Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

It shook the hearts of every genin.

The confidence that had been unconsciously inflated by the fervent atmosphere of being the center of attention was instantly shattered. Nara Shikamaru, a brilliant young man, sighed heavily with a bitter face, realizing that the Chunin Exams finals were not entirely their stage to shine.

They are just part of the village's boasted military force.

Even genin from other villages, like Rokuro Karatachi and Carlo, had their brows furrowed, clearly feeling an invisible pressure. Rokuro Karatachi even pierced his palm with his fingernail. He had declared in the preliminaries that he would challenge and surpass Sogen sooner or later. This wasn't just the boy showing off; he genuinely thought so.

however,

At this moment, the boy's confidence was severely damaged without him even realizing it. Even though he didn't know who had cleared the clouds, it would have been fine if it had been the Sixth Hokage. The problem was that if it hadn't been the Sixth Hokage, then... how strong would the Sixth Hokage, who stood at the top of all the ninjas in Konoha, have been?

A silent atmosphere filled the arena.

The chief examiner for the finals, Genma Shiranui, clicked his tongue. Looking at the silent and lost teenagers, he wanted to say something, but his mind was blank. He had no idea what to say at this moment. In the end, he sighed silently, shut his mouth, and patiently waited for the Hokage to announce the start of the finals.

······

The highest floor of the central watchtower,

"Thank you for your hard work, Chihaya."

Zongxian's casual words of comfort brought the figures back to their senses from their shock.

They all glanced sideways at Uchiha Chihaya, who stood calmly behind Sogen, their envy intensifying. They couldn't help but be jealous of Konoha's current dominance. Compared to the last time she used the [Shina Hiko] technique in Amegakure, to the point that her eyes were bleeding, she had clearly improved today. This level of exertion... wasn't enough for her to demonstrate what it meant to shed tears of blood.

"It's alright, I still have enough energy to fight!"

Uchiha Chihaya said earnestly.

His gaze unconsciously swept over the four Kage, causing them to shudder. A question arose in their minds: what did that mean? Did the Sixth Hokage have truly lost his mind and intend to wipe them all out at this moment?

"Cough cough!"

Zongxian also choked, coughed twice to catch his breath, and then said helplessly, "Don't talk nonsense. This is the Chunin Exams finals. It's not your turn to fight. That's the responsibility of those boys and girls below."

"By the way, Tsuchikage, it seems... we don't need to reschedule the Chunin Exams finals." Sogen pointed to the cloudless, clear sky, which looked like a flawless piece of blue crystal, and gave Onoki a slap in the face.

Onoki's face was gloomy, and he didn't reply.

He hasn't been able to shake off that lingering shadow yet!

Seeing that Onoki remained silent, Sogen smiled slightly, not pressing the issue further. Instead, he looked at the sky and asked, "What time is it now? It should be about to begin, right?"

"9:26, four minutes to go."

Kabuto Yakushi, who had been waiting by the side like a ghost, came over and answered Sogen's question.

"Four minutes? That's not much time..." Zongxian pondered for a moment, then stood up. "Let me say a few words, and the time should be up by then. There's no need to be so precise..."

As he spoke, he had already walked to the front railing and stood still, making himself visible to all the spectators and athletes below.

"Everyone."

Zongxian flicked his earpiece to confirm it was working properly, then smiled and greeted everyone warmly.

Good morning!

"Thank you all for traveling so far to gather here and participate in the Chunin Selection Exams held by our Hidden Leaf Village! I'm sure you're all eager to see what those little guys can do. If I keep rambling on and on, I'll probably annoy you, so I won't spoil the fun. Now, let's have the sixteen contestants who passed the preliminary rounds begin the official selection competition!!"

"Please enjoy the show, everyone!!!"

Zongxian's voice was broadcast through loudspeakers installed throughout the arena, so loud that even someone with diarrhea sitting in the toilet could hear it, knowing that the final round of the Chunin Selection Exams had finally begun.

Good show!

It's about to start.

[463. Request for leave]

I'm so engrossed in reading that I need to take a day off ┗(?ω?)┛

"Saving the Uchiha Starts with Becoming the Clan Chief" - Taking a break

[Chapter 464. Gaara VS Hozuki Suigetsu]

Upon hearing the Hokage's announcement over the loudspeaker, Genma Shiranui turned around to face the sixteen boys and girls lined up behind him. "You all know your respective matches and opponents, right? But never mind, just to be on the safe side, you can double-check."

He pulled out the match schedule.

He held it high in front of everyone.

“You’ve all seen it clearly. If there are no questions…” He drew out the last syllable, waiting for the boys and girls to react. When no one raised any questions or opinions, he said, “The two contestants from the first round, please stay here. The rest of you may retreat to the rest platform above to watch the match.”

His finger pointed upwards.

An opening was carved into the surrounding iron-like high wall, which served as the contestants' rest area, completely separated from the spectators sitting in the high observation tower. This was to be expected, as it was unheard of for contestants to sit with the spectators in any competition.

Yakumo, Naruto, and the others took a step and walked into the open doorway at the base of the wall not far away. They climbed the stairs inside the wall and soon appeared at the cave entrance. The boys and girls spontaneously dispersed and sat down according to their village background and the depth of their friendship.

Yakumo, Sakura, and Hinata sat together, while Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Shino, whose presence was very weak, formed a small group. In addition, Hyuga Neji and Rock Lee, two seniors, formed another group. They were not far apart from each other, forming a large camp compared to the Cloud Village, Sand Village, and Mist Village.

of course,

Because Gaara and Suigetsu Hozuki remained on the field,

In the rest room, only Temari from the Sand Village and Rokuro from the Mist Village were sitting alone in the corners. Karoi and Omoi from the Cloud Village were sitting together, so they weren't completely isolated. But compared to the huge group of people from Konoha... to be honest, it was a rather pitiful sight.

This is not,

Even the five Kage, who were sitting high on the platform, had a minor dispute because of this.

"Tsuchikage, you're getting on in years. You should focus your energy on training a successor! It's better to decide on the Fourth Hokage as soon as possible, so that if something unexpected happens, there won't be any internal strife if there's no clear successor."

These words may seem like expressions of concern, but anyone can hear the sarcasm hidden within them.

What constitutes an accident?

Is this a curse wishing Ōnoki a terrible death?

Is there also the possibility of internal strife breaking out?

Is this a curse that causes the Iwa ninja to kill each other?

Even Sogen glanced at Mei Terumi, who had spoken, with considerable surprise. He understood that the five great ninja villages had countless grudges and entanglements over the decades, and the five Kage would never be chatting peacefully together. Even with Sogen keeping things in check, they wouldn't actually fight in this setting, but verbal sparring would certainly be inevitable.

only--

Zongxian was surprised that it wasn't the most senior member, Onoki, who complained about unfairness, but rather Terumi Mei who broke the peace and started a conflict with Onoki.

However, considering the long-standing feud between Kirigakure and Iwagakure, it's not entirely surprising.

The mutual destruction of the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage fueled deep resentment between the two villages. However, due to the vast distances they had been separated over the years, they could only engage in small-scale battles, preventing large-scale warfare. Otherwise, the two villages would probably have fought to the death long ago.

after all,

The second Hokage of Kirigakure and Iwagakure are quite special; they enjoy considerable prestige and popularity in their respective villages, and their influence has not diminished significantly to this day.

The Second Mizukage, with his exceptional martial prowess, surpassed the Third Mizukage, who had participated in the first Five Kage Summit alongside the First Mizukage, and directly seized the Mizukage's throne. He established the Ninja Academy in Kirigakure, modeled after Tobirama Senju of Konoha, and enacted laws to protect the village. He also placed great emphasis on the inheritance of the ninja sword, cultivating numerous young ninjas with the potential to inherit these swords. Furthermore, he was known for his humor, wit, and exceptional talkativeness, making him very popular among young people at the time.

Therefore,

Mei Terumi has suddenly launched an attack.

While it's a bit confusing, it's not entirely incomprehensible.

"Little girl from Kirigakure, clean up your own bunch of rogue ninjas first before you talk! You can't even clean up your own mess, yet you have the nerve to care about other people's business. More than half of the rogue ninjas in this ninja world came from your place, causing trouble everywhere. Do you know how much trouble you've caused us?"

Onoki's counterattack was quite strong and powerful.

Have to admit,

The problem of rogue ninjas is Kirigakure's Achilles' heel.

Because of the deep-seated problems in Kirigakure, even though Mei Terumi tried her best to promote reforms after taking office, it wasn't an immediate solution. So far, it seems that the number of new rogue ninja in Kirigakure has decreased since Mei Terumi came to power, but compared to other villages, the number of rogue ninja in Kirigakure is still far greater than that of the four major ninja villages, including Konoha.

Of course, this only applies to quantity.

If it's about quality... that's a different story.

Anyway,

Onoki's slash precisely struck the most painful wound in Kirigakure, causing the Fifth Mizukage's eye to twitch. Fortunately, she hadn't forgotten that her attack on the Tsuchikage was intended as a gift to the Hokage, keeping the old man Onoki distracted and preventing him from causing trouble.

That's enough.

Her gaze subtly shifted to Zongxian, making Zongxian realize something.

Is this to shut up Onoki? Although it's completely unnecessary... Kirigakure's attitude is quite good; perhaps there will be fewer obstacles ahead.

"The match has begun."

Zongxian tapped the armrest with his finger.

With his eyes fixed on the arena, he said in a deep voice, "Everyone, how about we enjoy this first match for now? This is a contest between the youngest son of the Kazekage and the genius boy of the Hozuki clan from Kirigakure. If we miss it, it will be a small regret even for us!"

"Speaking of which, Lord Kazekage, do you think your son can secure this first victory?" Zongxuan defused the tension between Terumi Mei and Onoki, drawing everyone's attention to the young men on the field.

"Although my son is not very promising, he should have no problem in this competition."

Luo Sha said expressionlessly.

Despite the lack of change on his face, he was anything but calm inside. He didn't believe that the Sixth Hokage hadn't discovered that Gaara was the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast. The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan might not be as far-seeing as the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, but seeing the seal on Gaara's body was by no means difficult.

The Sixth Hokage, of all people, asked such a pointless question.

This made him feel uneasy. Well, although he had sensed the danger from the first day he learned that Konoha was preparing to hold such an unprecedented Chunin Exam, this unease was magnified several times over at this moment.

Is that so?

Zongxian smiled and said, "Then let's wait and see."

Mei Terumi glanced sideways at Rasa, who was sitting to her left, but said nothing. She simply turned her gaze back to the arena below.

Even Onoki didn't say he was relentlessly pursuing them, because he remembered that the intelligence said that their Iwagakure's top genin, Aoki, who inherited the Lava Release bloodline limit, encountered a Sand Ninja brat named Gaara during the preliminaries and was defeated by Gaara's Sand Technique, so that Iwagakure didn't even have a single player who could break through the preliminaries.

The old man's gaze was fixed on the boy carrying the gourd on the field.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I want to see what this Sand Ninja brat is capable of!" Without the Sharingan, Byakugan, or any professional sensory techniques, even as a Kage, Onoki hadn't yet discovered Gaara's true abilities.

However, the sensory ninja named Hi, who was standing behind the Fourth Raikage, lowered his head and whispered something in A's ear.

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.