In the Hidden Cloud Village, the Fourth Raikage was livid upon receiving Minato's message, shattering the table in front of him with a single furious strike.
"Raikage-sama, shall we send anyone to the Ninja Way Conference?" Samui asked helplessly after the Raikage calmed down.
The Hidden Cloud Village had already been financially strained after compensating Konoha, and now they had to buy another desk.
"We'll go! Send everyone!" After a pause, he added decisively, "Killer Bee and I will go personally—we must take that one billion Ryō prize!"
"No way!" Samui immediately protested. "If Konoha plans to trap us, both you and Lord Bee would—!"
She didn't finish, but the Raikage understood perfectly.
He waved dismissively and explained, "If Konoha wanted us dead, they'd have done it last time. Besides, with such a huge public event, they wouldn't risk their reputation like that."
Despite his brash appearance, the Fourth Raikage was sharp-minded. Otherwise, how could he have become Raikage or later lead the Shinobi Alliance in the original timeline?
Samui finally understood, nodding and quickly leaving to make arrangements.
Many Cloud ninja were heading to Konoha—if preparations weren't thorough, the village might face serious trouble.
Another unspoken reason between them was clear: given Konoha's current strength, the Hidden Cloud Village didn't have the power to refuse.
Similar discussions occurred in other villages as well.
In the Hidden Sand Village, Rasa had fully solidified his position as Kazekage, gaining complete control. Upon hearing the news, no one opposed—in fact, everyone eagerly anticipated it.
one billion Ryō! For other villages, it might merely be one year's funding. But for the Sand Village, this money could sustain them comfortably for three or even five years.
After all, the Daimyō of the Land of Wind always slashed their budget, leaving the village perpetually cash-starved.
The Hidden Stone Village was less decisive. The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, spent an entire meeting harshly criticizing Konoha, yet ultimately agreed to participate.
The biggest reaction came from the Hidden Mist Village. Terumi Mei had originally planned to wait for an opportune moment to overthrow the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
However, the news of the Ninja Way Conference left her restless. Under Yagura's reign, the Hidden Mist Village had severely declined—this prize money could significantly help their recovery.
Even second place would yield five hundred milion Ryō—money they desperately needed.
But Yagura certainly wouldn't participate, and he might even forbid anyone else from going.
"No choice. We must deal with Yagura within these next few days and stabilize the village before heading to Konoha. Ao, you'll lure Yagura out!" Mei said decisively.
In a secluded corner of the Mist Village, Mei gathered her trusted followers, Ao among them.
Ao had once been Yagura's confidant, but after witnessing the village's decline due to Yagura's cruel reign, he gradually sided with Mei, even becoming her trusted undercover agent.
Thanks to the transplanted Byakugan, Ao had discovered that Yagura was being controlled by someone else, prompting their current action.
"No problem," Ao assured. "I'll lure him out tomorrow, straight into our trap."
Hesitantly, Ao asked, "Once we go to Konoha, should we try to reclaim the Three-Tails?"
Indeed, years earlier, when Sora rescued Rin Nohara, he'd taken the Three-Tails with him, leaving Yagura without the Tailed Beast.
If Yagura had remained a jinchūriki, Mei wouldn't have dared move against him so openly.
"No," Mei replied without hesitation. "Konoha is too powerful right now; we aren't their match. But I'll try to sound out the Fourth Hokage's intentions."
Mei firmly rejected the idea—no one wanted to end up like the Hidden Cloud Village.
While the Hidden Mist Village struggled internally, the Land of Rain erupted into chaos.
Upon hearing about the tournament, Akatsuki members—especially Kakuzu—immediately became interested. Kakuzu coveted the enormous prize money, and the others were enticed by either fame or wealth.
Had it not been for Konoha's overwhelming strength, they would have already rushed there individually.
These members incessantly urged Nagato to participate, arguing that if Konoha acted tough, they could simply annihilate them. After all, Nagato possessed the legendary Rinnegan. With him around, they weren't afraid of Konoha's strength.
Nagato had to expend considerable effort to suppress their enthusiasm.
Of course, Sora was unaware of these developments—not that he'd care even if he knew.
At this moment, he was busy examining the system. Since it began upgrading, the system's interface had become inaccessible, displaying only:
[Host: Sora]
[System upgrading. Please check again in three years!]
Honestly, with the system suddenly gone, he felt strangely bored. Out of sheer boredom, he decided to head to Ichiraku Ramen to reward himself.
Walking through Konoha's streets, he overheard the villagers talking.
"Did you hear about the Ninja Way Conference? I heard even the Kage-level ninja will participate. I wonder who Konoha will send?"
"Oh, it has to be the Legendary Sannin, Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama, and Sora-sama!"
"Everyone else seems fine, but Sora-sama is still too young. He probably can't handle those experienced veterans."
"I agree. Those other Kage-level ninja aren't opponents Sora-sama can face yet. Maybe in a few more years."
Ninety-nine percent of villagers believed Sora couldn't defeat these seasoned shinobi.
Listening to their conversation, Sora merely smiled, saying nothing.
"Uncle Teuchi, a bowl of ramen, please!"
Hearing Sora's voice, customers inside the ramen shop turned around, warmly greeting him. Some even carried their ramen bowls over to sit beside him.
They all deeply respected Sora and felt comfortable giving him heartfelt advice.
"Sora-sama, you're still too young. Maybe sit this conference out—next time, you'll definitely claim first place!"
"Yeah, Sora-sama, those competitors are decades older. You're not even ten yet—it's unfair!"
No one saw any chance for Sora to win. Kage-level shinobi symbolized peak strength, and Sora was simply too young. They feared he might suffer a setback that could shake his confidence.
Facing such unanimous doubt, Sora felt somewhat depressed. Was he really that weak?
After casually deflecting their suggestions, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
These people were really hard to convince! However, this strengthened his resolve—he absolutely must join the tournament and prove them wrong!