The next morning, the sun rose as usual.
Before the third round of the Chunin Exam could begin, there would still be several days of preparation.
Unlike the first two rounds, the third exam was more like a grand competitive event. Not only was it open to daimyos and ninja village leaders, but it was also open to Konoha's villagers and traveling merchants. It was practically a festival for the entire village.
Naruto didn't go out during the past few days. Instead, he stayed in the hotel adapting to the fully restored Nine-Tails.
Kurama, who had returned to his peak state, occasionally tried to negotiate conditions with Naruto, but Naruto mercilessly suppressed every request. Just like Wood Release and the Sharingan, sealing techniques had miraculous effects when dealing with tailed beasts.
Otherwise, if he wanted to suppress the Nine-Tails purely with his own strength, he would probably need several more years of training.
During these past few days, Kushina kept urging him to go outside more often. After temporarily returning to the ninja world as one of the dead, she also wanted to see whether the current Konoha was still the village she remembered.
Unfortunately, after the Nine-Tails incident, the streets and layout of Konoha had changed drastically.
The Uchiha clan's territory had been directly confiscated. Within the entire clan compound, only Sasuke lived there alone, and the conversations among the villagers were filled with dissatisfaction toward modern-day Konoha.
Still, Kushina didn't complain much about it. Instead, she encouraged Naruto to keep a positive attitude.
Namikaze Minato, on the other hand, looked increasingly grim.
After learning in detail about everything that had happened over the years, he became more and more convinced that using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal back then had been a terrible mistake.
But what he couldn't understand most was Obito.
Neither the village nor Minato himself had ever wronged Obito.
And whenever Minato tried asking around about matters related to the Third Hokage, the villagers' expressions became even uglier—not because of the respected Third Hokage himself, but because of the Sarutobi clan.
As the Hokage who led Konoha through two Ninja World Wars, the Third Hokage was naturally still respected by the villagers.
But that respect belonged only to Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, not to the Sarutobi clan standing behind him.
After losing their positions in ANBU and other major departments, the Sarutobi clan had become another unstable element within the village.
Some of their ninjas joined the police force, while others entered different departments.
During missions, they didn't make any fatal mistakes, but they constantly caused countless minor problems, making them extremely dissatisfied with team leaders and those in power. Yet because of the Third Hokage's prestige, no one openly confronted them.
Thinking about this, Namikaze Minato sighed softly when Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan came to mind.
He suddenly understood why Kakashi hadn't informed Jiraiya-sensei.
This time, Orochimaru sneaking into Konoha wasn't necessarily targeting Konoha itself.
It might specifically be targeting the Third Hokage.
"As Hokage, how does it feel revisiting your old home after death?"
Even from several hundred meters away, Naruto, as the caster, could still hear Namikaze Minato muttering to himself. There was obvious sarcasm in Naruto's tone.
"The situation in the village isn't very good, but if you gave me ten years, I'm confident I could improve it."
Hearing this, Naruto burst into laughter.
"What a pity—you don't have ten years."
"At most, within five years, the entire ninja world will undergo massive changes. Even if I removed the control over you right now, you still wouldn't be able to turn the tide."
"So that's why you left Konoha and established Uzushio Village? I still haven't seen your village yet."
Naruto pondered for a moment before sending out a shadow clone to find Minato. After the two exchanged memories through a fist bump, Namikaze Minato's expression immediately changed.
The Land of Uzumaki was a nation without ninja villages.
More precisely, ninjas themselves had replaced the daimyo and government officials.
When Minato saw ninjas and civilians standing side by side, using ninjutsu for production and construction, and laboratories researching miniaturized ninjutsu technology, disbelief appeared in his eyes.
Although the Land of Uzumaki was still weak for now, in the future it would undoubtedly surpass Konoha.
What a shame…
Why hadn't Naruto simply overthrown the Third Hokage and stayed behind in Konoha to carry out reforms instead?
The moment that thought appeared, Namikaze Minato immediately recalled Naruto's childhood experiences.
Speaking of which, the root of everything was still his own fault.
Naruto guessed what Minato was thinking and calmly said:
"This has nothing to do with you."
"I won't blame heroes who died for the village."
"This is the fault of that old bastard from the Third Hokage and certain villagers."
Namikaze Minato fell silent before quickly asking:
"You said earlier that the ninja world would undergo major changes within five years. Does that mean Uzushio Village plans to attack other ninja villages?"
Naruto lightly shook his head.
"The Land of Uzumaki won't take action against other nations for the time being."
"But another country trapped between the great powers might."
"And your beloved student, Uchiha Obito… he's also one of the unstable factors."
"The waters of the ninja world run much deeper than you imagine."
"You were still too young as the Fourth Hokage."
After saying that, Naruto proactively cut off the conversation.
There was no need for him to say much more to Namikaze Minato.
Even if Minato were fully revived, his strength still wouldn't play a major role in the battles of the future.
...
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the third round of the Chunin Exam arrived.
After deliberately losing his match, Naruto openly appeared in the audience stands, bringing Kushina and Namikaze Minato with him to watch the battles.
There was popcorn and cola beside them as they casually looked toward the luxurious VIP viewing platform directly opposite them.
Besides the Fifth Hokage Jiraiya and his assistant Tsunade, even the retired Third Hokage had come to watch the matches.
And sitting near the Third Hokage was Orochimaru disguised as the Fourth Kazekage, along with the thin and frail Daimyo of the Land of Fire—the nominal supreme ruler of the entire nation.
The Fire Daimyo covered half his face with a folding fan and slowly said:
"Third Hokage, when I saw your resignation letter two years ago, I honestly couldn't believe you actually chose to retire."
"I thought you'd continue for several more years."
"I'm old now. I have to admit defeat eventually."
The Third Hokage chuckled before continuing:
"Jiraiya and the others have done fairly well recently. It's finally time for me to enjoy retirement."
"Makes sense."
The Fire Daimyo closed his fan and calmly said:
"For a profession like ninja, being able to retire alive is already rare enough."
"It's just unfortunate that Danzo betrayed the Land of Fire. Even now, nobody knows exactly what he was planning."
The Third Hokage's expression shifted slightly as he looked toward the Fire Daimyo.
"Has Daimyo-sama been harassed by Danzo's remaining followers? I can ask the Fifth Hokage to send people to investigate those rogue ninjas."
The Fire Daimyo lightly shook his head before changing the topic.
"That matter isn't important."
"But the reforms Jiraiya and Tsunade have implemented over the past two years have gone too far."
"They've even started interfering with matters in the daimyo's capital."
"That goes against the agreement made between the First Hokage and our ancestors."
The Third Hokage looked slightly confused.
"Their reforms are indeed somewhat radical."
"If Daimyo-sama is dissatisfied, I can advise them as a consultant."
"After all, the interests of Konoha and the Land of Fire are one and the same."
Hearing this, the Fire Daimyo frowned slightly before reopening his folding fan and turning his attention back toward the battles below.
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