Konoha Was Still the Same Konoha That Loved Infighting

Three days later, at the Iwagakure Ninja Academy.

Yichen, along with Uzumaki Riori and Atsumi Akino, came to select disciples.

Uzumaki Riori had originally forgotten about taking on a disciple, but because of Yichen's commotion, she received the news and remembered it.

Uzumaki Riori's dear younger brother Neji, told her that he wanted to graduate early.

Neji originally had a year left before graduation, but his skills were already far beyond what he needed to do with playing ninja games with his classmates at the Ninja Academy.

With the guidance of Kitsuchi, Neji's growth rate was extremely fast. Coupled with his special background, the precocious Neji also trained very diligently.

Therefore, even though he was still a student at the Ninja Academy, his strength was already greater than that of most Chunin from Iwagakure.

With Neji's temperament and strength, he could have graduated long ago.

However, in recent years, Yichen had him frequently learn Yin Release from Katsuya and Natsuki, so Neji didn't feel that spending time at the Ninja Academy was a waste of time.

The reason I suddenly brought up graduating early with Uzumaki Riori recently is because it Yichen that I've found a way to break the Caged Bird.

He's currently busy preparing to break the Caged Bird and has no time to go to the Ninja Academy.

Uzumaki Riori only learned about Yichen taking on apprentices when she was talking to Neji about the Ninja Academy.

Then she remembered that she and Atsumi Akino had made a promise that they would take on apprentices together this year.

Yichen glanced at Atsumi Akino and asked what was going on.

Atsumi Akino could only give Yichen an innocent look and beg Yichen to help her solve this problem.

Atsumi Akino believed that the entire Iwagakure capable of dealing with Uzumaki Riori was Yichen.

Yichen glanced at Uzumaki Riori, who was looking around anxiously, sighed, and said, "We'll see."

The three entered the Ninja Academy. This time, Yichen did not hide his identity but came directly as the Tsuchikage to watch the graduation class's competition.

When Yichen and his two companions entered the Ninja Academy, the first match had already begun.

There were hundreds of chessboards on the playground, and people were sitting on both sides of each chessboard, already engaged in fierce battles.

The students watching the match simply bowed to Yichen without saying a word.

Observe the game in silence; the teacher had instructed us to do so beforehand.

Besides graduating students, there were also many younger students present.

Neji, Kurotsuchi, Karin, Yuki Kinuyo, Sakura, Shion, Yakumo Kurama, and others were among them.

Besides the students, there were also many Jonin from the village among the onlookers.

Curious, Yichen called over someone to ask what they were doing.

The man replied, "Lord Tsuchikage, we also want to see how you select your disciples, and see if we can take this opportunity to select a few outstanding ones."

Yichen chuckled, paused, and said, "I want to use this method to train a few future staff officers for the village. What's so interesting about that?"

"Alright, watch if you want."

That person, seeing that Yichen had no other questions, retreated back to the Jonin circle to watch the match.

Yichen chatted quietly with the teachers at the Ninja Academy for a few more minutes, and then walked around the arena with Atsumi Akino and Uzumaki Riori.

The first round of these hundred matches was a game of shogi (Japanese chess). Yichen didn't understand it, so he just quickly circled around and returned to the seat his teacher had arranged for him at the Ninja Academy.

After wandering around for a while, Uzumaki Riori and Yichen got bored and left the two of them to go to Neji's side.

Before long, Neji six companions arrived at Yichen's side, accompanied by Uzumaki Riori.

Kurotsuchi spoke first, "Lord Tsuchikage, I heard Neji is graduating early this year? I want to graduate early too."

Yichen was unaware of Neji's plan, so he turned to look at him.

Neji said, "Teacher Yichen, I've been quite busy lately and haven't had time to go to the Ninja Academy, so I'm thinking of graduating early."

Kurotsuchi chimed in, "Lord Tsuchikage, let Karin and me graduate early too, so we can be in the same group."

Yichen rolled his eyes and gave Kurotsuchi a flick on the forehead, saying, "You're just a Ninja Academy student who's not even Genin, and you're already arranging ninja groups?"

Kurotsuchi covered his forehead and pouted, looking extremely unhappy.

Just then, one of the hundred matches currently being played had already been decided.

Soon, a sheet listing the results of the two players' match was delivered to Yichen, detailing their victory or defeat, the time allotted, and the number of moves made.

Yichen glanced at it, a thought flashing through his mind: Aono Shinichi?

The winner was named Yichen Aono Shinichi, someone I noticed when I was looking through the graduating class list.

Although this person was a student in Regular Class and his grades in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu were just average, he enjoyed playing shogi, so Yichen still had some expectations for him.

However, Yichen didn't reveal anything and put the list aside after looking at it.

While the other matches were still ongoing, Yichen suddenly remembered something, turned to look at Karin, and asked, "Karin, are you also applying to graduate early?"

Karin glanced at Neji, then at Kurotsuchi was desperately trying to signal to her, and said, "Yes, Teacher Yichen."

Yichen nodded and said, "How about this, the three of you form a team, and your Sister Riori is the captain?"

Upon hearing this, Uzumaki Riori immediately turned her head, her eyes shining. She nodded frantically, ahead of the other three, and exclaimed, "Yes, yes!"

Kurotsuchi opened his mouth:...

Why do I feel like I'm reaping what I sowed? How can Sister Riori, with her personality, be a squad leader?

Neji was also dumbfounded, but when Uzumaki Riori looked over, he quickly showed a surprised expression.

She added, "That's great! With Sister Riori guiding us, we'll definitely become Chunin soon."

Neji made up his mind: he must participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams as soon as possible and become Chunin as quickly as possible.

Kurotsuchi looked at Neji in disbelief. "I never expected you to be like this, Neji."

Then Kurotsuchi greeted Uzumaki Riori with a bright smile and sweetly said, "Hello Teacher Riori."

Uzumaki Riori smiled with satisfaction, then looked at Karin, who was still in the game. Karin quick-witted and had realized what was happening as soon as Neji gave in.

She bowed to Uzumaki Riori and said, "Please take good care of me Teacher Riori."

Beside them, Yuki Kinuyo, Sakura, Shion, Yakumo Kurama immediately cast disdainful glances at Neji and his companions.

Uzumaki Riori has finally become Guiding Jonin, and full of enthusiasm, she immediately and happily led the three of them to the Training Ground.

Today I will teach the three of them how to Great Fireball Technique.

Watching the three children and one adult leave, Atsumi Akino opened her mouth several times before finally Yichen said, "Teacher Yichen, are you sure everything's alright?"

Yichen waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I have plans for how to teach these three."

Atsumi Akino was somewhat relieved.

But then she started to worry again. How could she teach the disciples to be supervised by Yichen? But wouldn't it still be up to Uzumaki Riori to lead the disciples on missions?

Is Riori really okay? Hopefully, Neji and the others can teach Riori a thing or two.

The first round of 100 matches has concluded, and the second round will feature chess.

The two types of competitions are staggered and continue in rounds.

The graduating class ninja's chess tournament lasted for three days.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that the two champions were finally decided.

The Aono Shinichi, whom Yichen had seen on the first day. He won almost every match with an overwhelming advantage.

The chess champion was a shy little girl named Minamoto Shizuka.

Minamoto Shizuka was a student in Regular Class. Her grades were average, and she didn't have any special talents. Yichen had seen the list of all the graduating students, but he didn't remember her at all.

Yichen also knows how to play chess. To be honest, the little girl's chess skills are average, and it was a difficult process for her to win first place.

The main problem was that none of them were familiar with chess; it was a bunch of novices fighting each other. Minamoto Shizuka was just quick to learn and figured out some of the strategies before the others.

If these kids are given a few more days to get used to chess, she'll probably miss out on first place.

But this is exactly the ability Yichen needs: to quickly grasp new rules and use them to his advantage. This is a huge advantage.

The battlefields of ninjas are ever-changing, often leaving little time for strategic thinking; quick wit is often more important than intelligence.

In the Chunin Ninja Exams, during the match between Shikamaru Nara and Temari, a scene where Shikamaru sits alone under a tree, deep in thought, made Yichen want to curse him out.

This is war, a life-or-death struggle where people will die. Who will give you time to calmly devise a strategy?

If A and B hadn't gone easy on him, would Shikamaru Nara have been able to get the girl?

Aono Shinichi and Minamoto Shizuka have already confirmed that they will become Yichen's disciples.

In addition, based on the information he had gathered, Yichen set his sights on a girl.

The girl's Rion. Yichen had seen her file and realized that she was not the same type of person as Minamoto Shizuka.

Minamoto Shizuka also enjoys playing Go, but her skills are not outstanding. However, Rion's personality is somewhat similar to that of Suda Himezuki and Uzumaki Riori.

Yichen also inquired with Rion's homeroom teacher: Rion is a student in Regular Class, from a commoner background. Let alone a hobby like playing chess, she probably has never even touched a chessboard.

She enjoys fighting and excels in Taijutsu. Her grades in theory classes are average, and while her Taijutsu are decent for Regular Class, they can't compare to those of the Advanced Class.

Yichen gave the third spot to Rion because Yichen felt that being able to learn something completely disliked and unfamiliar in three days and perform well at it was a significant advantage.

Rion was eliminated in the final quarterfinals of the chess tournament, and the one who defeated Rion was none other than Minamoto Shizuka.

At this point, the three members of Team 8 chosen by Yichen were officially confirmed.

This is also the first time Yichen has assembled a team of three people who are all known for their intelligence.

After Yichen finished selecting his disciples, Atsumi Akino and the Jonin who had watched the competition for three days also began to select their favorite disciples.

While the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure was leading the lively selection of disciples, Konoha was also not quiet.

Since his failed attempt to defeat Danzo and his return from the Land of Wind, Hiruzen Sarutobi has been in low spirits.

He was consumed by deep self-blame.

He never felt this intense regret before, even when he forced White Fang to his death, caused Tsunade to develop hemophobia, or watched Orochimaru Betrayal of the Village.

Because Danzo was, after all, someone who had been with him through thick and thin for decades.

However, from the moment Danzo activated the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, he and Danzo could no longer talk about life and ideals as before.

Even after death, Hiruzen Sarutobi resting place will be Memorial Stone without Danzo.

Now, no matter what Hiruzen Sarutobi sees in the village, he thinks of Danzo.

Danzo that chair; the person's back view looks a bit like Danzo; Danzo liked the little toys in that shop the most.

Danzo once walked towards him with a smile from the end of that street.

Danzo used to slam this door whenever he was upset with me. Although the door was no longer sturdy, I had never been willing to replace it.

The first few months after Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others returned to the village were fine, but as time went on, a rumor gradually began to spread throughout Konoha.

The message was simple: Hiruzen Sarutobi colluded with Danzo to kill many members of those powerful ninja clans.

The news was naturally spread by the Iwa ninja, with the aim of getting the Konoha to treat Hiruzen Sarutobi the same way they treated White Fang back then, forcing him to commit suicide.

However, the message somehow became distorted during its spread.

As the story spread, the villagers' focus shifted to the fact that the Third Hokage and the Sixth Hokage were openly suppressing the village's powerful ninja clan.

It turns out that ever since Danzo killed those Root ninjas, the heads of those great ninja clans have been gradually withdrawing the Chunin their clans that had been scattered.

Many ninja from various clans originally joined the Anbu, and many others became Jonin Squad Leader Jonin Team-leading Chunin.

Now these ninjas have all been summoned back by their clan leader.

Shikaku Nara and his group had a valid reason: their clan owned many businesses but lacked manpower.

The implication is that the Hokage lineage has caused them heavy losses, and they don't want to make any more sacrifices for the time being; they need to recuperate.

With Shikaku Nara's intelligence, he naturally knew that this would exacerbate the conflict between the Chunin Konoha.

However, Danzo 'Danzo was truly ruthless.

Since the founding of Konoha, these great ninja clans have never suffered such humiliation.

They had previously sent a large number of elites into Root under pressure from Danzo, but in an instant, these elites were gone.

They definitely need to rest and recuperate to restore their strength.

As for whether doing so will cause losses to the village or increase the pressure on Civilian Ninja, I can only apologize.

Shikaku Nara and others are now High-ranking officials, and they control the village's discourse, leaving the Civilian Ninja with nowhere to voice their opinions.

Therefore, even knowing the consequences of withdrawing these ninja clan members, Shikaku Nara and the others still did it.

At first, these clan leaders were worried that doing so might provoke a reprimand from the Hokage's lineage.

After all, they didn't have a true Kage Level to carry the show.

Even Might Guy, a ninja who wasn't from the Hokage lineage but could unleash Kage Level power, sided with Kakashi.

But soon they realized they were overthinking it.

The two leaders of the Hokage lineage, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, were in a daze, either reminiscing about the good times they spent together or regretting not stopping Danzo, which led to Danzo drifting further and further away from them.

As for Kakashi, he was practicing Wood Release in preparation for the upcoming First Hokage's Cells transplant experiment.

In the Land of Wind, Danzo demonstrated the immense power of Wood Release, but Danzo's somewhat erratic mental state made Kakashi even more cautious.

Danzo's mental instability is related to the First Hokage's Cells transplant surgery, then things will be complicated.

To free up his time, Kakashi even entrusted the village's daily affairs to Shikaku Nara, having no interest in dealing with these messy matters.

Kakashi may have known that the conflict between Civilian Ninja and clan ninjas in the village was becoming increasingly acute, but he was too busy to intervene recently.

Kakashi was probably thinking that after he received the First Hokage's Cells and his strength increased, he would have a proper heart-to-heart talk with Shikaku Nara and the others.

However, Kakashi probably didn't know that by doing this, he was not only becoming more and more like Danzo in his ninja path, but also in his way of Danzo.

Danzo's initial idea was similar: to use the village's resources to strengthen his own power, and then use overwhelming force to pressure the powerful ninja clans into making greater concessions.

Speaking of which, Yichen is doing the same thing now, mobilizing the entire village to research the Little White Ball. For this experiment, Iwagakure has invested the spoils of many wars.

Moreover, barring unforeseen circumstances, even more investment will be needed in the future.

Ultimately, researching the Little White Ball was a project undertaken solely by Yichen. The project's success only strengthened Yichen's position.

However, Yichen did this with the support of the High-ranking officials, and the large amount of funds invested by the village were also obtained by Yichen through his own means from Great Ninja Village.

Yichen did not directly harm the interests of other ninjas in the village, nor did he significantly affect the operation of other village institutions.

Iwagakure continued to expand its army according to the original plan.

However, Kakashi and Danzo did things differently from Yichen.

Their experiments require a large amount of Konoha's funds, but these funds are not earned by them.

Kakashi was able to conduct his experiments successfully partly because he delegated authority to the ninja clans who held power in the village.

With the construction of the Land of Wind branch, many important positions in the village became vacant, but at this time, neither Hiruzen Sarutobi nor Kakashi had any interest in government affairs.

Therefore, Shikaku Nara and others placed many ninja clan members in positions of power. There was no other way; restoring the strength of their clans required more than just time; sufficient resources also needed to be invested.

This greatly displeased the village's Civilian Ninja: Well, you ninja clans, on the one hand, say you don't have enough manpower, and on the other hand, call back those who work for the village.

On the one hand, they allow their own people to occupy various important positions.

Unfortunately, these ninja clans suffered too many elite losses, so the people they sent out were not very strong, and many of them lacked the strength and experience to command respect.

Therefore, unseen by Iwagakure, Konoha had already habitually and automatically formed two new opposing camps.

The Iwa ninja spreading rumors that Hiruzen Sarutobi Danzo was like throwing a Fire Star into boiling oil.

As the villagers discussed it, the conflict between Civilian Ninja and clan ninjas gradually came to the forefront.

Although this matter wasn't explicitly addressed in High-Level Meeting, it was being discussed Tenten in private.

The enthusiasm of many Civilian Ninja in Konoha for carrying out missions has decreased.

What missions are they supposed to carry out? They work themselves to the bone, risking their lives to carry out missions, and the lion's share of the village's income ends up in the hands of those ninja clan members who sit in offices.

If the other party is experienced, powerful, and has shed blood for the village, then so be it.

Unfortunately, many of these people were not recorded in the Konoha ninja archives. In other words, they had never done anything for the village or shed blood to protect their comrades.

So, on what basis? What qualifications did they have to rise to power?

Is it just because they have the surname Nara? Is it just because they have the surname Hyuga?

Of course, although these people harbored great resentment, they were far from being ready to rebel.

At most, the number of ninjas taking leave without reason is increasing, and the success rate of Konoha ninja in completing missions is decreasing.

The reputation of Konoha ninja in the Ninja World is getting worse and worse.

When the Iwa ninja intelligence ninja figured out what had happened in Konoha and relayed it to Yichen was somewhat bewildered.

"Konoha has formed two opposing camps again? This time it really wasn't me!"

In the original work, class conflict in Konoha is not prominent, thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who acts gently. Unlike Danzo, he is not impatient and often hurts people.

Then Shikaku Nara and the others stopped playing with them.

In truth, those ninja clan members also harbored resentment.

The education they received from childhood was different from what ordinary children learned at the Ninja Academy.

Their fathers and grandfathers told them that Konoha was founded by their ancestors, and that when their ancestors shed blood and sacrificed themselves for the village, those commoner ancestors didn't even know what a ninja was.

Therefore, these ninja clan members felt that Konoha should have rightfully belonged to them, especially after the Uchiha and Senju were gone. They felt Konoha should belong to them, the veteran ninja clans.

Especially the Hyuga Clan ninjas, although these branch families are subservient to the Main Family.

However, Hyuga Clan compound, they are the largest clan in Konoha, the largest clan in the Ninja World, and the masters of Konoha.

Are we wrong to simply take back what is rightfully ours?

When Konoha the founding of Konoha, all the positions belonged to our ninja clan members. It was Senju Tobirama, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo who stole what was ours.

Oh, Senju Tobirama is dead. If we can't target him, then it's all Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo's fault.

Yichen hadn't thought about it this way before, but after receiving the information, he was overjoyed.

He quickly called his assistant and asked, "Have you made contact with Danzo?"

The assistant replied, "Lord Tsuchikage, not yet. The Anbu have been searching for a long time, but haven't found any trace of Danzo."

Yichen said, "Hurry up, send more people. If we really can't find them, then spread the word that I have something to discuss with Danzo."

After a pause, Yichen said, "If Danzo is still worried, he can send someone to negotiate. Anyway, it wouldn't be difficult for him to capture a ninja and apply the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal."

The assistant thought for a moment and asked, "Lord Tsuchikage, won't Konoha find out if we do this?"

Yichen pointed to the intelligence report and said, "Konoha is busy and doesn't have time for such trivial matters. You don't need to worry about Konoha; go and get to work."

"Yes," the assistant replied and quickly left.

Yichen sat in his office, took out a piece of paper, and wrote down the names of all the Minor Ninja Clans in Konoha and their leaders.

He took out another piece of paper and wrote down the Elite Jonin the Ninja World of Konoha.

Then, Yichen combined the information from the original work with that from this life and began his analysis.