The Exam Begins

The atmosphere was surging beneath the surface on the Ninja Academy training field. Meanwhile, on the roof of the main building, the higher-ups of the Five Great Nations stood side by side, overlooking all the examinees. The atmosphere between them was no less intense, having entered an extremely delicate phase.

Brazza swept his gaze toward Kirigakure. A faint, cryptic sneer appeared on his rugged face as he spoke as though making casual conversation, though every word was barbed.

"Lord Yagura insists on abolishing the rules. That certainly takes remarkable resolve. However, once the rules are lifted, the final outcome may not necessarily be what Kirigakure wishes."

His words seemed bland enough, but he had long been waiting to watch Kirigakure make a fool of itself.

The other four nations had reached a tacit agreement to cooperate. Kirigakure's actions were tantamount to cutting itself off from the Shinobi World. In the end, it would only suffer heavy casualties and leave empty-handed.

Faced with Brazza's mockery, Yagura's expression remained calm and placid. He was neither angry nor defensive, and even seemed somewhat indifferent, as though it was not Kirigakure that had just been mocked.

Ao stood perfectly straight at his side. He merely glanced expressionlessly at the higher-ups of the other four nations before calmly withdrawing his gaze, looking as though nothing in the world could trouble him.

On the night Yagura had revealed the truth to him, Ao had immediately contacted Elder Genshi. The entire Elder Council faction had approved Yagura's grand plan to break the deadlock and resolved to support it fully, using the hands of the other four nations to completely eliminate the Blood Mist Policy.

Thus, the two factions within Kirigakure had already unified their positions last night.

As a result, the two people from Kirigakure now had