Chương 109: Page 109

They even threatened war to force Konoha to hand over the culprit.

The operation was a failure, and those words were just the Fourth Hokage shouting to scare people. Unexpectedly, the cowards of Konoha actually handed over the murderer's body.

Despite the fact that it was a branch family member of the Hyuga clan who died, Kumogakure never managed to obtain the Byakugan they so desperately wanted.

However, this still allowed the Cloud Village's higher-ups to see through Konoha's current weakness and the incompetence of Konoha's leadership.

Thinking of these past events, Yugito couldn't help but reveal a sinister smile.

"If that's the case, then it is indeed a great opportunity."

"But there is one prerequisite: the Hokage of Konoha must be the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."

No matter what happens after this trip to Konoha, none of the Konoha leadership members can die. Only with them all can Konoha continue to prosper!

Yukito: "..."

The Raikage begging the Hokage not to die is such a bizarre thing; just hearing about it is strange.

But if she had to choose between the Third Hokage, who was easy to manipulate, and the Fifth Hokage, whose personality and abilities were unknown, she would definitely choose the Third Hokage.

Thinking about it, Yugito couldn't help but shake his head with amusement. They never expected that the hope for the rise of Kumogakure would have to be placed on outsiders.

But this feeling is strangely pleasant, so why is that?

The three chatted and laughed, completely unaware that the genin behind them had fallen behind.

Having exhausted his chakra from running at full speed for so long, Omoi lay sprawled on the ground, staring blankly at the sky, and cried out in despair:

"Stop running, Raikage! We really can't keep up!!!"

(Qian Nuo Zhao) There is still one week until the Chunin Exams begin.

Meanwhile, ninjas from other countries had been arriving in Konoha one after another during this period.

Today, Class 7 also finished their tedious and boring D-level mission early.

On her way back to the Hokage Building to hand in her mission, Sakura noticed the foreign ninjas who occasionally passed by, wearing headbands different from those of Konoha.

Finally, before Kakashi went to hand in the mission and announce the disbandment, Sakura asked the question that had been bothering her.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, those are ninjas from Sunagakure over there, right?"

Following the direction Sakura was pointing, Sasuke and Naruto also stopped and turned to look.

Kakashi glanced at the Sand Village team that had just come out of the ramen shop, then looked away and said in a calm tone:

"Yes, it is indeed a headband from Sunagakure. It seems you've been studying hard at school, Sakura."

Hearing Kakashi's calm tone, Sakura's doubts deepened.

"Kakashi-sensei, I know that Sunagakure is an ally of Konoha."

According to the rules, even ninjas from allies should not be allowed to enter the Land of Fire at will.

Moreover, these ninjas from outside the village weren't just from Sunagakure; I also saw ninjas from Amegakure and Kusagakure.

Sasuke, who usually acts very coldly, surprisingly chimed in at this moment:

"I've wanted to ask this for a while now. This situation is very unusual, but since the village ninjas didn't seem to care, I didn't ask."

The other two in the team noticed the anomaly early on, but the clueless Naruto was still confused, looking around and shouting:

"What sand? What rain? What are you talking about?"

I humbly beg all my esteemed readers to give me more flowers and monthly tickets, and I desperately request that you urge me to update more frequently and provide rewards. I would be eternally grateful.

!

Despite knowing that Naruto was oblivious, the three were still speechless at how oblivious he could be.

Sasuke kept a straight face, lowered his head and muttered "idiot" under his breath.

Sakura clenched her fists so tightly they cracked, wishing she could crack open his head right now and see what was inside.

With his dead fish eyes wide open, Kakashi sighed at his dim-witted student.

"Naruto, observation is a fundamental quality of a ninja. Whether in a mission or in battle, the ability to observe often determines the success or failure of the mission and the outcome of the battle."

"Huh? Teacher, why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

Naruto scratched his head, looking completely bewildered.

Seeing his expression, Kakashi promptly shut up.

"Oh well, it's not a big deal anyway. Since you asked, I'll just tell you in advance."

The Chunin Exams, which determine the promotion of Genin to Chunin, will be held in Konoha in a week.

In addition to our Konoha genin, ninjas from Sunagakure, Kumogakure, and other small country ninja villages will also participate.

As he spoke, Kakashi took out three Chunin Exam application forms from his ninja tool pouch and handed them to the three students.

"The Chunin Exams are not mandatory. If you want to participate, you can sign your name on this form."

"Chunin?! Yay! I want to participate!!"

Although he only vaguely understood what Kakashi-sensei was saying, upon hearing that he could become a Chunin, Naruto immediately grabbed the application form, excitedly asked Kakashi for a pen, and wrote his name down without hesitation.

If I become a Chunin, I can get closer to that man, right?

Sasuke made up his mind and then took the application form to sign it.

Sakura stood there helplessly, completely bewildered by the strange turn of events.

"Wait, I just asked casually, how did it turn into us having to participate in the Chunin Exams??"

"What's wrong, Sakura? Don't you want to participate? This is a Chunin tournament!"

Naruto excitedly presented the signed application to Sakura, overjoyed beyond belief.

Sasuke, having also signed his name, cursed "idiot" again before handing the application to Kakashi.

Kakashi took it, glanced at it, and then put it back into his ninja tool bag.

Seeing Sakura still hesitating, he narrowed his eyes and comforted her in a relaxed tone:

"It's okay, Sakura. I said 180 isn't mandatory."

If you still have concerns, you can take it home and think about it later. Just hand it in to me on the day the exam starts.

"Ah, um, okay, thank you Kakashi-sensei," Sakura replied absentmindedly.

After the mission in the Land of Waves, she realized the gap between herself and Sasuke and Naruto.

She has gradually become the one who drags the team down, even worse than Naruto, who used to be the worst student in the class.

Kakashi gave the conflicted girl a deep look, knowing that she must be having a lot of troubles on her mind.

But people grow through repeated troubles, and some things can only be figured out by Sakura herself.

After taking Naruto's application, Kakashi prepared to hand in the mission alone.

However, just before leaving, he seemed to remember something and said to the three of them:

"By the way, it seems that a very important person is coming to Konoha today."

If you have nothing else to do, you can go check out the gates of Konoha; it should be quite lively there.

Upon hearing this, Naruto put his hands behind his head and joked nonchalantly:

"A big shot? Who is it? Could it be that the daimyo heard about my heroic performance in the Land of Waves and came to reward me?"

"No way, right? Aha, ahahaha~" Sakura, who was initially anxious, was amused by his words and retorted irritably:

"How could that be? Although defeating a Jonin is impressive, it's not enough to warrant a personal reward from the Daimyo. Naruto, don't even dream about it."

"Boring," Sasuke thought, not caring who the visitor was. He needed to hurry back to practice for the Chunin Exams a week later.

While neither of them, including Naruto, took their joke seriously.

Kakashi, however, strangely used his only exposed right eye to scan Naruto up and down, and said in a surprised tone:

"You were right this time, Naruto."

"Huh—?" *3 Naruto and Sakura's smiles froze, and three big question marks appeared above their heads.

Sasuke abruptly stopped raising his right foot, looking at Kakashi in astonishment, his face practically screaming, "You're not kidding!"

Seeing the three students' ghost-like expressions, Kakashi finally revealed a mischievous smile beneath his mask.

"I'm not lying, the one who came is indeed a daimyo, but from the Land of Lightning."

The scene was quiet for more than a minute before Naruto's exclamation broke the silence.

He covered his head in disbelief, and in shock, he shouted excitedly:

"Really? Kakashi-sensei? My name has already spread to the Land of Lightning!"

"That's awesome! I know I'm destined to be Hokage!"

"You really dare to dream," Kakashi said, speechless, defeated by Naruto's delusions.

"That's all there is to it. If you're curious, you might as well go and take a look. The Hokage should be there too."

After leaving those words, he waved to the three shocked people and instantly turned into a wisp of smoke, disappearing in front of them.

After Kakashi left, Naruto immediately extended an invitation to Sakura.

"Sakura, Sakura, let's go together! It must be so lively there right now!"

Sakura ignored Naruto's invitation and instead extended an invitation to Sasuke:

"Sasuke-kun, do you want to come with us?"

"This..." Sasuke hesitated, which was uncharacteristic of him. Although he really wanted to go back and train more, daimyo were not common, especially the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, one of the five great nations.

"Sakura-chan~", Naruto looked at Sakura, who had turned to ask Sasuke for his thoughts, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart.

However, in order to go out and play with Sakura, he gritted his teeth and tempted Sasuke with words:

"Hey, you arrogant Sasuke, don't you want to see what the Daimyo looks like? Maybe he has buck teeth and thick lips!"

These words struck Sasuke's heart like a sharp arrow.

Sasuke was already interested after just imagining the image of the daimyo with buck teeth and thick lips that Naruto had described.

But out of pride, he couldn't admit he was curious, so he could only offer an awkward excuse:

"I have no choice but to go with you to take a look."

"Yay~ That's great, Sasuke-kun~", Sakura immediately cheered and jumped for joy.

Naruto, on the other hand, pursed his lips, inwardly complaining.

You clearly wanted to go, but you insist on making it sound like we forced you. What an arrogant brat.

Regardless, Team 7 finally decided to go and see the true face of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning.

Besides them, Team 8, which includes Shino, Kiba, and Hinata, and Team 10, which includes Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, are also curious and ready to join in the fun.

A large crowd of curious onlookers had gathered at the gates of Konoha.

Dozens of Chunin wearing Konoha-style ninja vests are maintaining order.

At the forefront, they were guarded by five ANBU ninjas wearing animal masks.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, stood in front and behind each other, ready to welcome the upcoming group from the Land of Lightning.

The third-generation old man wore a red and white divine robe and a Hokage hat.

In order to make a good impression on this guest of special status, he didn't even take his ever-present pipe, and just waited quietly with his hands behind his back.

The two advisors behind him were also impeccably dressed.

Perhaps she had been living a life of ease for too long. After waiting there for an hour, Xiaochun, who was turning over to her dorm, became a little impatient.

"Hiruzen, aren't we too early? We could have waited for the Anbu to send word before coming out to wait."

The Third Hokage glanced back at his old buddy, who, corrupted by power, had almost lost even the most basic ninja skills, and said helplessly:

"Stop complaining. Given that person's status, it's worth it even if we have to wait a little longer."