Not Highly Regarded

This study tour had undoubtedly been Minato Namikaze's doing.

He had helped Minato out with a village mission before.

Minato had even said he would need a favor from him someday.

Now... this favor was the study tour.

It was called a study tour, but in reality, it was an exchange and social gathering between the young ninjas of two villages.

And... given how ninjas were, sparring was definitely unavoidable.

The three followed Shishiro back to the village. When Ryuga and Yoshitaka learned of this, they became especially nervous.

After all, neither of them had ever been to Konoha. Even among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha's strength stood alone.

That was no exaggeration.

Looking at the current situation, although the Second Shinobi World War had ended some time ago, Konoha had not enjoyed any peace due to the unstable state of affairs.

According to the intelligence and records obtained by Kusagakure, Konoha had continued to have small-scale conflicts with Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure. During the Second Shinobi World War, Sunagakure had also been one of the villages that fought Konoha most fiercely. Even though things had calmed down somewhat, they still hated Konoha and never stopped making small moves.

As for Kumogakure... the current Third Raikage had a forceful personality and led the most restless power in the shinobi world. It felt like they could barely be restrained anymore, and Kumogakure was extremely active as well.

They might as well have openly declared their intention to expand militarily.

Judging solely by appearances, Kumogakure's momentum even seemed to be faintly surpassing Konoha's.

Kumogakure had not truly "drawn its blade" yet, but it was absolutely not Konoha's friend. It was a venomous snake lurking in the dark, watching Konoha and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Especially considering their history, they posed the greatest potential threat to Konoha.

Thus, aside from being entangled with Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure, Konoha also had to guard against Kumogakure's movements. It was surrounded on all sides.

It was practically one against four. Even so, although Konoha was short on manpower and its available fighting force seemed somewhat "hollow," it could still ensure the safety of both the country and the village. That showed just how deep its foundations ran.

It was normal for Iwagakure and Konoha to fight fiercely. Sunagakure was driven by unresolved issues left behind by the Second Shinobi World War. As for why Kirigakure had joined in, it was simply because the village's current style was rather "aggressive." They seemed to enjoy stirring up trouble.

Once the Third Shinobi World War broke out in full, Kirigakure would stop—at least in the early stages, they would "watch tigers fight from the mountain" before stepping in later to pick up the spoils.

Once war began, every village had to adopt an all-fronts strategy rather than focus on a single battlefield.

Even during the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha had to watch the battlefield in the Land of Rain while also keeping an eye on the Land of Wind... Sunagakure had fought Hanzo of the Salamander on one side and Konoha on the other. And those were only the main battlefields, not the more minor conflict zones that had existed during the war.

By then, large and small powers throughout the shinobi world would join in as well. In short, the grim situation would be extremely troublesome for every village, and everything would descend into chaos.

Therefore, Konoha currently had no allies, and it was not easy for it to establish ties with other villages.

In the end, this study tour had fallen to Kusagakure.

Although the Land of Grass bordered the Land of Fire and Kusagakure had an "innocuous" image, Yue felt that Kusagakure was not qualified to "exchange" with Konoha.

The invitation had most likely been sent because of him. Yue did not intend to deny that.

Because among ninjas his age, his strength was at least exceptional enough.

But what Minato Namikaze was truly thinking was hard to say.

Perhaps Minato intended to use him as a whetstone to spur on Konoha's fresh blood... or perhaps he wanted to use him to train the village's future fighting force?

If it was simply about building "friendship," Yue did not believe it.

Kusagakure could not offer Konoha any help, and relying solely on the face of one Genin made even less sense.

No matter the reason, Yue was looking forward to this trip to Konoha.

There was no other reason... he simply wanted to meet those characters from the story.

During the earlier border incident, Yue had not even met the village elders. Yet after Konoha's invitation arrived and they returned to the village, the three youths were actually brought before the village's true rulers... Yue truly had no words for it.

The few elders had a very simple message.

Their only request was that the three not disgrace the village. They especially instructed Yue to use every bit of his ability against Konoha's brats. Even if he lost, he had to lose "beautifully."

"Yes."

Yue answered calmly.

Yet inwardly, he sneered. So just one move from Konoha was enough to make Kusagakure take things this seriously.

What was even more laughable was that the main reason he possessed his current strength was himself.

The village... especially the elders standing before him, had never nurtured him before this.

One of those elders had even wanted to erase him.

Heh... now that this study tour had come up, they suddenly began valuing him again. They practically regarded him as the village's hope.

At that thought, Yue found it utterly ridiculous.

Human nature was simply like that.

Afterward, the three began preparing for their trip to Konoha.

During that time, the village tried its best to fulfill any requests they made.

His father, Fuma Ryoma, and Tianxiang both felt that this was a rare opportunity. It was merely a study tour rather than a mission, so barring any accidents, there should be no danger.

Going out to see the world was good too.

However, among everyone who saw them off and congratulated them, only his father, Fuma Ryoma, had faith in Yue. The village higher-ups, including the elders, even Ryuga's Father and the others, did not believe the three could make anything of themselves in Konoha. If they truly sparred against Konoha's younger generation, even though they were their own people... they believed Yue's team was certain to lose, with no hope of victory whatsoever.

When Yue went to find Ryuga, he even heard Ryuga's Father tell them personally, "Don't be nervous. Losing is perfectly normal... just make sure you stay safe. That is Konoha, after all. Though I hate to admit it, the gap between our two villages is simply too great."

"At the very least, this will benefit the two of you immensely... after returning from the study tour, you will be different from ordinary students of your generation. The village will definitely focus on nurturing you in the future... your paths of promotion and advancement will be much faster than everyone else's."

After hearing that, Ryuga, who had always been competitive, actually nodded obediently.

He seemed to think his father made sense.

Only Yue's eyes flickered as he remained silent.

No one thought highly of them... Yue did not care.

But he... believed in himself!

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Land of Fire, Konoha.

Third Hokage Sarutobi summoned Minato Namikaze.

The two were also discussing the study tour.

"Kusagakure..."

At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, still brown-haired and not yet showing signs of age, held a cup of tea. He took a sip and murmured.

Under normal circumstances, there was no value or meaning in Konoha conducting "rookie exchanges" with a small village like Kusagakure.

Konoha's young people would gain neither growth nor insight from it.

But Minato said that this "social gathering" would definitely give the village's youths something to gain.

"Is it because of that Fuma Yue?"

The Third Hokage looked at the smiling junior before him.

"Yes... it's because of him."

"Oh?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled as well. "You're that certain? Now I'm rather interested in this boy..."

"I believe that once you meet him, Lord Third, you'll understand."