Chapter 284: A Breakthrough After Long Accumulation
Chapter 284: A Breakthrough After Long Accumulation
The Iwagakure higher-ups held a meeting and ultimately dispatched Ishiro's disciple, Kawakita, to lead four squads of neither strong nor weak teams to Konoha to participate in the Chunin Exams.
This was also Ishiro's suggestion. Kawakita's talent had been thoroughly developed. Although he had recently obtained Hanzō's legacy, he still felt the limitations of both his body and will.
Thus, Ishiro decided to let Kawakita go out on some special missions to gain more experience and broaden his horizons. Ishiro hoped that Kawakita could completely open his heart and consolidate the foundation for further improving his strength.
And as the Tsuchikage's disciple, Kawakita's status was also very suitable.
Before leaving, Ishiro suggested that Kawakita find opportunities to challenge Konoha's Elite Jonin frequently. In an era of peace, it was not easy to increase combat experience; this was an opportunity.
And among the four squads accompanying Kawakita, one was precisely Chiko Tomoe's squad.
Chiko's squad had been formed for more than three years, but none of the three had yet been promoted to Chunin. Chiko also decided to take them to see the world.
In fact, the strength of the three was already sufficient for promotion. Especially after they had followed him to the Land of Rain and witnessed that world-destroying battle, all three had grown rapidly.
It was just that none of the three had any unique skills, and their individual combat power was only average among Chunin, which was why Chiko wanted to take the three on missions for a while longer. Chiko hoped that after the squad was disbanded in the future, her three disciples would have more chances of survival.
The squad led by Kawakita was actually a feint to confuse Konoha. In secret, there was another group of people. This batch of Anbu was personally led by Ikura, and their purpose was precisely the children of the Uchiha clan.
The Uchiha clan had numerous experts, and it was simply impossible for the Konoha Anbu to monitor them completely. Iwagakure could establish contact with the Uchiha clan by just casually sending an intelligence ninja.
However, wanting to replace a batch of Uchiha infants was not something that one or two intelligence ninjas could accomplish.
The Iwagakure higher-ups discussed and, to prevent any accidents, dispatched Ikura.
In fact, Ishiro had wanted to come himself, but the idea of the village's Kage making contact with the Uchiha made Ōnoki and the others want to lock him up.
Ishiro was not skilled in genjutsu. If he were controlled by Fugaku Uchiha, then Iwagakure would be finished.
After seeing off Ikura, Kawakita, Chiko, and the others, Ishiro began to get busy.
Perhaps because enough had been accumulated, many of Ishiro's disciples all coincidentally made progress during this period.
First was Ogura Saki. She had finally completed all the prerequisite work for chakra fusion and began to fuse the two attributes of wind and fire.
The process was very smooth, but the experienced Ishiro knew that this process would last a very long time. During this period, Saki would not have much combat power, so Ishiro directly dispatched six Anbu squads to guard her safety in rotation.
Then there was Yuran Kawazoe. The little girl had actually developed a sealing jutsu that could counter the Byakugan. It was also at that moment that the little girl became a quasi-Jonin.
The impact of this matter was too great. A sealing jutsu that could counter the Byakugan had immense strategic value. Ishiro immediately convened the advisory council for a special high-level meeting.
Four resolutions were passed at the meeting:
First, directly promote Yuran Kawazoe to Jonin and grant her Elite Jonin treatment, while also directly promoting her position to Deputy Head of the Barrier Team.
Second, trade this sealing jutsu that could counter the Byakugan to the other three great hidden villages. Of course, Iwagakure's asking price would certainly not be low.
Third, the trade deal with the Cloud must include the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God marker. Iwagakure had proposed this trade to the Cloud when Minato was still alive, but it was rejected by the Fourth Raikage. That brute had said he wouldn't trade it for any amount of resources.
Finally, Iwagakure established a new department. This department would be specially responsible for researching various tactics, with the key research being tactics to counter the Byakugan. As for the head of this department, it would be left vacant for now. After Ikura returned, he would hold the position concurrently.
With the establishment of the new department, although most affairs had to wait for Ikura's return, it still increased Ishiro's workload considerably.
After Yuran was Kanako. Because Kanako had received Konan's unreserved teaching, she had progressed at divine speed after returning from the Land of Rain and finally completed the development of Paper Release in just over a month.
When Ishiro, Ōnoki, and the others watched Kanako generate sheets of paper from chakra, they all found it incredible.
Ōnoki couldn't help but ask Kanako, "Is this really not a Kekkei Genkai, but a secret jutsu?"
Kanako nodded and said, "Lord Third, that's right. Although this Paper Release is very strange, it is indeed a secret jutsu and cannot be passed down through bloodline."
Ōnoki was somewhat disappointed. Among the many ninja clans in the ninja world, the most numerous were secret jutsu clans, followed by Kekkei Genkai clans. Originally, secret jutsu clans were actually more popular than Kekkei Genkai clans because Kekkei Genkai could only be passed down through family bloodline, while secret jutsu could be passed down from master to disciple.
But Paper Release was somewhat magical. Its requirements for talent were too strange, making it very difficult to pass down from master to disciple. Since it could neither be passed down through master-disciple inheritance nor through bloodline, Paper Release could almost only be manifested in Kanako's hands alone.
This was equivalent to some of the special ninjutsu recorded in Iwagakure's Scroll of Seals. Although these ninjutsu were not lost, almost no one could learn them.
The most typical example was Ōnoki's Dust Release. Minato's Flying Thunder God was also a similar case; these special ninjutsu required special talent.
Ishiro advised, "Lord Third, no matter what, the village has gained one more secret jutsu. And this secret jutsu can be upgraded. If Paper Release can be upgraded to Exploding Tag Release, it can at least save the village a huge expense."
Ōnoki sighed and no longer dwelled on it, nodding his head.
Seeing this, Ishiro said to Kanako, "First, get familiar with Paper Release properly. After you can use it skillfully, you can then learn some sealing jutsu from Yuran and see if you can learn to make explosive tags or use it in combat in coordination with sealing jutsu."
"Yes, Teacher Ishiro," Kanako replied.
While Ishiro was busy dealing with the changes brought by Ogura Saki, Yuran Kawazoe, and Kanako, Ikura, far away in Konoha Village, finally met with Fugaku Uchiha in person.
Accompanied by an intelligence ninja, Ikura came to a deserted training ground near the Uchiha clan's territory. Fugaku, on the other hand, was personally led by the Second Elder.
Glancing at Fugaku's crimson eyes, Ikura was very cautious and did not approach, merely facing off against the other party from a distance.
"Clan Head Fugaku, I am Ikura, an advisor from the Village Hidden in the Stones." Ikura's gaze was lowered, only staring at Fugaku's body, deliberately avoiding his eyes.
Speaking of this method, it was proposed by Ishiro. As Ikura's good friend, he had practiced with Ishiro long ago on how to maintain combat power without looking at the opponent's eyes.
Fugaku was not surprised by Ikura's performance. As the clan head of the Uchiha, who had grown up in battle, Fugaku had seen this many times.
"Advisor Ikura, I wonder how Sakai is doing now."
"Clan Head Fugaku, please rest assured. Sakai is doing very well and is currently attending our Iwagakure's Ninja Academy. It's just that this child's talent in both taijutsu and ninjutsu is very average, and he has always been the dead-last in the advanced class."
"However, Sakai's personality is very likable. He has made many friends at the Ninja Academy and has formed deep bonds."
"A few days ago, our Fourth Tsuchikage, Ishiro, personally spoke with Sakai and gave him the personal letter from you, Clan Head Fugaku. Now Sakai has already awakened his Sharingan. The left eye has a single tomoe, and the right eye has two."
A glint flashed in Fugaku's eyes. "He's awakened his eyes?" He glanced at the Second Elder and found that the other party was just as surprised as he was. Seeing Fugaku look over, the Second Elder thought for a moment and said, "Clan Head, Sakai was only four years old when he was taken by Iwagakure; he is only eight now. And Sakai's talent is indeed not very good, hmm, it should be said he's at the bottom in the clan. He shouldn't have awakened his eyes at this age."
Fugaku thought for a moment, "Perhaps it's because he's far from home and his experiences are different. This child has matured earlier than others."
Not dwelling on this, Fugaku said directly, "Advisor Ikura, I wonder when you plan to exchange the infants."
"Clan Head Fugaku, rest assured, we are already prepared. We will conduct the exchange during the second round of Konoha's joint Chunin Exams," Ikura replied.
Fugaku immediately understood Ikura's meaning. During the second round of the Chunin Exams, the Hokage would need to make an appearance. At that time, Konoha's attention would not be focused too much on this area. Nodding, Fugaku asked again, "The few requests I made before, I wonder what Iwagakure's reply is?"
Ikura said, "Before I came, the Tsuchikage instructed me that if you asked this question, I should tell you one thing: our Iwagakure will only publicly announce that we have taken in members of the Uchiha clan after the Uchiha clan has been annihilated."
Hearing this, the Second Elder was furious. Although he was of the neutral faction, this did not mean he had no temper.
However, before the Second Elder could speak, Fugaku waved his hand to interrupt him. Fugaku still clearly remembered the scenes his Mangekyō Sharingan had seen: either Konoha would be destroyed, or the Uchiha clan would be wiped out.
Fugaku gave Ikura a deep look, then said, "Let's exchange the children at the time you said. A total of thirteen children, five are two years old—two boys and three girls; eight are one year old—four boys and four girls. The location is still here."
After speaking, Fugaku turned and left directly. The Second Elder, seeing this, also followed and left.
Then, with a "poof," Ikura turned into a cloud of smoke. It turned out that from beginning to end, this had only been a Shadow Clone.
Only the Iwa intelligence ninja was left. He cautiously looked around, then returned to his residence as if nothing had happened.
A few days later, Kawakita led the Iwa ninjas to participate in the joint Chunin Exams. On Ishiro's orders, Kawakita, who had arrived in Konoha early, had challenged several of Konoha's kenjutsu-type Elite Jonin these past few days. For example, the Gekkō clan's Elite Jonin, Seiya Gekkō, was the first target of Kawakita's challenge.
Speaking of which, Kawakita's introduction to sword techniques had to start with the Gekkō clan's Elite Jonin, Hoshizora Gekkō. The first Elite Jonin Ishiro had killed back then was Hoshizora. Then, Ishiro used a genjutsu to show Kawakita the scene of his battle with Hoshizora, which was what allowed Kawakita's swordsmanship to truly get started.
So Kawakita's swordsmanship was actually deeply influenced by the Gekkō clan's Konoha-style kenjutsu.
Kawakita's battle with Seiya Gekkō was a defeat, but being able to fight head-on with an Elite Jonin who had been unreachable in his youth was a great change for Kawakita's mentality.
Afterward, Kawakita challenged many of Konoha's kenjutsu masters. Since both sides were relatively restrained and used wooden swords, many battles ended in a draw, but there were also many where Kawakita was victorious. And the later it got, the higher Kawakita's win rate became.
If not for the Konoha side later proposing that the Chunin Exams were approaching and no longer accepting challenges, Kawakita felt his combat experience could have been improved by another large margin.
"I heard the Cloud's swordsmanship is even above Konoha's. It would be great if I could have a battle like this with the Cloud as well," Kawakita said to Chiko with some regret.
Chiko thought for a moment and said, "After we go back, let's ask Teacher. See if Teacher has any ideas. Teacher has always been full of clever tricks."
Kawakita hesitated, "Isn't it bad to always trouble Teacher?"
Chiko rolled her eyes and said, "Teacher would be thrilled to have a legitimate reason to leave the village, so he can dodge the Tsuchikage's administrative duties."
Hearing this, Kawakita also thought it was true; that's the kind of person his teacher was. He no longer hesitated and decided to talk to his teacher after returning to the village.
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