"What the hell is this brat up to?"
"Who cares what he's doing? It's not like it has anything to do with us."
High on the mountains...
The black-and-white monster mumbled to himself.
Zetsu couldn't understand Kyoichi's schemes, and frankly, he didn't care. This worldly obsession with wealth meant nothing to him.
What's the point of money?
Can it buy power? Can it change fate?
The more Konoha obsessed over money, the more amusing he found it. Ideally, the entire shinobi world would follow suit—it'd make collecting the Tailed Beasts far easier in the future.
Still...
That guy was strong.
To have reached that level of power around the age of twenty—it was rare even among the Senju. Fortunately, he wasn't the reincarnation of Asura, nor could he use Wood Release...
His potential was destined to be limited.
Once Madara returns, he'll sweep everything aside all the same.
The only thing concerning was Madara's "pawn." Now that Hanzō was mentoring him, it might become difficult to keep him under control...
Black Zetsu's mind was a storm of thoughts.
He'd finally managed to get out for a bit, and of course he wanted to refine their plans. The problem was, he had no usable agents at hand. So many ideas in his head—and no way to execute them.
This feeling...
So suffocating!
"Once the Chūnin Exams are over, I'll go take a look at the Uchiha. If there are any promising seedlings, maybe I can make a recommendation. Shisui doesn't seem reliable."
With those words, Black Zetsu slipped back into the earth.
Konoha had plenty of shinobi patrolling the village, including members of the Hyūga Clan. But if Zetsu truly wanted to hide, not even the Byakugan could detect him.
As for the one from Kirigakure...
That was just a surveillance tool for Madara. It didn't allow any actual control, nor did Madara expect him to accomplish anything. Even if he got exposed, it didn't matter.
What they didn't know, however, was that Kyoichi had already suspected someone might be observing in secret—particularly anyone with an interest in the Uchiha.
Which is why, these past few days...
He hadn't contacted Shisui at all.
Likewise...
Shisui hadn't come to bother Kyoichi either.
He felt that, for now, there wasn't much Kyoichi could do to help with the Uchiha situation anyway. The real issue was their clan leader.
If anything was going to change the Uchiha, the best strategy was time.
Wait until some of them made a mess of things themselves. When that time came, not even Fugaku could save their reputation, no matter how much face he tried to give them.
The shinobi from other villages were still staying outside Konoha's walls, but during the day, they were free to come and go. Kyoichi hadn't restricted their movements, so during the day, people still saw shinobi of all kinds wandering around.
But...
That only lasted half a day.
Because by the next afternoon—
The official schedule for the Chūnin Exams was released—
It had been moved up by two days.
Originally, the exams were supposed to be held in three days. But now, according to the updated rules, the first-ever joint Chūnin Exams would begin tomorrow in the Forest of Death.
Konoha not only delivered the updated schedule, but also a rulebook.
It laid out the entire framework of the exam in detail.
At that moment...
Shinobi from all villages gathered around to study it, because—
They had never experienced an exam like this before.
Over on the Kirigakure side, Yagura quickly read through the scroll, then handed it to the others.
"This is totally his style. I'd bet anything the one who designed this exam is Kanda Kyoichi."
"Yagura-sama, isn't this kind of exam a bit strange? There's not even a written test, and it's just one round... How is that supposed to prove anything?"
"A written test? Completely unnecessary."
...
"This format is far closer to a real battlefield. No one gets to bring ninja tools—you either gather intel or fight to obtain them."
"But we're not allowed to equip our puppets with senbon, poisons, or shuriken. So aren't we supposed to build everything from scratch?"
"This is already pretty lenient. At least they're letting you bring your puppets. You're not being forced to construct them on the spot."
Yakura turned to glance at the genin who had spoken.
If he remembered right...
That should be Yura.
After that, no one could really argue.
It was true...
None of the participants could bring ninja tools. If puppets were classified as ninja tools, then all of Sunagakure's puppets would've been banned entirely—and that would've been a disaster for their village.
So in a way...
Konoha had already shown them a lot of consideration.
This decision had been carefully thought out by Kyoichi.
Had he banned puppets outright, Sunagakure probably wouldn't have had a single genin survive the exam. Allowing them at least gave a few young talents a chance to live through it.
Absolute fairness was impossible.
But at the very least, everyone would benefit from some part of the rules.
The weak would learn the value of teamwork and stealth—because under the rules, as long as you survive two rounds of jōnin sweeps and reach the third ring, you get promoted to Chūnin, regardless of your rank or kill count.
In fact...
If you could dodge the jōnin scouts and get to the next ring within five minutes after the sweep, it still counted as surviving.
Sure, the jōnin were powerful, but at least...
There was hope!
The strong, on the other hand, would have a perfect stage to showcase their skills.
No doubt about it—
This kind of exam was far more brutal and bloody than any simple 1v1 match. It was based entirely on battlefield logic, and death was a real possibility.
But of course...
Shinobi had long since grown numb to death.
Even in their own internal exams, fatalities were unavoidable. And Konoha's setup was already impressively thoughtful—
Each sector would have rescue teams stationed nearby, ready to extract any genin who forfeited or was eliminated, to preserve lives as much as possible.
However...
One part left many confused—
"What's an Observation Hall?"
"It says here: 'Designed to offer all outside shinobi the best possible viewing experience. Each shinobi village will receive front-row seating.' So that means..."
The crowd couldn't help but whisper.
It sounded luxurious. But something about the wording just felt... off.
Front row?
If everyone was in the front row, then where was the back?
Surely they weren't setting up a giant ring of spectators all around the battlefield?
That would be weird.
No one could figure it out, and discussions led nowhere. That was, until the next day—when they finally saw the exam venue with their own eyes—
And immediately understood what "front row" meant.
Because...
The spectators weren't just shinobi.
There were nobles too.
And the wildest part—Konoha hadn't just invited nobility from the Land of Fire. Somehow, even nobles from neighboring Land of Rivers had shown up.
Not to mention...
The Land of Waves, Land of Hot Water, and more. A complete mishmash of upper-class folks from various nations, all with one thing in common—
They were filthy rich.
Holy crap!
Yagura was stunned. He'd never imagined that the "observation hall" would be like this. And Ebizō? He just stood there, mouth agape, filled with awe.
He didn't feel the outrage some of the others did. Instead, all he could think was—
"Why didn't I think of this?"
They were even making money off this!
Absolutely insane...
"Sunagakure deserves to be poor. Our way of thinking about profit isn't even on the same level. How could we not be poor? If anyone in our village had half this brain, we wouldn't need to waste time chasing mineral veins!"
Ebizō couldn't help but mutter.
The Sunagakure shinobi below had nothing left to say. Just yesterday, they had been marveling at how clever Konoha was for relocating merchants to their lodgings.
And now…
Today's stunt had caught them even more off guard.
Putting aside the feeling of having been played, they had to admit—Konoha's creativity was impressive.
Hearing the commotion, A turned his head and nodded in deep agreement.
Indeed!
All jokes aside, this knack for squeezing every last drop of profit—even from bones—was something every shinobi village could stand to learn from.
If they could master this…
Well, even if nothing else changed, at least their villages wouldn't be so poor. Life would get a little better for everyone. And as for the nobles paying for all this? They'd be more than happy to watch a good show.
It seemed like everyone won.
What Kumogakure needed were smart minds like this.
Unfortunately…
Even in Konoha, someone like Kanda Kyoichi was a rare find. If he weren't, Konoha wouldn't have spent the past few years aimless and slowly declining.
Still…
Admiration was one thing—resentment was another.
The idea of having to watch the Chūnin Exams side-by-side with a bunch of nobles… that experience alone was already—
But before they could voice any complaints…
They arrived at the venue.
"This way, please. Your seating area is here. Over there is the nobles' observation hall."
"They're separated?"
"Yes. Outside there's just one broadcast zone, but inside there are two separate ones."
Hearing that…
Everyone quietly swallowed their gripes.
There were two viewing areas.
The inner one—smaller—was clearly for the shinobi, while the much larger outer zone was prepared for the nobles.
The facilities differed too.
Sure, the smaller one had no seats… but who among shinobi needs to sit?
Standing's fine!
What really mattered was the broadcast zone. It meant they'd get a clearer view of the field and could gather more intel.
By comparison…
The bigger outer area? All flash, no substance.
And just like that…
Everyone's frustration faded. Their hearts were at ease again.
So this was the "front row!"
Still, one question lingered: how did Konoha plan to actually display the live Chūnin Exam?
Sure, the venue was close to the Forest of Death, but there was still a sizable distance between here and the exam grounds. Even sensory-type shinobi wouldn't be able to monitor the action in real-time.
Could it be…
Konoha had invented a new kind of jutsu?
The shinobi area wasn't very noisy. Everyone was trying to deduce what hidden truths they could from the setup.
And at that moment, a figure appeared on stage.
"Ahem. Hello, everyone. I'm Tsunade."
Tsunade cleared her throat.
She was silently cursing Kyoichi in her heart. The guy had just dropped this on her last-minute—told her to host the Chūnin Exam—and somehow, all the Jōnin and even the Third Hokage had agreed it was a great idea.
Unbelievable…
Still suppressing her annoyance, Tsunade continued.
"This year's Chūnin Exams were originally intended to include just a few allied villages. But somehow, it turned into a competition for the entire shinobi world. So, to give everyone the best possible viewing experience, Konoha developed a special ninjutsu…"
"Please look at the big screen."
Everyone's eyes followed her finger.
Above them were two large glass panels—now lit up and displaying scenes from the Forest of Death. What's more, each panel showed something different.
The left screen gave a high-altitude view of the entire battlefield.
The right screen showed individual shots of various genin, switching angles rapidly—familiar faces from different villages popping up one after another.
It was clearly a live feed.
"This kind of jutsu… Impossible!"
Kurotsuchi's father, Kitsuchi, turned pale.
He immediately thought of Konoha's guerrilla tactics during the war.
Could it be…
Back then, Konoha had been watching them using this very technique?
Otherwise…
How could the imagery be so precise?
A was clearly thinking the same thing—his fists clenched tight, his mind spiraling.
If Konoha had such a jutsu…
Then perhaps their so-called "early victories" were part of a grand setup from the very beginning.
He took a deep breath, tamping down the fury rising in his chest as he stared silently at the screen, lost in reflection.
His father had been right all along.
He'd been—
Too reckless.
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