Mist Village.
“Hm?
Konoha has sent an invitation to the Chunin Exams?”
A figure hidden in the darkness spoke softly, his voice calm and emotionless, as still as an ancient well.
When the Mist shinobi heard that voice, his entire body trembled.
He hurriedly replied in a respectful tone, “Yes, Mizukage-sama.”
“In that case, go.”
Yagura raised his head, a flash of red passing through his eyes.
“This is a good opportunity to see what kind of tricks Konoha is trying to pull.”
…
Cloud Village.
“Konoha invited us to participate in the Chunin Exams?
Those cowards?”
The Third Raikage burst into hearty laughter, his burly body radiating an astonishing sense of pressure.
“Raikage-sama, should we go?” a Cloud shinobi beside him asked.
“Go!
Why wouldn’t we?!” The Third Raikage slammed his hand onto the table.
“Isn’t that old bastard Sarutobi trying to put on a show of strength and crush our ambitions toward Konoha?”
“But that suits me perfectly!”
“I want to see who ends up intimidating whom!”
…
Sand Village.
“The Chunin Exams?”
The Third Kazekage glanced at the invitation before casually tossing it aside.
“Konoha is probably trying to use this opportunity to intimidate the other nations.
Our Sand Village does indeed need to demonstrate our strength.”
“But…”
He stood up, his gaze turning cold and shadowy.
“Now is not the time!”
The Third Kazekage remained silent for a moment before turning his head toward the Sand shinobi kneeling before him.
“We won’t be joining the Chunin Exams this time.”
He spoke calmly.
“We have something more important to do.”
With that, he strode forward, his steps steady.
At the same time, he spoke in a deep voice.
“I order the Anbu to investigate the disappearance of our village’s shinobi with all their strength.”
“As for Sasori…”
The Third Kazekage paused before continuing.
“I will personally be responsible for monitoring him!”
…
Konoha’s invitations were sent out, and the final responses came from Mist Village in the Land of Water and Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning.
For unknown reasons, Iwagakure and Sand Village declined to participate.
Of course, besides the five great shinobi villages, several smaller villages, such as Grass Village and Rain Village, also joined.
The Third Hokage wasn’t bothered by this.
Having them participate would naturally be ideal.
It would provide the most direct means of intimidating the other nations.
But even if they didn’t participate, that didn’t mean the other nations would remain completely unaware of the Chunin Exams’ results.
As long as Chen Fan performed well and announced the strength of Konoha’s new era to the entire shinobi world, that alone would be enough to create the desired deterrent!
Soon, under the Third Hokage’s orders, Konoha also began making preparations.
As for whether Chen Fan could complete this mission…
He trusted Orochimaru!
…
Meanwhile.
Chen Fan stared at the system, excitement flashing through his eyes.
[Host: Chen Fan.]
[Current Skills: Feast (Mythical), Battle Roar (Silver), Mountain Breaker (Silver), Berserk (Gold)]
[Experience Points: 98,129]
“I can do another round of draws!”
Ninety thousand Experience Points!
Two-thirds of them had come from the bandits Chen Fan had wiped out recently!
Although those bandits were incredibly weak, with most of them being ordinary people and only a small number of shinobi mixed among them…
There had been a lot of them!
And killing people provided more Experience Points than simply defeating an opponent.
“Perhaps when dealing with ordinary shinobi, killing them directly would give me the greatest return…”
Ordinary shinobi had low talent, so their strength couldn’t improve much in a short period of time.
Taking them out in one go was probably the most efficient approach.
Previously, Chen Fan had no choice in Konoha.
He couldn’t exactly slaughter the entire Ninja Academy, could he?
But now that he had graduated, the people he encountered would be shinobi from other villages…
“Let’s start with the lottery.”
Chen Fan quickly made up his mind.
[10,000 Experience Points consumed.
Lottery begins.]
[You obtained a Bronze-level item: Silver Bullet.]
[Silver Bullet: A bullet made of pure silver.
It has a significant effect against evil spirits, wandering souls, and similar entities.]
What the hell would he need ghosts for in the Naruto world?
“Trash.
Change it.”
[1,000 Experience Points consumed.
Skill replaced.]
[You obtained a Silver-level skill: Bakudō #1: Sai.]
“What’s the point of binding someone?
By the time you use it, you could’ve just cut them down…
Change it.”
[You obtained a Gold-level item: Chop-Chop Fruit.]
Chen Fan: “…”
Among the system’s lottery rewards, Gold-level items were actually quite rare.
Anything above that, such as Master, Legendary, and so on, depended entirely on luck.
As for his Mythical-level skill, Chen Fan even suspected that it had been a first-draw reward, with the system significantly increasing the probability of obtaining a high-level skill before he managed to get it.
Most of the time, obtaining a Gold-level reward from the lottery could already be considered extremely lucky.
But…
“What the hell am I supposed to do with this fruit?”
Chen Fan’s expression twisted.
“Change it!”
[You obtained a Bronze-level skill…]
[You obtained…]
[You obtained a Bronze-level skill: Wild Instinct.]
[Wild Instinct: The deepest battle instinct originating from the genes of beasts.
During combat, it allows you to instantly recognize the action most suitable for you.]
“It’s actually this…” Chen Fan narrowed his eyes.
If he remembered correctly, this skill originated from Bleach, and was an ability possessed by Kenpachi Zaraki.
Of course, it came from a game-like data system.
Wild Instinct seemed to increase nothing at all.
In a game, it would be practically useless.
But in real combat, it had considerable significance.
It could even determine the outcome of a battle.
As for its low skill level…
He could just upgrade it!
The system’s skill upgrades were genuine upgrades.
There was no situation where an upgraded skill would be weaker than another skill of the same level.
As long as he was willing to spend enough, he could even buy his way into having an entire set of Mythical-level skills!
That was also why Chen Fan didn’t insist on obtaining high-level skills.
He preferred skills that fit his own combat style.
Chen Fan glanced at his remaining Experience Points.
His luck hadn’t been particularly good this time.
After replacing several skills without finding anything suitable, he now had only a little over twenty thousand Experience Points left.
“Forget it.
I’ll upgrade Wild Instinct, then call it a day.”
Thinking this, Chen Fan subconsciously clicked the draw option.
“Oops, I clicked the wrong one.
That’s another ten thousand Experience Points wasted…”
[10,000 Experience Points consumed.
Lottery begins.]
[You obtained a Gold-level item: Skill Upgrade Scroll.]
Huh?