Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 131 Deceiving the Little Boy

It took Minato Namikaze a while to adjust his mindset and reply seriously.

"Hokage-sama, I can!"

Whether it's for his own dream or for the sake of achieving the ninth rank, he will not back down.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at it for a while before finally smiling with satisfaction.

"Your current strength is comparable to that of a Special Jonin. Report to the Anbu tomorrow, and come to my office every afternoon. I will teach you what it means to be a Hokage."

He really thought highly of Minato Namikaze. Needless to say, his talent and strength were outstanding, his mind was also first-rate, and most importantly, he had no family ties, was very gentle, and respected his teachers. He was a very suitable candidate for the fourth generation.

I had originally planned to cultivate him secretly, but now that the kid has brought it up, I might as well put it out in the open.

Jiraiya opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn't say anything. In the end, he could only look at the hateful brat with resentment.

"Minato, we'll be rivals in the future."

Tamura Hiroshi had a big smile on his face. He had already bent Minato Namikaze's path. Who knows if he can become that little sun in the future?

Perhaps it will evolve into a black hole that devours everything.

"I don't want to be your rival, and I don't want to see you again."

Minato Namikaze was very gloomy; today was the most difficult day of his life.

"But we are destined to face each other. You are the opponent that Lord Tsuchidai chose for me. There is no escaping it."

Tamura Hiroshi remained all smiles, then nodded to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya before turning and leaving.

There's still one qualifying match left, I need to get there quickly.

"What a wretched brat."

Jiraiya sighed to the heavens, for he could no longer predict what Minato would become in the future.

That's outrageous!

He actually knew about some things happening in the village behind the scenes, but he couldn't stop them, so he could only pretend not to see them.

He would often wander around outside, just to avoid getting involved in those things, and also to look for the chosen one that the Great Toad Immortal had mentioned.

"That Raikage's assistant is a terrifying person. Anyone who is valued and nurtured by him will definitely achieve great things in the future. Minato, you should keep a close eye on him in the future."

Taking the Hokage hat off the boy's head and putting it back on, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave him a heartfelt reminder before turning and leaving.

Minato Namikaze watched the Third Hokage leave, then said with a sense of loss.

"He's so strong, strong in every way!"

Today was a huge blow to him; he was completely outmatched by that person in every way.

He was originally quite satisfied with his achievements, even somewhat complacent, as he was undoubtedly the best among his peers in the village.

But today's battle has brought him to his senses. Putting aside the girl named Hikari, Tamura Hao's strength is terrifying.

His wisdom also surpassed his own, which dealt him a heavy blow.

Jiraiya patted his disciple on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Cheer up! You have your advantages, and he has his strengths. You are better than him in terms of talent."

According to intelligence, he only possesses the Lightning Release, limiting his future potential. Your chakra reserves far exceed his. It may be his now, but the future undoubtedly belongs to you.

"The future?"

Minato Namikaze was taken aback, but his spirits recovered somewhat.

"Jiraiya-sensei, I will definitely surpass him."

"That's more like my disciple!"

Seeing that his disciple's mindset had finally recovered, Jiraiya smiled.

"Let's go watch the qualifiers. I wonder who that brat will draw. I hope it's that light."

"Among the candidates who passed, only Guang and Uncle Dai could be his opponents."

Minato Namikaze knew the man's strength; ordinary people were far from being his match.

The master and apprentice walked briskly and soon arrived at the venue for the preliminary rounds.

Representatives from all the ninja villages were present, as was the Third Hokage.

Of course, this is just a shadow clone; the previous one was the real body.

The candidates treated their injuries briefly and continued with the rest of the exam.

Of course, first you have to endure a barrage of verbal brainwashing from the Third Hokage, and then there's a random draw for pairing on the spot.

"Unhappy?"

After finishing, Tamura Hiroshi came to the edge of the field and turned to look at the little boy who had come to his side.

"Our artistic concepts are too advanced for the average person to understand."

Scorpion replied sullenly. He had talked with Brother Luo Sha and the others before, thinking he would get their praise and support, but instead he was met with misunderstanding.

He didn't feel disappointed; he was only disheartened.

"That's normal. As the saying goes, being one step ahead is genius, being ten steps ahead is madness. Wisdom that is too far ahead is destined to be misunderstood."

New things often need time to be accepted by people. According to ancient records, there was no chakra in our world in ancient times. It was only after the appearance of the Sage of Six Paths that chakra was spread and ninjas came into being.

After thousands of years of development, ninjas have evolved into the ninja world we know today, and have come to dominate the world's power structure.

Be patient. As long as we achieve results, realize those ideas, and demonstrate our absolute strength, those people will recognize us...

Tamura Hiroshi was bluffing... no, encouraging the little boy.

Seeing that someone was shamelessly fooling the little boy, Uchiha Hikaru couldn't help but give him a disdainful look.

This shameless scoundrel is getting more and more shameless.

Kushina Uzumaki also gave her a disdainful look, but she couldn't help but take a second look at her in her heart.

The way that big bad guy fought Might Guy before was kind of cool; it gave people a sense of security.

Helpless, Yu Ye created a small barrier to isolate the two of them from the sound.

"But I don't want to wait that long. I want to personally realize and witness the era that belongs to the puppeteers."

The young boy was very determined. Since he had so many good ideas, he would not be able to close his eyes in peace after death if he did not realize them in this lifetime.

My father once said that the most important thing in life is not to leave any regrets.

"Then you need to find a force that can fully support you to accelerate the research and development of the new puppetry technique."

Are you inviting me?

Tilting its head to look over, Scorpion could tell this was a recruitment pitch.

"Yes, I need to gain merit in the village. If our new puppet era plan succeeds, it will be a great achievement, and my status in the village will also be elevated."

Furthermore, our Hidden Cloud Village is cooperating with the Daimyo's government on the train and ocean-going vessel projects, which require a large amount of steel, especially various high-strength alloys. This will require increased investment in research in this area. I can request that a batch be allocated from within to supply you with the resources to improve your new puppet project.”

Tamura Hiroshi did not deny it, and his expression was very serious. What he said was not a lie. If he could really make this happen, it would definitely be a great achievement.

Scorpion didn't react much to the first half of the words, but the second half moved him.

The aircraft we made before was not very successful. The materials in all aspects were far from ideal. They were either too heavy or not strong enough. The worst part was that the combustion furnace and nozzle areas were melted and deformed over a large area.

These all require special alloys to be shaped, and Sunagakure obviously doesn't have the conditions or the foundation for this, so even if I go back, it won't be of much use.

Most importantly, Sunagakure lacks timber and coal resources, making it unsuitable for large-scale steel smelting and thus unsuitable for this steel puppet system.

However, the Hidden Cloud Village and the Land of Lightning are different. Although their resources are not as abundant as those of the Land of Fire, they are much better than those of the Land of Wind and the Hidden Sand Village.

Not to mention the train and ocean liner project, which he had heard about. He had heard that the Land of Thunder was currently mining and smelting iron everywhere.

"Will the Hidden Cloud Village sign an alliance pact with our village?"

After thinking for a while, Scorpion did not immediately agree and asked about the alliance agreement.

Although he was young, he had been taught by his grandmother and great-uncle and knew quite a bit about the ninja world.

"We are very sincere about this cooperation. The village has already sent people to escort the alliance contract to Sunagakure for the Kazekage to review and sign. You should receive the news soon."

Just then, Yotsuki Ai and Fukai walked over. They had just finished communicating with Iwagakure's representative, Koto, and heard Sasori's question as soon as they arrived.

Although they didn't know the specifics of what happened, they still gave a response.

After reaching a preliminary agreement with Rasa, a disciple of the Third Kazekage, he had someone use a summoning jutsu to send the information back. The village had already sent the alliance contract, which would take effect once the Kazekage reviewed and signed it.

Of course, there's also the village of Iwagakure. The four ninja villages have formed a preliminary alliance, at least on the issue of dealing with Konoha.

"Then I'll go over there!"

Seeing that even the son of the Raikage had said so, Sasori thought about it and agreed.

Since we're allies, there aren't that many problems.

Moreover, the new puppet system concerns the future and transcends the boundaries of the village; it should not be bound by the village.

"Kumokaku Village welcomes you."

Tamura Hao smiled broadly, then whispered to Yozuki Ai and Fukai about his plans and ideas regarding Scorpion and the puppet, which made the two of them's eyes light up.

That's a great idea!

Especially when Ye Yue Ai heard about the flying puppet that had been initially successfully built, her face turned dark red with excitement. If it were combined with the musket system, wouldn't it be incredibly awesome?

"Don't worry, little scorpion. Once you come to our Hidden Cloud Village, I will personally help you apply for materials and a research lab. We can find any materials you need."

Ye Yue Ai patted her chest and vouched for him, saying that they would naturally give their full support to such a special talent.

Despite his young age, this little guy is quite skilled in puppetry and can already design and manufacture puppets independently, having fully inherited the true teachings of Chiyo Sunagakure.

If we can bring this little guy over, we'll definitely be able to research and develop a new type of puppet, or at least perfect that flying puppet.

This alone is enough to add a strategic-level system to the village, no less powerful than the firearms program.

Sasori was also very happy. With the Raikage's son's guarantee, his new puppet would definitely take shape faster.

No wonder the Hidden Cloud Village lives so well. Both are successors of the Kage, but Rasa is far inferior to this son of the Raikage.

What is the Eight Gates Formation?

Suddenly, a green figure entered the arena and began fighting against a candidate from Iwagakure. Sasori asked curiously.

He had witnessed the previous battle, and the offensive it displayed greatly shocked him and was very effective against the puppets.

Let alone his own ants, crows, and salamanders, even the Chikamatsu Ten Ninja, which his grandmother had rebuilt, would be absolutely no match for him.

Big brother is right. The existing puppets can only slaughter the weak, and they will be at a disadvantage when facing the strong.

Tamura Hao, watching Might Guy suppress his opponent without opening the Eight Gates, explained, "That's an extremely powerful forbidden technique that unleashes an overload of chakra by releasing the body's restrictions on chakra."

There are eight important acupoints in the chakra flow channels in our body, which inhibit and control the flow of chakra. These are called the Eight Gates: Open Gate, Rest Gate, Life Gate, Injury Gate, Block Gate, View Gate, Shock Gate, and Death Gate.

These eight gates control the amount of chakra flowing within a safe level that the body can withstand. The Eight Gates Formation, on the other hand, forcibly opens all eight gates completely, allowing chakra to operate at an overload within the body, thereby enhancing the body's explosive power.

This requires extremely strong physical fitness to withstand, otherwise one will die instantly. Even if the body can withstand it, it will still cause considerable damage.

It's a forbidden technique that injures the enemy a thousand but also harms oneself eight hundred; Might Guy must have accumulated quite a few hidden injuries in his body.

However, his Eight Gates technique is truly powerful; he must have already mastered the Gate of Shock. If he were to open the Gate of Death, he could kill someone like the Third Hokage with a single kick.

"Ahem... Young people shouldn't speak so harshly."

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared out of nowhere, this time in his true form.

"Uh! Sorry, Hokage-sama, you are the strongest here under normal circumstances, so I can only use you as an example. If you don't like that, you can use Jiraiya as an example."

Blinking his eyes, Tamura Hao explained that he was simply trying to better illustrate Might Guy's explosive combat power.

"Hey, hey, hey, I heard you."

Jiraiya, who appeared on the other side, was displeased, saying, "You brat, your words are getting more and more vicious."

"Kid, don't mention me, you can't take my punches."

Tsunade, who had also followed, clenched her fists and warned.

"What are you doing here?"

Seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi and his two disciples had come to his side, Tamura Hao was puzzled.

Is there something you need?

"Your Hidden Cloud Village harbors a great deal of malice towards our Leaf Village."

Jiraiya said that he had just been reminded by his teacher that Kumogakure had brokered an alliance between Sunagakure and Iwagakure, and together with Kirigakure, which had already formed an alliance, the four great ninja villages had formed an alliance against Konoha.

This is not a good thing.

"It wasn't out of malice, but the Daimyo's prefecture gave our Hidden Cloud Village the mission to take over the Land of the Moon and the Land of Hot Springs."

This is something that the Land of Fire and Konoha would not allow, but the Land of Fire and Konoha are too strong, so they can only unite to deal with it.

"If the ninjas of Konoha are willing to withdraw from those two countries, then we will have no conflict."

Ye Yue Ai said something, showing no fear of the three of them.

Although this is Konoha, the Third Hokage and others would not be able to attack them during the Chunin Exams.

That would not only greatly damage Konoha's reputation, but also enrage Kumogakure. In addition, the four major ninja villages have now formed an alliance, and if they launch a full-scale attack, Konoha's four defensive lines will definitely not be able to withstand it.

Moreover, if they really angered Kumogakure, they could take a boat and detour to the Land of Rivers, join forces with Sunagakure to wipe out the Konoha ninja army there.

There are quite a few ninjas from the Sarutobi Shimura clan there; they are the direct descendants of the Third Hokage.

"Daimyo Prefecture, let us take over the Land of Grass."

Huang Tu used his teleportation technique to get over and said in a deep voice.

"Our goal is the land of rivers."

Rasa also came over, followed by Kusano Erin, the representative of Kirigakure this time.

The four great ninja villages have now formed an alliance, so naturally they must work together to fight against Konoha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked his cigarette without saying a word. He actually knew that the main cause of the Fourth Shinobi World War was the Daimyo of the various countries, who wanted to use it to weaken their own ninja villages.

The military force that the Daimyo truly trusted was the samurai; the ninjas were never trusted, and the ninja villages were seen as nothing more than a mercenary organization.

The reason the ninja village system was able to be formed was because the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha were so powerful that they suppressed all other voices.

Afterwards, the major powers also established ninja villages, and the distribution of tailed beasts created a balance, with each country restraining the others.

To be honest, the ninja village system is really a trap. Even a Hokage has to take orders from those incompetent daimyo. It's so frustrating!

However, the ninja village system is now established and stable, and he is powerless to change anything; he can only operate within its rules.

He had no right to give up those small countries that the others mentioned; this was a strict order from Daming Prefecture.

The loss of the River Country front has already enraged the Daimyo's forces. If other fronts also fall, the Daimyo's forces will surely be furious, putting pressure on Konoha.

Pit!

"Don't bring up the Daimyo Prefecture; you're targeting Konoha."

Tsunade was furious; they had already sacrificed too many people in the past two years.

"We can leave aside the Daimyo Prefecture, but another reason is that your Konoha is too greedy. The Land of Fire is the richest country with the largest population and the most missions, but your Konoha has greedily taken almost all the missions from the surrounding small countries and even set its sights on the four great nations of us."

Twenty percent of the missions entrusted to us by the Land of Lightning each year are handled by your Konoha. Even the Uchiha clan has a continuous custody mission in our Land of Lightning, and they receive a salary from the Daimyo's mansion every year.

The other three kingdoms must have lost quite a bit too.

Tamura Hao said something, and the expressions of Rasa and the other two instantly turned sour.

"That's also 20%."

Huang Tu choked out a sentence, which was a disgrace to them.

"Thirty percent!"

"Thirty percent!"

Luo Sha and Tongcao Yeren spoke one after another, which was a serious problem that had to be addressed.

"Those were employees who voluntarily came to Konoha to assign them employment tasks."

Jiraiya was also dissatisfied, since it wasn't like Konoha had forced those people to come.

"So you can't teach Minato the wisdom to become Hokage."

Tamura Hao shrugged. There was no way to explain things to this kind of person, just like the single-minded Naruto Uzumaki in the future, because they couldn't understand, or rather, didn't want to understand.

"Is he going to be the Fourth Hokage?"

Kusanagi looked at Minato Namikaze, who was following behind Jiraiya, and carefully examined him.

"The Hokage has already acknowledged Minato, and with Minato's talent, he can definitely learn the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique, and even develop it further. In the future, he will surely become a top ninja in the ninja world and the nightmare of all ninjas."

"From now on, never use your true form to fight Minato head-on. If you get a mark on him, you'll definitely die."

Tamura spoke up on his behalf, praising Minato Namikaze highly, but was met with a resentful look from Minato.

Thank you so much for thinking so highly of me.

"The Flying Thunder God Technique, ah, that's truly terrifying."

Recalling the Konoha information he had previously obtained from Yotsuki Ai, Rasa's expression turned solemn.

You absolutely must not take off the Golden Sand Armor from now on, otherwise it will be troublesome if it leaves a mark.

The loess soil was equally heavy; spatial ninjutsu was indeed unsolvable. It seemed they would have to hide underground to perform ninjutsu from now on.

Under the hostile gazes of several people, Minato Namikaze appeared even more gloomy, and then once again cast a resentful look at one of the culprits.

How can people be so wicked?

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also very frustrated; now he had truly become the public enemy of the ninja world.

"By the way, Lord Hokage, Ms. Shimura Izumi left something behind. Could you please return it to her?"

Tamura Hao seemed to remember something, and took out a sealed scroll and handed it to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"You defeated Izumi?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was surprised. He knew that Izumi had not succeeded this time, but he thought that she had been defeated by the girl named Hikari. Who would have thought that she was defeated by this boy.

However, given the boy's strength, it would indeed be difficult for Izumi to win.

"Miss Izumi is very strong. She possesses both the swordsmanship of the Shimura family and the staff-fighting skills of the Sarutobi family, and has integrated them into one. If I hadn't been so uninformed about myself, it wouldn't have been easy for me to escape unscathed."

Tamura Hiroshi greatly admired Shimura Izumi's strength, but in the end, it was Tamura Hiroshi who was the first to retreat, while Izumi persisted until the end and won.

As expected of Danzo's daughter, the Third Hokage's daughter-in-law and right-hand woman, and the future mother of Sarutobi Konohamaru.

(End of this chapter)