Chapter 308: Chapter 307: It Has Begun
Chapter 307: It Has Begun
Ishiro was very worried now. Kakashi had ninja hounds. If they tracked him by scent, he would definitely be exposed. One Kakashi was not scary, but attracting a large number of Konoha ninjas would mean Ishiro would have to flee.
Once he used the Light/Heavy Rock Jutsu, his identity would be exposed. To gain no substantial benefits and be saddled with the pretext of trespassing in another country's hidden village, Ishiro felt it was not worth it at all.
"I was too careless. In my moment of emotional upheaval, I actually went to eat ramen." Ishiro felt some regret. The smell of ramen couldn't be concealed in a short time.
Fortunately, the current Kakashi was only a Jonin. If it had been a more vigilant Elite Jonin, who could have tied Ishiro down while waiting for other Konoha ninjas to join, then Ishiro would have really had no choice but to escape.
However, although he was not completely exposed now, Ishiro still felt quite uncomfortable. It was daytime, and Konoha was so lively; there was no way to fly using the Light/Heavy Rock Jutsu.
Under the surprised gazes of the crowd, Ishiro first ran for several streets, came to a corner, and then, taking advantage of no one seeing him, quickly changed into the uniform of the Uchiha Police Force.
When Ishiro reappeared, no one was surprised by his rapid travel anymore.
Ishiro looked up at the sky, feeling a bit strange. Why hadn't Kakashi sent a warning signal?
In fact, Ishiro and Kakashi were like "a hemp stalk hitting a wolf, with both ends scared." Ishiro was afraid of being surrounded after being exposed, which would lead to a fruitless trip. Kakashi was afraid of Ishiro going crazy in Konoha and causing too many casualties.
A few minutes later, Ishiro was finally far away from Ichiraku Ramen. Ishiro changed into civilian clothes again, and then, seemingly slowly but actually quickly, moved his position.
"What if Konoha finds out something is wrong and follows the clue of the police force member I was just impersonating?"
At this time, Kakashi had just finished his report at the Hokage Tower. After Tsunade heard about Kakashi's encounter and analysis, she did not act rashly but called for the Third and the two advisors.
With his rich experience, as soon as the Third Hokage heard it, he cursed inwardly. Kakashi was still too young. He had only thought about the losses the village would suffer if Ishiro fought desperately. He hadn't thought that a ninja of Ishiro's level would not easily risk everything.
They didn't just live for themselves; they also lived for their village. As the Fourth Tsuchikage, it was already very bold for Ishiro to infiltrate Konoha. Once his position was exposed, he would surely choose to retreat immediately.
So, if Kakashi had made a big commotion, Ishiro's most likely reaction would have been to immediately fly away from Konoha.
But Hiruzen couldn't say these things. He couldn't let Kakashi gamble on Ishiro's guts at the expense of the safety of Konoha's villagers. In addition, Kakashi's performance also showed that he was a true successor to the Will of Fire.
Thinking of this, Hiruzen still felt some gratification.
But, what a pity. Failing to scare Ishiro away, who knew how much damage a Kage-level individual lurking in Konoha could cause.
Koharu Utatane said, "Find a way to let Ishiro know that we have already guessed his identity. He is, after all, the Kage of a village now. After knowing his identity is exposed, he probably won't act recklessly. After all, he is not alone; he also has a village he must protect."
Tsunade nodded. This was the only way.
"Teacher, is it possible to talk to the Tsuchikage and see what he wants?"
Hiruzen actually wanted to kill Ishiro more. Iwagakure was developing too fast, and the source of its changes in recent years was Ishiro. If he could kill him while he was alone, it would curb Iwa's development momentum.
Incidentally, he could also avenge Jiraiya. After Minato's death, Hiruzen missed Jiraiya even more.
But firstly, Ishiro's position could not be confirmed now. Secondly, they didn't have enough manpower. Thirdly, there were other hidden dangers in the village. There was really no way to deal with Ishiro right now.
Homura Mitokado's thoughts were similar to Tsunade's. He said, "With the Tsuchikage's strength, it wouldn't be difficult to deal with Kakashi. Plus, Kakashi was not in a good state at that time. If he had launched a sneak attack, Kakashi would have surely died."
"But he didn't do that, probably also considering the relationship between the two villages. This Fourth Tsuchikage is a person who never acts recklessly. Negotiating a trade might indeed solve the problem."
Tsunade nodded and immediately said, "Senior Homura, you arrange this matter. If you can contact the Tsuchikage, as long as his conditions are not too excessive, you can agree directly."
"Alright, I know what to do," Homura said.
After thinking for a moment, Tsunade said to Hiruzen again, "Teacher, it has been confirmed from the Barrier Team that the sudden chakra fluctuation this time and yesterday were from the same person. And Kakashi, through intelligence analysis, has guessed that the person is the Tsuchikage."
"So, do you think Orochimaru has infiltrated the village?"
Hiruzen thought for a moment but couldn't come to a conclusion. He could only guess, "Perhaps the Tsuchikage got intelligence from some channel that Orochimaru was coming to Konoha, so he also came to join the fun."
Homura thought for a moment and said, "Indeed, this Fourth Tsuchikage has always acted in this manner. The last time with the Nine-Tails Rampage, he probably also received intelligence in advance, which is why he also threw the Seven-Tails into our village."
"And even further back, when we allied with the Mist to deal with the Third Raikage, he also played such a role."
If Ishiro heard this conversation, he would definitely be very surprised, because this was exactly the method he had relied on to increase Iwagakure's strength and foundation bit by bit.
Indeed, the one who knows you best is always your enemy. Just as Ishiro was familiar with Konoha's layout, Konoha had also spent a great deal of resources and energy on analyzing intelligence about Ishiro.
That afternoon, while Ishiro was wandering around again disguised as a Konoha villager, he heard the news.
"Have you heard? The Fourth Tsuchikage wants to negotiate with us for some secret trade. He has also sent a delegation."
"Isn't it the Cloud delegation? How did it become Iwa?"
"The Cloud delegation is the Cloud delegation. They have been in Konoha for a long time. The Iwa delegation is still on the way. It is said that they have already entered the Land of Fire."
In one afternoon, Ishiro heard such discussions more than once. He sometimes even pretended to be curious and joined the discussion himself.
From this news, Ishiro knew that his identity was exposed.
"This is not going to be easy. With my identity exposed, it's not worth it to go and kill Hiashi Hyuga."
While wandering, Ishiro thought of countermeasures. He didn't want to give up on Neji Hyuga, but for one Neji, to completely fall out with Konoha, that was not worth it. The village's advisors would not agree either.
"Sigh, let's see what the Cloud and Orochimaru do first."
Ishiro ignored the goodwill released by Konoha. Right now, they couldn't be sure of his location, so they wanted to trade with him. Once they confirmed it and were confident they could deal with him, Ishiro felt that the Konoha higher-ups wouldn't hesitate either.
"I'll watch the changes quietly and wait for Orochimaru and the others to make the first move. Anyway, my goal is different from theirs. No matter if they succeed or not, it won't affect Neji," Ishiro made up his mind.
Having made a decision, Ishiro continued his wandering.
"The confidence of the Konoha villagers has always influenced the ninjas of Konoha, making their will more determined, which has invisibly increased their strength. The strength of Konoha ninjas is generally slightly stronger than that of other great hidden village ninjas, perhaps for this reason as well."
"In turn, the powerful Konoha ninjas bring a sense of security and pride to the Konoha villagers. This is a two-way positive feedback. The two complement and promote each other, together creating the current atmosphere of Konoha."
Now Ishiro somewhat understood why Hiruzen and Tsunade had valued the joint Chunin Exams so much back then. Their cheating in the preliminary finals was probably out of this consideration.
Although doing so seemed to have no substantial benefits, the invisible benefits were great.
With Iwa's contestants not even entering the finals, this could greatly increase the confidence of the Konoha villagers.
Ishiro remembered that during the Third War, the Land of Earth had exchanged many benefits for acknowledging the Land of Fire as the victor. Now, thinking back, it was really hard to say whether Iwagakure was the one who had benefited.
But at that time, what Iwagakure needed was not potential things like confidence, but tangible benefits, things that could genuinely improve Iwagakure's strength.
Ishiro continued his musings, while on the other side, the Cloud and Konoha were also in a confrontation.
Facing the Cloud's assertiveness, Konoha responded with even more assertiveness. Hiruzen knew the skills of negotiating between two countries very well: you can't be timid at the negotiating table. The more unfavorable the front line is, the louder you have to shout at the table.
But Ayumi Tahara was also a professional. Konoha's assertiveness was exactly what allowed her to see their lack of confidence. This also strengthened her resolve to carry out her plan. A Konoha that lacked confidence could be threatened.
However, her main purpose was not negotiation, but the Byakugan. Thus, at Ayumi's signal, Hashiryū forcefully demanded that Konoha withdraw the Anbu surrounding them; otherwise, they would immediately suspend negotiations and return to the Cloud Village at once.
Furthermore, Hashiryū stated that after they returned to the Cloud Village, Konoha would surely face war.
Although the Konoha side also knew that the Cloud was intimidating them, their actions were indeed not polite for receiving foreign guests.
Thus, Konoha withdrew most of the Anbu, leaving only two squads, nominally for liaison purposes.
After achieving their goal, the Cloud did not press on relentlessly. After ending another day of meaningless arguments, the Cloud began to act.
Hashiryū took out a special set of clothes and put them on. These clothes enveloped his entire person, including his eyes, hands, and feet; nothing was exposed. This outfit was painted with the sealing jutsu obtained from Iwagakure that could block the Byakugan's detection.
Although his eyes and all other sensory organs were isolated by the sealing jutsu, it did not affect his actions. He was a professional, a sensory-type ninja specially selected by the Cloud.
Hashiryū could clearly sense nearby life forms without emitting chakra fluctuations, somewhat similar to Ishiro's Mind's Eye. This type of ninja was the kind recorded in the Iwa scrolls as having special sensory talent. Unfortunately, Iwagakure had none.
With the cooperation of Ayumi and the others, Hashiryū easily dodged the two Anbu squads monitoring them. He couldn't be blamed; there were too few Konoha Anbu, only eight people, making it easy for the Cloud to find a flaw.
As if familiar with the route, Hashiryū quickly approached the Hyuga clan's territory according to the established plan.
At this time, most of the ninjas of the Hyuga clan, after the tedious ceremonies of the day, had all gone home to rest. Very few ninjas had their Byakugan activated.
Just like that, Hashiryū silently infiltrated the Hyuga clan.
And what Hashiryū didn't know was that on a tree not far from the Hyuga clan, a small snake, its color completely matching the tree, was carefully flicking its tongue.
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