Li Anshi would not interfere with the paths of others.
However, with him around, he felt the chances of Orochimaru defecting were not high.
If, in the future, Orochimaru did defect, he would not be as soft-hearted as Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In any case, he had no particular relationship with Orochimaru. He would have no psychological burden in killing him.
"I assume you all know what we're here to do this time."
After Jiraiya and Orochimaru had stood up, Li Anshi addressed the three of them.
"As your examiner, I will not intervene unless you are in a life-or-death crisis."
"And once I do, it will mean that your assessment has failed."
"Do you all agree to this?"
"Yes, we have no objections."
None of the three had any issue with Li Anshi's words.
Four years had passed, and both Jiraiya and Orochimaru had grown quite a bit.
Even Li Anshi was only a head taller than them.
While he was observing them, they were also quietly observing him.
Four years ago, on the Cloud battlefield, they had met him for the first time.
Back then, they had thought he was bullying Tsunade based on their conversation and had attacked him together.
But in the end, they had been instantly defeated.
At that time, as the disciples of the Third Hokage, they had their own confidence.
They believed that when they reached his age, their own strength would be no less than his.
Now, four years had passed, and they were both twelve years old.
Only two years younger than he had been back then.
However, they both knew that even with another two years to grow, they could not possibly reach his level.
At the age of fourteen, Li Anshi had already become the strongest in the ninja world.
That's right. In their eyes, the Little Li's Flying Dagger of four years ago had even severely wounded the Third Raikage.
And their own master, the Third Hokage, was not much stronger than the Third Raikage.
Both of the Cloud Village's Jinchuriki had also been killed by him.
They truly could not imagine what kind of person could survive his daggers.
If such an existence was not invincible, then what was?
In two years, both Jiraiya and Orochimaru were confident they could fully step into the realm of the "Jonin."
However, that was still a far cry from "invincible."
Let alone two years, even with another twenty, they didn't think they could become "invincible" ninjas.
And...
Jiraiya and Orochimaru also had some knowledge of the intelligence that had come from the Land of Whirlpools recently.
It was said that his strength had improved greatly since then.
Before, one dagger killed one person.
Now, one of his daggers could kill two, or even three.
Who knew what realm he would reach in another twenty years?
However, although they knew there was a huge gap in strength between them, neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru had any thought of giving up on chasing him.
But the ideas in their hearts were quite different.
Jiraiya was thinking of developing a defensive ninjutsu that could be cast instantly to defend against the daggers, to gain an advantage in battle and protect himself.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, was thinking of developing a "death substitution" jutsu, which would allow him to achieve a certain degree of "resurrection."
This was related to their personalities and habits.
Of course, it was also related to their understanding of his Little Li's Flying Dagger.
Jiraiya believed that since the Third Raikage had been able to survive his daggers, as long as the defensive ninjutsu he created surpassed the Third Raikage's defense, he could successfully block them.
Orochimaru, however, believed that since even the Third Raikage, who held the title of the "strongest shield," could not block his daggers, then defending against them head-on was almost impossible.
Rather than spending a great deal of effort on creating a stronger defensive ninjutsu, Orochimaru was more inclined to create a "death substitution" method.
However, even if he did create such a jutsu, Orochimaru felt that he probably wouldn't last long against him.
After all, Li Anshi could throw multiple daggers in an instant.
How many times could his "death substitution" jutsu save him?
"Since no one has any objections, then let's set off!"
After nodding at the three of them, Li Anshi led them out of the main gate of Konoha, under the envious gazes of a group of children.
Swish, swish, swish...
After leaving Konoha, the three of them were the first to take to the trees, leaping between the branches of the forest.
Behind them, Li Anshi maintained a distance of twenty meters, keeping the same pace.
What he had said to them earlier was no joke.
He would not act unless they were in mortal danger.
Being a ninja was a high-risk profession.
Every ninja had to have a sufficient understanding of themselves and their enemies.
When encountering an unbeatable foe, whether to fight to the death or to retreat safely was a choice each ninja had to make for themselves.
In their team, Tsunade was the core.
Neither Orochimaru nor Jiraiya had any objections to this.
On one hand, Tsunade had a noble lineage; she was the princess of Konoha. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the village was her home.
On the other hand, she was generous and magnanimous. In her eyes, there was no difference between a ninja clan and a commoner; they were all family in the village, existences she needed to protect.
This time, both Orochimaru and Jiraiya were filled with admiration.
It was hard to say about the future, but right now, they did not yet have the thought of laying down their lives for others.
Orochimaru was the "strategist" of the three. When faced with a difficult problem or a choice, he would give his advice, and then Tsunade would decide what to do.
Jiraiya...
Well, he was the mood-maker.
Of course, although he was the mood-maker, his strength was nothing to scoff at.
Within the borders of the Land of Fire, aside from some ordinary bandits, there were not many ninjas from other villages. Along the way, their group did not encounter any battles.
After leaving the Land of Fire, the environment suddenly worsened. The forests, trees, and rivers began to dwindle.
It was no wonder the other villages all wanted to take a bite out of the Land of Fire. The country occupied more than seventy percent of the most fertile land in the entire ninja world, with lush forest resources, mountains, and rivers.
When Konoha was strong enough to protect the Land of Fire, the other villages could tolerate it.
But once Konoha weakened, or if the other villages felt they could take on Konoha, they would all tacitly start a war against it.
If they could bite off a piece of the Land of Fire, it would be a huge gain for them.
Even if they were eventually repelled by Konoha, the resources they plundered from within the country would be enough to make up for their losses.
Three days later, Li Anshi and the three Sannin finally arrived at the country from which the ninjas who had attacked the caravan had come.
"So it's the Land of Sky..."
Following behind them, after hearing the conversations of the people here, Li Anshi finally understood the country of their mission.
The Land of Sky, Sky Ninjas!
He had an impression of this country.
The Sky Ninjas were also a small village formed by a group of wandering ninjas.
Lacking a legacy of ninjutsu, they had developed various devices to aid them.
For example, wing suits that allowed them to fly, explosives dropped from the sky, and airships that could carry people...
It could be said that the Sky Ninjas were the first scientific ninja village to combine chakra with science.
Unfortunately, before this village could develop, it was destroyed by Konoha for provoking them.
"It seems the destruction of the Sky Ninjas will be because of this incident."
"However, Tsunade and the others clearly didn't wipe them out completely, which is why they were able to make a comeback over forty years later and attack Konoha again."
"I wonder if their 'airship' has been completed yet."
"But even if it hasn't, they should at least have the blueprints."
"Otherwise, the destroyed Sky Ninjas wouldn't have been able to successfully build an airship decades later."
"Wing suits can only be safely controlled by ninjas with chakra."
"But airships, whether for their strategic or economic value, are very important to Konoha."
Li Anshi stroked his chin.
If he could get the manufacturing method for the airships to Konoha, it would surely allow the village to develop in many ways, accelerating its pace of breaking free from the constraints of the Land of Fire.
Thinking of this, Li Anshi took a few steps forward. As he passed by Tsunade, he flicked his finger, leaving a spatial mark on her, and then began to search for the location of the Sky Ninja village.
If he waited until Tsunade and the others acted, the Sky Ninjas, facing destruction, might transfer or destroy the data concerning their wing suits and airships.
Therefore, he wanted to get his hands on the data before they were destroyed.
The Land of Sky was not large. It didn't take him much effort to find the village.
Suppressing his presence and minimizing his chakra fluctuations, a dagger slid from his sleeve into his hand.
Hum—
In that instant, he entered his Dagger Perception state.
Immediately, everything within a hundred-meter radius was reflected in his senses.
The trajectories of countless daggers appeared in his mind.
Each trajectory represented a living being within that hundred-meter radius.
Following these trajectories, he could "see" the living beings at their ends.
With a thought, the number of dagger trajectories in his perception increased.
This time, the newly appeared trajectories were not in the air, but underground.
With him as the center, his perception was elliptical.
Above ground, it was a standard circle with a hundred-meter radius.
Below ground, it was an ellipse with a maximum length of one hundred meters and a minimum of over seventy.
This meant that even through the rock underground, his daggers could currently pierce through seventy meters.
This was not his limit, but the limit of the daggers on his body!
If he were to imbue them with his "conceptual understanding," piercing through even greater distances and depths would not be impossible.
However, there were not many powerhouses in the entire ninja world who could force him to do that.
The Sky Ninja village was not worthy.
Maintaining his Dagger Perception state, Li Anshi moved around the perimeter of the village.
He believed that the place where they were researching the "airship" would not be an open area, but a very secret location.
And in the ninja world, what was the most secret place?
Underground!
Throughout the entire ninja world, the laboratories of many villages or the headquarters of their special forces were all located dozens of meters underground.
On one hand, there were very few ninjutsu that could cause damage dozens of meters deep with a surface attack.
Building a laboratory or headquarters underground made it difficult to find and difficult to destroy, the most cost-effective option.
With only one or two passages, it was easy to repel any intruders.
Even if they were outmatched, they could quickly escape through another passage.
Even Konoha, the number one great village, would choose to build its secret bases underground.
Li Anshi did not think the Sky Ninja village was an exception.
After three hours of searching, he finally found their underground laboratory.
Although his Dagger Perception could only sense the location of the ninjas underground and not the environment or the specific details of the basement, by following the guards, he quickly found the entrance and exit of the passage.
Swoosh!
Li Anshi's fingers spread slightly, and the dagger in his hand became an arc of white light.
Splat, splat, splat...
In the darkness of the night, three sprays of blood splattered onto the rocks.
Whoosh...
Silently, his figure appeared at the entrance of the cave and stepped inside.
Thump, thump, thump—
"Who's there?"
The fall of the three bodies still alerted the ninjas inside the passage.
But unfortunately, before they could even see if someone had broken in, a white light had already flashed past them, and they fell to the ground, the breath of life gone.
Along the way, any ninja he sensed did not escape his daggers.
Entering the basement unimpeded, Li Anshi had ample time to sort through all the data here.
Of course, due to his own lack of knowledge, he couldn't understand any of it.
However, among the documents, he did see a few drawings of the airship from his memory.
"Very good. After Tsunade and the others have dealt with the Sky Ninjas, I'll bring them here."
"I'm sure Orochimaru will be able to understand all this."