The Fifth Hokage's throne

The Chunin Ninja Exams were held as scheduled, and the opening was, as always, a written test with a cheating contest.

This kind of exam tests the completeness of the Ninjutsu system, which is extremely disadvantageous for Shinobu villages. In just one round, more than half of the Genin Shinobu villages are eliminated.

The Shinobu Hidden River Village suffered the worst, with all five of its Genin squads wiped out, all caught due to their crude cheating methods.

No Genin the Five Great Shinobi Villages were eliminated; they passed through various means.

Even Genin with deficiencies in reconnaissance Ninjutsu would have a team with a Ninja who possessed the corresponding special skills. The most hardcore team member to complete the exam through mutual assistance was Sakura Haruno from Team 7, who solved all ten extremely difficult problems entirely on her own.

It should be noted that Shazo was unable to answer at least half of those ten questions.

The written exam has always been designed to eliminate teams whose Ninjutsu skills are not comprehensive enough, preventing these Genin teams, whose strength is significantly inferior, from entering the inevitable second stage.

Next comes the practical assessment, which is the only part of the exam that allows candidates to kill each other.

Because it was the Ninja World Joint Exams, a large number of Genin participated. After the first round of elimination, there were still 63 teams remaining.

This number far exceeded the carrying capacity of the Forest of Death, so the exam location was chosen in a Forest outside Konoha.

Konoha has deployed a large number of cameras in this Forest, including Six-Legged Walking Camera and Drone Camera, forming a comprehensive surveillance network.

This allows for the timely detection of seriously wounded individuals and prompt rescue efforts to prevent injuries sustained outside of combat.

At the same time, it can also provide exciting battle scenes to be shown to the leaders, nobles, wealthy merchants and villagers of the ninja village, becoming an important form of publicity to showcase the strength of Konoha.

The Konoha Ninja all believed that the Konoha's Genin would fail, but that ultimate victory would surely belong to them.

This exam entered a climactic Mars phase right from the start.

Deidara, Darui, Gaara all received orders to demonstrate their strength, and from the very beginning they unleashed considerable power, launching a frenzied attack on the nearby Ninja Squad.

In the Primeval Forest that served as the examination venue, Leiting suddenly struck, causing a deafening explosion that sent yellow sand swirling like waves.

Through three monitoring devices, viewers can see a combination of close-up and distant views, gaining a clear and comprehensive understanding of the entire battle and its details.

Many nobles, wealthy merchants, and Konoha witnessed the true power of Ninjutsu for the first time, and they also realized for the first time just how exaggerated the strength of Ninja truly was.

Seeing the devastating scene, the ordinary villagers were simply amazed, while the nobles and wealthy merchants, after their initial amazement, began to show unease.

Their bodies twisted and turned as if needles were pricking their buttocks; some of them, perhaps thinking of something, broke out in a cold sweat of fear.

The four Kage sitting in the highest tier of the private box noticed it. The Fourth Raikage spoke first, "Fifth Hokage, your Konoha's method is truly excellent, making ordinary people honestly realize their own vulnerability."

"Once they witness true Ninjutsu and combat, they'll realize that the money and power they possess are no match for the strength of us Ninja."

"Your method is very effective in deterring them, even more so than when I killed 100 nobles in the Land of Lightning. I've learned something new."

The Fifth Hokage laughed heartily, "You're welcome."

"If Kumogakure can't handle it, feel free to come to Konoha to buy equipment and services. I'll speak to the Ministry of Commerce and have them set prices be commensurate with the Fourth Raikage's status."

The Fourth Raikage snorted coldly and said nothing more.

The Fifth Hokage was mocking the Kumogakure for being willing but unable, yet ambitious enough to want to learn everything, ultimately leaving them with only one choice: give up or submit to the Konoha.

Unfortunately, the Fourth Raikage knew that the Fifth Hokage was telling the truth, so he could only remain silent.

In the past two years Kumogakure has focused its attention and resources on researching Chakra Weapon capable of killing the Fifth Hokage, and has made no progress in developing such sophisticated surveillance equipment.

This sophisticated surveillance technology is built upon the booming electronics industry of the last two years, which is precisely what Konoha excels at.

According to intelligence, this wave of New Electrical Appliances did not start in Konoha, but the Fifth Hokage reacted very quickly and unilaterally pushed Konoha to invest a lot of resources and manpower.

As a result, the unknown founder was killed by Konoha, disappearing without a trace, without even making a Flower Capital.

In the past two years, Konoha has made a fortune from New Electrical Appliances, making the Four Great Ninja Villages green with envy.

With more money comes more people willing to take risks. The daimyo of the Land of Earth became the first to take the plunge, and then he and the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, were both beaten so badly by the Fifth Hokage that they were unable to take care of themselves.

Next was the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, who wanted to leverage his status as an ally to get some benefits from Konoha by complaining.

As a result, the Fifth Hokage gave Sunagakure a completely different look.

With internal strife raging in Kirigakure, the Fifth Hokage couldn't attend to these matters, but he still found an excuse to severely punish Kirigakure, directly leading to the collapse of the Fourth Mizukage's power and his eventual death in a coup.

The Fifth Hokage's power, tyranny, and unreasonableness proved that he was entitled to monopolize the profits of the New Electrical Appliances.

The Three Great Shinobi Villages had no choice but to bow their heads and, following the last passage left by the Fifth Hokage, begin researching New Electrical Appliances, imitating the example of Konoha.

Then they realized that even though there were ready-made examples to copy, they couldn't understand them.

This left the three shadows extremely frustrated.

They just couldn't understand it. They were all Ninja, and they had invested so many resources, so why was Konoha able to develop entirely new electrical appliances, while they couldn't even replicate the old ones?

It felt like going back to the era of the Second Hokage, where every now and then you'd hear that Konoha had acquired a new forbidden technique, powerful enough to allow Chunin to kill Jonin.

Although this time it wasn't a directly fatal Ninjutsu or forbidden technique, the feeling of despair was exactly the same.

In the dark, top-secret laboratory, the Second Hokage Reanimated Body, raised a thumb: That's right, the one who's giving you all a splitting headache this time is none other than me, Tobirama Senju!

The Fourth Raikage remained silent, still sitting in his imposing, reclining posture on the large chair like a mountain.

But the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, noticed that his young old rival's fingers were trembling slightly, clearly indicating that he was feeling very frustrated.

He chuckled inwardly, "Young people just can't keep their tempers up."

[This isn't the first time we've been completely suppressed by Konoha. We can just endure it for a while; it might even lower my expectations for my successor.]

After all, the more outstanding the Tsuchikage, the more Superman their ambition.

[In an era ruled by a powerful monster like the Fifth Hokage, the ambition of a Kage was the most deadly poison for the ninja village.]

[Let me see. If the performance of the Konoha Genin this Ninja Exams is truly as rumored, then I'll make Kurotsuchi the Fourth Tsuchikage.]

[To make a living under the powerful rule of Konoha, the beautiful granddaughter's affability is more suitable than her neurotic, foolish disciple's fighting prowess.]

The Fourth Kazekage also remained silent, but the thoughts churning within him were more numerous than those of the Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage combined.

He was waiting, waiting for the betrayal Orochimaru spoke of.

He was also preparing, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to the Fifth Hokage when that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself.

Therefore, Rasa was worried: would Orochimaru appear here? Could he control the Fifth Hokage? Would his attack be fatal? Would the rebellion within Konoha succeed? Would the Ninja from the Shinobu villages change their minds?

The Fourth Kazekage had too many worries, which made his heart race uncontrollably. He had to exert all his strength to circulate his Chakra in order to control his movements and expressions.

Perhaps the Fifth Hokage was getting too cocky; he didn't react to the three Kage's unusual behavior, sitting quietly and arrogantly in the large chair in the center, enjoying the Chunin Ninja Exams on the big screen.

The Hokage's seat is not only the largest, but also the tallest, just like a real throne.

The Kazekage, Tsuchikage, and Raikage, seated on either side in chairs that were noticeably shorter, appeared to be the retainers of the Fifth Hokage.

Whatever the reason, the fact that the three Shadows did not publicly object to this indicates that they acknowledged each other's status to some extent.

Konoha is the most powerful, Fifth Hokage is the strongest; this is the foundation of the current order in the Ninja World.

The exam in the Forest is progressing rapidly, with the number of eliminated Ninja Squad constantly increasing, and the number of Ninja who have died approaching three digits.

The team closest to the finish line was Deidara's squad. He energetically created bizarre shapes such as birds, Centipede, and Spider, and charged into the Forest, either flying or crawling, carving out a path with absolute violence towards the tower that led to their final destination.

It was a very peculiar octagonal tower, made of a single piece of wood using Wood Release.

The tower has a total of 13 stories and a total height of an astonishing 36 meters. It also shines with a dazzling light that is comparable to the midday sun.

Even in a dense Forest, as long as you look up, you can see this wooden tower, so you don't have to worry about getting lost.

The violent explosions continued, and insects and birds hiding in the woods fled in panic, while concealed traps were violently destroyed.

Watching the trees turn into splinters, Deidara felt a thrill of destruction. He shouted, "This is art!" and continued his bombardment with even greater force.

For this exam, Deidara prepared five times the amount of clay in advance, so he didn't have to worry about running out of materials.

Kurotsuchi and Yuanshi, two Genin, followed behind Deidara, advancing easily along the flattened ground, wary of possible ambushes and Sneak Attack from other Ninja.

Deidara's actions were spectacular, but Darui's were no less impressive.

The white-haired, black-skinned Ninja was surrounded by arcs of electricity. He seized the time to practice the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, treating every large tree he encountered on the road as an enemy, launching fierce charges and collisions, smashing the trees to pieces.

When Darui made some progress and began to think, Xi and Samui take turns clearing the way so that their captain could concentrate on his thoughts.

Therefore, the movements of the strongest squad in Kumogakure are sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and they are unpredictable, but their speed is by no means slow.

The only team from Sunagakure was led by Captain Gaara, who stared blankly into the distance, turning everything in front of him into golden sand, creating a path of yellow sand through the Forest.

Aside from the sound and light effects not being as good as Darui and Deidara's, Gaara's destructive power is just as great, and his speed is even faster.

Hozuki Suigetsu Nuibari, carrying his long sword Sewing Needle, Zabuza complaining that Zabuza refused to hand him the Kubikiribōchō.

"This Nuibari needle is really useless; we should have used Kubikiribōchō or Samehada here."

"Zabuza, the Jonin, refused to give me the most suitable weapon. He just doesn't like me and is jealous that my Talent is better than his!"

"Just you wait. Once I'm stronger than him, I'll definitely take the Kubikiribōchō from him."

Bai followed behind Suigetsu and asked gently, "Why did you suddenly stop talking about exchanging things?"

"Suigetsu, are you going to get a new sword, or are you going to take this opportunity to collect the Kubikiribōchō?"

Hozuki Suigetsu glanced around to make sure no one else was there, then burst into unrestrained laughter. "My dream is to collect all Seven Ninja Swords. I would never Zabuza with Zabuza for one."

Hui shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Suigetsu, how could you scheme Zabuza Lord Zabuza like this? If he finds out you want his Kubikiribōchō, he will definitely teach you a lesson."

Suigetsu retorted defiantly, "Tch, you think I'm afraid of him?"

Bai asked, "Suigetsu, why are you so obsessed with collecting the Seven Ninja Swords?"

"These represent the highest fighting strength of Kirigakure. Even if they are all collected, they will definitely be distributed among Jonin to form the new Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist of the Kirigakure."

Hozuki Suigetsu said nonchalantly, "Once I've collected them all, I can share the new Mizukage with whoever I want. I'm not going to hoard them."

Bai found it even stranger. "Your goal isn't to possess it all, so why are you so obsessed with collecting it?"

Suigetsu replied, "You don't know, the Seven Ninja Swords were created under the supervision of the Second Mizukage, and represent the pinnacle of our Hozuki Clan's heritage."

"Back when my brother Hozuki Mangetsu was still alive, our family had a Summoning Scroll that could summon the Seven Ninja Swords back."

"Unfortunately, this scroll was destroyed in the continuous turmoil, which is why the Ninja Blade was taken away by missing-nin and can never be found again."

"If the Summoning Scroll were still there, they could retrieve the Ninja Blade with just a moment's carelessness, and even locate the missing-nin and capture them back to the village."

"Therefore, I must collect all Seven Ninja Swords and remake the Ninja Blade Summoning Scroll."

Team 7 Konoha Uchiha Sasuke, whose Sharingan was very strong in reconnaissance, especially in observing details, which was even more powerful than the Byakugan.

Sakura Haruno followed closely behind, responsible for supporting Sasuke with her Superhuman Strength, while Naruto Uzumaki, as the captain, covered the rear, responsible for overall safety.

In fact, Naruto Uzumaki was the core of the team's reconnaissance.

He had just Awakening the [Mind's Eye of the Kagura] Talent. Although he couldn't see the details clearly, his 5-kilometer observation range was enough to compensate for this shortcoming.