Escape From Konoha

The light spots diffused from the sky are the delicate snowflakes that are constantly falling.

Compared with the beginning of the month, the temperature has risen somewhat, but the snowflakes falling on people's faces still make people feel a clear coolness.

There were not many people on the street, but many shops still opened early. Shopkeepers and waiters began to clear the snow in front of the door and clean the road to prevent the children who often passed by the door from accidentally falling.

A peaceful and peaceful scene.

A pair of cloudy but powerful eyes saw the new scene in the village from the office window, and a kind smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of his mouth.

The old man stood by the window, wearing the Hokage's royal robe. He was much more energetic than before.

Although the fatigue from work still remains on his face, his eyes reveal the light called hope.

Seeing such a peaceful and beautiful atmosphere in the village, Hiruzen, as the Hokage, also felt that everything he was experiencing was so hard-won.

Three years ago, the international situation was extremely tense. The Country of Fire was deeply involved in the war in the Country of Rain, and the Country of Ghost and the Country of Thunder pressed forward step by step. As a result, the Country of Fire and Konoha had to make concessions in the Rain Country talks to avoid The outbreak of the Ninja World War.

If the ninja world war breaks out at that time, Konoha will not get the opportunity to develop peacefully during the three years of cultivation, and the current peace will no longer exist, and will be destroyed by the war.

Now, Konoha, who has been given the opportunity of peaceful development for three years, and with the full support of the daimyo, has once again expanded its military power. There are more than 10,000 ninjas who can participate in the war at any time. The number of jounin has also increased a lot compared to three years ago. Now, even in the face of difficulties from the Kingdom of Demons, Konoha has the confidence to respond forcefully to the opponent.

This is not only due to Hokage himself. For the development of the village, there are countless ninjas who have worked hard and made progress together. This has allowed Rizai to see the bright future of the village's rejuvenation.

This also made Hiruzen feel that it was a wise choice to give up the temporary honor during the talks in the Land of Rain three years ago.

If the Fire Nation and Konoha continue to cling to their past glory, then these three years will not go by without incident.

Not to mention the persecution from the Kingdom of Ghosts, the Kingdom of Thunder will not give up.

But to give up the act of glory, the kingdom of ghosts will be alone, and it will be difficult to unite with other countries to suppress the kingdom of fire, and the kingdom of thunder will not deliberately target Konoha as it did in the past. Embarrassing past events.

Coupled with the alliance with the Kingdom of Wind, the Kingdom of Ghosts no longer behaves excessively when dealing with sensitive international matters, but is much more low-key.

But Hiruzen knew that the Kingdom of Demons was only temporarily winding down and began to recuperate its strength.

Especially after purchasing a batch of new weapons developed by the Kingdom of Demons last year, the danger of the Kingdom of Demons in Hiruzen's mind has increased instead of decreasing.

Although Konoha has gradually begun to imitate the country of ghosts, focusing on the development of the military industry, and focusing on combining with ninja abilities to form a new era of scientific ninja system, but even imitation requires a strong capital.

In Konoha, where biological sciences and medical sciences are highly developed, it does not mean that a military-industrial system can be developed well.

Not only is there a lack of matching equipment, but there is also a lack of corresponding industrial talents.

Even though the daimyo also expressed their support in this regard and approved a large amount of development funds, the lack of relevant equipment and talents is also difficult for a smart woman to cook without rice. These difficulties cannot be solved smoothly by relying on slamming money.

But the deficiencies in the industrial system must be addressed.

We must completely get rid of the disadvantages of relying on the industrial weapons of the Kingdom of Ghosts.

Once dependence is formed, it means that Konoha and the Country of Fire will always succumb to the Country of Demons.

Not only the country of ghosts, but also the country of thunder has begun to improve its own industrial system. Although the industrialization is far inferior to the country of ghosts, it can already develop its own weapons, and the situation is worse than that of the country of fire.

In the final analysis, it is the lack of industrial talents that causes the Country of Fire and Konoha to lag far behind the Country of Demons in this regard.

How to cultivate and expand these talents has become a problem that Hiruzen must solve.

In addition, there are arrangements for the Fifth Hokage.

Although his energy and energy have been good recently, Hiruzen knew that his physical abilities had begun to decline seriously and were far from what he was at his peak.

Just as Hiruzen was thinking about these questions, there was a knock on the door, which brought Hiruzen out of his thoughts.

A middle-aged man wearing a ninja forehead protector walked in.

He is a staff member of the Konoha Information and Communications Department.

Hiruzen faced the Communications Department staff member and asked, "What happened?"

The middle-aged man held a scroll in his hand and said, "Lord Hokage, this is a letter sent from the Kingdom of Ghosts. Please read it."

After saying that, he put it on the desk and turned to leave.

Hiruzen sat back at his desk and picked up the scroll left by the Communications Department staff with a look of confusion in his eyes.

But this doubt did not last long. He unfolded the scroll and scanned the contents.

After finishing reading, Hiruzen immediately fell into deep thought.

It is written on the scroll that the Kingdom of Demons plans to unite with other countries to hold this year's Chunin Examination. To put it simply, it is to allow ninjas from many countries to conduct joint chuunin exams to show each other the power of the new generation of each country. Because not only the ninjas who own Ninja Villages are invited, but also daimyo, high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen from many countries will appear as spectators.

The power of the new generation of ninjas means the future foundation of the military power of various countries.

If there is a new generation of Ninja Village who achieves good results on this stage, it is also an excellent opportunity for Ninja Village and the country to promote national power.

The Ninja Village, which relies on mission rewards to maintain its development, needs this kind of stage to promote the strength of its Ninjas.

Moreover, this is also a good time to test the strength of the ninjas of the Demon Country.

After thinking about the meaning behind this, Hiruzen tapped his fingers on the table and thought seriously.

Without thinking for too long, Hiruzen made a decision in his mind.

◎

In the woods where the snow had not yet melted, a spirited voice sounded:

"Art fire escape ho fireball!"

A scorching fireball shot out of his mouth and moved quickly along the snow-covered ground.

The passing white snow melted in the fierce fire, and the fireball fiercely rushed towards the enemy.

Looking at the scorching fireball coming towards him, Kakashi did not panic, but moved his steps naturally, easily avoiding the fireball attack.

However, when he shifted his steps, a fist shadow hit him from a blind spot that was invisible to his sight.

Kakashi stretched out his arm, spread his fingers, and successfully grasped the opponent's fist.

Seemingly knowing that this method would not cause any trouble to Kakashi, Sasuke began to break free from Kakashi's palm, and retreated backwards, preparing to adjust the attacking route.

As a result, when he retreated, Kakashi's figure suddenly disappeared from his eyes.

Sasuke's heart tightened, as before, he saw no movement track. However, there was a soft sound caused by abnormal movement soon behind him, which was made by Kakashi for Sasuke to hear.

Sasuke snorted coldly, turned around and punched, dense lightning concentrated on his arm, the speed was astonishingly fast.

Sasuke, who has mastered two kinds of chakra attribute changes, not only knows how to use fire escape ninjutsu, although the time to master the changes of thunder attribute properties is not very long, it can still be used in actual combat.

The power of Thunder Release lies in thrust and speed.

After being attached to the chakra of thunder attribute, the physical ability will also be increased to a certain extent.

Seeing that Sasuke was able to use the second attribute-changing escape technique, Kakashi also had a slightly surprised look on his face.

For a Jonin, it is not difficult to master the changes in chakra properties of two different attributes. On the contrary, it can be said to be a basic skill.

But for students who have not graduated from ninja school, it is difficult to reach the sky.

Even many chunin find it difficult to master the changes in the properties of the two chakra attributes.

Still, even so, it was too tender.

If he hadn't deliberately slowed down his attack speed, he could have ended the battle in an instant.

His current purpose is just to give Sasuke tricks and increase Sasuke's combat experience so that his abilities are not limited to theory.

Actual combat is the most important part that ninjas need to master.

Kakashi did not use moves to block, but continued to keep a distance from Sasuke, and flew out a few shurikens from his hands, which hindered Sasuke's movement, and kept squeezing Sasuke's physical strength, keeping his body on the verge of limit in the state.

Doing this will help Sasuke break through his physical limits.

Seeing that his attack failed, Sasuke was not discouraged, dodged Kakashi's flying shuriken, and stood aside panting.

Compared with Kakashi who only needs to dodge and block, he not only has to think about how to attack, he has performed all ninjutsu, illusion, and physical skills, and his physical strength is naturally consumed quickly.

But even so, after exhausting all available means, he still couldn't touch the corner of Kakashi's clothes.

Is there such a big gap with Jonin? Sasuke wondered if he was the chief student of the ninja school.

Obviously, in the past few years, he felt that his own strength was obviously rising rapidly, but the more so, the more he could appreciate Kakashi's unfathomable strength.

Although he is an uncle who likes to read H books and magazines and is usually lazy, his strength is really not something to brag about.

Thinking about it, even if a person who can become the head of Anbu, even if he doesn't look very serious, his strength is definitely real.

"It seems that this is the end. It's a pity that you couldn't touch the corner of my clothes today. It seems that there is still a big gap between you and Itachi."

Seeing that Sasuke was exhausted, Kakashi said this, not to provoke Sasuke on purpose, but to tell the truth.

"It's just touching the hem of the clothes. I can do it soon."

Sasuke took a deep breath and looked at Kakashi calmly.

When he touched the corner of the clothes, it was the graduation project Kakashi assigned him.

On the contrary, if he can't even touch the corner of the opponent's clothes, he will always be an unqualified 'student' with Kakashi.

After all, Kakashi has suppressed his strength to a very low level.

If he can't even do this, he probably won't be able to forgive his incompetence by then.

If things go on like this, how can we avenge the sinners who exterminated the clan and revitalize the future of the clan?

So, hearing the name 'Itachi' from Kakashi, Sasuke was also very calm.

Three or four years ago, once I heard this name, it was absolutely impossible to maintain such a calm state.

"Oh, it seems that the aggressive method is not very effective."

Seeing the clear and bright look in Sasuke's eyes, Kakashi also showed approval in his eyes.

Although Sasuke couldn't control his emotions perfectly, at least he wouldn't fall into distracting thoughts of revenge at every turn.

This is harmful to the practice of ninjas, but not beneficial.

In this world, most ninja training is step-by-step, and growth in strength cannot be achieved overnight.

If you are blindly immersed in the vortex of hatred, not only your personality will become extreme, but it will also make people blind and lose their original calmness.

This state is very unfavorable for future revenge actions.

"..."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi speechlessly.

This method of stimulating generals has been used for three or four years. Even if it didn't work at first, after these years of day and night training, he has already become accustomed to Kakashi's stimulating generals.

Unless Itachi himself appeared directly in front of him, it might cause him to lose control.

But using Itachi to verbally provoke him was no longer of much use to him.

Although in order to do this, he suffered hundreds of nights before he could barely break free from the nightmare of genocide.

From this point of view, he was very grateful to Kakashi and the Hokage for asking Kakashi to teach him.

Without these two people, I would still be struggling in the whirlpool of hatred and wasting time.

Relying on your own shallow knowledge to explore and cultivate is just sitting in a well and looking at the sky.

Lord Hokage is a kind old man. Sasuke's heart was filled with the warmth of being cared for.

However, as his strength grew, new doubts naturally arose in his mind.

A clansman like myself who has not even awakened the Sharingan has been able to surpass most regular genin before graduating.

So, when growing up, there are not many clan members with three Magatama Sharingan in the clan, but there should be many.

No matter how strong Itachi is, can he really wipe out an entire clan with one person?

Reminiscent of Itachi once saying that if he could also open the Mangekyō Sharingan, there would be four people.

four people?

Mangekyō Sharingan?

Thinking of this, Sasuke lowered his head, and an extremely rare haze appeared in his eyes.

Perhaps, the Uchiha genocide incident was not as simple as he thought.

In this genocide, there must be some secrets that I accidentally missed.

Because the more he grows, the more Sasuke can feel how powerful the Uchiha clan is.

Such a wealthy ninja clan is definitely not a behemoth that Itachi can defeat alone.

There must have been an accomplice on the night when Itachi wiped out the clan.

It is likely that Itachi is not the only traitor to the Uchiha.

"What's wrong, you suddenly look serious?"

Sensing that Sasuke's state seemed a little strange, Kakashi asked in confusion.

"It's nothing, I just thought of some things that I missed before. I will solve them myself."

Although he is grateful to Kakashi, Sasuke does not want to involve irrelevant people in his revenge.

Moreover, it is not what I want to complete revenge in the hands of others.

The matter of the Uchiha clan will ultimately need to be resolved by the person who inherits this surname.

"Really? So, let's stop here today, I still have things to deal with. Regarding the graduation exam in March, it should be fine, right?"

Kakashi asked this question before leaving.

"That kind of graduation exam is like child's play."

Sasuke told the truth.

What is usually taught in the ninja school is something that cannot be more basic.

For example, basic physical skills, basic illusion skills, and basic three-body skills.

Therefore, no matter how the graduation exam is carried out, it cannot be separated from these.

For Sasuke, this kind of graduation exam is like playing house with a child. It is not worth mentioning. When the time comes, he can go through the formalities and pass the exam smoothly.

Compared with the graduation exam, his next goal is to master the second type of chakra attribute change as soon as possible, that is, thunder escape ninjutsu.

He has been envious for a long time for Kakashi's voluntary creation of Chidori and Raikiri series of esoteric ninjutsu.

If he understands all those mysteries thoroughly, Sasuke can be sure that his strength will be improved by leaps and bounds.

His foundation has been polished enough, what is lacking is the accumulation of experience and the way of cultivation at a higher stage.

This is what he learned from Kakashi.

It is not advisable to get stronger quickly, which will cause a lot of load on the body. Kakashi also seemed to complain that he practiced too much when he was a child, and now he suddenly started to have back pain.

However, compared to the reason of excessive training when he was a child, Sasuke believed that Kakashi's current back pain was caused by reading too many pornographic books.

Men wearing masks.

"It's good if you have confidence. Then you can practice alone, and I will come back in a few days."

Kakashi nodded and disappeared from Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't care about Kakashi's departure, and began to practice alone in the woods.

◎

In the conference room, there were five figures sitting.

They are Naruto Sarutobi Hiruzane, Genbu leader Shimura Danzo, two advisors Koharu and Mitomon Yan, and the ninja squad leader Nara Shikahisa.

Due to the invitation of the Demon Country to hold the joint chuunin examination, they gathered together to discuss the matter.

"Joint Chuunin Exams? How do the other villages view this?"

Xiaochun, who had no idea, moved to bed, hoping to learn from other villages.

Although the Joint Chuunin Examination has been held in the past, it was in Konoha as the home venue. This time, the Demon Country took the lead in speaking out, obviously intending to take this opportunity to expand its international influence.

So she was hesitant about it.

"We don't know yet. I guess the other villages are also discussing this matter now. In the past few years, the overall strength of the Demon Country has been rising rapidly, and even Konoha cannot ignore this. According to my speculation, It is estimated that there are not a few villages that agree to the joint chuunin exam."

Hiruzen pondered for a while before speaking.

This is inevitable.

There is no possibility for the Ninja Village of the Small Country to refuse. Whether it is out of fear or wanting to please the Country of Demons, they have to symbolically send Genin to take the Chunin Exam.

And this has formed a trend.

There is no shame in following the trend.

"If we can take this opportunity to test the strength of the new generation of ninjas from the Demon Country, I think this joint chuunin exam is a good opportunity."

Mito Monohan suggested.

He is inclined to participate in the Joint Chuunin Exams.

For a long time, the Demon Country has adopted a closed Chunin Examination, and the outside world has only had a vague idea of ​​the strength of the new generation in the Demon Country.

But no ninja village dared to look down upon him.

The Demon Country, where Uchiha, Hinata and the Uzumaki clan gathered, even they could not accurately estimate the strength of the new generation.

"As the elder said, I also think this is a good opportunity to test the potential of the Ghost Country. If we give up, it will be very difficult to find such an opportunity next time. Speaking of the new generation, I don't think we can Ye is no worse than the Kingdom of Ghosts. There will be many high-quality students graduating from the Ninja School this year."

Shikaku also spoke from the side.

Then, he glanced at Danzo.

Compared to Koharu, who was still hesitating, Danzo, as the leader of the root group, had more weight in his decision.

And Danzo quickly gave his answer: "You can participate, but there is no need to rely entirely on the Kingdom of Ghosts. Send someone to negotiate with them."

"What's the meaning?"

Hiruzen considered the intent behind Danzo's words.

"Since it is the Joint Chunin Examination, wouldn't it be too unreasonable to arrange all the competition venues in the Kingdom of Demons? Therefore, I suggest that different stages of the examination be arranged in different locations, and the Kingdom of Demons is just one of them. One stop cannot cover all examination venues.”

This can not only test the strength of the new generation of the Kingdom of Ghosts, but also defeat the strategy of the Kingdom of Ghosts to further expand its international influence.

"Will the Ghost Kingdom agree?"

Xiaochun asked about this when he went to bed.

"If you don't agree, then join hands with Sunagakure to refuse and not participate in the joint chuunin examination held by the Kingdom of Demons."

Danzo was confident about this.

The relationship between Konoha and Sunagakure is in a good alliance. As long as they explain the reasons to Sunagakure, they will definitely choose to support Konoha's decision.

Once Konoha and Sunagakure make a choice, the conservative Iwagakure will inevitably make a careful decision, and the possibility of rejection becomes greater.

As for Kumogakure and Kirigakure, their attitudes are not yet clear.

However, since three of the six major countries are missing, the Demon Country will not really ignore the plan proposed by Konoha. It will definitely make a new decision after internal discussions.

Danzo's suggestion made Hiruzen and others' eyes light up.

This is indeed a feasible solution.

Since the Kingdom of Ghosts wants to use this to expand its international influence, as ninjas from a great power, they can also transform from invitees to one of the organizers to increase their reputation.

The power of the Kingdom of Ghosts is still not strong enough to cover the sky with one hand, so it must seriously consider the suggestions put forward by other major powers.

"The Joint Chuunin Examination held by the Demon Country is scheduled for mid-September this year. Even the genin who just graduated this year will have about half a year to grow up. If the other party agrees to our Konoha proposal, then according to the Demonic The country has set a time for the genin in the village to take part in the joint chuunin exam in mid-September. If it is rejected, then our own chunin exam will be held in early July this year."

Hiruzen made the final decision.

"Leave it to me to negotiate with the Kingdom of Demons about the joint Chunin Examination."

Shikaku volunteered.

In response to Shikaku's enthusiasm, Hiruzen nodded and agreed to let Shikaku take charge of the matter.

He believed that with Shikaku's ability, he would not be disappointed.

After all, today is different from the past. Konoha, with the full support of the daimyo, has gradually increased its military power and can recruit tens of thousands of fighting ninjas at any time. This is Hiruzen's most powerful confidence.

The spies in the ANBU were investigated and purged by Kakashi, and everything was moving in a direction that was beneficial to Konoha.

If the Kingdom of Ghosts continues to threaten and intimidate the Kingdom of Fire like it did three years ago, it will only shoot itself in the foot.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen felt much relieved.