The Storm Approaches

Even with his lofty ambitions, Rasa still hesitated a little when faced with such a big decision.

"Creating chaos? Destroying the village? Yes, exactly what I expected. Kirigakure suffered a severe blow recently, its strength plummeted, and it even struggled to maintain its status as a major power."

If this operation can make Iwagakure even more formidable than Hidden Mist, that would be ideal!

Naraku was very cooperative with Orochimaru's request; Orochimaru was responsible for planning, Naraku was responsible for carrying out some of the tasks.

Although Naraku a high position, he does not presume upon his status or insist on issuing orders himself.

After all, it's obvious which is easier: following orders or planning actions.

The plan to weaken the strength of each ninja village has been Naraku's ongoing effort. Although Uchiha Zensui did a good job, the process was taking too long. The sense of urgency was the starting point for Naraku's decision to cooperate with Orochimaru's mission.

"Next, all that's left is the third round of the Chunin Ninja Exams. I will assassinate the Tsuchikage. After killing the Tsuchikage, with the addition of the Sunagakure ninja forces, how can the Iwagakure possibly survive?"

If all goes well, perhaps Iwagakure will cease to exist. Heh heh, I never expected the situation to escalate to this point."

Orochimaru's smile was sinister, but one could see a sense of accomplishment in his ambition. The Chunin Ninja Exams had reached the second round, and all the arrangements were in place.

Next comes the main event of the third match: assassinating the Tsuchikage and destroying Iwagakure.

According to normal calculations, Iwagakure should cease to exist. However, nothing in this world is 100% certain. Those who are good at planning always consider the possibility of failure before the possibility of victory, and each of them has made preparations for unexpected situations and the worst-case scenario.

"Orochimaru, you are about to become famous throughout the Shinobi World. I look forward to the moment when the operation begins."

See you again for the third exam.

Having learned enough, Naraku offered a word of encouragement before slowly sinking into the rocky ground.

Naraku's meeting with Orochimaru was primarily to confirm the arrangements in various aspects. It now appears that the arrangements are progressing smoothly, even exceeding Orochimaru's own expectations.

If the arrangements aren't handled properly, Naraku can fail the Chunin Ninja Exams at any time and return to Konoha, treating this trip as a vacation in the Land of Earth —he won't lose out no matter what.

"I will use the wind that destroyed Iwagakure to turn the flying chariot around, making the Shinobi World even more interesting."

Orochimaru licked his lips, watching Naraku depart. Orochimaru wondered how the Shinobi World would change after the destruction of one of the Five Great Nations' ninja villages, and he looked forward to it.

Naraku most of his body submerged in the earth, heard Orochimaru's words, a smile playing on his lips, and quickly disappeared completely into the ground.

Tsuchikage Building

In the Tsuchikage's office, several ninjas wearing red cloaks worn by high-ranking Iwagakure stood together, awaiting the Tsuchikage Ōnoki's decision.

Ōnoki floated in front of the Tsuchikage's desk, holding a letter in his hand. His expression was solemn. He glanced at the five people in front of him and said in a deep voice:

"Is all of this true? The Kazekage will arrive soon. If it's a misunderstanding, it could affect diplomatic relations between our two countries..."

The letter in Ōnoki's hand was from the southern border guard of the Land of Earth. It reported that there had been frequent and unusual ninja movements in Sunagakure across the border.

"Third, Konoha has temporarily fallen silent Chunin Ninja Exams, but the mobilization of Sunagakure is quite intriguing and cannot be ignored."

"Yes, especially the heinous incident in Kirigakure, the Kirigakure in the Land of Water, is a good example."

A single ninja could turn the village upside down; even if Kirigakure was weak, it shouldn't have been like this.

The current situation in Kirigakure is similar to that of the Third Kazekage of Hidden Sand more than a decade ago. At such a sensitive time, we should be even more cautious."

Five high-ranking members of Iwagakure, including two older men, each spoke in their own way, hoping that Ōnoki would agree to their advice and prohibit the Kazekage from entering the country.

Ōnoki somewhat serious, his eyes flickering as if he were thinking. After a long pause, he said in a deep voice:

"It's normal for there to be some unusual activity at the border of the Land of Wind when the Kazekage travels. They need to protect the Kazekage's safety, and that shouldn't be a reason to prohibit the Kazekage from entering the country."

Furthermore, our Iwagakure is not like the Land of the Bloody Mist, where ninjas may appear to be elite but are actually few in number and easily defeated.

We previously banned the Hokage from entering the village, which made it seem like our village was afraid of Konoha.

Now that the Kazekage is banned from entering, what does that mean? Does it mean our village is afraid of Shadows from other countries?

Let's stop talking about banning the Kazekage from entering the country. After all, the original intention of this joint Chunin Ninja Exams was to strengthen ties with other major powers.

Ōnoki served as Tsuchikage for many years and had a comprehensive understanding of issues. His advisors and assistants may have been acting in the best interests of Iwagakure, but their thinking was somewhat one-sided.

It's impossible to ban everything. There are reasons for banning the Hokage. The ninja who caused Hidden Mist in Kirigakure is a member of the Hokage's clan. Ōnoki expressed some resentment about this and refused the Hokage's visit, which also serves to demonstrate the nobility of the Land of Earth.

Prohibiting the Kazekage from visiting is a completely different concept from prohibiting the Hokage from visiting. Ōnoki was somewhat disappointed by the conservative attitude of these two old advisors.

"Prohibiting the Hokage from visiting and prohibiting the Kazekage from visiting are completely different concepts. I agree with the Third's opinion."

"Yes, I agree."

Of the five high-ranking advisors and assistants from Iwagakure, two advised Ōnoki to be more conservative, and the other two agreed with Ōnoki's opinion.

The last remaining advisor, who hadn't spoken yet, noticed that everyone was glancing at him and finally spoke up:

"Everyone's opinions are correct, but for the safety of the village, to be on the safe side, it would be better to hire that mercenary group again."

We can post the hiring task first, set a date, and then cancel the task if everything goes smoothly as the date approaches, paying a small penalty to avoid paying exorbitant fees.

"If anything unexpected happens Chunin Ninja Exams, the mercenary organization's help will be very helpful."

This advisor, named Permafrost, was Ōnoki's most trusted assistant. He was thoughtful and his words earned Ōnoki a slight nod.

"That Akatsuki, a mercenary organization full of missing-nin? How could we, the five great ninja nations, cooperate with such an organization? It's absurd."

The opposition came from two of the five senior advisors. It was their suggestion to ban the Kazekage's visit earlier. Both of them were very traditional ninjas who despised missing-nin.

Ōnoki ignored the sarcasm from his old comrade from the same era, and after examining the letter in his hand again, he said in a deep voice:

"The suggestion about Permafrost is not without merit; the best approach is to accomplish the most difficult task with the least amount of money."

Although the Akatsuki is weak, its combat power is very strong, and its fees are relatively low.

Ōnoki defended the Akatsuki, after all, he had already hired Akatsuki for many war missions. After a slight pause, Ōnoki continued:

"I have a vague feeling of unease about this joint Chunin Ninja Exams. Our Iwagakure is isolated and needs to strengthen its ties with other countries."

We need to hold more of these joint Chunin Ninja Exams. This time, let's follow Permafrost's suggestion and contact that mercenary organization called Akatsuki to carry out security missions for us."