Becoming the Tsuchikage in the Naruto World

Chapter 269: Peace

A year later, a new class of students from the Ninja Academy was about to graduate. Ishiro, having rested for a year, planned to take on disciples once again.

However, there was another matter before him now, and that was the competition for the Fourth Tsuchikage.

To talk about the competition for the Fourth Tsuchikage, one must first talk about the current situation in the ninja world.

In this one year, because no major conflicts had broken out between the various parties, the large ninja armies that had been stationed on the borders had long since been disbanded.

After many years, the ninja world had once again returned to peace. All countries were doing their best to recover their strength.

It was also because of this peace that many powerful ninjas who previously had no time to care for their families all coincidentally wanted to take this opportunity to leave behind a bloodline. The result was that many pregnant women appeared in the ninja world.

Just among those Ishiro knew, there were Kitsuchi's wife Shiden, Minato Namikaze's wife Kushina Uzumaki, Fugaku Uchiha's wife Mikoto Uchiha, and the Fourth Kazekage Rasa's wife, Karura.

These female ninjas, who were not pregnant at the same time in the original story, seemed to have made an appointment this time, all choosing to get pregnant during this rare period of peace.

Even Ikura and Uzumaki Yumi were considering whether to take this opportunity to get married quickly and have children. It was only because they considered that Iwagakure was facing a transition period from the third to the fourth generation, and feared that something might happen at this time, that they had shelved the idea.

It was precisely because of this rare peace in the ninja world that Ōnoki decided to take the opportunity to pass on his position to the fourth generation. He had been busy with administrative affairs these years and had never had time to train. Now that Iwagakure had a successor, Ōnoki also wanted to retreat behind the scenes and properly sort out his insights from these years.

At the very least, Ōnoki felt that both his Dust Release and Sage Jutsu still had room for improvement. In terms of Dust Release, Ōnoki had not yet completely fused the Dust Release chakra into his own body. As for Sage Jutsu, Ōnoki felt that at the very least, it should be usable in combat like Ishiro's, even if it required more preparation time beforehand, that was acceptable.

However, concerning the choice for the Fourth, whether it was Ōnoki, Mei, or Saka, none of them could make up their minds.

In fact, in terms of contribution to the village and long-term vision, Ishiro was naturally the first choice.

Now that Ishiro had learned Sage Jutsu and even the Kekkei Tōta, Light Release, choosing Ishiro should have been the most suitable.

But Ishiro had a fatal flaw: he was too reckless. As the Kage of a village, although strength and seniority were important, one had to have the ability to protect one's own life. The most awkward point about Ishiro was that he was always seriously injured, which made the several high-level officials very worried.

When Ishiro was still an advisor, if he died in battle, it would be a blow to the village, but not a fatal one. But if the Fourth Tsuchikage died inexplicably not long after taking office, like the Third Kazekage back then, the blow to the village's morale would be too great.

The Kage of a village, even just being injured, was an incredibly serious matter.

Therefore, the biggest obstacle to Ishiro succeeding as the Fourth Tsuchikage was surprisingly his own style of action.

The hesitant high-level officials finally left the decision to the two parties involved, Ishiro and Ikura.

When Ishiro and Ikura were informed of the high-level officials' decision at the same time, they both looked at each other in dismay. Especially Ikura; in fact, these past few years, he had gradually lost the desire to compete for the position of Tsuchikage. Ishiro had caught up from behind, and even his strength had surpassed his, which made Ikura's only advantage disappear completely.

However, what Ōnoki and the others were worried about also made sense. So after Ikura and Ishiro exchanged a look, they both thought of an agreement from long ago.

Thus, Ishiro spoke up, "Lord Tsuchikage, Ikura and I had an agreement back then. If there is a chance to compete for the position of Fourth Tsuchikage in the future, then we will have our disciples conduct a match."

Ōnoki was stunned and said, "Your disciples? Which of your disciples?"

Ikura had only taken three disciples, so Ōnoki had no questions. But Ishiro had too many disciples, which was why Ōnoki asked.

"Of course, it's the three who are from the same year as Ikura's disciples," Ishiro said.

Saka said, "So you're saying, let Shinya Matsutani, Ogura Saki, and Takumi represent you, Ishiro, and let Tatsunori Nakata, Hanpei Haraguchi, and Dai Shimoyama represent Ikura? Have the six of them have a match, is that right?"

Ishiro and Ikura nodded at the same time.

Ōnoki thought for a moment and said, "That works too. If the two of you were to fight, and if there were any accident, the village's loss would be too great. However, these six disciples of yours all seem to be Jonin already, right?"

Ishiro nodded and said, "Yes, Shinya Matsutani and his two companions have been Jonin for several years now."

Ikura also said, "Dai Shimoyama followed the promotion path of the Barrier Team and is also a Jonin. The other two were also promoted long ago."

Ōnoki pondered for a moment before saying, "A battle between six Jonin? That works too. Then it's settled. In ten days, the match will be held. Three-on-three, one battle to decide the winner."

Ōnoki actually didn't quite approve of a battle between six Jonin. Jonin were not a dime a dozen; if any were injured, it would be a loss for Iwagakure. But compared to two Kage-level individuals like Ishiro and Ikura, these were all minor issues.

Soon, a piece of news spread quickly within Iwagakure: in ten days, Ishiro's disciples would have a match with Ikura's disciples. This match would decide who would succeed as the Fourth Tsuchikage.

In an instant, the entire village of Iwagakure, no, the entire Land of Earth, became lively.

Everyone began to inquire where they could buy tickets for this match.

After clarifying the identities of the three disciples participating on Ishiro's side, everyone immediately began to conduct a detailed analysis of the six's strengths.

There was no lack of capable people among the onlookers. Not long after the news spread, intelligence on the six was freshly released. Each person's mission record, what field they excelled in, when they graduated, when they became Chunin and Jonin, their family background, personality, hobbies, and so on.

Even in places beyond the sight of Ishiro and the others, large and small betting houses had opened up, and the number of people placing bets was endless.

Many rich merchants and high-ranking officials who did not live in Iwagakure began to set off one after another, preparing to come to Iwagakure to participate in this rare grand event. Even the Daimyo of the Land of Earth expressed that he would personally come to watch the battle.

Iwagakure became as lively as if it were the New Year. With the increase in the flow of people, Iwagakure's income suddenly skyrocketed, which made Mei, who was in charge of finances, grin from ear to ear every day.

After the news spread to other countries in the ninja world, although no one went to Iwagakure to watch, everyone was guessing who would be the final winner. The four great nations had all entered the era of the fourth generation; only Iwagakure was left. Everyone was very curious who the last fourth-generation Kage would be.

And just as the outside world was in a commotion, in a yakiniku restaurant in Iwagakure, Ishiro and Ikura were eating with their six disciples in a private room.

Ishiro and Ikura appeared relatively relaxed. On the contrary, the six who were about to participate in the competition were all somewhat nervous.

Shinya Matsutani felt very wronged. For some unknown reason, he had become the focus of everyone's attention.

Now the whole village knew that he, Shinya, was also a lazy ninja who liked to eat. And the fact that he could become a Jonin added a thick, heavy brushstroke to Ishiro's halo as a renowned teacher.

After all, to be able to raise even such a disobedient child, Ishiro was truly worthy of being the "Fox of Iwa." Everyone automatically imagined countless scenes of Shinya not wanting to study and Ishiro fighting a battle of wits with him.

Now, parents educating their children all had a catchphrase: "Don't ever be like Shinya Matsutani; you don't have a renowned teacher like Lord Ishiro to guide you."

Looking at Shinya's gloomy expression, Ogura Saki snickered. She took a piece of grilled meat and handed it to Shinya's ninja cat, Kohana.

Kohana had now been raised into a ball by Shinya; its entire body was round, and its lazy expression was exactly the same as Shinya's.

Seeing Kohana like this, a term naturally popped into Ishiro's mind: "fat orange cat."

"I wonder if Kohana has met Dango in these two years. I wonder what Dango would feel when she sees Kohana, whose body is even larger than her own," Ishiro thought to himself while eating grilled meat.

However, although Kohana was huge and looked like just a fat cat, Ishiro could sense that the chakra in its body was very pure. In these two years, Kohana had been greatly influenced by natural energy. Ishiro estimated that in a few more years, Kohana should also be able to try practicing Sage Jutsu.

How infuriating! Ishiro thought about how much effort he had put in to practice Sage Jutsu. But this fat cat, following its master, just ate and drank every day, and yet it had also grown up?

Ishiro turned his gaze to Ogura Saki. He hadn't paid attention to this disciple for a long time. Not long ago, when Ishiro discussed the fusion of wind and fire Kekkei Genkai with Saki, he discovered that both of her attributes had reached the level for training a Kekkei Genkai.

Among them, Saki's development of the wind attribute had far surpassed the minimum standard for fusing a Kekkei Genkai.

Ishiro still remembered that not long after graduating, Saki, who hadn't even learned many C-rank ninjutsu, had unbelievably completed the development of her first C-rank Wind Release ninjutsu.

In the past year, under Ishiro's guidance, Saki had even been trying to fuse the two attributes of wind and fire.

As for Takumi, Ishiro was the most at ease. Perhaps because he hadn't learned much from Ishiro in the first place, Takumi's growth was mainly through his own comprehension. So after leaving Ishiro, his growth rate had never slowed down.

Ishiro had a feeling that Takumi had already reached the limit of the Jonin level. If given another opportunity, he could step into the Elite Jonin level.

Speaking of which, among Ishiro's many disciples, it seemed that currently only Kawakita had reached the Elite Jonin level. The others, including Chiko Tomoe and Kajiyama Ri, were still just Jonin.

Although Ishiro didn't know much about Ikura's three disciples, he was clear about their general situation.

Hanpei Haraguchi was the strongest, with combat power no weaker than Takumi's. Moreover, because he was skilled in ninjutsu, and ninjutsu of multiple attributes at that, his style was varied, and his overall strength was above Takumi's.

Hanpei could be said to have inherited Ikura's style; he was a disciple whom Ikura had been cultivating since he was a Genin. Their relationship was a bit like Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya's.

But in comparison, the strength of the other two was much worse. Tatsunori Nakata was skilled in Earth Release and had good attainments in it, but the time and energy Ikura spent on him were far less than on Hanpei.

The relationship between them was somewhat like Ishiro's with his disciples, much closer than a normal team-leading Jonin and their subordinates, but far from that of a master-disciple inheritance.

Tatsunori's own talent was not particularly outstanding, so his current strength was only average at the Jonin level, not very impressive.

Finally, there was Dai Shimoyama. Ishiro was very clear about Dai's situation. Dai had almost abandoned her combat power to focus on researching sealing jutsu. Although she had the title of Jonin, her combat power was inferior to a Jonin's.

So the comparison of the two sides' strengths was: in terms of overall comprehensive strength, Ishiro's side was stronger; in terms of individual strength, Ikura's side had the advantage.

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