In the next week, the Mizunos of the North did not only investigate the actions of Kirigakure (the Hidden Mist Village) throughout the territory of the Land of Hot Water (Yunokuni), but also entered the Land of Water to investigate Kirigakure's movements through the teleportation coordinates previously left there.
Except for occasionally killing a few teams of Mist ninjas to prove that he still existed, Chao Yanqian basically did not engage much with the Mist ninjas.
The seven-day investigation yielded results. Kirigakure had indeed secretly increased the number of frontline ninjas, and the Mist ninjas were all in a hurry, searching throughout the entire Land of Hot Water for the hiding place of the missing thousands.
The plan of the Third Hokage had been mostly successful, and the part involving the Imperial Court had also been completed successfully.
For Kirigakure, losing thousands of people in the northern territory was a great humiliation.
Half of the village had been turned upside down by a child, and their ninja forces had suffered heavy losses. To a certain extent, there was now almost complete enmity between Chao Yanqian and Kirigakure. If Chao Yanqian was not killed, Kirigakure would continue to be overshadowed by Konoha.
When others in the ninja world mentioned Kirigakure, they would first think of the "Thousands of Lost" incident. Especially given that it was caused by a twelve-year-old child, it became the greatest humiliation for Kirigakure.
In this situation, Kirigakure had no choice but to spare no effort in hunting down the "Lost Thousands" from the north.
Konoha, Hokage's Office.
"Lord Hokage, the mission to provoke Kirigakure has been completed. Now Kirigakure has secretly sent a large number of ninjas to the front lines, but because they haven't found any trace of me yet, they haven't taken further action," Chao Yanqian reported after teleporting back to Konoha.
"En! I already know about this," the Third Hokage said with a smile.
"Yes! Then regarding this mission..." Chao Yanqian asked hesitantly.
"Let's bring this matter to a close," the Third Hokage said gently.
"Yes!" Chao Yanqian nodded in response.
"Have you encountered any problems in your training recently?" the Third Hokage suddenly asked.
Damn, talking to this old fox, you have to be careful with every word.
"Thank you for your concern, Hokage-sama. There is no major problem with my training," Chao Yanqian replied.
Chao Yanqian couldn't tell whether the Third Hokage's question was a test or out of genuine concern, so he could only answer, "There is no big problem."
There were issues, but they were minor ones small enough not to bother him all the time!
"En," the Third Hokage nodded slightly, then asked: "How is your relationship with Bo Feng Shuimen?"
"Yes! Senior Minato has often guided me in [Flying Thunder God Technique]. I was only able to learn this ninjutsu thanks to Senior Bo Feng Shuimen guidance," Chao Yanqian answered truthfully.
"En! Your abilities are very good. You are also very talented in medical ninjutsu. Bo Feng Shuimen may soon become the Fourth Hokage. You must support him in the future," the Third Hokage said seriously.
"Senior Bo Feng Shuimen..." Chao Yanqian murmured, then asked in confusion, "Lord Hokage, you are still young, why are you stepping down so soon..."
"Haha! You are smart. You should be able to guess the reason," the Third Hokage laughed and said, "Konoha has suffered greatly in the wars over the past few years, and the villagers' morale is very low. At such a time, someone must step up to bear the responsibility and calm the emotions of the villagers and ninjas."
"This..." Chao Yanqian didn't know how to respond.
"Originally, I considered choosing Orochimaru as the Fourth Hokage, but his character is not suitable for the position," the Third Hokage suddenly said.
Hearing the Third Hokage's words, cold sweat broke out on Chao Yanqian's back.
Had the Third Hokage noticed something? Otherwise, he would not be saying such things to him...
"Oh! Orochimaru was someone I raised and my most proud disciple, but I know him too well," the Third Hokage continued.
"Lord Orochimaru is very capable. Is there something wrong with him?" Chao Yanqian asked with a puzzled look.
At this moment, Chao Yanqian could only distance himself, neither speaking well nor ill of Orochimaru. Whether praising or criticizing would only expose his familiarity with Orochimaru.
Thus, Chao Yanqian pretended to know nothing about Orochimaru, treating him as a complete stranger.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm just getting sentimental in my old age. Seeing your talent reminds me of Orochimaru when he was young," the Third Hokage said gently.
Yeah right! Like I'd believe that!
"Lord Hokage, is there any problem with Lord Orochimaru?" Chao Yanqian asked, acting vigilant and completely ignorant.
"Haha! That's unnecessary to talk about," said the Third Hokage.
"En! I understand!" Chao Yanqian replied.
"You have the advantage of the Flying Thunder God Technique. Keep an eye on Kirigakure during this period, and don't let them discover our plan," the Third Hokage instructed.
"Yes!" Chao Yanqian nodded and then asked, "What about sunagakure..."
"There's no problem on that side," the Third Hokage said, clearly unwilling to divulge information about Suangakure.
After briefly chatting, Chao Yanqian left the Hokage's office.
He guessed that it was likely Shimura Danzo who had leaked some details about Orochimaru's forbidden jutsu research to the Third Hokage. Then the Third Hokage probably conducted his own investigation and perhaps found some traces of Chao Yanqian's involvement. That might explain why he said such things.
In fact, in the ninja world, researching forbidden techniques wasn't necessarily a major crime.
Take the [Impure World Reincarnation] technique it was said to be an evil jutsu, but it was originally developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. When Tobirama created the [Impure World Reincarnation], he had conducted no small number of experiments!
In the original story, even the Third Hokage, who loved Orochimaru dearly, couldn't tolerate him anymore because of the disappearance of many Konoha ninjas. Anbu's investigation revealed the missing persons were tied to Orochimaru's forbidden experiments. That was the true cause behind Orochimaru's defection.
Therefore, even if the Third Hokage found clues that Chao Yanqian had participated in some forbidden research with Orochimaru, he would likely only issue a warning rather than seriously punish him as long as Chao Yanqian had not participated in the murder of fellow ninjas.
Of course, it was still necessary to sever ties with Orochimaru as soon as possible.
The next steps should indeed be more cautious. After all, Chao Yanqian still needed to learn powerful techniques from Konoha's Ninjutsu Records, and the trust of the Third Hokage was indispensable. (To be continued.)
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