Fully Prepared

Ōnoki initially held opposing views as well.

To be honest, since the Rock Ninja had wiped out all the candidates, Ōnoki was too lazy to watch the third exam, and had absolutely no interest in the one-month gap; he just wanted it to end as soon as possible.

But seeing Rasa's opposition, he changed his mind.

He suddenly realized that the third exam was actually quite interesting to watch.

This Third Tsuchikage immediately demonstrated to the young people present what it means for "a Kage to do whatever he wants" and why he is called "Ōnoki of the Two Scales" or "the first Kage who is full of martial virtue and can jump around repeatedly".

The great Third Tsuchikage's thoughts were so pure that even the genin Genin could see it—it was certainly a pity that there were no Rock Ninja to watch, but it would be even more of a pity if the Sand Ninja were to suffer misfortune!

Therefore, the three votes against one passed the resolution to grant a one-month holiday.

And so, on the first day of the holiday, Uchiha Shingen, amidst everyone's "blessings," led five Leaf Village Genin out for special training.

As for why there are five...

Teaching four is teaching, teaching five is teaching is also teaching. About a week later, Uchiha Shingen, feeling that he couldn't be the only one without a day off, ran back once and dragged Aburame Shikuroo away with him.

They put it this way. "Your child is so successful, how can you slack off?"

The Aburame Clan also found this very reasonable, so Aburame Shikuroo, who originally played with insects at home, also enjoyed a taste of the "blessing".

Now that the month is up, the examinees who went out for secret training are beginning to return to Hidden Leaf Village.

The examination venue has been thoroughly prepared by the Leaf Village administration over the past month; everything is ready except for the examinees.

Ninja villages typically hold large events in open-air stadiums.

For example, competitions themed around ninjas are very common.

After all, the village sometimes organizes its own events, which has a good effect on promoting harmony and friendship among the ninjas in the village, and the villagers also like these events.

In particular, Leaf Village's finances were excellent at this time, and the Fourth Hokage's era emphasized infrastructure development, resulting in a very large newly built stadium that could accommodate more spectators.

Eight Genin will clash here.

Unlike the preliminary rounds, in this round, the examiners are not allowed to interfere with the examination process.

Even if someone is killed, the examiner cannot intervene unless the victor gives up the kill or agrees to the opponent's surrender.

With everyone watching, Hidden Leaf Village couldn't possibly break the rules on its own.

Like Uchiha Shingen, openly intervening to save one's own village's Genin is out of the question in this situation. Otherwise, it would damage the village's reputation among the daimyo of various countries, a loss that a ninja village cannot accept.

In other words, they cannot openly interfere.

The people of Hidden Leaf Village clearly had a great deal of trust in Uchiha Shingen's ability to secretly carry out his schemes.

This isn't just the opinion of the two Hokage.

That's what the entire Jonin Council thought.

The Konoha Ninja who were present during the preliminary rounds especially agreed with this.

At that time, Uchiha Shingen secretly soaked his own sand into the floor, thus deflecting Gaara's most fatal blow to Rock Lee on the training ground, which was covered in yellow sand.

If Rasa hadn't pointed it out, no one would have noticed.

At that time, only Rasa and Namikaze Minato noticed Uchiha Shingen's actions. Rasa was very familiar with Sand Magnet Release, while Namikaze Minato sensed Uchiha Shingen's Chakra.

Therefore, everyone believes that Shingen is a god who engages in underhanded tactics!

He could definitely do something subtle and discreet to mitigate the possibility of his excellent Genin suffering a devastating blow that would affect their future ninja careers.

Of the five Genin, four were his students; he wasn't worried about not doing his best.

The third round of exams officially began a week after the January deadline.

The audience, who had high expectations for the exam, arrived at the stadium early in the morning.

The majority of these people were villagers from Leaf Village and ordinary people such as tourists and merchants from outside Leaf Village. The rest were ninjas from Leaf Village and other ninja organizations, along with nobles from various countries, who together constituted the audience in the general sense.

The Kage, leaders, special envoys, and important guests who directly participated in this Joint Chunin Exams were seated in special seats on the top floor, overlooking the entire stadium.

Uchiha Shingen arrived at the scene early in the morning.

However, he could only stand in the field and wait.

There's no way around it; being an examiner is both exhausting and incredibly boring.

And he, the chief examiner, was also highly regarded.

The name of the White Ghost of Leaf Village resounds throughout the Ninja World; he is a very important figure, and for many people, he is someone they have only heard of but have never met.

When Uchiha Shingen first arrived, a daimyo from a certain country even came to greet him, accompanied by his attendants.

Fortunately, with the arrival of several Kage, Uchiha Shingen finally had some peace and quiet.

As the sun rises higher and the morning mist dissipates, the clouds in the azure sky stretch out and change in countless ways.

This is a beautiful day, perfect for a fight.

The candidates finally entered the examination hall one by one.

They were somewhat surprised to see that the examiner was Uchiha Shingen.

Gaara's expression remained unchanged.

Temari seemed somewhat concerned.

The Leaf Village Genin hand, were clearly more confident.

Hozuki Suigetsu's roguish smile vanished.

He remembered what Zabuza Momochi Uchiha Shingen of Hidden Leaf Village may seem normal on the surface, but he's actually a lunatic and a real troublemaker.

Don't mess with them.

Meanwhile, some people in the audience were also watching Uchiha Shingen.

Uchiha Obito and Orochimaru were both sitting in the audience.

They were all dressed as Konoha Ninja.

If Orochimaru's infiltration was a skillful maneuver, then Uchiha Obito, his Kamui to directly enter the village.

Well, so Orochimaru is actually the only one with technical skills; there's also Uchiha Obito, who isn't technically skilled.

Watching Uchiha Shingen leading the examinees in waving to the audience, Uchiha Obito silently cheered himself on.

This time, he will break the curse that wherever Uchiha Shingen is, he will be doomed!

[Shingen, just you wait and see!]

Orochimaru, who was sitting next to him, seemed to sense something and turned his head to look at Uchiha Obito.

Are you nervous?

"What the hell am I nervous about!"

"Hmm, don't get so excited, the competition hasn't even started yet."

After a brief exchange, Orochimaru ignored him.

He silently labeled Uchiha Obito ".

In the special seating area, the four Kage and Kumogakure, the special Yeyue Fu from Kumogakure, were watching the scene and discussing it.

"I understand your desire to protect your village's Genin, Lord Hokage, by appointing Shingen- kun as the examiner," Rasa said, "But isn't that a bit of a rip-off?"

Rasa thought that people these days are becoming increasingly unscrupulous for engaging in such underhanded tactics in front of several of them.

"Kazekage, don't bring up things that are taken for granted," Ōnoki said. "Didn't you have similar arrangements when you held the Chunin Ninja Exams?"

Rasa ignored Ōnoki.

That old jerk, he was so shameless when he voted.

Yeyue Fu remained silent, simply watching Uchiha Shingen's figure.

Although he was a special envoy representing the Cloud Village, he wasn't qualified to participate in the ordinary chat among the Kage.

He volunteered for this mission to gain experience.

After all, he, Takayama Hizo, Darui are currently locked in a stalemate, and the only way to gain the upper hand is to focus on external factors.

[That's the White Ghost... Hmph, he doesn't look like much!]

Yeyue Fu is a complete Nintaijutsu practitioner. His path is entirely based on the style of the Fourth Raikage. As a rising star in Kumogakure in recent years, he is the person in Amegakure who has mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode the best.

He even mastered the Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite, and was considered the most likely candidate to recreate the Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite.

"Lord Kazekage is too kind. As the organizer, Leaf Village would certainly not break the rules," Namikaze Minato said with a smile.

On this occasion, he was responsible for accompanying these Kage, while the Third Hokage went downstairs to chat with the Daimyo.

"It's almost time, let's announce the start of the match."

Namikaze Minato stood up from his chair, walked to the railing, faced the examinees and audience below, and began to speak.

"Distinguished guests! Thank you all for gathering here to participate in the Chunin Selection Exam held by Hidden Leaf Village. Now, the eight contestants who passed the preliminary rounds will begin the official selection match." Through Chakra, Namikaze Minato's voice was smoothly amplified throughout the venue, "Please enjoy the show! I hereby declare the match open!"

Chapter Seventeen: Thorough Preparations

"The Hokage is the Hokage," Namikaze Minato said, and the stadium filled with a fiery atmosphere.

The candidates' information was already being widely publicized a month before the official exam.

Of course, on the surface, Hidden Leaf Village only sent a short message, the content of which was full of harmony and friendship, with the whole message conveying the spirit of "friendship first, competition second".

The main force behind the publicity is various betting teams.

For example, Gaara has been given numerous nicknames, such as "Demon of the Sand," "The Lonely King of the Desert," and "A Genius Ninja Who Is Rarely Seen in a Century in Sand Village," among many others.

There's even a slightly cheeky nickname, "You are the wind, I am the sand," but no one has been able to find out who gave it to this harmless nickname.

But he seems to be very popular with women; many people quite like this cool-looking young ninja, and they think Gaara is cute.

Once the market feedback was in place, various rumors, seemingly from nowhere, began to circulate, such as "The tragic childhood of a genius ninja," "This ninja is clearly too talented but forced to be lonely," and "The Sand Child who cannot shed tears." Gaara became, without a doubt, the most popular contestant among women in this year 'Chunin Ninja Exams.

Gaara is like this, then no one else can escape it.

For example, the character Hozuki Suigetsu is a young man whose family was destroyed and who fights to rebuild his family. This story appeals to a large number of aristocratic families, who feel a strong sense of resonance with it and thus become the main force behind betting on Hozuki Suigetsu.

Naruto Uzumaki has a similar backstory, but he lacks the tragedy of losing his family and instead has a strong, resilient character who says, "I'm suffering inside, but I won't say it. Not only will I not say it, I'll even smile like an idiot Tenten." Although it wasn't as impactful as Gaara's backstory, it still garnered a following.

Uchiha Sasuke setting is quite impressive. He is described as a "genius ninja who loves calligraphy and wants to become a calligrapher, but is ruthlessly suppressed by his authoritarian parents, who force him to become a ninja and forbid him from ever touching a calligraphy brush again if he fails the exam."

But this kind of outdated characterization, which normal people would find unmoving and only fit to fail miserably, has become incredibly popular among a specific group of people.

A group of noble families developed a deep emotional connection with Uchiha Sasuke! Among them was even a daimyo from a country!

As for whether it's fake or not, these nobles retorted, "Shut up! You're from a small, insignificant family; how could you possibly understand the pain of us scions of great families? We've all been through it, haven't we!"

One famous person said that he once dreamed of becoming a sculptor, but his family thought it was a waste of time and extinguished his dream.

This boy named Uchiha Sasuke is the son of the Uchiha Clan leader; in our world, he'd be the crown prince! He comes from one of the most prestigious and powerful clans in the Ninja World, and of course, he shares the same hardships as us! We're all in the same boat!

No need to say anything more, he's a junior member of this circle, we have to support him!

The key character designs, combined with the unique and rich storyline, have essentially finalized the funding allocation for this Chunin Ninja Exams.

Of course, this trend cannot satisfy everyone; there will always be those who are dissatisfied.

After they hired ninjas to investigate, these ninjas, who initially boasted that "I've got this under control," quickly backed down after finding just a few clues.

Thus, this discordant voice disappeared, leaving only everyone following the trend.

Overall, the big spenders sympathized, the gambling tycoons were overjoyed, and the Minister of Administration of Leaf Village breathed a sigh of relief.

Alright, all the character designs worked very well, and the response was far beyond expectations, exceeding them significantly. The revenue share is enough to cover the cost of holding the Joint Chunin Exams, so making a profit is a certainty, the only difference is how much.

As expected of Lord Shingen, he has so many tricks up his sleeve!

At that moment, the Lord Shingen he mentioned was sunbathing while demonstrating the order of their battles to the examinees.

"Come, everyone, take a good look. This is your battle order." Uchiha Shingen unfolded the battle schedule for the eight examinees. "Whether the information you've gathered and the analysis you've done over the past month will be of any use this time depends on yourselves."

Gaara didn't look at the list; he had already reviewed all his opponents. The entire Sunagakure intelligence agency served him.

If the young ninjas of Leaf Village hadn't been receiving special training from several exceptionally powerful ninjas, he too might have harbored thoughts of launching a sneak attack when they were off guard.

This doesn't count as breaking the rules.

The third exam began the moment the preliminary round ended.