"Understanding?"
Burūi sneered. "Kirigakure suffered heavy losses in the war, but Kumogakure didn't? Our relationship with the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning..."
"Enough."
Jiraiya finally spoke.
He tried to put a hint of pressure into his voice, the way Naraku usually spoke.
In truth, though, he was already getting a headache.
During that last exchange between Burūi, Kurotsuchi, and Mei Terumi, he hadn't even found a chance to get a word in.
"Everyone, calm down."
Burūi grunted and leaned back in his chair.
Kurotsuchi shrugged.
Mei Terumi, on the other hand, smiled.
But Jiraiya knew this was only temporary.
None of the three had given up. They had merely sheathed their claws.
Just then, Jiraiya noticed something.
Gaara hadn't spoken once from the start.
The Kazekage sat at the other end of the table, his expression composed.
Jiraiya suddenly understood.
Sunagakure had no chance.
It wasn't that Gaara didn't want to compete. He couldn't.
Jiraiya knew a little about Sunagakure's finances. After the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had cut its funding again and again, leaving the village struggling even to cover its daily operations.
Never mind hosting an event on the scale of the five-nation Joint Chunin Ninja Exams-even an ordinary drill within the village required careful budgeting.
Gaara remained silent because he knew better than anyone that Sunagakure couldn't come up with the money.
So Sunagakure... wasn't qualified to participate.
That felt worse than losing the contest.
Actually, if Sunagakure had been capable of hosting, Konoha really would have been willing to support it.
After all, compared with the other Shinobi Villages, Sunagakure now had a closer alliance with Konoha, so having Sunagakure host the second five-nation Joint Chunin Ninja Exams would benefit Konoha too.
But Sunagakure simply couldn't bear such