That night, inside the guesthouse where the Kirigakure delegation was staying.
"Those three Konoha brats are really that strong? They defeated all of you in a single move?" Mei Terumi asked with a frown as she looked at the Kirigakure Genin who had advanced to the second round.
"Mizukage-sama, their strength is far beyond ours," one of the Genin said shamefully. "If they hadn't shown mercy, we would've died instantly."
Mei narrowed her eyes after hearing the report.
'What exactly is Jie Uchiha planning?'
'If he came to stop the alliance between the three great villages, then why hasn't he made a move yet? Is he only using the Konoha Genin to intimidate the other villages? But someone capable of launching a coup and overthrowing a regime shouldn't need to go through so much trouble.'
If Jie wasn't targeting the alliance between Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure, then was he after Kirigakure's plan instead?
But that was impossible.
Kirigakure had hidden the operation extremely well. Right now, only the Akatsuki and Kirigakure's top officials knew about it. There was no way Jie could have gotten that information so early.
'Unless… Itachi Uchiha is secretly a spy for Konoha?'
The moment that thought appeared, Mei felt a chill run down her back. If that was true, then Kirigakure's entire operation might already be exposed before it had even begun.
How could they possibly succeed under Jie's watch?
But Mei quickly calmed herself down and pushed the thought aside. 'No matter what, the plan will begin in three days during the second round of the Chunin Exams.'
'Besides, the Akatsuki will deal with Jie.'
After dismissing the Kirigakure Genin, Mei turned toward Ao.
"How are the preparations?"
Ao's face was still pale after losing one of his eyes, but he immediately answered, "Everything is ready. Under the Akatsuki's cover, our forces are avoiding Kumogakure's surveillance and moving into position."
"If nothing unexpected happens, all of them will arrive by tomorrow night and completely surround Kumogakure."
Hearing Ao's confident report, Mei finally relaxed a little.
"Good. Don't contact the Akatsuki for the next few days," she said calmly. "The fewer moves we make now, the less likely we are to attract Kumogakure's suspicion."
Everything was already proceeding according to plan. At such a critical moment, there was no need to make unnecessary adjustments.
Meanwhile, while Mei and Ao discussed their preparations, Yugito, Onoki, and Rasa secretly gathered once again inside a conference room in Kumogakure.
"What exactly are Konoha and Kirigakure trying to do?" Onoki muttered, deep wrinkles forming on his old face.
"Kirigakure might not be a major problem. Mei Terumi probably just wants to show off the village's strength after becoming Mizukage so the other nations won't look down on them."
"But Jie Uchiha…"
A trace of confusion appeared in Onoki's eyes. "I truly can't understand what he's planning."
Hearing that, Rasa slightly shook his head.
"The stronger Konoha appears, the less it changes our decision to form this alliance," he said with a frown. "If Jie only wanted to interfere with the joint Chunin Exams, then all of his actions seem completely unnecessary."
Yugito remained silent, but her expression grew complicated.
Among the three of them, she was probably the only one who had personally fought against Jie. Combined with Matatabi's centuries of experience and her own instincts, she had a strange feeling that Jie simply looked down on the idea of sabotaging their alliance.
As for bringing the Konoha Genin to the Chunin Exams… It was more like he had come to make a statement.
Perhaps Jie only wanted the other villages to understand one thing...So what if they formed an alliance? In front of absolute strength, all schemes were meaningless.
And strangely enough, Matatabi felt that this guess was very close to the truth.
In Matatabi's eyes, Jie Uchiha wasn't the real danger. ...Kirigakure was.
Both sides were uninvited guests, but at least Konoha had a reasonable excuse. They could claim they came to stop the alliance between the great villages.
Kirigakure, however, was completely different. The Fifth Mizukage had personally arrived in Kumogakure without any prior notice.
If Mei only wanted to display Kirigakure's military strength, then normal diplomatic channels would have been enough.
There was no reason for them to secretly enter Kumogakure like this.
In Yugito's eyes, there was only one possible explanation.
Kirigakure originally had no intention of getting involved. However, because of some special reason, Mei Terumi had suddenly decided to interfere.
Perhaps someone had persuaded her. Or perhaps some outside force had influenced Kirigakure. But no matter what the reason was, one thing was certain...Kirigakure had seen profit in Kumogakure.
Only benefits great enough could tempt an entire ninja village to act, to the point where even the Mizukage personally stepped onto the stage.
Looking at Onoki and Rasa, who were still arguing over Jie's motives, Yugito silently sighed. Was this the so-called deception and intrigue of the human world?
Once everything was over, she no longer wanted to continue being the Raikage. She only wanted to return to the ninja world and live freely.
Soon, amidst the schemes and calculations of the major villages, three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The second and final round of the Chunin Exams officially began.
The round was divided into two parts: team battles and individual battles.
The team battles would be fought between the different ninja squads, and the winning teams would advance to the individual stage. After that, the ninjas from the victorious teams would be randomly matched against one another.
The winners would officially be promoted to Chunin.
As for the rest, they could simply try again next year.
A total of nine teams had advanced to the final round, meaning one team would automatically receive a bye during the first stage of the team battles.
And without any surprise, that spot went to Konoha's trio.
After all, the three of them had already displayed terrifying strength during the first round. There simply wasn't a single squad capable of surviving even one exchange against them.
Instead of letting the Konoha trio instantly crush another team, it was better to have them skip the first round altogether.
At the very least, the other villages could still put on somewhat balanced matches that way.
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