Arrival at the Exam Venue

Meanwhile, after ending his meeting with Danzo and returning to Iwagakure, Yichen sent an official letter to Kakashi in the name of the Tsuchikage.

Yichen stated that the Iwa ninja would send representatives to participate in the third round of the Joint Chunin Exams Konoha.

Furthermore, Yichen stated that he, as the Tsuchikage, would personally lead the team to Konoha.

Yichen issued the notice directly without seeking Kakashi's consent.

It's completely like: I'm the villain, and I'm here to cause trouble.

Then, Yichen also convened a High-Level Meeting the Iwagakure high-level officials to prepare for the Konoha Collapse Plan a month later.

After the meeting, Yichen summoned Uzumaki Riori's three new disciples: Sakura, Shion, and Yakumo Kurama.

Sakura's training didn't actually require much attention from Yichen. From her first year at the Ninja Academy, Yichen forced her to start learning Medical Ninjutsu.

Sakura's biggest weakness in Medical Ninjutsu right now is her Chakra reserves. In terms of skill, she's already on par with everyone in the Medical Department except for the department head Nakata Hajime.

In addition, Sakura also Chakra Scalpel and other combat techniques unique to Medical Ninja, such as using poison.

Sakura's greatest strength lies in Yin Release. Putting aside everything else, a single Mind Body Switch Technique would make Sakura invincible in one-on-one battles against opponents of the same or even higher levels.

The cooperation Inner Sakura's inner Outer Sakura allows Sakura's main body to continue fighting normally even after she uses the Mind Transference Technique.

Of course, this is in theory and under the element of surprise. In actual combat, if the opponent knows her ability and takes precautions, the Mind Transference Technique may not be able to hit the enemy.

Sakura's Yin Release techniques are not limited to the secret arts of the Yamanaka Clan; she also knows Genjutsu.

Although Iwagakure has almost no high-level Genjutsu, it has enough mid-to-low-level Genjutsu for Sakura's use.

After learning about Sakura's fighting style, Yichen gave her some suggestions on how to cultivate Genjutsu techniques and then let her figure it out on her own.

Shion and Yakumo Kurama are in similar situations; both have been working hard to digest the monsters inside their bodies for the past year with the help of Katsuya and Natsuki.

With Katsuya's research abilities combined with Natsuki's Yin Release level, the two of them did indeed come up with many ways to quickly digest the information for Shion and Yakumo Kurama.

Therefore, the rapid progress of the two in Yin Release techniques left Yichen somewhat speechless.

In terms of Yin Release level alone, both of them have reached the second stage.

That's quite exaggerated. Even with Neji's talent, he hadn't reached the second stage of Yin Release before the first fetal movement.

Even with Sakura's Yin Release talent, neither the Inner Sakura nor the Outer Sakura has reached the second stage.

Therefore, Shion and Yakumo Kurama's Yin Release are definitely a bug among their peers.

Especially for Shion, although her diligent cultivation has only been a recent development over the past year, the seal on the Moryo within her body has been slowly transforming the Moryo's Power since she was a child.

Therefore, Shion reached the second stage of Yin Release several months ago.

However, unlike Sakura, the two lack many other abilities.

Both of them were terrible in both Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, especially Yakumo Kurama, who even had to rely on the animal Super Beast Imitation Drawing to walk.

Yichen said to the three of them, "Konoha is holding a Joint Chunin Exams, and I plan to take Sakura and Shion with me."

"Yakumo, do you want to go?"

Yichen had promised Yakumo Kurama that he would not let her fight against the Konoha ninja.

Because of Konoha and her clan, her actions could bring disaster to her clan.

After thinking for a moment, Yakumo Kurama shook his head and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I think I'd better not go. Although I've grown taller over the years, my physique is special, and I'll still be recognized."

Yichen nodded, then patted her head and said, "It's okay, you don't have to go."

"Anyway, I promised Neji I'd bring him along. I can just have him pretend to be Genin."

"However, it's okay not to participate in the competition, but we can't neglect our special training."

"Next, before the start of the third round of the Joint Chunin Exams, I will be giving you a period of special training."

With that, Yichen created three Shadow Clones, each of whom began a one-on-one battle against the three.

Neji Yichen was quite at ease with Neji, but Shion and Sakura were too inexperienced. Although their strength was not low, it wasn't enough to make the Iwagakure look good in this Joint Chunin Exams.

Not only did Yichen create Shadow Clone to spar with the two Tenten, but he also had experienced Chunin from the village compete against them.

When a suitable dangerous mission comes up, Yichen will also reserve it for the three of them.

In short, Yichen was desperately trying to improve the three of them's practical experience.

Kakashi's swift and decisive actions quickly unified Konoha, Danzo into a joke.

Yichen's Konoha Collapse Plan, which he had initially thought would at least cripple the Konoha, has become less secure.

Therefore, Yichen needs to make more preparations.

In the last month before the third match, Yichen traveled to several more places, constantly setting traps for Konoha.

After a busy month, the time for Konoha's third exam finally arrived.

One month later.

In the southeastern part of the Land of Fire, on the border with the Land of Whirlpools, Orochimaru, accompanied by Kabuto Yakushi, was leisurely crossing the border towards Konoha.

Suddenly, a white figure appeared not far from them.

What arrived was naturally White Zetsu clone.

The White Zetsu clone emerged from underground and followed the two towards Konoha, reporting to Orochimaru, "Lord Orochimaru, we've figured it out."

"The Fifth Mizukage is on his way to Konoha, accompanied by two attendants, both dressed as Anbu, whose identities are unknown."

"So far, there's been no trace of the Fifth Raikage. It's likely the Raikage won't be going to Konoha."

Orochimaru didn't speak, but Kabuto Yakushi was beside him, asked for him, "Is there any news about the Tsuchikage?"

The White Zetsu clone said awkwardly, "No, the Tsuchikage's sensory abilities are too terrifying; we simply dare not approach."

"None of the hundreds of clones we sent to monitor the Cloud ninja and search for the Two-Tails have returned."

"Black Zetsu suspects they've fallen into the Tsuchikage's trap. Only the Tsuchikage understands us and has the ability to capture all of our hundreds of clones at once."

Kabuto Yakushi continued, "How did the Tsuchikage know your whereabouts?"

The White Zetsu clone replied, "The Tsuchikage probably didn't go with us, but with the Cloud ninja."

"Before the incident, there was an intelligence leak in Kumogakure, and it seems that several intelligence ninjas from Iwa ninja who had been lying low for more than ten years were exposed."

"The secrets stolen by those Iwa ninja intelligence agents must be the location of the Two-Tails."

"That's why the Tsuchikage just happened to arrive. Our hundreds of clones were just unlucky; they happened to run into him."

Kabuto Yakushi and said to Orochimaru, "Lord Orochimaru Cloud ninja Iwa ninja because of the Two-Tails incident, which is why the Fifth Raikage didn't go to Konoha."

Orochimaru said calmly, "It's normal to be wary. I'm afraid it's not just the Fifth Raikage who's on guard; the Mist ninja are also on their side."

The White Zetsu clone said, "Apart from the Fifth Mizukage, we have absolutely no idea about the whereabouts of the other Kage Level in the Mist ninja."

"Black Zetsu suspects that the two Anbu -disguised ninjas beside the Mizukage are suspicious; they might be Mei Terumi and her group in disguise."

"Black Zetsu asked me to ask Lord Orochimaru, should we test him?"

Orochimaru glanced at the White Zetsu clone and said, "There's no need. We have no conflict with the Mist ninja, so why should we act as stepping stones for the Iwa ninja?"

"Besides, such an obvious target is definitely fake, so why bother testing it?"

The White Zetsu clone replied, "Understood, I'll tell Black Zetsu away."

After saying that, the White Zetsu clone burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

Kabuto Yakushi asked, "Lord Orochimaru, is what the White Zetsu clone said credible? Was it really a leak from the Kumogakure?"

"Or is it that there was no loss of hundreds of clones at all, and it was all a fabrication by White Zetsu?"

Orochimaru thought for a moment and said, "The White Zetsu clone wasn't lying; it's likely true that they suffered losses."

"But the Tsuchikage likes to create mystery, and answers obtained easily are not necessarily true."

"I suspect the information about the Two-Tails didn't come from the Hidden Kumogakure."

"It seems more like the Tsuchikage deliberately withdrew their intelligence ninjas hidden in Kumogakure after learning of the information."

He's most likely trying to divert attention.

"Furthermore, based on my understanding of the Tsuchikage, he might be about to take action against the Kumogakure."

Kabuto Yakushi was startled and said, "The Iwa ninja are going to take advantage of Konoha's Joint Chunin Exams to attack the Cloud ninja?"

"Should we leak this information to the Cloud ninja? Let them prepare in advance and set a trap for the Iwa ninja?"

Orochimaru shook his head and said, "We don't need to interfere. The Cloud ninja may have already noticed, and those Mist ninja members who have gone missing are probably the Cloud ninja's Trump Card."

Kabuto Yakushi looked thoughtful, glancing at Orochimaru beside him, realizing he still had much to learn.

At this moment, Orochimaru said, "Kabuto, you missed the key point of the information. Think about it, where did the Two-Tails go?"

"Was he killed directly by the Tsuchikage, or was he sealed away and taken away?"

"The real question is, will we encounter a Two-Tails Jinchuriki in our next conflict with Iwa ninja?"

Kabuto Yakushi was startled. Yes, he had just been distracted by the news of a batch of White Zetsu clone dying.

Kabuto Yakushi quickly admitted his mistake and began to reflect on his actions.

Just as Orochimaru said, Yichen is planning to stir up trouble again while Konoha is about to descend into chaos.

At this time, although Iwagakure had not yet sent troops, its secret mobilization work had already been completed.

The ninjas from Iwagakure and its various branches gathered near the Teleportation Array of their respective branches, ready to be teleported to their target locations.

Meanwhile, the eight Kage Level members of Iwagakure — Ōnoki, Ikura, Kitsuchi, Han, Roshi, Kawakita, Deidara, and Natsuki— sat quietly together in the Tsuchikage's Office Building's conference room, awaiting the latest intelligence.

The reason there were only eight people was because Matsutani Shinya was at the Space-Time Tunnel in the Land of Snow. Yichen took Sokai and Izumi Uchiha the Land of Fire.

Ōnoki and the others were waiting for Yichen's signal to make a move.

Meanwhile, Yichen and his group had already entered the Land of Land of Fire.

Yichen didn't fly directly to the entrance of Konoha, but landed halfway and put down Izumi Uchiha, Karin, Kugiri, Suda Himezuki, and the Ninja Cat Fenghuo.

The four have now changed into the attire of Konoha Anbu.

Yichen said to Izumi Uchiha, "Quan Luo, Konoha's main forces should all be in Konoha right now."

"Go directly to Cat Granny's place, finish this quickly, kill all the ninjas monitoring the Ninja Cat Clan, and then bring the entire Ninja Cat Clan back to the village."

"Karin's sensory abilities and Kureha's Byakugan can make things easier for you, and Fenghuo is also Ninja Cat, so he might be able to help you too."

"Remember, be careful. If you encounter danger, you can abandon the mission."

Izumi Uchiha and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, don't worry. If we have enough time, should I go to Konoha to support you?"

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "That's fine, but only if we can ensure that the Ninja Cat Clan enters our territory."

Izumi Uchiha in agreement, then quickly disappeared into the dense forests of the Land of Fire with the three people and the cat.

After Izumi Uchiha away, Kanako and Atsumi Akino, dressed as Iwa Ninja Anbu, and Sokai, Neji, Sakura, and Shion, dressed as a four-person team, remained by Yichen's side.

Yichen led the six people to fly for a while longer, until they were only about one kilometer away from Konoha, when they landed.

Then, the group of seven slowly walked towards the Konoha Gate.

After a while, the group arrived at the entrance of Konoha, where the Konoha High-ranking officials, led by Kakashi, were already waiting.

Yichen, dressed in a Tsuchikage's robe and wearing Tsuchikage's hat, walked briskly toward Kakashi was dressed similarly, with a smile on his face.

The two did not shake hands or hug, but instead had a friendly conversation while standing about five meters apart.

"Hokage, it's been a long time. Congratulations on Hokage great improvement in strength," Yichen said.

Yichen noticed that Kakashi's right arm was wrapped in bandages, and his aura felt familiar to him.

This sense of familiarity wasn't due to Kakashi's own Chakra, but rather because he possessed an aura similar to that of Obito Uchiha and Danzo.

Yichen immediately guessed that Kakashi had received a transplant of the First Hokage's Cells.

Kakashi didn't discuss his own strength with Yichen. He glanced at the Sage Eye on Yichen's eye and said, "Welcome, Tsuchikage, to the Joint Chunin Exams hosted by Konoha."

Yichen laughed and said, "Welcome, welcome! I came uninvited, and I thought you weren't welcoming me!"

"If you don't welcome me, I'll turn around and go back. I won't cause you any more trouble."

"Since Konoha is so welcoming, I'll stay Konoha a few more days and explore the area properly."

Kakashi:...

Seeing Kakashi choke on his words, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Seventh Hokage, please ask the Tsuchikage to go to the examination venue!"

Kakashi then said, "Tsuchikage, let's head to the exam venue now."

Kakashi led Yichen toward the venue, Yichen noticed that two ninjas dressed as Anbu were closely following Kakashi.

Through the mask, Yichen could see that one of them actually had Byakugan.

As Yichen walked, he said with some regret, "Ah? We're heading to the venue already? I deliberately came early because I wanted to take these kids to try Konoha's famous Ichiraku Ramen!"

"Ever since I ate at Ichiraku Ramen last time, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Konoha."

Kakashi thought to himself, "Are you still hung up on ramen, or do you have ulterior motives towards Konoha? You're being way too blatant!"

Tsuchikage Hiruzen Sarutobi then said, "Don't worry, Tsuchikage. Once we arrive at the venue, I'll immediately send someone to deliver Tsuchikage Ichiraku Ramen to you and the others."

Yichen smiled and said, "Senior Sarutobi, you're too kind. I can't accept this. Why don't you bring the menu first? These little guys behind me don't even know what flavors Ichiraku Ramen has."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression remained unchanged as he said, "No problem."

As he spoke, he gestured to one of his staff members. Upon receiving Hiruzen Sarutobi's look, the man immediately left and ran off in one direction.

Seeing that Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi weren't angry, Yichen continued, "Has everyone else arrived?"

Kakashi said, "The Raikage is too busy with official duties to come. The Mizukage should be on his way."

Yichen said "Oh," and then asked, "Where are the others?"

Kakashi, who was walking a few meters away from Yichen, froze for a moment, but quickly recovered.

He asked calmly, "I wonder who the Tsuchikage is referring to?"

Yichen said, "Of course it's the Daimyo of the Land of Fire! Before I came, our Daimyo said that he was busy and couldn't get away, and told me to greet him when I met the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

Kakashi was caught off guard by Yichen's feint and couldn't respond for a moment.

He originally thought Yichen was referring to Danzo and Orochimaru, but unexpectedly Yichen mentioned Daimyo.

That's true. In this kind of diplomatic occasion, apart from Kisame wasn't present, only the Daimyo of the Land of Fire is someone the Tsuchikage would personally inquire about.

Kakashi was speechless, Hiruzen Sarutobi came to his rescue again, saying, "I'm afraid the Tsuchikage will be disappointed. The Daimyo didn't come this time either, but his envoy has."

"If the Tsuchikage has anything to convey, I will ask him to come over in a moment."

Yichen waved his hand and said, "No need to trouble yourself. I'll just go to the Capital City of the Land of Fire after the exam."

"How can a daimyo's message be delivered so casually!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi:...

You... you want to Capital City of the Land of Fire to meet our daimyo? What do you want to do?

Taking a deep breath, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "How can you say it's hasty? The Daimyo instructed that anything can be conveyed through his messenger, so the Tsuchikage doesn't need to stand on ceremony."

Yichen nodded and said regretfully, "That's a pity, I haven't even seen the Daimyo of the Land of Fire yet!"

As they spoke, the group finally arrived at the venue.

This venue is the same one where Konoha held the Joint Chunin Exams in the original story.

The difference is that there are three seats in the uppermost section of the stands, and three more seats in the section slightly below.

There is a distance of about ten meters between each pair of positions.

One of the seats on the second floor was already occupied by a person; judging from his Yichen, he was Cloud ninja.

Yichen knew that the remaining two spots were probably reserved for Orochimaru and Baki from the Sunagakure.

Yichen went through the internal passage to the top of the stands and chose to sit in the rightmost seat.

Kakashi, wanting to be modest, said, "The Tsuchikage, please sit in the middle."

Yichen smiled and said, "I feel a little uncomfortable sitting between the Hokage and the Mizukage. It's better if I sit on the side."

Kakashi didn't say anything more; he simply sat down in the middle seat.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't follow; he went back to the door to wait for Kisame.

Yichen sat in his seat, while Kanako and Atsumi Akino, dressed as Anbu, stood behind him.

Yichen glanced down; this vantage point offered a commanding view of the competitors' rest area.

At this moment, Sokai had already led Neji other two to the rest area.

Might Guy, acting as the host, stood with his head down, not far from Sokai.

Unlike the original story, this time there was more than one contestant area at the venue, with contestants from each ninja village separated.

The Iwa ninja were placed on the far side, while the Konoha were on the other side.

Therefore, Sokai had no opportunity to contact Sasuke.

Yichen turned to Kakashi and asked, "Hokage, could you show me the list of those who advanced to the third round?"

Kakashi was very reluctant to talk to Yichen, as he always felt that every word Yichen said contained a trap.

However, he could not refuse Yichen's reasonable request, so he had someone fetch a list and gave it to Yichen.

Kanako took the list from Yichen, checked it to make sure there were no problems, and then handed it to Yichen.

Yichen took the list that Kanako had checked and glanced at it.

The first Joint Chunin Exams in this world were organized by Iwa ninja, Yichen led that exam.

The third session of that exam had 42 participants and lasted for three days.

After that, all the Joint Chunin Exams various countries used that exam as a template, and the number of participants in the final match was always over thirty.

This year's Konoha exam was no exception, with a total of thirty-three people advancing to the third round.

Many of the names were familiar to Yichen.

The list includes ten Konoha Genin Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki Hinata Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Kiba Inuzuka, Rock Lee, Tenten.

In addition, Gaara from Sunagakure Temari Gaara Kankuro.

The Sunagakure probably didn't send Gaara here to cause trouble; they likely just wanted to take this opportunity to rebuild the Sunagakure's reputation.

Besides these, Yichen also vaguely remembered the names of Kidomaru, Sakon Ukon from Snake Pit Village.

I didn't see a single famous person from the Kumogakure.

Of Kirigakure, only Hozuki Suigetsu was Yichen had heard of.

Yichen didn't recognize any of the remaining people.

Yichen put the list aside, and at that moment, several Konoha ninja brought him three bowls of Yichen.

Yichen could see that Sokai in the contestant area was holding a bowl and looking in his direction.

There was no table where Yichen was, so he gently tapped the ground with his foot. The next moment, an Earth Release is a technique that involves using earth magic to create a small stone table) was erected in front of Yichen.

Yichen gestured to the Konoha ninja to place the ramen on the table.

Then he glanced back at Kanako and Atsumi Akino.

The two women turned their heads in unison, as if by perfect understanding. They had their pride; Yichen's location was under intense scrutiny, and they didn't want to be exposed.

Especially when eating noodles, they have to take off their masks, which is like removing their last fig leaf.

Yichen didn't mind. He placed all three bowls of noodles in front of him, picked up one, and immediately started slurping it down.

Kakashi was somewhat disappointed to see that Yichen's two guards had not removed their masks, as Konoha had not yet figured out the identities and strengths of Yichen's two guards.

Kakashi had originally planned to use the opportunity of eating noodles to confirm the identities of the two.