Chapter 45: Refusing to Bully Kids
Of course, Kakashi could tell that 'Buff Man Paradise' contained quite a few places that were metaphorical references to real figures in the ninja world, but he didn't pay much attention to that.
Didn't Jiraiya's 'The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja' have the same thing?
What Kakashi was worried about now was that he might never get to read the next volume.
He had been waiting for 'Icha Icha Paradise' from the age of eighteen until now, and it still hadn't appeared, this was despite the fact that Jiraiya kept writing tirelessly and constantly gathering material while traveling outside.
So what about Shiromo's 'Buff Man Paradise'?
Would Shiromo really still have the same kind of leisurely mood he'd had during the Land of Snow mission?
It was probably going to become a one-off masterpiece.
---
A few days later, Kakashi and a group of jōnin arrived at the Hokage's office and were informed of the list of other factions participating in this Chūnin Exam.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, originally only Sunagakure's Kazekage, Rasa, had informed them in advance that he would participate. The rest were all smaller ninja villages.
The remaining people were purely spectators, here only to watch the excitement.
Now, however, Kirigakure, which had been silent for a long time, and Iwagakure, which had recently caused an uproar due to internal reforms, were also going to participate.
This made Sarutobi Hiruzen somewhat uneasy.
This was not the Boruto-era Chūnin Exams. Having ninjas of three major ninja villages, along with their Kage, gathering in Konoha was far too dangerous.
Previously, when only the Kazekage was coming, Hiruzen hadn't been very worried.
He understood Sunagakure's situation.
But Iwagakure and Kirigakure were different.
One had just gone through reforms; the other was shrouded in uncertainty.
"Hm? Third Hokage-sama, they're participating too?"
Kakashi noticed a familiar name on the visitor list.
"Yes."
Hiruzen nodded, without elaborating.
After Kakashi had brought back information about Death Controlling Possessed Blood last time, Hiruzen had instructed him not to spread it, to avoid causing panic.
Whether it was true or false, if the other side had brought this up, they definitely had goals beyond simply killing people.
At present, responding to change by remaining unchanged was the best approach.
Since the other party would appear at the Chūnin Exams, their objective might reveal itself then.
The other jōnin were unaware of this matter and were puzzled by the person Kakashi had mentioned.
"Who is it?"
Might Guy was the first to lean over, following Kakashi's line of sight to the list.
There were only two visitors from Amegakure, the leader of Amegakure Village, and Shiromo.
"Don't know him."
Might Guy scratched his head, tossed out those three words, and returned to his original position.
Although Might Guy's team had also participated in the Land of Snow mission last time, they had stayed in the shadows from beginning to end. Combined with Might Guy's mysterious difficulty recognizing people, forgetting even those he had met and fought, it was no surprise that Shiromo left no impression on him.
The other jōnin paid no attention at all to the two people from Amegakure and instead looked toward the densely packed list below.
"Why are there so many people from Kirigakure and Iwagakure?"
Yūhi Kurenai widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief.
"The reasons given by the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage are that they lost too much combat strength in the past. The new generation of ninja hasn't experienced much real fighting, so they want them to gain experience through the Chūnin Exams. Whether they pass or not doesn't matter."
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe as he explained.
"Kirigakure is probably referring to the Blood Mist, and Iwagakure to the Third Great Ninja War and that battle with the Third Raikage… The reasoning itself isn't problematic, but can it really be trusted?"
"So many ninjas are being let into the village, what if they band together and start a riot?"
Asuma also took a drag of his cigarette and voiced his concern.
"I'll have ANBU monitor and analyze the ninja from those two villages in advance once they enter the Land of Fire. If their strength really is average, that would mean the Mizukage and Tsuchikage have no hostile intentions."
"As for whether they'll notice and become dissatisfied, we can apologize to them afterward."
Hiruzen tapped his fingers on the desk and quickly came up with a plan.
Kirigakure and Iwagakure were sending large numbers of genin to the Chūnin Exams. If these really were genin and they actually dared to stir up chaos in Konoha, it would be very easy for them to suffer heavy casualties.
Although jōnin were the key figures of a village and chūnin its backbone, genin did not mean cannon fodder.
The vast majority of genin had the potential to grow into chūnin. Losing too many genin would also mean a gap in the village's combat strength for a period of time.
But Hiruzen didn't dare gamble.
So he decided to be cautious.
Even if ANBU's conclusion was that nothing was abnormal, he still needed to guard against the Mizukage and Tsuchikage having other intentions.
Hiruzen decided to send ANBU to look for Jiraiya and Tsunade outside the village and inform them of the crisis Konoha was facing.
If they could be found, Jiraiya would probably return. Tsunade was harder to say.
All he could do was try his best.
Hiruzen dismissed the jōnin.
He then began smoking heavily in the Hokage's office.
The only thing he felt relieved about was that even if the Tsuchikage and Mizukage were plotting something, the Kazekage would not be involved.
According to intelligence, Iwagakure and Kirigakure had joined something called the Economic Mutual Alliance in a manner similar to forming an alliance.
But Sunagakure had not.
---
Several days later.
Shiromo and Konan, wearing a straw hat and arriving under the title of Amegakure's leader, reached Konoha.
The people from Iwagakure and Kirigakure had already arrived earlier.
Konoha's inns were instantly packed to capacity.
ANBU reported back to Hiruzen, the ones who came were really genin, and even among genin, they were on the weaker side.
That's right.
Hiruzen really had overthought things.
The large-scale participation of Kirigakure and Iwagakure in the Chūnin Exams had been suggested by Shiromo.
The purpose was to prevent a repeat of what happened in the Fourth Great Ninja War, when the batch of ninjas fighting against Hōzuki Gengetsu could do nothing but throw kunai and shuriken, and after throwing them, would even beg the enemy to let them pick them back up.
That was also why Shiromo didn't directly tell these old foxes about things like the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Sometimes, even if you tell the truth, others won't believe it.
"It's really lively."
Konan looked at the scene in Konoha and sighed.
"Don't worry. Our place will become lively too, sooner or later."
Shiromo let out a light chuckle.
A weak country stuck in the middle was nothing but a tragic buffer zone between great powers.
A strong country in the middle became the center of the world, where all roads led.
"You really don't plan to go have some fun? If you want teammates, I can call Ajisai and the others over to team up with you."
Konan's gaze swept over the young, energetic genin squads, and the corner of her mouth lifted slightly as she asked Shiromo.
"Is bullying kids interesting?"
"You're not that much older than them yourself, are you?"
"..."
She wasn't wrong.
Leaving aside the over-aged genin from Kirigakure and Iwagakure, and Yakushi Kabuto, the spy who was in his twenties.
Even Temari from Sunagakure was already fifteen. She only truly became a chūnin in the next Chūnin Exams, when she was seventeen.
So age really wasn't an issue.
The Chūnin Exams weren't some kind of "immortal cultivation selection" with age limits.
"Forget it. I'm not as thick-skinned as Orochimaru, using Kage-level strength to bully a few genin."
Shiromo still refused.
(End of this chapter)