Time flew by, and after a leisurely journey of sightseeing, the shadow Avatar of Hui finally led Nawaki and the others to Iwagakure, the Village Hidden in the Stones, in the Land of Earth.
"So, this is Iwagakure? It's really…"
Upon entering Iwagakure, Nawaki looked at the surrounding architecture, wanting to make a snide comment, but he swallowed his words.
After all, this wasn't Konoha, and he couldn't speak without restraint. Each place had its own customs and traditions, and a careless remark might inadvertently cause unnecessary trouble.
Thus, Nawaki kept his mouth shut and simply observed the surroundings.
While Konoha feared no other village, it was still unwise to cause trouble deliberately.
Minato, Kushina, and Konan shared Nawaki's caution. They refrained from speaking and curiously took in their surroundings.
As they examined the area, the group of five inevitably attracted attention from others.
"Konoha ninjas. These must be the participants for the chunin exams."
In the shadows, an Iwagakure ninja quietly whispered to his companion, glancing at the group and noticing the Konoha headbands.
His voice was hushed, betraying his fear.
Their fear of Konoha was deeply ingrained intheir bones, almost instinctive.
"It's Konoha. They've only sent this one team, and they all look so young. Is Konoha not taking this chunin exam seriously, sending just a bunch of kids to brush it off?"
On a higher floor, a Kumogakure ninja observed the group passing below and commented to his companion.
Kumogakure had sent a considerable contingent this time, and even their Third Raikage had come in person.
"Doesn't matter how many they send or what attitude they have. We'll just eliminate them all when the time comes."
A young, arrogant voice interjected. The speaker was a boy of about 14 or 15, with dark skin and a determined face exuding confidence and pride.
"Kasamo, the Raikage specifically warned us not to cause trouble before he arrived. Don't tell me you've already forgotten that."
A Kumogakure ninja frowned at the boy named Kasamo. This boy was a prodigy of the village, inheriting the Third Raikage's Black Lightning Storm Release. At just 14, he already possessed the strength of a jonin, possibly even an elite jonin, which made him quite arrogant.
"Tch. A bunch of cowards."
Kasamo scoffed, walking out of the room.
At such a young age, he was a known genius in his village, almost unmatched among his peers, which had made him somewhat conceited.
Having never experienced war firsthand, he couldn't fully comprehend Konoha's strength.
After eight years, he even regarded his village's fear of Konoha as a sign of weakness.
But it wasn't his fault. Eight years ago, he had been too young. Without seeing or feeling it for himself, it was hard to understand.
"This kid… we can't let him cause trouble!"
Someone tried to chase after Kasamo, but another ninja stopped him.
"This guy's temper isn't great. If you go, you might end up hurt. Let him go. No matter what he does, if he really offends Konoha, the Raikage will personally deal with him."
Hearing this, the ninja who had wanted to intervene paused but couldn't help grumbling.
"Hmph! I just don't want to be dragged down by this brat. If he provokes Konoha and causes them to declare war on us, even if he dies a thousand times, what good would it do?"
"Don't worry. Although he's arrogant, he's not stupid. He won't deliberately cause trouble for those Konoha ninjas. If anything, he'll wait for the chunin exams to do so."
As it turned out, this assessment was correct. While Kasamo was arrogant, he wasn't foolish.
He wouldn't recklessly provoke Konoha at this moment. Instead, he merely watched Nawaki, Minato, and the others from afar with a sinister smile.
…
Meanwhile, on another floor, a handsome young boy also observed the group below.
He looked to be around 11 or 12, his sharp eyes brimming with intelligence. His expression was calm, exuding a certain elegance.
"Ranzuki-kun, what is it? Are you nterested in those Konoha ninjas?"
A clear voice spoke behind him, and a delicate-looking boy stepped forward to join him in observing Nawaki's group.
"Those four must be Konoha's geniuses. I wonder how strong they are."
The delicate boy commented, not sharing the dismissive attitude of the Iwagakure ninjas who thought Konoha had sent a token team.
Though young, this boy had a sharp political sense and mature thinking.
In his opinion, if Konoha had sent these four ninjas, their strength couldn't be underestimated.
Konoha wouldn't agree to participate in the chunin exams only to send mediocre participants as a formality.
"They're strong. Especially the taller, dirt-blond one. I can feel a sense of threat coming from him."
The boy called Ranzuki replied, referring to Nawaki.
As the prodigy of Kirigakure's Hozuki Clan, Ranzuki had been identified as a genius by Hui four years ago. His strength was unquestionable.
Four years ago, Hui had assessed Ranzuki's strength as being between a skilled chunin and a special jonin. Now, four years later, Ranzuki had reached the level of an elite jonin.
And now, Ranzuki felt a sense of danger emanating from Nawaki.
This told him that the boy, who appeared to be around his age or perhaps a year or two older, was at least on par with him. At least the elite jonin level.
The delicate boy nodded, unsurprised but deeply impressed.
Elite jonin—especially at the age of 12 or 13—was almost unheard of.
The last time someone achieved such strength at this age was the famous ninja of Konoha.
And now, standing before him were two such individuals.
At 13 years old, thanks to his Ice Release kekkei genkai, the delicate boy had also reached jonin-level strength.
In earlier times, such talent and strength at his age would have shocked the entire ninja world.
But in this era of geniuses, when compared to these two, he seemed far less remarkable.
"Not surprising for Konoha. Not only do they have that one individual, but they also have so many geniuses. I thought you were the strongest participant in this chunin exam, but it seems another contender has appeared."
The boy's name was Kei Yuki, a genius from Kirigakure's Yuki Clan and a jonin at 13.
"I'll defeat him."
Ranzuki declared. Once, he had been seen as the hope to challenge Hui.
Four years later, he still fell short of Hui's level.
This fact weighed heavily on him.
But there was nothing he could do. Despite his efforts, his talent couldn't compare to Hui's at the same age.
Since he couldn't surpass Hui, he decided to surpass every other genius from Konoha instead.
"I believe in you."
Kei replied.
Perhaps only he truly understood how much effort his friend put into improving his strength and how immense the pressure on him was.
But it couldn't be helped. The name Hui was like a blade hanging over everyone's heads, ready to strike at any moment.
Under such pressure, the village had no choice but to focus on cultivating geniuses, inadvertently placing an enormous burden on them.
Kei himself had once been one of these hopefuls, but his talent paled compared to his friend's, and he had been cast aside.
In hindsight, he was grateful for that.
Otherwise, he might now be the one suffering under this crushing pressure.
As he reflected, Kei sighed inwardly.
The ninja world… Why did it have to give rise to someone as terrifying as Hui?
What path was there left for Kirigakure to take?