Konoha Notes

Chapter 184 Opportunity
Shuji felt that the trip to Kumogakure was quite fruitful, mainly due to the abandoned laboratory in the mountains. Although there were no physical gains, it was still a very rewarding trip.

Similar to Shuuji's thoughts, the Hidden Cloud Village also felt that they had gained a lot from this joint Chunin Exam.

Inside Raikage's office, Samui was giving a report: "To date, the total direct revenue from ticket sales, surrounding hotels, restaurants, and licensed merchandise has exceeded the initial estimate."

"The total number of spectators is close to 8,000. The public's attention to and discussion of the competition remains high, and they generally look forward to the next similar event."

Mabuyi added that there are issues that need improvement: "The large influx of spectators in a short period of time has put pressure on the logistical support system in the village and its surrounding villages, especially food and accommodation, which have caused temporary shortages."

"At the same time, due to the dispersed deployment to deal with the flow of people, the intensity of routine monitoring in some surrounding areas has been reduced."

Ray Ei listened patiently to the reports. Even though he wasn't particularly interested in the specific numbers, as a Shadow, understanding these things was a necessary duty.

The two secretaries' conclusions were clear: the direct economic benefits of holding the joint Chunin Exams were extremely high, and the full potential of the benefits could not be fully realized due to insufficient preparation by the Hidden Cloud Village.

The indirect benefits, such as increased village prestige and enhanced internal cohesion, are also considerable added value.

"What's Konoha's attitude towards the next Chunin Exams?" the Raikage asked, looking at Mabui.

Mabui said, "According to intelligence, Konoha seems to be planning to hold their Chunin Selection Exams in September as scheduled."

After pondering for a moment, Ai said, "Samui, go and ask Konoha if they are interested in inviting us to participate in the joint exam in September."

"At the same time, we confirmed their ideas regarding the upcoming joint exam between Kumogakure and Konoha."

The direct revenue generated by the joint examination is considerable, and the potential indirect benefits are equally significant.

In Konoha, although Shuji had previously expressed his willingness to maintain contact in informal settings, it was not a formal, written commitment.

If this form of cooperation can be formalized and established as a long-term practice, Yunyin will be able to obtain a stable and continuous source of financial growth in the future.

"Yes."

Shuji was not surprised when he received a message from the Cloud Village that they wanted to hold an informal meeting.

From the moment he observed the throngs of people and bustling commercial activity in Kumogakure during this exam, he anticipated that Kumogakure would come knocking on his door again.

In this era of ninja, large-scale, inter-village open competitive events were rare. For ordinary people and merchants, such events held great appeal, and their economic benefits were obvious.

Even in the world he remembered, with its many forms of entertainment, the commercial value of top-tier sporting events remained consistently high.

Samui arranged the meeting to take place in a small meeting room in the Ray Shadow Building.

After a brief, polite greeting, Samui cut straight to the point: "So far, both Konoha and we have achieved some of the expected results in this joint Chunin Exams."

"I wonder what Mr. Shuji thinks of this form of communication?"

Shuji replied, "For the genin, being able to witness the fighting styles of different villages on the field is a great opportunity for them to gain experience."

Samui nodded in agreement, then casually mentioned, "We understand that Konoha seems to be planning to hold the Chunin Selection Exams in September."

Shuji wasn't surprised that this information was leaked, since it wasn't a top secret. He notified Sunagakure and, as always, informed the other smaller ninja villages.

One of the purposes of holding the exam was to strengthen the alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure through continuous exchanges between low-ranking ninjas. It wouldn't work without the contrast provided by ninjas from other villages.

"Kumakushi Village is willing to fulfill its responsibilities as an ally and will also send representatives to participate in Konoha's upcoming exams," Samui said.

"At the same time, we also hope to take this opportunity to discuss with Konoha whether we can establish a fixed joint examination model between our two villages."

"Let's discuss a frequency that's acceptable to both sides, making it a stable and long-term exchange activity between Kumogakure and Konoha."
-
After being urgently recalled once, Flame Blade was worried that the village might have discovered something. When he left the village again, he strictly followed the reported action plan and conducted his investigation in the eastern region of the Land of Fire step by step, without behaving abnormally.

The masked man who called himself Uchiha Madara asked him to gather his clan members who still had "backbone" and were unwilling to accept the status quo.

Yanren was aware of these people's existence, and as people who shared the same views, they had always had many exchanges.

Aside from his fallen comrades, the Uchiha clan members in the Land of Fire were his closest companions.

But Uchiha Shisui was there.

Ever since that time in the eastern camp when Shisui obeyed that man's orders and used his Sharingan to subdue him, Enjō understood that Shisui might still be a strong member of the clan, but he was more inclined to obey the will of the village.

Like the current clan chief Fugaku, they all seem content with the limited space the village provides, misled by a false peace and a few concessions.

The Uchiha's plan to infiltrate the Anbu now appears to have become an important channel for the Konoha leadership to infiltrate and influence the police force.

Breaking the status quo seems unlikely with the clan's existing strength. The only variable appears to lie with "Sandalus".

If he can overwhelm the clan leader with his absolute eye power, he might be able to unite the clan's strength and seize control of Konoha.

After several careful counter-tracking confirmations, Uchiha Enjin quietly changed direction and sped towards the City of Fire.

After several days of observation, and by taking advantage of his familiarity with the Uchiha patrol habits, Flame Blade finally found an opportunity to establish contact with a close clansman who had been transferred to the Fire Capital—Uchiha Fierce Fire.

In a secluded corner, after confirming that no one was around, Fierce Fire asked, "Flame Blade? What are you doing here?"

"Weren't you under Itachi's command, responsible for security at the Hokage Building?"

"There's a temporary mission," Yanren said succinctly, then asked, "Where's Shisui?"

“Shisui received a temporary assignment from the Daimyo a few days ago and left the Fire Capital to carry out other missions. His return date is uncertain,” Fierce Fire replied.

Shisui isn't here?

This is an opportunity to bypass the still water and communicate directly with the people of the Fire City.

Since they are responsible for the Daimyo's personal protection... if we can manage to influence the Daimyo with genjutsu and make him request Konoha to replace his bodyguards...

Then they can naturally return to the village as a group and get rid of their current situation of being indirectly sent out to work.

“Fiercefire,” Flameblade lowered his voice, “gather the people, we need to talk. About… the true future of our people.”

(End of this chapter)