The Calm After the Battle

While Kakashi was worrying about Konoha's future, the Cloud ninja were licking their wounds.

In this First Shinobi War against the Cloud ninja, not only did the Fourth Raikage die, but the Cloud ninja's secret weapon Chakra Cannon, was also exposed.

Even the hundred Sage Ninja combat team, assembled at great cost, was completely wiped out.

It's important to know that the Cloud ninja doesn't have the same safe method of training Sage Ninja as the Iwagakure.

Behind every Sage Ninja trained in the Cloud ninja Village, there are several dozen Cloud ninja died due to the loss of control over Natural Energy.

After decades of hard work, they were back to square one, Cloud ninja suddenly lost the confidence to challenge the Iwa ninja for the top spot.

When the Cloud Ninja Army returned to the village in disarray, Killer B immediately convened a High-Level Meeting with the Cloud ninja leadership.

The Cloud ninja High-Level Meeting first decided to let Darui succeed him, and then they completely consolidated their forces, adopting a defensive posture.

The Cloud ninja planned to remain inside their compound, waiting for the Iwa ninja to come and negotiate.

Previously, the Iwa ninja had repeatedly taken advantage of Konoha, but they had hardly gained any significant benefits from the Cloud ninja.

But this time, the Fifth Raikage, Darui, knew that the Cloud ninja a huge loss.

A few days later, the losses and results of the two Iwa ninja armies were all tallied.

Furthermore, Ōnoki, Atsumi Akino, and the others finally recovered after a few days of rest.

Therefore, Yichen invited representatives from Mist ninja and Konoha to the Land of Earth to discuss how to end the conflict gracefully.

In this peace talks, Yichen didn't invite the Cloud ninja. Putting the Cloud ninja and the Konoha people together would give them more confidence, making it harder for him to extort them.

As the initiator of the peace talks, Yichen personally participated in the negotiations and put forward a series of demands.

First, Yichen proposed that the cause of this conflict was a rebellion in Konoha, in which Konoha rebel group led by Kakashi usurped power.

Therefore, Kakashi must abdicate, and all Konoha ninja participated in the rebellion must be punished.

Konoha naturally wouldn't agree to such an unreasonable demand, and after a long argument, Yichen made a concession.

Kakashi and the others can be spared punishment, but the title of Hokage must be returned to Danzo.

Kakashi can continue to be the leader of Konoha, but he cannot act in the name of Hokage; he can call himself whatever he wants.

Wood shadow, leaf shadow, forest shadow, or grove shadow are all acceptable. If you're really not satisfied, you can call me Card Master.

In short, the Iwa ninja do not acknowledge the so-called Seventh Hokage. Furthermore, Yichen proposed handing over the portraits of the five Hokage of the Hokage Rock to Danzo.

The reason there are five is because the Third Hokage was on Kakashi's side, so he doesn't count. The remaining five are the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Hokage Danzō himself.

Konoha still disagreed, but this time Yichen wasn't so easily persuaded.

Left with no other option, the Konoha representative had to agree to many other conditions proposed by Yichen.

For example, Konoha will cover all the costs of mobilizing two armies from Iwa ninja and all the compensation for the Iwa ninja who died in the battle.

For example, Konoha also has to pay Iwagakure a huge amount of war reparations.

In addition, Yichen proposed to carve out a piece of land from the Land of Fire, but this was rejected.

However, Yichen did not give up. He pulled out his trump card.

Yichen's trump card is not the threat of war; Iwa ninja has been doing this all along, so there's no need to emphasize it at the negotiating table.

Yichen's trump card was Danzo. Yichen couldn't get Danzo himself, but he did get Danzo's most trusted subordinate, Root, codenamed "Kai".

This Danzo figure was chosen by Danzo after he removed the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal from Kakashi, and is currently the strongest under Danzo.

Upon seeing the Root ninjas appear, and even produce what appeared to be an order personally signed by the Sixth Hokage, the Konoha representative had no choice but to concede.

There's no Yichen way. If Yichen really gets completely entangled with Danzo and interferes in Konoha's internal affairs through Danzo, Konoha will only lose more.

The Konoha representative stated that Konoha was willing to cede a portion of the Land of Land of Fire, but this portion was located in the southwestern part of the Land of Fire.

The Iwa ninja) originally owned a territory in the southwestern part of the Land of Fire. That territory was initially seized by the Sunagakure (Konoha).

Later, the Iwa ninja obtained this territory directly from the Sunagakure.

The land wasn't large, and since it was an enclave for the Iwa ninja, Yichen didn't set up a branch there, but only built a temporary camp.

The Iwa ninja simply rotated their troops to garrison the area and collected some taxes.

The territory that Konoha's representative is now willing to cede is right next to this place.

Yichen immediately knew that this representative's decision was not impromptu; he must have received authorization from Kakashi and other high-ranking officials before coming.

Yichen thought about it and didn't object; any land in the Land of Fire was good.

An enclave is fine, it doesn't matter!

We can build a Teleportation Array there, so that if war really breaks out, we can open up Second Battlefield through the Teleportation Array.

Of course, for Yichen to obtain this territory, which is equivalent to half of the Land of Land of the Falls, he only needs to acknowledge Kakashi's status Seventh Hokage.

As for Danzo, the Konoha representative stated that Konoha was willing to appoint Danzo as the leader of its Land of Wind branch.

How Konoha deals with Danzo afterwards is Konoha's internal affair, and Iwa ninja cannot interfere.

Yichen readily agreed to this, as for the matter of Danzo to retain his Hokage title when they exchanged the Four Red Yang Formation.

Tempted by a territory the size of half the Land of the Falls, Yichen completely forgot about it.

Of course, Yichen did not completely abandon Danzo's allies. Yichen stated that Danzo and Kakashi and others had a misunderstanding that needed to be resolved.

He Yichen is willing to step forward and calls on both sides to exercise restraint and calm down for a year before making any further statements.

The Konoha representative disagreed, and ultimately, an agreement was reached that Konoha and Danzo would not attack each other for two months.

Two months later, whatever the two sides do, the Iwa ninja cannot interfere.

Yichen felt that the two months of rest he had bought for Danzo were worth the value of the Four Red Yang Formation.

Two months later, will Konoha decisively kill Danzo, or simply recover the large number of Root member in Danzo's possession?

Alternatively, Danzo a powerful counterattack against the Konoha ninja, preserve the Land of Wind branch, and even launch a counter-offensive against Konoha.

These things are no longer relevant to Yichen.

If Konoha and Danzo truly suffer heavy losses, Iwa ninja will have an opportunity to take advantage, and Yichen can then decisively tear up the treaty again.

After reaching an agreement with Konoha Yichen, Yichen abandoned Mist ninja and led his army back to Iwagakure.

The Mist ninja representative was left completely bewildered. Didn't we say, "You talk first, and we'll back you up"?

After you've finished speaking, we'll talk again. Are you going to help us threaten Konoha with force?

Everything was fine before, why did you just leave like that? Now that you Iwa ninja are gone, how are we supposed to get any benefits from Konoha?

The Mist ninja representative felt that his trip had been in vain, and that the Mist ninja's deployment of troops had also been pointless.

The Mist ninja's trip was not in vain. Before the Konoha representative arrived, Kakashi gave him one instruction: to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

With no Kage Level guardian in Konoha, Kakashi couldn't sleep soundly.

Kakashi could get through it for a day or two, but after a while, he developed dark circles under his eyes.

It's okay to suffer a little loss; we'll just deal with the Iwa ninja and Mist ninja first.

Therefore, with the intention of quickly getting rid of the Mist ninja, Konoha gave the Mist ninja some military funds as a token gesture.

The meeting between Konoha and Mist ninja ended on bad terms, with both sides hastily signing a contract and returning to their respective camps.

After receiving the peace treaty brought back by representatives from both sides, the Konoha High-ranking officials and Mist ninja leadership were not entirely satisfied, but they still withdrew their troops immediately.

With this, all parties involved in the conflict finally withdrew, and the situation in the Ninja World finally eased up again.

On the other side, Yichen redeployed the Iwa Ninja Army back to their respective branches, and then very warmly invited the Cloud ninja to come to Iwagakure to discuss a peace treaty.

Negotiations with the Cloud ninja were much simpler and less complicated.

This time, Yichen didn't personally appear. Instead, he sent a hothead who only knew how to threaten war at the drop of a hat and who kept mentioning the eleven Kage Level ninjas of Iwagakure to negotiate with the Cloud ninja.

Finally, the Cloud ninja relinquished some of the scientific research technology that Yichen Chen had long coveted, and also covered the military expenses of the two Iwa ninja armies in this conflict, as well as the compensation for all the Iwa ninja died in the battle.

That's right, Yichen got both military funds and compensation from Konoha, and also from Cloud ninja.

Besides the so-called military expenses and pensions, Cloud ninja, like Konoha, had to pay a large sum of war reparations.

If it weren't for the fact that the Land of Lightning's geographical location wasn't very good and its land wasn't fertile, Yichen would have wanted to carve out a piece of land for the Land of Lightning as well.

After receiving compensation from Konoha and Cloud ninja, Yichen sent someone to inform the Tsuchikage that he had conquered another territory for him.

Although this territory is thousands of miles away from the Land of Earth, its land is fertile and rich in resources.

Overwhelmed with emotion, the Iwagakure.

After handling the two negotiations, Yichen resumed his pre-battle period of seclusion and training.

Although there were still many things to deal with, Yichen was currently at a crucial moment in fusing his Light Release technique and did not want to let trivial matters delay his cultivation.

In this battle, Yichen encountered Naruto. The savior was already so grown up; Yichen had no idea what the future held for the Ninja World.

The proper course of action is to integrate the Light Release as soon as possible, and then formally begin training in the Five Elements Fusion.

So Yichen simply left the turmoil in the Ninja World behind and went into seclusion again.

During Yichen's seclusion, the Ninja World was not as chaotic as it had been during his active period, but it was not peaceful either.

The most obvious example is the shift in the stance of the Kirigakure.

Originally, there was a lot of deep cooperation between Iwagakure and Kirigakure.

However, these cooperative projects gradually came to an end, and the Ninja Academy exchange students sent between the two sides were all recalled by their respective villages.

Sea Rock Line of the Land of Hot Water, the number of merchant ships that used to frequently travel to and from the Land of Water has decreased significantly.

Conversely, the connections between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning have increased significantly.

Outsiders may not know whether the three families have officially formed an alliance, but it's clear to anyone with eyes to see that the landscape of the Ninja World has been reshuffled once again.

The era when the combined Mist ninja of Iwa ninja and Kirigakure completely suppressed Konoha and Cloud ninja has come to an end.

A situation is forming in which the Iwa ninja clan is pitted against the Konoha, Mist ninja, and Cloud ninja clans.

During Yichen's seclusion, there were also many things happening in Iwagakure. Matsutani Shinya took Sokai and Izumi Uchiha the Land of Snow.

Whether the Natural Energy beneath the Rainbow Ice Wall can help the two restore their eye power remains to be seen.

This still needs time to prove itself. Matsutani Shinya an expert in Natural Energy and Senjutsu.

With him overseeing things, Yichen felt at ease letting Sokai and Izumi Uchiha the experiments.

The Iwa ninja obtained quite a few good things from the Cloud ninja this time.

The flying ninja tools that Yichen stole and the technology of the numerous technological products obtained at the negotiating table all require Iwa ninja to invest manpower in their research.

To address this, Mei and his group established a dedicated research department. However, Iwagakure was severely lacking in the necessary technical personnel.

Finally, Ming simply issued a mission, inviting a group of Puppet Master from Sunagakure to help with the research.

The Sunagakure doesn't even have a Kage Level ninja yet, so they had no choice but to swallow their anger and agree to the unreasonable demands made by the Iwa ninja.

In addition, the Iwa ninja will establish a new branch in the southwestern part of the Land of Fire.

This branch is far from the territory of Iwagakure, and its construction has encountered many problems. It will require a lot of effort from Ōnoki and others.

Moreover, since that area is an enclave for Iwagakure, the exact size of the branch to be built needs to be carefully considered.

While Iwagakure was busily working to consolidate its gains, the other ninja villages were also busy.

The Cloud ninja began secretly searching for the Two-Tails' whereabouts. After Yugito's death, the Two-Tails dissipated, and the Cloud ninja have not yet completed the recovery of the Two-Tails.

Meanwhile, with one hundred Sage Ninja killed in battle, the Cloud ninja, under Darui's orders, began a new round of Sage Ninja training.

In addition, feedback from the front-line troops indicated that the Chakra Cannon was effective, Darui plans to increase research on the Chakra Cannon and continue developing new ninja tools.

Finally, there are still many areas where the flying ninja tools need improvement, and the Cloud ninja's science and technology museum also needs to work overtime to catch up.

Under the arrangement of the Genji, Kirigakure began to actively contact Konoha and Cloud ninja, and gradually began to act as the leader of the Three-Party Alliance.

There weren't many things happening openly, but their behind-the-scenes actions never stopped.

The Mist ninja) began to lead the three-way discussions on how to deal with the Iwagakure).

Genji had thought things through very carefully: the Mist ninja were devising countermeasures for each Kage -Kage Level Iwagakure from Iwagakure.

The Konoha was the most affected by this war.

Even setting aside the issues of Danzo alone is enough to disgust Kakashi and the others.

After a deep conversation with Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi told Itachi Uchiha that upon returning to the village, he would take Sasuke as his disciple and do his best to teach him.

This was both Kakashi's way of expressing his gratitude to Itachi Uchiha for returning to the village to provide support, and also an attempt to win Itachi Uchiha over. Given the current predicament in Konoha, Kakashi didn't want to completely lose Itachi Uchiha, a powerful ally.

Kakashi kept his word. After Itachi Uchiha Akatsuki Organization, Kakashi, who had just returned to the village, quickly and publicly accepted Sasuke as his disciple.

Kakashi had also heard of Sasuke's genius. Although he was not as good as Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha, he was still considered outstanding among his peers.

In addition, Sasuke received intensive training from Danzo and Root, so his foundation was quite good.

Kakashi found it strange after testing Sasuke's abilities. Sasuke's primary attribute should be Lightning Release, so why did Danzo only teach Sasuke Fire Release?

Therefore, Kakashi decided to bring Sasuke's talent to fruition.

However, Kakashi's public acceptance of Sasuke as his disciple caused quite a stir in Konoha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was the first to subtly suggest to Kakashi that the Uchiha was not trustworthy and that Kakashi should reconsider.

The Nara and Hyuga ninja clans also expressed their dissatisfaction.

They all contributed to the destruction of the Uchiha. Now that Kakashi has taken Sasuke as his disciple, what will happen when Sasuke grows up and learns the truth? Will he seek revenge on them?

The Uchiha doesn't seem to be very magnanimous. Judging from Sasuke's perpetually deadpan expression, he doesn't seem like a generous person at all.

Although Itachi Uchiha has now taken the blame for the annihilation of the Uchiha Clan, too many people know about it, and no one can guarantee that the truth won't be leaked to Sasuke.

The more Sasuke displayed his genius, the more uncomfortable they became.

The way they looked at Sasuke was somewhat similar to how they Danzo before.

Moreover, and more importantly, Kakashi wasn't just instructing Sasuke; he was openly taking on apprentices.

In Konoha, this was equivalent to giving Sasuke an identity as a member of the Hokage lineage.

Once Sasuke up, he will be qualified to compete for the title of Eighth Hokage.

Especially since Kakashi only took one disciple, what if he stops taking disciples? Wouldn't that mean Kakashi would be the only one who can succeed to Sasuke throne according to Konoha tradition?

This is terrifying. An Uchiha becoming Hokage, especially one with a blood feud with everyone—just thinking about it makes me restless and unable to eat Uchiha sleep.

As a result, various clans and even many Anbu openly and secretly tried to persuade Kakashi, and some even put pressure on him directly.

Having already promised Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi naturally couldn't go back on his word, but he also couldn't ignore the voices of these people.

These people combined represent a large portion of Konoha's upper echelons.

Kakashi then told these people that he would take on more disciples.

If someone has an outstanding child, they will consider taking him as a disciple after he graduates from the Ninja Academy.

Seeing Kakashi back down, the others calmed down a bit. At the same time, they intensified their training of their juniors.

It's rare that the Hokage lineage has expressed their willingness to accept these junior members of major clans as disciples. Everyone has the hope of becoming a member of the Hokage lineage, so they can't waste this opportunity.

Sasuke received Kakashi's guidance a few years earlier than in the original story, which naturally changed Naruto's path.

Naruto directly influenced the outcome of the battle between the top fighters of the two villages, and thus made a great contribution on the front lines. After returning to the village, he was rewarded by the village.

Having acquired a large sum of money, Naruto entered a high-end shopping area he had never been to before for the first time.

Naruto browsed the ninja tool shop and the ninja-related bookstore.

So, somehow, Naruto stumbled upon a scroll that recorded summoning Ninjutsu.

Just like Jiraiya in his youth, Naruto, who knew nothing about summoning, performed Summoning Jutsu without signing a contract with the Summoning Beast.

Then Naruto arrived at Mount Myōboku.

Naruto's sudden disappearance immediately alerted Kakashi, the Hokage.

Kakashi went to the bookstore himself, holding the Summoning Jutsu scroll and asking the bookstore owner about it.

The bookstore owner told him that he couldn't remember where the item came from either.

Kakashi told Hiruzen Sarutobi about it, Hiruzen Sarutobi told Kakashi not to worry too much, then recounted Jiraiya's reckless behavior back then.

Afterwards, the two men and a group of Anbu waited in the bookstore.

Naruto didn't return until a day later, after signing Summoning Contract with Toad at Mount Myōboku, being told that he was the Child of Prophecy destined to save the world, and enjoying several sumptuous meals.

The two breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Naruto return.

Kakashi personally examined Naruto's body and inquired about his past.

When they heard that he was called the Child of Prophecy by the Sage Fukasaku and Shima of Mount Myōboku, both Kakashi and Sage Shima Hiruzen Sarutobi were shocked.

Subsequently, at Hiruzen Sarutobi's suggestion, Kakashi publicly accepted Naruto his disciple.

Compared to Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto are vastly different; their attributes are vastly different, and their personalities and strengths are completely different as well.

Kakashi could teach Naruto most was tactics and battlefield experience.

Unfortunately, Naruto's intelligence is lacking, and he can't learn either of these things.

Fortunately, Naruto has enough perseverance to master the Summoning Jutsu on his own.

Especially when Sasuke is around, Naruto seems to never feel tired.

Similarly, Sasuke always seems to have boundless energy when he sees Naruto.

When Kakashi saw Sasuke and Naruto bickering, it was as if he was seeing his his younger self and Obito Uchiha.

Kakashi touched his right eye beneath the eyepatch and sighed almost imperceptibly.

Kakashi's biggest change after the war wasn't taking on Sasuke and Naruto as his disciples, but rather his upcoming First Hokage's Cells transplant experiment.

Kakashi obtained all of Danzo's experimental data, as well as the Wood Style Experience scroll that Yichen had traded to Danzo.

Therefore, he planned to directly repeat the path that Danzo had taken.

Kakashi didn't know what happened to Danzo after the Danzo the First Hokage's Cells.

However, based on the events of the day Shikaku Nara and others rebelled, Danzo did indeed survive the experiment involving the transplantation of the First Hokage's Cells.

That alone is amazing enough. Kakashi knew very well how terrifying the First Hokage's Cells were; to be alive was to succeed.

So, Kakashi first transplanted the left arm of a White Zetsu clone.

The White Zetsu clone was also found in Danzo's laboratory. Danzo used up the right half of it, so Kakashi could only transplant the left arm.

Then Kakashi began to develop the Wood Release in his left arm.

As the Copy Ninja, Kakashi's Ninjutsu are probably among the most extensive in the entire Ninja World.

He learned Wood Release faster than Danzo, if it weren't for the fact that he would have to deal with Danzo two months later.

Kakashi, who was so stressed by the pressure from Iwagakure and Akatsuki Organization that he couldn't sleep well, was about to start preparing for the First Hokage's Cells transplant experiment.

Finally, the two-month newbie protection period agreed upon with Yichen came to an end.

Kakashi summoned the Konoha High-ranking officials to prepare to take action against Danzo.

Rather than saying they were going to take action against Danzo, it would be more accurate to say they were preparing to take back Danzo's Root.

Danzo had a large number of subordinates in the Land of Wind branch, many of whom were ninja clan members.

Restoring the freedom of these ninja clans was a promise Danzo made to Shikaku Nara and Hiruzen Sarutobi when he Danzo.

This can be considered Danzo's money to buy his life.

Danzo only had two months to catch his breath because of the interference from Iwagakure.

Kakashi wasn't sure if Danzo, who used to need his subordinates' support to move around, had recovered.

Danzo, having regained his strength, will certainly not surrender easily, nor will he relinquish his power.

So what was originally a simple matter has now become extremely complicated.