The second stage Chunin Exam was successfully completed after seven days under the supervision of head examiner, Shiranui Genma. In the end, a total of 21 individuals passed the second round.
Among these 21 people, the most outstanding is Sunagakure's Temari.
As for Konoha, there were no exceptionally outstanding Genin. But fortunately, nine out of these 21 people are from Konoha. Although they couldn't match others in terms of quality, the quantity surpassed the other four Shinobi Villages, maintaining a decent reputation for Konoha.
Ichigo Hot Spring Inn, Sunagakure's small courtyard.
Baki is currently applying bandages on Temari's injuries. In the Forest of Death, in order to save her companions, Temari was bitten by a poison insect from a Genin from Aburame Clan on her right hand. Even with her right hand impaired, Temari still managed to bring the two pig teammates to rise above others!
"Baki-sensei, my injuries aren't serious, right?" Temari is a little worried, for fear that the toxins in her right hand might not be completely cleared, affecting her performance in the final round.
"Don't worry." Baki calmly said with a smile, "This little injury will be healed in no time."
"But…" Temari looked at Baki hesitantly.
Before coming out of the Forest of Death, Genma, the head examiner of the second round, said that the final round of Chunin Exam will be announced separately. If it starts tomorrow, wouldn't she be on trouble?
Baki seemed to see through what she thought, and said with a smile: "As far as I know, for the final round, Konoha will invite Daimyo, ministers, celebrities, wealthy merchants, famous actors, best-selling authors, and other great people from surrounding countries come to watch the match, so it will take at least a month for them to arrive."
'One month should be more than enough for my injury to recover completely…' Temari was relieved.
Baki continued: "Konoha is inviting so many great people to watch, because they're hoping to use this opportunity to expand Konoha's influence and secure more missions! Unfortunately for them, among this batch of the candidates, you, Temari, is the most outstanding. You must perform well in the final round to leave a lasting impression on those rich spectators!"
"I understand!" Temari nodded solemnly.
Girls mature early, especially considering Temari's complicated family background.
Her father is Yondaime Kazekage, and her youngest brother is the village's humanoid weapon. From a young age, Temari has taken on responsibilities that shouldn't be shouldered at her age.
'As long as I win with the best results, I can bring a lot of missions to the village. At that time, Father does not have to complain about financial issues, then… maybe it will make Father treat Gaara a little better…'
Thinking of Gaara, who was autistic, bloodthirsty, and cruel, Temari felt both distressed and fearful.
"Don't think too much. Take this month to rest, recover, and adjust your mindset, okay?" Baki finishes the bandaging, tying a beautiful bow on the bandages.
Temari's mood brightens instantly when she sees the beautiful butterfly knot: "Thank you, Baki-sensei!"
...
Konoha's invitations to great people from various countries to watch the match had been sent out early. Minato estimated that these people should almost reach the territory of the Land of Fire. And in order to ensure their safety, Minato issued numerous missions in the mission hall to eliminate the bandits in the area.
After Kanpū learned this news, he turned pale with fright!
During the Third Shinobi World War, enemy Shinobi wreaked havoc within the borders of the Land of Fire, and the bandits took advantage of the chaos, causing misery for the people.
However, as the war ended, the enemy Shinobi receded like a tide, and Konoha's Shinobi dealt a nearly devastating blow to the bandit business in the Land of Fire, restoring peace to the people.
Over the years, the bandits, who are struggling on whilst at death's door, are gradually improving. But now, they didn't expect to face another crisis with the onset of the Joint Chunin Exam!
A large wave of great people from all corners of the Land of Fire rushed in, accompanied by their Shinobi escorts. And added to that, Konoha also dispatched Shinobi to eliminate the bandits. It can be seen that the bandit business in Konoha was about to face another harsh winter!
Kanpū wasn't concerned about the fate of those bandit scum. His main worry was his need for a steady supply of bandits!
Every day, he had to use Impure World Reincarnation to collect Toneri's ancestors, and that required at least one bandit per day.
On top of that, Kabuto has also started the human experiment of transplanting Hashirama's cells, so the bandits are also needed.
Although the quantities were not large, the critical point was the need for a continuous and steady supply every day.
If the bandit business were suddenly hit hard, it could possibly affect Kanpū.
Fortunately, Kanpū is a person with divergent thinking. If the bandit business in the Land of Fire has been hit, he can just go to neighboring countries!
At any rate, he has the Network Cable, and he could instantly teleport to neighboring countries. It wouldn't take much time, and this way, he could maintain a steady flow of bandits.
Meanwhile, news about the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, causing trouble in the Joint Chunin Exam had spread throughout most of the Shinobi World at a rapid pace.
The big guys finally learned that Minato, the ferocious tiger, has a dog for a son. And fortunately, because of this news, everyone secretly decided to wait for Naruto to become a Shinobi and come out to enter the cruel Shinobi World, before quietly killing him!
After all, he's just a useless second generation young master. As long as they were careful, they wouldn't leave too many traces. By then, Minato would not be able to find the killer even if he is furious, making it a perfect plan.
Over the next month, as Kanpū expected, the bandit business in the Land of Fire's border faced a severe downturn. When he ran to three of his 'usual spots' in a row, he couldn't even find one bandit. Those bandits had no choice but to flee to neighboring countries.
Helpless, he had to wander to neighboring countries, capture two bandits, and bring them back to the Land of Iron. One for collecting Toneri's ancestors with Impure World Reincarnation, and the other one is given to Kabuto as a test subject.
Time passed, and a month passed in a blink of an eye.
With the arrival of various countries' Daimyo, celebrities, wealthy merchants, actors, authors and other wealthy people, as well as their families, Shinobi and guards who escorted them, Konoha has gradually become a city that never sleeps.
First, all the shops selling Konoha specialties were emptied, followed by clothing stores, shoe storesand snack shops, all of which were bought out. Then, the business of those taverns and barbecue restaurants thrive, continuing from the evening until dawn. The business of hot spring also became extremely popular. Konoha's GDP income has risen by more than half due to the influx of these wealthy people.
Fugaku, the Advisor in charge of village's finances- that's right, it is that Uchiha Fugaku- seeing the retaliatory spending pattern of these people, he quickly went to find Minato, and asked him to postpone the final round of the Chunin Exam, which was originally scheduled to take place three days later, for another two days!
As for the reason, well, it wasn't about wanting to earn money from these people, that would be too vulgar. The main concern was that guests from afar deserved proper hospitality, and if Konoha didn't properly entertain them, Fugaku would feel 'guilty' for it!
Five days later.
The final round of the Joint Chunin Exam has officially begun.
In order to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, one of Minato's most trusted lackeys, Gekko Kanpū, personally assumed the role of the head examiner for this round!
The day was clear, with a blue sky and no clouds. Under the bright sunshine, Kanpū stood at the center of the stadium. The edge of the stadium surrounded by walls created with Earth Release Ninjutsu, towering up to tens of meters high.
Behind these tall walls were five stands capable of accommodating thousands of people each. At this time, they are already overcrowded, and various voices mixed together, creating waves of sound that echoed from afar.
Kanpū looked towards the main stand in the middle. At the top, Minato is wearing the Hokage Robe and Hokage Hat. There are four people beside him, one is Land of Fire's Daimyo, the other is Land of Grass's Daimyo, the Land of Rivers' Daimyo, and the last one, is also a Daimyo, from some remote country without a Shinobi Village. Kanpū couldn't remember their names, but he knew they were all wealthy individuals!
At this time, Minato was chatting with the four Daimyo in the main stand. About half an hour later, Minato smiled and walked to the front edge of the main stand. A beam of sunlight leaked through the eaves of the stand, illuminating his golden hair.
"Everyone…"
With the help of Chakra, Minato's voice spread far away, silencing the voices in the other stands. However, some female voices could still be vaguely heard.
"Is that Yondaime Hokage-sama?"
"The Yellow Flash that shook the Shinobi World… He's so handsome!!"
"I want to be his lover!"
Amidst the buzzing noises, Minato's voice came intermittently. Standing in the sun, Kanpū, who was tormented and drowsy, finally heard the good news: "The final round of the Chunin Exam officially begins!"