At night, the participating teams from Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure arrived, as did teams from other hidden Villages sandwiched between the great nations. Only Kumogakure, due to its distance, was expected to arrive the next day.
As for how Uchiha Ling knew, it was, of course, because the contestants from the three great shinobi Villages were disturbing the peace late at night, engaging in a full-blown brawl downstairs.
So Uchiha Ling, a light sleeper, was woken up. When she heard that the reason for their argument was the different grades of hotels they were assigned.
So why should the great shinobi Villages have better living conditions and locations than us? However, with the Hidden Rain Village Anbu present, no fight broke out.
It has to be said that Hanzou is a treacherous fellow; he actually assigned the lodging of the Four Great Shinobi Villages' participating teams together. He must be afraid they won't fight, right?
Although the exact outcome of the Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure's dispute was unclear, it was foreseeable that another conflict would arise when the Kumogakure examination team arrived.
Hanzou's intentions were undeniably sinister. By arranging the personnel from various Villages, who were already like gunpowder fuses, together, conflicts would easily arise.
Moreover, the tactic of assigning hotels of varying grades was clearly an intentional provocation. But what benefit would war bring to the Amegakure?
Among the great and small shinobi Villages, only Iwagakure, Hidden Sand Village, and Kumogakure would likely consider a direct outbreak of war. However, Hidden Rain Village was definitely not among those who desired war.
It should be known that once war breaks out, small nations, serving as buffer zones, will become battlefields. Not only will the people suffer immensely, but without the supply of resources from the major shinobi Villages, the lives of civilians will become even more difficult.
So, Hanzou, both from his personal stance and on a national level, should not want war to happen. Why then was he so abnormal this time, even fanning the flames?
Ling felt that Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure might have promised something, such as not opening a battlefield in Hidden Rain Village, or providing him with material aid.
Therefore, Ling also suspected that the dispute between Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure last night might have been half-true, likely a tactic to put pressure on Konoha tomorrow.
In fact, Ling had pretty much figured out what Hanzou was thinking, but there was one thing Ling hadn't thought of yet.
That is, Hanzou wanted to eradicate the Root and Akatsuki Organization forces in the Land of Rain. How could he allow others to sleep soundly on his bed, especially when Danzo was repeatedly testing his sensitive limits?
Since Danzo's Root and Yahiko's Akatsuki Organization formed a three-way standoff with him in the Land of Rain, Hidden Rain Village's mission volume had nearly halved.
This was something he could not tolerate, especially since Danzo even tried to usurp him, offering slanderous advice to the Land of Rain Daimyo. If it weren't for his spy near the Daimyo, he would have likely fallen for Danzo's old man's scheme long ago.
Adding to that, a person resembling a pitcher plant sold him information about the Akatsuki Organization's location, as well as the fact that Nagato, one of the Akatsuki Organization's leaders, possessed the Rinnegan.
Since he grew old, his physical condition had been declining. Now, hearing that the Akatsuki Organization had the Rinnegan, that was the supreme ocular jutsu rumored to create the Ninja World and bring peace.
He believed that after acquiring the Rinnegan, he could definitely achieve his youthful dream of peace, and perhaps even elevate his strength to a new level.
However, before that, he still needed to verify the mysterious person's information. So, based on the Akatsuki Organization's location, he dispatched Hidden Rain Village's most skilled spy to gather intelligence about the Rinnegan.
He believed that once the spy infiltrated and confirmed everything, it would be time to act. However, to divert the attention of the great shinobi Villages, he had to instigate a Great Shinobi War to have a chance to acquire the Rinnegan for himself.
So when Hidden Sand Village, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure offered a cooperation agreement, he naturally agreed, which led to today's hotel arrangements.
At the same time, in the capital of the Land of Rain, Danzo, who nominally served the Land of Rain Daimyo, was currently examining a piece of intelligence in a newly dug underground tunnel.
He had also obtained information from the mysterious person about Nagato's Rinnegan in the Akatsuki Organization. With a tacit understanding, Danzo immediately arranged for his operatives, who were lurking in the Akatsuki Organization, to begin investigating the truthfulness of the matter.
If it was true, perhaps he could once again have a new right arm crafted with Hashirama cells, because the Rinnegan might have a stronger restraining effect on Hashirama cells than the Uchiha Sharingan.
So, he and Hanzou both tacitly kept the matter of the Rinnegan a secret from others, which was exactly what Black Zetsu wanted to see.
If this matter succeeded, it would be killing three birds with one stone! Black Zetsu truly was his mother's smartest child; Hagoromo and Hamura were just stepchildren.
On the morning of the second day, it was unusually not raining. Ling used Curse Power to sense the participating Genin from Hidden Sand Village and Iwagakure.
To Uchiha Ling's astonishment, these two shinobi Villages had not assigned Jonin-level individuals to all of their participating teams, but rather, like Konoha, only assigned one Jonin per team.
For a moment, Ling couldn't quite understand the bizarre actions of these two great shinobi Villages. However, after confirming whether Kumogakure was doing the same, she might be able to figure out if the three great shinobi Villages were secretly colluding.
Ling vaguely sensed that something was amiss, so she went to discuss it with Minato. She believed that after their brainstorming session, they might be able to uncover the truth.
"It's possible that the three great shinobi Villages are colluding. Coupled with Hanzou's abnormal behavior, it's highly likely they already have an agreement to deal with Konoha."
After hearing Ling's analysis, Minato also felt it was quite tricky. He now had a feeling of walking on a cliff edge, where a single misstep could send them plunging into the abyss of war.
"If the three great shinobi Villages all want to wage war against Konoha, then they are very likely to make their move during or after this Chunin Exams."
Ling seemed to know this was an insoluble problem. The three great shinobi Villages would likely find a way to frame Konoha and then gain a reason to start a war.
"They might attack each other and then frame Konoha, thereby inciting their own Villages' dissatisfaction with Konoha, and then directly wage war. This is also why they would allow some true Genin to participate, because they are likely the pawns arranged by their respective shinobi Villages."
Ling and Minato exchanged glances, both feeling a cold sweat. They seemed to have no way to escape this vortex.
Because they had already entered Hidden Rain Village, even if they announced their withdrawal from the Chunin Exams, they could still frame Konoha, and even claim that Konoha's non-participation in the Chunin Exams was to attack them on their way back.
Minato knew the situation was urgent, so he immediately summoned a communication toad and had it swallow the newly written intelligence to send to Jiraiya in Konoha.
Watching the communication toad return to Mount Myōboku, Ling felt that Konoha could probably only prepare for war in advance; this war was likely unstoppable.
Minato looked at the somewhat silent group and still comforted them not to worry, assuring them that the Village would definitely come up with a solution, and then told them to try not to go out, and if they did, to go in groups.
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