Chapter 491: The Land of Hot Water's Plea for Help
Natsuki was stunned by Katsumata's words. "Me? Reach my brother's level? Isn't that the third stage? Kage-level?!"
She had shouted the last two words. She had never imagined she could reach such a level.
In truth, she had misjudged her own talent. Katsumata, as an observer, could see it more clearly. Natsuki's training effort was far less than his, but her progress was not that far behind. That alone showed the difference between them.
Katsumata felt he had already reached the limit of his own talent. Or rather, reaching the elite jonin level had already exceeded it. To reach the Kage level would likely be impossible. But Natsuki's potential was greater than his, and her ceiling was higher. She still had a chance to reach the third stage of Yin Release.
Ishiro ignored Natsuki's cry. His mind suddenly flashed to the moment in the original story when Black Zetsu had controlled Obito. That technique had felt similar to the Nara clan's Shadow Paralysis Technique, but probably more advanced.
Could that be what Katsumata meant by using a soul to suppress a soul?
Taking a deep breath, Ishiro said, "Katsumata, I will support this research of yours. If you need anything, just tell me directly."
Katsumata gave a wry smile. "Teacher Ishiro, the core component of this research is souls. Does our village have any souls that we can study?"
Ishiro: ...
Iwagakure did have some special souls, but none of them could be used for research. Shion had Mōryō inside her, but he couldn't just take it out for study. The shrine that Katsumata and Natsuki were currently studying likely had a soul sealed within it, but that was something he didn't dare release casually. He also had a small piece of Black Zetsu's body, but that was even more dangerous.
After a moment's thought, his eyes lit up. He had thought of something.
"Someone," Ishiro called out. "Go to the laboratory and retrieve something for me." He wrote down an order and gave it to the Anbu who appeared.
The Anbu vanished. Not long after, he returned with a jar.
Seeing it, Katsumata also remembered. "Teacher Ishiro, are you talking about the Ghost Fire?"
Ishiro nodded. "I didn't tell you last time, but this so-called 'Ghost Fire' is actually a special life form. It can devour souls."
He told Katsumata everything he knew and suspected. "I'm giving this to you for your research, but you must be extremely careful. Don't fall for its tricks. You must protect yourselves with soul seals during your research."
Katsumata nodded. "Don't worry, Teacher Ishiro. I will be careful."
Ishiro removed his own seal from the jar, leaving only the soul seal Katsumata had previously applied. He then handed it to him.
The two of them then left with the jar.
Ishiro returned to his office, glanced at Akino, who was still deep in her research, shook his head, and left her undisturbed.
The next day, Ishiro took the last scroll from Danzō and found Kamizuru Tsuruhime at the training ground.
He gave her the ten types of special insects from the Aburame clan. "Tsuruhime, does your clan have a way to use these insects to upgrade your bees? If so, they're all yours."
Tsuruhime's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She nodded vigorously, calling out the names of all ten insect species one by one.
"Teacher Ishiro, these are all from Konoha's Aburame clan! Where did you get them?"
"I traded for them. They should be useful to your clan."
"Useful? They're incredibly useful! I'll start cultivating new bees with them right away!"
Ishiro nodded. "Good. If you use all ten types, will your bees gain ten new abilities?"
"Yes," she said. "Actually, the abilities cultivated from these are very basic. The Aburame's Parasitic Destruction Insects already have these abilities. They're probably raising these specific types to wait for a natural mutation. Although the chance of mutation is low, if it happens, it means one of their insects' abilities can be enhanced. I heard that after they defeated our clan, the Aburame received special support from Konoha. They even have a special place in the Land of Fire for cultivating various poisonous insects. With a natural breeding ground like that, the chance of mutation is much higher. That's why the Aburame have been getting stronger and stronger."
"Teacher Ishiro," she asked, "the elders in my family said the Aburame are now one of the top clans in Konoha. Is that true?"
Ishiro nodded. "They have indeed developed rapidly. But don't be in a hurry to compare yourself to them now. First, add these ten abilities to your bees. In the future, when they're stronger, I'll take you on a secret trip to the Aburame's insect breeding ground."
Her eyes lit up. "Really, Teacher Ishiro? Won't that cause conflict between our two nations?"
Ishiro smiled. "It won't. I only visit other countries occasionally, not every day. As long as we're not discovered, it's fine."
Tsuruhime nodded repeatedly, her face full of anticipation.
"Alright," Ishiro said. "How long will it take you to cultivate the bees?"
She said awkwardly, "Teacher Ishiro, this is my first time cultivating abilities for my bees. I don't know how long it will take, but at least a month. Without considering chakra, my bees are still ordinary. Although their breeding cycle is a bit shorter because I selected for smaller size, they don't have any other abilities. According to my family's records, the initial cultivation of abilities is very slow. It gets faster as they gain more."
Hearing her uncertainty, Ishiro said, "It's fine. Take your time. You won't have any missions during this period."
Fujii Kaoru, who had been listening without understanding a word, immediately cheered.
At that moment, one of the Tsuchikage's assistants ran up. "Lord Tsuchikage, Advisor Ikura requests your presence in your office. It's an urgent matter. He has already notified the other advisors."
Ishiro was surprised. A high-level meeting at this time? Did something happen?
When he arrived, the rest of the council was already there. "What's going on?" he asked.
Ikura handed him a letter. "It's a request for aid from the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water."
"The Land of Hot Water?" Ishiro opened the letter curiously. It was a place of constant trouble. Many major events since his transmigration had happened there. He'd first met his sister Natsuki there and had his first contact with the Cult of Jashin. He had killed Jiraiya there. Last time, Obito had been besieged there by Tsunade, Rasa, and A. And right after that, Ishiro had killed the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, in the same country.
What's happening there now?
He returned to his seat and quickly read the letter. "The Cult of Jashin is trying to seize power?"
Ikura nodded. "More or less. The Daimyo's words are a bit exaggerated. The root of the problem is actually the incident where we killed Yugito Nii. Our great villages fought a major battle there, causing great destruction, but their own ninja village, the Yugakure, did nothing. After that, the Daimyo and the civilians were extremely disappointed in them."
Ishiro nodded. He knew about this. The wide-area jutsu he and the others had used to surround the Fourth Raikage and Yugito—Dust Release, Light Release, Five Elements Great Consecutive Bullets, Tailed Beast Balls—had caused immense damage to the country's infrastructure. He had never lost any sleep over it.
After they left, the country did not calm down. The incompetence of Yugakure gave an excuse for ambitious people to make trouble. The Cult of Jashin, which had been developing in secret, was the most active of these forces.
They took advantage of the moment Yugakure lost the people's hearts to rapidly spread their teachings and expand their influence. They not only recruited civilians but also lured away a large number of ninja.
During this period, the Five Great Villages and the Akatsuki were busy preparing for the final battle of the Fifth Great Shinobi War, so no one paid attention to what was happening in the small Land of Hot Water.
Intelligence showed that the Cult of Jashin eventually fought a major battle with Yugakure, sacrificing many of their ninja to their so-called evil god. After the battle, far from being weakened, the cult's strength had actually grown. As for Yugakure, which had been one of the weaker villages to begin with, it was completely destroyed.
Initially, the Daimyo had sided with the cult, hoping for a ninja village that would dare to protect the country's interests. He had supported them with funds and legitimacy.
But after the cult replaced Yugakure, they couldn't stop. Their doctrine conflicted with the Daimyo's interests. When the war with Yugakure was over, the Daimyo cut off their funding. The suddenly empowered cult members couldn't accept this and protested.
Fortunately, the cult's leadership still had some sense. They knew the Six Great Villages were still around and that openly moving against the Daimyo would bring trouble.
So the current situation was a war of words. The Daimyo demanded a swift return to peace and that the cult should take on missions like any other village. But how could the cultists have the patience for missions? They only knew how to demand military funds and recruit more followers.
Realizing the situation was completely out of control, the Daimyo had secretly sent a plea for help to the neighboring Land of Earth.
Ikura said, "The followers of this cult are strange. They seem to be able to increase their strength by making sacrifices to their god. The more they sacrifice, the stronger they get. The stronger the sacrifice, the greater the increase."
After hearing this, Ishiro nodded slightly, recalling his first encounter with a branch of the cult. The priest there had been able to sacrifice himself to trap Ishiro, who was already a jonin, in a genjutsu space similar to Tsukuyomi. He had almost died there. In the original story, the cult had produced Hidan, who was arguably Kage-level when he was killed by Shikamaru.
This meant the cult's upper limit was not low. More importantly, their abilities were bizarre. An enemy who didn't know their secrets could easily fall into their trap.
Saka asked, "Ishiro, should we send troops to help?"
Bella said, "The Daimyo has proposed that we establish a branch in his country. But we don't have the manpower right now. The newly graduated genin haven't matured yet. We've just added two new branches and a temporary base. And we need to deploy a large number of people to suppress Suna. The village is stretched a bit thin."
Ishiro thought for a moment. "The Land of Hot Water is famously rich. One of it is worth at least five Lands of Bears. If we could take it, the benefits would be obvious."
"Ishiro, are you saying we should make a move?" Bella asked, tempted.
Ishiro shook his head, pouring a basin of cold water on them. "Sending troops is a major undertaking. The Land of Hot Water has never been in our sphere of influence. Its location is also not favorable for us to annex. A rash move could disrupt the current balance of the shinobi world."
"The current situation is very good for us to slowly grow stronger and widen the gap with the other villages. The Land of Hot Water and the Land of Wind—it's obvious which is more important. We cannot give up on suppressing Suna for the sake of the Land of Hot Water."
"Let's hear some ideas. Is there a way to do this without causing too much turmoil in the world, and without affecting our basic strategy of suppressing Suna? If we can achieve both, then we will send troops."
Everyone was silent.
Ikura added, "Indeed. Annexing the Land of Hot Water would be our first expansion after the Fifth War. Such a move would likely put all the other great villages on alert. The territories we expanded into before were spoils of war; the other villages could only grit their teeth and accept it. But this is different. Before we act, we must consider the consequences. Kiri might turn on us, and even the Akatsuki might change their view of us."
Megumi immediately looked at Ishiro. "Teacher Ishiro, you have an idea, don't you?"
The others had the same expectant expression. Fox of Iwagakure, don't disappoint us.
Ishiro mused for a few seconds. "I have an idea. We can't give up this piece of meat that is the Land of Hot Water, but we can't eat it all ourselves."
Kawakita asked, "Teacher, you mean bring Kiri in with us?"
The others nodded. This idea had some merit.
But Ishiro said, "No. We won't just bring in Kiri. We'll also bring in Konoha."
"Konoha?!" Everyone was shocked. Their current hypothetical enemies were Suna, Konoha, and Kumo. To bring in Konoha to share the wealth, wasn't that supplying the enemy?
"Hehe," Ishiro smiled. "We are indeed suppressing Konoha, Suna, and Kumo. But the situations in the three villages are different, so our methods must also be different."
"Suna's weakness is their finances. So dealing with them is simple: attrition. Drain their finances, and they will be unable to rise again."
"As for Kumo, we have no way to deal with them, so we can't suppress them."
"Konoha is the most unique. They don't lack money. After decades of being the hegemon and occupying the richest land, their foundation is beyond our imagination. What they lack is time. They need time to replenish their numbers and solve their internal problems."
Saka nodded. "That's right. From Kajiyama Ri's reports, Konoha's finances are tight, but that's only relative to their previous wealth. They still don't lack money."
Bella also said with feeling, "Yes, those two pieces of land we got from the Land of Fire are so rich. I can't imagine how much wealth the Land of Fire and Konoha have accumulated over the past decades."
Ishiro nodded. "So, bringing Konoha in and giving them a share of the profits does not hinder our strategy of suppressing them. This way, we also don't need to send our own people to garrison the country, and we don't have to give up on suppressing Suna. Moreover, if Konoha cooperates with us, it can also shake their alliance with Suna and Kumo."
After considering it, everyone nodded in agreement.
Just as they thought the discussion was over, Ishiro dropped another line: "However, I don't plan to cooperate with Konoha."
Everyone looked utterly confused.
Ishiro smiled. "For something this good, of course we'll cooperate with Danzō. Once this is done, it will not only increase his influence in Konoha but also give him the financial resources to expand his power."
"From Kajiyama Ri's reports, the Uchiha are unreliable. I estimate that Konoha's leadership has already reached a consensus on resolving the Uchiha problem by force. Instead of wasting effort on them, it's better to spend time on Danzō."
Megumi sighed. "Teacher Ishiro, you're truly amazing. You're worthy of being called..."
The council: ...
Megumi didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood.
In the end, the Iwagakure high command decided to accept the Land of Hot Water's request and send troops to deal with the Cult of Jashin. And this time, they would bring along Kiri and Konoha's Advisor Danzō.
Kiri would be easy. The shrewd Elder Genshi would not pass up such a profitable opportunity.
As for Konoha, that was also easy. Iwagakure had just completed a transaction with Danzō. They had a foundation for cooperation and a certain degree of trust.
And so, Kajiyama Ri, far away in Konoha, received another mission.
Megumi asked curiously, "Teacher Ishiro, what deal did you make with Advisor Danzō this time?"
Ishiro said, "I sold him the technology for White Zetsu transplants. In exchange, I got three masks from the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple, ten weapons with Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God seals, ten types of special insects from the Aburame clan, and the training notes for the Super Beast Scroll."
After hearing this, everyone thought for a moment: they knew about the seals, the insects, and the scroll, but what were the masks?
Kawakita asked this question for everyone.
Ishiro thought for a moment. "These are items the Uzumaki clan used to research some strange things. I suspect they're related to souls or space-time ninjutsu, so I had Kajiyama Ri trade for them. There are three masks in total. One is with Akino Atsumi now; she seems to have discovered something and is improving her Flying Thunder God. The other two are with Katsumata and Natsuki; they are very helpful for their research on soul sealing. I can't say for sure what they are, but they're very useful. We'll know more when Akino and Katsumata have results."
Megumi and the others nodded and said no more.
After the meeting, Ishiro decided to go to the Land of Hot Water to check out the Cult of Jashin. The later joint operation would just be a formality. It was just a mid-sized country's ninja force; unlike the Akatsuki with their Rinnegan, no one would take them seriously. He planned to go and understand them first. If there was anything good, he could rake it into his own bowl early.
Before leaving, he first went to the training ground to assign training tasks to his three disciples. Since Kamizuru Tsuruhime needed to cultivate her bees and couldn't leave, he decided not to take the other two either.
Before he even got close, his Mind's Eye had already scanned the entire training ground.
To his surprise, there was a full Anbu squad at the edge of the field.
There were quite a few people in the training ground. Besides Haku, Tsuruhime, and Kaoru, there was a large group of children. Yes, a large group. They were still split into two factions, centered around Kurotsuchi and Yi Mizunashi, but their numbers were clearly larger than last time.
On Kurotsuchi's side, Neji was still there. He was the only boy. From his expression, he really didn't want to be there and was practicing the Gentle Fist by himself, a short distance away from the group of girls. Ishiro glanced at him. Although he was still practicing the Gentle Fist, his style was already very different from the Hyuga clan's traditional form.
Besides Neji, Kurotsuchi's side was all girls, more than ten of them. Ishiro suspected she had called over all the girls from her class. He glanced at them and noticed that most of them were not looking at Kurotsuchi or Yi's group. Like Karin, these fangirls were all watching Neji train. It seemed that supporting their friend was just an excuse; watching the handsome boy was the main purpose.
The other side had fewer people. Perhaps because Yi had been at the academy longer, she had made more friends. There were six or seven girls with her.
Ishiro glanced at them and then looked away. But the next moment, his gaze snapped back.
He rubbed his brow. Is that? Shion?
Shion is enrolled? And she's in the same year as Sakura? The same class? This was news to him. He didn't even know when she had moved to Iwagakure.
He glanced at the Anbu squad. No need to ask. They were here to protect Shion. Of all the people present, not even Kurotsuchi, Ōnoki's own granddaughter, warranted 24-hour Anbu protection. Only Shion, the daughter of the Land of Demons' Daimyo and the designated next Daimyo, had such special treatment.
Ishiro walked onto the field, quickly attracting everyone's attention.
Yi Mizunashi was the most enthusiastic, rushing up to him. "Greetings, Lord Tsuchikage!"
On the other side, Kurotsuchi gritted her teeth. The last time Ishiro had refereed their competition, Yi, with Sakura's help, had won two out of three. Kurotsuchi had been so angry she had run straight home and hadn't called Haku "brother" for the entire day.
Ishiro had business to attend to this time and didn't fan the flames between the two little brats. He just had them dismiss their opposing factions.
He walked up to his three disciples and assigned them their training tasks.
Kamizuru Tsuruhime had to use all her chakra to cultivate her bees and had no energy for anything else.
Fujii Kaoru was practicing Fire-nature shape transformation. She was making progress, but she was still a long way from learning the B-rank Phoenix Sage Fire Technique. Ishiro's intention was for her to learn it as quickly as possible.
The training task Ishiro assigned to Haku was rather strange. He had him practice Water Release and Wind Release.
Haku was very talented and had awakened Ice Release early on, so Ōnoki and Kitsuchi had been training his Ice Release. With the large number of jutsu Ishiro had brought back from Kirigakure, Haku did not lack for ice ninjutsu. However, he had never practiced Water and Wind Release.
This approach certainly had obvious effects in the early stages; the power of Kekkei Genkai jutsu was generally a rank higher. But after reading Madara's notes on ninjutsu, Kekkei Genkai, and Wood Release, Ishiro's understanding of chakra had long since surpassed Ōnoki's.
In Ishiro's view, if Haku only trained in Ice Release, his future achievements would be very limited. No matter how talented he was, his Ice Release was inherited from his predecessors and had an upper limit. His understanding of it needed to be reinforced by practicing its constituent elements, Water and Wind Release.
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