Although Sunagakure and Konoha were allies in name, they were restricted by Konoha Ninja Village at every turn.
Without the power to independently declare war on other countries, even the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had gradually sided with Konoha and continued cutting Sunagakure's budget.
In recent years, if not for the Fourth Kazekage being a literal humanoid gold mine, Sunagakure would have been reduced to a second-rate ninja village long ago.
After years of enduring hardship, the Fourth Kazekage had finally decided to fight to the death. Under the banner of participating in the Chunin Exam, he joined forces with the leader of Otogakure to launch the Konoha Crush Plan, hoping to break free from Konoha's control.
Pulling her drifting thoughts back, Temari looked toward Naruto and the others in the distance, secretly worrying about the Kazekage's plan.
Uzushiogakure had only been established in recent years, but it was deeply connected to Konoha, and its leader was rumored to possess strength comparable to the Five Kage, making Kirigakure and Kumogakure extremely wary.
Now that Uzushiogakure had sent so many Genin with Jonin-level strength, would it affect Father's plan?
Neither Temari nor Kankuro had an answer to that question. They could only wait until after the Chunin Exam to report the situation to Jonin Maki and the Fourth Kazekage.
...
After the Sunagakure squad retreated, the members of Team Three approached Naruto and the others.
Looking at Hinata standing closely beside Naruto, Neji's expression became complicated, and his gaze turned evasive. He didn't even dare look directly at Hinata, the clan heir.
Ever since Hinata openly rebelled against the clan elders over Hanabi, and after it was revealed that she became the clan head and forced everyone to engrave the Caged Bird Seal remarks, he had realized that the weak Hinata he once knew had completely disappeared.
In her place was the next clan head, who looked soft and harmless on the outside but was actually terrifyingly dark-hearted.
What shocked him even more was that the elders hadn't rebuked Hinata's outrageous remarks at all. Instead, they silently accepted them and never again mentioned making Hanabi part of the branch family.
And yet this little devil, who had changed the Hyuga Clan's rules, was now obediently standing beside another ninja with an innocent expression.
There was only one explanation.
The other party's strength was unfathomable, enough to make Hinata willingly follow him.
At this moment, Rock Lee walked up to Naruto, bowed respectfully, and said, "Thank you for your help earlier. Your taijutsu seems very strong. Would you like to spar with me?"
Looking at the thick-browed boy in green, Naruto shook his head slightly. "My taijutsu isn't that great, but the taijutsu of Brother Uchiha over there is pretty good. You can spar with him."
"Sasuke is very strong, but his taijutsu is still not my opponent."
Rock Lee clearly had no intention of fighting Sasuke and said regretfully, "Since you don't want to compete with me, then forget it. But I'll still regard you as a rival and continue working hard!"
So this is the intuition of thick eyebrows... Naruto felt a little helpless as he thought of Guy.
This pair of master and disciple... no, their personalities were exactly the same. They were the kind of ninjas who ignored everyone else's judgment, desperately chased their dreams, and carried the Will of Fire to the extreme. Even Danzo had never succeeded in recruiting them into Root.
Sasuke, who had somehow gotten dragged into this for no reason, looked annoyed.
What the hell do you mean my taijutsu isn't as good as yours?
Normally, he would have mocked Lee on the spot and fought him immediately. But with Mianma nearby, he had to stay alert at all times and reluctantly suppress the urge.
After chatting for a while, the various teams began camping around the outer perimeter to ambush teams heading toward the finish line.
Without exception, those teams all suffered miserable defeats and missed the next round of the Chunin Exam.
However, it wasn't actually necessary to win every round of the Chunin Exam in order to officially become a Chunin.
The third round of the Chunin Exam was more of a stage to display talent in front of nobles from various countries and the leaders of the ninja villages.
In truth, by the second round alone, it was already possible to determine who was qualified to become a squad captain. Otherwise, the number of Chunin in each village would be far smaller than it currently was.
Not long afterward, Sakura and Sai also arrived in the central tower area and reunited with Sasuke.
The Ino-Shika-Cho team arrived as well with the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. After a few brief exchanges, the group entered the central tower together and successfully advanced to the third round of the exam.
...
At the same time, Jiraiya, the Fourth Kazekage, and the others were watching the second round from the monitoring room.
Selecting suitable ninja from among the examinees to promote to Chunin was something every village leader needed to consider. Of course, the bigger purpose was to display the strength of their respective ninja villages.
Watching the confrontation between Sunagakure's team and Team Three, the Fourth Kazekage sighed softly.
"What a pity they didn't fight. I really wanted to see the gap between Sunagakure's Genin and Konoha's Genin."
Jiraiya smiled and replied, "Neji and the others are definitely not opponents for your son and daughter. But compared to quality, I think quantity matters more. Konoha's ninja still need more practical experience."
The Fourth Kazekage fell silent. Then, after seeing Hinata, Sasuke, and the others intercepting later candidates, he smiled and said:
"Hokage-sama is right. Sometimes quantity really is more important than quality. But why are the Uzushiogakure team mixed together with Konoha's team?"
"Could it be that the rumors in the ninja world are true? That Uzushiogakure split away from Konoha?"
Hearing this, Jiraiya's expression changed slightly, and he immediately replied:
"Uzushiogakure and Konoha do have some ties, but they are now two separate villages. As for the strength of the new generation of ninja, we'll have to wait until the third round's one-on-one matches to truly see it."
The Fourth Kazekage nodded. "What Hokage-sama says makes sense. Then I'll wait and see."
At this moment, a group of Anbu ninja entered the monitoring room and glanced at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya returned the look, then smiled and said, "Something came up in the village that needs handling. Please excuse me for a moment."
After speaking, Jiraiya entered a secret room and looked at the Anbu team before him.
The Anbu removed their masks and said anxiously:
"Lord Fifth, the surveillance equipment in the Forest of Death has been damaged. After Anko Jonin went to investigate, she never returned. She has now been missing for several hours."
After hearing the report, Jiraiya calmly nodded.
"I understand. Withdraw for now, and don't disclose this information to anyone else. I suspect the ninja who attacked the exam site is hiding among the examinees."
"Yes, Lord Fifth!"
After leaving the secret room, Jiraiya returned to the Fourth Kazekage.
The Kazekage smiled and asked, "What trouble has Konoha encountered? Do you need my help dealing with it?"
"It's just a minor issue. There's no need to trouble Kazekage-sama. Let's continue watching the exam."
"That's true."
The Fourth Kazekage smiled faintly and continued:
"Hokage-sama was able to replace the Third Hokage and become the Fifth Generation. A little trouble naturally wouldn't be difficult for Hokage-sama to handle."
Jiraiya felt somewhat uncomfortable hearing those words, but now was not the time to fall out with the Kazekage.
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