From Naruto onwards, I've become a dreamer.

Chapter 439: Chunin Exam!

Fifteen days later, the Chunin Exams officially began.

Nobles from various countries gathered in the venue, ready to witness what could be described as a once-in-a-lifetime, exceptional battle.

After undergoing three arduous trials, the best genin from the five great ninja villages will compete today to determine the victor.

But what everyone is most interested in is the battle between Uchiha Sasuke, the last descendant of the Uchiha clan, and Gaara, the Sand Village's once-in-a-century genius.

Of course, besides these, the most important people invited to Konoha to attend the ceremony this time should be the Five Kage!
The five Kage almost never meet in formal settings. Apart from decades ago when, under pressure from the First Hokage, the first leaders of the various ninja villages gathered and established the rules for their villages, this was the only time they met outside of wartime.

As the initiator of this grand event, the Third Hokage led Konoha's elite Jonin, smiling broadly as they greeted the villagers outside the village.

Firstly, it was to express sincerity; secondly, it was to show the other four Kage that Konoha had no ill intentions.

After all, that's the Kage of a village. If something goes wrong, it could trigger the Third Shinobi World War, so we have to be careful.

Soon, several figures appeared at the end of the road.

Wearing a yellow straw hat with the character 'Thunder' written on it, the tall, burly man wore an open robe. His bronze skin and muscles were as hard as rock. Even from a hundred meters away, one could feel the fierce aura emanating from him.

The Fourth Raikage, A, led the invasion of Konoha more than a decade ago during the Second Shinobi World War, nearly destroying the entire village.

Even today, the Raikage remains an unforgivable sinner in the hearts of many Konoha ninjas.

Accompanying the Raikage was the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, a veteran who had existed since the founding of Konoha and possessed the Dust Release, a bloodline limit surpassing bloodline limits!

During the Second Shinobi World War, Iwagakure, under the leadership of Ōnoki, suffered the least losses and reaped the greatest benefits after the war.

"Welcome both of you."

The Third Hokage stepped forward with a kind expression, extending his goodwill.

"No need for formalities."

The Fourth Raikage already disliked Konoha, and his willingness to participate this time was purely to curb the development of Amegakure.

After all, the ninja world is only so big. If there is another large ninja village, it means that they will get a smaller share of the benefits.

Therefore, for their common interests, the five great ninja villages had no choice but to stand on the same side.

"Oh, it's Sarutobi. It's been a long time."

Two days later, Onoki floated in mid-air with his arms crossed over his chest and said proudly, "I never thought that after all these years, you would still be the Kage of Konoha."

The implication was that he was mocking Konoha, implying that anyone who could become a Kage had a short life.

The surrounding ninjas understood his meaning and immediately showed angry expressions, but the Third Hokage raised his hand to stop them and said with a smile, "Yes, I didn't expect that after so many years, Iwagakure would still have an old man as Kage. I wonder if you can still hold on."

Two days later, Onoki's expression changed slightly, and he snorted coldly: "You don't need to worry about it."

As the group talked, the last two figures finally appeared.

The Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure and the Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure.

The Fifth Mizukage is rumored to have come to power through a bloody coup, suppressing the major clans of Kirigakure with an iron fist, and ultimately securing his position as Mizukage. Moreover, his identity is quite mysterious.

But no one expected that the Fifth Mizukage, who was rumored to suppress powerful clans with bloody methods, would actually be a woman!
Even the Raikage and Tsuchikage were shocked. The Fifth Mizukage looked to be only in his early twenties, with long, curly reddish-brown hair like pine trees, wearing a blue strapless dress, and with fair, jade-like skin. He exuded youthful and beautiful charm, and there was no trace of the bloody suppression of the powerful clans.

This was the Fifth Mizukage's first appearance in front of the other four Kage, which truly shocked everyone.

The one acting as the water shadow's bodyguard was a man with a full head of white hair and a scroll on his waist. The other person's appearance was quite exaggerated, like an incompletely evolved fish-man, with cheeks on both sides of his face and three lines at the corners of his eyes. He remained silent.

"Hello, I am Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage."

Mei Terumi's voice was very pleasant, as clear as a nightingale's. She raised her hand and gestured to the side: "This is Hozuki Mangetsu, and the one next to him is Kisame Hoshigaki. They are both members of my guard."

"Welcome to Konoha."

The Third Hokage smiled and nodded: "Now that everyone is here, please follow me into the village to watch the Chunin Exams."

"Let's make this clear in advance: the affairs of Amegakure will be 40% handled by Kumogakure!"

The Fourth Raikage spoke proudly.

"Forty percent. What a boastful tone."

The Tsuchikage beside him sneered and mocked, "With the current strength of your Hidden Cloud Village, do you have the ability to swallow so much?"

"Do you want to give it a try?!"

The Fourth Raikage was like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment, his eyes fierce as he glared at the Tsuchikage.

"Alright, I'd like to see just how capable this generation's Raikage really is."

Despite his advanced age, Onoki showed no fear whatsoever, instead sporting a cold smile.

“Indeed, the Raikage’s appetite is too big.” The Kazekage, who had been silent for a long time, also disagreed with the Raikage’s allocation and said, “Besides, Amegakure is the closest to us, so it is only right that we take over it. That is more in line with the actual situation.”

"Kazekage, don't be shameless. If you weren't so weak, allowing Amegakure to grow stronger, none of this would have happened." Raikage, like a hedgehog, confronted everyone he met: "In my opinion, Sunagakure should be kicked out, as long as the occupied areas are returned to you."

"Raikage, don't go too far!"

Feng Ying was immediately enraged, and a chilling killing intent spread out.

"Planning to make a move? Perfect for me!"

Raikage rubbed his hands together, a ferocious expression on his face, and blinding lightning erupted from his body.

Just as an inevitable battle was about to erupt in front of Konoha, the Third Hokage finally couldn't sit still any longer. His powerful aura was like a tsunami, instantly suppressing the entire scene.

"The purpose of inviting everyone here today is to discuss how to contain Amegakure, not to fight."

The Third Hokage's voice was calm, yet it seemed to possess a certain magic that could penetrate people's hearts: "How to distribute the benefits is a matter for later, but before that, let's put aside our differences and, like the First Hokage, sit down and discuss it properly, shall we?"

The tense atmosphere that had just been palpable, which had kept the Jonin who had come with them on edge, fearing that a battle might break out at any moment, suddenly eased.

"Humph."

The Raikage turned around first and walked straight towards Konoha.

The Third Hokage smiled slightly, seemingly quite satisfied, and turned around, saying, "Let's go, everyone, the Chunin Exams are about to begin."

The Tsuchikage and Kazekage followed closely behind, but out of the Hokage's sight, the two exchanged a subtle glance, both seemingly seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.

The Kazekage was, of course, Orochimaru in disguise, and the voice of the Third Hokage just now finally confirmed to him that the other party was the 'traitor' who betrayed the Twilight Hermit Society!
"Lord Mizukage, please be careful."

At that moment, Kisame suddenly stepped forward and stood close to Mei Terumi, saying in a very low voice, "I have a bad feeling about this. You must be careful of the Hokage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage."

Terumi Mei nodded almost imperceptibly, then followed him inside.

Once the Five Kage entered the venue, they immediately announced the start of the Chunin Exams. The Five Kage sat on the highest observation deck, while their guards were all dismissed outside.

The advantage of doing this is that it can minimize the potential danger to the Shadow. Although assassinations of the Shadow are extremely rare, the possibility cannot be ruled out.

Kisame stared at the Mizukage in the observation deck, feeling uneasy. He turned to Hozuki Mangetsu and said in a voice only they could hear, "Be careful. I have a bad feeling about this. If anything happens, go and protect the Mizukage immediately."

Hozuki Mangetsu grinned and said, "You're really loyal to the Mizukage."

Kisame remained expressionless; only he knew the wonderful future that Mei Terumi envisioned for the world.

Therefore, for that dream, he was willing to dedicate everything to Mei Terumi.

at this time.

Shortly after the five Kage left, two figures appeared on the high wall of Konoha.

"Holy Son, you haven't been back for so many years, have you missed me?"

Mr. A crouched on the high wall, gazing at the bustling streets of Konoha, and grinned, "Why don't we take advantage of the little time we still have and go see that relative you left behind?"

"It feels great, and I miss it."

Uchiha Itachi gazed at the familiar street, took a deep breath, and then revealed a morbidly fanatical smile on his face, saying ferociously, "This feeling... is amazing, but so many people, it's too noisy. If only I could kill them all and offer them as sacrifices to the Lord."

"I think you're going a bit too far."

Mr. A twitched the corner of his mouth and hurriedly advised, "Don't be impulsive. Our mission this time shouldn't be to be a sacrifice."

He was genuinely scared; he feared the guy might lose control and cause a scene.

Fortunately, Itachi Uchiha calmed down again, suppressed his bloodlust with deep breaths, and after regaining his composure, said calmly, "Don't worry, I know my limits. It's all for the sake of the great Lord!"

Just then, a blood-red mist suddenly appeared in the scenery before them.

It's as if the blurred images and incomplete fragments have been directly imprinted on the deepest part of their hearts!

On the roof of a venue covered by a barrier, a ninja wearing chainmail and wielding an iron rod was being attacked by several people. However, he was no match for the number of opponents and quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, narrowly escaping death several times.

Then, a voice appeared directly in the depths of their hearts!
"Stop them."

"Stop them."

"Stop them."

The voice was so profound, as if it were rooted deep within one's soul.

It's a divine oracle!
The great Lord has sent down a divine decree!

At this moment, Itachi Uchiha and Mr. A's pupils dilated uncontrollably.

They could clearly sense that the evil, corrupt aura they had just witnessed was undoubtedly the one and only true Creator!
"those people"

Itachi Uchiha licked his lips, a bloodthirsty and cruel glint in his eyes: "Can we kill them all?!"

“If my senses are not mistaken,” Mr. A paused, then grinned, a savage aura emanating from him, “they are members of the Twilight Hermits’ Society!”

Great, now we have another reason!
It is unclear why the Twilight Hermit would suddenly appear in Konoha.

But as long as it causes trouble for the Twilight Hermits, Mr. A doesn't mind going up to help. If he can take the opportunity to kill one or two of them, then he'll really make a killing!

After all, the Twilight Hermits had been trying every means to thwart the Aurora Society's plans, and Mr. A had long been annoyed with them.

With the Five Kage as witnesses, the Chunin Exams officially began.

The first match is between Hyuga Neji, a genius from the Hyuga clan's branch family, a powerful clan in Konoha, and Kankuro, a puppeteer from Sunagakure.

Although the battle was intense, it was merely a warm-up for the audience who were eagerly anticipating the showdown between Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara.

Kankuro's puppet manipulation skills are definitely among the best of the genin.

Unfortunately, he encountered the Hyuga clan, and was completely countered by the Byakugan.

After severing the chakra threads, Kankuro was caught off guard and was then defeated by Hyuga Neji using the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique.

With his pressure points sealed, Kankuro couldn't extract a single wisp of chakra, leaving him no choice but to admit defeat.

The second battle was between Temari from the Sand Village and Kurotsuchi from the Tsuchikage Village.

As a result, Temari was defeated by Kurotsuchi, and the three spots for Sunagakure to enter the finals were instantly reduced to a last hope.

The Tsuchikage, of course, had to act arrogantly and make a few sarcastic remarks to the Kazekage.

The Kazekage retorted with a cold laugh, but was ultimately silenced by the Hokage.

"Here it comes! Here it comes! The battle I've been most looking forward to!"

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

Soon, the entire arena was filled with cheers, and the name Uchiha Sasuke resounded through the sky, shaking the heavens.

Gaara appeared on the field, quietly waiting for his opponent.

The next second, almost no one could see clearly, Sasuke's figure suddenly appeared.

"What a quick teleportation technique!"

The ninjas from various countries in the stands all showed a hint of surprise.

Such a beautiful Body Flicker Technique, to come from a mere genin! Konoha's foundation is truly profound!

"Go for it, Sasuke!"

Sakura clung to the railing of the stands, her body trembling with nervousness, but she still tried her best to cheer.

Sasuke's eyes swept across the stands, but he couldn't find that yellow figure, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Naruto... isn't he here?"

She worked hard for half a month to get to this day.

The hope was that Naruto could see the results of his hard work, but Naruto wasn't there.

Sasuke took a deep breath, rallied his spirits, looked at Gaara, and vowed in his heart, "I will defeat you, for Naruto!"

(End of this chapter)