Negotiating with the Sage of Six Paths

As soon as Yichen appeared, he immediately used Porcelain Release to create a defense for himself and Atsumi Akino.

Yichen breathed a sigh of relief after he had taken a clear look at his surroundings.

We should avoid doing things like teleporting directly to the battlefield as much as possible in the future; it's too dangerous.

Yichen glanced at the retreating Cloud ninja, then looked at Ikura and the others beside him.

Finally, Yichen's gaze fell on Ōnoki and the Fourth Raikage in the distance.

Seeing the Fourth Raikage alone, and with this big oaf flying in the air, Yichen's eyes lit up. He said to Atsumi Akino, "Akino, you go back to the village first. Ikura, let's go and keep the Fourth Raikage here."

Ikura saw Yichen suddenly appear, he was first startled, and then overjoyed.

Yichen arrived just in time. The five Kage Level warriors had been struggling against the Cloud Ninja Army and hadn't made any significant gains, which was frustrating for them.

Upon hearing Yichen set his sights on the Fourth Raikage, Ikura immediately nodded and said, "I'll go with you. Deidara, you guys continue to hold off the Cloud Ninja Army."

"Furthermore, notify Kawakita to launch a general offensive."

Yichen did not interfere with Ikura's command. After Atsumi Akino used the Flying Thunder God to leave again, Yichen used the Porcelain Release to carry Ikura towards the Fourth Raikage.

The sudden appearance of Yichen and Atsumi Akino immediately caught the attention of the Cloud ninja.

Especially when Yichen led Ikura towards the Fourth Raikage, the commander of the Cloud Ninja Army immediately panicked.

He immediately gave the order, "Killer B, activate the Chakra Cannon! All flight formations, engage the Tsuchikage and cover the Lord Raikage's retreat!"

In the air, Deidara and the others knew that the next step was crucial, so he worked with the two Jinchuriki to continuously intercept the Chakra Cannon attacks.

As for those flight formations, Deidara felt that these people wouldn't get away with it if they went after the Tsuchikage.

As expected, these flying ninjas who had harassed Deidara and his group so much in the early stages were completely countered when facing Yichen.

Although they were all flying ninjas, Yichen completely outclassed them in both speed and agility.

Yichen's Hand Seal-less Porcelain Release can easily restrict the movement of these flying ninjas.

With Yichen's Shinra Tensei and Yichen Banshō Ten'in, he could easily bully these flying ninjas.

Just as Yichen and Ikura had flown a short distance, they encountered the first oncoming flight formation.

Faced with a suicide attack launched by more than a dozen flying Cloud ninja, Yichen put his hands in his pockets, didn't even raise his eyelids, and directly used Porcelain Release.

The massive amount of Porcelain Mud that appeared out of nowhere enveloped the Cloud ninja, who were hurtling at high speed, before they could even react.

Yichen even considered using his Porcelain Release to perfectly remove the flying ninja tools from these people while flying at high speed, and then seal them into a scroll.

Next came the second formation, which attempted to harass Yichen from a distance, but Yichen pulled them over with a single Banshō Ten'in.

And that was it; these dozen or so people quickly followed in the footsteps of the first formation.

The third and fourth formations, coordinating from the left and right, attempted to encircle and attack Yichen.

Seeing this, Ikura began to Hand Seals in preparation for attack, but Yichen had already pulled his hands out of his pockets.

Yichen Hand Seals with both hands, but each hand seal was separate. Then, two large-scale Light Release met the two formations from the left and right.

The formation on the left was too close and didn't have time to turn, so it collided head-on with the Light Release.

A dozen people were instantly decomposed into gas amidst screams.

The formation on the right, being farther away, turned in time when it sensed the danger.

As a result, most of them escaped Yichen's Light Release. However, the remaining people dared not approach Yichen again.

Watching the Cloud ninja flee in a disheveled state, Yichen frowned. He had made a mistake; he hadn't pulled off the impressive act.

The desperate attempts of the Cloud ninja flying formation to stop them were ineffective; Yichen charged towards the Fourth Raikage and Ōnoki with almost no slowdown.

When Yichen and Ikura arrived at the battlefield where Ōnoki and the Fourth Raikage had been, the Fourth Raikage had only flown a few kilometers away.

Yichen looked at the Fourth Raikage, who was also flying in the air using a flying ninja tool, thought for a moment, and immediately formed hand Hand Seals to unleash a B-rank Storm Release.

Ikura, who was next to Yichen, was also Hand Seals. He was slower, and he was still not ready after Yichen released his Ninjutsu.

Ikura found it strange; she had never seen Yichen use Storm Release in battle before. Why was he abandoning his more proficient Hand Seal-less Porcelain Release and switching to Storm Release now?

The next moment, Ikura understood why Yichen had done this.

The Fourth Raikage is incredibly fast; neither Light Release nor Dust Release can hit him. Even using Porcelain Release would likely be difficult to stop him.

However, for some reason, although Yichen's Storm Release couldn't directly hit the Fourth Raikage, it had the ability to track him.

After Storm Release attack misses, it can turn around and attack the Fourth Raikage again.

The Fourth Raikage tried to turn around in mid-air several times, but failed to shake off the Storm Release.

This tracking ability looks familiar to Ikura; isn't this the same as when the Cloud ninja used their Chakra Cannon?

The Chakra Cannon used by the Cloud ninja have tracking capabilities, so no matter how Deidara dodges, he will eventually have to confront the Cloud ninja head-on.

Shouldn't this be a secret technique of the Cloud ninja? When did Yichen learn it? And where did he learn it from?

Yichen seemed to know what Ikura was thinking. While continuing to Storm Release, he said, "I learned it from the Cloud ninja."

"When I infiltrated Kumogakure last time, didn't I bring back a lot of technological data? It included information on this topic."

"However, I originally hoped to incorporate this characteristic into Light Release, but unfortunately I haven't succeeded yet. For now, I can only use Lightning Release and Storm Release to perform this move."

As Yichen was speaking, the Fourth Raikage finally fell victim to his attack.

He could dodge Guang Yichen's Storm Release, but with the added interference of Ikura and Ōnoki's Ninjutsu, the Fourth Raikage was finally caught off guard and hit.

The Storm Release attack did almost no damage to the Fourth Raikage; his Lightning Armor was not so easily breached.

However, the flying ninja tools on his body were not as tough as his body. Some of the devices inside lost their original function immediately after being hit by the Storm Release.

The Fourth Raikage, who had been darting around in the air, was thrown diagonally downwards by inertia and crashed directly into the sea.

Seeing this, Yichen Ichiraku, while flying rapidly towards the Fourth Raikage with Ikura, he reached out and uttered a low shout, "Banshō Ten'in!"

As Yichen reached out, the Fourth Raikage, who had nowhere to gain leverage in mid-air, immediately flew towards Yichen.

However, the Fourth Raikage was not one to be easily defeated. Realizing that his flying ninja tools were useless, he immediately took off his armor and then kicked it.

Using the reaction force from his leg kick, the Fourth Raikage propelled himself off to the side, thus escaping Yichen's gravitational pull.

Yichen smiled slightly and said, "Such a fast reaction speed."

Despite his words, Yichen's hands moved with remarkable speed.

One after another, C-rank Light Release attacked the Fourth Raikage.

For Yichen, C-rank Light Release was almost effortless, requiring little energy, producing good results, and being quick to execute.

The advantages of Bloodline Ninja were on full display in Yichen at this moment.

"The Light Release hasn't fully integrated with my body yet; there's still room for improvement," Yichen pondered.

Ōnoki used Dust Release. His Dust Release frequency was far less than that of Yichen, but its advantage lay in its larger range.

Every time Ōnoki's Dust Release attack arrived, it was a life-or-death test for the Fourth Raikage.

The Fourth Raikage was already in mid-air with nowhere to gain leverage, and facing the Kekkei Tōta of the Kekkei Tota attack, he really didn't have many options left.

While the Fourth Raikage wasn't particularly skilled in advanced, large-scale Lightning Release, he did know a few B-rank Lightning Release.

He could have used a B-rank Lightning Release to counter Yichen's C-rank Light Release.

However, Yichen's Hand Seals were too fast for him to keep up with.

Therefore, Fourth Raikage could do was continuously take things out of his Ninja Tool Pouch and use them to change his falling direction.

The Fourth Raikage dodged his initial attacks, but it became increasingly difficult as the battle progressed.

Ikura Yichen's companion, Ikura, originally intended to use the Five-Attribute Ninjutsu, but after thinking about it, she gave up.

His attack might not even harm the Fourth Raikage; it might even become a stepping stone for the Fourth Raikage to use.

After hesitating for a moment, Ikura cast a Genjutsu on the Fourth Raikage.

Ikura was not skilled in Genjutsu; even with the Fourth Raikage's Chakra Level, conventional Genjutsu could not harm him.

However, the situation was special at this time. The Fourth Raikage was already anxious and in poor condition. He was hit by Ikura's Genjutsu and was momentarily stunned.

The Fourth Raikage reacted quickly, regaining his senses in less than a second.

However, this momentary lapse in judgment allowed Yichen and Ōnoki to seize the opportunity.

A C-rank Light Release grazed the Fourth Raikage's leg, which he couldn't dodge in time, and tore off a large chunk of flesh.

This was just the beginning; due to his thigh injury, the Fourth Raikage had less control over his body.

To make matters worse, he couldn't dodge the second C-rank Light Release that followed.

And this time it was even worse; this Light Release vaporized one of the Fourth Raikage's kneecaps.

His lower leg, below the knee, separated directly from the Fourth Raikage's body and fell straight into the sea.

Suddenly, Yichen felt a stirring in his heart, as if he had sensed something.

While continuously using his Light Release on the Fourth Raikage, he also glanced towards the direction of the Cloud Ninja Army.

The next moment, Yichen said to Ōnoki and Ikura, "Third Hokage, use Dust Release to detonate the Tailed Beast Bomb. Ikura, I'll take care of the Fourth Raikage; you focus all your defense on defense."

On the other side of Yichen's line of sight, Killer B had already Partial Tailed Beast Transformation; he had just launched a massive, energy-consuming attack without any regard for the consequences.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when Deidara and the others were suppressed, Killer B condensed a Tailed Beast Bomb in his mouth.

Judging from the direction of his gaze, it was clear that the Tailed Beast Bomb was aimed at Yichen.

Yichen quickly understood Killer B's idea and thought to himself, "Excellent tactic."

The Fourth Raikage is tough and resilient; he wouldn't necessarily die from the blast wave of the Tailed Beast Bomb.

However, if Yichen and the other two are caught in the crossfire, they will surely die.

Therefore, the Tailed Beast Bomb is indeed the best way to save the Fourth Raikage.

Killer B realized it a little too late, or rather, he found the opportunity a little too late.

At this point, the Fourth Raikage had completely lost the initiative on the battlefield, and he was no longer able to cooperate with Killer B's plan.

While continuing to unleash his Light Release on the Fourth Raikage, Yichen also used Porcelain Release to create a defensive barrier.

A few seconds later, a jet-black Tailed Beast Bomb streaked across the sky and crashed into the sea below Yichen and the others.

Killer B didn't dare to directly attack Yichen and the other two; if they did, the Yichen Tailed Beast Bomb wouldn't explode if they dodged it.

Therefore, he attacked the sea surface.

However, the Tailed Beast Bomb was struck by a beam of white light before it even arrived.

Boom! Part of the Tailed Beast Bomb was broken down by Dust Release, and the remaining part exploded.

Although the explosion was not as powerful as at its peak, it still generated a huge shockwave.

However, before the shockwave could spread to Yichen's side, it collided with a sky-covering Water Curtain created by Ikura.

The shockwave struck the Water Curtain, where it was momentarily blocked, with most of the pressure being released to the sides of the Water Curtain.

The remaining force Wind Release: Breakthrough the Water Curtain and continued to blow towards the four of them.

At this moment, four huge pieces of Porcelain Mud floated in the air, directly blocking the shockwave and protecting the four people present.

That's right, Yichen also protected the Fourth Raikage. He didn't want the Fourth Raikage to be blown away by the shockwave.

As the aftershocks of the Tailed Beast Bomb explosion subsided, Yichen's next attack, Light Release, struck the Fourth Raikage was about to fall into the water.

This time, the bullet hit the Fourth Raikage in the chest.

After several twists and turns, the Fourth Raikage's injuries had become increasingly severe, rendering him unable to dodge. Therefore, he was directly hit head-on by Yichen this time.

Seeing the large hole in the Fourth Raikage's chest, Yichen didn't let his guard down and used a C-rank Light Release on the Fourth Raikage's head as well.

With a thud.

Finally, the headless, mangled body of the Fourth Raikage fell into the water.

Seeing this, Ōnoki, Ikura and, and Yichen all breathed a sigh of relief.

It's finally over. The Fourth Raikage was too tenacious. If he hadn't been flying in the air this time, Yichen really wouldn't have been able to do anything to him.

Yichen said, "You guys take care of the bodies of the Third, Ikura, and Fourth Raikage. This battlefield is yours to handle. I need to get back to the front lines in the Land of Fire as soon as possible."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "Go ahead without worry. The Cloud ninja can't cause any more trouble. Take a few more men with you."

Yichen said, "Then let Deidara come with me. Also, only Sokai and Quan Luo in the village right now, and neither of them is in good condition, so let's go back to the village as soon as possible."

Ōnoki nodded and said to Ikura, "I'll go back now."

Anyway, the battle here is almost over. With the Fourth Raikage dead, everyone is no longer afraid to fight on the ground.

Ōnoki had been fighting the Fourth Raikage for a long time, and his Chakra was greatly depleted. Returning to the village to take charge was a good option.

Yichen flew to Deidara's side, grabbed the guy who was having a blast, and flew towards the Land of Earth.

They had only flown for a short while when Yichen encountered the large army brought by Kawakita.

Yichen landed among the army and asked Kawakita, "Where is Atsumi Akino?"

Having found Atsumi Akino, Yichen didn't have time to say much to Kawakita, so he had Atsumi Akino send the two of them back to the Iwa ninja camp on the front lines of the Land of Fire.

When Yi Chen arrived at the army from the direction of the Land of Fire and saw that no major battle had broken out, Yichen breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at Atsumi Akino and said, "Akino, get some rest. We don't need to teleport anymore."

Atsumi Akino nodded, her face pale and her body trembling slightly, clearly having exhausted her Chakra.

After Atsumi Akino went to rest, Yichen personally arranged the guards for Atsumi Akino before going to the Command Center.

Matsutani Shinya and Kitsuchi were tallying casualties in the Command Center.

Upon seeing Yichen return, Kitsuchi hurriedly asked, "Yichen, how is the naval battle going?"

Yichen smiled at the two of them and said, "We won. The Fourth Raikage is dead."

"What's the situation here? Has there been any unusual activity in Konoha?"

Upon hearing Yichen say that the Fourth Raikage was dead, the two of them, along with the others in the Command Center, couldn't help but cheer.

So much so that no one heard Yichen's subsequent questions.

After everyone calmed down and quieted down again, Yichen asked the question again.

Kitsuchi said, "The Konoha Army hasn't made any unusual moves, but they did sense that we were using Space-Time Ninjutsu to adjust our formation."

"They even sent ninjas to investigate before."

"However, I had Matsutani Shinya and show up a few times, so neither Hiruzen Sarutobi nor Kakashi Hatake made any special moves."

Yichen nodded. So, Konoha probably thought that he only sent Sokai and Izumi Uchiha to the village to recover from their injuries, and did not provide any support to the Cloud ninja.

Hearing this, Yichen, completely relieved, found a place to sit down.

Yichen has been completely exhausted these past two days.

Whether it's going to the Land of Wind to find Danzo, fighting Kakashi and the others, or killing the Fourth Raikage.

All of these require Yichen to concentrate and give it his all.

Moreover, Yichen was frightened twice by the Sage of Six Paths along the way. Both frights were quite severe, and Yichen still remembers them vividly.

The thought of the Sage of Six Paths stirred something within Yichen.

Just like last time, it was the Sage of Six Paths who deliberately ruined his own plans.

After saying goodbye to Kitsuchi Tu, Yichen left the Iwa ninja camp alone.

Yichen arrived at a deserted spot outside the Iwa ninja camp.

Yichen first using Mind's Eye to sense his surroundings, and after confirming that no one was around, he tentatively called out in a low voice, "Sage of Six Paths?"

The surroundings were quiet, and there was no response.

Yichen thought for a moment, then called out again, "Hagoromo Otsutsuki?"

Still no response.

Yichen frowned and continued calling out, "Naruto's father!"

"Sigh!" This time, Yichen heard a sigh.

Yichen quickly turned around and found that there was someone behind him who had appeared at some point.

This person wore a white robe adorned with black Tomoe, held a staff made of Truth-Seeking Orb), and sat cross-legged in the void.

Yichen swallowed hard. Although he really wanted to take advantage of the Sage of Six Paths, Yichen still felt a little guilty when he actually saw him.

I tried to sense it with my using Mind's Eye, but I didn't detect anything.

Yichen raised an eyebrow. He was very confident in his Mind's Eye; this ability, which surpassed S-rank, shouldn't be much weaker than that of the Sage of Six Paths.

However, although Yichen could clearly see the Sage of Six Paths, he could not sense any trace of his presence.

Yichen had encountered this situation before, when facing Obito Uchiha in his intangible state.

In other words, while the Sage of Six Paths appears to be in front of Yichen, he is actually in another void world similar to the Kamui Space.

"Could it be Pure Land?" Yichen wondered.

Composing himself, Yichen bowed to the Sage of Six Paths and said, "Greetings, Sage of Six Paths. Thank you for your previous gift."

The Sage of Six Paths remained silent; he simply gazed calmly at Yichen.

Not wanting the conversation to become awkward, Yichen continued, "Senior, Naruto isn't suited to live in Konoha. The Konoha is too chaotic; internal strife has never stopped since its founding."

"Why not let him come to our Iwagakure? Our Iwagakure is united, which aligns with your original intention in establishing Ninja Sect, to promote mutual understanding among ninjas."

"Furthermore, the unity of Iwagakure can help Naruto better understand what Asura meant by love back then."

"In Konoha, as Jinchuriki, Naruto only experienced ridicule and rejection from everyone."

"Our Iwagakure treats Tailed Beast far better than Konoha."

"By the way, Sage of Six Paths, speaking of Tailed Beast, our village's Five-Tails Kokuō, Four-Tails Son Goku, as well as Little Rhino Dog and Little Chōmei, miss you very much."

"When are you free to come and take a look?"

"By the way, the Uzumaki Clan and Uchiha Clan are also your descendants, right? Both clans have now officially joined Iwagakure."

"Our Iwagakure is like your home, so please don't be shy. Come back and visit whenever you have time."

"By the way, there's a member of the Hyuga Clan in our Iwagakure named Neji Hyuga. He's a descendant of your younger brother; we're all family."

The Sage of Six Paths looked at Yichen, somewhat speechless. He said, "They all call you Tsuchikage, so I'll call you that too."

Yichen quickly replied, "You're too kind. We're all family. You can call me Yichen or Xiao Chen, it's fine."

"How about you call me Little Fox? That's the nickname everyone gave me, the Fox of Stone."

"Your favorite Tailed Beast happens to be the Nine-Tails. See how fateful we are?"

The Sage of Six Paths:...

The Sage of Six Paths said expressionlessly, "I hope you can give Naruto and Sasuke a normal environment to grow up in, and not disturb them."

Yichen sighed and said, "Senior, are you referring to an environment like Konoha when you say 'normal environment'?"

"Even a village hero can be driven to suicide, and the Hokage, who has done nothing wrong, can be forced to abdicate."

"He's clearly the son of a hero, yet he's ostracized by the entire village and called a monster?"

"Is this considered a normal environment in Konoha?"

After a pause, Yichen continued, "Could you please take a look at the living conditions of the children adopted by our Iwagakure?"

"Neji found Uzumaki Sister Riori who truly cares about him. And the Uchiha Clan, the Uzumaki Clan —that's what you call living a normal life."

The Sage of Six Paths remained silent for a while, then said, "Tsuchikage, just tell me what you want."

Upon hearing this, Yichen felt an immense joy rise in his heart.

His eyes narrowed into slits as he said, "Look at what you're saying, I want a detailed method for fusing five types of Chakra. How could I possibly ask for something like that?"

The Sage of Six Paths shook the rings on his staff a few times, then said, "There was a meteorite in the old Hoshigakure; you should be able to use it."

After saying that, the Sage of Six Paths vanished right in front of Yichen.

Instead of foolishly searching for the Sage of Six Paths, Yichen stood alone, recalling the so-called function of the star in the original story 'Hoshigakure.

It seems I destroyed Hoshigakure, and I wonder where that star went.