The ten days of special training went by in a flash.
During this time, Naruto and Sasuke had been put through absolute hell. If it hadn't been for their visible, constant improvement in strength, the two boys would have genuinely believed Jie was just torturing them for his own amusement.
But now, this so-called special training was finally coming to an end. After all, they needed to set aside plenty of time for travel.
For this trip, Jie had decided to personally escort the three youngsters to the Joint Chunin Exams.
As for the others, the rest of the rookies from Naruto and Sasuke's graduating class hadn't even left the Ninja Academy yet. And among the Genin from the previous few years, there was hardly anyone whose strength was actually presentable.
So, Jie simply opted to parade these three in front of the other ninja villages, just to show them what true Hidden Leaf elites looked like.
As for their safety? With him around, the other ninja villages were the ones who needed to worry.
After saying his goodbyes to Tsunade and Izumi, Jie led the three youngsters silently out of the village, setting a brisk pace in the direction of Kumogakure.
There was quite a distance between the Hidden Leaf and Kumogakure, so Jie had allotted four days for the journey.
They weren't exactly in a rush, but they couldn't afford to dawdle either.
After all, Jie was going there to crash the party, not just blindly kick their front doors in. If they arrived after Kumogakure's exams had already concluded, his entire plan would fall apart.
They traveled during the day and rested at night. By the evening of the second day, they had already reached the border of the Land of Lightning.
"Just past here is the Land of Lightning. If you're afraid, it's not too late to give up now," Jie said calmly, coming to a halt and looking back at his three students.
"Hokage-nii, stop stalling! I've been dying to see just how strong the ninjas from other villages actually are!" Naruto cheered, his face plastered with reckless excitement.
As Naruto finished speaking, Sasuke gave a curt nod, silently echoing the sentiment. As for Hinata, her thoughts were much simpler. Wherever Jie went, she would follow.
Seeing their reactions, Jie smiled and nodded in satisfaction. The responses of these three little ones certainly hadn't disappointed him.
"In that case, this mission officially begins."
"Let's show the other ninja villages that their so-called elites are absolutely nothing in front of the Hidden Leaf!" Jie declared confidently. He turned and decisively led the trio across the border of the Land of Lightning, continuing their march toward Kumogakure.
After another full day of travel, Kumogakure was practically at hand.
It was then that Jie sensed something ahead. There was a group of ninjas whose chakra felt entirely different from the shinobi of Kumogakure.
'Did we bump into another village? Should we go say hello?' he thought to himself.
Wanting to confirm the identities of the ninjas ahead, Jie smoothly activated his Thousand-Pupil Byakugan. Instantly, his vision pierced through several kilometers of terrain, taking in everything ahead of them.
When he clearly saw the emblem etched into the headbands of the distant ninjas, Jie realized what a massive coincidence this was. And upon spotting a familiar figure leading the squad, he couldn't help but raise an amused eyebrow.
The shinobi directly in front of them were from Kirigakure...a village that, like them, hadn't received an invitation. And that familiar face belonged to none other than the Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure, Mei Terumi.
If it had been any other ninja village, Jie might have considered whether exposing their whereabouts would ruin the fun of his plan. But running into Kirigakure? For Jie, that just meant double the fun.
After all, both Tsunade and Shikaku felt that Kirigakure's decision to participate in Kumogakure's Joint Chunin Exams without an invitation was highly likely a ploy to ally with the other villages against the overwhelmingly powerful Hidden Leaf.
But Jie couldn't shake the feeling that things weren't quite that simple.
As for the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi... aside from being an absolute marriage fanatic constantly dreaming of getting hitched, her understanding of the bigger picture and her sheer courage were actually quite impressive.
Whether it was ambition or raw ability, she was completely on par with Tsunade.
Moreover, Kirigakure was still in ruins and desperately needed rebuilding. A mere few years of development wasn't nearly enough for the village to recover from the lingering scars of the "Blood Mist" era.
Based on what he knew of Mei Terumi, Jie doubted she would recklessly draw the Hidden Leaf's attention to her village.
At the very least, until she was fully confident in her ability to stand against the Leaf, she wouldn't do something so provocative.
Which meant that, if she truly dared to provoke them while the three great villages were forming an alliance, she either had some hidden trump card...
Or the benefits awaiting Kirigakure were simply too great to ignore
Now that they had happened to cross paths, Jie was quite eager to find out what exactly Mei Terumi was planning. With that thought in mind, he immediately accelerated.
Although the three youngsters didn't understand why Jie had suddenly sped up, they were deep inside enemy territory and knew better than to ask questions. Instead, they silently matched his pace and rushed forward behind him.
Several kilometers disappeared in the blink of an eye under Jie's blistering speed.
By then, the Kirigakure squad had seemingly realized they were being followed. They halted at once, their expressions turning vigilant as they stared toward the direction Jie was approaching from.
'They actually brought a sensory ninja?' A trace of surprise flashed through Jie's mind as he observed their reaction.
It seemed Kirigakure had prepared quite thoroughly for these Joint Exams. After all, even though Jie hadn't made much effort to conceal his presence, any sensory ninja capable of detecting him from that far away was undoubtedly among the elite.
Since he had already been discovered, Jie no longer bothered hiding his presence. He accelerated once more, appearing before the Kirigakure shinobi in an instant.
Mei Terumi stared at the group that had suddenly appeared before her, her pupils shrinking slightly. Hidden Leaf shinobi... two Uchiha, and one Hyuga possessing the Byakugan.
As for the last kid... she couldn't see through him at all. But the mere fact that he was traveling alongside the Uchiha and Hyuga clans proved his background was anything but ordinary.
At that moment, the shinobi standing beside Mei, a man with a thick patch covering his right eye, carefully examined Jie's group. But the instant his gaze landed on Jie, cold sweat immediately drenched his forehead.
"Such... such terrifying chakra!" Ao gasped in horror. "Even the Isobu can't compare to this!"
Seeing Ao's reaction, Mei's eyes narrowed slightly.
Ao was one of her oldest and most trusted subordinates, someone who had followed her through countless battles. Yet never before had she seen him display such unmistakable fear.
'This is going to be troublesome', Mei thought with a silent sigh.
Quickly concealing the apprehension in her heart, a dangerously beautiful smile bloomed across her face as she addressed Jie.
"I assume I have the pleasure of speaking with the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf?" she said smoothly. "I must admit, running into you here was quite unexpected."
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