Chunin Exams

The door to the Hokage Office in the Hokage Building was pushed open.

Without even looking up, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew there was only one person in all of Konoha who would enter his office without knocking or announcing himself.

Jiraiya's voice rang out. "Hey! Old man! I'm back!"

"I'm not even fifty yet. Stop calling me an old man!"

"Can't help it, old man. Look how quickly you aged after becoming Hokage—your face is full of wrinkles, and you look ancient."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was helpless, but there was nothing he could do about Jiraiya.

Jiraiya took out a sheet of paper and placed it on Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk.

"Sign it, old man."

"What is this? You expect me to sign it without even looking?" Hiruzen Sarutobi picked it up and saw that it was an application for a team to take the Chunin Exams.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not surprised. Ever since Minato Namikaze had mastered the Mount Myōboku Summoning Technique and could even summon the giant toad Gamabunta, Minato could no longer be regarded as an ordinary genin.

"Fine. Let them take the Chunin Exams. Minato has mastered the Summoning Technique, so he should become a chunin as soon as possible and undertake more important, more dangerous missions."

Jiraiya grinned. "It's not just the Summoning Technique. Under my guidance, Minato grasped the charm of D-cups, and together we developed the astonishingly powerful A-Rank Ninjutsu, the Rasengan! And inspired by my disciple, I further grasped the charm of F-cups and secretly learned the essence of twisting and kneading!"

"What charm of D-cups? Jiraiya! I'm warning you, don't turn Minato into a bastard like you!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Old man, I'm your disciple. How can you say that about me? Besides, Minato's mature for his age. He knows what matters."

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked again, "There will be ninja from the Cloud Hidden Village in these Chunin Exams. Do you want to serve as the examiner for the third and final round?"

"Of course not. What kind of trash are the Chunin Exams? How could they delay my research into F-cups?"

With that, Jiraiya turned and left, giving Hiruzen Sarutobi no chance to assign him work.

Hiruzen Sarutobi called after him. "Uchiha Ishijima returned to the village early, while you wandered outside for a month before coming back. Don't you have an explanation? And another thing! Why hasn't Tsunade replied to my letters? Didn't you see Tsunade?"

Word of Uchiha Ishijima's meeting with Tsunade had already spread throughout the village.

The Uchiha Clan had rented the Senju Clan's vacant houses, especially the shops along Central Avenue. The two clans had actually joined forces once again, astonishing the entire village.

These two ninja clans, bitter enemies for generations, had once again displayed a breadth of mind and boldness that left people incredulous.

Jiraiya turned back and glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Why hasn't Tsunade replied to you? Shouldn't you know better than I do? Tsunade treats me all right. At most, she punches me a couple of times. She doesn't seem to want to cut ties with me. As far as I know, Orochimaru often writes to Tsunade as well, asking about medical ninjutsu and biological experiments, and she hasn't cut ties with him either. Old man, maybe you should reflect on whether the problem is you?"

"You!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was furious, but he did not know what to say. He could only watch helplessly as Jiraiya left.

There were still three unsent letters in his drawer, along with half of a letter that ANBU had retrieved from a trash bin after it had been partially burned.

Tsunade had cut off communication with him, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi disappointed and chilled to the heart.

He looked out the window at the empty Senju Clan Grounds.

Was she still angry that the village had not sent all its strength to aid the Uzumaki Clan?

Or was it because Kato Dan had died under unclear circumstances?

Hiruzen Sarutobi withdrew his gaze and began handling the most important matter of the year: the Chunin Exams.

These Chunin Exams were extremely important. They were being jointly hosted by Konoha Village and the Cloud Hidden Village. The Waterfall Country, River Country, and others would all send people to participate.

Within the Land of Fire, the daimyo and several nobles would also attend.

These Chunin Exams had to be conducted magnificently, proving that Konoha Village had not been weakened by the Ninja World War.

Minato Namikaze's team would participate, and on the ninja clan side, talented members of the next generation such as Nara Shikaku would also compete. These gifted genin would certainly allow Konoha to display ample strength before the many factions.

Although he had plenty of complaints about Jiraiya, when it came to training disciples, Jiraiya was the most outstanding of the Three Ninja. Minato Namikaze's growth was astonishing; he could already summon a giant toad like Gamabunta.

Enma had said that Gamabunta's strength was growing at an incredible rate, and every meeting brought him a surprise. Gamabunta alone would be enough for Minato to achieve dazzling results in the Chunin Exams.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was considering the roster for these Chunin Exams, an ANBU entered to report.

"Lord Hokage! The Third Lightning Kage and his party have entered visual range!"

Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood, donned the Hokage's ceremonial robe, and prepared to greet the Third Lightning Kage at the village gates.

Outside Konoha Village, the Third Lightning Kage led a party of more than twenty people as they looked at Konoha in the distance.

"Konoha and the Land of Fire truly are prosperous." The Third Lightning Kage sighed in a deep, booming voice. "On the road here, we actually saw a group of people using D-Rank Ninjutsu for farmwork. Konoha and the Land of Fire are indeed formidable. But our primary objective in coming to Konoha this time is that Uzumaki Orphan. ANBU intelligence reported that there is an Uzumaki Orphan of pure bloodline within Konoha Village. She is our highest priority. On the surface, we have come to participate in these Chunin Exams, but in truth, our main purpose is to experiment on the Uzumaki Orphan. Capture her, test the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Techniques on her, record her reactions, and gather data for our village's Perfect Jinchuriki."

Raikage's Assistant Dodai said, "Rest assured, Lord Raikage. I will not betray your trust. A Perfect Jinchuriki is of the utmost importance. Our Cloud Hidden Village has suffered bitterly from tailed beast rampages. This time, we will definitely make crucial progress."

Ever since the Cloud Hidden Village was founded and received the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, it had suffered tailed beast rampages every few years. Whenever the Jinchuriki had to be replaced, the village suffered even greater losses.

Giving up the tailed beasts was impossible, so they could only find ways to improve their Sealing Techniques.

For the sake of creating a Perfect Jinchuriki, the Cloud Hidden Village had once joined forces with the Mist Hidden Village to exterminate the Uzumaki Clan.

They had obtained many Uzumaki Clan ninja corpses from that battle and extracted numerous Sealing Techniques from their brains. However, the most precious Book of Sealing of the Uzumaki Clan had vanished without a trace.

Many of the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Techniques had been designed specifically for the Uzumaki Clan's physique. To master them, they had no choice but to keep experimenting through trial and error, at tremendous cost.

Under such circumstances, the Uzumaki Orphan became even more important.

Dodai said, "What a pity. When we exterminated the Uzumaki Clan, we captured many young Uzumaki children as well. But those children either lacked sufficient bloodline power or were too unyielding. In the end, they all found opportunities to kill themselves. Lord Raikage, do you think Konoha will retaliate against us during this visit?"

Dodai glanced at the talented genin selected by the village this time, his expression somewhat worried.

Among these genin, the leader was the Third Lightning Kage's son, Ei Yano Yu.

Every generation of Raikage inherited the name "Ei." Ei Yano Yu would certainly become the Fourth Raikage and inherit the Raikage's title. This was what Dodai firmly believed.

The Third Lightning Kage also looked at his son and said, "It does not matter. The Senju Clan is finished, and according to ANBU intelligence, even Tsunade is not in the village. The Senju Clan's hatred for us will not affect Konoha Village. Hiruzen Sarutobi is a weak politician. He will weigh the pros and cons. You may act more boldly in Konoha Village. Based on my judgment of Hiruzen Sarutobi, he is a man accustomed to making concessions. He will not tear all pretenses aside."

At that moment, a group of people emerged from Konoha Village's gates, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Third Lightning Kage and Hiruzen Sarutobi shook hands, exchanging smiles and pleasantries.