Konoha Notes

Chapter 134 Spectators
This involves Hiruzen Sarutobi's complex attitude towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru was obsessed with the research of ninjutsu and immortality, and he was too close to Danzo, which led to his defeat in the competition with Minato Namikaze.

But to say that he dislikes this apprentice or doesn't want him to succeed is not true.

Agreeing to allow the Land of Rice Fields to establish its own ninja village is no small matter.

The existence of a ninja village cannot be determined by a simple report or by one or two secret investigations by the Root or Anbu to prove its harmlessness.

This signifies a substantial change to the ninja world map.

In the past, the Land of Fields was within Konoha's sphere of influence, and they could decide their own mission quotas and border patrols.

Once the Hidden Sound Village is officially established here and receives recognition from Konoha, many things will become complicated.

How should future border outposts be deployed? Should they extend deep into the Land of Fields, or retreat to the border of the Land of Fire?

The Hidden Sound Village may be obedient now, but what about later? In the early stages of a village's establishment, there are two or three Jonin, a dozen or so Chunin, and several dozen Genin. At this size, they can survive without subsidies or funding from the Land of Rice Fields and can even take on missions outside.

What if they develop for a few more years? Adopting orphans, taking in young ninja clans, recruiting wandering ninjas—that would be huge! Can they keep their promises to Konoha now? Where will they get the funds to survive and develop?

These issues won't be problems for the current Shadow, but rather troubles for future Shadows.

At that point, dealing with the issue would no longer be a simple matter of the ninja village solving the problem of the small ninja clan.

"She's really going to cause me trouble," Tsunade muttered to herself.

Then he stuffed the application documents for Otogakure Village in the Land of Fields back into the pile of documents, intending to avoid seeing them and getting annoyed.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi is still in office. Even if he retires, he won't be dead; he'll just remain in the position of advisor and elder. Whether Otogakure is in trouble or not will become clear in a few years.

If there's a real problem, she'll let the old man take his people and handle it himself!

Sitting opposite her, Shuji quietly observed her agitation, without intending to say anything more.

Even if Orochimaru joins forces with Tsunade and the advisory council to reject the plan, it won't have much impact on him. It's not like he necessarily wants to create the Sound Village in the Land of Rice Fields.

Furthermore, before the Konoha Crush plan, Orochimaru hadn't taken any action against Konoha. As for the Konoha Crush plan, it's hard to say who it was aimed at, but it's highly unlikely that he really intended to destroy Konoha. If he really did, Orochimaru wouldn't have needed to kill Rasa beforehand.

Let's leave it at that and wait and see.

"Hey," Tsunade tapped the table to get Shuji's attention, "The Chunin Exams start tomorrow, are things alright on your end?"

Shuji looked at him with a puzzled expression: "What do you mean? I'm on vacation, and theoretically I shouldn't be responsible for any problems."

Tsunade glared at him, annoyed. "Don't emphasize that to me. I'm talking about Uchiha Itachi. Your team members have advanced, so at least show me some concern."

"The Hidden Cloud Village's Xi and the Hidden Grass Village's Wugou don't seem like easy opponents."

Shuji's tone remained calm and even: "Then, I sincerely wish that they can all perform to their full potential in the competition and deliver a wonderful match."

He stood up and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. I have an appointment to see them early this morning."

It seems that Hayami Shigeru has received some feedback regarding Naruto Uzumaki.

Since the higher-ups have decided not to reveal his identity for the time being, Xiu Si does not intend to overstep his bounds, but he hopes to improve the child's living conditions at least slightly through his own means.

Just because we take some things for granted doesn't mean we should continue to do them.

The atmosphere at the old house in the western suburbs was much more relaxed than at the Hokage Building. Hayami Shigeru and Kachi Onju were already seated, and a faint aroma of tea filled the air.

"I'm sorry to trouble you all this time for my personal request," Xiuji said, expressing his gratitude as he sat down.

"It was a small matter, but you worked hard to organize everyone and even found Lady Tsunade," Hayami Shigeru said with a hearty laugh.

As Shuji grows stronger and Tsunade gradually takes over the village's affairs, Shuji's request at this time is more likely to strengthen the cohesion of this loosely organized group.

Kachi Onju said, "We've gathered everyone's opinions, and it's very simple: if we encounter that child, we should treat him with normalcy. If he encounters any minor troubles, we should lend a hand. They're just trivial matters."

The conversation then turned to the daily life in the village.

Kachi Onju, who was in the sealing team, mentioned the recent busyness: "The barrier team is extremely busy. A large number of outsiders have poured in, and all the ninja clans have requested to strengthen the defense of their own clan territories. A lot of manpower has been transferred there, and even our sealing team has gone to provide support."

Shuji asked, "Has the village's original large-scale early warning barrier stopped functioning recently?"

"Yes, it's temporarily closed. We can only set up small barriers at key locations, mainly to prevent anyone from accidentally entering or spying."

Hayami Shigeya said, "The Daimyo and his entourage are easy to handle, since they are just ordinary people. The trouble is the guards who came in with the Daimyo and his entourage. If we don't let them in at all, it would make the village seem too cautious. We can only register them and then try to arrange for someone to keep an eye on them."

After that, they talked about things like the number of students at the Ninja Academy reaching new highs, and the village starting to recruit teachers for the Ninja Academy in the past two years. After chatting for a while, because the Chunin Exams were tomorrow and they still had work to do, Hayami Shigeru and Kachi Onju took their leave early.

The following day, the Chunin Exams main venue was bustling with activity.

The stands were packed; for ordinary people, the opportunity to safely watch ninjas fight is rare.

In other contexts, they would either be directly involved or become victims, and only in situations like the Konoha Joint Chunin Exams would they have this opportunity.

Shuji was pulled over by Anko early on. On the way, the two saw Itachi Uchiha, Fugaku, Mikoto, and Itachi's younger brother Sasuke, who had come to watch the match.

Itachi greeted Shuji and Anko as they came up.

"My brother will definitely be able to defeat everyone and become a Chunin." Sasuke followed his brother, looking very excited. "When I grow up, I want to be like my brother!"

Itachi simply gave his younger brother a gentle smile, and then took him back to their parents.

“Itachi’s younger brother is much more energetic than him,” Anko remarked, observing the scene.

"Itachi is the eldest son."

The two entered the venue and found a relatively secluded spot in the stands to sit. It offered a good view while avoiding the main crowd, making it a popular spectator spot among the village's ninjas.

Once he arrived at the venue, Shuji became interested in the schedule of the main competition.

Ten people have entered the main tournament: two from Kusagakure, two from Sunagakure, three from Kumogakure, and three from Konoha.

The draw results were quite interesting: Mukoku from Kusagakure faced Itachi from Konoha, while another Kusagakure ninja, Ryuzetsu, played against Hii from Kumogakure. Two Sunagakure ninjas were matched against the remaining two Kumogakure ninjas, while the other two Konoha genin ended up in an internal battle.

Looking at it this way, it would be strange if Konoha hadn't rigged the draw.

The plan is to eliminate the Grass Village faction first, since they've already made it to the main tournament, and they won't have a chance to participate in the later stages.

Just as Shuji was analyzing the schedule, Red Bean, who had been chattering away beside him, suddenly fell silent.

Her body tensed slightly, and one hand unconsciously gripped Xiu Si's sleeve.

"Xiu...Xiuji..."

Shuji turned his head to the side.

Seeing that Hongdou had covered the back of her neck with her other hand, she said, "This, this feeling..."

Shuji frowned: "Is the cursed seal in pain?"

The girl's face turned pale, and cold sweat even beaded on her forehead: "There's no mistake, it's him..."

Orochimaru, he's right here!

Has the Konoha Crush plan been brought forward? Orochimaru delivered himself to the scene?

The thought flashed through my mind. The current state of Konoha is not the same as in the original story. Unless Orochimaru comes with a high-precision Edo Tensei, he will definitely be defeated.

So he quickly put the idea aside and looked toward the VIP seats where the daimyo were.

Amidst the bustling crowd, a scene of elegant attire and smiling faces, his gaze swept quickly across each face, searching for any trace of discord.

In that instant, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a pair of dim yellow pupils, eyes that held a mixture of mockery, scrutiny, and curiosity.

The feeling was fleeting. As Xiu Si focused his attention to confirm, the VIP seats were still filled with the lords and nobles of various countries chatting and laughing, while the guards stood solemnly with expressionless faces. Everything seemed so normal, as if the fleeting glances just now were merely an illusion caused by light and shadow.

Shuji was certain it wasn't an illusion. His gaze swept over the main stage, where the Third Hokage, Tsunade, and Chiyo of Sunagakure were all. Tsuchikage of Kumogakure was on the side of the participating teams; his status wasn't high enough to warrant a place on the main stage.

He gently patted Hongdou's hand, which was gripping his sleeve tightly; the touch was icy cold. "How are you feeling? Should we leave here and go rest for a bit?"

“It feels a bit weaker…” Hongdou swallowed hard, her voice still tight, “But we need to report to the village.”

"He must be back."

"I understand." Shuuji's voice was calm and reassuring as he picked up Anko. "Don't worry, leave it to me. Let's leave here and find a quiet place. We can watch Itachi's match later."

"but……"

"It's fine."

(End of this chapter)