Pre-War
However, there are always a few people who overestimate themselves—and sure enough, someone came looking for trouble.
Early in the morning, Shirō was woken by a noisy commotion downstairs. Helplessly, after washing up and getting dressed, he made his way down to see who was bold enough to stir up trouble in Sunagakure.
To his surprise, it wasn't the Sand Ninja being reckless—it was the Amegakure shinobi.
Shirō glanced over and saw a group of Rain Ninja arguing loudly with the Sunagakure guards. He approached Tai Yi and asked, "What's going on?"
"Heh," Tai Yi chuckled, glancing at him. "Those Rain guys are complaining that their accommodations aren't good enough. So now they're throwing a fit."
"What about their leader? Isn't he managing them?"
"They all went to a meeting earlier. I heard it's about the Chūnin Exams. Teacher Nakamura and the others went too."
"No wonder no one's intervening," Shirō murmured.
He decided to simply stand by and watch the scene unfold. There was no need to interfere.
Those Rain Ninja were just fools clinging to Hanzo's reputation, unable to see the bigger picture. If they really believed they could challenge the Five Great Nations just because they had a 'Demi-God' on their side, then they were laughably naive.
Even ignoring the major players, Amegakure only had one Hanzo. The Five Great Nations each had multiple shinobi at his level—or higher. Konoha alone had several, especially during this era.
Even Takigakure—a minor village—was arguably stronger in terms of overall military potential. With their Hero Water and Jinchūriki, they could raise an elite fighting force. Compared to Amegakure, which relied almost solely on Hanzo, Taki was significantly more stable.
And despite that, they were even cooperating respectfully with Sunagakure.
Arrogance with no power to back it up—what a joke. No Tailed Beasts, no widespread elite forces, and they still wanted to challenge the Five Great Nations? Did they think Hanzo was on par with Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara?
So, the Rain Ninja continued to make a scene, while shinobi from the other villages stood around, watching with amused indifference.
Despite the Rain Ninja's hostility, the Sunagakure guards remained calm, likely under strict orders not to escalate matters and compromise the Kazekage's broader diplomatic goals.
Eventually, a Sunagakure official stepped forward. "Please calm down. We'll consult with Lord Kazekage about your complaints." This was merely a tactic to pacify them—no one actually went to report the issue. The Rain Ninja's leader wasn't stupid. He'd have to handle his own men when he returned.
---
Meanwhile, in the Kazekage's meeting hall, a different kind of storm was brewing.
The topic of dispute? The structure of the Chūnin Exams.
"No!" Homura Mitokado of Konoha slammed his hand on the table. "A second round in the desert gives Sunagakure too much of an advantage. That's absolutely unacceptable!"
Sunagakure's original plan consisted of three stages: a written test, a survival-style practical exam in the desert, and an arena-based final round.
The written and arena stages were uncontested. But the second stage—the desert survival exam—faced universal rejection. It was an environment that heavily favored the Sunagakure teams, who were desert natives.
The room had reached an impasse.
Then Roshi, the representative from Iwagakure and Jinchūriki of the Four-Tails, spoke up:
"If that's the problem, then why not make the second stage a team battle instead? It changes little in terms of assessment."
Iwagakure's decision to send Roshi was a strategic one. By this point in history, their next generation of elite shinobi was lacking, with Ōnoki forced to shoulder most of the village's burdens. Roshi's presence ensured their voice carried weight. Not only was he a Jinchūriki, but also a skilled and respected combatant.
Everyone fell silent to consider the proposal.
After a moment, the Kazekage finally nodded. "Very well. The second stage will be changed to a two-on-two team battle format. Does anyone object?"
Though he said "anyone," his gaze settled on Homura. The opinions of the smaller villages were irrelevant to him.
Among the current generation of Kage, the Third Kazekage was renowned as the strongest in Sunagakure's history. Besides the Hokage, none of the other Third Kage could truly claim superiority over him. His confidence wasn't misplaced.
After a pause, Homura responded, "Konoha has no objections."
The intelligence gathered the previous night had already confirmed that none of the participants posed a threat to Minato. There was no need for their trump card, Kōsuke Maruboshi, to appear.
With Konoha's agreement, the other villages followed suit. After all, if the Three Great Nations were aligned, the smaller villages had no grounds to oppose.
However, when it came to the distribution of benefits and rewards from the Exams, Konoha and the others would not concede an inch.
To the smaller villages, these Exams were little more than a ceremonial formality—most didn't expect to produce a winner. Instead, they focused their efforts on diplomatic gain and alliances.
---
While the leaders debated, Shirō was entirely unaware—and wholly uninterested.
He was busy collecting "souvenirs."
This was a rare opportunity, and it wouldn't make sense not to bring back some local treasures.
Of course, he didn't use Projection Magic in front of others—doing so would be reckless and might provoke unwanted attention. Instead, he'd go out for walks around the village, quietly observe the weapons and equipment used by other shinobi, and then return to his room to analyze, project, and record everything.
Even if he rarely used anything beyond Wind Release himself, these projections had value. He could share them with allies in the future or teach them to disciples. Knowledge was power, and he was determined to stockpile as much of it as possible.
Unfortunately, most of the Chūnin Exam participants weren't particularly skilled. Many came from small villages and only knew basic techniques like the Three Body Jutsu.
So Shirō focused on Sunagakure shinobi. They had a large presence here and were especially proficient in Wind Release—a perfect match for him.
Still, the variety was limited. Many of their jutsu overlapped.
After all, not every village was like Konoha, home to countless clans and thousands of jutsu techniques.
Nonetheless, Shirō collected diligently. These were all valuable assets.
Sadly, he couldn't use any elemental jutsu besides Wind Release. Everything else would be stored for future reference. Otherwise, he might have aimed to surpass even Kakashi Hatake in terms of technique variety.
The rest of his day passed like this—walking around, observing, recording, and projecting in secret. The sense of gain without conflict was incredibly satisfying.
Thanks to the sheer number of Sunagakure shinobi utilizing Puppetry Techniques, Shirō had even picked up the basics of Puppet Jutsu.
But honestly, it was practically useless to him.
Sure, he now had knowledge of how to construct and repair puppets, but parts weren't exactly sold in Konoha's markets. Unless he wanted to build every component from scratch, it was a futile pursuit.
Still, the blueprints and techniques for crafting individual puppet components would come in handy someday—especially when building his future Magic Workshop.
All in all, it had been a productive day.