Start with a Zanpakuto and build the strongest Mist Village.

How can we catch up?!

and……

Chiyo and Ebizo, along with other high-ranking members of Sunagakure, watched as the two female Kage, chatting and laughing, entered Sunagakure together. Their gazes then fell upon Yogura, who remained silent in the back.

The former top combat force of Sunagakure has now become a member of Kirigakure, and Mizuki Yoru even brought him along.

Ye Cang calmly raised his head and met the eyes of the others.

Ebizo hesitated, but Yekura followed Minazuki Yoru's footsteps, leaving behind only a stunningly beautiful silhouette.

"This……"

"Things have come to this, perhaps this is the cause and effect." Chiyo sighed softly, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

When they chose Rasa instead of Yoko during the power transition, we could already see the situation we see today.

"Tell Maki to be careful. There are too many people in the village these days. We can't afford to cause any more trouble."

"I know."

The welcoming ceremony for the Mizukage was quite grand, as this was a meeting between the representatives of the two great nations, and the Sand Village side also treated Mizuki Yoru and his group with the highest level of hospitality.

After the hospitality, Rasa personally settled Mizuki Yoru and her group into the most luxurious hotel in Sunagakure. He also explained the upcoming arrangements and exam content to Yoru in advance.

Yes, Fugaku Uchiha lives in the building next door.

Geographically speaking, Konoha is closer to Sunagakure, and the group had been traveling and sightseeing all night, which took quite a while. Fugaku and the others had already arrived in Sunagakure long ago.

When Yoruichi and his party arrived, there were only three days left until the Chunin Exams.

"Lord Mizukage, the purpose of our Sand Village's Chunin Joint Exams is to promote exchanges, peaceful coexistence, and common progress among ninjas from different villages." Before leaving, Rasa took out a scroll, placed it on the table, and said with a smile, "I hope your village's ninjas will achieve good results."

"Then thank you for your kind words, Lord Fengying. Ye Cang, please see Lord Fengying out."

"Yes!"

Night took the scroll and addressed Ye Cang to one side.

Yekura looked at Rasa expressionlessly: "Please, Lord Kazekage."

"Ah good."

After Rasa and the others left, Mei Terumi curiously opened the scroll and began to read the details of the competition.

Compared to Naruto and Sasuke's Chunin Exams, the Sand Village's exams during the Blood Sand Era were much more brutal, and there wasn't even a written exam stage.

The Chunin Exams are divided into three stages. The first stage is similar to the battle in the Forest of Death, followed by team and individual competitions. The content is quite rich, showcasing not only the individual abilities of the ninjas but also their teamwork, making it a standard Chunin Exam.

"It's quite difficult. I saw several ninjas from different villages today, and they were all very outstanding. I'm afraid Zabuza and his group might not be able to take the top spot." Mei Terumi put down the scroll and looked at Mizuki Yoru, who was enjoying Sunagakure's food, with a hint of helplessness: "You're not in a hurry. As the Mizukage, if one of our Kirigakure ninjas is defeated in front of you, that would be quite a sight!"

"Have faith in the little one."

Yoru smiled calmly, picked up a sand cake, a specialty of the Land of Wind, and placed it near Mei Terumi's mouth: "But instead of worrying about those little guys, you should enjoy this unique village. Otherwise, you might not have the chance again."

Mei Terumi frowned slightly, somewhat surprised: "You mean... really? With you here, they dare to do this?"

"It's because I'm here."

Ye smiled calmly.

His soul perception alone had already locked onto several very interesting individuals.

Without a doubt, the true protagonist of this exam was not these 'boys who wanted to become Chunin,' but rather the Fourth Mizukage!

"You tell Kisame a few words and have the little ones prepare themselves. I'm going out for a bit."

"Ah, okay."

Night's figure disappeared, and Mei Terumi paused slightly, but wasn't too worried.

Others may not know the extent of Yoru's strength, but as Yoru's personal secretary, Mei Terumi truly understands it.

She didn't know how strong Madara Uchiha, the Asura of the Shinobi World, and Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi, were back then. Perhaps they were top-tier powerhouses capable of pacifying the chaotic world and establishing ninja villages.

But the night...

In her eyes, Ye's strength has long since surpassed the category of 'ninja' or 'human'!

That's someone comparable to the Sage of Six Paths!

……

Because the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind share a direct border, and because Obito had given them advance notice, Nagato and the others arrived in Sunagakure ahead of schedule.

However, after arriving in Sunagakure, they did not secretly set up an ambush or do anything complicated. Instead, they quietly integrated into Sunagakure and began to study the current situation of Sunagakure.

Nagato had only just learned that Sunagakure was under Obito's control. While Nagato was shocked by the scale of Obito's scheme, he was also curious about what the village under the rule of this "Uchiha Madara," who constantly proclaimed his plans for peace, was really like.

Unfortunately, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

In just a few days, Nagato became utterly disappointed with Sunagakure and Obito's governance.

"The Blood Sand Policy, using a cruel selection system and a rigorous teaching system to extract true gold from sand... It's an extremely foolish policy. Despite having a top-tier ninja like Rasa in their hands, they've managed to run the village like this. No wonder the First Hokage was Hashirama Senju, not that guy Madara."

Since they have absolute control over the village using illusion techniques, why not simply adopt Kirigakure's current policies instead of learning the Blood Mist policy, which has already been phased out by Kirigakure?

"But isn't this kind of policy more in line with that guy's personality?"

In a small shop serving the specialties of the Land of Wind, Konan looked at Nagato's disappointed face and said softly, "It would be strange if the village he governed could be like Konoha, or even Kirigakure now."

"Too."

Nagato nodded.

According to the memory information he casually extracted from the minds of several Sand Village Jonin, the defeat of Sand Village in the Third War not only caused the Land of Wind to suffer losses, but also caused its reputation to plummet. The Daimyo of the Land of Wind was furious and repeatedly reduced the funding for Sand Village.

Although there was Rasa, the gold miner, without the daimyo's policy support, it would indeed be very difficult to implement many things.

Furthermore, given the seemingly cooperative but actually exploitative alliance between Konoha and Kirigakure, choosing the high-pressure Blood Sand policy is quite reasonable.

What, you're saying Obito didn't just take control of the Daimyo directly?

That won't do. Even if the world is destroyed, the nobles cannot be harmed. This is common knowledge among all ninjas in the ninja world.

"...What a pitiful and pathetic village."

Looking at the Sunagakure residents hurrying along the street with their dejected expressions, Nagato's pale purple Rinnegan beneath his red hair gleamed with a cold light, as if recalling what Amegakure in the Land of Rain was like under Hanzo's rule.

It's just as stressful, and there's just as no hope or future in sight.

After a long while, he looked away.

"Where did Hikaru go?"

"Let's wander around the village. She seems quite interested in village life." Konan recalled Hikaru's expression when she came to Sunagakure with them. Her demeanor was completely different from her usual self.

She looks like a young girl who is quite new to everything.

No, Hikari is a little girl. I really don't know where that guy Madara found her from...

"Let's bring her back. That guy, Minazuki Yoru, arrived in the village today. We can't let anything go wrong with the plan."

Nagato's eyes were dark and his fists were clenched. The scene of the battle in the Land of Iron involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

In that battle, he almost exhausted all his strength, fighting desperately against Minazuki Yoru, even summoning the Gedo Mazo, but was ultimately defeated by Minazuki Yoru.

That feeling of falling from grace, that feeling of being crushed.

Those eyes were filled with sneer and contempt...

"This time, I will show you the true power of a god, Minazuki Yoru!"

Chapter 220 Night and Light Chunin Exams!

The streets, deliberately swept lightly, were exceptionally clean, and both sides were bustling with activity, filled with the sounds of vendors hawking their wares.

Behind the merchants stood rows of shops, each one freshly painted, yet they seemed out of place with the overall dark and desolate atmosphere of Sunagakure.

Clearly, this is a commercial street that Sunagakure specially renovated for the Chunin Exams.

After changing out of her Water Shadow costume and into a casual robe, Ye walked down the street looking just like an ordinary traveler.

In this Chunin Exam, the other four great nations all sent their own elite teams. Although the number of teams was small, their combat strength far surpassed that of ordinary Chunin.

Like Darui of Kumogakure and Deidara of Iwagakure, one is the future fifth Raikage who inherited the black lightning of the third Raikage, and the other is the Akatsuki no Seiryu who was originally firmly in the position of the fourth Tsuchikage, but he only had art in his heart and even stopped playing with Kurotsuchi for the sake of art.

The group from Konoha was the Uchiha trio. Clearly, Fugaku also wanted to show Konoha's strength in this Chunin Exam.

What, you mean teammates?

Indeed, the Uchiha clan under the rule of the previous Hokage needed two suitable teammates. But the Uchiha clan under the Fifth Hokage didn't need such a thing at all.

Only the strongest Uchiha can become teammates. The most powerful team consists of three Uchiha, three all-around sharp blades!

Besides the five major ninja villages, there are also many familiar faces in the smaller ninja villages.

Villages like Takumi Ninja Village, Kusa Ninja Village, Taki Ninja Village, and Kusa Ninja Village all sent some quite good ninjas.

What attracted Ye's attention the most was the trio from the Star Ninja Village.

Back when the Third Shinobi World War ended, Yoru had sent Yagura, the captain of the 13th Division, to search for the Star Ninja Village and seize its star.

With Yagura's almost overwhelming strength, the stars were naturally captured easily and are now placed in Shadow Island, becoming one of the energy sources of Kirigakure.

Without the stars, the Star Ninja Village would have lost its very foundation. Yet, in Night's eyes, the three little Star Ninja Village members were still filled with Star Chakra.

"Interesting. Could it be that Star Ninja Village has a second star?"

Ye was quite surprised.

The star is quite special; the amount of chakra contained in this extraterrestrial meteorite is no less than that of a tailed beast.

Having even one of these stones is already a masterpiece of nature, a stroke of incredible luck. If you had a second one, that would be amazing!

"Looks like I'll have to find some time to go to Hoshinobi Village."

"Thank you for your patronage, twenty taels... Hey, you haven't paid yet!"

On one side of the street, a vendor took out a string of three-colored dumplings and handed it to the girl in front of him.

Uchiha Hikaru took the three-colored dumplings and turned to leave. The merchant, who had been all smiles just a moment ago, froze and hurriedly said...

Pay?

Guang looked at the boss with a puzzled expression.

Logically, this is a village under Obito's control, and since she is Obito's partner, it's equivalent to this being a village under her control.

In this situation, does she still need to pay?

The three-tomoe Sharingan quietly spun in his eyes, and the merchant who had been shouting for payment just a second ago suddenly fell silent, standing there like a puppet on a string.

But in just a moment, the illusion surrounding the boss was quietly broken, and his dazed expression still showed his obsession with money.

"You little girl, how can you buy things without paying?"

"Huh?" Uchiha Hikaru was taken aback. The three-tomoe Sharingan in his eye sockets kept turning. As his eye power was gathering, a hand reached out.

"This is forty taels, give me one too."

The Sharingan that was about to merge suddenly contracted at this moment, and Uchiha Hikaru abruptly raised his head and saw Mizuki Yoru's handsome profile.

Ye Wen smiled gently, handing the money to the shopkeeper while taking the three-colored dumplings he offered: "You have to pay for what you buy. If you don't pay, wouldn't you be a robber?"

These words clearly did not relax Uchiha Hikaru; on the contrary, they made him even more tense.

She was completely unaware of Minazuki Yoru's existence, as if he didn't exist at all. Most importantly, he was able to break her illusion without her even noticing!

Uchiha Hikaru instinctively took a step back, his eyes fixed on the newcomer.

A wide white robe enveloped his entire body, and there was no flow of chakra on his body. No, not only chakra, but even the slightest trace of a 'person' or 'existence' could not be sensed.

If he hadn't seen this person right here with his own eyes, he might have even doubted whether he was under an illusion!

Uchiha Hikaru held the three-colored dumpling in one hand, and the other hand instinctively went to his waist. But he seemed to notice that he was wearing a kimono today and did not have a ninja tool pouch. He directly used his hand as a blade, covered it with chakra, and said in a deep voice: "Who... are you?!"

Night lowered her gaze slightly, lingering for a moment on the crimson three-tomoe star in Light's eyes before looking at Light's face.

It must be said that the Uchiha clan is quite good-looking, with uniformly beautiful women. However, Yoru is not a pedophile. No matter how outstanding Hikari's appearance is, he will not have any strange thoughts. What really attracts his attention is the power of his eyes.

With just one glance, he sensed the immense power contained within those eyes, so powerful that it surpassed even Fugaku and Obito, and was comparable to Shisui!

Interesting. When did the Uchiha clan produce a girl with such explosive eye power?

"You're not from the Uchiha clan of Konoha, are you?" Night glanced at Hikaru's palm blade, which was filled with chakra, and then looked back at Hikaru's eyes, asking softly, "To awaken this level of Sharingan at such a young age... it must be very painful and tiring."