"Testing for the title of Kage."
Carried by the wind, the words reached everyone's ears, silently shaking them to their core.
It was a test, not a challenge.
The condescending attitude made them feel humiliated. This was the strongest ninja in the Land of Lightning, and he was being tested to see whether he was powerful enough to serve as Kage.
Yet the man who had spoken stood calmly in the plaza, sunlight spilling across his shoulders.
His proud demeanor seemed only natural to many of the ninja. He was one of the two unreachable peaks in the Shinobi World. Just getting to fight him was an immense honor, let alone earning his approval.
The crowd began to roar. Cheers rang out without pause, echoing through the sky. They gazed eagerly at their Kage, eyes full of anticipation.
Amid the cheering, discordant voices were inevitable. Standing beside a group of children, a ninja trembled and said in disbelief, "Captain, you really did hand that man a pass to enter the village."
"That never happened. You must've been dozing off after slacking on the job." The man in the hat hid his expression and answered coldly.
The man lowered his head and rubbed his temples, going along with the flow. "Oh, right! I must've been dozing off."
A man with an upside-down triangular topknot pushed angrily through the crowd and came up beside them. He lifted the hat from the man's head and demanded, "Akirai! Why aren't you guarding the village gate? What are you doing here?"
Time seemed to freeze. The two men who had been trying to slack off amid the chaos had been caught red-handed.
The commotion on the high platform caught Rikusei's attention. The man scolding the pair of guards looked familiar, but the two horned men