Chapter 274: Marisa and Her Cousins

Takigakure was a village hidden behind a gigantic waterfall. Although surrounded by major countries, due to its unique geographical location, it had never been invaded throughout history.

Taki also always maintained an attitude of non-interference, minding its own business behind closed doors and rarely getting involved in shinobi world affairs.

Such an inconspicuous minor village had sent over fifty genin on the long trip to Konoha this time to participate in the Chunin Exam.

No one knew.

Takigakure had long been under Akatsuki's control.

Akatsuki members Kakuzu and seven-tails jinchuriki Fu were both from Taki. In addition, the secluded location of this village wouldn't attract attention from the major villages. So it naturally caught Akatsuki's eyes.

A few years ago, Naruto had used his Rinnegan's power to control Takigakure's village head, turning this place into an Akatsuki base.

At this time.

Among Takigakure's genin team, Gaara's figure appeared.

To be precise, this was an astral projection Gaara created using Naruto's Rinnegan power.

Previously, faced with Uchiha Dan's ambition to collect the nine tailed beasts and become the ten-tails jinchuriki, Naruto as Akatsuki's leader chose to avoid the blade's edge and switch to defense.

But defense didn't mean purely hiding cowardly. That would completely lose the initiative and never have a chance to turn the tables.

So Gaara had blended into Taki's team this time to infiltrate Konoha, in order to probe intelligence and grasp Konoha's movements, so their side wouldn't be completely blindsided.

Of course, taking the championship in the Chunin Exam and utterly embarrassing Konoha on their doorstep was also a pretty good idea.

At this time.

A silver-haired man looking refined and bespectacled appeared before Taki's group.

"Greetings everyone, I'm Kabuto Yakushi, a Konoha jonin. I'll be in charge of Takigakure's schedule going forward. Please point out any inadequacies and I'll correct them at first opportunity."

Kabuto wore a kindly smile, welcoming Taki's people.

As an experienced spy infiltrating Konoha.

Not long ago, Kabuto had applied to join the Chunin Exam's organizing committee. He had actively sought out the receptionist position, specifically responsible for receiving each major village and arranging their accommodation, meals, transport and competition schedule in Konoha.

Through this position, he could logically access all kinds of occasions and probe the latest intelligence.

"Hello, Mr. Kabuto. Please guide us. We'll be relying on you afterwards."

Takigakure's village head also smiled, shaking Kabuto's hand enthusiastically.

"This way, please."

Kabuto gestured for them to follow him and led the group to their hotel, smoothly checking them in.

The number of people who came this time...sure is huge.

Looking over the check-in lists of each village at the hotel front desk, even Kabuto couldn't help sighing to himself inwardly.

Even an inconspicuous village like Taki had sent over fifty participants. Needless to say, the four major villages had many more.

However.

The more people, the more stories that happened. Or rather...incidents.

Konoha probably wouldn't remain peaceful going forward.

And once chaos erupted, it would be a great opportunity to muddy the waters for people like Kabuto and the organization behind him.

Thinking of this.

Kabuto lightly pushed his glasses up his nose. The eyes behind the lenses flashed icy cold.

Next, he relayed all the intelligence of high value he had gathered to Orochimaru outside Konoha, so the latter could keep abreast of Konoha's latest situation at any time.

According to Kabuto's knowledge.

Lord Orochimaru had been lying dormant for eight years, constantly accumulating strength. He was brewing an unprecedented grand action that would shock the entire shinobi world with his first move.

And the code name for that action was – Konoha Crush.

It was truly something to look forward to.

Hokage Building, Hokage's Office.

Dan stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the rainy village of Konoha below. A pair of purple Rinnegan eyes gradually manifested in his irises.

Those villagers and tourists walking Konoha's streets, playing in the rain, even stretching out their hands to catch raindrops, would never imagine -

This rain was created by their Hokage using the Rinnegan.

Dan's Rinnegan was powerful enough to change the weather, generating over half a month of spring showers.

In order to prepare for the "Rain Tiger at Will Technique".

At this very moment, every raindrop falling within Konoha's territory contained Dan's chakra, closely connected to his sensory perception.

And so.

A special map made of countless raindrops appeared in Dan's mind.

Once an unfamiliar shinobi entered Konoha, their chakra would block the rainwater and form a vacuum bubble on the map, allowing Dan to detect it with his sensory perception.

The stronger the person, the more rain they obscured, creating a larger vacuum bubble.

Using this ultimate sensory ninjutsu, Dan grasped the movements of many.

All the conspiracies and intrigues currently happening in Konoha village were also laid bare before his Rinnegan eyes.

That said.

It seemed quite a few powerful contenders had come for this Chunin Exam.

Marisa's championship might be up in the air.

Thinking of this, the expression on Dan's face as an old father couldn't help showing some schadenfreude.

Uchiha Training Grounds.

"Someone must be cursing me again from behind!"

Marisa suddenly sneezed, then rubbed her nose and muttered:

"Definitely the old man. He's just waiting to see me fail the Chunin Exam and laugh at me. How hateful!"

A daughter knows her father best.

Perhaps it was the mental connection between father and daughter. The moment Dan harbored his "malice" over there, Marisa sensed it on this side.

"Marisa, what's wrong?"

Across from her, Sasuke stopped and asked puzzledly.

Thanks to Karen's treatment, his rib fracture had fully healed. Hearing Marisa was training for the Chunin Exam, he as her cousin had naturally come to assist, acting as his cousin's sparring partner.

"Nothing. Let's continue, cousin Sasuke."

Marisa tightened her fists, surging with fighting spirit.

Her voice had barely faded.

Boom!

She kicked off the ground, borrowing the recoil to charge straight at Sasuke like an enraged bull.

"Ora ora ora!"

Marisa reached Sasuke and rained down punches like a storm, attacking relentlessly.

A pair of crimson three-tomoe Sharingan spun in Sasuke's eyes, clearly seeing through every one of Marisa's strikes.

At the same time, his body moved in concert with the Sharingan's dynamic vision, dodging left and right to make his cousin's attacks all miss.

Not only that.

While effortlessly evading, Sasuke calmly lectured Marisa:

"Your strength is enough, but your taijutsu moves are too crude and your speed insufficient. That won't hit anyone, only waste your energy pointlessly..."

"So annoying!"

Marisa yelled loudly, interrupting Sasuke's nagging. She then blasted out a heavy, forceful punch.

However, her target this time wasn't Sasuke, but the ground beneath their feet...

Boom!

With a deafening rumble, the earth around Marisa's fist cracked and split instantly, spiderwebbing fractures spreading across a large part of the training grounds.

Hmm?

Sasuke couldn't find stable footing. He swayed off-balance for a moment.

Chance!

Marisa's eyes flashed sharply. She leapt up halfway and pounced down ferociously at Sasuke in a tiger hunting prey.

With a bang.

Hit by Marisa, Sasuke turned into a puff of white smoke and dissipated from the spot.

It was a shadow clone.

"Damn it, when did he..." Marisa was taken aback.

Just then, a scorching blast of air surged towards her from behind.

When Marisa turned back, she saw a giant fireball over five meters wide. Enveloped in fiery light and blazing heat, it rushed right at her.

Her eyes hardened. Unexpectedly, she didn't dodge or evade. Her muscles tensed as she stood her ground to meet it head-on.

Boom!

The giant fireball collided with Marisa. The conflagration capable of incinerating a building scattered into countless embers upon hitting her.

"To think you can physically withstand my Fire Style: Giant Fireball. Marisa, you really have prodigious talents. But this spar, you lost."

Sasuke's calm voice sounded behind Marisa. The crackling glow of a chakra blade pressed against his cousin's neck.

His Giant Fireball was just to distract her so he could sneak attack.

Even with Marisa's robust physique, her neck was ultimately a vulnerable area. Faced with the Chidori blade, it was impossible to resist.

"Hmph."

Marisa hmphed. She hesitated a moment before begrudgingly lowering her fists.

Seeing Marisa's dissatisfaction, Sasuke sighed and withdrew his blade. Then he began lecturing solemnly again:

"Marisa, as a shinobi only training taijutsu without ninjutsu or genjutsu, your methods are too one-dimensional. It's easy for enemies to target your weaknesses."

When Marisa heard this, she was about to retort when another familiar voice came from the training grounds edge.

"Not necessarily."

It turned out Itachi had been watching the match at the sidelines.

He walked over with a smile and said:

"Lord Sixth specializes in taijutsu too, disregarding ninjutsu and genjutsu, yet he remains peerless in the shinobi world. Marisa inherited Uncle's talents. Focusing her energy on fitness and taijutsu is the fastest way for her to improve. Don't forget, Marisa is only eight this year."

Sasuke was taken aback.

That's right, he had almost forgotten his cousin was only eight years old. After all, Marisa's appearance was quite misleading, often making people mistakenly think she was a grown woman.

Although Marisa was currently stuck at a bottleneck, who could say what level her physique and power would reach next year?

Perhaps by then, relying solely on taijutsu, she could dominate the entire shinobi world.

"Cousin Itachi really understands me."

Marisa laughed loudly. Encouraged by Itachi, she became even more determined on her cultivation path.

That said.

In the earlier spar, she hadn't gone all out. Even with Sasuke's blade at her neck, she could still have used Star Platinum to stop time for a reversal kill.

But using her Stand in such sparring was like cheating. Marisa scorned it.

"This is for you."

Itachi then took out a file folder and handed it to Marisa.

"What's inside?" Marisa asked curiously. Opening it, she found it contained intel on the participating candidates in this Chunin Exam.

"I did some investigation. There are a few noteworthy opponents you should watch out for later."

Itachi pointed out several names as warning.

Sasuke also came to Marisa's side and skimmed through the intel. He frowned:

"Iwa's Deidara, Kumo's Hidan, all a bunch of guys in their early twenties with jonin level skill, yet still shamelessly participating as genin?

And this middle-aged guy, looks almost forty but still a genin?

Ridiculous. It's supposed to be a Chunin Exam yet all the participants are adults. The difficulty must be even higher than the Jonin Exam."

Sasuke felt very dissatisfied about this. He went on:

"No, I'm going to the Hokage Building to protest to Uncle. The exam rules must be redone rationally and these shameless loophole abusers kicked out."

But Marisa just shook her head, stopping Sasuke:

"Don't bother, cousin. The old man knows this would happen. He deliberately wants to see me lose so I can't graduate early from the Academy and form a team with you to roam the shinobi world. But with so many powerful opponents popping up, the originally boring Chunin Exam suddenly became interesting, right?"

After speaking, her eyes blazed as she clenched her fist tightly, exuding intense fighting spirit.

Marisa was someone who never backed down. The stronger her enemies, the more excited she became.

Truly the daughter of Uchiha Dan.

Itachi sighed inwardly. The eight year old Marisa already possessed the mentality of a true powerful warrior. Even Sasuke didn't have the kind of relentless drive she had.

However, mentality alone couldn't defeat strong enemies.

"Sasuke, your injury just healed. Go rest first. I'll be Marisa's sparring partner next."

Itachi instructed Sasuke. Then he walked to the center of the training grounds.

"I'm coming, Cousin Itachi!"

Marisa raised her fists. As soon as she spoke, she charged at Itachi.

With two cousins taking turns as her sparring partner and adviser, she also threw herself into training with utmost enthusiasm and energy. She swore to take the championship in the Chunin Exam.

She would give the old man a ruthless slap in the face then.

...

Outside Konoha village, on a tall hilltop.

Two figures stood side by side, silently gazing at the village in the distance.

No, calling it a village was inadequate. It was more a megacity.

Although shrouded in the misty spring rain, one could still see the skyscrapers, airships floating above, trams shuttling through the city, and countless pedestrians on the busy streets.

Whoosh.

A gust of wind blew past and several leaves fell from above the two, landing in the muddy earth below. They would become nutrients, allowing new sprouts to germinate and grow luxuriantly, eventually maturing into towering trees.

This was the ideal scenery that the "Will of Fire" pursued.

And the Konoha before their eyes seemed to have already realized such a vision.

These two were none other than Konoha's First and Second Hokage - Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju.

"When I was alive, Konoha was still just a small village. I never imagined it would become like this in just a few decades. It's truly unbelievable."

The First sincerely marveled.

"Brother, you're mistaken. It wasn't a few decades, but eight years," the Second pointed out the First's mistaken assumption and supplemented:

"According to Monkey, Konoha was mostly destroyed in the Fourth Shinobi World War, even becoming the colonial territory of the major villages at one point. After the Uchiha clan took over, it only took eight years for Konoha to transform entirely, becoming the largest shinobi city today."

As his voice fell, an extremely complex expression also surfaced on the Second's face...