I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball-Chapter 379: Persistent Raikage

"Joint Chunin Exam, huh..." Inside the Tsuchikage Building, Onoki was deep in thought as he looked at the documents in front of him.

Peace was hard-earned. With the Second and Third Shinobi World War happening in quick succession, everyone cherished these quiet moments and was working hard to recover.

As the village that suffered the heaviest losses in the war and even fought Kumogakure on a separate occassion, Konoha should be taking advantage of this time to recover.

So, why suddenly organize such a grand Chunin Exam, inviting six villages to participate, and three of which were the Five Great Shinobi Countries like Konoha?

Although on the surface Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure had signed peace treaties with Konoha, everyone should've already known that it was nothing but a useless piece of paper.

Moreover, Kumogakure had learned the lesson the hard way, and Onoki doubted those Kumogakure's hot-headed leaders could endure such humiliation. Stirring up trouble during the Chunin Exam seemed like the perfect opportunity for them to pay Konoha back.

Inviting so many powerful villages to participate in their Chunin Exam—wasn't Konoha just creating unnecessary trouble for themselves?

"Relay this to Konoha; I will personally lead the team that will participate in Konoha's Chunin Exam," Onoki finally said after a long contemplation.

"Tsuchikage, you're personally leading the team? Isn't that unnecessary? Konoha only invited Iwagakure. They didn't mention that you have to come," an Iwagakure Shinobi expressed his opinion.

"So what? Do you think they'll turn me away if I come?" Onoki replied indifferently.

"That's true, but..." The Iwagakure Shinobi did not know what to say to that.

It seemed undignified for them if Tsuchikage personally attended the Chunin Exam in Konoha.

"Just say that to Konoha. I have my own plan," Onoki dismissed the concerns.

Iwagakure Shinobi left promptly to convey the response to Konoha.

Onoki used Ninjutsu to float down and walked to the window.

Tsuchikage Building was quite high, that one could see the entire village through Tsuchikage's office. Onoki wondered what kind of plan Konoha had in mind for this Chunin Exam.

He was quite curious about Konoha's situation now. Due to the recent spy purging operation, all of Iwagakure's spies around Konoha had been eliminated. Onoki didn't particularly care about the spies' deaths. After all, they became a spy in another country knowing full well of the risks.

The problem was, even after the spies were eliminated, Onoki couldn't figure out how Konoha managed to defeat Kumogakure so fast.

Two months after the war started, the large-scale war hadn't even started, and Kumogakure was suddenly defeated out of the blue one day.

Onoki wouldn't be surprised if it were Sunagakure and they surrendered. After all, surrendering was a basic protocol.

But Kumogakure was a tough nut to crack, a village with considerable strength and a bunch of hot-headed fighters. How could such a village easily surrender without a fight?

Onoki had reasons to believe that Konoha had dealt a severe blow to Kumogakure in that war.

'Fujiwara Nagasawa, let me see with my own eyes if you're truly that strong,' Onoki said deep down.

If possible, he would rather not go to Konoha himself. If Konoha did have ill intentions, he was certain that he wouldn't return.

But there was no other choice. He didn't think anyone in Iwagakure was competent enough to become his successor aside from Kurotsuchi, and even that girl is not fit to be a Tsuchikage yet, so Onoki had to do this himself.

Afterward, Onoki issued another order to advertise the good relationship between Iwagakure and Konoha, and Tsuchikage would personally lead Iwagakure Shinobi to participate in Konoha's Chunin Exam.

All the preparations that could be made had been done. What happened next was beyond his control.

...

Sunagakure.

Rasa was contemplating whether Sunagakure should send more elite Shinobi to participate in Konoha's Chunin Exam. He saw this as an opportunity to restore Sunagakure's reputation, drew in more shinobi missions for Sunagakure, and regained the trust of Land of Wind's Daimyo, who had significantly reduced Sunagakure's annual funding due to their repetitive failures in wars.

He wanted to use Chunin Exam to showcase Sunagakure's strength, teaching the wealthy merchants and Daimyo that Sunagakure was not weak.

However, Rasa was concerned about Konoha's sudden decision to host the Chunin Exam and invite various villages. He was worried that there might be some ulterior motive behind Konoha's actions.

He became even more concerned when he heard that Onoki was personally leading the Iwagakure's participants for Konoha's Chunin Exam. Rasa made a swift decision - he would also lead a team of Sunagakure elite Shinobi to participate in the Chunin Exam and restore Sunagakure's glory.

Rasa had confidence in the old fox Onoki. If Onoki was personally leading Iwagakure, it should be safe. Rasa believed that even if Konoha had some ulterior motives, if Iwagakure and Sunagakure joined forces, Konoha would definitely think twice before taking any drastic actions.

Moreover, Rasa believed that Onoki's participation would enhance the popularity of the Chunin Exam and help achieve his goals.

Rasa immediately sent a response to Konoha, stating, "I will personally lead the participants to participate in the Chunin Exam."

He also instructed, "Spread the word in the ninja world that Sunagakure has always been a good ally of Konoha. We are participating in the Chunin Exam for the mutual development and cooperation of both villages."

Even though Sunagakure and Konoha tried to crush each other not too long ago, Rasa didn't mind emphasizing their friendship. He believed that it would put Konoha in a difficult position if they tried anything funny against Sunagakure during the exam.

....

Boom!

A loud noise reverberated as a finely crafted wooden table was instantly destroyed.

The Fourth Raikage glared furiously.

"That coward Rasa, is also going to personally lead the participants for the Chunin Exam in Konoha?" the Fourth Raikage couldn't help but ask.

Dodai nodded calmly and said, "Among the three Great Shinobi Countries invited by Konoha this time, both Iwagakure and Sunagakure are planning to have their Kage personally lead their participants."

Hearing this news, the Fourth Raikage became even more enraged.

He couldn't understand those people. Konoha was just hosting a Chunin Exam, yet both Kazekage and Tsuchikage were so eager to personally lead the participants from their village. Were they not afraid that this was just a trap that Konoha laid for all of them? They were more reckless than him, even more Raikage than the Raikage himself?

"Is this their ploy to force me to go to Konoha too?" The Fourth Raikage attempted to explain the abnormal behavior of Iwagakure and Sunagakure with conspiracy theories.

"It's unlikely. Compared to us, Konoha is a better target," Dodai thought for a moment and shook his head.

During wars, everyone generally wanted to eliminate the strongest opponent first. As Konoha had always been strong, most of the time, it was Konoha that was attacked the most.

Of course, due to their mutual suspicions, every time they agreed to team up against Konoha during a war, halfway through, they would turn on each other. Ambushing allies was a common occurrence.

Had the other Four Great Shinobi Countries consistently joined forces to take down Konoha, Konoha wouldn't have been able to withstand the pressure.

"Regardless, if Rasa is going, and I don't, then I'll look inferior to Rasa." The Fourth Raikage finally decided not to think too much about it, and like Onoki and Rasa, he chose to personally lead Kumogakure's participants to Konoha.

After careful consideration of the pros and cons, Dodai nodded and said, "I believe it shouldn't be a problem. With three Kage of the three Great Shinobi Countries gather in Konoha, even if Konoha try anything funny, they will have to consider facing the pressure from three Great Shinobi Countries at the same time."

"Lord Fourth, I hope you can take advantage of this opportunity to work together with other villages and bring Konoha down," Dodai suggested.

"For that end, it doesn't matter even if you reveal the reason for our defeat."

"Reveal that to them? Well, I don't mind. But they may not believe it," the Fourth Raikage said.

He and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki led 1,700 elite Kumogakure Shinobi and were defeated by one person, and it was a complete and utter defeat. If the Third Tsuchikage suddenly told the Fourth Raikage that he, along with the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, and several thousand elite Iwagakure Shinobi, were defeated by one person, and that person defeated them with ease, the Fourth Raikage would also think that the Third Tsuchikage was dreaming.

His father, the Third Raikage, possessed immense strength, having mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode to an extremely high level and boasting an incredibly powerful physique.

The Third Raikage could take on ten thousands Iwagakure invaders single-handedly, stopping them on their tracks. This was mainly due to his absurdly strong physique that could easily withstand most Ninjutsu. None of them could even scratch his skin.

However, stopping and defeating were two different matters.

The Third Raikage could stop ten thousand Shinobi because they were basically small fries.

Meanwhile, Nagasawa effortlessly defeated him and Killer B by himself and then took down 1,700 elite Kumogakure. Among them were undoubtedly highly skilled Shinobi, including Jonin and experienced Chunin.

These were two completely different scenarios.

The Fourth Raikage didn't believe anyone could understand his father, the Third Raikage, better than him.

Although his father was formidable, it was clear that Nagasawa was even more powerful, and by a considerable margin.

"I won't be worried about that, because that is the reality, and they will witness the terrifying strength of the current Konoha," Dodai said in a deep voice.

Their village, paid a painful price for underestimating Konoha.

Konoha's strength was evident, regardless of what others thought. It was undeniably powerful, and both Sunagakure and Iwagakure would eventually come to realize that.

"Compile a list of our Genin, and I'll take some elite Genin to participate in the Chunin Exam."

"Since we've been invited, they better be prepared to be humiliated in their own village," the Fourth Raikage smirked.

He couldn't defeat Nagasawa at the moment, so he would leave it to Kumogakure's Genin to restore their reputation.

.....

The previously calm ninja world, now devoid of war, suddenly became lively due to Konoha's Chunin Exam. Except for Kirigakure, which was currently under Obito's grasp, the entire world made a big fuss over this event. Some even speculated that this Chunin Exam would be the most prestigious in history.

The organizer was the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Six villages participated, with three of them also the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Notably, those three was led by their respective Kage.

A Chunin Exam with such a grand lineup was unprecedented.

Many wealthy merchants and nobles from other countries flocked to witness this historical event, eager to see the unprecedented spectacle of the Chunin Exam.

This unexpected turn of events surprised even Nagasawa. Originally, he just wanted to show off Konoha's strength and promote his newly developed Tags while he was at it. However, the response surpassed his expectations.

Nevertheless, Nagasawa was pleased with the turn of events. The Chunin Exam hadn't even started, and it already caused such a commotion. When he introduced his Tags, it would undoubtedly shake the entire world.

With more people coming, he felt even happier, as it made it more convenient for him to make more money for Konoha.

However, with such a significant event that attracted the interest of foreign merchants and nobles, the schedule had to be adjusted. Previously, the Written Exam, the Death Forest stage, and the final one-on-one combat were conducted separately. The guests were only invited to spectate the final one-on-one combat.

However, Nagasawa's Tags promotion would take place during the Death Forest Stage. So, he decided to invite everyone to spectate the entire Chunin Exam from the beginning.

There would be only a two-hour break between the Written Exam and the Death Forest Stage.

There was no need to watch the Written Exam, and once it concluded, Nagasawa planned to broadcast the Chunin Exam live on a big screen for everyone to watch.

"Quite nice, didn't expect them to willingly help me with the promotion," Nagasawa said happily.

However, since the Chunin Exams had garnered this much attention, participating alone wasn't enough for Nagasawa. He wanted to showcase the power of Konoha's Special Combat Division.

Nagasawa specifically approached Kabuto and Itachi, who were practicing together, and said, "This Chunin Exam is different from the previous ones. It would be best if both of you become Chunin this time. If you do, I'll reward you accordingly."

"What kind of reward?" Kabuto asked curiously.

Itachi also seemed intrigued.

"Whatever you want. It can be Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, or money maybe. You can also think of it as a wish. The better you do in the Chunin Exam, the more you can ask."

"If you simply passed as a Chunin, your wish could be 500,000 ryo or an A-rank Ninjutsu. If you you get first place, I don't mind giving you 5 million ryo, and some more..."

"5 million ryo..." Kabuto's eyes showed a hint of desire.

He became a Shinobi to do missions and earn money, but since he hadn't officially become Special Combat Division's member, he couldn't take on missions.

It had been a year since he graduated, and he hadn't taken on a single mission. While he wasn't short on money, all the money he got was from Nagasawa, and Kabuto didn't want to always rely on Nagasawa for money.

Even though this 5 million ryo would also come from Nagasawa, it would be a reward for fulfilling the agreement through his own efforts.

"A wish..." Itachi also revealed a thoughtful expression.