Chapter 190: Scroll
High in the skies above Uzushiogakure, Ishiro began to look through the scroll he had just obtained.
Meanwhile, within Uzushiogakure, the rogue ninja named Ōiwa Takefumi was still staring blankly at the sky.
He had always thought Ishiro was a Konoha ninja because Ishiro had displayed Fire Release jutsus and was dressed as a Konoha Anbu. Yet, Ishiro had told him the place to go was Iwagakure.
Looking in the direction Ishiro had disappeared, Ōiwa Takefumi still felt somewhat puzzled. The Land of Whirlpools was currently a battlefield for Konoha and Kirigakure; how could an Iwagakure ninja appear here?
Ōiwa Takefumi's range of activity wasn't large; he had always operated in the small countries surrounding the Land of Whirlpools. Only after the Uzumaki clan was annihilated did he dare to come to the Land of Whirlpools to take on some missions.
Although he had never been to the Land of Fire, Ōiwa Takefumi was relatively familiar with Konoha ninjas but completely unfamiliar with Iwagakure ninjas. Iwagakure, after all, was too far away, and Iwagakure ninjas generally wouldn't come this far to carry out missions.
"Iwagakure?" Ōiwa Takefumi once again became somewhat apprehensive, worried about potential gains and losses.
Ishiro was unaware of Ōiwa Takefumi's thoughts; he was currently engrossed in studying the contents recorded in the ninjutsu scroll.
The scroll indeed recorded more than just one sensory ninjutsu and one chakra fluctuation concealment ninjutsu; there were also several attribute-based ninjutsu.
However, Ishiro either already knew these ninjutsu, or Iwagakure itself already had them in its collection. So, Ishiro wasn't particularly concerned about these.
What Ishiro was currently examining was that chakra concealment ninjutsu.
For Ishiro, who had read countless xuanhuan novels, this kind of "playing the pig to eat the tiger" ninjutsu held an immense attraction.
This was a ninjutsu that could enhance the reader's sense of satisfaction!
However, after reading it, Ishiro was somewhat disappointed. The effect this ninjutsu could achieve wasn't to make the caster appear to have relatively lower strength, but to directly make the caster's chakra fluctuations disappear.
It was a binary choice of 0 or 1, not controlled by the caster to display whatever strength they wished.
But then how did Ōiwa Takefumi manage to control his chakra fluctuations to a Chūnin level?
Unwilling to give up, Ishiro once again immersed himself in analyzing the ninjutsu. The result was a conclusion that made Ishiro not know whether to laugh or cry.
It wasn't that Ōiwa Takefumi had some special technique, but that Ishiro was too special. The sensory ninjutsu Ishiro used wasn't special, but Ishiro's chakra was very special.
Porcelain Release chakra, after all, belonged to a Kekkei Genkai, and its grade was somewhat higher than ordinary chakra. When Ishiro used Porcelain Release chakra for sensing, the effect was naturally better than with ordinary chakra, which was how he managed to find Ōiwa Takefumi, who was originally in a hidden state.
This chakra fluctuation concealment ninjutsu was basically a "chicken rib" (of little value but a pity to discard). However, Ishiro wasn't too disappointed because the other ninjutsu made him very satisfied.
The other ninjutsu was precisely the anti-sensory ninjutsu Ishiro had hoped for, one that could be used without preparation – yes, a passive skill similar to "Mind's Eye."
But now was not the time to learn this ninjutsu.
Uzushiogakure had clearly been thoroughly looted by rogue ninjas like Ōiwa Takefumi. Ishiro no longer expected to find anything useful within it.
Ishiro planned to circle the area within a few dozen li of Uzushiogakure to see if there were any places similar to Iwagakure's natural energy sealing ground.
A ninja's own defenses were very fragile; many dangerous experiments couldn't be conducted within the village. Ishiro's initial targets were these secret locations.
Originally, Ishiro hadn't expected to gain anything within Uzushiogakure; encountering Ōiwa Takefumi was a complete unexpected delight.
After flying about thirty li away from Uzushiogakure, Ishiro began a careful search. Ishiro knew that if the Uzumaki clan had truly left behind any ruins, they would definitely be very well hidden. It was impossible for Ishiro to discover them just by circling in the air a few times.
If there were such obvious places, they would have long since been discovered by others.
Ishiro fully activated his "Mind's Eye," and every so often, he would use his sensory ninjutsu to carefully scan the area.
This process was even slower than Ishiro had imagined. So, midway, Ishiro found a village intelligence operative and reported his safety to Iwagakure. Only then did he fully immerse himself in the search process.
...
As news of the Kirigakure ambush on the Hyūga clan spread, the situation in the ninja world once again became turbulent.
However, at this time, the power balance of the various parties was completely different from before the war. Sunagakure had not yet successfully recovered the One-Tail, Shukaku. Upon hearing the news, Rasa merely lamented the unsuitable timing and paid it no further mind.
The fatal weakness of an insufficient foundation meant that after one failure, Sunagakure couldn't regroup its forces like Konoha could. Although Sunagakure hadn't signed a treaty with Konoha, its defeat was a fact clear to everyone. Sunagakure, having gained no benefits, found itself struggling when facing post-war matters such as pensions and reconstruction.
Especially with Iwagakure's example preceding them, it further highlighted Sunagakure's incompetence.
Against this backdrop, the Daimyō of the Land of Wind drastically reduced military funding for Sunagakure. The Daimyō of the Land of Wind was more willing to spend money on trade with the Land of Earth; at least that could yield quick returns.
Thus, the Land of Wind, which had originally only signed a treaty with Ikura during wartime to open a trade route with the border of the Land of Wind, now fully opened its trade routes. With this, the Land of Wind officially became the first major nation to join the trade sphere centered around the Land of Earth.
The Daimyō of the Land of Wind didn't know that this decision of his was tantamount to digging his own grave. Although Rasa tried his best to persuade him, his prestige as the newly appointed Kazekage was far from sufficient, and the Daimyō simply wouldn't listen.
Helpless, Rasa could only begin his bitter career of mining gold to subsidize the village.
Not long after Iwagakure received the news, Ishiro's intelligence report also reached the village.
Although Ōnoki and the others found Ishiro's desire to "roam" outside for a few more days both amusing and exasperating, Ishiro himself wasn't present, and there was nothing they could do.
Anyway, the Byakugan had been obtained, and from the various rumors currently circulating in the ninja world, no one knew that Iwagakure had also had a hand in it.
Thus, Iwagakure merely followed the mainstream voice, clamored a few sentences, and then formally stationed an additional hundred ninjas on the Land of Grass border. Even these hundred ninjas were dispatched under the pretext of restoring patrol forces on the Land of Grass border and incidentally suppressing possible bandits.
Finally, after Konoha made a tit-for-tat response, most of these hundred ninjas were withdrawn by Ōnoki again.
Although Kirigakure had fought a beautiful battle, now was clearly not a good time to start a war with Konoha. Ōnoki had no desire whatsoever to escalate the conflict with Konoha.
The two major powers most likely to use this incident to escalate the scale of battle with Konoha were the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water.
However, this timing was extremely favorable for Konoha. Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze, who had previously supported Sunagakure, had already returned to Konoha with a large number of ninjas and supplies, ready to reinforce the front lines at any time.
The Raikage finally acted decisively this time.
Perhaps considering that the Land of Wind, Land of Earth, and Land of Water had all achieved very commendable victories in their wars with Konoha, while only their Kumogakure's performance had been consistently unsatisfactory without any brilliant achievements, the Third Raikage actually resolved to make a ruthless move.
The Third Raikage, along with his son, the future Fourth Raikage, and the new Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Killer B, among other absolute elites, reached the Land of Hot Water front line at the fastest speed. Then, coordinating with Kumogakure's forces on the Land of Hot Water battlefield, they launched a surprise attack.
In this surprise attack, Konoha's ninja losses were actually not large, because the Third Raikage's target was not ordinary Konoha ninjas, but Konoha's commander stationed on the Eastern Front, Danzō.
The Third Raikage didn't think much of a Kage-level like Danzō. A Kage-level of Danzō's strength was basically completely countered by him in battle. Coupled with his son and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, the Third Raikage felt the chances of success in this battle were very high.
Indeed, if it had only been Danzō alone, they almost would have succeeded.
Danzō, under the desperate protection of a large number of his trusted subordinates, barely held on. Just as Danzō was about to collapse, Minato Namikaze arrived.
The Flying Thunder God technique was also exceptional for traveling. Minato Namikaze arrived at the battlefield alone and, identifying Killer B – who had not yet reached the stage of a perfect Jinchūriki and was thus the weakest link – launched a fierce assault.
Minato Namikaze's tactic of "benefiting some at the expense of others" was very successful. The Third Raikage and the Fourth Raikage were forced to return to provide support.
Afterwards, although the two sides clashed briefly again, and Kumogakure's side had superior high-end combat power, Konoha's main army gradually began to encircle them.
After weighing the situation, the Third Raikage still chose to retreat. Furthermore, he directly led Kumogakure's entire frontline ninja army in a full withdrawal.
In this surprise attack, the elites brought by the Third Raikage suffered minor losses, roughly only a dozen or so. Konoha's ordinary ninja losses were also not large, less than a hundred, mostly dealt with by the Third Raikage and his group route when they launched their surprise attack.
The biggest losses were suffered by Danzō's trusted subordinates. These Root elites trained by Danzō, as well as the trusted aides he had gathered under his command while stationed at the Land of Hot Water battlefield, were almost completely wiped out.
So, after Kumogakure withdrew, Danzō's expression was so grim that even Minato Namikaze didn't dare to provoke him, let alone other ninjas.
A few days later, after Kumogakure had completely withdrawn, Danzō, disregarding Minato Namikaze's persuasion, directly returned to Konoha. He had already lost this contest for the Fourth Hokage position. To make a comeback, he had to return to the village as soon as possible and re-cultivate the next generation of Root members.
On the way back to the village, Danzō pondered for a long time and finally issued an order to a subordinate.
"Kinoe, you return to the village first. Sound out Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude, see what his current stance on Root is," Danzō said to Hei, who had originally been assigned to the Uchiha camp in the Land of Whirlpools.
Now, Hei had been promoted to Kinoe, because the two who ranked ahead of him had both died in this battle protecting Danzō.
"Yes." Kinoe didn't hold much hope for this mission, but he agreed very quickly. As soon as his voice fell, he left the current team of less than ten people and hurried towards the village.
This team of less than ten people around Danzō was scraped together after he gathered the ninjas previously scattered in places like the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Whirlpools to gather intelligence.
In this team, only Kinoe was named according to the First, Second, Third, Fourth ranking. The others didn't even qualify for such a ranking because their strength was too far inferior, much weaker than Root elites like Kinoe who were known for their combat power.
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