414. Burn Your Youth, Everyone!

With so many ninja villages participating, if the Sand Village were to refuse, it might instantly become the shame of the ninja world...


Rasa had to consider the impact on their reputation. Moreover, he was quite interested in seeing how the Leaf Village in the Land of Fire had developed recently.

Information gathered from intelligence reports wasn't always accurate; it was better to see for oneself.

But the question was, who should they send?

If they sent someone too weak, it could ruin the Sand Village's international reputation.

Fortunately, his trusted aide, Baki, offered a suggestion: "Lord Kazekage, since our village doesn't have suitable genin, why not select from others?"

"You mean we send chunin or even jonin to participate in the Chunin Exams, which are meant for genin?"

Hearing Baki's words, Rasa, the Kazekage, furrowed his brows.

Although he had never been one to care much about face, wouldn't this be a bit too shameless?

"Besides, the Leaf has strict regulations on ninja rank and age. It wouldn't be easy to exploit loopholes, right?"

To this, Baki replied, "As for ninja rank, we can simply demote a few chunin back to genin for the occasion, or we could select some private soldiers from the ninja clans."

Private soldiers from the ninja clans were special ninjas privately trained by certain families and not officially registered.

Since they weren't registered, no one knew their exact identities, and thus, there were no issues with their rank or age.

"And as for age, as long as the difference isn't too obvious, who would know if they're overage?"

Baki said this with confidence.

The Leaf's age limit for this exam was set at under 14 years old. Without proper identification, adjusting the age by a year or two for a 15 or 16-year-old wouldn't be a problem.

If they pushed it further, with some makeup, even 17 or 18-year-olds could pass...

After all, the Sand Village was located in a desert, where the harsh sun and wind could make people look rougher and more mature.
Thinking this, Rasa felt it might not be such a bad idea...

Perhaps they could even use this opportunity to restore some of the Sand Village's international image.

————————

Soon, the consecutive responses from the four great nations brought the long-dormant joint Chunin Exams into the public eye.

Since the establishment of the five great nations, the ninja world had never seen such a grand competitive event.

Previously, it was usually just two or three great nations participating, but this time, all five great nations were involved, along with smaller villages like the Rain and Grass Villages.

It could be said that nearly every well-known ninja village in the entire ninja world would make an appearance in this competition.

This drew the attention of numerous nobles and merchants.

Although there was still some time before the exams officially began, the flow of people heading to the Leaf Village had already started to increase.

Meanwhile, the Leaf's higher-ups were also busy preparing.

"I didn't expect the Sand Village to participate," Minato said with some surprise as he looked at the numerous responses.

He had originally thought the Sand Village would likely decline the invitation, as they didn't seem to have any standout participants aside from Rasa's eldest daughter, Temari.

Danzo, however, didn't show any surprise. Instead, he smiled and said, "Given Rasa's personality, he might just adjust the ages of some overage ninjas to allow them to participate in this competition."

"Tsk, that's not impossible..." Nara Shikaku stroked his chin and nodded in agreement.

Others might not do such a thing, but it seemed perfectly reasonable for the Sand Village.

Hearing Danzo and Shikaku's usual disdain for the Sand, Minato could only smile wryly.

"Regardless, we must prepare with all our might and strive to secure victory on our home ground!"

As the host of this competition, it would be utterly embarrassing if the Leaf's participants were completely crushed.

However, Shikaku didn't think this would happen to the Leaf because...

A certain someone had stepped in.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to intensify the training for those kids in the coming days," Danzo said with a calm smile, clearly full of confidence in the five disciples he was sending to compete.

Seeing this, Minato felt reassured, but he still turned to Shikaku and said, "Aside from Elder Danzo's disciples, we must also select some promising talents from the genin in the military department..."

——————

While the Leaf was bustling with selection tournaments across its military districts, the five individuals Danzo had high hopes for were also undergoing intense training.

"Everyone, you carry the honor of the Leaf on your shoulders!"

"Faster, even faster! Burn the flames of your youth, let the Will of Fire within you surge forth!"

"Let the entire ninja world see the passionate spirit of the Leaf's new generation!"

"Go out there and prove yourselves, claim the glory that belongs to you and the Leaf!"
"Everyone!!!!"

In the Root training grounds, Might Guy was shouting with fervent enthusiasm.

Yes, he was the coach Danzo had specially invited to drastically improve the five youngsters' taijutsu through rigorous training!

As it turned out, Might Guy's "Super Youth Training" was a bit too extreme for these kids.

Although Itachi and Kimimaro had a solid foundation in taijutsu, even they struggled to endure such brutal training.

As for the younger ones, Chino and Haku...

Meanwhile, Kabuto, who was usually immersed in various research projects, surprisingly performed quite well.

As he put it, science is power, and chakra science is also science.

As long as one used yang-release chakra properly, even without much physical training, one could maintain a strong physique.

Then, he was subjected to five extra hours of training by Might Guy, until every ounce of his energy was completely drained.

In the end, all five of them collapsed on the training ground floor.

Each of them was drenched in sweat, lying like salted fish, too exhausted even to breathe!

For the first time, Chino even thought, "If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have become a ninja."

This was enough to prove the terrifying intensity of Might Guy's training program!

After they had been lying there for a few minutes, Tsunade, dressed in a green tunic, finally appeared.

"Training them into such a state again..."
She muttered, then rolled up her sleeves, picked up two with one hand and three with the other, and carried them off to the treatment room.

Soon, agonizing screams echoed from inside—this was Tsunade administering relaxation therapy.

She used medicinal baths and chakra acupuncture to relax their muscles, promote blood circulation, and expel lactic acid.

However, this process might be a bit painful...