Before Tsunade began her training, the others who had successfully advanced to the third elimination match had already started their respective training.
Although advancing to Chūnin was not entirely determined by whether one won or lost, it was clear that performing well, or even winning, in the highly anticipated third elimination match would make advancing much easier.
The third elimination match would test personal strength and response capabilities, and a brilliant victory was obviously essential. It would likely also be one of the criteria used by the judges to make their decisions.
During this period, a crowd of spectators would arrive to watch the matches, including civilians, merchants, ninjas, and nobles. The strength of a ninja from each village would be clearly displayed before everyone, with the goal of creating the impression that "our village's ninjas are the strongest," ultimately leading to more missions and requests being sent to that village.
After all, the true support for a ninja village's operations didn't just come from high-level classified international missions like A-rank, S-rank, or even Super S-rank missions; it also came from various commissioned tasks. At a glance, it almost looked like playing a game and accepting tasks.
In conclusion, the Chūnin Exams weren't just battles for the Genin to advance to Chūnin; politically, there were countless connections, and the Second Kazekage from Sunagakure and the Third Raikage from Kumogakure would both be attending from their respective villages.
Well, after the news spread that all the Genin from Sunagakure had been wiped out in the second round, the Second Kazekage canceled his trip to Konoha. This forced Hiruzen Sarutobi to admit that the Second Kazekage, the only survivor from the previous Ninja World War, was truly powerful in every sense.
To sum it all up in one sentence, the third elimination match was very important, and one had to give their all. In such a short time, the ninjas from other villages couldn't return home to train, so they would stay in Konoha, with the village providing food and lodging, and Jonin would guide their training.
However, no matter what, Konoha still had the home field advantage. If they couldn't win in the end, it would be a complete humiliation, and the pride of the winners of the Ninja World War would be shattered.
Given this situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi took the advice of Danzo Shimura and made arrangements to have Jonin provide short-term special training for the "Legendary Three Ninjas"—Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade.
Danzo Shimura volunteered to personally train the three who would later be known as the "Legendary Three Ninjas."
However, something unexpected happened.
After receiving Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval, Danzo Shimura immediately sought out his most promising student, Tsunade. But at the time, Tsunade, who was standing next to White Fang, ready to deliver a finishing blow, was acting like a lovesick girl, successfully repelling Danzo.
Next, Danzo went to find Jiraiya, but Jiraiya didn't hesitate to refuse, stating that he had the guidance of the Toad Sage for his training... which indirectly meant that Danzo was inferior to the Toad Sage. Danzo was furious, but when he saw Jiraiya leave with the reverse summoning technique, he could only silently curse Jiraiya for being ungrateful.
As for why he didn't go to Orochimaru first, Danzo thought Orochimaru was too intelligent and would be hard to deceive. In the end, though, he had no choice but to approach Orochimaru. At this point, Danzo didn't have much hope left.
But to his surprise, Orochimaru readily agreed.
In any case, the individuals advancing to the third elimination match began their respective training.
After the battle ended, Jiraiya realized that the third exam would definitely be a fierce battle. Compared to Tsunade and Orochimaru, Jiraiya knew that his strength was still far from enough, not to mention there were powerful opponents from other villages. So, after the second exam, Jiraiya said a few words to Tsunade and immediately rushed back to Mount Myoboku to continue his training.
Meanwhile, three Genin from Iwagakure were training in a clearing near Konoha. If Tsunade were there, she would recognize this place as where she and Jiraiya often trained, but now it had been bombed into pits and craters.
"Why did you stop?"
Seeing Ayame Hashirama suddenly stop, Daruo, who hadn't had enough fun with the explosions, asked in dissatisfaction.
"I feel like someone is watching us."
Ayame, who had been feeling uneasy, looked around in confusion.
The area around them was a clearing, completely visible, with no place to hide; to the left, there was a small grove that looked like it was frequently walked through, with the sounds of insects and birds. To the right, there was a clear stream, and across the river, two dogs were mating. It didn't seem like anything unusual.
"Yukari, do you think we're being watched?"
"Huh?"
Yukari, who had been absentmindedly eating an apple under the shade of a tree, blinked in surprise, then looked at the two dogs across the river. After confirming, she nodded, "There's no one, just two dogs."
She couldn't care less about the chaos of the Chūnin Exams; she just wanted to finish quickly and go home. Of course, she still had the basic professional ethics of "working for someone else's money," but being in another village and being monitored was inevitable, right?
After all, the Chūnin Exam wasn't pure at all; there was no fairness involved.
And what they were training wasn't any secret ultimate technique—nothing to hide, really.
With this thought, Yukari stood up, patted her bottom, and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?"
Seeing Yukari about to leave, Ayame quickly asked.
"I'm going to find the written exam examiner. I remember he's from the Inuzuka clan," Yukari answered without looking back.
"The Inuzuka clan?" Ayame furrowed her brow in confusion. "Isn't that the dog-raising clan in Konoha? Why are you looking for them?"
"I'm going to ask them what breed the male dog across the river is. Bye." Yukari replied, already walking away.
The male dog had been across the river all morning, and the female dogs had changed several times without stopping. Yukari was curious, wondering if the Inuzuka clan would be willing to sell one of their ninja dogs. If the price was reasonable, she might even get one for herself.
"What breed?"
Watching Yukari leave, Ayame couldn't help but wonder. She thought Yukari was just using an excuse to leave, and she was right. Since the second exam, Yukari had become less motivated, and Ayame believed it was because she still didn't have enough money.
At that moment, the two dogs on the other side of the river looked at Yukari's retreating figure with a clueless expression.
Silly humans!
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PS: I'm working hard on the second update. If I can't make it, it'll be tomorrow morning. Please pity my 777-character-per-hour writing speed.
(End of Chapter)