Chapter 205: Fish Bait
With the joint Chūnin Exams approaching, Iwagakure also began to bustle with activity. As the person in charge of these exams, Ikura's affairs became increasingly numerous, and Ishiro's Sage Mode cultivation could no longer proceed.
Although Ishiro didn't need to busy himself with preparing for the joint Chūnin Exams, Ishiro wasn't idle either. On the contrary, Ishiro had quite a few matters to attend to. At the very least, Ishiro now had to look after seven children every day.
Besides Ishiro's own three disciples and Natsuki, that troublesome little sister, Ishiro also had to look after Ikura's three disciples.
Nakata Tatsunori, Haraguchi Hanpei, and Shimoyama Mayuzumi – Ishiro was present when Ikura selected them as disciples, and the two teams had interacted quite closely afterwards. So Ishiro was quite familiar with the three of them.
Among the three, Shimoyama Mayuzumi was actually a disciple Ikura had chosen for his girlfriend, Uzumaki Yumi. Uzumaki Yumi was now a key member of the Barrier Team. During the past six months of research on the natural energy seal, Uzumaki Yumi had often brought Shimoyama Mayuzumi along to participate.
Therefore, Ishiro understood Shimoyama Mayuzumi the best and had also guided her quite a bit on sealing jutsu knowledge.
And when Ishiro was not in the village, Ikura would occasionally help guide Ishiro's three disciples, so the six of them understood each other very well.
What's more, they were all graduates of the same year; Matsutani Shinya and Nakata Tatsunori were even from the same class.
The training of these six had all formed a certain system, and there weren't many areas where Ishiro needed to provide guidance. What Ishiro needed to do was to watch them train and occasionally answer some of the strange questions from the young boys and girls.
Unable to cultivate Sage Mode, Ishiro could only spend most of his time on Lightning Release.
Half a year had passed. Ishiro's development of Lightning Release had been his main training content, aside from researching seals. So, while his progress in other areas wasn't very obvious, Lightning Release was still improving.
After all, in Ishiro's original plan, cultivating Lightning Release was part of his main quest, while cultivating Sage Mode was not yet a main quest. Other aspects of training, even S-rank ninjutsu or Porcelain Release development, Ishiro paid even less attention to.
Because Ishiro knew very well that S-rank ninjutsu and Porcelain Release could only increase combat power but could not elevate his life level. To achieve an elevation in life level, one could only cultivate Kekkei Genkai and Sage Mode.
And Kekkei Genkai, in Ishiro's view, was the most important.
In Ishiro's established goals, the next Kekkei Genkai he planned to develop included the Lightning attribute – most likely Water and Lightning, with a smaller probability of Earth and Lightning.
Regardless of whether he chose Water or Earth, he had already reached the standard for fusion, but Lightning Release was still far behind.
Fortunately, after half a year of training, Ishiro had still made some progress.
Firstly, Ishiro had developed Chidori. Due to the different timeline, Ishiro didn't know if the current Kakashi had also completed its development; this didn't concern Ishiro much at present.
Ishiro was already a high-level advisor. Even if Ōnoki and the others found it strange, they wouldn't suspect Ishiro.
For example, Ishiro's displayed familiarity with Sage Mode cultivation had puzzled the higher-ups, but no one had raised any questions, because everyone trusted Ishiro, and because Ishiro's status and position were sufficient.
No matter what source of intelligence Ishiro had, no one would interfere.
So even if Kakashi used the same Chidori as Ishiro in the future, no one would say anything.
To be honest, Ishiro learning Chidori didn't greatly enhance his combat power. Chidori was a close-combat ninjutsu. Ishiro primarily focused on long-range ninjutsu output; opportunities for close combat were inherently few.
Furthermore, Ishiro was accustomed to using sword ki in close combat. Not only was it hard to change habits, but even if he were to use ninjutsu, the Rasengan, a seal-less ninjutsu, was clearly more practical.
The only benefit of Chidori was that, after use, it would emit a dazzlingly strong light. Besides interfering with Ishiro's own vision, it would also interfere with the enemy's vision.
However, Ishiro himself possessed the "Mind's Eye" cheat. Coupled with repeated practice, he had grown accustomed to Chidori's side effects. So, using Chidori to catch an enemy off guard was still feasible.
But, that was about it.
If Ishiro wanted to increase his combat power through Chidori, he would have to develop Chidori's derivative ninjutsu, such as Chidori Sharp Spear or Chidori Current.
These were all long-range attack type ninjutsu and could be incorporated into Ishiro's existing tactical system.
However, developing these ninjutsu was too difficult.
Ishiro's innate talent in Lightning Release was insufficient. If not for the rapid increase in his chakra reserves over the past six months, Ishiro wouldn't even be able to use Chidori, this massively chakra-consuming Lightning Release jutsu.
For the current Ishiro, Chidori consumed about 50A of chakra. The reason it was so much was mainly because Lightning was Ishiro's fourth attribute; casting high-level Lightning Release jutsus would actually consume other types of chakra for no good reason.
Even more frustratingly, after Ishiro cast Chidori twice, his Lightning attribute chakra would hit rock bottom, and he could no longer conduct related training unless Ishiro consumed chakra of other attributes and then re-refined it.
This made Ishiro very uncomfortable. Precisely because of this, Ishiro's progress over the past six months had been very limited. Apart from learning Chidori, there had been no other substantial advancements.
Precisely because his Lightning Release cultivation was not going smoothly, Ishiro was even more eager to master Sage Mode, hoping to change the current situation through the amplification of Sage Mode and find the possibility of accelerating his Lightning Release cultivation.
Actually, at this point, Ishiro had already vaguely sensed the limits of this body. The plan to elevate his life level was proceeding step by step, but the body's own limitations were gradually becoming apparent as Ishiro's level increased.
Even if Ishiro was a transmigrator with memories from a previous life, it was still far from enough to break these shackles.
The successful cultivation of Porcelain Release had fundamentally elevated Ishiro's life level, but this change was subtle and gradual, requiring time to slowly manifest its effects.
Unfortunately, Ishiro couldn't afford to wait.
If Ishiro waited ten or twenty years for the Porcelain Release's development of his body to complete before proceeding to the next step of chakra fusion, then Ishiro felt that even if there was no Fourth Great Ninja War, he would die before completing his established goals.
Like Madara Uchiha, who obtained the ultimate Yin and ultimate Yang energies, then sat枯坐 (kūzuò - sit in meditation/idly for a long time) before the Gedo Mazō for decades, only completing his transformation in his old age and fusing the Rinnegan.
Ishiro couldn't do such a thing. If Black Zetsu hadn't deemed Madara to still have utilitarian value, then things like the Rinnegan and the Eye of the Moon would have had nothing to do with Madara; once Madara died, he was dead.
To avoid treading Madara Uchiha's old path, Ishiro placed his hopes on Sage Mode. Sage Mode could also elevate one's life level, but this process was relatively slow, unless one absorbed an unimaginably vast amount of natural energy to cause a leap-like change in life.
Examples: Kaguya, the Sage of Six Paths, Obito, and Madara, who absorbed the Ten-Tails, a derivative of natural energy, into their bodies, achieving a leap in their life levels.
If the absorbed amount wasn't enough, one could still achieve a certain degree of transcendence, manifested as an increase in lifespan.
Examples: The three great sages of the three great sage regions.
Ishiro's minimum goal was to possess a lifespan similar to that of the three great sages of the three great sage regions, and then use this extra time to complete the leap in life level.
So now, another link had been added to Ishiro's main quest: cultivating Sage Mode.
Getting back to the main topic, Ishiro's Lightning Release cultivation had encountered difficulties. Affected by insufficient Lightning attribute chakra, Ishiro's training progress had slowed down.
Therefore, after Ishiro used Chidori twice and exhausted the Lightning attribute chakra in his body, the urge to go find trouble with Kumogakure surged within him again.
Last time he found trouble with Kumogakure, he obtained the Lightning Release stimulation method. He wondered what surprises another encounter might bring.
Unfortunately, this time Kumogakure did not send ninjas to participate in the joint Chūnin Exams.
Thinking of this, Ishiro's body paused. Perhaps, he could find a way to lure Kumogakure to participate in the joint Chūnin Exams.
But what could be used to tempt Kumogakure?
Clearly, the B-rank ninjutsu proposed by Iwagakure was not very tempting to Kumogakure; Kumogakure remained unmoved. The envoys Iwagakure sent to invite Kumogakure didn't even get to see the Third Raikage.
"If I want to attract Kumogakure's attention," Ishiro smiled faintly, having an answer, "the Byakugan."
Ishiro didn't know how much interest Kumogakure had in the Byakugan before, but after Kirigakure obtained a Byakugan, Kumogakure was bound to be tempted. Otherwise, in the original story, Kumogakure wouldn't have chosen to sacrifice a high-ranking official and threaten war to make a move against the Hyūga clan.
Where was the Byakugan Ishiro brought back now? Of course, it was with the Anbu. In the entire Iwagakure village, apart from the Tsuchikage building, the Anbu headquarters was the most heavily guarded. Research on the Byakugan was also being conducted secretly within the Anbu.
Others might not know this, but Ishiro, as a high-ranking official, certainly did.
Research on the Byakugan had always been Mei's responsibility. It was impossible for Ishiro to just run to the Anbu, grab the Byakugan, and flee. Ishiro first needed to get Mei's consent.
However, Mei's impression of Ishiro over the past six months hadn't been very good. Ishiro's Sage Mode research had consumed too many funds, yet there was still no sign of success.
"Sigh, there's no other way." Ishiro instructed the seven children training nearby a few things, then braced himself and went to find Mei.
In the Tsuchikage building, within Advisor Mei's office, Mei frowned as she looked at Ishiro and asked, "You're saying you want to use the Byakugan to lure Kumogakure to participate in the joint Chūnin Exams?"
Ishiro nodded like a pecking chicken.
Mei thought for a moment and then asked, "I don't care if it succeeds or not. Will the Byakugan be lost? Will it be damaged?"
Ishiro quickly made a guarantee: "Senior Mei, please rest assured. I also wouldn't feel at ease letting others handle the Byakugan. I will definitely handle this matter personally. I guarantee the Byakugan will not leave my hand throughout the entire process."
Hearing Ishiro's guarantee, Mei hesitated for a moment but still agreed. She still recognized Ishiro's strength, and she also trusted Ishiro's intelligence.
Since Ishiro said he would do it personally, then she had nothing to worry about. Anyway, the Byakugan was brought back by Ishiro; she believed Ishiro valued and cherished the Byakugan more than she did.
"The Byakugan is currently undergoing experiments in the Anbu. Come with me to retrieve it."
"Alrighty then!" Ishiro responded cheerfully, which earned him another glare from Mei.
Ishiro quickly shut his mouth.
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