundation of Konoha's Internal Strife."

Even now, Konoha's Kage Level Iwa ninja's. Even if the Land of Fire has three fewer territories, it's still the wealthiest country in the Ninja World.

"The legacy left by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha cannot be erased by the Iwa ninja through a few wars."

"At its peak, Konoha was able to suppress the Four Great Ninja Villages with just one village. Does Iwa ninja have that kind of strength now? No."

"The Iwa ninja only managed to achieve victory time and time again because Konoha's Internal Strife and most of its forces were tied down."

"If we're going to target Iwa ninja, we'll have to wait until they can Iwa ninja on four opponents at once; right now, they're probably taking on five. We'll consider forming an alliance against Iwa ninja when they can Iwagakure that."

"Right now, let the Iwa ninja focus their efforts on suppressing Konoha, Sunagakure, and Cloud ninja. What we need to do is take this opportunity to strengthen ourselves."

"By hitching a ride on the coattails of Iwa ninja, we can quickly strengthen Kirigakure. Why not?"

"As for the ambitions of Iwagakure that everyone sees, hehe, which of the original Five Great Ninja Villages didn't have ambitions? Who didn't want to Unifying the Ninja World?"

Kisame thought for a moment and said, "Senior Genji, I understand."

Mei Terumi and Hozuki Mangetsu nodded in agreement.

Genji smiled and said, "For example, right now, we need the support of the Iwa ninja for something."

Upon hearing this, everyone cast curious glances at Genji.

Genji said, "That Uchiha once controlled the Fourth Hokage has returned. This time, he not only wiped out our village's Bloodline Limit families, but he also kidnapped a large number of children."

"Our family alone is no match for that mysterious Uchiha; we can't even find his whereabouts."

"But the Tsuchikage knows him better than we do. That Uchiha seems to have suffered at the hands of the Tsuchikage before. Perhaps the Tsuchikage can help us find those children."

Yuki Koru, Hozuki Mangetsu, Mei Terumi all had their eyes light up.

The descendants of all three of their families were Obito Uchiha.

Genji said, "Yuki Koru, you've dealt with the Tsuchikage before, go to Iwagakure."

"Take thirty students from the Ninja Academy with you when you go. Didn't the Tsuchikage propose an exchange student system between the two villages? This is a good opportunity to demonstrate our stance."

Yuki Koru. This was a good reason; he could use the excuse of taking care of his students to stay in Iwagakure for a few more days.

After the meeting, Yuki Koru packed her things, selected thirty students from the Ninja Academy, and went to Iwagakure.

In the Land of Whirlpools, a small Konoha Anbu Squad is rapidly advancing towards Orochimaru's new ninja village.

After rounding a Kajiyamari, the four members of the team suddenly stopped, staring in surprise ahead.

Before the four of them lay a vast battlefield.

Although no bodies were found on this battlefield, one can guess from the sheer size of the area how intense the battle must have been.

The team of Anbu behaved very professionally. After carefully inspecting the area, the four of them exchanged ideas for a while. The leader analyzed, "Judging from the traces, the battle that took place here was probably during a war between various countries."

"Judging from the battle traces, there were three people involved. One of them was Orochimaru. The ground was covered with dense traces left by Great Snake and Small Snakes; only Orochimaru could have created such a thing."

"Of the other two, one is Puppet Master. Judging from the number of scattered puppet parts and the density of the Puppet Hidden Weapons, this Puppet Master is extremely skilled."

Moreover, the puppets' hidden weapons were coated with Dao & Ming Deadly Poison, and there were numerous animal carcasses within dozens of meters of those weapons, demonstrating the extreme toxicity.

When this battle took place, Ryosuke and Ebizo Sunagakure both in the Kirigakure.

"Then, the Puppet Master fighting Orochimaru here must be Sasori, the Sunagakure missing-nin of the Sasori of the Red Sands."

"The last person was skilled in Five-Attribute Ninjutsu; there were many traces of Combination Ninjutsu at the scene."

"Judging from the person's position and the direction of their attack, this ninja is with Sasori of the Red Sands; the two of them are besieging Orochimaru."

"If he hasn't made any mistakes, this person is Kakuzu, a former S-rank Rogue Ninja from Takigakure. Kakuzu and Sasori of the Red Sands are both members of Akatsuki Organization now, so it's reasonable for them to come together."

After analyzing the intelligence, one of the members of the Anbu Squad asked, "Captain, should we still go find Orochimaru?"

The captain shook his head and said, "The objective has been achieved. Let's go back and report."

"Yes." The team members breathed a sigh of relief and responded cheerfully.

No matter how the higher-ups colluded with Orochimaru, it doesn't change the fact that Orochimaru is S-rank Rogue Ninja. They are still very hesitant to let them come into contact with Orochimaru.

Seeing this, the Anbu Squad Leader smiled inwardly. He understood what the others were thinking, because he himself was also feeling guilty. He was very lucky to have completed the mission without having to deal with Orochimaru.