Becoming the Tsuchikage in the Naruto World

Chapter 302: Taking the Blame

However, the transaction with Danzō was not over. A few days later, the two sides conducted another transaction at the border.

"Oh my, my apologies, my apologies. I forgot to tell you, Advisor Danzō, that Wood Release experimental subject is an especially good runner. Its earth-burrowing speed is extremely fast. You must be very careful," Ikura apologized to Danzō in a strange tone.

"You Iwa ninjas dare to play tricks on us in Konoha! Are you not afraid of us declaring war on you?" Danzō gritted his teeth.

That's right. As per Ishiro's request, Ikura had intentionally not told Danzō about the White Zetsu's strange abilities. As a result, not long after Root began their research, that White Zetsu clone had escaped.

What was embarrassing was that Danzō didn't even know how the White Zetsu had escaped.

"What is Advisor Danzō saying? Our Iwagakure and Konoha have always been very friendly. During the Fourth War, our Iwagakure was the only hidden village that did not have a major war with your Konoha. Didn't Advisor Danzō use the measures prepared for us on the Sand ninjas instead?"

"A while ago, when you held the joint Chunin Exams, our Iwagakure even sent people to participate. This shows that our two villages have been friendly for generations. We can talk things over properly."

Hearing Ikura's words, Danzō's face became even gloomier.

"How about this? Since Lord Danzō has lost an experimental subject, I will give you another one." As he spoke, Ikura didn't hesitate and directly threw another experimental subject to Danzō.

After throwing it, Ikura turned as if to leave.

Danzō gritted his teeth and called him to a halt, asking, "I want all the intelligence on this experimental subject."

He had no choice. The White Zetsu's abilities were too strange, and Danzō had no confidence he could prevent it from escaping.

"Oh, so Advisor Danzō wants to make another trade. Alright then, how about this? This time, it'll be cheaper. We'll only take one S-rank ninjutsu."

"However, this time, we want to pick the ninjutsu ourselves," Ikura said.

Danzō took a deep breath and asked, "What does Iwagakure want?"

"The Eight Inner Gates Formation Technique!"

Although Danzō was puzzled as to where Iwagakure had gotten the name "Eight Inner Gates," and although he was very reluctant to hand over this forbidden jutsu, every time he saw the White Zetsu in his subordinate's hands, Danzō's heart, dominated by ambition, would still beat fiercely against his will.

In the end, Danzō still made a concession.

...

In the Village Hidden in the Sand, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, the Scorch Release user Pakura, the new generation genius puppeteer Ryosuke, Rasa's disciple and confidant Baki, and Chiyo, who had not appeared for a long time, sat together in the Kazekage's office, discussing the matter of the White Zetsu clone.

Chiyo looked at the intelligence report on the White Zetsu in her hand and asked, "This Wood Release experimental subject, was it not developed by Iwagakure?"

Rasa nodded and said, "That's right. If it were developed by Iwa, they wouldn't have told us the method to identify the White Zetsu."

After receiving a definite answer, Chiyo said, "Then let's conduct an inspection of the village according to the method provided by Iwa."

Rasa sighed and said, "We certainly must check, but I estimate there won't be any results. Just yesterday, seven ninjas holding administrative jobs in the village disappeared."

Pakura asked, "Were they all impersonated by these experimental subjects?"

Rasa nodded, "If there are no surprises, then yes. It should be that Iwagakure used this method to find a batch of experimental subjects, which startled the snake."

Chiyo asked again, "Then, can we determine who the master of these experimental subjects is?"

Baki interjected, "It must be Konoha. Konoha has been researching the First Hokage's Wood Release since a long time ago. Only Konoha has the ability and motive."

Rasa nodded and said, "Although there is no evidence, Konoha is indeed the biggest suspect. Iwagakure has traded with the other hidden villages. We can watch and see first. Whichever village does not conduct a large-scale screening, that village is the most suspect."

Chiyo had no objections. Seeing the matter was settled, she said to Rasa, "Fourth, you called me here this time. Besides this, is there anything else?"

Rasa said, "Ryosuke is already an Elite Jonin. There are not many ninjas in the village who can guide him. I hope Senior Chiyo can take him out to see the world."

Rasa's idea was the same as Ishiro's. Kawakita was in the same situation back then. In times of peace in the ninja world, without many life-and-death crises, it is difficult for a ninja to break through their limits.

Going out to challenge some strong opponents and seeing different sceneries from one's own village was also a good method.

Chiyo thought carefully and finally agreed. Although she had always said she was old and retired, she was indeed the most suitable person to be Ryosuke's guardian.

As a top-tier powerhouse of the same type, Chiyo could also give guidance at appropriate times.

...

In the Village Hidden in the Mist, a group of high-level advisors and the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, were looking together at the White Zetsu clone obtained from Iwagakure.

"Alright, I will arrange for people to study this Wood Release experimental subject. You may all disperse," the baby-faced Yagura said to the group of advisors.

"Fourth..." Someone wanted to say something to Yagura but only saw his cold eyes.

"Sigh," the advisors sighed in their hearts. Ever since becoming a Jinchuriki, Yagura's temperament had completely changed.

The wise and cheerful Yagura of the past was gone, replaced by this dictatorial and crazed Fourth Mizukage before them.

After a while, an advisor said, "Fourth, what about the investigation of the ninjas and civilians in the village?"

"You arrange it." After speaking, Yagura once again emphasized that the meeting was dismissed.

The members of the advisory council could only leave.

After the advisors left, Yagura walked to the side of the White Zetsu clone, removed its seal, and then asked, "What happened?"

The White Zetsu clone replied, "Obito, Iwagakure has figured out our abilities and has captured all of our clones in their village."

"Iwagakure again? That Ishiro again," the Yagura controlled by Obito emitted a murderous aura and said through gritted teeth.

Obito didn't care about losing a few White Zetsu clones, but for Ishiro to trade the White Zetsu clones to several great hidden villages, this was practically putting him out in the open. How could this not make him hate him?

"Obito, withdraw the clones planted in the other hidden villages," the White Zetsu said.

"After all your clones in Iwagakure lost contact, I already withdrew the other clones," Obito said faintly.

On the other side, the numerous high-level advisors who had left the Mizukage's office were discussing the situation of the ninja world as they walked.

"Iwagakure provided the identification method, so these things should not have been created by Iwa."

"Then, who is the mastermind behind the scenes? It seems there's no need to guess."

"Konoha?" an advisor said in a low voice.

...

Ishiro had traded with the three nations of Wind, Water, and Lightning, and had successfully directed everyone's attention towards Konoha.

In addition, Ishiro also wanted to trade with Orochimaru. It was just that after joining the Akatsuki, Orochimaru's whereabouts were uncertain, and Ishiro had no channel of contact, so this matter had to be put aside for now.

However, it didn't matter that he had no contact method. Ishiro guessed that Orochimaru would probably return to Konoha at this time and would cooperate with the Cloud to obtain a Byakugan.

Ishiro also planned to go to Konoha to have a look. Whether he could meet Orochimaru and make a trade was not the main point. The main point was the Hyuga clan.

Ishiro was not interested in the Hyuga clan, but he was very interested in Neji Hyuga of the Hyuga clan.

For no other reason than that Neji Hyuga was a rare genius in the ninja world, a genius without a particularly strong cheat.

The ninja world had never lacked for geniuses, especially Konoha. Among these many geniuses, Neji was just an inconspicuous one. Logically, Ishiro shouldn't have valued Neji. But in Ishiro's eyes, Neji's talent was different from other Konoha geniuses.

Ishiro divided geniuses into three categories: bloodline-type geniuses, specialist-type geniuses, and foundational-type geniuses.

For bloodline-type geniuses, the most typical was Obito Uchiha. This dead-last, whether in taijutsu, ninjutsu, or combat intelligence, was trash. But he just happened to be the most suitable in the Uchiha clan to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Besides Obito, ninjas like Kimimaro Kaguya and Yakumo Kurama were also of this type. Their bloodline talent far surpassed other ninjas of their clan. Yakumo's body, for example, couldn't even meet the lowest Genin standard.

The second type of genius: specialist-type geniuses. There were many of this type. For example, Ishiro himself was a specialist-type genius. His specialty was spiritual power. Since Iwagakure had no spiritual-type secret jutsu, Ishiro was equivalent to having put his talent points into chakra control.

Besides Ishiro, such geniuses were also countless. For example, from Might Duy to Might Guy to Rock Lee, they were all severely specialized. Apart from taijutsu, they were nothing. But their taijutsu left other ninjas in the ninja world in the dust.

For another example, Minato Namikaze. Without the Flying Thunder God, Minato was still a genius. But with the Flying Thunder God, he was a legend. However, according to Ishiro's classification, Minato should be both a specialist genius and a foundational genius.

If Minato's example was not appropriate, then: the Second Hokage who excelled in Water Release, Sakura Haruno who excelled in medical ninjutsu and monstrous strength, and Kurenai Yuhi who excelled in genjutsu, they all counted.

And most of Ishiro's disciples were also of this type. For example, Kawakita who excelled in sword techniques, Takuhiro Uchiyama who excelled in gravity, Yuran Kawazoe who excelled in sealing jutsu, and so on.

But it was very difficult for this type of ninja to reach the peak. A case like Kawakita, who had Ishiro to lay his foundation in the early stage, Hanzō to guide him in the middle stage, and a large number of masters of the same type to spar with and receive guidance from in the later stage, was rare.

And during the sparring process, he also had a Kage-level teacher like Ishiro, who knew Bansho Ten'in, as a guardian.

At the last moment, he also had the heartfelt guidance of a peak master of the same type, Mifune.

It was precisely because of these opportunities that Kawakita was able to achieve his current accomplishments at such a young age. As for other ninjas, where would they get so many opportunities?

And besides Kawakita, Ishiro's other disciples, if they didn't have very special opportunities, the furthest they could go in this life would be Elite Jonin.

The geniuses who truly had a greater hope of reaching the Kage-level were the third type: foundational geniuses. These geniuses were true geniuses. They had no weaknesses in theory, practical combat, or fundamentals. Their talent in both taijutsu and ninjutsu left others in the dust.

Iwagakure also had such geniuses. Ikura could barely be considered one, and Akio Wada from the same class as Takuhiro could also barely be considered one. But neither of them was of the top tier.

For example, Ikura. In the early stages, in comparison with his peers, he was the leader of the entire village of Iwagakure. But as he went further and further, until he reached the Kage-level, his comparison objects were no longer limited to his peers. At this time, his strength appeared ordinary.

Among Iwagakure's three Kage-level individuals, Ōnoki had Dust Release, and Ishiro had Light Release and Sage Mode. But Ikura's powerful output was only Earth Release. Compared to other ninjas of the same rank, Ikura actually seemed ordinary.

Neji Hyuga was this type of genius, and he was a genius far superior to Ikura. Looking at all the known ninjas in the entire ninja world, among those who showed this kind of talent from a young age, there was only one who could surpass Neji. This person was Kakashi Hatake.

If Ishiro were a few years older, perhaps he would have had his eyes on Kakashi.

Kakashi had no shortcomings, whether in ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu; whether long-range, close-range, strategy, or tracking.

And Kakashi had achieved this accomplishment on the premise that he had wasted more than a decade of his most important growth years.

If Kakashi had not wasted those crucial few years, his performance in the Fourth War of the original story could surely have far surpassed the five Kage.

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