Undercurrents

The next day, Kagura and others received a piece of news.

This time, the Chunin promotion would be somewhat different from the previous two.

This Chunin Exam would be jointly hosted by Konoha, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure, supposedly to demonstrate the friendly cooperation between the three powers.

Yes, you heard that right. It was to demonstrate the "friendship" between the three nations.

To Kagura, who had only recently gone to the Land of Water and slaughtered a group of Kumogakure Chunin, it sounded like a huge joke.

But at the same time, he knew very well that this was merely a political maneuver between great nations.

No matter how fiercely they fought in secret, even if they wished to wipe out each other's entire villages.

On the surface, they still had to maintain the illusion of friendly harmony.

Shaking his head, Kagura began preparing for this Chunin Exam.

To deal with the exam, all members of Team 7 temporarily stopped taking missions.

Each of them used this brief period to adjust their condition.

As for Kagura, although his strength had long surpassed the Chunin Level, out of habit, gathering information on the Chunin Exam was still necessary.

After all, according to his memories, the Chunin Exam had something called a "Written Exam"...

The scene shifted to Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.

A Youth stood before Third Raikage A.

The Youth wore an eyepatch over his left eye, a hat shaped like the character for "Land of Earth" on his head, and Kumogakure's distinctive black combat uniform over his Whole Body.

A looked at the Youth Before eyes with satisfaction and said in a deep, powerful voice:

"Dodai, as the main representative of our Land of Lightning this time, you must work hard and bring glory to me."

Hearing this, the Youth In Front of him showed no excessive reaction and merely nodded calmly.

The Raikage did not mind. Looking at the map on his desk, he continued:

"Although it is only peace on the surface, this kind of multinational joint assessment is still an important way to display our nation's strength.

What a pity..."

As he spoke, he could not help but feel a headache coming on.

The rebellion of the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers Several Years Ago had dealt Kumogakure a fatal blow.

Aside from their shocking act of killing the Second Raikage on the spot, the most important issue was the hidden danger their ideals had brought to Kumogakure.

In truth, as a warlike man, he did not fail to understand the brothers' way of thinking.

If one examined it closely, he himself was part of the village's Hawk Faction.

Since even he thought this way, it was easy to imagine how many followers the two brothers had within Kumogakure.

This rebellion had dealt the village an almost devastating blow.

Take the twenty members of their Kinkaku Force alone. They could practically be called the twenty strongest Jonin in Kumogakure.

Yet these pillars of the village had all been slaughtered in their battle with Senju Tobirama.

After news came that Kinkaku and Ginkaku had escaped while injured, quite a few Young People in the village who shared their beliefs secretly left the village one after another, choosing to follow them.

Those were the real reasons he had been so eager to go after and kill the two brothers That Year.

If the two brothers had not died, Kumogakure would have been split apart before long.

Fortunately, he had stopped all of this through his efforts.

But precisely because of that, among this generation's young people, only Dodai Before eyes could give him even a little hope.

Just as he sank into thought, an explosion suddenly rang out from somewhere in the village not far away.

Looking in the direction of the explosion, Raikage A showed little surprise. Instead, a trace of bitterness flashed across his face.

He muttered:

"Has the containment of Two-Tails Matatabi gone wrong again? And there's the even more troublesome Eight-Tails.

Sigh, Jinchuriki really are difficult to find..."

The scene shifted again, to an island surrounded by the sea on all sides.

A remarkably young-looking Youth rested his chin on one hand as he looked at the people below.

Seven People of different appearances stood beneath him.

One had short black hair, no eyebrows, and a large Cross Scar on the right side of his face.

Another had Orange Long Hair that reached his waist, sharp teeth, and fluffy bandages wrapped around his neck.

There was also one with a tall build and long limbs, wearing a Kirigakure Anbu Mask over his face.

But regardless of their builds or appearances, they all shared one thing in common.

Each of them held a bizarrely shaped weapon.

Some could be recognized as enormous cleavers, while others were merely long, slender bayonets.

Yet some looked like thick, long rods wrapped in scrolls, making it impossible to tell at a glance whether they were weapons or scrolls.

The Youth at the top swept his Scarlet Eyes over the crowd before slowly speaking after A long time:

"Today, I officially grant you the title of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

I trust you all understand what this title means.

The Ninja Swords in your hands are Exquisite Products forged by the village's ancestors through the generations. I hope you will not disgrace them."

Upon hearing the Youth's words, the seven knelt in unison and replied together:

"We understand, Mizukage!"

The one speaking above was Kirigakure's newly appointed Third Mizukage—Karatachi Yagura.

(Here is an explanation of the timeline. Some people may wonder whether his age does not match up.

However, the official material never gave his actual age.

According to the official description, though, this guy had a natural Baby Face.

When he became Mizukage, he appeared young, but he actually already had grandchildren.

If compared seriously, he might even have been older than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Furthermore, since the Third Mizukage had no information or appearance records whatsoever, adjustments could only be made for the plot to proceed normally.)

If Kagura had been present at this moment, he would definitely have been surprised upon seeing this Third Mizukage Before eyes.

Although the Third Mizukage's name had never been revealed in the story, according to Kagura's impression, the Third Mizukage should have had Black Long Straight Hair.

This Baby Face Before eyes should actually have been the Fourth Mizukage.

It seemed that because of his arrival, the Butterfly Effect had taken effect again, allowing Karatachi Yagura to become Mizukage ahead of time.

Looking at the respectful figures Before him, Karatachi Yagura nodded with satisfaction.

"I deliberately suppressed your Chunin Exam applications last year so that you could perform well in this Joint Exam.

However, I estimate that Konoha and Kumogakure have likely made similar preparations.

It seems Konoha has produced an Uchiha Genius in recent years?

Even a team of Chunin from the village lost to him some time ago.

Hmph!

So he truly deserves the name 'Monster'?

Go. Make your preparations.

This exam is probably not as simple as you think."

After receiving the order, the figures below lowered their heads, flickered, and departed.

As everyone left, Karatachi Yagura raised his head and Looked Towards a certain place.

It was an enclosed Water Pool, and something enormous seemed to be swimming beneath its surface.

Its Spiked Shell could faintly be seen emerging from the water.

This was the Three-Tails—Isobu—contained by Kirigakure.

Like Third Raikage A, Karatachi Yagura was currently troubled by the matter of Jinchuriki.

However, unlike the Raikage, Karatachi Yagura had already laid out several plans.

The mission Kagura and others had disrupted not long ago had been one of them; he had specifically selected a Jinchuriki candidate from the Land of Whirlpools.

As universally acknowledged ideal vessels, girls of the Uzumaki Clan were undoubtedly the best candidates.

But since he had to preserve the surface peace between the nations, he could only secretly dispatch Chunin Level squads to capture the target.

Yet he had not expected that several entire Chunin squads, sent to ensure success, would be thoroughly defeated by a Genin team.

Looking at the Three-Tails, which seemed to be enjoying its freedom, he muttered:

"It seems I'll have to choose another target. If it truly comes down to it, then I can only do it myself..."

At this moment, in a place far from the Three Great Nations, within a dark underground space.

This underground space was filled with Tree Roots and Tree Trunks. Upon the largest Tree Root stood an enormous Humanoid Statue.

It had the appearance of a giant humanoid, with Nine Eyes. Its color and body resembled Withered Wood, and Ten Pillar-like Objects protruded from its back.

At this moment, a pair of Rinnegan Opened in the darkness.

His body was connected to the Tree Trunk behind him. This man was Kagura's Ancestor—Uchiha Madara.

His gaze seemed to pass through layer upon layer of earth, Looking Towards the Land of Water beyond the sea.

A hoarse, low voice echoed throughout the entire space:

"It seems it is time to begin carrying out the plan."