I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

After the written exam concluded, Konoha invited the guests like wealthy merchants, and those who wished to observe the event to take their seat in a special arena in advance.

Inside the main arena, numerous large screens broadcasted the Chunin Exams live.

In addition, there were unique viewing rooms available for wealthy people with special facilities, though these were not provided for free.

The viewing rooms were equipped with high-definition screens that displayed the proceedings of the Chunin Exams, and they were available in different angles.

The viewing room for the nobles, led by the daimyo, had a total of nine large screens, allowing simultaneous multi-angle viewing.

For this Chunin Exam, Nagasawa specifically selected a group of Shinobi with good observational skills to act as broadcasters, responsible for broadcasting exciting battles.

After all, with such a vast range for the Chunin Exams and no designated protagonist, displaying every scene for the audience would be overwhelming. The viewing experience would undoubtedly be poor.

Nagasawa was willing to invest so much effort for a reason — the money that those wealthy and influential individuals were quite substantial.

Even regular tickets for general viewing made considerable income.

This gave Nagasawa the idea of organizing a Ninja World Games in Konoha, inviting all the villages to participate. However, he quickly abandoned the idea. Simply copying the concept wouldn’t work, and a sports festival didn’t quite fit in with the image of Shinobi.

Moreover, the current situation did not permit such an event. Nagasawa was well aware that the various nations had just finished fighting and were still suspicious of each other.

When the Kumogakure and Iwagakure quarreled previously, the news quickly reached Nagasawa. However, as it was just a dispute among teenagers and hadn’t escalated to violence, Nagasawa chose to ignore it, instructing his subordinates to intervene only if there were signs of physical conflict.

He had no intention of waging war with other major ninja villages. Nagasawa wanted to focus on development and wouldn’t tolerate the chaos caused by ninjas from other villages in Konoha.

Fortunately, perhaps due to Nagasawa’s earlier intimidation, even Kumogakure Village, known for their hotheaded nature, refrained from rash actions. The dispute ultimately amounted to just a verbal argument.

Nagasawa assured that if their location hadn’t been within Konoha, the situation might have taken a different turn.

Therefore, the idea of hosting a sports festival was entirely baseless.

With each village eager to eliminate the other, notions like competitions emphasizing friendship over victory were absurd in the eyes of the Great Shinobi Countriees.

The reason no one opposes to the Chunin Exams is that if one finds someone else unpleasant during the exams, they can just kill them during the exam, and their village can’t say a word. This could be considered an unspoken rule.

For example, even if Kumogakure Genin team up against a Genin from Iwagakure in the Chunin Exams, Iwagakure could not use this as an excuse. Of course, it also worked vice-versa.

In a luxurious room with nine high-definition screens, many people dressed in exquisite attire were present. Among them, a middle-aged man with a fan in hand, sitting in the front row, smiled and said:

”Konoha has put some thought into this. I’m quite satisfied with this room.”

A black-clad ninja with a mask beside him responded indifferently, ”As long as you’re satisfied, my lord. The second stage of the Chunin Exams will begin shortly, and you will soon witness the strength of our country’s Shinobi.”

”However, has Konoha changed the format of the Chunin Exams? I remember it used to be a one-on-one battle, but now it seems to involve fighting in the jungle.” The Daimyo asked curiously.

”That’s the third stage. This is the second stage. In the past, you were only invited to attend the third stage.” An Anbu answered.

”Oh, why didn’t you invite me during the second stage like this time?” The Daimyo found it strange.

”Because the second stage takes longer, usually three to five days. The process is relatively tedious and boring, so we didn’t invite you in the past. However, this time is different. Assistant Nagasawa made changes to this stage, adding more entertainment value. Moreover, due to the larger number of participating ninja, there will be more frequent battles, so it won’t be too boring.” The Anbu explained.

”I see. Well, then I’ll look forward to it.” The Daimyo nodded in satisfaction.

Unlike the Daimyo, the Kage from various villages chose to watch the Chunin Exams from the main arena.

The main arena resembled a colosseum, a circular arena with a large open space in the middle, where four super-sized screens in each direction.

The Kage of each village, including Minato, sat on the highest level of this circular arena.

Apart from the Kage, there were some people that the Kage brought.

Tsuchikage brought his granddaughter Kurotsuchi, while Rasa brought Maki.

However, the Fourth Raikage came alone.

As for Minato, it could be considered that he brought someone—Nagasawa.

However, Nagasawa was different from others; he sat alongside the other Kage.

On the highest level of the circular arena, six chairs were arranged side by side. Minato was in the middle, Nagasawa sat to his right, followed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Ōnoki, and then Rasa.

The Fourth Raikage originally thought that when he saw the six chairs, maybe Minato had left a seat for Mizukage. This left him pondering, and when he came to his senses, everyone had already taken their seats, leaving only the chair next to Nagasawa.

To be honest, the Fourth Raikage was not pleased to sit next to Nagasawa.

Of course, it wasn’t that he was afraid of Nagasawa, he simply didn’t like him.

Who would like someone who had once cut off half of their hand?

The Raikage would prefer to sit next to Minato.

Speaking of which, he and Minato had a complicated history.

During the Third Great Ninja War, he led Killer B and several elite Shinobi to ambush Konoha’s reinforcement. However, they ran into Minato Namikaze at that time.

The two fought, and it ended up in a stalement.

Later, Minato took the initiative to ask him to retreat and acknowledged the Fourth Raikage’s strength, openly stating that the next time they met, both of them might bear the responsibility of leading their villages as a Kage.

At that time, he didn’t pay much attention. He admitted that Minato had decent skills, but becoming Hokage was still a long way off. At that time, Minato was far from being the most likely candidate for Hokage in Konoha.

In that period, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were the ones most likely to become Hokage.

As for him, being the son of the Third Raikage, inheriting his father’s Lightning Release Chakra mode, becoming the Raikage was only a matter of time.

However, the final result turned out to be beyond his expectations. Minato did become the Hokage.

No one questioned why Nagasawa could sit on an equal footing with the Kage, even though the espionage activities at Konoha were put to a stop.

However, before that, quite a few pieces of information had leaked out.

”I’m glad that you all could personally come here to participate in Konoha’s Chunin Exams. Unfortunately, it seems that Kirigakure has fallen into internal turmoil; otherwise, I would have invited Mizukage as well. In the past, our predecessors gathered once to discuss various major matters, sign treaties, and jointly work toward peace.” Minato sighed softly.

He wasn’t making this up; when Hashirama Senju convened the Five Kage Summit, the final result was the five major nations signing a treaty and becoming allies.

At that time, the Five Great Shinobi Countries were at their peak in terms of strength. Each of them possessed formidable power that surpassed the combined strength of all the smaller ninja villages.

However, there were two individuals in Konoha that were head and shoulders beyond the rest—Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, the two most powerful figures in the world.

Therefore, even if Kumogakure and Iwagakure were reluctant to cooperate, they didn’t want to provoke Konoha.

The Great Shinobi Countries remained peaceful, and the smaller villages and countries dared not make a move. The entire world seemed peaceful.

However, this peace was just an illusion. It was a false peace where each nation feared Hashirama’s overwhelming strength.

After Hashirama’s death, with no God Shinobi like him to suppress conflicts, wars erupted immediately.

”If our predecessors could see their descendants sitting together peacefully to watch the Chunin Exams, they would surely be pleased,” Minato said with a cheerful smile, seemingly delighted about this.

”Hmph,” the Fourth Raikage snorted, not buying into Minato’s words about the predecessors gathering for peace. Did Minato think he was ignorant?

”It seems like the Fourth Raikage is not on the same page. May I ask your opinion then?” Nagasawa smiled mischievously at the Fourth Raikage.

Although Nagasawa was smiling, the Fourth Raikage felt like he had seen a ghost, cold sweat was dripping from his forehead. ”Shoot, I forgot this guy was around,” the Fourth Raikage thought, and his right hand throbbed with pain.

”Of course not. I think the Hokage is right. If we could recreate the atmosphere of the Five Kage Summit, our predecessors would be pleased,” the Fourth Raikage said as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He’d endure this for the sake of Kumogakure!

During the reign of the First Raikage, he had to sign a treaty because of Hashirama’s overwhelming strength. What he just said was no different.

”Hahaha.” Suddenly, Onoki, who had been chatting with his granddaughter, burst into laughter.

Even Kurotsuchi was puzzled. She had just suggested having an observation venue like this in Iwagakure would be good, so why did her grandfather suddenly burst into laughter?

”Grandpa, why did you suddenly laugh so loudly?” Kurotsuchi was a little upset, kicking Onoki’s thigh with her small leg. She was currently sitting on Onoki’s lap.

”Ah, I just remembered a funny joke.” Onoki showed a kind smile.

Raikage became even more irritated because of Onoki’s smile.

”Damn old man, I’ll make you pay sooner or later. At that time, I’ll make sure you pay for everything you’ve done.” The Fourth Raikage cursed silently in his heart.

Unable to defeat Nagasawa and Konoha, and unable to control the old and toothless Tsuchikage and Iwagakure, the Fourth Raikage could only endure this humiliation for now.

Rasa remained silent, neither speaking nor laughing. He just stared at the giant screen, ready to enjoy the battles of his village’s Shinobi.

In the midst of casual conversation, the screen on the giant display finally changed. No longer showing various scenes from the Death Forest, it displayed an open space with many examinees gathered.

Two Konoha Shinobi appeared on the screen, holding a massive scroll. They walked up to the examinees and opened the scroll.

”The scroll contains everyone’s scores. Those who didn’t pass, please make your way out,” Uchiha Tetsu announced in a calm tone.

Most Shinobi had excellent eyesight and easily found their positions.

Although the exam questions weren’t particularly difficult, requiring only a passing grade, there were still some who couldn’t meet this standard.

A Kumogakure Genin showed a despair look on his face.

It wasn’t because he had failed; he had barely passed.

However, his teammate scored fifty points, falling short by just one question.

This was even more devastating than failing himself. Despite his decent abilities and efforts to pass the Chunin Exams, he felt crushed because of his teammate.

As a result, his teammate’s poor performance led to their elimination, which was unbearable for him.

Hadn’t they gone through various ordeals together, he might have killed his teammate

However, such individuals were a minority. Most people had passed the exam.

”Fourth Raikage, strength is important, but mental development is also necessary. It seems that Kumogakure’s Genin seems to have a long way to go,” Nagasawa said with a smile.

At this moment, the broadcast zoomed in on the devastated expression of the Kumogakure Genin. His broken expression occupied all four large screens of the circular venue.

Anyone would know from a glance that the Fourth Raikage seemed furious.

”Thank you for the reminder, Assistant Nagasawa,” the Fourth Raikage said, suppressing his anger.

Looking at the devastated face of the Kumogakure Genin on the large screens, the Fourth Raikage felt an urge to kill. It was embarrassing!

He promised that once he returned to the Kumogakure Village, he would give that Kumogakure Genin a good ”training.”

The examinees were unaware of the situation in the venue because no one had informed them that everything was being broadcast.

Soon, the image of the devastated face disappeared from the screens as he left the monitoring area.

”Congratulations on passing the first stage of the Chunin Exams. Next, examiners for the second stage will take you away,” Shisui calmly announced.

The moment Shisui finished speaking, background music was immediately played in the venue. Following that, the screen abruptly changed, revealing a sinister-looking man with an evil smile.

The perspective then rapidly rose, showing a massive, ferocious, purple snake on the large screen. Orochimaru stood on top of the snake with his arms crossed.

”Orochimaru,” Rasa squinted his eyes, easily recognizing the man standing on the snake.

During the Third Great Ninja War, Orochimaru had caused the Sand Village quite a bit of trouble.

The large, purple snake’s colossal figure shocked many wealthy spectators in the venue.

On the big screen, the once tall trees in Konoha appeared tiny before snake’s massive body.

Just as everyone was amazed by the immense size of the snake, a tremendous rumbling sound echoed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A gigantic red toad, almost the same size as the purple snake, suddenly appeared.