Hiruzen Sarutobi was reviewing the participant lists submitted by the five ninja villages invited to compete.
Except for Sunagakure, which entered thirty participants, and Amegakure with twenty-one, the other three villages—Iwagakure, Takigakure, and Otogakure—each sent only six competitors.
This time, Hiruzen truly hoped the Joint Chunin Examination would be an overwhelming success.
Because recently, Konoha had suffered many misfortunes. Although it was gradually recovering, many mission requests had already been divided among surrounding ninja villages.
Especially Otogakure—despite its current close cooperation with Konoha, it still remained a competitor. Otogakure offered cheaper mission fees and higher efficiency, so many preferred issuing missions there instead.
For this Joint Chunin Examinations, many people from countries without their own ninja villages would also come to watch. If they could witness Konoha's strength and power, Hiruzen believed a large portion of those lost missions would return to Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi focused especially on Sunagakure's list of participants. The other villages didn't even impress him much, not even Amegakure with its twenty-one entrants.
Even Otogakure, which had recently gained considerable attention, frankly speaking, didn't concern Hiruzen at all.
After all, Konoha was one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. In his eyes, only another member of this elite group—Sunagakure—was worthy of being Konoha's rival.
Hiruzen wanted to use this opportunity to suppress Sunagakure, then find ways to limit its development afterward, forcing Sunagakure into dependency on Konoha to eliminate any potential future threats.
Looking at three names within Sunagakure's list, Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
Temari, Kankuro, Gaara.
The three children of Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage Rasa.
Out of those thirty participants, these three seemed to be the strongest Genin from Sunagakure.
Hiruzen picked up Konoha's roster and immediately felt more confident after spotting two names.
One of them was Naruto Uzumaki.
Kakashi had said that Naruto definitely had strength beyond Chunin level now, and with Minato Namikaze personally training him, handling these three Genin should be more than manageable.
The second was Neji Hyuga.
[Water Breathing Sword Techniques] had already begun drawing attention; among the Genin, his strength was likely the greatest—possibly even rivaling Naruto's current level.
Although Neji was Chinya's disciple, with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal in place, Hiruzen had no concerns about him ever causing serious problems.
Naturally, Konoha had entered by far the largest number of participants. Hiruzen felt quite confident about this Joint Chunin Exam. As long as they performed well, these five villages would help solidify Konoha's dominance, proving to the entire Shinobi World that it remained as powerful as ever.
Once he'd settled his thoughts about the Chunin Exam, Hiruzen started thinking about Minato Namikaze.
He was considering whether, after the exams, he should start handing over some responsibilities to Minato.
If Hiruzen never handed over control, eventually others would inevitably begin complaining. After all, he himself was growing old while Minato was in his prime and his health had improved remarkably.
"Let's talk about it later. I can grant Minato limited authority when the time comes."
Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped the table.
An Anbu appeared before him.
Hiruzen inquired, "Has there been any activity from Danzo recently?"
The Anbu reported, "Lord Danzo has remained inside the Root Base recently without stepping outside."
Hiruzen furrowed his brows.
Since dissolving Root after the Uchiha incident, Danzo hadn't set foot outside the Root Base.
Though those Root ninja were now scattered across various departments, they still obeyed Danzo's commands. After all, they had undergone training to "eliminate self," making them loyal only to Danzo himself—something Hiruzen could not change.
However, Danzo had been relatively quiet in recent years, so Hiruzen hadn't forced him out of the Root Base, allowing Danzo to retain control over it.
Still, with Danzo's history of misconduct, Hiruzen worried he might secretly stir up trouble. Therefore, several Anbu had also been stationed within the Root Base.
The Joint Chunin Examination was extremely important for Konoha, and since Hiruzen felt a sense of unease about it, he increased the number of Anbu monitoring the Root Base.
He had expected Danzo to object—but to his surprise, there was no reaction at all.
During this time, Hiruzen visited Danzo multiple times, but each time Danzo treated him with cold indifference, as if even speaking an extra word was unnecessary.
Hiruzen sighed softly, "Still holding a grudge against me, huh? When the Chunin Examination is over, I'll restore the Root Division."
...
Time passed day by day.
Before long, one week had passed.
Chinya departed Otogakure together with the Sound Ninja Seven, with Uzumaki Sōnagi leading his group toward Konoha.
At this moment, both Chinya and Sōnagi had completed their disguises, completely changing their appearances.
Chinya instructed, "From now on, my name will be Aranori, Sōnagi's name is Rokumei, and Orochimaru-sensei's name is Yagidatsu. Don't slip up—we are quite well-known in Konoha. A single mistake with our real names could expose us immediately. So from now on, use these names when addressing us."
Kimimaro Kaguya and others replied, "Understood, Lord Aranori."
Chinya gave a satisfied nod.
Then he continued, "Kimimaro, Jugo, and Rokumei, I will be your team leader. Yagidatsu will lead Kidomaru, Sakon, and Tayuya.
As for Jirobo, you will enter Konoha disguised as a spectator tourist. Before our plan begins, wander around Konoha alone. You love eating, right? Konoha has plenty of delicious food—go enjoy yourself freely. I'll cover all your expenses."
Jirobo loved food most of all. At the mention of free food, his eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Lord Aranori!"
"Alright, let's meet up with Lord Yagidatsu now."
When Chinya's group arrived at the border of the Land of Fire, Orochimaru finally appeared to join them.
Chinya asked, "Lord Yagidatsu, how is everything? Is all preparation complete?"
When Chinya addressed him as Yagidatsu, Orochimaru seemed a bit caught off guard, pausing for a moment.
Then he regained his composure and replied, "Yes, everything's set. Sunagakure is now fully within my influence. The Suna Jinchuriki will also participate in this Chunin Exam. And if things don't go our way, I'll proceed with releasing the One-Tail."
Orochimaru, now in possession of the Mangekyo Sharingan, was equally capable of controlling Tailed Beasts.
Chinya nodded. "Then let's move out — for Konoha!"
With Uzumaki Sōnagi and his group accompanying them, Chinya and Orochimaru stepped back into the Land of Fire.
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