In just a few days, the entire Ninja World was stirred up by a piece of news.
No one knows the source of the news, but it spreads like a plague in the underground intelligence network of Five Great Nations. Hyuga Tianyi of Leaf Village is collecting Tailed Beast, and has already obtained more than one.
The latest target is Seven-Tails of Takigakure. According to rumors, Seven-Tails has been captured by Hyuga Tianyi. Together with One-Tail and Eight-Tails who were defeated on the battlefield earlier, Leaf Village holds at least three Tailed Beast in his hands.
As for whether Three-Tails, Nine-Tails, etc. have also fallen into his hands, the news did not mention it, but these three Tailed Beast alone are enough to keep the Kages of the major ninja villages awake at night.
Hidden Sand Village, Iwagakure, Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Mist Village, four almost identical invitation letters were delivered to the desks of the four figures.
The wording of the letter was polite and solemn, and the general idea was: In order to promote Ninja World's peace and exchanges with young ninjas, Leaf Village has decided to hold an unprecedented Chunin Ninja Exams. The four major ninja villages will be invited to participate. We sincerely invite you to come to Leaf Village to witness this event.
Iwagakure, Tsuchikage office.
Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki of Both Scales was suspended in mid-air, his short body leaning forward slightly, his cloudy old eyes staring at the letter sent by Leaf Village in his hand, his brows twisted into the Chinese character "Sichuan".
"Recently Ninja World is spreading the word that Leaf Village is gathering Tailed Beast, and now Leaf Village has sent another invitation to Five Kage to gather Chunin Ninja Exams. It also talks about communicating about economic issues."
Ōnoki threw the letter on the table and his eyes fell on his son Kitsuchi and disciple Akatsuchi who were sitting opposite.
"What do you think?"
Kitsuchi crossed his arms and frowned. He inherited Ōnoki's composure, but was not as sinister as his father.
After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke in a calm voice, "Father, we have to admit that today's Leaf Village has surpassed the other four great ninja villages.
Especially what kind of business department Leaf Village has made all Ninja World businessmen are proud to have joined their Ministry of Commerce.
So no matter what Leaf Village wants to do, we have to go on this trip.
The rumors of Tailed Beast are just rumors after all, and there is no substantial evidence that Leaf Village is really plotting against Tailed Beast.
Even if it were true, they wouldn't be able to attack us in a public Chunin Ninja Exams.
Five Kage gathered together, all Ninja World's eyes were fixed on it, no matter how strong Leaf Village was, they would not dare to risk the disapproval of the world."
Ōnoki's brows relaxed slightly.
Kitsuchi continued, "And we need to find out what their true purpose Leaf Village is in gathering Wuying!
If we don't go, it will appear that we are guilty. Iwagakure is not afraid of Leaf Village, but there is no need to make enemies before we understand the situation."
Akatsuchi nodded and echoed angrily:
"Brother Kitsuchi is right, no matter what Leaf Village's idea is, it is always right for us to go and take a look.
Besides, Chunin Ninja Exams is also a good opportunity to train new people."
Ōnoki was silent for a moment, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, making a rhythmic clicking sound.
Then he raised his head, a glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy old eyes, and looked at his son with satisfaction:
"You're right, go, of course you have to go, but-" He paused.
"You have to bring some important people with you. In such a prosperous time, we can't let the people of Leaf Village feel that there is no one in Iwagakure."
Kumogakure, Raikage Office.
Fourth Raikage Ai was naked from the waist up, and his tendons glowed with a bronze luster under the light.
He stood in the center of the office, holding a huge dumbbell in each hand, and each curl was accompanied by heavy breathing.
Sweat slid down his forehead, chest, and arms, dripping onto the floor and gathering into a small patch of water.
His right arm, from the shoulder down, is a pitch-black mechanical prosthetic leg made by Kumogakure's top craftsmen. Each finger can move flexibly.
Over the years, his strength has truly reached its peak. The use of Lightning Release Chakra Mode is more refined, faster and stronger than his father's, but his right arm can never be regenerated.
He put down the dumbbell, raised his right arm, and the mechanical fingers slowly opened and then clenched.
There was a slight hydraulic sound from the joints, which was particularly clear in the quiet office.
His eyes fell on the mechanical arm, and the white figure flashed in his mind - Hyuga Tianyi.
That Leaf Village Ghost, on the frontal battlefield, killed his father, broke his arm, and defeated Eight-Tails Killer B.
Every detail of that battle is engraved in his memory and can never be erased.
Anger, unwillingness - these emotions almost swallowed him up in the first days, but now, they have settled into part of Ai's strength.
"The rumors about Tailed Beast cannot be groundless."
Ai's voice was low, as if he was talking to himself or to the air in front of him.
"Half of Eight-Tails is still in the hands of Leaf Village. Hyuga Tianyi took it away personally. One-Tail most likely took half of it when he defeated it. Seven-Tails fell into his hands again. It depends on whether Leaf Village collects Tailed Beast or whether Hyuga Tianyi collects Tailed Beast personally."
He turned around and spoke.
"Notify Darui, Samui, and Dodai to come to my office immediately."
ANBU took the order and left. Within a quarter of an hour, the three of them arrived one after another. Darui still looked like he had not woken up, with his hair messy in front of his forehead. After entering the door, he sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs and yawned.
Samui had an expressionless face, his golden ponytail tied high behind his head, and he stood at attention when entering the door, without squinting.
Dodai is the oldest among the three, with gray hair and a serious face. After entering the door, he bowed slightly to Ai and then stood aside.
"Leaf Village sent an invitation to Five Kage to gather Chunin Ninja Exams. The letter also mentioned discussing economic issues. Isn't this a clear threat?"
Ai got straight to the point and threw the letter on the table.
"Recently Ninja World is spreading the word that Hyuga Tianyi collects Tailed Beast, One-Tail, Seven-Tails, Eight-Tails--Leaf Village has at least three in his hands."
"And Eight-Tails also said that Hyuga Tianyi collected half of his chakra. One-Tail was defeated head-on by Hyuga Tianyi at Hidden Sand Village. Seven-Tails... Although it is not certain, according to the intelligence, Takigakure has indeed experienced a change recently.
Their Hero Tree was uprooted and their Seven-Tails disappeared, all of which point to the same person."
Samui spoke with a cold voice, "So, Lord Raikage is planning to go to Leaf Village?"
"Go!" Ai walked to the window, his back to the three of them, his voice was steady.
"This is an opportunity. If you don't go, how will you know what they want to do? If you don't go, how will you get back what belongs to us?" He paused and looked at the sky dyed red by the sunset outside the window.
"Take this opportunity to unite with the other four major countries to get back half of Eight-Tails. The debt Hyuga Tianyi owes Hidden Cloud Village must be repaid one day."
Dodai nodded slightly. "As for the candidates who will go this time, what are Lord Raikage's plans?"
"Darui leads a team to join Chunin Ninja Exams" Ai turned around and his eyes fell on that lazy face.
"Samui is going too, Dodai, you stay in the village, keep an eye on this guy Killer B, keep him from leaving, continue to practice, and don't let him participate in any actions."
Darui sighed, "I'm going to Leaf Village..."
Ai ignored him, raised his right arm, and slowly opened the mechanical fingers.
"This time I go to Leaf Village, not just to take the exam, I want to see with my own eyes what Leaf Village or Hyuga Tianyi is planning."
Kirigakure, Mizukage's Office.
Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura was sitting behind the desk, with a childlike face that always had no expression. He held the invitation letter from Leaf Village in his hand, and his eyes fell on the paper, motionless.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and a strange red light flashed in his eyes.
Yagura put down the letter without calling anyone to discuss it, or even notifying the guards around him.
He just faced forward and said in a low voice, "Prepare the ship, I'm going to Leaf Village."
The guard outside the door was stunned for a moment, then pushed the door open and came in. "Sir Mizukage, you mean..."
"Participate Chunin Ninja Exams" Yagura's voice was smooth, "Arrange immediately."
The guard did not dare to ask any more questions. He bowed his head and said "yes" and exited the office. Yagura sat alone behind the desk, his eyes falling on the sea shrouded in fog outside the window. In his eyes, the Sharingan appeared again.
Leaf Village! Hyuga Tianyi!
In Sunagakure, Chiyo and Ebizo are persuading Rasa. The original intention is that Rasa is unwilling. It's not surprising, after all, when he sees Hyuga Tianyi, he will think of his own legs, but now that Leaf Village is the only strong one, Rasa can only swallow his anger.
A few days later, four replies were delivered to Tsunade's desk.
The four ninja villages all agreed to participate, and Five Kage gathered at Chunin Ninja Exams for the first time in history.