This day.
Jiraiya-sensei reappeared in their sight, striking what he considered a cool pose.
"I have a surprise for you today, can you guess what it is?"
Jiraiya said with a smile, as if he were keeping someone in suspense. After he finished speaking, his gaze remained fixed on Araki and the other two.
"What is it?"
Minato didn't speculate at all; instead, he chose to ask the question directly, and his expression had already turned rather unpleasant.
In Minato's understanding, after experiencing so many things, he realized that whenever Jiraiya-sensei talked about something good, it wasn't actually a good thing at all, but rather a lot of unclear issues.
therefore...
When Jiraiya brought up this issue, his expression turned quite grim. He instinctively felt that nothing good was coming of it, and he became suspicious.
"What kind of expression is that...?"
Jiraiya's expression changed slightly. He originally thought it was a very good thing, but after he said it, he did not get the reaction he deserved, which made him quite sad.
"That's a really great thing!"
Jiraiya emphasized it again, his expression not becoming particularly serious, but he clearly stated his point of view.
After saying that, he didn't reveal what he was trying to say, leaving everyone guessing.
"Could it be C-Rank Mission?"
Kushina guessed.
Aside from C-rank missions, they haven't had anything special going on lately. Jiraiya-sensei used to use C-Rank Mission to motivate them, but now it seems that they're not as effective.
Kushina had lost interest in C-Rank Mission, especially after recalling what had happened in Sunagakure. She had even less expectation for such missions.
"No, no, keep guessing!"
Jiraiya shook his head and said, "If it were something so trivial, why would I tell you this? I'm not that kind of person!"
Aren't you a boring person?
Araki looked at Jiraiya's statement and a big question mark appeared in his mind.
Previously, his understanding of Jiraiya was limited to anime, but after Jiraiya became his teacher, he gradually had more and more contact with him, and his image of him changed accordingly.
Araki had met Konoha Sannin, but the one who left the deepest impression on him was Jiraiya-sensei, because Jiraiya had completely changed from his initial image to a more familiar one. The heroic and imposing figure had transformed into an indescribably goofy person.
Therefore, Araki had absolutely no expectations for the mission Jiraiya mentioned. Of course, not only him, but also Minato and Kushina had no expectations.
In an instant.
No one looked at Jiraiya anymore.
As if disrespecting him, no one spoke again, just staring blankly at Jiraiya, waiting for him to continue.
"You guys..."
Jiraiya pouted slightly, finding them rather boring. It was supposed to be a very interesting game, but no one wanted to play with him, which left him feeling quite helpless.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you!"
Jiraiya wore a helpless expression. He was also very conflicted about what was happening. To some extent, he wanted to interact with his three disciples, but the results were not as good as he had imagined.
It happened in a short time, until it could no longer continue like this.
so...
After a moment's thought, he decided he had to speak up, otherwise he might not be able to bear the piercing gazes of those three disciples.
" The Chunin Ninja Exams about two weeks," Jiraiya said casually, without going into further details, but everyone understood his meaning at that point.
" The Chunin Ninja Exams?!"
Minato and Kushina exclaimed in unison. Neither of them had expected to hear about the Chunin Ninja Exams at this time. They had both recently graduated from the Ninja Academy and knew about the Chunin Ninja Exams, but they never imagined that they would become candidates for Chunin Ninja Exams so soon.
certainly.
Jiraiya didn't say that out loud.
However, everyone knew the truth of the matter, because if they weren't being asked to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams, there would have been no need to say such things at this time.
In other words...
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will likely participate in this year's Chunin Ninja Exams, a piece of news that was quite unexpected for them.
Araki's expression faltered slightly. He knew he would have to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams sooner or later, because it was a process that every capable Genin in Konoha had to go through. Even if he didn't actively sign up, his Jonin instructor would sign him up for him. Moreover, the Chunin Ninja Exams were often tied to a team, and for the sake of his two teammates, he would often choose to sign up.
But what surprised him was...
Why would Jiraiya-sensei send them to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams so quickly?
"Really? We can go participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams right now?" Minato's face immediately lit up with excitement. At this crucial moment, being able to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams would be incredibly exciting news for him. He had wanted to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams Chunin Ninja Exams a long time, but he had never had the opportunity. Moreover, he had originally thought it would be a long time before he could participate, so he didn't have high expectations. But when he heard Jiraiya-sensei say this, he felt greatly satisfied and exclaimed, "This is just too amazing!"
"I really want to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams too!"
Kushina's face showed the same surprise and excitement. She also had high hopes for what would happen next. After all, the missions she had been carrying out for a while had been too boring, leaving her with many indescribable feelings. If she could participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams, it would be a good way to break the monotony and boredom of her current life.
In an instant, all three eyes fell on Jiraiya, which made Jiraiya feel that he had achieved his goal.
"That's right!"
Jiraiya nodded and said, "Just last night, we had a meeting in the Hokage's office. About a dozen Jonin gathered there to receive this information. The Third Lord Hokage announced that the Chunin Exams will be held on July 1st, about two weeks from now, and I've already registered you all."
"Um?"
Upon hearing these words, Araki suddenly felt a strange sensation. It seemed that in his memory, Minato hadn't become Chunin so early. Although the latter already possessed the strength of Chunin, logically speaking, the Chunin Ninja Exams shouldn't require Genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy to participate so quickly.
and...
In addition, Araki realized a problem he hadn't considered before.
This is also the issue that is most easily overlooked when discussing the Chunin Ninja Exams.
"Where is Jiraiya-sensei being held for this year's Chunin Ninja Exams?"
Araki immediately asked, because he knew very well that the Chunin Ninja Exams were not just an exam for one village, unlike the Genin graduation exams, but an exam jointly conducted by many villages.
Rather than being an exam, the Chunin Ninja Exams were more of an opportunity for each village to showcase their future fighting strength.
The Chunin Ninja Exams in the original timeline of the anime were like this, and Sunagakure even sent Gaara, a future Kazekage, to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams.
Based on this principle...
Araki suddenly realized that perhaps the Chunin Ninja Exams wouldn't be held by Konoha this time. After all, although Konoha had succeeded in the Second Shinobi World War and had always held a relatively high position, it had just experienced a war and was in a period of recuperation. Holding the Chunin Ninja Exams at this time might not be a good choice.
Correspondingly, whether guiding other people to Konoha would be a good thing or a bad thing for the village at present is something even the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, himself might not be able to say for sure. And given the Third's personality, Araki doesn't think he would take such a risk.
That's why Araki asked the question he's asking now.
Swish!
After Araki said those words...
Minato and Kushina both looked at Jiraiya, their eyes filled with questions.
"Here's the thing, "Chunin Ninja Exams aren't just a matter for our village; they Jiraiya the joint participation of multiple villages. This Chunin Ninja Exams isn't being held in Konoha; it's being organized by Kumogakure. In other words, Kumogakure is the organizer of this Chunin Ninja Exams Chunin Ninja Exams, and what we need is to participate."
really!
Araki immediately had this clear thought in his mind.
"Since we're guests at Kumogakure, we probably don't have many ninja squads we can send out, right?" Araki asked again, expressing his doubts.
None of them had experienced the Chunin Ninja Exams, but he had seen them. When Naruto and Sasuke took the Chunin Ninja Exams, the Sunagakure ninjas only sent a small team. It could be said that the Sunagakure didn't have that many strong people, but the other villages didn't send many people either, far fewer than the Konoha ninja team.
Furthermore, the Third had already stated that the Chunin Ninja Exams would be attended by Daimyo from various countries, as well as Kage from other villages. Ostensibly an exam, it was actually a way for each group to showcase their strength in order to secure more commissions and higher commission amounts, making it a highly strategic event.
If the Chunin Ninja Exams were to be held in Kumogakure, Araki wouldn't be surprised at all, given that Kumogakure is currently one of the most powerful villages in the ninja world.
Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure all suffered varying degrees of damage during the Second Shinobi World War. Under these circumstances, they are currently in a phase of recuperation. Amegakure, on the other hand, is in a rather chaotic state, lacking a particularly good environment. Although Yahiko and Nagato's men are capable, they all have stripes drawn on their foreheads, making them missing-nin and unlikely to represent Amegakure in the Chunin Ninja Exams.
After experiencing war, these villages are less likely to easily bring people from other villages into their own, because this is not only a demonstration of the individual village's strength, but also a reflection of the village's overall power.
If a village lacking strength insists on becoming the organizer, then bringing in more people will easily reveal the village's weakness, which will have the opposite effect.
Simply put, don't take on a job you're not qualified for.
Araki didn't believe that Konoha currently had the conditions to hold the Chunin Ninja Exams, which was why he raised such doubts. Kumogakure, on the other hand, was at a relatively powerful point in the Genin world, so holding the Chunin Ninja Exams would allow them to declare their strength to the entire Kumogakure world.
The crucial point is that at this time, when Kumogakure extends invitations to other villages, it's highly unlikely that any village will refuse to give Kumogakure face, which could almost become the trigger for war.
" Araki..."
Jiraiya gave Araki a meaningful look. He had to admit that this disciple paid great attention to the details of his teachings, to the point that even things he himself didn't particularly care about became difficult to answer when asked.
"If nothing unexpected happens..."
Jiraiya hesitated before saying, "Our Konoha will only send one small team."
What was Danzo's motive in Chapter 48?
Just as I expected!
Araki nodded silently to himself; the result was almost exactly what he had guessed.
After all, they were not heading to a simple village, but to the Kumogakure, which was currently at the pinnacle of the ninja world.
If the Konoha Chunin Ninja Exams were held in a village like this, the number of ninja teams that could attend would be limited, and since it wasn't Konoha, not many people from other villages could come in either.
Each village would likely send one or two teams, and combined with the existing teams from Kumogakure, this would create a relatively large Chunin Ninja Exams.
Moreover, the most important part of the Chunin Ninja Exams is not the first two stages, but the first two stages of the third stage. They are just a selection process for the number of participants. So even if each village only sends a small team, the number of people who can stay in the end may not be that many. Yan'er might as well send an elite team to avoid the others becoming cannon fodder, losing their lives in vain, and damaging the village's reputation.
" Jiraiya-sensei, was one of our village's teams selected through a process, or was it appointed by higher-ups?"
Araki raised his question again. He had some reservations about this kind of thing because it was a matter of attitude, which determined many things that might not actually exist, but which he would think about.
"This..."
Jiraiya gave Araki a meaningful look. He hadn't expected Araki's question to be so sharp, yet so crucial.
"As specified above."
Jiraiya pondered for a moment, hesitated, and then slowly said, "The situation is as follows: among the Genin teams in Konoha who haven't yet become Chunin, we are the strongest, but we can only send one team. Therefore, to demonstrate Konoha's strength, we have no choice but to go."
"Is this what the Third Lord Hokage meant?" Araki followed up with the question.