Konoha: Start from untying the caged bird

Page 165

Hinata Yuzuru's tough stance undoubtedly sent a clear signal to the other Kage.

I crave peace, but don't mess with me.

In the end, he offered seemingly very attractive cooperation terms to each of the ninja villages located there.

This includes proposing a strategic partnership with Iwagakure and hoping to establish a formal ceasefire agreement with them.

To establish business cooperation with Kirigakure Village and develop deep-sea fishing and trade.

He didn't talk much with Hyuga Yuzuru of Kumogakure, only offering some simple business and trade permits, which seemed rather insincere.

The conditions offered to Sunagakure, however, are quite thought-provoking.

This includes the hope of signing a long-term trade contract with Sunagakure, whereby Konoha would sell various agricultural and livestock products in exchange for Sunagakure's iron sand and gold dust.

Strangely enough, in this ninja village that is entirely made of sand, apart from funding and missions, the economy is maintained by a large amount of mineral resources.

The sand beneath Sunagakure contains abundant minerals, and its exact history is unknown. All that is known is that powerful ninjas can collect iron filings and gold dust from the seemingly endless expanse of yellow sand. Furthermore, everyone agrees that beneath the endless yellow sand of Sunagakure lies an extremely rich mineral resource.

However, due to insufficient mining methods and the fact that the area was covered by countless meters of yellow sand, mining was completely impossible. In Sunagakure, only the successive Kazekage, who were powerful Sand Release ninjas, were able to mine large quantities of minerals from the area.

One person supporting an entire village is considered a good example.

Rasa was somewhat tempted by Hyuga Yuzuru's proposal, but was deterred by his outrageous additional conditions.

The interaction conditions proposed by Hyuga Yuzuru seem simple, but they are actually malicious.

"Konoha will trade with Sunagakure in bulk at preferential prices, including high-tech products processed from iron sand, agricultural and livestock products that Sunagakure lacks, etc., but Sunagakure is required to stop purchasing from other countries, including the Land of Fire, in order to obtain Konoha's low-price trade."

These words were tantamount to handing over the lifeline of Sunagakure to Konoha. Over-reliance on Konoha's supplies would eventually become a shackle around Sunagakure's neck. How could Rasa possibly agree to that?

Luo Sha was the only one who turned and left, looking quite unhappy.

The remaining shadows' expressions were far from friendly either. Faced with the sharp and assertive Hyuga Yuzuru, they had to seriously consider what might happen next.

This meeting ultimately failed to achieve any positive effect; on the contrary, it seemed tense and ready to escalate into another major battle at any moment.

However, although everyone seemed to be arguing heatedly, after the meeting ended and the group of people took the elevator back to the hotel to rest, their expressions changed.

Mei Terumi was the first to be affected.

Looking at the expressionless Yagura beside her, she finally found an opportunity to whisper her advice after returning to the inn: "In my opinion, the cooperation with Sunagakure is fraught with hidden dangers. Konoha has obviously made ample preparations. Having lost the advantage of the first move, the manpower we brought this time is clearly insufficient to start a war with Konoha."

Moreover, since our relationship with Sunagakure is already strained, why not take this opportunity to befriend Konoha and seize a piece of Sunagakure's territory?

Yagura Karatachi simply looked at her with a calm and icy gaze, and said softly, "You don't need to think about the reasons behind it. Just do your job, Mei Terumi."

Mei Terumi hesitated, looking at the Mizukage before her who had become incredibly strange and unpredictable in recent years. She could only lower her head and say in a helpless yet respectful tone, "I hope you can reconsider. Kirigakure cannot afford to fail again."

"We alone cannot do it."

But who says we're fighting alone?

Yagura Karatachi spoke with a confident yet enigmatic tone: "No need to say more. On the contrary, you seem to have changed quite a bit since you returned from your trip to Konoha—you've become weak, Mei Terumi."

I just don't think there's any point in such a meaningless war.

The people of Kirigakure are living in such a terrible state that many ninjas have deserted. Where are the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who once dominated the ninja world?

In this situation, why not learn from Konoha and improve their own village first?

Mei Terumi felt a vague anger in her heart, especially when she came to Konoha this time and saw that many new buildings had sprung up, the streets were becoming more and more prosperous, and everyone looked rosy-cheeked, neatly dressed and full of energy. Her anger intensified.

What exactly has the village been doing all these years?

However, Mei Terumi couldn't say anything, she could only nod silently and leave the room.

She let out a long sigh, clutching her forehead, and then wearily returned to her room.

As a ninja...

She couldn't change Shuiying's choice.

Meanwhile, Yagura, who was in the room, had his expression change repeatedly. Finally, his eyes returned to a blank look. The power of his Sharingan weakened slightly, which made his thoughts clearer. After calming down and thinking for a moment, he realized that what Mei Terumi said did not seem to be entirely unreasonable.

However, the moment this thought appeared, it was immediately overwhelmed by other thoughts, and soon, exhausted, she covered her head and wanted to rest.

Over the years, he has often felt exhausted and unwell, and he always feels somewhat dazed. Perhaps it's because he has too much official business?

After I've dealt with this matter, I'll go and take a good look at it.

Yagura Karatachi obviously had no idea what had happened to him.

Obito's genjutsu couldn't possibly be as powerful as Kotoamatsukami, but under the long-term manipulation of genjutsu, Yagura Karatachi had gradually lost himself, and he could no longer distinguish whether some of his thoughts were what he truly felt.

Moreover, Obito has recently strengthened his genjutsu, which has made Yagura Karatachi feel increasingly listless. His mental strength has become very weak due to the long-term tug-of-war between his eye power and Obito's, and the tailed beast residing in his body often disturbs his chakra, causing his body to become weaker day by day.

If he could regain his strength, he would surely discover that he probably doesn't have much time left.

Unfortunately, as he grew weaker, it became increasingly difficult for him to break free from the illusion...

...

In the other ninja villages, there were also very serious and earnest exchanges.

In the Tsuchikage's room, after carefully checking that no one was listening, Onoki sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at his granddaughter Kurotsuchi with a heavy expression.

"What do you think of the Fifth Hokage?"

Hei Tu sighed and sat down in a chair by the window: "They should not be underestimated."

"Yes... he's quite the gifted kid..." Onoki sighed as well, but quickly recovered and said with a smile, "Fortunately, I don't intend to become his enemy."

Do you think that if we join forces with Konoha, Kumogakure might be able to hold out in the current situation?

Kurotsuchi nodded first, then shook her head and said, "It depends on whether Konoha can overcome this hurdle."

"That's true... But, Kurotsuchi, you've improved very quickly." Onoki looked at her with satisfaction. This time, he hadn't mentioned a single word about the Chunin Exams to Kurotsuchi, but she could still see the danger in it, which showed that she had a certain level of understanding of the situation in the ninja world and the judgment of several ninja villages.

Kurotsuchi smiled slightly, a hint of amusement appearing on her pale face that didn't match her name: "However, I do think this Hokage seems to be quite confident."

"Oh?" Onoki looked at her curiously.

Hei Tu shrugged, unable to offer an explanation, and could only say, "Intuition?"

"It's not because that kid is handsome, is it..." Onoki teased with a laugh, while Kurotsuchi could only blush and say, "Grandpa! He's the Hokage of Konoha!"

"What's the big deal..." Onoki laughed heartily, and soon, only the laughter of the grandfather and grandson remained in the room.

Meanwhile, in Yunyin's room, after a brief conversation, a similar conclusion was reached.

Everyone agreed that if Konoha can overcome the difficulties in this Chunin Exams, it will likely receive a great deal of attention in the future.

Needless to say, Rasa was conflicted and annoyed, but with the die already cast, he had no choice but to act. Konoha's strength was the first thing to affect his old neighbor, and the impending fiscal deficit this year forced him to divert attention from the conflict through war.

Even if we fail to achieve our goal completely, we must severely damage Konoha and bring its rapid economic development to a standstill, so that Sunagakure can have a chance to recover.

The best course of action would be to take this opportunity to muddy the waters of the ninja world and launch a fourth ninja war. This way, Sunagakure would have a chance to fish in troubled waters, and even if they could only take a small piece of the pie, it would give Sunagakure a way out.

However, an even more serious problem was troubling Rasa – the Land of Wind had once again decided to cut the budget of Sunagakure.

The reason lies in the "Reply" that Hyuga Yuzuru wrote, which made the daimyo of various countries realize that something was wrong.

The status and strength of the Ninja Village Superman have made it possible for the Ninja Village to break free from control at any time. Previously, as the Daimyo, they were used to thinking that they were the rulers of a country and that the people of the Ninja Village were all their subjects. Even though these subjects had high status and they had to be polite to them, they were still their own people and had to acknowledge that they were the true rulers.

But now, the situation has changed.

When the ninja villages could threaten their thrones at any moment, and even with the emergence of Hyuga Yuzuru, a 'traitor' whom all the daimyo deeply despise in the ninja world, the daimyo began to consider how to restore their military strength.

And the only way they possess power is through money.

By using large sums of money and status to win the loyalty of ninja clans, just like the samurai class in ancient times, they would bring power back into the hands of the daimyo.

While other daimyo were still observing and hesitating, the daimyo of the Land of Wind had already begun to take action.

The poverty of Sunagakure and the Land of Wind meant they were destined to suffer financial losses. And the Land of Wind, wanting to build its own power, was destined not to have the extra funds that other countries could afford, so it could only cut back on Sunagakure's budget.

Luo Sha was truly forced into a corner and had no choice but to fight.

Even if he doesn't achieve a complete victory, but only manages to dampen Konoha's momentum, winning this battle would still be crucial for him.

Otherwise, with one side gaining at the expense of the other, many years later, there will be no way to fight again!

...

The second day's "visiting day" goes without saying, and the written test on the third day was just a formality.

On June 4th, the participants of the Chunin Exams were sent out of Konoha to a new town dozens of kilometers away.

This is a town built with investment from Konoha and composed of refugees and vagrants attracted by Konoha. The people living here are those who want to join Konoha but do not yet meet the qualifications, perhaps because there are not enough positions in Konoha, or perhaps because their resumes are difficult to verify.

Even though they were not granted permission to enter the village, these people were unwilling to leave and wandered around the towns surrounding Konoha, causing a lot of trouble. So Hyuga Yuzuru simply invested in and established the Village Outside the Village, which was nominally also part of Konoha.

It's easy to imagine how vast Konoha's territory is now.

Even describing it as a village is no longer quite appropriate. The concept of Konoha has gradually evolved from a village or city to a province-level entity. When there are enough villages outside of Konoha, Konoha Village will become Konoha City, and these small villages will become the various township units within the Konoha Province.

From the very beginning, the Land of Fire granted Konoha Village a great deal of autonomy. Theoretically speaking, Konoha had the right to build outposts and establish towns in any area of ​​the Land of Fire where no towns had already been built by the Land of Fire.

Of course, nominally, these places all belong to Konoha 'village', but no one has stipulated that the construction of the village must be concentrated in one place, right?

When Konoha Village gets a little bigger...

Perhaps the map of the Land of Fire should be drawn differently.

Moreover, since it was a town built with investment from Konoha, its style remains completely consistent with Konoha's current aspirations.

High-standard, high-quality, and modern.

It appears to be no less impressive than the infrastructure development of many small countries. This extravagant spending not only amazes people but also inspires admiration in some smaller nations.

The purpose of the Chunin Exams is, in fact, precisely this.

Demonstrating one's strength and momentum to other ninja villages can also boost the morale of one's own people, much like the Olympics as understood by Hyuga Yuzuru, and thus has immense social significance.

The second stage of this Chunin Exams was still a simple scroll collection exercise.

Surviving for ten days and collecting two different scrolls (one for heaven and one for earth) within those ten days is considered passing the test. Each ninja team enters randomly with one scroll, which is not much different from the original story. The only difference is that the Konoha genin have shown a somewhat excessive level of combat power.

It's important to know that among the teams participating in this Chunin Exam, there are quite a few genin who are sixteen or seventeen years old. However, genin from other ninja villages are often powerless against Konoha ninjas.

Whether it's Team Kakashi consisting of Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, or Team Might Guy consisting of Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee, their overall strength is at least at the Chunin level, which is a complete dimensional reduction compared to other Genin combinations.

Leaving Naruto aside, Sasuke, after experiencing a major life change, not only mastered the two-tomoe Sharingan, but also, after stabilizing his emotions, quickly evolved his Sharingan into a single-eye three-tomoe Sharingan.

With the help of the Sharingan's observational abilities and the guidance of 'Copy Ninja' Kakashi, Sasuke also mastered the ability to quickly learn ninjutsu using the Sharingan, and learned the S-rank ninjutsu, Lightning Blade, from Kakashi.

Even though Sasuke's use of the Lightning Blade is still a bit rusty, he now possesses a fighting ability that is even slightly better than that in the original story.

In addition, the young new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho trio goes without saying. The trio of Sakura, Kiba, and Shino also performed quite well. Sakura benefited from the reform of the education system during her school years, and her potential as a medical ninja was discovered early on.

During her almost weekly visits to Konoha Hospital for training, Tsunade generously taught her some life-saving skills. Sakura, with her amazing feminine strength, learned Tsunade's skills extremely quickly, unlike a ninja from a commoner background.

As one of the female protagonists in the original work whose popularity is highly controversial, her ability to inherit Tsunade's mantle as a commoner ninja clearly indicates that her combat ability and talent were somewhat underestimated.

Now that she has received early development and training, Sakura is far removed from Sasuke and Naruto in the original work. Perhaps without the 'love' to hold her back, her strength has unexpectedly progressed far beyond that in the original work, and she is showing signs of genius.

It was precisely because of this that, under the 'gang-up' of a group of clan ninjas with special bloodlines or genius commoner ninjas, this trial was easily and successfully completed.

With Hyuga Yuzuru in charge and a large number of elite ninjas 'invigilating' the exams, the Chunin Exams have so far been a success with no casualties reported.

The Konoha Twelve's initial display of talent evoked mixed feelings among the Kage who were observing alongside Hyuga Yuzuru. They had to admit that, judging from this generation's performance, Konoha had been accumulating strength for a long time, and to be precise, it even made them a little jealous—how come Konoha always has so many geniuses?

Without Orochimaru's interference and unexpectedly without anyone else's interference, the Chunin Exams are more than halfway over, with only two rounds left before they end.

Both rounds will be 1v1 duels, taking place in a temporary arena, just like in the original story, with the draw still being completely random.

In any case, whether or not someone becomes a Chunin will be decided by him, the Hokage. Even if they fail the exam today, he can still promote them at any time as needed.

Moreover, since Hyuga Yuzuru did not intend to allow ordinary people to watch the matches for safety reasons, the construction of the arena was very convenient.

Clearing a large open space and then using earth magic to create a grandstand would be enough. The biggest expense in building this arena was constructing a roof to provide shade for the audience.

On June 15th, some of the ninjas who had just finished the 'Forest of Death Trial' had lost their eligibility to continue the exam, but they did not leave. Even though some small ninja villages had been completely wiped out, they still applied to watch the competition, and Hyuga Yuzuru waved his hand and did not refuse.

If they fight and someone gets hurt by accident, it's not his fault, is it?

The genin, who had spent ten days in the forest enduring wind and rain, were given a rare half-day of leisure. Since this town was not Konoha Village, Hyuga Yuzuru didn't need to worry about them running around and causing any trouble. For the first time, these genin gained 'freedom' and could freely wander around the town to relax.

Hyuga Yuzuru had no intention of participating, so he quietly stayed in his room. For him, it would be the best thing if he could get through the Chunin Exams safely, but the truth is, bad premonitions are never wrong.

Just after 7 p.m., as dusk approached, the communication crystal in Hyuga Yuzuru's hand suddenly received a signal.

Without the slightest hesitation, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to his office in Konoha Village. There, the head of the Barrier Team, an elderly man with white hair and beard, urgently whispered, "Unfamiliar chakra has invaded Konoha!"

Hyuga Yuzuru's expression remained unchanged as he calmly asked, "How is the chakra's reaction?"

"The opponent appeared in the Uchiha clan's territory, but we can no longer find any trace of them!"