Shazo's "Konoha Crush Plan" began

In fact, none of the Ninja who made it to the third round of exams were ordinary Genin.

The battles between the weaker Ninja, which seemed mundane to ordinary people, were spectacular and fascinating to the Ninja themselves.

Even the Konoha Jonin would cheer loudly for the Genin's outstanding performance.

The cheers from the Konoha Ninja reached the ears of the merchants and nobles, who then learned which Ninja was stronger and formed an initial impression of the excellent Genin.

This is why, even after the Fifth Hokage Shazo, announced that those who passed the second exam would become Chunin, a third exam was still to be held.

This was done from the perspective of all Ninja in the Ninja World, to promote the reputation of Genin (low-ranking ninjas) to ordinary people, villagers, merchants, and nobles, and to solidify the superior status of Ninja.

Those exceptionally skilled Ninja were able to seize the opportunity to gain immense fame, thus embarking on a fast track to promotion and acquiring more resources.

Perhaps in a few years, these Genin will be promoted to Jonin.

Furthermore, the performance of the Genin can affect the reputation of the ninja village. In fact, when the Genin the field, the emotions of the Fourth Raikage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the Fourth Kazekage will fluctuate.

In the private room where there was no one else but the four Kage, the Kazekage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage stopped pretending and revealed their true colors.

When their own Ninja perform well, the three Kage perform exactly the same.

They would be smug and would even make Yin-Yang remarks about the other two.

When their own Ninja perform poorly, the three Kage each display their own unique characteristics.

The Fourth Raikage would the Roar loudly, then his entire body would be surrounded by arcs of electricity, using the crackling sound of electricity to block out the taunts of the Kazekage and Tsuchikage.

The Third Tsuchikage would pretend to be hard of hearing and unable to hear anything, and the chair he sat on would float up until it reached the ceiling, indicating that he couldn't see anything.

The Fourth Kazekage would create a small whirlwind, plug his ears, close his eyes, and pretend to be dead.

But the three shadows had one thing in common: they would secretly decide to give this shameful guy a good beating as soon as they got home.

Throughout the entire private room, only the Fifth Hokage remained completely calm.

It wasn't that he had the best temper or the strongest mental fortitude; rather, the person who crushed the cup and the Roar about training Shikamaru Nara to death, Shazo himself, wasn't actually in the private room.

Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha and Deidara of Iwagakure clashed, finally sparking a fierce battle.

The battle between the Sharingan and the Explosive Clay was so intense and spectacular that it once again brought the atmosphere to a new level.

When Uchiha Sasuke and narrowly defeated by Deidara, cheers shook the huge ceiling of the Meeting Hall.

Then Haku from Kirigakure, Darui from Kumogakure, and Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha appeared one after another, displaying strength that amazed even the Jonin.

In the VIP boxes in the stands, the Fourth Raikage, the Fourth Kazekage, and the Third Tsuchikage exchanged sarcastic remarks, commenting on each other's terrifying strength.

Inside Secret Chamber in Konoha, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade were all commenting on the strength and skills of the up- Genin.

These Kage-level Ninja are incredibly powerful and have sharp eyes; they can see through the weaknesses of these Genin at a glance and propose targeted changes.

Only the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Fifth Hokage Shazo, offered unwavering praise and compliments, without uttering a single word about the shortcomings of the Genin.

Tsunade asked curiously, "Grandfather, why do you praise and compliment all the Konoha Genin? Do you think they all have no problems?"

Hashirama Senju replied with a smile, "How could there be no problems? But those shortcomings are unimportant. They're all about the same level of weakness anyway, so whether we talk about them or not makes absolutely no difference."

Shazo nodded repeatedly, looking as if he shared my sentiments.

Both the First Hokage and the Fifth Hokage transcended the Kage Level, crossed the threshold of the Super Kage Level, and touched the edge of the Sage of Six Paths Level.

Their strength is too great; there's no difference between Genin, Chunin, and Jonin —they're all weaklings who could be wiped out with a single stroke.

The matches continued one after another, and soon the second round was over.

At this point, the Genin selected were all from the Five Great Shinobi Villages, while the Genin Ninja more than twenty Shinobu villages had been completely wiped out.

Deidara from Iwagakure, Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga Konoha, Haku from Kirigakure, Darui and Samui from Kumogakure, Gaara from Sunagakure, and Tenten who was skipped twice.

The third round of the competition begins with Gaara's dialogue, and the most intense environmental changes unfold amidst yellow sand and frost.

Exhausted from two battles, Gaara was irritable. His eyes were bloodshot, and he grinned maliciously as he shouted, "Die, Kirigakure!"

Gaara raised his hands, and the gourd behind him sprayed out endless yellow sand. The flowers, trees, and soil on the battlefield quickly dehydrated and turned into a sky full of yellow sand.

As he swung his hands downwards, endless yellow sand surged towards Bai like a tidal wave; he was determined to win in one fell swoop.

Bai remained calm and composed throughout, until the yellow sand swept over him, at which point he raised his hands to Hand Seals.

[Ice Style: Glacier Descent]

Haku's Chakra surged, and with a wave of his hand, a terrifying cold wind met the surging yellow sand, freezing the sand waves halfway as if they were real waves.

Then the cold wave swept across the yellow sand and rushed towards the dumbfounded Gaara, almost freezing him in place before he could react.

When Gaara finally escaped the onslaught of the cold wave and moved to a safe location, he looked back and discovered that the entire battlefield was covered in ice and snow. The moisture in the air had frozen into snowflakes, which drifted down in a flurry.

What started as natural land suddenly turned into a vast desert of yellow sand, and then instantly froze into a frigid Ice Field.

The audience on the platform was stunned. They had never seen such a terrifying Ninja battle, not even in their wildest dreams.

A gust of cold wind blew Gaara away, and his irritability disappeared, but his competitive spirit, unwilling to be outdone, burned even brighter.

Gaara slapped the gourd behind him with his backhand, and sand erupted once more.

At the same time, his Chakra erupted like a whirlwind, instantly Shattering the Rock underground into yellow sand. The ice layer was then broken apart by the yellow sand gushing from the ground, forming a yellow dragon of swirling sand.

[Magnet Style: Flowing Sand Waterfall]

In an instant, he transformed half of the battlefield into a vast expanse of yellow sand. The sand churned like waves, causing the earth to undulate and sweep towards the other half of the Ice Field.

The sandstorm's counterattack did not frighten Bai. He calmly formed Hand Seals, channeled his Chakra, and unleashed an even stronger Ice Style Secret Technique.

[Ice Style: Glacier Reversal]

The snow-covered Ice Field began to tremble, then began to Flow like a glacier, though at Flow speed a thousand times Flow than a real glacier, it was still just like an ordinary person taking a walk.

As the thick ice sheet of the Ice Field Shattering with the tremors, the speed of the glacier Flow faster and faster, soon becoming like an avalanche, rushing towards the yellow sand waves on the opposite side with a devastating force.

Boom-!!

The giant yellow waves and the white snow crashed together violently, neither giving way, pushing and shoving each other in an attempt to completely overwhelm the other.

Gaara's Chakra reserves are significantly greater, and the propulsion force of the yellow sand is stronger.

However, Chakra control is more perfect, and he can always use only a fraction of his strength to create ice crystals to thwart the inevitable impact of the yellow sand.

The result of their contest was a draw.

Gaara preemptively changed tactics, controlling the sand scattered by the ice shards and reconstructing it into Magnet Style Secret Technique, striking the Mist Ninja from the sky.

[Magnet Style: Sand Barrage]

Fist-sized clumps of yellow sand fell from the sky, creating craters the size of a human head when they hit the ice, demonstrating their immense power.

Bai had no choice but to use his Body Flicker Technique to dodge, while simultaneously unleashing his most proficient Secret Technique.

[Ice Style: Thousand Kill Ice Needles]

Moisture in the air is condensed by Ice Style Chakra, forming ice needles the size of a middle finger, which rain down from the sky like a storm, capable of piercing through a foot-thick layer of yellow sand.

Even with Gaara's unwavering confidence in his Sand Armor, he still had to focus on controlling the yellow sand to float above his head, acting as a giant umbrella to block the torrential rain of ice needles.

The two sides reached a stalemate once again.

The scene was so exaggerated that not only were ordinary people dumbfounded, but even the Ninja watching were completely stunned.

The ability of Ninja to alter the battlefield environment is a legendary spectacle, usually only seen during battles between the First Hokage and Fifth Hokage. How could it possibly occur during the Chunin Ninja Exams?

The Konoha Jonin were completely baffled: Was I Jonin, or were those two kids below Jonin?

Inside the private box, the Fourth Kazekage watched the battle with a smile. His son hadn't used any of the Tailed Beast Chakra yet, clearly indicating that he had the upper hand.

Unfortunately, Kirigakure hasn't chosen Fifth Mizukage yet, otherwise he would definitely have taken the opportunity to mock him thoroughly.

Even more unfortunately, after this round of fighting, it should be time for Orochimaru to launch his rebellion, and he will once again face the strongest Ninja World.

Regardless of the outcome this time, the Fourth Kazekage will die in Konoha and never see Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara again.

Suddenly, the Fourth Kazekage smiled; his smile was both sorrowful and sweet.

[Perhaps all four of us, father and sons, will die in Konoha, and the whole family will go to the Pure Land to reunite with Karura and Yashamaru.]

In the Secret Chamber of Konoha, seeing Gaara gradually gaining the upper hand by relying on his Chakra advantage, Orochimaru suddenly stood up.

He nodded slightly to Shazo and left the Secret Chamber to oversee the "Konoha Crush Plan," a scheme to trap the Fourth Kazekage.

Jiraiya stood up and left with Orochimaru.

He was going to meet up with Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Izumi to form a reserve force to prevent unexpected enemy attacks on Konoha.

In six directions outside the competition Meeting Hall, the Ninja of the Inuzuka Clan, Hyūga, and Aburame Clan formed 18 reconnaissance squads.

Their mission was to track down the retreating enemy after Jiraiya's reserve forces failed to intercept them.

Both are part of the "Konoha Crush Plan," but the organizational capacity led by Shazo far surpasses that of any spontaneous organization by Konoha Ninja in history.

No one noticed that Konoha had silently prepared for war.

On the contrary, the actions of the Konoha Jonin were pretending to rebel were quickly discovered by the Fourth Raikage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the Fourth Kazekage.

Although the Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage didn't understand what had happened, they tacitly concealed their surprise and looked forward to some chaos in Konoha.

Knowing Orochimaru's plan, the Fourth Kazekage was on edge. He had to do everything in his power to control his excitement and avoid revealing any weakness to the Fifth Hokage.

Just then, Orochimaru pushed open the door to the private room and walked in silently, approaching the Fifth Hokage with a calm yet slightly excited expression.

The Fifth Hokage turned to Orochimaru and asked, "Orochimaru, what is it that requires you to see me now?"

Orochimaru spoke softly, "Fifth Hokage, this is great news! I have some fantastic news to report, and I can't wait a moment longer!"

The Fifth Hokage asked with curiosity and a touch of arrogance, "What good news is it? Could it be that the 'research project' has been successful?"

The Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage all felt a jolt in their hearts, their eyes fixed intently on the white paper in Orochimaru's hand.

Even though the Fourth Kazekage knew that this might just be a trick Orochimaru used to get close to the Fifth Hokage and make him relax, he still couldn't help but want to know what "that" research project was.

The project that the Fifth Hokage could readily name must be something that could revolutionize the Ninja World.

Orochimaru waved a stack of white papers in his hand and said excitedly, "Yes, Fifth Hokage, I succeeded! I have obtained the result that will allow Konoha to forever dominate the Ninja World!"

The Fifth Hokage could no longer sit still.

He stood up from the highest Hokage throne. Because his movement was so sudden, he tore off countless invisible sealing chains, and the hidden black Runes suddenly appeared, then quickly disintegrated and disappeared.

The instant the sealing chains disappeared, a powerful Chakra surge spread out, clearly indicating that the seal had formed some kind of Barrier and contained terrifying power.

Sensing this intense Chakra fluctuation, the three Kage's hearts skipped a beat.

This was their second time in this private room, and they had stayed there for at least five hours, but they still hadn't found any seals around the Hokage's throne.

The Third Tsuchikage cursed inwardly: [Damn the Fifth Hokage, how could he be so cautious!]

[I thought he didn't have any guards with him because he felt he was powerful enough, but it turns out he has such a strong Barrier.]

The Fourth Raikage's eyelids twitched, thinking: [Konoha's seal has improved too quickly. It's so well-hidden, and I haven't even noticed it. The gap between us is widening.]

The Fourth Kazekage, while shocked, was also filled with delight: [Great! Orochimaru's little trick not only fooled the Fifth Hokage into lowering his guard, but also automatically dispelled that terrifying Barrier.]

At this point, all the Kage-level Ninja present were convinced that the Fifth Hokage was indeed himself.

Such a powerful Barrier represents not only advanced technology, but also a high price.

If it were a "shadow warrior," they would never use such a powerful and precious Barrier for protection, much less dare to casually destroy such a high-level Barrier.

The Fourth Kazekage had completely come to believe Orochimaru's plan and began secretly extracting Chakra.