Ōnoki: I see. No wonder that brat disguised himself as a merchant—his chakra was sealed. Hahaha! But trying to slip past me with a trick like that? Impossible.
Kurotsuchi: Big Brother Deidara, come back.
Deidara: No way. Besides, the me from that world already won the competition.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: That's not necessarily true. Ōnoki is quite crafty. Young man, you might already be caught in his trap.
The screen continued.
On the way back, the members of the International Exchange Class discussed the mission.
Shizuka said with a smile,
"I didn't expect something like that to actually happen in real life."
Ameno replied,
"Well, art comes from life. But do you think he can really win that bet?"
Nagi shook his head.
"No. The moment he entered the village, he had already lost."
"Why? Didn't he already hide?"
The three girls looked at Nagi curiously.
Nagi sighed helplessly.
"When I sensed the area earlier, the entire entrance of Amegakure was filled with the Tsuchikage's chakra. He probably created a fake village entrance.
Since Deidara's chakra was sealed, he couldn't sense anything."
"I was about to warn him… but he walked in before I could."
"..."
Good grief.
The Tsuchikage had really gone to extreme lengths just to capture him.
Meanwhile, in Amegakure.
Inside the Akatsuki hideout.
"Let me go! Let me go! Old man, that was dirty!"
Deidara struggled desperately in the grasp of a stone giant.
Ōnoki didn't seem bothered at all.
"Deidara, blame yourself for letting your guard down at the last moment. Or what—are you planning to go back on your word?"
Deidara immediately shouted back,
"Who would go back on their word?! Hmph. A bet's a bet. Now hurry up and let me go."
The stone giant set Deidara down, and Ōnoki removed the sealing technique placed on him.
Feeling the chakra return to his body, Deidara let out a sigh of relief.
Then he turned to the members of the Akatsuki.
"Well… sorry everyone. Looks like I have to go back after all."
Sasori clicked his tongue.
"Tch. Kid, art is eternal beauty."
"You're too stubborn, Master Sasori! Art is the beauty of a single fleeting moment! Anyway—goodbye."
Konan smiled gently.
"If you ever want to return, come visit. The Akatsuki will always welcome you."
Deidara was just starting to feel touched—
When Kurotsuchi suddenly grabbed his arm and said to Konan,
"Sorry, but Big Brother Deidara will be very busy in Iwagakure. He probably won't have time to come back."
"Wait, Kurotsuchi, I—AHHH! Put me down!"
Before he could finish speaking, Kurotsuchi hoisted Deidara over her shoulder and ran off.
Meanwhile, the International Exchange Class returned to Konohagakure.
Since the mission had involved the Tsuchikage, Samui reported the situation to Minato Namikaze.
After listening, Minato nodded.
"I see. So the C-rank mission encountered another unexpected development.
Actually, the Tsuchikage just sent a message via ninja hawk. He expressed his apologies for your team being caught up in the incident.
As compensation and thanks, he has upgraded this mission to A-rank. Your payment will be issued shortly."
Nagi and the others nodded in agreement.
After all, the matter concerned the future Tsuchikage of Iwagakure. Their actual involvement had been minimal.
To be honest, A-rank compensation was already extremely generous.
Seeing that they had no objections, Minato nodded again.
"Oh, right. On the first day of next month, a Chūnin Exam will be held across the entire ninja world.
Your team already meets the qualifications to participate. Would you like to take part?"
Nagi, Shizuka, and Ameno exchanged glances.
Then they nodded simultaneously.
"We'll participate." ×3
"Excellent."
Minato smiled and pulled three forms out of his desk, handing them over.
"These are the Chūnin Exam registration forms. Please fill them out."
"Understood." ×3
After completing the forms, they handed them back.
Minato stamped them with an official seal.
"Soon someone will issue your exam admission passes. Bring them with you when entering the Chūnin Exam venue.
Oh, and Samui—come to the conference room at two this afternoon. We'll be holding a meeting regarding the Chūnin Exams."
"Understood."
After leaving the Hokage Office, Shizuka sighed.
"The Chūnin Exams, huh? I didn't realize so much time had passed."
Ameno nodded.
"Yeah. Several months went by in the blink of an eye. I wonder how everyone back in the village is doing."
Nagi smiled.
"Based on what the Fourth Hokage said, this exam will involve the entire ninja world. That means the ninja from Sunagakure will probably come as well."
"Mm."
The next day.
Samui explained the details of the upcoming Chūnin Exams.
"This will be the first large-scale Chūnin Exam jointly organized by the Five Great Nations along with many smaller countries.
Almost every shinobi village will send their genin to participate.
The exam will take place in Konohagakure.
There will be three stages:
1 The first stage is usually a written test.
2 The second stage is confidential.
3 The third stage will be tournament-style battles.
Leaders from various shinobi villages will attend to observe the final stage."
The three of them nodded after hearing the explanation.
From then on, the International Exchange Class used Shadow Clones to complete missions while their real bodies focused on training together.
Time quickly passed until the end of the month.
The streets of Konohagakure were now filled with people from many different countries.
At the ninja tool shop…
Nagi walked in familiarly.
He had come to pick up the special kunai he had ordered.
As soon as he entered, he saw Tenten leaning over the counter, sighing tiredly.
"Excuse me."
"Oh—hello, junior. You're here to pick up the kunai, right? Just a moment."
Tenten handed him a scroll.
"Take a look and check them first. Ahh… I'm going to sleep for a bit. If there's any problem, wake me up."
The moment she finished speaking—
She fell asleep.
Nagi had already gotten used to this.
He opened the scroll and carefully inspected each kunai.
After confirming everything was correct, he woke Tenten up, handed her the payment, and left.
After Nagi departed, Tenten lazily slumped over the counter again and drifted back into a nap.
She looked completely exhausted.
Might Guy: What's wrong, Tenten?! Why do you look like that? That's not youthful at all!
Rock Lee: That's right! Youth must burn brightly!
Tenten: I don't know why… but I feel like the me in that world is mentally exhausted.
Neji Hyūga: Same here. And I have a bad feeling about this.
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