Jiraiya also agreed with Yoruha's assessment, though he found it hard to believe that Yoruha could only handle three or four members of the Akatsuki.
With a smile, he said, "I don't think you can only take on three or four. Even three years ago, none of the Akatsuki members were your match, right? Back then, I even thought you could handle the entire Akatsuki by yourself."
Tsunade nodded in agreement. "Jiraiya's right. Three years ago, you could easily defeat Orochimaru and even seal away Urashiki Ōtsutsuki. I don't think any of the Akatsuki members are as strong as Urashiki." Both of them had great confidence in Yoruha's abilities.
They didn't believe that Yoruha's strength had diminished compared to three years ago, even though he hadn't shown his abilities during that time.
Yoruha didn't argue, as it was pointless. Meanwhile, as Temari and Shikamaru walked down the street after leaving the Hokage's office, Temari curiously asked Shikamaru, "I have a question, but I'm not sure if I should ask it."
Walking beside her with his hands behind his head, Shikamaru lazily replied, "Are you wondering about Yoruha?" Temari nodded, clearly intrigued by Yoruha, who seemed very important according to Tsunade and Jiraiya.
A Hokage's guard and a jonin, apparently from the same class as Shikamaru, yet he never appeared in the Chunin Exams—too mysterious.
Shikamaru thought for a moment and said, "It's not like it's a secret. He's quite well-known in Konoha." Temari was surprised. "Well-known? Why have I never heard of him?" Although Temari was from Sunagakure,
someone famous in Konoha would generally be known across the major ninja villages. Shikamaru explained, "He's not famous for his combat skills, but for his medical ninjutsu."
"In Konoha, his medical ninjutsu surpasses even the Hokage's." Temari was stunned. "Better than the Fifth Hokage? The Fifth Hokage is the top medical ninja in the ninja world. How could someone have better medical skills than her?"
Tsunade's reputation as the top medical ninja had spread throughout the ninja world since the Second Shinobi World War. Along with the title of the Legendary Sannin, she was the idol of all female ninjas. Temari couldn't believe anyone could surpass her in medical ninjutsu.
Shikamaru smiled, "It's certified by the Hokage herself." Temari fell silent. "No wonder the Fifth Hokage seemed to value him so much earlier."
"Of course, he's also one of the Hokage's guards, and his strength isn't bad," Shikamaru added. In truth, Shikamaru had never seen Yoruha fight, but his father, as well as Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi, all said Yoruha was strong.
Even Sasuke and Naruto acknowledged Yoruha's strength. Sasuke was now undoubtedly a Kage-level powerhouse, and Naruto was at least a jonin-level expert.
Naturally, if they all thought Yoruha was strong, he couldn't be weak. At the very least, he was definitely at the jonin level. Temari, still curious, asked Shikamaru, "Is he really that strong? As strong as Uchiha Sasuke?"
Shikamaru thought for a moment and replied, "Probably about the same." It wasn't that Shikamaru wanted to hide anything; he genuinely didn't know. If he did know, he would have told Temari the truth.
He really didn't know. But Shikamaru's words surprised Temari. Because Uchiha Sasuke was now very famous in the ninja world, undoubtedly a Kage-level powerhouse.
He had the same level of deterrence as Minato back in the day. Even if Yoruha was only on the same level as Sasuke, it would mean that Konoha had gained another Kage-level powerhouse. Thinking about this, Temari was very shocked. "You Konoha folks sure have a lot of experts."
In Sunagakure, there were only two Kage-level experts. One was Gaara, and the other was Chiyo, who had already gone into seclusion.
As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, they surprisingly only had two Kage-level powerhouses, and one of them was an elderly recluse, which was quite embarrassing for the Five Great Ninja Villages.
And Konoha? With Tsunade as the Hokage, Jiraiya by her side, Uchiha Sasuke, and Yoruha, that made four. Plus, Sakura gave her the impression of being quite strong, at least at the level of a Jonin.
And then there was Naruto, who was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and seemed capable of fully transforming into the tailed beast. The Nine-Tails' power completely overshadowed Shukaku, making him another Kage-level powerhouse. Counting Naruto, that made five.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, perhaps only Kumogakure could compare. Kumogakure had the Fourth Raikage, Killer Bee, and Yugito Nii as Kage-level powerhouses, and Darui was also very strong. Even then, Kumogakure couldn't match the number of Kage-level powerhouses in Konoha now.
The reason Temari believed Naruto could fully transform into the tailed beast was because during the Chunin Exams, she and Kankuro watched from the edge of the battlefield and saw Naruto fully transform.
This led them to mistakenly believe Naruto was a perfect Jinchuriki, capable of complete transformation. That day, they also witnessed the vast difference between the Nine-Tails and the One-Tail. Both were tailed beasts, but the difference in combat power was immense.
The One-Tail, which they regarded as a natural disaster, was utterly crushed by the Nine-Tails, without any ability to resist. A few slaps and it was down, leaving them astounded. Konoha's current high-level strength was probably the best in the ninja world, and Temari was quite envious.
Even though they were both among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the gap was indeed very large. Moreover, Temari held a significant position in Sunagakure, which is why she sighed so much. Shikamaru chuckled, "Your Sunagakure isn't that bad either."
Temari rolled her eyes at him. As the sister of the Fifth Kazekage, wouldn't she know the state of Sunagakure? If it weren't for its large size, Sunagakure would have been wiped out long ago. The village severely lacked high-level combat power.
However, this aligned with Sunagakure's historical standing in the ninja world.
Since the establishment of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Sunagakure had always competed with Kirigakure for the last place, and Kirigakure had often surpassed Sunagakure.
Despite being the most closed-off village among the Five Great Ninja Villages, Kirigakure could still suppress Sunagakure for long periods, which spoke volumes about Sunagakure's strength.
Although the Land of Wind was vast, most of it was desert, and it was genuinely poor. Ninjas required a lot of money and resources, both of which were scarce in the Land of Wind.
After all, ninjas were human too, needing food, drink, and other necessities, and the tools they used were particularly expensive.
Just one explosive tag cost as much as several D-rank missions.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the wealthiest wasn't Konoha but, counterintuitively, Kumogakure.
Konoha's advantage over other ninja villages lay in its population, not in its economy or military.
Kumogakure led in both military and economic strength. Although its population wasn't as large as Konoha's, it was still significant. Sunagakure ranked last in military, economic, and population strength, even behind Kirigakure.
Given this foundation, Sunagakure was weaker than at any point in its history, illustrating just how vulnerable it was at the time.
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