A New Strategy Against Konoha

Then the Genji asked again, "Fifth Hokage, did Konoha compensate you with anything?"

Kisame nodded, took out a scroll from his robes, and said, "This is Konoha's S-rank Forbidden Jutsu, Impure World Reincarnation."

"I witnessed the power of this Forbidden Technique firsthand in Konoha."

"Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Orochimaru all used this Forbidden Technique."

"Especially Hiruzen Sarutobi, summoned by Mito Uzumaki."

"Because Mito Uzumaki shares the same stance as Konoha, she fights based on her own will, so her combat power is estimated to be even stronger than when she was alive."

Genji exclaimed in surprise, "Konoha has even summoned Mito Uzumaki?"

When Genji was young, he had witnessed the strength of Mito Uzumaki. In their time, Mito Uzumaki was considered the Jinchūriki in each village who could unleash the power of the Tailed Beast to the greatest Jinchuriki.

As he spoke, he glanced at the scroll and said, "Fifth Hokage, are you planning to use the Impure World Reincarnation to summon the four previous Hokage?"

Kisame nodded and said, "That's right. I heard from the Hokage that their former sages of Konoha seem to be unable to be summoned for some reason, so the Impure World Reincarnation doesn't help them much."

"But we can summon all four predecessors and let them fight on their own."

Mei Terumi's eyes lit up, and she said, "This is amazing! Can I summon my deceased relatives?"

Kisame said, "Konoha didn't tell me if this stuff has any side effects, so I'm not sure."

"Let's send someone to learn it properly first, and see how it goes before making any further decisions."

No one had any objections.

After a pause, Genji continued, "Fifth Hokage, there's something else. The Three-Tails Jinchuriki, is in trouble. He used the Tailed Beast too many times on the front lines, and his body couldn't take it anymore."

"On the way back to the village, the Three-Tails was about to go berserk, so the Barrier Team and Ao, who was escorting it, moved the Three-Tails away."

"The Three-Tails is now inside Ao's body!"

Kisame thought for a moment and said, "That Ao who has a Byakugan?"

"He's quite strong; he could become the Three-Tails Jinchuriki."

"The Byakugan combined with Tailed Beast might produce unexpected results."

Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's Office Building, High-Level Meeting.

This was the first High-Level Meeting of Iwa ninja after the Konoha Collapse Plan.

The atmosphere at the meeting was relatively relaxed, as the first topic of discussion was the gains from this operation.

Yichen spoke first, "Let me start by telling you about our results in this First Shinobi War."

"The biggest victory naturally went to the Cloud ninja. After today, the Kumogakure will be gone, and all that will remain are some wandering ninjas."

"Of course, there's also Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer B, who's on the run. Everyone must be very careful about that."

"Killer B is Perfect Jinchuriki, and the Perfect Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails. His strength surpasses that of most Kage Level in the village."

"Until we confirm Killer B's whereabouts, all of you must go out in pairs."

Everyone nodded.

Yichen then said with a smile, "Next is Konoha. Konoha's Might Guy is finally dead. When I saw Might Guy die in battle, I felt like a Taiseki had been lifted from my heart."

"The Gate of Death of the Eight Inner Gates is truly amazing; it allows an Elite Jonin unleash power surpassing even the Kage Level."

"Fortunately, there are no more uncertainties in Konoha now, so we can adjust our strategy for dealing with Konoha."

"Besides Might Guy, Hiruzen Sarutobi is also dead. He used the Reaper Death Seal take Danzo down with Danzo."

"It's a pity that our Danzo ultimately sacrificed himself for the rise of Iwa ninja."

Everyone wanted to laugh upon hearing this, but then they thought Danzo was pitiful; the only ones who remembered him after his death were the Iwa ninja.

Yichen shook his head and said, "Don't laugh. Without Danzo, Konoha may be weak now, but it's united internally. It's no longer possible to exploit their internal conflicts like before."

Ikura nodded and said, "That's true, but Konoha has lost several thousand ninjas. Even without internal strife, they can't possibly pose a threat to us anymore."

Yichen couldn't directly talk about the Sage of Six Paths, so he said, "You could think of it that way, but let's put that aside for now and talk about our other gains."

"The Mist ninja lost the Six-Tails, and also suffered significant losses with several thousand Ninja Army."

"Furthermore, the entire Mist ninja Kirigakure has been relocated this time. While this method can prevent a large number of civilians and children from being threatened, the financial losses to Mist ninja will certainly be substantial."

That's about it for the major parts. There were some spoils of war, but I won't go into them today.

Everyone nodded, and then Tomoko spoke up, "Let me tell you about the losses."

"First of all, Kawakita is injured. He needs to rest for a long time and will not be able to fight in the short term."

"We didn't lose many ninjas, only a few hundred in the melee with the Cloud ninja and during the pursuit."

"However, the losses in supplies were enormous. Whether it was the back-and-forth transport of 20,000 troops or the several major battles fought by the army, it all put tremendous pressure on the village's finances."

"We thought we'd reap great rewards in Kumogakure, but the Cloud ninja almost destroyed the entire village in their final frenzy. Our gains are far less than we expected."

"I've calculated it; our spoils won't offset our losses."

After saying Tomoko immediately looked at Yichen.

Yichen understood what she meant, so he rolled his eyes and said, "Let's negotiate with Konoha and Mist ninja."

"We should try our best to make up for the losses in this war by negotiating with Konoha and Mist ninja."

"In addition, we can ask the Daimyo for more military funding, after all, we have won such a large territory for him this time."

"I plan to divide the Land of Lightning into two parts. The northern half will remain the Land of Lightning, ruled by the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, while we establish a branch."

"The southern half of the Land of Earth, will be handed over to our daimyo, and a branch will be established there as well."

After finishing speaking Yichen looked at Tomoko and said, "Let the two daimyo cover the construction costs of these two branches."

"But do we have enough manpower?"

After thinking for Tomoko said, "We're a bit short-handed. There are too many wandering ninjas in the Land of Lightning, and we'll definitely need a lot of manpower to wipe them out."

"Furthermore, with the branch on the moon still under construction, having two more branches at once will definitely lead to a shortage of manpower."

"We need to make choices about which branch to build first. The remaining ninja shortage will be solved once the next batch of the Ninja Academy students graduate."

Upon hearing this, Yichen breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the territory of Iwagakure is growing larger and larger, Yichen's biggest fear is that there won't be enough manpower.

So Yichen said directly, "There are no enemies on the moon. Let's suspend the branch construction work for now and focus on the two branches in the Land of Lightning first."

"Especially the branch in the south, which is closer to the Mist ninja, must have its personnel allocated as a priority!"

Tomoko replied, "Understood!"

Yichen then said, "Alright, next I'll talk about our future strategic direction."

"For the past ten years or so, our strategy towards Konoha has been primarily provocation, with war as a secondary measure."

"This move worked quite well. Konoha itself killed Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Might Guy, and even drove Tsunade away and forced Orochimaru to rebel."

"Konoha is no longer the behemoth it was a decade or so ago. We need to change our strategy; we should focus our attacks on Konoha, specifically targeting Konoha vital forces."

"Konoha's losses are mainly financial and in terms of its Ninja Army. But the Land of Fire is too wealthy; we can't afford to lose."

"Therefore, our primary strategy in dealing with Konoha is to kill. Our goal is to gradually reduce the Konoha ninja as much as possible."

"Of course, this process cannot be rushed. We also need time to digest the entire Land of Lightning. It is not appropriate to start a major war with Konoha right now."

Most people in the meeting room found this somewhat strange.

Yichen's statement is actually incorrect. What Iwa ninja should be doing at this time is not to digest the Land of Lightning, but to completely destroy Konoha and Mist ninja.

Even now, the combined forces of Konoha and Mist ninja are no match for Iwa ninja.

Even disregarding the severely injured Kawakita, the Iwa ninja's high-level combat strength still overwhelms that of Konoha and Mist ninja.

However, Yichen knew his own bitterness; destroying Konoha was unavoidable in the face of the Sage of Six Paths, and he had no choice at all.

Seeing Yichen's serious expression, the others exchanged glances and nodded in agreement one after another.

Then Yichen said, "I promised Baki that I would give them the territory of Konoha in the Land of Wind."

"Ikura, send someone to contact the Sunagakure. They can reclaim that area, provided they kill all the Konoha ninja stationed there."

Ikura's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded in agreement.

Having the Sunagakure launch a surprise attack on the Konoha ninja is a good idea.

Yichen said, "Although we're not far from the Land of Water after conquering the Land of Lightning, Konoha is closer."

"Therefore, I will focus my future efforts on Konoha."

"Konoha's current apparent strength is inferior to that of Mist ninja, and attacking Konoha would more easily deprive them of their ability to support their allies."

"Once we've crippled Konoha, we'll concentrate our forces and wipe out the Mist ninja."

"This is the Strategic Direction for the future. Does anyone have any objections?"

Ōnoki knew a little about the Sage of Sage of Six Paths, so he was the first to agree to Yichen's arrangement.

With Ōnoki agreeing, no one else dared to voice their opinions.

Thus, the new Strategic Direction of Iwa ninja was determined under Yichen's leadership.

The High-Level Meeting has ended, but Yichen still has many things to deal with.

First, Yichen went to the hospital to see Kawakita.

Kawakita has woken up, but he is too badly injured to get out of bed.

Yichen first observed the guards around the Kawakita ward, and only entered the ward after confirming that the defenses were tight.

When Kawakita saw Yichen enter, he grinned somewhat awkwardly and said, "Teacher Yichen, I've disappointed you. I almost got killed by Darui."

Yichen laughed and said, "It's good that you're not dead. I heard you even benefited from the misfortune?"

Kawakita nodded awkwardly and said, "Yes, a little. In the final moments when I was on the verge of death, my swordsmanship finally improved somewhat."

Yichen's smile faded, and he said, "Tell me about your last strike."

Kawakita thought for a moment, organized his thoughts, and then said, "That last strike was similar to Sword Qi, but also different."

"That strike had nothing to do with Chakra; it was pure swordsmanship."

Yichen asked in surprise, "The techniques of Pure Samurai?"

Kawakita nodded.

The strongest martial power in the Ninja World is in the hands of ninjas, but the samurai in the Ninja World are also quite powerful. Samurai like Mifune have the strength to contend with the Kage of the Great Ninja Village.

Among the samurai, there are two different types.

Firstly, like most samurai, they possess Chakra, just like ninjas. However, they do not fight using Ninjutsu; instead, they amplify their attacks with Chakra.

Another type of samurai doesn't train Chakra and fights purely with swordsmanship.

This type of samurai is extremely rare, and it is very difficult for them to become true masters.

Previously, Kawakita followed the path of the first type of samurai, Yichen never expected that he would actually master the Unique Technique of the second type of Pure Samurai.

Yichen pondered for a moment, then asked, "Is there a way to promote this kind of swordsmanship in the village?"

Kawakita thought for a moment and said, "No. This mainly depends on talent and comprehension."

"This isn't even a skill anymore; it's something that can't be achieved simply through practice."

Yichen felt a little regretful after hearing this. This move was quite powerful, capable of cutting Darui, who possessed Lightning Armor, in half.

This attack power is no less than that of an S-rank Wind Release.

There are very few Ninjutsu in Iwagakure that can compare to this move in terms of power.

If we exclude Dust Release and Light Release, which are two types of Kekkei Tōta, then there are almost none.

If we also consider single-target attacks, then almost both words can be dropped.

If Iwagakure could cultivate dozens of ninjas of this caliber, conquering the Ninja World would be a piece of cake.

Putting aside his unrealistic fantasies, Yichen asked, "Can you still unleash this attack? Is it too much of a burden for you?"

Yichen learned about the various data of this move from Kawakita in detail at the hospital before leaving his ward.

After leaving the hospital, Yichen went to Katsuya's laboratory. Yichen handed Katsuyuki the Danzo Impure World Reincarnation scroll given to him by Katsuya and said, "I have a mission for you!"

"Study this Impure World Reincarnation carefully and try to learn it as soon as possible."

"I don't know when the next great war will come, but I hope I can use this Ninjutsu then."

"Almost all the powerful ninjas who have died in the Ninja World over the years have died at our hands."

"Therefore, we possess the genes of many Kage-level experts. If we learn this Ninjutsu, we could even assemble a Kage Level team."

Katsuya took the scroll, opened it, and looked at it. Natsuki, who was standing next to him, also curiously came over.

After reading it, Natsuki said, "Brother, we brought back the bodies of Raikage and Yuki Koru after killing them. Can we use them too?"

Yichen nodded and said, "Not just Darui and Yuki Koru."

"We also have Hanzo, the Fourth Raikage, the Third Kazekage, the Fourth Kazekage, Chiyo, Pakura, Ryosuke, Obito Uchiha."

"Unfortunately, after conquering the Land of Lightning, we didn't find the bodies of the First Raikage to Third Raikage, nor did we find Jiraiya's body."

"Besides that, I also have some of Kakuzu's blood, but the Mist ninja have more of that stuff than I do, so it's hard to say they won't get their hands on it first."

"Even without counting Kakuzu, we already have ten Kage Level Reanimated Body. If we add our own First Generation and Second Hokage, that makes twelve."

"If that's still not enough, we can kill Shisui Uchiha and Impure World Reincarnation him using Edo Tensei to make up the numbers."

"Oh right, there's also Yugito. Like Yuki Koru Yugito, he's Jinchuriki. I just wonder how strong these Jinchuriki are after they're Impure World Reincarnation using Edo Tensei."

Katsuya took a deep breath and said, "Teacher Yichen, this task is too important. I'm afraid I can't complete it alone and it will waste time."

Yichen said, "Your research abilities are very strong. The Impure World Reincarnation is Forbidden Technique related to the soul, so you are the most suitable person to study it."

"If you lack any supplies or manpower, just ask the village. I will notify all the advisors to make things convenient for you."

"This research has a priority only below the Little White Ball experiment."

Katsuya nodded heavily, feeling a lot of pressure.

Yichen said, "Natsuki will be your assistant, and the two of you will study this together."

"The research is a success! I'll arrange your wedding!"

Natsuki had been watching the drama unfold, but the topic suddenly shifted to her, and her face flushed red. She glared at Yichen and said, "Brother~~~"

Natsuki ran away, Katsuya was too embarrassed to run away. He scratched his head awkwardly, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Yichen patted him on the shoulder and left the lab.

After Yichen left, Natsuki blushed and pretended nothing had happened as she strolled back. She snatched the scroll from Katsuya's hand and began to examine it carefully.

After leaving Katsuya's lab, Yichen called over the three members of Team 8.

Aono Shinichi, Minamoto Shizuka, Rion distinguished themselves in this surprise attack on the Mist ninja and the decisive battle against the Cloud ninja.

Yichen first praised the three of them highly, then said, "Come on, based on the intelligence you have, guess the village's next strategic direction."

The three exchanged glances, and then Aono Shinichi said, "Teacher Yichen, we've already thought about this issue."

"We believe the village should take advantage of Konoha's weakness, launch an immediate attack, and quickly take Konoha."

After destroying the Kumogakure, the three discussed the situation in the Ninja World.

Minamoto Shizuka also said, "I think so too. Although taking Konoha now would make our forces insufficient, once we destroy Konoha, there will be no enemies left on the entire continent."

"We don't need to set up so many branches. We just need to deploy some troops along the coast to prevent the Mist ninja landing."

Rion nodded and said, "Yes, we already have an absolute advantage, why should we give Konoha and Mist ninja a chance to recover their strength?"

Yichen laughed and said, "The analyses are all good. How about this, I'll add one condition: Konoha cannot be destroyed!"

"Given this premise, please analyze it again."

The three exchanged glances, all seeing confusion in each other's eyes!

Yichen tapped each of the three men on the head and said, "Don't worry about why, just think about what to do."

The three of them sighed helplessly, then huddled together and whispered among themselves for a while before finally speaking up, "Teacher Yichen Minamoto Shizuka, this is what we think."

"Since we cannot destroy Konoha, we can only maintain peace for the time being. However, during this period of peace, we cannot give up our suppression of Konoha and Mist ninja."

"We must ensure that we are developing while the enemy is weakening."

"First, Konoha. We can send people to infiltrate the Land of Fire, create chaos, and tie down their forces."

"Konoha's biggest weakness right now is its manpower shortage. Konoha hasn't had a peaceful period recently; several coups have significantly reduced the number of ordinary ninja in the Konoha."

"Our strategy to suppress Konoha should focus on this direction."

"I heard that Konoha suffered a crushing defeat in the Joint Chunin Exams, while our Iwa ninja performed exceptionally well."

"We can use this reputation to steal missions from the Land of Fire. We can send more ninjas into the Land of Fire time, and then deliberately cause conflicts with the Konoha ninja there."

"Continuously killing Konoha's manpower during the conflict."

Minamoto Shizuka finished speaking, Rion continued, "Next up is the Mist ninja. Dealing with the Mist ninja is much simpler. This time, the Mist ninja emptied the village, so the biggest loss was to the village's finances."

"Therefore, we should deal with the Mist ninja in the same way we dealt with the Sunagakure back then, by using economic plunder."

"Try to keep the Mist ninja trapped in the Land of Water, so they can't take on missions outside of Land of Water."

After listening to his disciples, Yichen smiled and said, "Very good, I will appoint you as the persons in charge of suppressing Konoha and Mist ninja."

"At that time, you will decide who to send and how many people to carry out missions related to Konoha and Mist ninja."

The three of them quickly agreed, and they could see the excitement in each other's eyes.

The three were very excited about this opportunity to directly participate in the village's major policies.

After sending his three disciples away, Yichen returned home.

Yichen walked to the Outer Path Statue Fragment and took out two items from his Ninja Tool Pouch.

The first item was an tentacle of the Eight-Tails Ox-Demon that Ōnoki brought back from the Land of Lightning.

Yichen used the Jinchuriki Tailed Beast Sealing Technique, a Jinchūriki, to create another space within the Outer Path Statue Fragment.

Then he directly extracted the Chakra from the Eight-Tails' tentacles and sealed it into this space.

However, the Outer Path Statue Fragment were already empty shells; all the special energy within them had been used up by Yichen.

Yichen needs one more item to condense the Eight-Tails 'Chakra into a smaller Eight-Tails using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Yichen picked up the second item he had just taken out of his Ninja Tool Bag: the First Hokage's cells.

These First Hokage's Cells were obtained by Yichen from Obito Uchiha's Kamui Space.

They were all painstakingly cultivated by Madara Uchiha. Madara Uchiha used First Hokage's Cells to cultivate White Zetsu clone.

Yichen, on the other hand, plans to use the First Hokage's Cells to cultivate the Tailed Beast.

After Yichen injected the First Hokage's Cells into the Outer Path Statue Fragment, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, just as Yichen had predicted, quickly absorbed the power from the First Hokage's Cells.

This process was slow; Yichen waited for a full half-day before the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path finished absorbing the First Hokage's Cells.

Then Yichen sensed that the Eight-Tails 'Chakra within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path began to converge and change.

But after a while, the change stopped.

Yichen frowned; it seemed the First Hokage's Cells was insufficient.

The First Hokage's Cells that Yichen just injected into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path accounted for one-tenth of all the First Hokage's Cells.

So Yichen injected another one-tenth.

Another round of waiting ensued, but while Yichen waited, Little Rhino Dog, Little Chōmei, Little Son Goku, and Little Matatabi all returned one after another.

These four little guys all live inside the Outer Path Statue Fragment.

Upon seeing Yichen standing beside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, the Little Rhino Dog reacted the fastest, immediately approaching and asking, "Yichen, are other Tailed Beast about to be born?"

Yichen nodded, reached out and petted the Little Rhino Dog, and said, "Yes, guess who it is this time?"

Yichen is now absolutely in love with the Little Rhino Dog. Not long after arriving in Iwagakure, Little Matatabi was persuaded by the Little Rhino Dog to hand over control of his Chakra to Yichen.

Therefore, Little Matatabi now wears Forehead Protector on his forehead that signifies his membership in Iwagakure.

So when the Little Gyūki is born, Yichen will still have the Little Rhino Dog take care of him.

The long-planned Konoha Collapse Plan is finally over, time to wrap things up, and start preparing for the final epic battle.

The daily lives of Naruto and other main characters from the original work are not described in this book.