I will use the ninja world to aid my cultivation of immortality.

As it turned out, Danzo did not sit idly by and wait for his doom.

The next day.

"Preliminary rounds? Impossible. We reject the so-called preliminary rounds. If you insist on doing so, we will directly announce our withdrawal from this joint Chunin Exams."

"What a joke! You think you can just add it like that? What are we then? Get the hell out of here."

"I refuse. The rules for this joint Chunin Exam have already been set and will not be allowed to be changed arbitrarily by anyone."

"Is this how you people in Konoha do things? This is utter nonsense!"

Early in the morning, shouts and reprimands rang out from inside the guesthouse.

The reason was that Danzo sent people to find Ueba, Raikage's son, Kyoto, and Yagura, proposing to add a preliminary round before the third exam.

The reason given was that too many people passed the second exam, and in order to make the final third exam easier to conduct, some people needed to be eliminated in advance.

It is clear that Yekura and the other three do not accept this explanation at all.

Everyone here isn't an idiot; how could they not see that the so-called preliminary rounds were actually aimed at eliminating the people from their four villages?

In fact, this is indeed the case.

Just as Naraku said, Danzo was best at plotting underhanded schemes.

When Danzo discovered that the exam was progressing in the exact opposite direction of his expectations, he did not directly force people into the exam, but instead attempted to save face by reducing the number of people from the other four villages.

Such actions can only be described as Danzo's attitude towards the other four great ninja villages going beyond mere arrogance; it had reached a point of utter recklessness.

"Damn it, these guys don't take me seriously at all."

Danzo's face turned extremely ugly upon receiving the news that the proposal for the preliminary rounds was rejected in its entirety, with the threat of withdrawing from the Joint Chunin Exams being used against him.

He didn't think he had done anything wrong; on the contrary, he thought the four great ninja villages were far too arrogant, showing absolutely no respect for him, the Hokage.

Danzo was furious.

There were also people watching the play.

In the territory of the Senju clan.

"Danzo really shot himself in the foot this time. Although this result will make the village lose some face, at least it has created an opportunity for me."

Upon learning what had happened at the guesthouse, Tsunade cheerfully found some fine wine to enjoy.

After a sip of fine wine, a faint blush appeared on her pretty face, making her already beautiful features even more radiant.

Tsunade lounged lazily on the sofa, holding a wine glass.

After curing her hemophobia, she had been waiting for the right opportunity to remove Danzo from the position of Hokage.

Now, with the emergence of the Joint Chunin Exams, this opportunity has clearly begun to appear, and it was even Danzo himself who released it.

In Tsunade's view, the situation might not be as bad as it is now, given the strength of Konoha's new generation.

For example, the Uchiha clan.

Besides Uchiha Shisui, this clan also has many other outstanding geniuses.

Unfortunately, Danzo didn't even give the Uchiha clan a chance to appear on the battlefield, so how could he possibly give them a chance to shine in this Chunin Exams?

This resulted in the complete absence of Uchiha clan members among Konoha's examinees, depriving Konoha of an important force among its genin.

"Once this matter is over, we can begin our operation." Tsunade downed the drink in one gulp, her beautiful eyes revealing not drunkenness, but a chilling coldness.

She would never allow the legacy left by her grandfather to be trampled on by others.

Even if this person is nominally the village's Hokage, it won't work.

Danzo was arrogant, but the others in Konoha didn't have that kind of courage.

Putting aside the doves and neutrals, even the hawks dared not take a hard line in the face of the strong opposition from the four great ninja villages.

Ultimately, the preliminary rounds did not proceed as Danzo had hoped.

a week later.

The joint Chunin Exams are entering their final round.

"Is this the Chunin Exams jointly organized by the five great ninja villages? It looks so exciting."

"Who says otherwise? This is the first time the five great ninja villages have joined forces."

"In my opinion, this exam can be seen as the first competition among the new generation of the five great ninja villages, and also as a demonstration of the future potential of the five great ninja villages."

"."

Inside the enormous arena, which resembled a gladiatorial arena.

As the opening ceremony began, the audience seats were quickly filled to capacity.

Those who came to watch included not only wealthy and noble people from the Land of Fire who had been invited, but also many tourists who had come because of its reputation, as well as people from Konoha Village itself.

Especially the latter.

If you look closely, you will find that among the people of Konoha's main village are the leaders of many Konoha ninja clans, such as the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Ino-Shika-Cho clans.

"I really didn't want to come!"

"Who says otherwise? This time they've only come here to embarrass themselves."

"Stop complaining. Although you'll probably embarrass yourself later, ensuring your safety is more important than losing face."

"Do you guys think the other four villages will really cause trouble in the upcoming exams?"

"Who knows? But I support what Lady Tsunade said. Sand Village and Cloud Village are indeed very suspicious. These two villages would not propose a joint Chunin Exam for no reason, and they are even less likely to back down easily."

"."

Some of the Konoha ninja clan leaders who came sat alone, while others sat together in twos and threes.

As they waited for the exam to begin, the ninja clan leaders, gathered together, whispered amongst themselves, their eyes frequently glancing at the high platform on one side of the hall.

On a high platform overlooking the entire venue, sat Danzo, Pakura, Raikage's son, Kyoto, and Yagura.

Well, if that were all, it wouldn't be a problem. The key issue is that the platform is divided into two levels.

The upper level is where Danzo sits alone.

The next level contains the four members: Yekura, Raikage's son, Huangtu, and Yagura.

One high and one low.

This seating arrangement undoubtedly conveys a certain meaning.

"What's going on? Could it be that Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure are preparing to submit to Konoha?"

"Strange. It's understandable that representatives from Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure would be given lower-level seats since they are just representatives from each village. But what's going on with Sunagakure? This is the Kazekage of Sunagakure. She should be sitting in the same row as the Hokage of Konoha."

"Interesting. It seems this newly appointed Hokage is quite bold, actually suppressing the other four parties in such a public setting."

"."

Besides the clan leaders of various ninja clans occasionally glancing at the high platform, many people in the audience were also drawn to what was happening on the platform.

There was a lot of discussion.

The seating arrangement on the platform has clearly sparked considerable discussion.

The main point is that Danzo sits alone on the upper level, while the other three, including Yotsuba, sit below. This seating arrangement is quite intriguing.

Especially those with keen minds noticed that Yekura, the only one among the four sitting below who was the village's leader, kept his eyes closed and expressionless the whole time, which led to various speculations.

"Lady Tsunade, isn't this seating arrangement a bit awkward?" Minato Namikaze, watching the situation on the platform from a corner of the audience, couldn't help but ask Tsunade, who was sitting next to him.

With her arms crossed over her chest, Tsunade, who had been resting with her eyes closed, slowly opened them.

She glanced at the platform and said calmly, "Some people insist on doing things this way. What can we do? After all, they are the Hokage."

"Minato, don't worry about it. If something really happens, it'll be Danzo's responsibility anyway," Kushina said casually, sitting on the other side of Minato.

As she spoke, Kushina's beautiful eyes betrayed her disgust as she looked at Danzo, who stood triumphantly on the high platform.

She couldn't help but feel disgusted.

After all, the other party had sent people to try to capture him as soon as he became Hokage.

If it weren't for Lady Tsunade's timely intervention, she might have been convicted of being a rogue ninja for her resistance.

"Yakura seems really angry!"

Also in a corner of the audience, Naraku, disguised as a wandering samurai, glanced at Yokura on the high platform.

Seeing the other person's expressionless face, he knew that if it weren't for the upcoming plan, Ye Cang would probably have already lost his temper.

In fact, even Naraku himself did not expect Danzo to be so despicable.

To resort to such underhanded tactics in such a setting.

Sometimes even Naraku is curious about Danzo's thought process.

Do they really think they can show off their power by doing these little tricks?

Especially under the current circumstances.

It's important to understand the situation of the genin in Konoha who made it to the final exam.

Compared to the other four major ninja villages, Konoha's sheer number of people already foreshadows its humiliation in the upcoming exams.