Chūnin Exams Venue.
"Hmm, quite a lot of candidates this year."
"Where are Guy and Neji? I don't see them anywhere."
Inside the office, Kazuyama Gekkō stood by the window, gazing down at the genin gathered for the exams below. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
The Chūnin Exams—always such an entertaining sight.
He still remembered his own exam years ago. He hadn't fought a single opponent, just slipped through to the end unnoticed. Even the proctors couldn't find him back then. He wasn't famous yet at the time.
"They're here. Neji, Lee, and Tenten are all taking this year's exam."
"Neji's been looking forward to competing against your kids—he waited an extra year just for that."
"Oh, and Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki… hah, my students won't lose to anyone."
After years of growth, Might Guy had become a powerful jōnin. That familiar green jumpsuit—well, not much to appreciate there.
The others stood behind Kazuyama—all jōnin as well.
But even among jōnin, there were levels. Facing the pinnacle of Konoha, Kazuyama Gekkō, they all stood as juniors. In the shinobi world, power alone commanded respect.
Among them were Kakashi, Asuma, Uchiha Obito, and Kurenai.
Just as Kazuyama was about to speak, he sensed a faint disturbance. Without hesitation, he opened his palm, chakra surging outward.
At his level, the Summoning Technique no longer required blood as a medium.
A puff of smoke appeared, and a small white snake materialized in his hand. The snake flicked its tongue rapidly, as if delivering a message.
"What?"
"...The hell???"
Kazuyama's face darkened immediately, an uncharacteristic curse slipping from his mouth. He turned to the others.
"Alright, start the exams."
"Follow the plan as discussed. I'll return for the second round."
His gaze swept over the examinees one last time before he vanished with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The remaining jōnin exchanged uneasy looks. They had all seen the sudden shift in his expression.
"Hey, Kakashi, I've got a bad feeling about this. You saw sensei's face, right?"
"Yeah. Must be something serious."
Obito and Kakashi shared a look, both wondering what could have happened to rattle their teacher that much.
The first exam was still under Ibiki Morino's supervision, though his face bore far fewer scars than before.
That didn't mean he'd gone soft. On the contrary—without the trauma of torture breaking him, he seemed to take even greater joy in tormenting others.
After leaving the exam hall, Ibiki headed straight to the Hokage's office.
Inside, a tense meeting was already underway.
"Hokage, are you sure your intel is accurate?"
"They've moved again?"
Rasa, who had been discussing inter-village matters with Minato Namikaze, widened his eyes in shock.
Konoha's ANBU had just brought in news that made the air feel heavy.
The Akatsuki had reappeared.
This time, however, their target wasn't Konoha or Sunagakure—it was Kirigakure, far across the sea.
"Hey, Minato, something's happened in the Mist!"
Before Minato could even respond, a flicker of light filled the room. Kazuyama Gekkō appeared instantly, having used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport straight into the office.
The moment he landed, he spoke without pause.
"Oh? Rasa, you're here too. Good, that saves me the trouble."
"We should start taking precautions. It's clear they've begun their operation."
"According to my intel network, they've already captured the Three-Tails in Kirigakure. Fortunately, the Six-Tails wasn't in the village at the time—otherwise, the result would've been far worse."
Kazuyama's information didn't actually come from his intelligence network, but from his teacher, Orochimaru.
Orochimaru had long been the one managing Kirigakure's intelligence under his direction, with Terumi regularly sending updates to him.
"I've received confirmation too."
"Their objective is confirmed—it's the Tailed Beasts."
"The One-Tail from Sunagakure, the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails from Kumogakure."
"The Four-Tails from Iwagakure."
"The Seven-Tails from Takigakure."
"The Three-Tails and Six-Tails from Kirigakure."
"And finally… our Nine-Tails."
"As for the Five-Tails, intel suggests the Jinchūriki is dead. No current traces or reports."
Minato's expression turned grim. His wife, Kushina Uzumaki, was the Nine-Tails' host—and now clearly a target.
There was no avoiding conflict.
But even Minato felt the weight of dread thinking about their strange abilities and unfathomable power.
"Hmph. If they dare come for my son, I'll die before letting them succeed!"
"I'll relay this information to Sunagakure immediately and strengthen our defenses."
Rasa was just as fired up. He was no longer the man he once was—rigid and prideful. He had accepted Gaara, and as soon as he heard the Akatsuki were after the Tailed Beasts, his temper flared.
"The question is, who's their next target?"
"Kazuyama, what do you think?"
Kazuyama: ?
What did he think? The target? That was obvious.
It depended on who they could find.
The Two-Tails, Four-Tails, and Five-Tails were in the Land of Snow. The Seven-Tails was under his control.
The One-Tail—Gaara—was currently in Konoha. He'd have to protect that one.
Of all the Tailed Beasts the enemy could locate now, Gaara was the most vulnerable.
"I think we should ambush them."
"For example, wait for them in Sunagakure."
A sly grin spread across Kazuyama's face. In his view, it was better to strike back than sit on the defensive.
If they already knew the enemy's target, they might as well use it against them.
"That's a solid plan, but not easy to pull off."
"If they go silent for a year, are we supposed to just wait around?"
Minato rubbed his temples. At this rate, without a solid strategy, they'd be picked off one by one.
Even the Nine-Tails couldn't stay guarded in the village forever.
No, even if they kept it inside Konoha, the Akatsuki had already attacked the village several times.
"There's another option—forming alliances with the other villages."
"But that won't be easy. Konoha and Sunagakure can cooperate, but the others?"
"At best, we could bring Takigakure on board. They've always been relatively cooperative."
"And Kirigakure too—since they've already been attacked, they're likely open to alliance."
Kazuyama's eyes gleamed. He was already making his moves.
The three villages he'd just mentioned? They were already part of his power network.
If the Akatsuki wanted a fight, then he was more than ready to meet them head-on.