Resolution and the Chunin Exams

Information coursed through Konoha, and behind every report was often the life of one ninja—or a whole group of them.

There was no doubt about it.

Once they realized something was wrong, the Five Great Shinobi Villages began purging their ranks of spies.

Konoha, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure—all villages with Jinchuriki—were especially serious about rooting out spies. Konoha, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure were the most urgent.

For one thing, all of Kumogakure's Jinchuriki were adults, and quite powerful. For another, after the years of leadership under the Third Raikage and Fourth Raikage, Kumogakure was well governed and harmonious. Few ninjas defected, leaving little fertile ground for spies.

Compared with Kumogakure, the other three villages had far more reason to act quickly.

Sunagakure was in the worst position. Its One-Tail Jinchuriki, Gaara, was still just a boy, and the village had a defector like Sasori among its former high-ranking ninja. There was no question of whether spies had infiltrated the village; the only question was how many.

Kirigakure, meanwhile, had already been conducting its own purge.

The Fourth Mizukage had thought the village's spies had mostly been rooted out. Even if one or two had slipped through, he had assumed they wouldn't hold important positions.

But the attack on Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, had dealt him a humiliating blow. It made him realize that spies were still in the village—and that some of them held high positions.

Sunagakure used Gaara's whereabouts as bait and laid several traps. Kirigakure also began a full investigation into the attack on Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.

As expected, Sunagakure soon caught two spies. One of them was even a Sunagakure Jonin. Under interrogation, they revealed that both had been planted by Sasori before he defected. They also admitted there were other spies in the village, though they