Chapter 318: Top Secret
Han, through the vow he made when becoming a Jinchuriki, allowed his shadow self to recognize the true him, and in doing so, allowed himself to recognize his true self as well.
In fact, as early as childhood, he had already found his own ninja way. It was just that the path had not given him much positive feedback before, which had caused him to waver.
This trip to the Waterfall of Truth had allowed Han to reaffirm his ninja way once again.
Ishiro and the others stood outside the Waterfall of Truth, watching Han the whole time. But Han remained motionless, neither speaking nor moving, as if he had turned into a statue.
After a long while, there was still no movement from Han.
Ishiro wanted to use his Mind's Eye to observe Han's state, but there was something in the waterfall that prevented him from sensing the situation inside at all.
Ishiro turned his head to look at the Cloud ninja squad leader and asked, "Does the trial of the Waterfall of Truth require this much time?"
The squad leader was also uncertain. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I'm not very clear either, but it shouldn't be necessary."
Hearing the Cloud squad leader's unreliable words, Ishiro also frowned. He looked at the Waterfall of Truth again, thought for a moment, and decided not to intervene after all.
For this kind of mental test, an outsider could not help. He could only rely on himself. Rushing to interfere would likely be counterproductive.
"I believe that after these few years of adjustment, Han's mentality has already changed." The basis for Ishiro's judgment was Kokuō's cooperation.
Tailed Beasts are more sensitive than ninjas in this regard. Their perception is very accurate, and they can clearly sense the good and evil in a ninja.
A long time passed again. Han, who had been like a statue, suddenly moved. Then, as if he had just woken from a long dream, he looked around in a daze. It took a good while for him to come back to his senses, and then he turned and walked out of the Waterfall of Truth.
In that instant, Ishiro's gaze narrowed, and then he immediately turned to look at the four Cloud ninjas. Seeing that they were just relieved and had no other expression, Ishiro finally relaxed.
Because the moment Han walked out of the Waterfall of Truth, Ishiro had sensed a change in his aura. Ishiro was now very familiar with this situation; he had sensed it on Konan and on Kawakita.
It turned out that, within the Waterfall of Truth, Han had completed the transformation from an Elite Jonin to a Near-Kage. No wonder it took so long. Iwagakure had gained a huge advantage this time!
This was an absolute pleasant surprise for Ishiro. This matter was too significant. For Han, as a Jinchuriki, to become a Near-Kage, his influence was much greater than that of Near-Kage like Kawakita and Kitsuchi.
For example, in the original story, Killer Bee was a Kage-level Jinchuriki. The combat power he displayed was able to participate in the battle against Obito and Madara and become one of the main forces.
Even if Han's strength was not as good as Killer Bee's, and the Five-Tails was not as good as the Eight-Tails, in the future, Han would also be able to surpass Kage-levels like Ikura, Kawakita, and Kitsuchi.
This kind of change in Han could only be seen by ninjas of the same or higher level. These few Cloud ninjas obviously did not have that kind of strength and didn't see anything. Otherwise, Ishiro might have had to consider silencing them.
Not wanting to delay too much on Turtle Island, as soon as Han came out, Ishiro immediately said to the Cloud squad leader, "Since we have been to the Waterfall of Truth, we will return to the Land of Earth."
"I have an agreement with your Fourth Raikage. As long as Han comes out of the Waterfall of Truth safely, I must personally go to the front line to put pressure on Konoha. There's no time to lose; we will set out now."
The Cloud squad leader naturally would not obstruct him. He quickly said, "Then we will see the Tsuchikage off."
"Yes," Ishiro replied, then went to the side and pulled over Riori, who was playing with the small animals.
When they arrived, it was Ishiro who had brought this Cloud squad. But when they left, Ishiro did not care about these Cloud ninjas and directly left them on Turtle Island.
Just like when they set out from Iwagakure, Ishiro led the seven of them and flew into the mid-air. Only after seeing that they were far away from Turtle Island did Ishiro turn around and say to Han, "Senior Han, how are you feeling now?"
Han had also reacted by now. He said with some uncertainty, "It seems, I mean it seems, that I have become a Near-Kage."
Ishiro nodded. His perception was correct.
Hearing Han's words, his three disciples and Ishiro's two disciples were all greatly surprised.
The only one who was not surprised was Riori Uzumaki. She was still angry. They had left in such a hurry just now that she didn't even get to say goodbye to those small animals.
But the other five were all sharp-witted.
Not only were the five of them very surprised, but Han himself was also very surprised.
Because in their impression, Iwagakure now only had three Kage-level individuals. Han, as a Jinchuriki, also needed Kokuō's cooperation to be able to briefly fight against a Kage-level.
But now Han had suddenly become a Near-Kage, which made everyone feel it was incredible.
Ishiro thought for a moment and said, "After becoming a Near-Kage, do you have any special feelings? For example, when Ikura and I became Near-Kage, we both mastered a fifth chakra nature transformation."
Han sensed for a moment and said, "I don't have that feeling, but my affinity for Boil Release seems to have increased a bit."
Ishiro nodded and said, "Alright, this matter is not to be discussed anymore. This is classified as top-secret intelligence for the village. No one is allowed to leak it without permission from the higher-ups."
"Yes," Han and the five juniors answered in unison.
Then everyone looked at Riori. The little girl, seeing everyone looking at her with grave expressions, panicked a little, shifted back inconspicuously, and then asked carefully, "What's wrong?"
Ishiro rubbed the spot between his eyebrows and said, "Forget it. Don't worry about her."
"Senior Han, what did you experience in the Waterfall of Truth?" Only now did Ishiro have time to ask about Han's experience in the waterfall.
"I saw another me. We talked for a long time. In the end, he gave me the chance to experience the beauty of the world," Han said after some thought.
Ishiro nodded. He also really wanted to enter the Waterfall of Truth to experience it, but he didn't dare. He felt his own heart was too dirty; who knew what he would see after entering the waterfall.
After a day, the group arrived at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. At this time, Ikura had also just arrived at the border not long ago. He had to gather ninjas and had no flight ninjutsu, so his speed was much slower than Ishiro's.
If not for the fact that the ones he gathered were all elite ninjas, with the weakest being a good hand among Chunin, he would probably still be on the road now.
After taking a turn around the temporary camp, Ishiro arranged for lodging for Han and the others, instructing Han to communicate well with Kokuō. After experiencing the Waterfall of Truth, Ishiro believed that Han and Kokuō could get along more harmoniously.
Then Ishiro took Ikura and flew into the sky.
This was both to let Konoha see, fulfilling his promise to the Fourth Raikage, and also to create a talking space that no ninja could monitor.
In fact, the moment Ishiro had entered the camp, he had already been discovered by Konoha's reconnaissance ninjas.
"Han went through the Cloud's Waterfall of Truth and is now a Near-Kage," Ishiro said softly to Ikura.
Ikura was stunned, then overjoyed, "That's great! Counting Kawakita and Senior Kitsuchi, plus Han, our village will have six Kage-level individuals."
After speaking, Ikura turned his gaze towards the Land of Fire opposite them, his chest heaving, as if he was trying his best to suppress something. And that look in his eyes, it was as if he was about to charge across the border line to fight in the next moment.
Ishiro was stunned, then he also understood. According to Ikura's calculation, in another two years, when Han and the other two became true Kage-level, the number of Iwagakure's Kage-level individuals would be twice that of Konoha's. Two against one, it felt like destroying Konoha would be a piece of cake.
Indeed, if not for the existence of other hidden villages, the current Ishiro would definitely proactively initiate a war against Konoha.
Ishiro did not appease Ikura's emotions; there was no need. Ikura was not stupid; he knew now was not the time to be impulsive. Iwagakure was still in a phase of rapid development; it was not suitable to be the one to stick its neck out now.
Sure enough, after a while, Ikura retracted his gaze from the Land of Fire, then said to Ishiro, "Let's go down. You've shown your face. I believe Konoha's intelligence ninjas have surely received the news of you coming to the front line."
Ishiro nodded, and the two quickly returned to the temporary camp.
The situation was just as Ishiro had expected.
Konoha, which was originally engaged in a war of words with the Cloud, had no intention of compromising.
But suddenly, Ikura led several thousand Iwa elites towards the border. Clearly, Iwagakure and Kumogakure had reached some kind of agreement. Iwagakure was coordinating with the Cloud's actions.
Before Ikura's group had even reached the front line, Tsunade in Konoha Village had already received the intelligence through a special channel.
At this time, Hiruzen finally began to openly persuade Tsunade to sacrifice the interests of the Hyuga clan in exchange for peace.
But Tsunade was still not resigned. She said that with the cunning of Ishiro, the "Fox of Iwa," his plan was certainly to sit back and watch the Cloud and Konoha fight. Ikura's purpose was most likely just to tie them down; he would not take the initiative to attack.
Coincidentally, Danzō was still at the front line. Even if Ikura really wanted to make a move, he probably wouldn't get much of an advantage.
But soon, their calculations were shattered because Danzō sent back a piece of intelligence that shocked them: Ishiro, the Tsuchikage, had personally come to the front line, and the intelligence ninja stated that Ishiro had even brought the Jinchuriki with him.
Even the uncontrollable Jinchuriki had been deployed. This time, Tsunade's own judgment was shaken. With Ishiro and the Jinchuriki, the Iwa front line had three ninjas who could exert Kage-level strength. One Danzō was definitely not enough to stop them. With Danzō's personality, if the village still let him stand at the front alone at a time like this, he might do something jaw-dropping.
Tsunade gritted her teeth and said, "Doesn't Iwagakure have a delegation in the village? Has Shikaku gotten any idea of Iwa's intentions?"
Hiruzen gave a bitter smile and said, "Shikaku's judgment is that this Iwa delegation knows nothing. Their arrival is very likely related to the Tsuchikage's previous infiltration of the village. He speculates that this delegation is here to meet up with their Tsuchikage."
"However, on the way here, an Iwa Anbu approached them and said something to their leader."
"Shikaku guesses that the Iwa Anbu was probably the Tsuchikage in disguise. I have calculated the time, and the time that Iwa Anbu appeared matches the time the Tsuchikage left our Konoha."
Tsunade asked doubtfully, "So the Tsuchikage should have told the leader of this delegation some plan. Have they made any unusual moves?"
Hiruzen shook his head, "They have been very well-behaved. Apart from coming out every day to inquire about some news, they have done nothing. They also haven't had contact with any suspicious persons. What's more amazing is that every time they go out, they proactively request an Anbu escort, as if each of them is trying their best to prove their innocence."
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