Naruto: By lying low and hiding, he eventually became the leader of the Legendary Sannin.

For him, who had just gone to the Land of Water and slaughtered a group of Chunin from the Hidden Cloud Village, this was like a huge joke.

But at the same time, he was also well aware that this was just a political maneuver between major powers.

No matter how fierce the fighting is behind the scenes, or even if they wish to wipe out your entire village.

But on the surface, everyone still had to maintain the facade of friendliness and affection.

Shaking her head, Kagura also began preparing for the upcoming Chunin Exams.

In order to prepare for the Chunin Exams, the entire Team 7 suspended their mission.

Each person adjusts their state within this short period of time.

As for Kagura, although his strength has far surpassed the Chunin level, it is still necessary for him to search for information about the Chunin Exams out of habit.

After all, from what he remembered, the Chunin Exams included a written component...

The scene shifts to Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.

A boy was standing in front of the Third Raikage, A.

The boy wore an eyepatch over his left eye, a hat shaped like the Chinese character for "earth" on his head, and a black combat uniform unique to the Hidden Cloud Village.

Ai looked at the young man before him with satisfaction and said in a deep voice:

"Tsuchishiro, as our main representative from the Land of Lightning this time, you must do your best to bring glory to us."

Upon hearing this, the young man in front of him didn't react much, but simply nodded calmly.

Raikage didn't seem to care. He looked at the map on his desk and continued, "..."

"Although it is only a superficial peace, this kind of multinational joint assessment is still an important way to demonstrate our country's strength."

What a pity...

At this point, he couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

The rebellion of the Gold and Silver Brothers a few years ago dealt a fatal blow to the Hidden Cloud Village.

Aside from the astonishing act of killing the Second Raikage on the spot, the most important thing is the potential danger that the two brothers' will brings to Kumogakure.

In fact, as a warmonger, he did understand the two brothers' thoughts.

If we delve deeper, he is also one of the hawks in the village.

If even he thinks this way, then one can imagine how many followers those two brothers have in the Hidden Cloud Village.

This rebellion was almost devastating to the village.

Take their 20-man Golden Horn Squad for example; they were practically the 20 strongest Jonin in Kumogakure.

However, the backbone of these villages was slaughtered in the battle against Tobirama Senju.

After news of Jinjiao and Yinjiao's injuries and escape spread, many young people in the village who shared their ideas secretly left the village and chose to follow them.

These were the main reasons why he was so eager to go out and hunt down those two brothers back then.

If those two brothers hadn't died, the Hidden Cloud Village would have been torn apart in no time.

Fortunately, all of this was stopped thanks to his efforts.

But precisely because of this, among the young people of this generation, only Tsuchishiro in front of him can give him a glimmer of hope.

Just as he was lost in thought, an explosion suddenly came from somewhere in the village not far away.

Looking in the direction from which the explosion came, Lei Ying Ai's face showed little surprise, but rather a hint of distress.

He muttered to himself:

"Is there another problem with the containment of the two-tailed cat demon? And there's an even more troublesome eight-tailed cat demon."

"Sigh, it's really hard to find a Jinchūriki..."

The scene shifts again to an island surrounded by the sea on all sides.

A boy who looked unusually young was resting his chin on his hand and looking down at the crowd.

At this moment, seven boys of different appearances were standing below him.

Some of them had short black hair, no eyebrows, and a large cross-shaped scar on their right cheek.

Some had long orange hair that reached their waists, sharp teeth, and loose bandages wrapped around their necks.

Another person was tall with long limbs and wore a mask from the Hidden Mist Anbu.

But regardless of their size and appearance, they all have one thing in common.

That is, they were all holding a strangely shaped weapon.

While some are clearly shaped like massive cleavers, others are simply slender bayonets.

But some of them look like thick, long rods wrapped in scrolls, making it hard to tell whether they are weapons or scrolls.

The boy at the top swept his scarlet eyes over the crowd, and after a long while, he slowly spoke:

"Today, I officially bestow upon you the title of Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."

I believe you all know very well what this title means.

The ninja swords in your hands are masterpieces crafted by generations of ancestors in the village; I hope you will not dishonor them.

Upon hearing the boy's words, the seven knelt down in unison and responded:

"We understand, Lord Mizukage!"

The one speaking above was none other than the newly appointed Third Mizukage of Kirigakure—Yagura Karatachi.

(Here's an explanation of the timeline; some might say the ages don't match up.)

However, the official information did not provide his actual age.

But according to official sources, this guy has a naturally baby face.

He appeared young when he became the Mizukage, but he already had grandchildren.

If we're really comparing them, he might be older than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Furthermore, since there is no information or record of the Third Mizukage's appearances, adjustments had to be made to ensure the plot could proceed smoothly.

If Kagura were present at this moment, she would definitely be surprised to see the Third Mizukage in front of her.

Although the Third Mizukage's name was never revealed in the story, based on his impression, the Third Mizukage should be a person with long, straight black hair.

The baby-faced person in front of me should actually be the Fourth Mizukage.

It seems that his arrival triggered the butterfly effect once again, causing Yagura Karatachi to become the Mizukage ahead of schedule.

Looking at the people bowing respectfully before him, Yagura Karatachi nodded in satisfaction and said:

"I deliberately suppressed your Chunin Exam applications last year so that you could perform well in this joint exam."

However, I estimate that Konoha and Kumogakure will probably make similar preparations as well.

It seems that a genius from the Uchiha clan has emerged in Konoha in recent years?

Even a team of Chunin from the village had been defeated by him earlier.

snort!

As expected of someone who lives up to the name of 'monster'?

Go ahead, go and get ready.

This exam is probably not as easy as you think.

Upon hearing the order, the people below, who had been bowing their heads, moved swiftly and departed.

As everyone left, Yagura Karatachi looked up and gazed in a certain direction.

There was a fenced-off pool of water, and at that moment, it seemed that some enormous creature was swimming beneath it.

Its spiky shell could be vaguely seen floating on the water's surface.

This is Isobu, the Three-Tails, which was taken in by Kirigakure.

Like the Third Raikage A, Yagura Karatachi was also having a headache thinking about the Jinchuriki.

However, unlike the Raikage, Yagura had already devised several plans.

The mission that was recently ruined by Kagura and others was one he specifically selected from the Land of Whirlpools as a Jinchuriki candidate.

As the well-known best vessel, the girl from the Uzumaki clan is undoubtedly the best choice.

However, since it was necessary to maintain a semblance of peace between the countries, he could only secretly send out Chunin-level teams to capture the target.

But he never expected that the entire Chunin squad, which was dispatched for the sake of stability, would be completely defeated by a Genin squad.

Looking at the Three-Tails, which seemed to be enjoying its freedom, he murmured:

"It seems I'll have to choose other targets. If all else fails, then I'll have to..."

At this moment, in a dark underground space, far away from the three great powers.

This underground space is filled with tree roots and branches, and on one of the largest tree roots is a huge human-shaped statue.

Its appearance is that of a huge humanoid with nine eyes, and its color and body are like dead wood, with ten pillar-like protrusions on its back.

At that moment, a pair of Rinnegan eyes opened in the darkness.

He attached his body to the tree trunk behind him; this person was none other than Kagura's ancestor—Uchiha Madara.

His gaze seemed to pierce through layers of land, looking towards the water kingdom on the sea.

A hoarse, deep voice echoed throughout the space:

"It seems we need to start implementing the plan."

Chapter 41 Say it again?

The Land of Water is a country consisting of a huge island surrounded by dozens of smaller islands.

Because of its unique geographical location, the country suffered the least damage during the Warring States period and the First Shinobi World War.

However, the unique environment undoubtedly also limits the country's resources and development.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Land of Water, compared to the other four countries, the leaders of the Land of Water had a stronger obsession with strengthening the village's power.