The incident of Mitsuno-chan releasing the Sanbi in Kirigakure (the Hidden Mist Village) really caused a major earthquake in the Ninja World.
The tailed beasts, as weapons of war for the major ninja villages, have always been tightly protected by each village and are never used on the battlefield unless as a last resort. The reason why the Five Great Ninja Villages can maintain their dominant status in the ninja world is not only because of the large number of ninjas in each village, but also because the deterrent power of the tailed beasts is indispensable.
On the second day after Chao Yanqian returned to Konoha, Konoha and Kirigakure immediately began accusing each other and exchanging harsh words.
Kirigakure accused Konoha of releasing the Sanbi inside Kirigakure, destroying the village, causing the tragic deaths of a large number of villagers and shinobi, and demolishing nearly half the buildings.
As the planner and executor of the incident, Chao Yanqian was at the forefront of the blame. Kirigakure could not wait to use every ugly word against Chao Yanqian, and at the same time implicated Konoha, attempting to provoke a new Ninja World War against it.
Konoha, on the other hand, accused Kirigakure of plotting to seal the Sanbi into the body of a Konoha ninja in an attempt to destroy Konoha with the Sanbi's power. It was only during the implementation of the plan inside Kirigakure that the conspiracy was discovered by Chao Yanqian, who, in his fury, released the Sanbi within the village.
Especially, if Kirigakure hadn't prepared to seal the Sanbi into a Konoha ninja beforehand, how could their Jinchuriki, under heavy protection, be captured alive by a teenage ninja like Chao Yanqian?
Although this was not enough evidence to directly expose Kirigakure's conspiracy, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Konoha's version was credible.
The two major ninja villages condemned each other, while the other great villages of the ninja world preferred to sit back and watch the situation unfold.
If Konoha and Kirigakure could weaken each other, it would be a result the other villages would happily accept.
Although Kirigakure suffered the most destruction in the Sanbi incident, Konoha, with certain evidence in hand, managed to maintain moral high ground.
Especially now that Kirigakure's strength had greatly diminished, leaving it unable to continue participating effectively in the Ninja World War. Under such circumstances, few villages openly supported Kirigakure.
Among the other great ninja villages, Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) was already at war with Konoha, so it spared no effort in supporting Kirigakure.
Although Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) had just been defeated by Konoha, the relationship between Konoha and Iwagakure remained ambiguous due to compromises made by the Third Hokage. Neither Iwagakure nor Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village) responded much after the Sanbi Incident.
Thus, although Kirigakure and Kumogakure shouted loudly, the overall situation in the ninja world did not change much. In fact, some people in Iwagakure and Sunagakure may have secretly applauded Chao Yanqian's actions.
Although Chao Yanqian had been staying at home during these days, he remained very concerned about the situation in the ninja world.
Even though the major ninja villages were arguing about the Sanbi incident, the situation remained . Having suffered such heavy losses, Kirigakure no longer had the strength to continue being entangled in the war. It was only a matter of time before Kirigakure declared defeat.
Perhaps Kirigakure, after its consecutive failures in the Ninja World War, would not accept this outcome willingly, but the ninja world is cruel. A severely weakened Kirigakure could only retreat to rebuild—a wise decision.
Currently, the issue that Chao Yanqian is most concerned about is Uchiha Madara's next move.
Chao Yanqian robbed the Sanbi Jinchuriki in the Land of Water, rescued Koychi, and released the Sanbi. The whole operation was completed swiftly, without giving Uchiha Madara a chance to react, and brought Koychi safely back to Konoha.
However, Kakashi's group was always mission-driven. After Kakashi and Might Guy returned to the village, they only underwent minimal training and recovery before quickly heading out again, merging with Bo Feng Shuimen's forces on the frontlines against Kumogakure.
Originally, Chao Yanqian had planned to use this incident to lure out Uchiha Madara, who was hiding in the shadows, to see if he could expose Madara's conspiracy.
However, due to the Sanbi incident, the Third Hokage forbade Chao Yanqian from leaving the village. At least until the political storm passed, Chao Yanqian could only stay inside Konoha.
Chao Yanqian initially considered secretly using the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave Konoha, hoping to rescue Koychi and foil Uchiha Madara's plans once again. But after careful thought, he abandoned the idea.
Leaving the village without permission would surely attract suspicion from Konoha's leadership, especially during such a sensitive period. It was better to act cautiously.
Since he couldn't leave Konoha, Chao Yanqian focused on training at home, studying both the Yin Seal and toxicology.
The Yin Seal is a technique that sets a chakra storage seal on the forehead, storing excess chakra for use in battle, where it can be explosively released.
However, Chao Yanqian, who intended to learn Sage Mode, planned to store senjutsu (sage chakra) inside the Yin Seal, allowing him to enter Sage Mode instantly during combat. Moreover, as long as the senjutsu chakra stored in the Yin Seal wasn't exhausted, Chao Yanqian could maintain Sage Mode indefinitely.
Learning the Yin Seal was not difficult for Chao Yanqian, who already had a strong foundation in sealing techniques.
He had already been studying it for a while, and this time, after a month of intense practice, he successfully set the Yin Seal on his forehead.
Looking at himself in the mirror: black hair, black pupils, a delicate face, and a diamond-shaped mark imprinted on his forehead.
Chakra is not like the internal energy described in martial arts novels, which can be stored in a dantian and burst out at will. Chakra is a combination of spiritual energy and physical energy, refined only when needed during battle.
By introducing chakra into the Yin Seal, Chao Yanqian realized that it acted somewhat like a dantian allowing chakra, once extracted, to be stored and later explosively released during combat.
For those who master the Yin Seal, it enables far more aggressive use of techniques like the Strength of a Hundred Seal, maximizing destructive power in battle.
Combat is indeed the best way to understand one's own strengths and weaknesses. Through the incident in Kirigakure, Chao Yanqian realized a major shortcoming.
After mastering the Strength of a Hundred Seal, Chao Yanqian became very dominant in close-range combat but still lacked powerful, long-range offensive ninjutsu.
If he had possessed strong, long-range ninjutsu during the Sanbi incident, he could have stood atop the Sanbi's back and launched devastating attacks at the surrounding Kirigakure shinobi.
Thus, after mastering the Yin Seal, Chao Yanqian's next goal was to learn powerful offensive ninjutsu.
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