Chapter 211: Ambush and Kill
Upon learning that most of the Sand ninjas were to return to their village, Tanimoto Naoto immediately gathered all the Jonin dispatched by the Cloud Village. Including Tanimoto Naoto himself, there were a total of seven Jonin, two of whom were Elite Jonin.
The Cloud Village's objective in coming to the Stone Village had always been clear: the Byakugan. Thus, Tanimoto Naoto didn't need to mobilize them much; the group quickly reached a consensus.
One Jonin would take the failed candidates back to the village, while another, a newly promoted and weakest Jonin, would stay to look after the two teams that had advanced. The other five would all go to ambush and kill the Sand ninjas.
Unlike the Cloud ninjas, the Sand ninjas had genuinely come to participate in the competition. Among them, apart from the Elite Jonin leading the team this time, there was only one other Jonin.
And that Jonin would definitely stay in the Stone Village to accompany the advancing Genin teams. Therefore, the Sand ninja's returning contingent would only have one Elite Jonin; the rest were either Genin or Chunin.
Tanimoto Naoto was confident that leading one Elite Jonin and three Jonin, he could easily complete the ambush mission. In Tanimoto Naoto's mind, the only concern was: would the Sand ninjas, in desperation, destroy the Byakugan?
The day after the wilderness survival exam ended, the Sand and Cloud ninjas successively embarked on their respective journeys back to their villages. However, Tanimoto Naoto's group of five quickly broke off from their team after leaving the Stone Village.
At this time, a high-level meeting was being held within the Stone Village. The first item on the agenda for discussion was which important figures to invite to the finals of this Chunin Exam.
Ikura said, "The Kazekage or the Daimyo of the Land of Wind should still be invited. The possibility of us allying with the Land of Wind is not small, and this Chunin Exam is a good opportunity."
Ōnoki nodded and said, "The Daimyo of the Land of Wind leans towards us, and the Sand Village's situation isn't very good. The Land of Wind is indeed a potential ally."
After a pause, Ōnoki added, "Is the Sand Village's retrieval of the One-Tail progressing smoothly?"
Saka shook his head and said, "According to intelligence, the One-Tail's whereabouts have been locked down, but the Sand Village has yet to make a move. It's estimated they are looking for a suitable Jinchuriki."
Hearing this, Ishiro calculated in his mind: at this point in time, he didn't know if Gaara had been born yet. If he hadn't even been conceived, then it was indeed possible that the Sand Village couldn't find a suitable Jinchuriki.
Mei's eyes lit up, and she said, "As long as the One-Tail Jinchuriki hasn't formed combat strength, the possibility of the Sand Village allying with us is even greater."
This was easy to understand. The Sand Village, having lost its tailed beast, a weapon of war, was actually very insecure. At this time, the Sand Village most feared going to war with other major powers, and the best way to avoid war was to form an alliance, to find a reliable ally.
Originally, the Sand Village could choose between Konoha and Iwagakure, but the Sand Village and Konoha had just fought a major war, and the hatred between them ran deep. Therefore, within the Sand Village, quite a few ninjas were inclined to advance and retreat together with Iwagakure.
"Then let's invite both the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and the Kazekage. Besides them, should we invite the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the Raikage?" Ōnoki asked again.
Saka said, "I think we should forget it. The Cloud ninjas weren't very enthusiastic about the joint Chunin Exams in the first place, and now their only seeded contestant has failed. The Raikage will definitely lose face; it's better not to add to his troubles."
Ishiro deeply agreed. It was better to keep some distance from such brutes. At close range, if the Third Raikage shamelessly launched a sneak attack, even Ōnoki would be in danger.
The high-level officials quickly reached a consensus on this matter: do not invite the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the Raikage.
Next, at Ishiro's suggestion, Yahiko and his two companions were also invited. With Ishiro present, the possibility of Iwagakure allying with the River ninjas (Yahiko's group) was very high.
As for Hanzō, no one mentioned him. This person was too dangerous. If he were to release poison in the Stone Village, an unknown number of Stone ninjas and civilians would die. No one wanted to take that risk.
The first agenda item concluded, and the meeting moved to the next item.
"Is there any movement from the Cloud ninjas returning to their village?" Ōnoki looked at Ishiro.
Ishiro nodded and said, "Koku and I personally confirmed that Tanimoto Naoto, leading one Cloud Elite Jonin and three Jonin, has left their main group."
Ōnoki nodded; he was still confident in the Byakugan's reconnaissance. "To be on the safe side, you and Ikura go together to keep an eye on the Sand ninjas. Don't let the Cloud ninjas pin the blame on us."
Ikura and Ishiro nodded in agreement.
Then Ōnoki asked Ishiro about his gains during this Chunin Exam.
Ishiro said, "During this exam, Koku's and my focus was on Lightning Release. This time, we obtained 3 to 5 C-rank Lightning Release jutsu from the Cloud ninjas, but these will still require a few days of experimentation."
After a pause, Ishiro continued, "Besides this, there's another gain. My Lightning Release development might be able to take another step forward. However, right now it's just an idea; the specific ninjutsu research and development will still require me to spend time exploring."
Hearing Ishiro's words, the others became somewhat excited.
Saka spoke first, "Five C-rank Lightning Release jutsu! So the Byakugan can be used like this? It seems we'll have to hold more Chunin Exams in the future."
Mei shook her head and said, "It's difficult to obtain any advanced ninjutsu just from some Genin participating in the exam."
Ōnoki also frowned. They couldn't possibly hold Jonin exams; that wasn't realistic. Jonin were a force capable of holding their own in any village, and Jonin intelligence was very important. No one was willing to display their Jonin's abilities in front of the public.
"At least we've discovered an important use for the Byakugan. In the future, if we receive information about battles involving ninjas from other villages, we can arrange for ninjas possessing the Byakugan to go collect ninjutsu intelligence in advance," Ishiro said.
"For example, this time, with two Cloud Elite Jonin and three Jonin attacking together, they will definitely use large-scale ninjutsu. This is our chance."
Ōnoki nodded and said, "That's right. This time, still have Koku accompany you. But you must ensure the Byakugan's safety."
"Yes," Ishiro agreed readily.
Ikura then asked Ishiro, "Ishiro, the idea for the Lightning Release ninjutsu development you just mentioned, is it A-rank?"
Ishiro said, "That's right. It's an upgraded version of my previous A-rank Lightning Release. Although both are A-rank Lightning Release, this one will be a long-range single-target attack Lightning Release."
Ōnoki and the others were very surprised. Mei said, "Ishiro, you're developing another new A-rank ninjutsu? And it's a lightning-attribute attack ninjutsu?"
It was no wonder everyone was surprised. Ishiro had developed too many new ninjutsu over the years. Just A-rank alone included: Water Cutting Technique, Rasengan, Lightning Release Stimulation Method, and Chidori. Now, there was also going to be Chidori Nagashi.
Ishiro alone had contributed five A-rank ninjutsu, three of which were Lightning Release. This made the other high-level officials find it incredible.
Most of Iwagakure's ninjutsu were contributed by various families and ninjas at the village's founding. In the decades that followed, Iwagakure's predecessors slowly developed and supplemented them, resulting in the current ninjutsu library.
But no one had ever developed A-rank ninjutsu as frequently as Ishiro. This made Ōnoki subconsciously think of Konoha's Second Hokage.
That was a true genius in ninjutsu, from space-time ninjutsu to soul ninjutsu, with various forbidden jutsu emerging endlessly. It could be said that the Second Hokage greatly enriched the flashiness of ninjas.
The current Ishiro was still far from comparable to Tobirama Senju, but it didn't matter; Ishiro was still young, and his future path was long.
Ōnoki was already beginning to imagine a wonderful future where Iwagakure, like Konoha, would develop various forbidden jutsu one after another.
After a while, Ōnoki said, "Ishiro, from now on, the village will grant you access to all A-rank ninjutsu and allow you to consult all A-rank secret scrolls."
Seeing the surprised expressions on Ishiro and the others' faces, Ōnoki explained, "Developing ninjutsu requires a vast amount of experience, including various ninjutsu and conjectures developed by predecessors. Ishiro's ninjutsu development level is unprecedented in the village. Read more materials, enrich your knowledge, and then strive to develop more new ninjutsu to increase the village's foundation."
Hearing Ōnoki's explanation, Ikura, Saka, and Mei all looked at Ishiro with shining eyes.
Because just a few days ago, Ishiro had added an S-rank ninjutsu to Iwagakure's ninjutsu library: Shinra Tensei! Although Shinra Tensei wasn't developed by Ishiro, but learned from Nagato, it was still an S-rank ninjutsu, perfectly suited to enrich Iwagakure's foundation.
Ishiro was speechless. He really wanted to say, "You're overthinking it. The ninjutsu I develop all have templates." The Water Cutting Technique was learned from Jiraiya and Tobirama Senju in the original work, Rasengan was completely copied from Naruto in the original work, Chidori was learned from Kakashi in the original work, and even the not-yet-fully-developed Chidori Nagashi was learned from Sasuke in the original work.
But the others didn't know this. They only knew that Ishiro learned Rasengan after seeing it once and had also somewhat filled the big pit that was Lightning Release in Iwagakure.
However, regardless, being able to view all A-rank ninjutsu and A-rank secret scrolls for free was a good thing for Ishiro.
After the meeting, due to the urgency, Ishiro didn't go to view the ninjutsu. Instead, he and Ikura, along with Koku and the Anbu guarding the Byakugan, left the village to pursue the returning Sand ninja contingent.
At this moment, Tanimoto Naoto's group, which had set out before Ishiro and the others, had already caught up with the Sand ninja's team.
It turned out that Ōnoki's worry about the Cloud ninjas framing Iwagakure was unfounded.
Impersonating Stone ninjas within the Land of Earth was too easily exposed. Because the Cloud ninjas would definitely adopt a quick-battle tactic, and Stone ninjas had a home-field advantage. If Iwagakure really wanted to make a move, they definitely wouldn't send only five Jonin, nor would they be in a hurry to disengage.
So, after some thought, Tanimoto Naoto and his group chose to impersonate Konoha ninjas.
Just like when Ishiro went to the Land of Whirlpools battlefield, Tanimoto Naoto's group disguised themselves as Konoha Anbu.
Having caught up with the Sand ninja team early on, Tanimoto Naoto was not in a hurry to act. Because the Sand ninja team was moving relatively slowly and was still quite close to the Stone Village, attacking here could easily be discovered by passing Stone ninjas.
In Tanimoto Naoto's mind, revealing his identity was a small matter, but losing the Byakugan was a big one; he didn't want to take the risk.
So, when Ishiro and his group, with the help of the Byakugan, caught up with the Sand ninja team, Tanimoto Naoto had not yet made a move.
"Found the Sand ninjas. They are about two kilometers ahead of us." Koku, with his Byakugan activated, looked straight ahead of Ishiro and the others. Then he turned his head to look to the left front and said, "The Cloud ninjas are also there. It looks like they haven't made a move yet."
Ikura thought for a moment and said, "Tanimoto Naoto probably wants to make his move far away from the village. Maintain distance; we'll continue to follow."
Ishiro naturally had no objections. The group slowed down and quietly followed behind the two parties. Anyway, with the Byakugan, they weren't afraid of losing them.
After about another half a day, when the Sand ninja contingent had left the heartland of the Land of Earth but had not yet reached the border, the Cloud ninjas made their move.
The first to notice the abnormality was still Koku: "The Cloud ninjas are rapidly approaching the Sand ninjas. They're about to make a move!"
Ishiro said, "Let's go up too. First, let's observe the Cloud ninjas' jutsu at close range."
Ikura also nodded. He also wanted to see how Ishiro and the others used the Byakugan to secretly learn ninjutsu.
Thus, Ishiro's group, which had been carefully following from several kilometers away, suddenly accelerated, finally closing in to about 500 meters from the Sand ninjas.
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