"Is that so... There's no helping it!"
Hearing the affirmation from the shadow behind him, the Third Hokage could only sigh helplessly again. This truly was unavoidable.
If he had a choice, he actually did not want to hold these Chunin Exams. According to the original plan, Konoha would need at least another year or two before it had enough breathing room to host them.
However, certain covert intelligence—especially the movements in the Shinobi World's underbelly, the increasingly active espionage directed at Konoha, and some of Kumogakure's secret operations—left him with no choice but to hold these Chunin Exams.
After all, the other four great shinobi villages had all begun stirring. Compared to Konoha, aside from Sunagakure, Iwa and Kumogakure had already recovered ahead of them. Their rising talents had accumulated considerable experience, especially Kumogakure's elite forces, which had actually been preserved quite well after the Third Great Ninja War. Although the Third Raikage had died and they had lost quite a few outstanding young shinobi, the proportion of elite fighters among their prime generation remained very high. Among the newcomers, quite a few had already made names for themselves through missions. Whether veterans or newcomers, they showed signs of surpassing Konoha.
If not for Uchiha Nobuhiko, that second Madara Uchiha standing there, as well as Chiba's lingering prestige from those days, Kumogakure would likely have long since made overt or covert moves against Konoha.
Even now, though they had not yet acted, the Land of Lightning's policies toward the Land of Fire were gradually becoming tougher. This was especially true in agreements concerning commerce, trade, and the shinobi mission system. This year's new treaty had canceled every concession, clearly showing that the Land of Lightning and Kumogakure had begun to sense the condition of the Land of Fire and