It was probably Ziyun's newly developed Thunder God Technique that had allowed him to escape Orochimaru's assassination attempt.
"All right, then did you fight him?" The Third Raikage asked a question that concerned him greatly.
Ziyun's bizarre Ninjutsu was enough to give anyone who knew nothing about it a headache. If they had fought, Konoha would probably have learned about Ziyun's abilities.
For a ninja, intelligence was tantamount to life itself. That was no exaggeration.
Ziyun had survived Orochimaru's assassination attempt this time thanks to Konoha not having the latest intelligence on him.
If they had known, the outcome probably would have been different.
"Of course we fought, and he should have learned about my abilities," Ziyun said with a nod.
"All right, I understand. Strengthen Ziyun's protection, and don't let your guard down for a moment, twenty-four hours a day!"
The Third Raikage lowered his gaze and gave the Anbu beside him a stern order.
Information about Ziyun had leaked. If Konoha learned of this bizarre Ninjutsu, they would certainly be even warier of him.
There might even be several more waves of assassins to come.
"Hiruzen, send them out first. I have something to tell you."
In the Hokage's office in Konoha, Danzo Shimura walked in with a sinister expression.
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately stopped his work and dismissed everyone present.
"Everyone's gone. Go on, what is it?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Danzo Shimura after clearing the room.
"The mission to assassinate Yeyue Ziyun failed, and Orochimaru was seriously injured," Danzo said.
"With Orochimaru's strength, it would indeed be difficult to carry out an assassination under the Third Raikage's watch."
In fact, as soon as Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Danzo's sinister expression, he already knew what he was going to say.
How could it be easy to carry out an assassination under the nose of the Third Raikage, who was known as the strongest Raikage?
"I didn't expect you to be so calm. Hiruzen, this time is different from the last few."
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression, as though he had expected this all along, Danzo was somewhat annoyed and spoke faster.
"The one who injured Orochimaru wasn't the Third Raikage or the Kumogakure Anbu. It was that brat Yeyue Ziyun."
"What? Is that true?"
Upon hearing Danzo's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer keep his composure, and his face darkened.
Hadn't Yeyue Ziyun only just graduated? How could he possibly have injured Orochimaru?
"According to Orochimaru, the new Ninjutsu Yeyue Ziyun developed this time is very strange. It's similar to the Hydrification Technique of the Hidden Mist Village's Hozuki Clan, but it goes a step further."
"Neither Taijutsu nor Ninjutsu can harm Yeyue Ziyun."
"This genius is far more frightening than we imagined!"
A flash of deep apprehension appeared in Danzo's eyes!
According to Orochimaru, Yeyue Ziyun had seriously injured him in what was almost a one-on-one fight.
Given Orochimaru's current strength as an elite Jonin, only a Kage Level expert could defeat him head-on.
Could Yeyue Ziyun have crossed the threshold into Kage Level at such a young age?
That... was rather absurd.
But the reality that Orochimaru had been seriously injured one-on-one was right there before Danzo.
Rather than believe that, Danzo Shimura preferred to believe that the assassination had failed because Orochimaru's intelligence on Yeyue Ziyun was incomplete.
Intelligence-intelligence was life itself to a ninja.
"At such a young age, his talent has already reached this level. If we let him continue to grow, he'll surely become a major threat to Konoha someday."
Deep apprehension appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes as well.
As Orochimaru's teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew better than anyone how great Orochimaru's talent and strength were.
Among the young ninja of his own Konoha, Orochimaru was undoubtedly the most talented and the ninja he had the highest hopes for.
His loss to Yeyue Ziyun meant that Yeyue Ziyun was even more talented than Orochimaru-and by a great deal!
If a genius like that were allowed to grow up healthy, then, given the Third Raikage's ambition, Konoha would be swallowed up sooner or later.
"No, we have to find a way to kill him. At the very least, we need complete intelligence on Yeyue Ziyun's current abilities."
Danzo Shimura spoke up.
"What? Orochimaru didn't even find out everything about Yeyue Ziyun's abilities?" Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned.
Just how far had this Yeyue Ziyun developed?
"Orochimaru was defeated after exchanging only a few moves with him. In any case, what we know so far is that Ninjutsu and Taijutsu are completely ineffective against Yeyue Ziyun."
Danzo spoke irritably. He had reacted exactly like Hiruzen Sarutobi when he first heard it from Orochimaru.
"Neither Ninjutsu nor Taijutsu works? That really is troublesome. What about Genjutsu and Sealing Jutsu?" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned.
"We don't know. Orochimaru was defeated before he had a chance to use Genjutsu or Sealing Jutsu."
"All right, we have to find that out." Hiruzen Sarutobi was at a loss as well.
Why hadn't a genius like Yeyue Ziyun appeared in Konoha Village?
If he had appeared in Konoha Village, he wouldn't have been so wary.
If Ziyun had known what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking, he probably would have laughed his teeth out.
Given Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura's dispositions, a genius born in Konoha Village would only have been in greater danger.
He would probably have been targeted before he even had a chance to grow. After all, killing one of their own was much easier than killing an enemy.
"The question is, how do we test him now? After this assassination attempt, the Hidden Cloud Village has surely tightened its guard. Besides, even Orochimaru failed. Are we supposed to send someone from the Uchiha Clan? Or should you and I make a move ourselves?"
Danzo was stumped.
His old underhanded tactics were quite useful for getting his own people killed, but they were of little use against a genius living deep within another village.
"Who says there's no way? I've already thought of a good one!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi rolled his eyes at Danzo, then gave a signal. An Anbu immediately appeared in the office.
"Go... send someone to tell the Third Raikage that Konoha intends to form an alliance with the Hidden Cloud Village... If the Hidden Cloud is willing, Konoha doesn't mind contributing some supplies and money."
"But first, the Hidden Cloud Village must demonstrate enough strength to make an alliance worthwhile."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with a smile.
Danzo Shimura immediately understood what Hiruzen Sarutobi meant.
The two old schemers exchanged knowing smiles.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi has gone too far! He just sent someone to assassinate Ziyun, and now he's pulling this alliance stunt. Does he really think the Hidden Cloud Village has no one?"
In the Raikage's Office in the Hidden Cloud Village.
After reading the alliance agreement delivered by Konoha's envoy, the Third Raikage flew into a rage. His Chakra leaked out wildly, blasting a crater in the floor.
Konoha had proposed this alliance of its own accord and was even willing to give the Hidden Cloud Village some supplies and money.
That alone would not have made the Third Raikage furious; he would instead have accepted with a smile.
For the Hidden Cloud Village to receive Konoha's supplies and form an alliance with them, it had to meet one condition: the Hidden Cloud Village had to show Konoha its strength.
In other words, just like the Chunin Exams in the future, they were to send out promising ninja to compete and make Konoha feel that the Hidden Cloud Village was worth allying with.
The agreement made it clear, both directly and indirectly, that they wanted the Hidden Cloud Village to send its most famous genius, Yeyue Ziyun.
In other words, Konoha Village's proposed alliance was aimed entirely at Ziyun.
They had just failed to assassinate Ziyun, and now they weren't even pretending anymore. They were coming at him openly. Hiruzen Sarutobi was relying on Konoha Village's strength and clearly didn't take the Hidden Cloud Village seriously at all.
"Lord Raikage, please calm down... Hiruzen Sarutobi is testing us. We can simply refuse."
Dodai hurried to placate the Third Raikage.
If Konoha's envoy saw this, it would probably give the other side something to talk about.
There was no helping it. Konoha was very powerful now, with at least Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mito Uzumaki, the First Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Danzo Shimura openly counted among its Kage Level experts.
There were even more powerful figures in hiding: Hatake Sakumo, the fifty-fifty Pops, who had yet to make a name for himself but already possessed Kage Level strength; the Senju Clan, which had not yet been wiped out (though it was close); and the Uchiha Clan, Ino-Shika-Cho, and other major clans with secret techniques, which were flourishing as never before. There were also their allies, the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools, as well as the young Three Sannin.
Konoha had more geniuses than the other four great ninja villages combined.
The Hidden Cloud Village, by contrast, had far fewer talented people.
Darui, Samui, and the others who had shone in the original story had not yet been born, and Killer B was only around three years old and had just learned to gather Chakra.
The Hidden Cloud Village had not even found a suitable candidate to become the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, because Yugito Nii had not been born either.
The only two geniuses of the younger generation were the Third Raikage's son, Yotsuki A, and Ziyun.
Its strength was lacking, which was also why the Hidden Cloud Village had not taken part in the Second Shinobi World War.
"Uncle Raikage, I think there's no harm in agreeing to Konoha Village's proposal. After all, they can give us so many supplies. We might as well take the money."
Just then, Ziyun, having somehow learned of Konoha's proposed alliance, arrived at the Raikage's Office.
In fact, no one had informed Ziyun of it, but the system had just assigned him another new mission, effectively alerting him.
[A-rank mission: Form an alliance with Konoha and participate in the trial tournament!] Mission description: Form an alliance with Konoha and participate in the trial tournament. Mission rewards: 30,000 mission points, Uzumaki Sage Body, Zoan · Dog-Dog Fruit · Mythical Zoan · Nine-Tailed Fox Form, Fire Style · Great Fireball Technique; Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique; physique +5; time limit: 3 days; mission failure: no penalty.
The rewards were extremely enticing to Ziyun.