The Geniuses of This Era

It's not bad overall; 90% of this country's land is desert.

It is possible that the strong winds from the Land of Earth carried a large amount of sand through the Land of Stone, which collided with and deposited on the mountains of this region, forming the landscape of "desert with sand mountains".

As the largest desert region on the Hokage Continent, this country's desert is connected to its cities, making it a "desert within a city," with Sunagakure built deep within the desert.

The environment there is harsh and the roads are treacherous.

At the end of the Warring States period, the Land of Wind, with the help of the Sand Ninja Army, unified this vast and ancient land. Since then, the Land of Wind has been the mother country of all desert people.

Sunagakure possessed considerable fighting strength and controlled the One-Tail when the village was founded. Therefore, when Senju Hashirama convened the Five Kage Summit to distribute the Tailed Beasts, the First Kazekage proposed exchanging the share of Tailed Beasts originally belonging to Sand Village for land and money.

As expected, they were criticized by the other villages, and it almost escalated into a gang fight. Although the kind -Senju Hashirama prevented the war from happening, it is a fact that Sunagakure gained nothing at the Five Kage Summit —the disdain of all the First Hokage could perhaps be considered a gain.

First Shinobi World War, the Second Kazekage remained inactive, focusing on researching the One-Tail while other countries were engaged in fierce battles. He developed the Sand Magnet Release and Puppet Technique system, thus establishing the Ninjutsu system of Sunagakure. The Second Kazekage was also the only Second to survive the First Shinobi World War.

During the reign of the Third Kazekage, Sand Village's overall strength ranked among the top three in the Ninja World.

Then the curse began.

The Third Shinobi World War was a brutal war, but fortunately, the foundation was still intact. Expansion was no longer an option, but self-preservation was still possible.

The real bottom was reached in the original timeline's Konoha Crush.

Orochimaru's performance was so good that it seemed as if he had personally devised the Konoha Crush —in reality, it was the Sunagakure that devised it.

Orochimaru was essentially an outsider, and Sunagakure had initially hired Akatsuki, with Orochimaru joining under the name of the Akatsuki.

Once the plan was completed, the Sand Ninja's mentality completely collapsed—this was clearly the Sand Village's collapse plan!

Tsunade succeeded as the Fifth Hokage, extended a helping hand to Sand Village at the right time. In addition, Gaara gained a connection with Naruto and became the Fifth Kazekage, and the honeymoon period between Sand Village and Leaf Village truly began.

In this timeline, at this point, Sunagakure was still powerful, but its discontent with Leaf Village had already begun.

At least that's what Mining Shadow thinks.

Holy crap! Am I mining for Sand Village or for Leaf Village!?

No way! Why the hell is the Kazekage Shadow mining Tenten!?

Unfortunately, due to someone's indirect influence, two things deeply touched Kuangying's increasingly sensitive heart.

First, there was Pakura, Scorch Release ninja originally from Sand Village, who joined Leaf Village.

Secondly, Leaf Village has actually formed an open and aboveboard alliance with Iwagakure.

Kuangying stated that it was not that he himself was rebellious, but rather that Leaf Village had acted dishonestly and disregarded the feelings of its allies.

You can secretly use my mining power, but you can't openly trample on my face!

So he accepted the offer from the Fourth Raikage without hesitation.

The Cloud Village is certainly no good, but the Hidden Leaf Village is nothing now!

The Fourth Hokage, he's not even human!

Then, he agreed to Leaf Village's request and held the Chunin Ninja Exams.

This will likely be the largest Chunin Ninja Exams since the beginning of the ninja village era.

Four of the five major ninja villages have arrived, along with their allies from the four major ninja villages, essentially bringing together all the ninja organizations at the village level in the Ninja World.

The only ones who didn't come were Cloud Village and Frost Village.

The Land of Iron is a land of samurai, so of course they wouldn't participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams. However, as the only neutral village in the Ninja World, Takigakure saw that there were so many people, so they also signed up.

The ranking isn't important; the main thing is to let the young people in the village broaden their horizons.

However, this Chunin Ninja Exams, jointly organized by multiple villages, is not really about conducting Chunin Ninja Exams. Another important task is for the villages to meet with each other through this channel.

Therefore, the team leaders from each village are the main participants, rather than the participating Genin.

The most attention-grabbing figures, of course, were the leaders of the three major ninja villages.

The ninja leading the group from Iwagakure is the son of the Tsuchikage, Kitsuchi.

The team leader from Kirigakure is Mei Terumi Mei, a rising Jonin from the Kirigakure.

The leader of the Hidden Leaf Village) ninja, Leaf Village White Ghost.

When the list was submitted to Sand Village, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, almost wrote "No White Ghost allowed."

Uchiha Shingen's fame is truly immense now, most notably for his ability to steal enemy Ninjutsu without a sound, completely redefining the Ninja World's understanding of the Sharingan's copying ability at the Jonin level. Rasa always felt that Leaf Village sent White Ghost to lead the team specifically to target Sunagakure's unique Magnet Release and Puppet Technique.

Furthermore, what's the point of having a Kage Level ninja lead the team?

Are they here to take an exam or to throw a tantrum?

After much deliberation and a meeting with the village's leaders, Rasa finally approved it.

The Sand Village, after all, has a sense of shame.

Reputation is also part of a ninja village's strength.

And so, the Joint Chunin Exams, hosted by Sand Village and co-organized by Leaf Village, Iwagakure, and Hidden Mist Village, began as scheduled.

In Hidden Leaf Village, Uchiha Shingen, as the leader of the Leaf Village team, was accompanied by a group of Genin, as well as Hatake Kakashi, who had already been promoted to Jonin, and Pakura, who was originally Jonin Sand Village. In addition, he was the recommender of the Genin.

In Uchiha Shingen's memory, there were actually no particularly outstanding talents among the Genin of this generation.

The entire Ninja World was like this; during this period, everyone trained normal people, but ten years later, the number of such people exploded.

Of course, the "unremarkable" here is in comparison to those who fall short of the norm.

Within the established criteria, there are still talented individuals.

There were at least a few people who managed to leave an impression on Uchiha Shingen.

"It will take about three days to get from Leaf Village to Sand Village." Uchiha Shingen looked at the members of the group, who were of varying ages. "I won't go into detail about the environment in the Land of Wind. In short, everyone must follow orders. You are going to take an exam, not to die. If you're going to die, you should die in the exam hall."

"Yes!"

The group of Genin answered very loudly.

Uchiha Shingen nodded.

These Genin certainly didn't possess the extraordinary talent of Naruto and Sasuke's generation, but there was one thing they lacked that Naruto and Sasuke couldn't compare to.

It refers to adaptability and organization in combat.

During this period, most of the Genin the five major villages had served on the battlefield.

However, this batch of Leaf Village Genin who went to take the exam were mainly recent graduates of the Ninja Academy, and even the slightly older ones were still considered young people.

Otherwise, Leaf Village wouldn't have sent anyone to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams. To be eligible to participate in the exams in other villages, two conditions must be met: exceptional talent and a relatively young age.

This is also a matter of pride for the ninja village.

"Very good, let's go!"

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Geniuses at This Time

The Leaf Village team that entered the Land of Wind soon encountered the Hidden Mist Village team that came from the south.

At first, the contestants from both teams exchanged cool and aloof glances, conveying a sense of "fuck you" and "have you ever seen a fist the size of a casserole dish?"

But when they started to sense that the atmosphere between their team leader and the team leader opposite them was a bit off, they quietly withdrew their sharp gazes, and the atmosphere between the two sides quickly warmed up, turning into "Have you eaten yet?" and "Would you like some meatballs to fill your stomach first?"

In an instant, the Leaf Village and Hidden Mist Village Genin achieved a breakthrough in interpersonal relationships, becoming extremely interested in teaming up to create a third party.

"So you're the one leading the Hidden Mist Village team." Ignoring the Genin's changing expressions, Uchiha Shingen chatted and laughed with his old friend. "How's Hidden Mist Village doing now?"

"That's good," Terumi Mei sighed. "The worst is over."

"The Bloody Mist Village has been cancelled?"

"It's cancelled." Terumi Mei. "The atmosphere in the village is different now; everyone is working hard and cherishing it."

Uchiha Shingen glanced at the Hidden Mist Village group again; he recognized the familiar figure from the group the moment they met.

"The Taketori Clan has joined Hidden Mist Village." Terumi Mei knew what Uchiha Shingen was looking at. "The Fourth Hokage discovered a child named Kimimaro in the Kaguya Clan, who awakened the Shikotsumyaku). The Taketori Clan hasn't had the Shikotsumyaku for a long time."

That's right, there's a little kid in the Hidden Mist Village's team.

The typical attire of the Kaguya Clan, or rather, the Taketori Clan.

"The Shikotsumyaku) is a bloodline disease." Uchiha Shingen withdrew his gaze. "Is the Taketori Clan planning to protect that child?"

"Yes, the Taketori Clan has not seen Shikotsumyaku) for a long time, but the clan has its own methods to address the deficiency in Shikotsumyaku."

"That's good." Uchiha Shingen said casually, then noticed that Terumi Mei was staring at him.

Why are you looking at me like that?

"You wouldn't even copy your ally's Ninjutsu, would you?"

"What are you saying? I just copied your Boil Release, didn't I? It's called 'no fight, no friendship.' You should be more magnanimous; times have changed."

He must have lost his mind to copy the Shikotsumyaku; that's not the Five Elements Escape Technique.

You can't copy it even if you want to.

"Heh..." Terumi Mei sneered, "So what if the last surviving member of the Yuki Clan is with you? Has he awakened Ice Release?"

"Not yet, but I believe that child can do it." Uchiha Shingen said confidently, "I'm not bragging, but the children I teach are no worse than those from the Yuki Clan."

Terumi Mei had no way to refute it.

This has already been compared before; the Yuki Clan's own secret technique is no match for Uchiha Shingen's modified version.

The Yuki Clan's Ice Release can't compete with Tailed Beasts's boxing.

"Here you go." Terumi Mei handed over a scroll.

"What's this?"

"The Yuki Clan's secret techniques, some of which were preserved after the clan was wiped out."

"So generous?"

"We've already given you the people, this little bit won't make a difference."

"The Fourth Mizukage is magnanimous!" Uchiha Shingen thought for a moment and said, "One cannot accept a reward without merit. What are the Fourth Mizukage's requirements?"

"This exam is designed to showcase the friendly relationship between Leaf Village and Hidden Mist Village as much as possible."

"Understood, don't worry."

Uchiha Shingen thought to himself, "With Kimimaro around, we must be friendly."

Although he was just a kid, he was raised as a secret weapon by the Kaguya Clan. He was trained from a young age, and his combat strength was far Genin.

If he were to fight, most test-takers would die the moment they met him.

After that, the two men spoke to each other, and the two groups merged into one and continued westward.

After meeting with the ninja from Sunagakure who were responsible for guiding them, they began to venture deeper into the desert.

While it's called "guiding," it also implicitly carries the responsibility of preventing the participating teams from knowing the route into Sunagakure.

Since its founding, Sunagakure was never truly invaded again until the Third Shinobi World War, when the invaders were the Cloud Ninja Army. Heaven knows how much work they had done beforehand.

In Uchiha Shingen's eyes, the Sand Ninja team responsible for guiding them had secretly turned off numerous traps along the way.

If this route is used in future wars, invading forces will surely suffer.

Two days later, they finally saw the city standing tall amidst the endless yellow sand.

This city is very lively now.

Multiple teams from different ninja villages brought a unique scene to Sunagakure.

The villagers of Sunagakure were also quite curious about these foreign ninjas.

After all, when I saw foreign ninjas before, they were there to fight, not to visit.

The teams from Leaf Village and Hidden Mist Village weren't the first to arrive, but their entry into Sunagakure immediately drew the attention of many Sand Ninja.

The hero of Sand Village, Pakura, was prominently featured in the team.

Besides, there was another figure that, no matter how you looked at it, resembled the Konoha White Fang of Konoha who had once wreaked havoc on the village.

Despite being the most renowned Kage Level ninja in Leaf Village, Uchiha Shingen himself has been largely overlooked by the Sand Ninja.

However, he had anticipated this situation.

The Hokage Building's arrangement wasn't intended to target Sunagakure.