Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 354 Changes in the Underground Palace
On Konoha's side, everyone's expressions darkened slightly.

Among the Cloud Village team, Karui, who had the most fiery temper, could no longer contain himself. Anger flashed across his face, and his hand unconsciously went to the hilt of his sword at his waist.

Omoi, standing next to her, muttered under his breath with a worried expression, "Oh no, are we going to fight again?"

Both of them were members of Samui's team and had the closest relationship with Samui.

They naturally felt anger towards Hyuga Kumokawa, who had turned Samui into this state.

Without a doubt, among the five great nations, Konoha harbors the deepest grudge against Kumogakure.

Even Iwagakure, which relied on sheer numbers to overwhelm the Third Raikage, would likely rank second to Konoha in the hatred rankings of many Kumogakure ninjas.

Among them, Hyuga Kumokawa, who killed thousands of Kumogakure ninjas with a single blow of "Takemikaze" and personally rewrote the course of the war, is the deepest pain and hatred in the hearts of countless Kumogakure ninjas.

Even though the two villages are now nominally cooperating, this deep-seated hatred cannot be easily resolved in just one or two meetings.

"Yun Chuan?"

Faced with this provocative question, Jiraiya laughed and said, "He's the Fifth Hokage now, with countless responsibilities. Why would he personally risk coming to a place like this?"

As he spoke, his gaze once again swept over Samui at the end of the Cloud Village team, seemingly casually.

However, Samui's reaction was beyond his expectations.

She seemed to ignore the name "Hyuga Kumokawa," showing no emotional fluctuation whatsoever, not even a flicker of her gaze.

She simply stood there quietly, her eyes fixed intently on the vast depression in the distance, through her mask.

Hmm? No reaction at all to the name Yun Chuan?

"It seems that the Hidden Cloud Village sent her here not to target the Hidden Leaf Village."

Jiraiya's eyes flickered as he thought, "It's because they also remembered the existence of the 'monster' who left this mark."

Was this woman one of the eyewitnesses, survivors, or someone with inside information?

"Hmph, that kind of guy actually became a Kage, you Konoha..."

The two Yugitos snorted coldly, their tone almost overflowing with sarcasm, and they wanted to say something more.

However, before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a new noise.

rustle!

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw several figures appear on the other side of the hillside.

The leader, with a cold and stern expression, was none other than Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage.

Beside him followed a figure wearing an animal mask and completely shrouded in robes, making it difficult to discern its true nature, which caused Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow.

Almost simultaneously, the sound of air being cut came from two other directions.

The group from Iwagakure arrived, led by the tall and burly Huang Tu, with a kind face but a steady gaze, and the obese but not clumsy Akatsuchi.

Immediately afterwards, the people from Kirigakure arrived.

Leading the group was the short Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, and behind him followed a figure that made most of the people present pause in surprise.

The man had shark-like blue skin, sharp teeth, and gill-like structures on his cheeks, making him extremely frightening in appearance.

Is this human?

Why are there always so many strange-looking guys in Kirigakure?
Jiraiya's gaze swept over the shark-faced man, especially the huge sword wrapped in bandages on his back. His eyes narrowed slightly, clearly recognizing him.

Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the second generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, is the current user of the great sword Samehada.

According to intelligence, this guy personally killed his superior, the former Samehada wielder Suigetsu Hozuki. He possesses an astonishing amount of chakra and is nicknamed "The Tailed Beast Without a Tail"...

This guy is probably one of the few dangerous individuals in Kirigakure these days. With this, the teams from the five great ninja villages participating in this joint exploration of the dungeon have finally assembled here.

However, the atmosphere did not become more lively with the increase in the number of people; instead, it fell into a more subtle and tense stagnation.

The various groups sized each other up, their eyes filled with scrutiny and wariness.

"Now that everyone has arrived..."

As one of the initiators of this joint operation, Jiraiya broke the uncomfortable silence first, smiling and saying, "Then, as agreed, we..."

Just as he finished speaking...

Bang!
A deep, muffled roar, seemingly originating from the depths of the earth, suddenly came from afar, causing the ground to tremble slightly!

This sudden turn of events caused the already tense crowd to change their expressions drastically, with almost everyone instinctively adopting a fighting or defensive stance.

However, Jiraiya, Yagura, Rasa, and Yotsuchi were able to instantly identify the source of the sound.

Their gazes all turned in the same direction, towards the deeper part of that depression, to the location of the underground palace!

"Something's happened in the underground palace!" someone shouted in a low voice.

"go!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiraiya transformed into a blur and sped off towards the direction from which the loud noise came.

"Follow up!" The others exchanged glances and immediately led their teams to follow closely behind.

In an instant, the elites of the five great ninja villages, because of this sudden change, temporarily put aside their suspicions and grudges and rushed towards the abyss leading to the underground palace!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Several years have passed, and the secrets of the first level of the underground palace and the treasures it contains have long been known to the outside world.

Especially after learning that Kumogakure, Konoha, and Iwagakure had all benefited from it, this forbidden area located deep beneath the abyss became like a candle flame in the night, constantly attracting moths to fly into the flame.

At this moment, inside the first level of the underground palace, behind the stone statue of the ten-tailed juvenile, the hundred-meter-long bronze gate is far more shocking than it was a few years ago.

The air was filled with a nauseating odor, and torn pieces of clothing were scattered everywhere.

Headbands worn by rogue ninja from different ninja villages, leather armor favored by bounty hunters, and even distinctive attire of ninjas from certain small countries...

These fabrics have long lost their original color and resilience, and have become moldy and rotten in the damp environment, silently telling the story of the final destination of each visitor.

The ground was soaked in blood, dried and blackened, marks left by the repeated washing away of the blood over time.

On either side of the giant gate were countless skeletons that had not completely decayed, their bodies twisted and shriveled, clinging to the ground or rock walls, as if they were still struggling in vain to escape at the end of their lives.

Given the greed of the Giant Gate, it will only drain the visitor's chakra, flesh, and soul, leaving no corpse behind.

These corpses belonged to bounty hunters and rogue ninjas who were overconfident in their chakra reserves, possessed special techniques, or were blinded by greed for huge bounties.

They firmly believed they would be the exception, and with a sense of侥幸 (a lucky break), they went one after another to challenge this forbidden underground palace.

In the end, without exception, they fought each other, adding a twisted, struggling human figure to the "mural" on the door and a few scraps of cloth to the ground.

However, there are also more cunning and ruthless "clever people" who choose to lie in wait in the shadows, like venomous snakes.

They might even spread false information to lure more unsuspecting "prey" to come and offer their lives as "sacrifices" to that giant gate.

Because they know that this door requires a massive amount of chakra and flesh to open, and as long as they continue to "feed" it, one day the door will open for them.

As a result, the people lurking here have even reached a tacit agreement of non-aggression.

But today, the fragile balance they maintained has been completely shattered...

(End of this chapter)