"Akatsuki?"

Orochimaru's hoarse voice rang out with seven parts surprise and three parts scorn. ​​

"Orochimaru?"

Akatsuki's crowd saw that the visitor was Orochimaru, and one by one, the corners of their mouths picked up into inexplicable smiles as they turned their heads to look at their leader, Pain.

Orochimaru attacked Uchiha Itachi 6 months ago and defected from Akatsuki after having his hands chopped off by Itachi.

They didn't expect to see him here.

'That's really clever!'

Sasori glanced at Orochimaru coldly, pulled out a scroll from his body, and looked at Orochimaru quietly.

"It seems that Akatsuki had gone to great lengths to catch me!"

Orochimaru sneered and took out his Kusanagi Sword from his stomach, and assumed a fighting stance.

He knew that he was in trouble today. After all, he couldn't beat the leader and Itachi, even in his prime.

Not to mention now, there were other members of Akatsuki.

Orochimaru knew exactly how weird the people who could join this organization were!

"First, find a way to get out of here, and as for Orochimaru, we'll talk about it when we get out."

Pain said and turned his gaze to another place, where another figure also became clear.

The untamed white spiky hair, a huge scroll behind his back, and a forehead protector with the word 'oil' written on it.

With a greasy face and untidiness.

There was only one person dressed like this in the whole shinobi world!

Jiraiya!

Pain didn't expect that this space would pull him in as well.

It seems that this wasn't just for Akatsuki.

"Sensei."

Behind Pain, Konan's body tensed up the moment she saw Jiraiya, and then, with a long sigh, her tense body slowly relaxed.

Jiraiya was flabbergasted by the scene before him.

Glancing at Orochimaru, who was also on guard, he thought: 'This wasn't Akatsuki's ambush for me because they found out that I was investigating them, right?'

Konan's voice was so weak that Jiraya couldn't even hear it, but it was live-streamed out of the space.

"Sensei? Did she just call Jiraiya sensei?"

"My God, Jiraiya-sama's disciple is so beautiful and powerful!"

"But I never heard that Jiraiya-sama was accepting disciples?!"

"Bullshit, if you knew, the whole Shinobi world would know! In my opinion, today's incident is in all probability the brilliant plan of our Third Hokage-sama."

"Plan?"

"Think about it, although it's peacetime right now, which other shinobi village isn't eyeing us?

If Hokage-sama took the initiative to divulge Konoha's strength, combining reality and illusion to scare them, wouldn't it eliminate war in its infancy?"

"Surprisingly, that makes sense! We are so lucky to have such a far-sighted Hokage-sama! Long live, Third Hokage-sama!"

"Long live, Third Hokage-sama!"

Konoha, Root's headquarters.

Listening to the cries outside, Danzō's face was incomparably gloomy.

He didn't expect Sarutobi, that old guy, to let Orochimaru and Jiraiya take in students outside Konoha.

No wonder Jiraiya never came back to the village.

It turned out he was teaching Kage-level students!

So, it seems that Orochimaru's defection and Tsunade's departure were both intentional.

"Sarutobi, I never thought your schemes were this deep!"

Danzō's two fists are clenched tightly. He had to be the next Hokage!

He would never allow these two people to take over his authority.

Never!

...

In Iwagakure, Ōnoki, the current Tsuchikage, looked at the picture somberly.

The village had withered. He had to continue to hold the position of Kage as the young generation had no successor for Tsuchikage.

He was the oldest Tsuchikage, the most knowledgeable, and the best at conspiracy theories.

Seeing this scene, he immediately decided that this image was Konoha's means to show their strength.

However, he had to acknowledge the brilliance of that old man, Sarutobi, in choosing to reveal Konoha's strength at this time.

Looking at the woman who addressed Jiraiya as sensei, Ōnoki was furious.

Their Iwagakure also had a gifted teenager who mastered the unique Secret Technique, which was very powerful.

He was the most promising person to become the next Tsuchikage.

'But! But! But!'

'This fucking kid showed up on the screen!'

'Deidara, you little brat, don't let me catch you!'

...

Above the clouds, Ryuji saw that all the participants had arrived and waved his hand.

Suddenly, in the white space, large letters began to condense. The space and rules here were introduced to the crowd.

[Examination space]

[After the exam, you will be rewarded or punished according to your score.]

[No jutsu allowed in the examination space, and no fighting. Violators will be punished.]

After reading the introduction, the crowd had a thoughtful expression on their faces.

They were all rebellious shinobis of the major shinobi villages— top powerhouses, who had long matured.

Although their hearts scoffed at the punishment described by the space, none of them raised objections.

Instead, one by one, they became interested in the lists in the space above them.

According to the space, these lists collect information from the entire Shinobi world, and the test questions for their exams were categorized according to the lists.

[Permission restriction. Only the top ten can be viewed from the Shinobi's Pride List; the rest can't be viewed. Please take the exam and upgrade your permission.]

"Open the Shinobi's World List."

As the leader of Akatsuki, Pain didn't need to ask others for their opinions and spoke directly into space.

"Hey, this Shinobi's Pride List contains all kinds of lists in the world. I'd like to see where my name would be ranked in the top ten!"

Deidara's defiant voice sounded. His eyes looked at Uchiha Itachi provocatively.

Itachi ignored it.

...

Ōnoki, who was far away in Iwa Village, nodded at Deidara's words.

It's not that Deidara was bragging. His talent was indeed the strongest of the younger two generations of Iwagakure.

Otherwise, Ōnoki wouldn't pity his defection.

Ōnoki estimated that in the entire shinobi world, the number of shinobis with greater talent than Deidara wouldn't be more than a handful.

....

"Oh, you want to compete with him?"

In Konoha's training ground, Uchiha Sasuke coldly sneered.

He didn't know who this guy was, acting more arrogant than himself. But he didn't deserve to compete with that guy!

After all, even if he didn't want to admit it, it was his brother!

Only he was allowed to challenge him!

.....

Under the nervous gaze of countless people, the Shinobi's Pride List slowly opened among the many giant lists hanging above the space.

A golden light appeared on the list. Taking the giant list as paper, the light was the pen, writing down names one by one.

The writing style was bold and vertical. The momentum could sink mountains and pull down the sky above. The handwriting alone overwhelmed the hearts of the crowd and filled them with awe.

The overall look carried an unspeakable momentum and artistic conception.

Number one strongest of the shinobi world: Ōtsutsuki Urashiki.

Number one mother of the shinobi world: Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.

Number one illusion of the shinobi world: Afterimage Clone.

Number one taijutsu user of the shinobi world: The Noble Green Beast, Might Guy.

Number one speed of the shinobi world: Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.

Number one pervert of the shinobi world: Toad Sage, Jiraiya.

Number one heroic person of the shinobi world: Senju Tsunade.

Number one hardest to completely kill in the shinobi world: Orochimaru.

Number one most filial son in the shinobi world: Black Zetsu.

Number one most reckless ninja in the shinobi world: Uzumaki Naruto.