The Joint Chunin Exams are like a combination of the Olympics and a military parade in the Ninja World.
In times of peace, they serve a purpose similar to war in some aspects and are also a platform to showcase one's strength.
If well-executed, the benefits are numerous.
The Hidden Sand Village's relationship with its Daimyo is not good; it even lacks essential military funds for daily operations. Although the Hidden Sand Village wanted to organize such a large-scale event, it was constrained by a lack of money.
The Hidden Cloud Village, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of the Hidden Sand Village. Its relationship with its Daimyo is extremely close. Precisely because of this, the devastating defeat and huge compensation a few years ago caused the Land of Lightning's Daimyo to bleed profusely, and he has not yet recovered.
Darui knew that if he expressed his desire to be a host, the Daimyo would support him even if it meant selling everything. The more he thought about it, the more Darui found himself unable to voice this request.
The Hidden Mist Village, having long had an agreement with Konoha, or rather the Uchiha Clan, to act in unison, never even considered the hosting rights. Its focus was on participation and showing support.
Only Iwagakure, due to Ōnoki's unwillingness to suffer losses, agreed to participate but put forward corresponding demands.
It was certainly unrealistic for Iwagakure to host the entire event, and Ōnoki did not make such a thoughtless request.
In Iwagakure's reply to Konoha, it demanded that one round of the Joint Chunin Exams must be held in Iwagakure; otherwise, Iwagakure would not participate in the Joint Chunin Exams.
After Yuuki received the reply, a smile appeared on his face.
Ōnoki may not look great, but he certainly dreams big.
The unprecedented Joint Chunin Exams, involving all Ninja Villages, brought visible attention and benefits. Ōnoki's desire to get a piece of the pie was perfectly normal.
But was Yuuki someone so easily blackmailed? While Iwagakure's non-participation would indeed diminish the event's momentum significantly compared to its involvement, and it would certainly have some impact on Konoha, Iwagakure would also be affected.
If all other Ninja Villages in the entire Ninja World participated, and only Iwagakure did not, how awkward would that be?
Ōnoki's move was purely a tactic of 'killing eight hundred enemies while losing a thousand of one's own.' He probably saw Yuuki as young and wanted to use this to intimidate him. If it worked, it would be a huge profit; if not, he wouldn't lose anything.
Having understood the key to the situation, Yuuki did not indulge Ōnoki and directly stated, "The replies from various Ninja Villages have arrived. We will announce to the entire Ninja World shortly that, apart from Iwagakure, which is still hesitant and has not yet responded, all Ninja Villages in the entire Ninja World will participate in this grand event!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
While Yuuki taught Iwagakure a lesson, he did not completely block its retreat, leaving it a way to save face.
Things went exactly as Yuuki expected. The day after Konoha issued the announcement, Ōnoki also publicly released a statement, declaring that Iwagakure would absolutely not miss this grand event.
The time was set for three months later, which would be roughly one month after Neji and the others graduated.
Konoha wanting to achieve good results relying on Neji, Lee, and Tenten was naturally out of the question.
For this, Yuuki had his own arrangements. Neji and the others were mainly going to gain experience and broaden their horizons.
Yuuki had already completed his work; the detailed plan would be perfected by others. He just had to wait for the results.
There were still many things that needed to be prepared.
In the broad direction, Yuuki did not act unconventionally. It would still be the traditional three-round exam: a written test to filter out most candidates, leaving a few teams from small Ninja Villages and a number of people from large Ninja Villages depending on the situation.
Then, the second round, team battles, would leave individual representatives from all small Ninja Villages, while large Ninja Villages would retain a small number of elites according to a list.
Finally, there was the highly anticipated third round, individual battles, which was both a time to showcase the strength of each Ninja Village and a stage for the Ninja class to demonstrate its power to ordinary people.
Yuuki had not participated in the Joint Chunin Exams himself, but as the Hokage, he had reviewed the records from previous Joint Chunin Exams and understood the intricacies involved.
For this, Konoha had a lot of preparatory work to do in the next three months.
Yuuki's purpose in painstakingly organizing such an event was not as simple as it appeared; he had deeper plans.
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