NOVPUBKyoichi didn’t share his suspicions with anyone.
The more people who knew, the greater the risk of exposure.
Even if the visible “pawn” was eliminated, Madara was confident that no one would know of his existence—after all, there were too many people in the world capable of using genjutsu.
Who would suspect Uchiha Madara?
But Black Zetsu and Madara…
To most, the very idea would seem utterly impossible.
Except for Orochimaru.
If he found out, odds are he’d actively seek Madara out, just to talk about eternal life—
That is, if Madara was willing to meet him, or if Orochimaru could even find where Madara was hiding.
If he could find him, he might as well yank out the old man's oxygen tube. That’d bring the shinobi world peace for a good ten years.
Unfortunately, that was no easy task.
In the anime, Madara’s location was never explicitly mentioned. He once claimed he’d saved Obito by chance—but statements like that were hardly reliable.
Besides...
The last time Kyoichi was in the Land of Grass, he’d practically scoured the entire region.
And still sensed nothing.
Finding old man Madara at this stage was no small feat.
Kyoichi sighed with some regret.
For now, the chaos brewing in Kirigakure could only be handled this way. He still wasn’t sure what Madara’s true goal was this time, but regardless…
One Genin wouldn’t make much of a difference. As long as the Jōnin weren’t being controlled, it was fine.
After Gekkō Hayate left, Kyoichi summoned the system interface to check.
When Elder Ebizō had left earlier, he’d heard the familiar chime—must’ve been a reward.
He opened it:
[“Economic Zone Concept” Instruction Completed]
[Evaluation: Good]
[Reward: Puppet Crafting Technique]
Puppet crafting?
What kind of janky pull is this?!
He hadn’t even fully studied puppet control yet, and now he was handed puppet crafting?
...Well, whatever.
He could figure out chakra threads eventually. But puppet crafting was real, hands-on technique work. From that angle, he’d actually scored a pretty good reward.
Besides…
This might just be applicable to his own stone puppets.
Not bad…
Research institute project: +1.
---
Elsewhere, Yagura and his team settled into their assigned lodgings.
He led the team, and with him was Chūkichi, whose main task was sensory and reconnaissance—to prevent any funny business from Konoha or the other villages without their knowledge.
A lesson learned from Kyoichi.
Yagura understood that when facing someone like Kyoichi, combat power wasn’t everything—intelligence work had to be airtight. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even know how you died.
“Are Konoha’s ANBU still watching us?”
“Yes. Pretty sure they’re monitoring all of us.”
“Expected…”
Yagura didn’t seem particularly concerned.
With so many ninja pouring into the village, it’d be suspicious not to be on guard.
He was just about to dismiss Chūkichi when—
Suddenly, Chūkichi glanced toward the window and stepped in front of Yagura, kunai in hand.
A moment later…
Something silently flew through the window.
“It’s not an explosive tag.”
“It’s a Konoha intel scroll. We’ve seized ones like this in the past.”
Yagura signaled Chūkichi to stand down.
He picked up the scroll.
Unrolled it—and his brow furrowed.
A Genin among them was caught in a genjutsu?
Impossible!
“Alarming nonsense. If Gōzu had really fallen under a genjutsu, how could we not have noticed?”
Chūkichi was dismissive.
Those kids had all been handpicked by Yagura and himself—every one of them thoroughly vetted. How could anyone possibly manipulate them?
And yet…
Yagura frowned and said, “It is indeed bizarre. But as things stand, Kanda Kyoichi may be sly, but he doesn’t do anything without reason. If this intel he gave us is fake… what’s he trying to gain?”
“Maybe he’s trying to throw us off?”
“Chūkichi, our Kirigakure’s next generation is strong—but Konoha’s is stronger. The White Fang’s son. The son of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Uchiha Shisui, a prodigy who graduated at age five. And… that strange taijutsu ninja—his child is rumored to be a taijutsu expert too.”
Yagura counted Konoha’s strengths one by one, then turned to Chūkichi.
He didn’t say more, but the meaning was clear—
Would someone with Konoha’s power really need to play games to throw them off?
If it were Danzō, Yagura might believe it—after all, that guy was infamous for underhanded tactics. But Kanda Kyoichi wasn’t that type of person.
That much, Yagura was sure of.
“So it’s real?”
“We don’t know yet. Don’t spread it around—let’s observe for now. This kind of suggestive genjutsu… there are several in our village who could do it. We don’t know the other party’s purpose, so it’s best to stay quiet, but we must stay alert and cautious.”
Yagura put the scroll away—but after a moment’s hesitation, unease crept over him. Water Release chakra gathered in his hand.
Then…
A swirl of water spun like a vortex, shredding the scroll into powder and dissolving it completely.
This scroll could not be seen by anyone else.
Chūkichi understood the gravity of the situation.
Though there were a few who could pull this off, to do so without anyone detecting it—there was only one person in all of Kirigakure who could manage that.
The Third Mizukage.
But…
Why?
Yagura and Chūkichi couldn’t figure it out. If the Third Mizukage wanted to achieve something, he wouldn’t need to resort to such measures. He could simply tell them directly.
And besides…
What could a genin possibly accomplish?
Gōzu had graduated early, yes—but not because he was especially talented. It was Yagura who insisted on sending these kids to the battlefield early—to see blood firsthand.
It was an idea inspired by Kyoichi.
This group of genin had already witnessed the “war” with Kumogakure. Talents like Hōzuki Mangetsu, Zabuza, and Terumi Mei had all killed on the battlefield.
Gōzu wasn’t one of them.
Yagura couldn’t make sense of it—but he had no choice but to consider it.
Chūkichi, on the other hand, gave up.
He was a jōnin, sure—but this kind of thing? Best left alone.
Sometimes, knowing too much isn’t a good thing.
He went out to reinforce patrols. Earlier, someone had gotten close to the house—so close that he only sensed them once they were nearly inside. If they hadn’t tossed the scroll, he wouldn’t have noticed at all.
They hadn’t shown hostility, but to let an Anbu get that close—what a slap in the face.
But…
It wasn’t long before Konoha’s shinobi arrived—openly and officially.
They were delivering a notice:
All foreign shinobi were to move to a designated residence area.
Another piece of news:
Kumogakure had arrived!
This was huge. Word had spread that the Third Raikage had died at the hands of Iwagakure and Konoha. And the successor, the Fourth—A—was known for his temper.
No one had expected…
That A would swallow his pride—not only refraining from retaliation, but actually accepting Konoha’s invitation to attend the Chūnin Exams.
Even more surprising—he came in person!
When Kyoichi got the news, he thought it was absurd. But then he remembered—this guy had always been fearless. Back then, when he charged Sasuke head-on without hesitation, Kyoichi had honestly thought he was crazy enough to ignore Amaterasu.
But in reality—
He had been prepared to lose an arm.
Unbelievable.
So…
Kyoichi wasn’t surprised at all by the Fourth Raikage’s move. But Sarutobi Hiruzen and Kitsuchi? Not so lucky—the moment A arrived, he punched Kitsuchi in the face.
Now the Third Tsuchikage was trying to mediate.
By the time Kyoichi got there, half of Kitsuchi’s face was swollen, and medical-nin were already treating him.
The injuries would heal—but the swelling?
That would take a while.
Behind the Fourth Raikage was a whole group of Kumo-nin. In front of him, a crowd of Iwa-nin had surrounded him—among them, the slowpoke himself: Roshi.
A was utterly unbothered, wearing a scornful expression.
“Pathetic. You Iwa-nin are only good at this kind of crap. Sending a Jinchūriki to a Chūnin Exam? Ridiculous!”
“Ugh…” Roshi got hit by friendly fire.
As if this was his idea?
“Ahem… everyone, let’s calm down. We all come from different corners of the shinobi world and just came out of a war. I understand tensions are high, but since we’ve accepted Konoha’s invitation to the Chūnin Exams, we must abide by the rules. Raikage…”
“Yeah, yeah. Fighting weaklings isn’t any fun anyway. Kitsuchi—I’ll make sure Ōnoki gets a taste of this fist one day. Tell him to wait for it.”
A sneered.
The Third Hokage noticed—A was looking for someone.
No need to guess who.
“Raikage, you’ve come a long way. Why not rest for now? Whatever grievances you have can wait until after the exams.”
The Third didn’t want him causing more trouble.
All the other villages had sent jōnin leaders—even Sunagakure’s most extreme case was Ebizō. Only Kumogakure… had to be different.
The Raikage came in person.
Throwing everything into chaos.
No wonder that brat Kyoichi wasn’t showing up…
Always full of ideas—and now he’d tossed this old man out here to clean up the mess?
Just thinking about it made the Third Hokage fume.
He knew all about Kyoichi’s dealings with the other villages. Tsunade had even shared parts of Kyoichi’s plan with him.
To be honest…
At first, it nearly made him pass out from anger.
Thankfully, Tsunade’s medical skills were good.
The Fourth Raikage eventually calmed down. Kitsuchi had no complaints.
After all, his old man had stabbed Kumogakure in the back—and gotten the Third Raikage killed. Given the Fourth’s temper, a single punch was already very restrained.
Back in the old days?
He’d have tried to kill him outright.
The crowd dispersed. The Third Hokage stayed behind to host the Raikage personally.
“Don’t worry, Hokage. Business is business. So—where’s Kyoichi and Minato? Let them come catch up. They ran so fast during the war, I never got the chance to get even.”
The Fourth Raikage was as bold as ever.
Casualties are normal in war. The grudge over the Third Raikage’s death was directed at Ōnoki. His talk of “revenge” clearly wasn’t meant as literal death matches.
“Minato’s currently on a mission. As for Kyoichi—he’s… teaching at the Academy now.”
“Huh?”
The Fourth Raikage looked dumbfounded, his face saying, Are you joking?
That kind of powerhouse… back to teaching at the Academy?
Are teacher standards that high these days?
“Seriously?”
“He really is a teacher. Honestly, this Chūnin Exam was originally meant to be a small joint event with a few allies. But more and more villages joined in—until it became a full shinobi-world affair. The pressure on him is no joke.”
The Third made up an excuse offhandedly.
A snort came from the Raikage: “You think I’d miss an opportunity like this? Hmph.”
The Third didn’t press him further.
A’s intentions were obvious—to anyone with eyes.
But…
He was targeting Iwa-nin. What did that have to do with Konoha?
Let Ōnoki worry about it.
This time, Kumogakure had brought real strength. By contrast, Iwagakure’s current generation had a noticeable gap—no real talent in sight. If Kumo went all out, not a single Iwa genin might survive.
The Third thought it over.
He’d need to coordinate with Kyoichi—do some backroom maneuvering.
At the very least, they couldn’t let Iwagakure get wiped out in Konoha.
That would look terrible. And it wouldn’t sit well with Konoha’s own people either.
