Chapter 177: Chapter 177: The Shaken Madara Uchiha
Fuling didn't announce the news of the Chunin Exams right off the bat.
The Cloud Hidden Village had placed some spies in Konoha.
Although Haruki had investigated and got most of the spies' names, he wasn't sure he knew them all.
Revealing the news now would surely arouse suspicions.
Two days later, the envoys from the Cloud Hidden Village finally arrived.
Haruki and Tsunade received them in the Hokage's office.
There were three of them in total.
The leader was Uchino Yi, about thirty years old, with short light - yellow hair and darkish skin.
He was at the Jonin level.
He bowed slightly and handed over an application, saying, "The Raikage - sama wants to co - host the Chunin Exams with Konoha. I wonder if the Hokage - sama would agree?"
Tsunade glanced at the application. It was all just diplomatic talk.
She was silent for a moment, pretending to think.
"Konoha originally planned to hold the Chunin Exams in the near future. Since the Raikage is interested, I naturally agree."
Tsunade showed a faint smile and asked, "Does the Raikage have any suggestions regarding the location and exam content?"
"No. The Raikage - sama said that as guests, we'll follow the host's arrangements. Everything will be decided by Konoha."
Uchino Yi's attitude was very calm and respectful.
Tsunade couldn't help but revise her impression of the Raikage.
Everyone in the ninja world knew that the Raikage had a hot temper, but judging from the choice of the envoy, he was tough on the outside but delicate on the inside.
After all, he was the Kage of the Cloud Hidden Village. There was no way he was a reckless guy.
Tsunade nodded and said, "I'll have the Ninja Academy draw up the exam content. As for the location, it'll be in Konoha's Death Forest. The venue is large enough."
"Just as the Hokage - sama says."
Uchino Yi had no objections.
"Please inform the Raikage to send people in time. The exam will be held in two weeks."
Tsunade thought for a moment. Considering some small ninja villages, she wasn't in a hurry.
Moreover, the Cloud Hidden Village was quite far from Konoha.
After Uchino Yi left the Hokage's office, he followed Fuling to the reception hotel.
He and the two guys behind him had actually been shocked since entering Konoha.
Uchino Yi had come to Konoha on a duty once before.
But the current Konoha was completely different from what he remembered and had reached a level he couldn't understand.
Towering modern skyscrapers.
On the wide and clean streets, there were vehicles with four wheels.
All sorts of high - voltage power cables.
Advertising billboards on both sides and beautiful movie star posters.
"Thank you."
Uchino Yi thanked Fuling and then entered the magnificent hotel.
"It's really incredible!!"
As soon as Fuling left, his teammate Yae couldn't help but exclaim.
As a woman, she naturally loved golden stuff.
The golden ornaments seen everywhere on the roadside really made her heart flutter.
She was already planning to go shopping after finishing her business.
"Although the spies occasionally sent back news, after seeing it with my own eyes, I found that the news was not only true but also too brief."
Uchino Yi picked up the blue-and-white porcelain teapot on the tea table. The delicate carving made him feel that it didn't belong here but should be a collection item of some nobles.
After all, he had seen a lot of the world. Why was he acting like a hick in the big city?
He put down the teapot, took out a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote that Tsunade had approved the application and requested the Raikage to send someone over.
At the end of the letter, he described what he had seen and heard in Konoha.
In a nutshell, it was a ninja village full of grandeur and prosperity.
It had to be said that the modernized Konoha had given him a great shock.
...
The news of the Alliance Chunin Exams quickly spread via Tomomi Koki's publishing and publicity folks. With the help of the Internet, TV, and ubiquitous outdoor screens, almost all Konoha residents knew about it within an hour.
Meanwhile, the Anbu also passed on the information to the Genin on external missions. If they wanted to take the Chunin Exams, they had to ask their Jonin team - leaders for permission.
If they didn't have a leader, they could sign up directly.
Haruki and Tsunade didn't take cheating into account. Those who had already attained the ranks of Chunin and Jonin couldn't take the exams again.
This made many people sigh.
As Konoha grew more powerful, a sense of national pride naturally arose among the people.
Especially when they were on missions outside, this feeling was even stronger.
As the saying goes, no comparison, no harm. Even Sunagakure, which had thrived thanks to Konoha, seemed to have a huge gap in their eyes.
An interesting statistic showed such emotions.
During the seven - year tenure of Tsunade as the Hokage, there wasn't a single Rogue Ninja.
It was simply incredible.
Even during the era of Hashirama Senju, there were still traitors.
The most fundamental reason was that Konoha was far more advanced than other ninja villages, so no one wanted to give up the favorable conditions and turn traitor.
Moreover, the Anbu and the Konoha Police Force were not to be underestimated. Without some strength, one simply couldn't escape from Konoha.
"Rin, look at this news."
Obito Uchiha suddenly appeared in front of Rin Nohara and Kakashi Hatake.
He served as a Sensor Ninja in the squad and had the Sharingan.
"What news?"
Rin Nohara smiled. At twelve, she was becoming even more gentle and generous, a typical Yamato Nadeshiko.
Kakashi glanced at Obito. From what he knew of him, it probably wasn't a dangerous sign.
"You'll know when you read it."
"The Chunin Exams?"
Rin Nohara scanned the information on the note, was slightly stunned, and then smiled, "Your strength has long surpassed that of a Chunin. If it weren't for me holding you guys back..."
"Don't say that."
Obito interrupted her and subconsciously scratched his head with one hand. "We're a team. We should be promoted together. Right, Kakashi?"
"Yeah, right."
Kakashi was thinking about the Chunin Exams and answered casually when suddenly called.
"Kakashi!"
Obito glared at him because of his perfunctory attitude.
"Come on, you two. According to the information from the Anbu, if we want to participate, we need the Teacher's permission."
Rin Nohara waved the note and stood up. "Let's head back to Konoha after we finish our duties," she said.
"Heh, I'm so sick of this lousy weather here. It rains all the time. Ugh," Obito first gave Rin a couple of chuckles and then grumbled about the dreadful weather in the Land of Rain.
The duty they were on wasn't difficult. It was to escort a caravan from the Oshima Chamber of Commerce.
After a simple meal, they followed the caravan and continued their journey towards the south - west of the Land of Rain.
Where they had left, a White Zetsu's head popped out of the ground.
"So, it's the Chunin Exams, huh?"
Then it disappeared again.
In a cave somewhere.
Madara Uchiha looked even older.
He seemed to sense that his end was approaching.
Years ago, after being beaten up by Haruki in the Land of Water, he once thought about going back. But before long, he was found by Haruki again and got another good thrashing.
As the great Madara Uchiha, do I have to lose face like this?
This experience was so painful that he didn't want to recall it.
And he was forced to abandon the Land of Water.
Madara Uchiha focused his attention on The Akatsuki Organization and Obito Uchiha.
The Akatsuki Organization was growing steadily, and its conflict with Hanzo of Amegakure Village was becoming more and more serious.
All it needed was a trigger for Madara to show Nagato the cruelty of the world.
And then there was Obito Uchiha.
His situation was a bit more complicated.
Compared with Nagato, Madara had a very in - depth exchange with Obito. Their ideas clashed and merged.
It had been a full four years.
Well, he had played the old granny for four years.
So, he knew Obito very well.
But the more he got to know him, the more shaken he became.
What Obito told him were all unprecedented ideas.
And the most troublesome thing was that he thought they made a lot of sense and were very likely to be realized.
When a right path was laid out in front of him, even with his willpower, he couldn't help but feel a bit dazed.
For the first time, Madara Uchiha began to doubt Black Zetsu's Tsukuyomi no Me plan.
He was now like Neo, the savior in The Matrix, with two pills in front of him.
One was the beautiful Infinite Tsukuyomi, and the other was a difficult but achievable future.
Madara Uchiha wanted to achieve true peace and create a world without war.
The Tsukuyomi described by Black Zetsu fit his needs.
So, he embarked on this path.
But Obito gave him another option.
With his wisdom, he naturally understood what Obito was saying.
The ultimate development of humanity.
What a wonderful, dreamy future that one would be willing to strive for.
A world without classes, without exploitation, without oppression, where humans could liberate themselves, each doing their best and getting what they needed.
Madara Uchiha let out a long breath.
He was barely hanging on, relying on the chakra supplied by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Every move he made showed his weakness.
"Lord Madara."
A White Zetsu appeared in front of him.
"What is it?"
Madara collected his thoughts and looked at the White Zetsu. "Is there any news about Obito?"
Since he was shaken because of Obito, he stopped contacting him and instead sent the White Zetsu to keep an eye on him.
"Yes."
The Cloud Hidden Village is preparing to collaborate with Konoha to hold Chunin Exams. Obito and his two teammates should participate.
"The Cloud Hidden Village? It seems there's more to it than just the Chunin Exams."
Madara Uchiha's old face showed a wise look. He kept track of every move in the ninja world through the White Zetsu, and the Cloud Hidden Village was within his scope of observation.
"Most likely, they're trying to start a war," the White Zetsu cackled. "Should we wake Obito up from his sweet dreams?"
"Shut your yap!" Madara Uchiha's face turned cold. "I don't need your reminder."
Obito's weakness was too obvious.
No matter what his ideas were, what he valued most was still Rin Nohara.
Madara Uchiha closed his eyes.
As long as Rin Nohara died a tragic death right in front of Obito, it would be enough to drive him mad.
...
The news of the Chunin Exams had been sent to all the major ninja villages in the ninja world.
Haruki wasn't sure how many people would participate.
The alliance of Konoha Village and the Cloud Hidden Village was indeed imposing, but not all ninja villages would show them respect.
The first list he received was from the Sunagakure.
It even arrived earlier than the one from Konoha.
They sent a total of seven squads, twenty - one people. Considering the size of the Sunagakure, it wasn't a large number.
But Haruki thought the candidates on the list were very sincere.
Especially the squad represented by Sasori, Yashamaru, and Baki, who were the three most outstanding young geniuses of the Sunagakure.
There was no need to say much about Sasori.
Yashamaru was Gaara's younger brother and a Medical Ninja.
In the original story, he served as Gaara's guard, but due to Rasa's absurd actions, he committed self - destruction while trying to assassinate Gaara. He was a tragic figure.
Baki was an important figure in the Sunagakure in the original story. He was the teacher of Gaara, Temari, and Kanpo, the person in charge of the Combat Brigade, and he had instantly killed Hayate Gekko. He was quite powerful.
Besides them, there were also some others with good strength.
Although they didn't appear in the original story, they had been exchange students at Konoha University and were among the best among the Genin.
In general, the Sunagakure focused on quality rather than quantity.
At the same time, Haruki got the news that The Third Kazekage and Rasa would come in person and offer assistance if necessary.
"A voice suddenly rang out with a mischievous air."
Haruki looked up and saw Obito hanging upside down on the wall.
"Obito!"
Rin Nohara quickly pushed the door open. "Teacher, I'm very sorry!"
"It's all good. This guy's gotta train for another hundred years if he thinks he can scare me."
Haruki flicked his finger. Chakra formed an air current and hit Obito.
"Waaaah!"
Obito felt his Chakra flow suddenly go haywire, and he immediately fell to the ground.
He got up, holding his butt, looking miserable.
"Idiot."
Kakashi walked into the room. As he passed by Obito, he cursed under his breath, then bowed to Haruki. "Teacher."
He handed over a Scroll.
"You did a great job on the duties," Haruki praised after reading the Scroll.
Although the three of them were Genin, due to their amazing strength, they had maintained a 100% duty completion rate so far.
It was quite legendary.
He also enjoys a great fame in Konoha. There is an explanation that he is the so - called next Sannin.
"Hehe."
Obito obviously forgot the pain in his butt. Hearing Haruki's praise, he suddenly became a bit inflated.
Haruki couldn't help but shake his head.
Sure enough, it's easier to change the landscape than a person's nature.
Even though he had made some changes to Obito, his personality was still not much different from that in the original story.
However, relatively speaking, it was much better.
At least he was more reliable at critical moments.
Kakashi could deeply understand this.
"Teacher, we want to participate in the Chunin Exams," Rin Nohara stepped forward and said.
She acts as a Medical Ninja in the team.
But due to Obito and Kakashi being too strong, she had no room to use her abilities.
So she took on other jobs.
Such as intelligence analysis, duty assignment, decision - making and deployment, etc.
It's not that her strength was weak.
In fact, with Haruki's teaching, her Medical Ninjutsu skills were quite good.
It was just that she didn't have a clear understanding of herself.
Mainly, the people she contacted daily were either geniuses or Jonin.
"Sure."
Haruki agreed to Rin Nohara's request almost without any hesitation.
Obito immediately got excited and shouted, "Our team will definitely be the first!"
"That's not necessarily true."
Haruki poured cold water on him. "Let me tell you, don't underestimate anyone. Besides, I'm not lying to you. As far as I know, there are three teams that are as good as yours. But I won't tell you about them. You need to collect the intelligence by yourselves."
"Three teams?"
Obito was stunned and obviously a bit disbelieving.
It was Kakashi who showed a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
Because Sakumo Hatake didn't commit suicide, Kakashi's personality had always been relatively normal.
As a so - called genius, hearing what his respected teacher said, he was naturally a bit unconvinced.
"Okay, teacher."
Rin Nohara was the calmest one.
She nodded seriously and said after saying goodbye to Haruki, "Let's go to see Fuling. She should know a lot of intelligence."
Fuling was older than her, but they were like sisters. So they had a very good relationship.