Chapter 292: Chapter 291: Promotion
Chapter 291: Promotion
Ishiro felt a little guilty and gave Ikura a look. However, Ikura remained unmoved.
Seeing this, Ishiro knew the advisory council would not speak first, so he said, "Lord Third, I have received a message from the Akatsuki. They plan to recruit the S-rank rogue ninja from Konoha, Orochimaru. Nagato hopes I can cooperate with them."
Ōnoki and the others exchanged a glance, held back, and no one spoke, just looking at Ishiro.
What needed to be said, they had all said, and they believed Ishiro understood. Since Ishiro still wanted to go, then he had to give a sufficiently convincing reason.
"Ahem, I myself also want to find Orochimaru. Before his defection, Orochimaru was Konoha's most powerful candidate for Hokage, and he is also the Third Hokage's disciple."
"For a very long time, Orochimaru was Hiruzen's designated successor. His status was similar to mine and Ikura's before, hmm, perhaps even higher."
"There should be a high probability that Orochimaru has had access to Konoha's Scroll of Seals. With Orochimaru's greed and Hiruzen's selfishness, it's possible Orochimaru has even read the entire Scroll of Seals."
"I want to make a deal with Orochimaru."
Ishiro did not say what the deal was about. Ōnoki and the others believed Ishiro would not harm the village's interests.
Finally, Ōnoki sighed and said, "Go then, go. Be extra careful. Every Kage-level is not so simple. You must not underestimate the powerhouses of the ninja world just because you participated in the killing of Jiraiya and Hanzō."
Ishiro nodded quickly, not expecting to get Ōnoki's consent so easily. Then he turned his gaze to the others.
Saka, Mei, and Ikura all nodded helplessly.
In fact, Ōnoki and the others were very conflicted. Every time Ishiro went out, he brought back some gains. It could be said that Iwagakure had grown stronger through these gains, one after another.
Although Ishiro was often injured, Ōnoki and the others also hoped that Ishiro could bring more benefits back to the village.
It was just that Ishiro, this Tsuchikage, was too inactive in handling official duties. The work of five people now had to be handled by the four of them.
Although Ishiro had expanded the number of Tsuchikage's Assistants, this did not reduce their workload.
Thinking of this, Ikura said to Ishiro, who was impatiently waiting for the meeting to be dismissed, "Ishiro, have you ever thought about expanding the scale of the advisory council?"
Ishiro was stunned. He scanned the room and, seeing that the others were not surprised, knew they must have discussed it before.
This matter of the advisory council reaching a consensus before consulting the Kage—if it were the Third Hokage back in his day, he would immediately have his guard up. But Ishiro didn't care; this situation was actually created by himself.
After Ishiro came to power, the one who decided most of the village's major affairs was actually the Third, this Tsuchikage's Aide. The one who decided most of the village's minor affairs was basically the advisory council.
The role of Ishiro as the Tsuchikage was even less than that of a puppet leader. It was just that Ishiro's ambition did not lie in power, so he had been trying to find ways to delegate it.
After thinking for a moment, Ishiro said, "This could work. It's just that the choice of candidates is not easy. Originally, I should have chosen ninjas of our generation, but even Kawakita has grown up now. To choose advisors at this time seems inappropriate."
This was the truth. Many people didn't care about seniority, feeling that considering it was too pedantic. But seniority invisibly represented authority.
If Kawakita hadn't suddenly become a Near-Kage, then pulling a few Elite Jonin from Ishiro's contemporaries would have been fine.
For example, Ishiro's former classmates, Tana and Kibuki, were now Elite Jonin. Their self-confidence and the recognition they received from others were not low.
Because those stronger than them were not as young, and when the village chose advisors, it had to consider the future, so those veteran powerhouses would not have any objections.
And those younger than them were not as strong, so there was nothing to say.
But now that Kawakita's strength had surpassed these seniors, then in the eyes of others in the village, Tana and Kibuki's seniority was not enough. This way, invisibly, Tana's and Kibuki's orders might not be conscientiously carried out.
Ikura also knew what Ishiro was talking about. He said, "Then let's choose from the younger generation."
"Huh?" Ishiro was somewhat surprised, then tentatively asked, "Are you saying to make Kawakita or even ninjas younger than him advisors?"
Ishiro was hesitant. He himself was a transmigrator, and his mentality was precocious. It was no big deal for him to be an advisor at a young age.
In addition, at that time, there was a bit of a generation gap in the village's inheritance. Ōnoki was cultivating him and Ikura as successors. So the two entered the advisory council at a young age, and at that time, in the minds of Ōnoki and the others, the main purpose of promoting the two was for training.
But Ishiro was still young now. Under normal circumstances, the successor would not be Kawakita. There wasn't much of an age difference between Kawakita and Ishiro. If Ishiro got old, Kawakita would also be about ready to retire. This way, letting Kawakita join the advisory council was not appropriate.
This was like Konoha's White Fang back then. White Fang was too old. In the eyes of Hiruzen and the others, his positioning was not that of a successor.
However, Ishiro did not know that Ōnoki and the others were worried that one day Ishiro would be out having fun and suddenly not come back.
This way, if Kawakita, as Ishiro's disciple, performed well, he might be a more suitable successor than Ikura, and better able to stabilize people's hearts.
Looking at the calm expressions of Ōnoki and the others, although Ishiro didn't understand, he still said, "Alright then, who are your specific candidates?"
Ikura said, "Kawakita and Chiko Tomoe."
"Chiko?" Ishiro was puzzled.
It was normal for Kawakita to be selected. Kawakita was already a Near-Kage. Giving him a suitable status and treatment was something Ishiro could also imagine.
But Chiko... There were others in the village younger and more talented than her, with greater strength.
For example, Akio Wada. He had become an Elite Jonin earlier than Chiko and was two years younger. In addition, Akio's combat power far surpassed Chiko's. Akio was a "well-rounded warrior" with almost no shortcomings.
Ishiro directly voiced his doubts.
Mei explained, "Chiko has three advantages. First, she is famous, influential, and has a very positive image. With her average talent, she can become a role model for the large number of civilian ninjas in the village. And she is also taking on disciples. Although she can't compare to you in cultivating disciples, her popularity is no less than yours."
Ishiro nodded. He knew this; this was considered Chiko's biggest advantage.
"Second," Mei continued, "Chiko is your disciple."
The status of a Kage's disciple is naturally one level higher than others. This is an unwritten rule of the ninja world and applies everywhere.
Moreover, a Kage's disciple becoming an advisor can also increase the Kage's authority. And a Kage's disciple is more familiar with the Kage, making cooperation easier. Not to mention, Chiko had also been Ishiro's assistant.
Not giving Ishiro much time to think, Mei continued, "Third, Chiko is a woman."
Ishiro was still thinking about the second reason. Hearing this, he was suddenly stunned, then quickly reacted. "That's right, Chiko is a woman. This is indeed very important."
Firstly, female ninjas accounted for at least one-third of the village. It was necessary to let everyone see a female ninja who could serve as a role model.
This role model used to be Mei; in the future, it would be Chiko.
Then, ninjas were also human. Many matters did indeed need to be handled by women. Out of humanistic considerations, there really had to be a woman in the advisory council.
Ishiro was very decisive. "Then it's settled. There's no time like the present. Let's call the two of them now and have them promoted."
Ōnoki and the others exchanged a look and didn't object. Ishiro clearly wanted to get things done before leaving the village to go have fun, and they were willing to cooperate.
Both Kawakita and Chiko had just been promoted and hadn't left the village. After receiving the notice, they quickly arrived at the Tsuchikage's office.
Ishiro had someone arrange seats for them, then announced the resolution to appoint them as advisors.
Of course, this appointment still needed the Daimyo's seal, but that was just a formality.
Both Kawakita and Chiko were somewhat uncomfortable with this appointment, but Ishiro did not explain and left Iwagakure right after the appointment was made.
Orochimaru had not established a hidden village in the Land of Whirlpools, at least not publicly yet, so Ishiro and his group were not sure of Orochimaru's whereabouts.
Finding Orochimaru's whereabouts was not easy, and Ishiro was not sure how long this trip out of the village would take, so he also brought along Riori, Akino, and Kiyoshi.
Ishiro led the three, training while heading to the Land of Whirlpools. This time, Ishiro didn't even bother to find a mission pretext for leaving the village, directly receiving a mission from the intelligence department to go to the Land of Whirlpools to exchange intelligence.
The mission content was very simple: go to a designated location in the Land of Whirlpools and retrieve the intelligence left there by an intelligence ninja.
So the master and his four disciples were not burdened by a merchant caravan on their journey and could focus on training.
Ishiro just changed the daytime physical training item for the group to long-distance marching to solve the travel problem.
Just like that, traveling by day, training and resting by night, Ishiro and his group left the Land of Earth unhurriedly, passed through the Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Iron, the Land of Sound, and finally arrived in the Land of Hot Water.
Along the way, besides passing through these medium-sized countries, there were also many small countries not well-marked on the ninja world map.
The three disciples followed Ishiro and saw a lot of the local customs of other countries and also had some friendly or unfriendly exchanges with ninjas from other hidden villages.
Because a major purpose of coming out this time was to train the three disciples, Ishiro did not shy away from conflicts with ninjas from other countries. Especially those teams who, like him, were leading newly graduated Genin out on missions, Ishiro would often egg on the three little ones to proactively start trouble.
Anyway, with the thick-skinned Riori around, Ishiro's provocations always achieved a satisfactory effect.
Of course, Ishiro had used the Transformation Jutsu. Otherwise, if people knew the Fourth Tsuchikage had suddenly appeared on another country's territory, it would be bad if it was seen as a provocation.
As the number of battles between the three and their peers gradually increased, Ishiro found that the potential of the three was finally beginning to show.
Kiyoshi's Water Release ninjutsu began to become more proficient, and the timing of his jutsu casting also became more and more accurate.
Riori slowly learned how to bring out the special physical advantage of the Uzumaki clan. An Uzumaki, as long as they were not killed or crippled, could stand up again.
After battle after battle, Riori's control over her chakra also became higher and higher.
Akino's progress was not very obvious. Up to now, she had basically never won, and in the best-case scenario, it was only a draw. However, her mentality was slowly adjusting.
Smart people know to take the initiative to adapt to changes in the environment. She had been forcing herself to fit the identity of a ninja, even though her strength was still not that of a qualified one.
One evening, Riori, who had just experienced a battle, was having Akino apply medicinal ointment. As a close-combat ninja with few fighting techniques, as usual, she had been beaten black and blue.
Although the Uzumaki constitution allowed her to recover quickly, the feeling of pain would not be any less.
Looking at the grimacing Riori, Ishiro asked, "Riori, try the Shadow Clone Technique. You've improved a little today. Maybe this time you'll succeed."
"Yeah," Riori nimbly stood up, formed hand seals, and at the same time shouted, "Shadow Clone Technique!"
The little girl abhorred practicing chakra control and ninjutsu. The reason she was so nimble this time was that she also felt she was about to learn it and could finally end these days of suffering.
As for why she had to shout it out, it was because she always felt that shouting it out could increase the success rate and also vent the uncomfortable feelings in her heart. So Ishiro didn't stop her.
"Poof~" A Shadow Clone identical to Riori appeared. The two looked at each other, and then, without any regard for the presence of Ishiro and the other two, they actually started chatting happily.
After a long while, finally remembering that Ishiro and the other two were still waiting for her, Riori turned around foolishly and scratched her head at the three with an embarrassed grin.
"Sigh, Riori," "You performed well. Teacher will reward you with a gift." As he spoke, Ishiro took out a scroll he had prepared long ago from his ninja tool pouch and said in a gentle voice, "This contains the insights of your teacher and your senior brother and sisters on water-walking training. Water-walking training can improve chakra control. Study it well."
The smile on Riori's face gradually disappeared. Then, with a deathly stillness, she took the scroll and slowly walked to Akino's side to sit down, not saying a word.
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