Atmosphere of a Great Nation

When Tsunade suggested that he and Danzo go together to deal with Pakura, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded immediately, indicating that Konoha was short-handed and that only he and Danzo could do such a thing.

However, after glancing at his silent best friend, he could only take the initiative and say, "Tsunade, let Root handle the Anbu training. It's Anbu tradition; Root was founded specifically to train Anbu members."

Tsunade knew what Hiruzen Sarutobi meant by those words. All that talk about initial intentions was just an excuse. The establishment of Root was all about doing dirty work, and training the Anbu was just the stated reason.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's meaning was clear: Danzo needed some incentive, otherwise he wouldn't cooperate.

"The Anbu missions are demanding. How about this, I will send ten Anbu Squads to receive training from Root every two weeks. If the training is effective, we can rotate them later." Tsunade finally made a concession. After the meeting, Danzo left the Hokage Building and headed to the Root Base with a smile on his face. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade's concession was exactly what he had expected.

Regardless of whether they doubted the source of Root's intelligence, Danzo produced information that the Anbu had not been able to detect—that much is a fact.

Given this premise, Danzo's suggestion that the Root sect train the Anbu members seems reasonable.

Then Danzo rekindled Hiruzen Sarutobi's idea of weakening the Sunagakure's strength. At this point, Tsunade, who was short of high-level combat power, had no choice but to send him out.

They will concede without you even having to say anything.

Danzo would certainly train Anbu Ninja, but he could also choose some suitable ninjas to brainwash.

"Hmph, Hiruzen, your disciple is just as weak as you, lacking any of the imposing presence a Hokage should have." Danzo gained an advantage, didn't forget to show off in his heart, expressing his disdain for Tsunade's easy retreat.

Upon returning to Root, Danzo asked one of his subordinates, "Don't cut off contact with the Iwa ninja. Since the Fourth Tsuchikage is willing to cooperate, I have a chance to get enough benefits from Iwa ninja."

"Fox of Stone Yichen, do you think I don't know what you're up to? I'm just using you," Danzo said to himself.

That's right, Danzo's intelligence source was deliberately leaked by Yichen. This in-depth cooperation with the Sunagakure couldn't be interfered with by external forces. That's right Yichen believed that this exchange of Pakura was a deeper cooperation, not a prisoner exchange.

As long as Pakura remains in his hands, Yichen isn't worried about Rasa going back on his word. As for what happens after the exchange is complete, Rasa can do whatever he wants; the Iwa ninja have already gotten what they wanted.

So after Yichen finished his business, he arranged for the Anbu and Danzo's Root to make a deal.

Of course, Yichen didn't ask for an exorbitant price for this insignificant intelligence exchange; he simply traded it for a mediocre A-rank Ninjutsu.

A month later, Iwagakure became lively, as representatives from Konoha, Sunagakure, River Ninja Village, and other small ninja villages surrounding the Land of Earth all sent representatives to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams.

In reality, these smaller countries were simply trying to understand the suddenly changed relationship between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. At the same time, they didn't want to offend the Land of Earth, since everyone was still very economically dependent on Land of Earth.

However, regardless of their purpose, the Iwagakure has still managed to create a buzz for this Joint Chunin Exams.

The Iwagakure then experienced another peak in visitor traffic.

This time of year is not the usual time for ninja promotion in Iwagakure. The large-scale Chunin Iwagakure this year ended half a year ago. In peacetime, Iwagakure has relatively fewer promotion slots, with only one Chunin selection per year.

Therefore, there aren't many exceptionally strong Genin in Iwagakure, although by wartime standards, there are quite a few who have reached the Chunin level.

Fortunately, this isn't just the case in Iwagakure; other ninja villages are in similar situations. For example, in Konoha, the average level of their students is probably even lower. Unlike Iwa ninja, Konoha didn't suffer significant losses after Second Shinobi War, so they weren't in a hurry to Genin. Konoha, however, was short-handed, and the promotion threshold had already been lowered considerably.

Therefore, this Chunin Ninja Exams is destined to be a round of weaklings fighting each other.

For the villagers of Iwagakure, being able to watch the excitement and see the ninjas from other villages is enough. If they can also sell some local specialties from the Land of Earth, that would be even better.

The Squad Leader Jonin from Konoha who came to participate in the Chunin Assessment was Kakashi Hatake.

Sending a disciple of the Shadow is most appropriate for this occasion. The Shadow's disciples have a special status, which can express the importance attached to them. On the other hand, the Shadow's disciples are all quite talented and can hold their own in the situation.

Unfortunately, Tsunade had no disciples, only one assistant: Shizune. Shizune's strength was clearly insufficient, so Tsunade appointed Kakashi, the former Hokage's disciple, as the Jonin leading the Konoha Squad Leader Jonin this time.

Because the situation in the Ninja World was very unfavorable to Konoha, Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi placed special emphasis on nurturing the village's talented younger generation.

Kakashi is a representative of the talented younger generation, and is the most promising young person to become Kage Level. Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi spent a lot of time trying to comfort and console Kakashi.

So although Kakashi is still a bit listless, he has never slacked off in his training and became Elite Jonin at a young age.

Furthermore, this Kakashi in this life was not poisoned by Icha Icha Paradise, so he is not as mentally decadent as he was, nor is his body completely drained.

Considering Kakashi's young age and some issues with his temperament, the steady Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned a middle-aged Jonin as his deputy. This person was from the Nara Clan and Shikaisen Nara.

Although Shikaisen Nara only Jonin, he excels in intelligence and extensive knowledge, having visited many Great Ninja Village as a member of Konoha delegation.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan, Kakashi was merely a figurehead. When there were diplomatic matters to be handled, Shikaisen Nara could make the decisions.

After Kakashi and his group entered Iwagakure, they were taken to a large izakaya (Japanese Izakaya). This was Iwagakure's main place for entertaining foreign guests.

The group of about twenty people from Konoha had their own private courtyard.

Before Kakashi and his group arrived, many ninjas from various villages had already come. Ninjas had already moved into both sides of their courtyard.

Shikaisen Nara asked the waiter who had brought them in, "Which ninja villages have delegations here? Which ninja village is next to us?"

The waiter didn't hide anything, saying, "The Sunagakure, River ninja, Kusa Ninja, and Takigakure are all here. You from Konoha are relatively late. The ninjas next door are from Takigakure and Sunagakure."

Shikaisen Nara's expression froze for a moment, then she immediately returned to normal. In her heart, however, she was cursing, "The Iwa ninja are so hateful! They actually made us Takigakure."

Konoha's continued delay in returning the Seven-Tails has fueled the growing resentment of the Takigakure towards Konoha. The Land of the Falls Daimyo has repeatedly contacted the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, requesting the return of the Seven-Tails, but the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, unaware of the specific circumstances, has simply passed the buck back to Konoha.

The Iwa ninja are trying to increase contact between the two sides and escalate the conflict.

As for why the Sunagakure were assigned to the other side, Shikaisen Nara is still unclear. He plans to visit the Sunagakure later.

However, Shikaisen Nara quickly understood the Iwa ninja's intentions. When he and Kakashi went to the Sunagakure's residence, they happened to see several Sunagakure following the departing figure of an Iwa ninja.

"Was it the Sunagakure who wanted to go out on their own initiative, or was it arranged by the Iwa ninja?" Shikaisen Nara wondered.

His doubts didn't last long, because his and Kakashi's visit was rejected by the Sunagakure. Seriously, Rasa had personally instructed them beforehand not to offend the Iwa ninja over trivial matters at this time. To avoid the Iwa ninja using this as an excuse, the Sunagakure didn't want any close contact with Konoha.

Shikaisen Nara looked somewhat grave and said to Kakashi, "Let's go for a walk too."

As the two left the Izakaya, a small squad of Iwa Ninja Anbu approached Kakashi and said, "Guys of Konoha, if you wish to explore the village, please allow us to accompany you."

Shikaisen Nara said, "I think the Sunagakure just now didn't have Anbu accompanying them; they only had one Iwa ninja with them."

The Anbu Squad Leader said, "I'm sorry, Sunagakure is our staunch ally, but Konoha isn't."

They've already put it this way, what can Shikaisen Nara do?

So the two of them led four Anbu on a tour of Iwagakure.

Throughout the journey, neither Kakashi nor Shikaisen Nara had a good feeling.

When the villagers of Iwagakure saw the Forehead Protector on their foreheads, they all raised their chins, giving off an expression that said, "Your Konoha is nothing special, and you won't be around for long."

This wasn't an isolated case; almost everyone they encountered shared this attitude. Even children, when they saw Konoha ninja, had a kind of fighting spirit in their eyes.

It's as if it's saying, "Don't die too soon. You must keep your head for me. I need your life to enhance my future achievements."

Kakashi and his group also saw ninjas from other ninja villages.

The villagers of Iwagakure had a somewhat condescending attitude towards these ninjas, though their demeanor wasn't overly arrogant. In short, they conveyed a message of welcome to Iwagakure, inviting them to observe and learn, and hoping the villagers would soon achieve prosperity and a better life.

When the villagers of Iwagakure saw their own ninja, their eyes were filled with satisfied and proud smiles.

Kakashi, lacking experience, only felt somewhat uncomfortable, but couldn't pinpoint the exact reason. However, Shikaisen Nara gradually understood.

He had visited many ninja villages, including the former Iwagakure, but only the villagers of Konoha had this condition. He remembered that the last time he visited Iwagakure wasn't like this.

Shikaisen Nara explained to Kakashi, "Actually, this is a sense of superiority that comes from the villagers of Iwagakure's Iwagakure in Iwagakure and their pride in living there."

"You didn't notice? The villagers of Konoha are like this too. I've been to many ninja villages, and I've never seen this in the villagers of other countries. I didn't expect the villagers of Iwagakure to have this kind of confidence as well?" Shikaisen Nara's tone was somewhat low. He had previously thought that Konoha was special, and that they, bathed in the Will of Fire, were the happiest.

Shikaisen Nara didn't know that this thing had a name: the Atmosphere of a Great Nation.