After taking over the snake uncle's foundation, Sasuke came to surrender on his own initiative.

West stand, top steps.

Ta...da...da

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was sitting right next to the aisle, suddenly heard the sound of faint footsteps slowly approaching his ears.

He subconsciously looked down following the sound, and a few bright "?" forehead protection signs appeared shakily in his sight. Several Otonin were slowly walking up the stairs beside him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly, and the gray spots at the corners of his eyes became clearer.

"It's those Sound Ninjas..."

At this moment, he suddenly felt a gaze coming from the lower left side and turned his head to look.

In his sight, on the third step of the east stand, only a dozen steps away from him, the young leader of the Sound Village was giving him a strange smile.

In an instant, Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils shrank sharply.

how to say.

That feeling made him feel both strange and familiar.

What was familiar was that he had only seen that smile on the battlefield after many years.

It is the gaze of a hunter on his desired prey.

What is strange is...

It has been decades since Sarutobi Hiruzen saw someone looking at him with such an unscrupulous look.

The two looked at each other for a long time, but the frivolous smile on each other's face did not fade at all. After a while, they retracted their gaze and turned back.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face darkened, "Arrogant guy..."

He made a decision in his heart instantly, "It seems that after this joint Chunin exam, it is necessary to start economic deprivation of Otogakure..."

In peacetime, we must never resort to force lightly, otherwise it will produce a series of butterfly effects.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was well aware of this.

So what is economic deprivation? It means cutting off all sources of income for a ninja village!

For a small village like Otogakure, it is too easy for Konoha to seize its only source of income...which is the mission hiring system.

Thinking of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced coldly at Ototake's back, with a look of condescension on his face, "When the time comes, no matter how powerful and talented you are as a leader, you will be like Hanzo in the past, and perish because of the poverty and weakness of your own country!"

He is very sure.

Because this is not the first time he has done this.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha, with the Third Kazekage and the Third Tsuchikage as its support, launched a two-pronged attack and blockade on the Rain Country with both military and economic means, successfully preventing the rise of the Rain Country.

This was the thing he was most proud of in his life, and one of his most impressive achievements as Hokage.

With a cold snort, Sarutobi Hiruzen withdrew his gaze from the east stands, and a hint of pride flashed in his turbid eyes.

"The previous Hokage worked hard to establish the Five Great Nations. There is no way they can be broken in my hands!"

......

"Lord Yinzhu, are Bai and the others going to join the battle this time?"

Hearing this, Yin Zhu glanced at Zabuza beside him and said, "With their strength, there is little point in joining the battle. As long as they can protect their own safety without exposing their Sharingan, I will be satisfied."

As soon as the cold voice was uttered, the back of Zabuza, this iron-blooded man, instantly straightened, and the whole person sat on the seat like a javelin.

"Huh? Why?"

Then he reacted and a look of confusion appeared on his face.

Even his own Mangekyō was allowed to be exposed, so why did Bai and the others need to hide their ordinary two-magatama Sharingan?

Yin Zhu chuckled and looked at Dou who was smiling reservedly on the left. "Dou, tell him."

"Yes, Lord Ototake." He nodded respectfully and turned to look at Zabuza. "It's because of Akatsuki!"

"dawn?"

"Yes." Kabuto nodded slightly, and then explained in a deep voice, "It is a very terrifying organization. There are nearly ten core members as powerful as Orochimaru! And the leader of the organization, Pain, has the legendary Samsara Eye. The so-called Five Kage in the current ninja world are not even on the same level as him."

"Moreover, Orochimaru didn't even survive a single move from Uchiha Itachi, who was also an S-rank rebel ninja from Konoha! If I hadn't saved him, Orochimaru wouldn't have had the chance to return to the Sound Village, and he wouldn't have been killed by Lord Ototake..."

"Ah?" Zabuza opened his mouth and stood there in a daze as if he was stunned.

Can he eliminate Orochimaru, one of the three most famous ninjas in the ninja world, with just one move?

It is difficult for a traditional-minded ninja like Zabuza to believe that it is something a "human" can do.

"Hehehe..."

When Kabuto's eyes fell on Yinzhu, a hint of humility immediately appeared on his handsome face. He pushed up his glasses and said, "The Uchiha clan has been exterminated. Lord Yinzhu must be worried that too many Sharingans suddenly appeared in Konoha and would attract the attention of that Pein."

"I see..." Zabuza shook his head with emotion. The information he just received completely washed away all his previous knowledge. "It turns out that even a ninja like Orochimaru is far from the limit of ninja strength..."

"Kou, you seem to have made a mistake."

Yin Zhu's voice was indifferent and cold, causing Dou's heartbeat to slow down instantly.

Yin Zhu glanced at Dou, whose expression was slightly stiff, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised on his indifferent face.

"You are very smart and good at understanding people's minds. You roughly guessed my thoughts, but you got one thing wrong." Yin Zhu's face was slightly serious. "Pain is just a puppet. He dare not show his face in public at present. I am not afraid of him. The one I am really on guard against is actually only one and a half people."

"One and a half people?" Kabuto was stunned, and immediately guessed what Yinzhu was referring to, "That person... is Uchiha Itachi!"

"That's right." Yin Zhu nodded slightly and said seriously. "Although his pupil technique is powerful and can be called a first sight kill, it is not unsolvable for me. What really scares me is his intelligence, plus the Eight-foot Mirror and the Ten-fist Sword in his hands!"

Yin Zhu finally showed a bitter smile on his face, and he shook his head. "With such a configuration, Itachi is the only one who has received the favor of the gods. If he hadn't opened his eyes too early and damaged his body's essence, he would have been invincible against any ninja."

He was also a little helpless. Kishimoto's portrayal of the character of Itachi seemed too perfect, so much so that he later discovered that without some "script killing", he would be an evil-level existence that would never die!

If too much Sharingan is exposed this time, it would be hard for Uchiha Itachi not to guess that Ototake was the murderer who helped him massacre the Uchiha clan!

And Yinzhu didn't want to confront Itachi for the time being, or perhaps... he was not completely sure.

"Then...what about the other half?" Dou was very curious.

"The other half..."

An unpredictable smile suddenly appeared on Yin Zhu's face. "To be precise, it is not a human." He paused, then slowly spoke, "It is... the brother of the Six Paths Sage!"

A dangerous aura slowly emerged in his eyes. "He is also from Akatsuki..."

"Xuanwu!"