Time flew. Before they knew it, another month had passed, and the Joint Chunin Exams hosted by Konoha were just around the corner.
Finally, Nagato decided to allow some young ninja from Amegakure to gain experience outside the village and accepted Konoha's invitation.
During Hanzo's era, Amegakure had once held joint ninja exams with other villages. However, personally for Nagato, this was the first time.
After a careful selection process, the Amegakure leadership chose three Genin under fifteen years old, forming a team to participate in this inter-village collaboration.
However, disagreements arose over selecting the team's Jonin leader.
Those willing to go lacked strength, while those capable refused to leave the village and lead the team to Konoha.
Fortunately, Saitama learned about this matter when he went searching for Pain.
Bored stiff in the village with nothing to do, Saitama immediately volunteered himself as the Jonin instructor for this mission.
Under Konan's and Pain's skeptical gazes, Saitama performed an Incredible Transformation on the spot. His face underwent an Incredible Transformation, reshaping dramatically like modeling clay.
Back when Saitama was saved by Madara Uchiha, most of his body had already been destroyed by Amaterasu. Therefore, Hashirama's cells and substances secreted from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—similar to those found in White Zetsu—replaced his original body tissues.
This transformation not only boosted Saitama's physical limits further but also enabled him to use many amazing Ninjutsu techniques.
Techniques such as [Kagerou no Jutsu], or the [Transformation Jutsu] he demonstrated before Pain and Konan.
Originating from White Zetsu, this [White Zetsu's Transformation Jutsu] was arguably the most powerful in the entire Shinobi World. By absorbing someone else's chakra, one could perfectly mimic that person's appearance, indistinguishable even to those closest to them.
From Saitama's past memories, during the Great Ninja World War, White Zetsu used this very technique to infiltrate the Allied Ninja Forces, creating great chaos through deception.
Even the Byakugan couldn't see through it.
That's why Saitama slapped his chest and assured Konan he was more than qualified to lead the mission.
Saitama could tell that Konoha inviting multiple villages for this joint exam wasn't simply about promoting Genin to Chunin—it might also be a cover for organizing a larger Hidden Village Meeting.
After all, so many major incidents had recently occurred across the Shinobi World, threatening the interests of many villages.
Although the enemy's identity remained unknown, Saitama believed Konoha likely wanted everyone informed beforehand, just in case they encountered these unknown threats unprepared.
Witnessing Saitama's flawless Transformation Jutsu, even Pain found it hard to detect any flaws. Thus, Saitama smoothly became the leader for Amegakure's ninja delegation leaving the village.
Amegakure was indeed a small shinobi village; compared to Konoha's Genin of the same age, the young ninja selected were clearly outclassed in strength.
Luckily, since there was no strict age limit in the Chunin Exams, Amegakure intentionally selected seemingly strong young Genin to give the impression of power.
However, in reality, each of these Genin was about fifteen years old—considered quite old for a Genin.
They had all stagnated at the Genin level for several years and possessed extensive combat experience. At the Genin level, unless facing some monstrous or overpowered opponent, they should be able to confidently win.
The main reason Saitama joined this mission was just to see what would happen—how it would feel when he participated in a meeting where others discussed how to eliminate him. Wouldn't that be exciting?
Half a month before the scheduled exam date, Saitama set off with the talents handpicked from across the entire village.
He brought along just three Genin—barely enough for a full team.
Their names were also quite unique, each reflecting the distinctive traits of Amegakure Village.
They were named Shigure, Shuwu, and Baiu respectively.
The first two were male ninja, while the last one was a rare female ninja from Amegakure Village.
All of them happened to be exactly fifteen years old and were considered the strongest within the ranks of Amegakure's Genin!
Due to the constant rain in Amegakure Village, its ninja wore breathing apparatuses similar to Hanzo's, and their weapons were often integrated into umbrellas.
Of course, Hanzo wore his mask to protect others from the poison he exhaled, while the masks worn by these Genin were simply a habit developed due to the local climate.
In Hanzo's era, the forehead protector symbol of Amegakure featured four vertical lines. During Pain's reign, a horizontal line was added upon the original four, signifying a break between the new and old Amegakure.
"Jonin Yufei, I've never seen you in the village before. Thanks for your trouble today!"
One of the Genin participating in the exams spoke—the one called Shigure.
As for Yufei, that was Saitama's alias for this mission. He couldn't exactly keep using the name Saitama—it would draw way too much attention once he entered Konoha Village.
"Yeah, I used to serve in the Anbu. This time, I was specially assigned as your squad leader. After all, we can't afford to tarnish our village's reputation."
Saitama stepped lightly along the tree trunk, maintaining a steady pace, slightly turning his head to briefly explain to the three ninja behind him.
At the moment, he no longer wore that flashy Akatsuki cloak, but instead donned the grayish-brown vest characteristic of Amegakure—a color resembling the hazy sky, dull and lifeless.
However, he wasn't wearing a breathing mask. He'd changed his appearance—older now, with a little stubble along his jaw. He looked about ten years older than usual.
Moreover, his current appearance was completely ordinary—featureless, in fact. In any other situation, he could pass perfectly as a generic side character.
"Oh, that makes sense!" Shuwu nodded. To maintain its standing among the Hidden Villages, the village carefully selected every Genin involved in this mission, so it made sense that even the Jonin leader was thoroughly vetted.
This was the sorrow of smaller shinobi villages. Although Amegakure was steadily improving, it still lagged far behind the great hidden villages.
"This time around with the Joint Exam, you don't need to stress over the outcome too much," Saitama said offhandedly. "It's more about getting some experience and seeing the world."
Glancing at the three who seemed preoccupied, Saitama decided not to pressure them further, continuing his speech.
Sure, they had an edge in terms of youth and experience, but when it came to facing shinobi from major villages participating in this exam, they still faced serious disadvantages.
After all, other villages would definitely send their carefully selected representatives. This Joint Exam was also a moment for some villages to show off their strength and future potential, so they wouldn't possibly send any second-rate shinobi.
"Understood!"
The three exchanged glances, nodded in agreement. They knew Jonin Yufei was just trying to comfort them, but they wouldn't miss this opportunity to bring glory to their village. From the moment they were chosen, they felt as if a kind of sacred glow had settled over them.
The journey from Ame to Konohagakure took the four of them a total of one and a half days, and by the afternoon of the second day, they already stood before Konoha's grand gates.
Ame's architecture mostly consisted of tall, rough-hewn steel constructions, so as Saitama led the three behind him through Konoha's gates and they saw the wooden structures throughout the village with their delicate carved eaves, they found the scenery quite fascinating.
At Konoha's gates, Saitama approached a Uchiha Security Force member who had gradually straightened up and was now looking toward himself and his companions. He pulled out Konoha's invitation letter and the token representing Ame, beginning the registration process.
With many shinobi representatives from other villages arriving in Konoha recently, the number of foreign ninja in the village had increased. As a result, the Security Force had added more shinobi specifically assigned to guard the entrance.
As Saitama registered their entry, other shinobi kept examining Saitama and the three genin behind him.
Saitama didn't find anything unusual about this; everything seemed normal. However, the three genin behind him were determined not to shame their village while abroad, so they raised their heads high, chests out, and stared back at the security force shinobi watching them, making sure no one would look down on them.
Yet, their posture combined with the breathing apparatus covering most of their faces made the whole scene rather comical.
If the guards hadn't already seen plenty of strange characters from other villages lately and built up a thicker skin, they might have burst out laughing.
Soon enough, Saitama and his team's identities were confirmed, and they were also assigned temporary housing arrangements.
This was specially arranged by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, to better manage foreign visitors—gathering them together in one location instead of scattering them throughout the entire village.
Without paying much attention, Saitama accepted their room key-like device, then led the shinobi behind him deeper into Konoha Village.
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