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Meanwhile, at the same time, a few days back in Iwagakure, Hiruzen's clone dispatched there had already reached the Village Hidden in Stone.
After days of venturing and collecting information from the Leaf ANBU deployed in the village for monitoring, Hiruzen's clone had gained complete knowledge of Iwa's situation.
Inside Iwa, two factions were present—one belonging to the Tsuchikage, which had existed since the time of the First Tsuchikage, and the other belonging to the elders.
However, the situation in Iwa was far better compared to other villages, as the elder faction only intervened in village council matters.
They remained united in presenting a strong front against other villages.
Hiruzen's clone murmured, "Seems like I was right. Even now, Iwa's united front is intact, and they are just searching for a suitable Tsuchikage to take the position.
Even in the future, it was shown that Iwa's village council was more united than any other village.
Even if they bicker more, when necessary, they prioritize the village above all else—unlike Konoha in the past, where, if I wasn't there, trash like Danzo would still be scheming to gain control, even during wartime.
The same is true for Kumo. But then again, Iwa can't afford that, can it?"
As he reviewed the gathered information, he discovered that Iwa's jonin forces were vast in number compared to the other three villages.
The two factions in Iwa had a clear stance—they couldn't find a suitable candidate for the Tsuchikage position.
However, with Suna attacking their border, the village was in peril, and they desperately needed a leader, as their defenses were stretched thin.
After reviewing various well-known jonin, their reputations, and their backgrounds, a name caught his attention.
As he flipped through the list, Hiruzen voiced, "Hmm... Oh, would you look at that… He will be good.
He also has three chakra nature attributes, making him capable of forming Dust Release. His reputation is solid, and his background is clear."
His gaze settled on the jonin's photo. The name read: Yamamoto Sugekuni, an Iwa jonin aged 22 years, affiliated with the Tsuchikage faction. His chakra attributes were Fire, Wind, and Earth.
His rank was Jonin, and his strength was categorized as Elite Jonin. His family background was clean—his parents were deceased, and he had no prominent family ties.
Soon, Hiruzen's clone vanished after inquiring about Yamamoto's address. However, he quickly learned that the jonin was on the front lines against Suna.
With this information in hand, the clone immediately moved toward the Rain Village's Iwa front.
After three hours of travel, the clone arrived at the Iwa camp. Moving with caution, he decided to impersonate a ninja.
His first target was an Iwa chunin, who was retreating to the village after being assigned a supply delivery mission to the Iwa camp.
As the chunin prepared to gear up and return, a shadow flickered behind him.
In an instant, a backhand chop struck his neck, knocking him unconscious. From within the shadow, Hiruzen's clone emerged, swiftly beginning his work.
Within five minutes, he had assimilated the chunin's memory and perfectly impersonated him.
Now transformed, the Hiruzen clone spoke, "Seems like the plan worked. Let's start the operation. If I can manipulate the Iwa-Suna war to my advantage, I can successfully ascend to the position of Tsuchikage."
Without wasting time, he vanished into the night.
An hour passed, yet he couldn't find Yamamoto. Frustrated, the clone muttered,
"Could he have been killed by Suna? No, I must persevere. I already have information that the forces are fighting Suna's ninja. Yamamoto should be there."
As night fell, Iwa's forces returned to camp. Seeing an opportunity, the clone, still in disguise, started scouring the area.
After some time, he finally found the person he was looking for.
A ninja with black hair and sharp face with an impressive height of 177 cm stature was seated in a tent, going through information and contemplating the situation of war, without noticing that a figure had arrived in his shadow.
The clone stretched his hand from Yamamoto's shadow, Yamamoto soon realized it and leaped up, but before he could do anything, a black rod pierced his chest.
As he was about to yell, he discovered that he couldn't move his body at all.
Soon enough, Hiruzen's clone leaped from his shadow and pressed his hand on the jonin's head, going through his information and assimilating it.
After ten minutes, he had assimilated all of the ninja's memories and killed him.
Soon, the clone's body started to impersonate him.
An hour later,
Hiruzen's clone had adjusted himself to Yamamoto Sugekuni's nature almost perfectly while reviewing the war information regarding Iwa and Suna. Then, he began to rest and adjust his techniques.
The next day arrived. "Yamamoto," the Hiruzen clone, was deployed to fight on the front lines along with fifty elite jonin of Iwa against Suna forces.
As he got up, he greeted everyone and spoke exactly as Yamamoto would while casually building friendships with the jonin he knew and had fought alongside on the battlefield.
Soon, the forces were deployed, and the Iwa ninja reached the battlefront.
The command line was given to another elite jonin named Sima Takahara, an aged jonin with previous war experience.
However, Yamamoto was also deployed as the deputy commander of this front.
The clone thought, What crude battle skills… Given the name of ninja, they fight like warriors. No wonder they are being pushed back by Suna.
If I were the commander, I would have already forced Suna back to their place—even with the presence of their Kage-level ninja, Ebizo.
Well then, I must remove the commander and take his place. But before that, let's turn the tide slightly in Iwa's favor, shall we?
As the war started, "Yamamoto" fought enemy jonin with his sword. Hiruzen's clone thought, What in the name…? Let's take it up a notch then. This Yamamoto's skills are just okay.
Soon, Hiruzen weaved hand seals at lightning-fast speed.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu!"
A gigantic earth dragon erupted from the ground at blinding speed, clutching the jonin in its mouth.
A sickening crunch resounded across the battlefield, followed by a scream, drawing the attention of several ninja.
But Yamamoto, the Hiruzen clone, didn't stop there. Controlling the dragon, he began a rampage on the battlefield, combining his swordsmanship with Earth Style jutsu.
Seeing this, Ebizo, who was fighting the Iwa commander, was enraged and decided to counter Yamamoto.
However, the commander blocked his path with four other elite jonin.
"Not so fast Ebizo," spoke Sima takahara
Ebizo roared in his right direction, "Inuka, Masaki! Go and stop him!"
The two jonin, who had been engaged in battle, nodded and leaped toward Yamamoto.
Meanwhile, Ebizo intensified his attacks on the Iwa commander, his rage evident.
Yamamoto, who was entangling and rampaging through the battlefield, soon noticed the two shadows leaping toward him.
Seeing this, he immediately stopped and leaped back, weaving hand signs before vanishing underground with the Earth Escape Jutsu.
As the two jonin halted and readied their swords, two earth spikes shot up from behind them.
They managed to dodge, but one of the jonin sneered, "Come fight us here, you trash of Iwa! Fight like a man!"
As soon as he spoke, a relentless barrage of earth spikes rained down upon them.
While they focused on dodging, a sudden chill ran down their spines. They turned around just in time to see Yamamoto standing behind them, holding his sword.
"You were underground—" one of the jonin started, but he couldn't finish his sentence. A spike had already pierced through both of them.
Their bodies trembled as they realized they had been restrained by a shadow connecting to them.
The shadow retracted, and a gust of wind swept through the battlefield.
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