Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's office.

The Third held his pipe in one hand and rubbed his forehead with the other. "You're telling me," he said, "that most of Grass Village had already been infiltrated by Stone, yet not only did you identify everyone who betrayed Leaf, you even took down two Jonin from Iwagakure along the way?"

Yamanaka Inoichi nodded obediently, then added, "Plus five Chunin and twenty-seven Genin."

The Third felt his blood pressure rising and quickly took a puff from his pipe to calm himself.

After a moment's pause, he burst out in disbelief, "You've really stunned me with a massive surprise—I'm even doubting whether I'm still dreaming!"

Inoichi quickly chimed in, "Actually, most of the credit goes to Seiki."

The Third gave a slight nod. "Causing internal chaos and performing body swaps—those tactics impressed even an old-timer like me. But what surprised me most was how he convinced people who deeply hated Leaf from the bottom of their hearts. Such personal charm… I've only ever seen that in the First Hokage!"

He continued with admiration, "I was originally worried about the danger involved in your mission. Never would I have guessed you'd voluntarily raise its difficulty level by two ranks—and complete it without encountering any danger at all!"

"I can already imagine how Asuma will brag to me once he returns!"

Inoichi couldn't help but chuckle. Based on his understanding of Asuma, that scenario wasn't unlikely at all.

After all, this was an achievement even the Hokage himself hadn't accomplished.

The Third chuckled for a while before turning serious again. "As for the information you mentioned about Kazekage going missing, the village has already received word too. Now, I'd like to hear what you think—as someone who was right there on the mission itself."

With the Hokage putting it that way, Inoichi had no choice but to share the 'suspicions' he and Seiki had *talked over* earlier.

"War… It seems to be the one constant thread running through this world!" The Third sighed heavily. He opened a drawer and pulled out a set of official reports, laying them before Inoichi. "Take a look. These are intelligence updates regarding abnormal activities from other villages."

Flipping carefully through the pages, Inoichi stayed composed at first—until his eyes landed on the last report, where his pupils sharply constricted.

"The Cloud Village army has already begun frequent operations?" His expression darkened. "Among the major villages near Cloud, only Leaf and Mist remain. However, Mist is far away from the continent and easy to defend. That leaves Konoha as the only possible target."

The Third shook his head bitterly. "Surely they wouldn't seriously be targeting Iwa or Suna?"

Inoichi quickly asked, "Hokage-sama, how far along are we in our war preparations?"

"Still in Stage One," the Third frowned deeply, his brows furrowed tightly. "We're far behind Cloud in both military equipment and drills."

Letting out a heavy sigh, he leaned back in his chair.

"What we need most right now is time—but the enemy isn't going to give it to us!"

At this point, Inoichi Yamanaka hesitated before asking, "Lord Third, what if we hold a joint Chunin Exam involving all the ninja villages?"

"A joint Chunin Exam?" The Third raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Not only could it draw attention away from other matters and delay the outbreak of war, but we could also use the exam to gauge each village's stance while demonstrating our military strength, thereby trying to gain support from smaller ninja villages," Inoichi added.

The Third didn't respond at once. Instead, he said, "Proposing to host the Chunin Exam suddenly at this critical moment might raise suspicions—and the other villages probably won't accept our invitation."

Inoichi nodded. "That's why we can't be the ones to make the first move."

Now the Third showed some interest. "Then who do you think should make the proposal?"

Inoichi smiled. "Lord Hokage, have you heard about the recent incident during Mist's graduation exam this year?"

The Third took a puff from his pipe. "You mean the kid who wiped out all the other candidates and forced Mist to reform?"

"Precisely. I heard his name is Zabuza Momochi." A slight 'cruel' smile formed on Inoichi's lips. "We can have our spies in Mist encourage their leadership to propose hosting the Chunin Exam. The justification would be concern about a potential gap forming in their talent pool, and that to balance power among the villages, someone like Zabuza Momochi could eliminate the competition from other villages during the exam!"

The Third's eyes lit up as he caught onto Inoichi's plan. "Mist is overseas and therefore unsuitable as the venue for the Chunin Exam. They must realize this too. As long as it 'balances' the power among the villages, they probably won't resist much on this issue."

Inoichi nodded. "Thus, Mist becomes merely the proposer, and Konoha can smoothly take over and proactively offer to be the host village."

The Third fell into contemplation for a moment before replying, "However, the other three great ninja villages definitely won't allow Konoha to expand its influence without resistance."

Inoichi turned serious. "So we'll have to pay a small price."

"A price, huh?" The Third quickly caught on, exhaling a smoke ring. "What could possibly attract the other villages is probably the precious heritage left behind by previous Kages. Are you suggesting offering some of the Kinjutsu listed on the Scroll of Seals as a reward for the Chunin Exam?"

Inoichi added, "And the techniques shouldn't be sealed either—something portable enough for them to take back home. Otherwise, the other villages won't back down just because there's a chance their young ninjas may gain something from it."

The Third let out a bitter laugh. "Inoichi, you've certainly given me quite a challenge here. If those forbidden techniques are taken away, how could I face the former Kages with dignity?"

Indeed, the Third was greatly troubled. Even if he excluded highly dangerous techniques like Impure World Reincarnation, letting other villages have even moderately powerful forbidden techniques would still be problematic.

Not to mention Danzo would surely seize the opportunity to criticize and force him to step down.

"According to the intelligence we've gathered," Inoichi Yamanaka said with a shrug, "although other villages have indeed produced several exceptionally promising newcomers in recent years... compared to them, we're clearly playing unfair."

The Third Hokage smiled knowingly. Indeed, sending Seiki to the Chunin Exams isn't even considered overkill anymore.

It's practically borderline unfair!

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but sigh wistfully, "What a shame Kakashi-kun became a chunin at age six. Otherwise, we could let the other villages experience Konoha's 'special kind of warmth' too!"

Inoichi Yamanaka blinked hard. "Lord Third, are you trying *not* to sound human?"

Seeing that the Third was starting to get carried away, Inoichi Yamanaka quickly added a clarification, "Actually, our main goal is to delay the outbreak of war (for now). Not being chosen as the host village only affects our ability to attract smaller ninja villages."

The Third waved his hand dismissively. "I still have what it takes to unleash the Scroll of Seals if needed. Besides, I believe Seiki-kun won't disappoint me."

"Now, our biggest problem is... how do we convince Mist that their Zabuza has the power to wipe out every single examinee?"

"What if we just hype it up? If push comes to shove, we could co-host the Chunin Exams with Sunagakure. They probably need more time right now, just like us."

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