"Hunter × Hunter?"
"Depending on the goal they pursue, they are divided into different kinds of Hunters. By passing the exam, they can obtain a Hunter License and live for their dreams. How free."
"But it's also very dangerous."
"An exam is actually this dangerous? It's even more dangerous than a ninja's Chunin Exams. I'm guessing only a twisted village like Kirigakure would have a higher death rate."
"Kirigakure really was stupid to the extreme. An exam where everyone is from the same village, yet they made the death rate so high. In name, it was to cultivate elites, but does coming second mean someone isn't human? Does coming second mean they're useless?"
"If first place can become an elite jonin, can't second place become a jonin?"
"Or is it that Kirigakure doesn't even care about jonin and doesn't need them?"
"Kirigakure ending up like this is entirely its own fault."
Everyone saw Gon, then Leorio and Kurapika.
"Kurapika's eyes can turn red. After turning red, his strength increases greatly. In some ways, that's a little similar to the Uchiha's Sharingan."
"Could Kurapika have been written with the Uchiha as a reference?"
Someone immediately argued back.
"They're just red eyes. You people only know the Uchiha. Aside from the Uchiha, there's also the Red-Eye Clan. They're even above the Hyuga clan's Byakugan in this regard."
"They're more similar to Kurapika's eyes."
"Also, the Chinoike clan's Ketsuryugan is even closer."
Everyone discussed it enthusiastically.
Regardless, this story received mostly positive reviews right from the beginning.
"This world setting is very attractive. It's completely different from One Piece and The Kouga Ninja Scrolls."
"What a pity. There's only this much. I really want to see what comes next."
Some of the faster readers had already finished the story section.
Afterward, they could only reluctantly shift their gazes to the other sections.
"An interview with the Fourth Raikage?"
"He's talking about Tsuchikage Onoki?"
Everyone immediately became interested.
The Fourth Raikage's previous interview had revealed shocking information. It had directly confirmed Hiruzen Sarutobi's suppression and betrayal of the Hyuga clan, making Hiruzen suffer terribly.
This time, he was discussing Onoki. What kind of content would it be?
Kage stood high above others.
When had ordinary people ever been able to witness an argument between two Kage from such a close distance before?
Even if it was only an argument in text.
"As for the Kitsuchi incident, whether the order was given by Kitsuchi or Onoki, I do not know. I will not speak lightly on matters I do not know. As Raikage, I am responsible for every word I say."
"Regarding Konoha's matter, I knew the facts. That is why I spoke."
"But Onoki as a person—I understand him."
"He is a pure creature of power. He does not treat the people beneath him in the village as people. He has no regard for their lives. To achieve his goals, he will not hesitate no matter how many people die."
"To kill my father, he used human-wave tactics. Who knows how many Iwagakure shinobi died before my father was exhausted to death?"
"As the leader of an enemy village, I can understand him wanting to kill my father. What I cannot understand is the method he chose."
"If he had acted personally, the number of deaths in Iwagakure would have decreased drastically. But he was unwilling to take even the slightest risk himself. He would rather let more of the people beneath him die."
"He did not care at all how the friends and families of those dead shinobi would feel."
"A person like that has no emotions."
"He only cares about himself."
"As for Kitsuchi, I also know something about him. He was not someone who dared make decisions easily. Under circumstances where he clearly knew the risks, it is unlikely that Kitsuchi would make a decision on his own without reporting to the village."
The Fourth Raikage did not state it directly, but the meaning behind his words was already obvious.
He believed the order had been given by Onoki.
Kitsuchi's death was to protect Onoki.
And Onoki had ruthlessly pushed all responsibility onto his own dead son.
Onoki was a man who felt no affection even for his own son.
A man like that would feel even less affection for the others in his village.
"Compared to Hiruzen Sarutobi, I look down on Onoki even more!"
At the end of the interview, the Fourth Raikage added that sentence directly.
Publishing it in Ninja World Weekly was no different from cursing Onoki to his face.
Konoha.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw the interview content, he was not entirely certain of its truth.
After all, last time, he himself had been slandered by the Fourth Raikage.
But seeing this interview put Hiruzen Sarutobi in a good mood.
Even if they were allies, he and Onoki were not close friends who understood each other without words. They each had their own schemes and interests. Onoki's misfortune was something Hiruzen was more than happy to see.
"Such terrible matters cannot be borne by me alone."
"Let Onoki experience the kind of days I've been living."
"And after seeing this, there is no way Onoki won't be angry. Even if not for himself, then for how the civilians of Iwagakure view him, he must respond."
"Once Iwagakure and Kumogakure come into conflict, Konoha's pressure will lessen somewhat."
"If we do not need to guard against Kumogakure, we can pull out some ninja to deal with those damned Uchiha and Hyuga."
"And those lunatics from the Kaguya clan!"
Of course, the Fourth Raikage knew this was deliberate provocation.
This was very likely to make Iwagakure take certain actions against Kumogakure.
But the Fourth Raikage wanted exactly that result.
First, the hatred between the two shinobi villages was enormous.
Especially the personal hatred between the Fourth Raikage and Onoki.
Second, the Fourth Raikage had already foreseen Kumogakure's inconvenience when it came to mining silver ore.
Since Kumogakure could not move quickly, then he had to make the other shinobi villages slow down.
Sunagakure was temporarily unsuitable to offend.
The Fourth Raikage wanted to purchase mining ships from Sunagakure.
As for Konoha, Kumogakure had only just taken advantage of Sunagakure extorting Konoha to extort a sum from Konoha as well. The Fourth Raikage felt it was better to ease off for now.
And Konoha was already overwhelmed by the attacks from the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Kaguya clans.
That left only Iwagakure.
Iwagakure shinobi's Earth Release performed extremely well in silver ore mining.
This made Kumogakure deeply envious and jealous.
Iwagakure.
Onoki sat in a recliner, leisurely drinking tea.
Under Onoki's control, the impact of the Kitsuchi rumor incident had gradually decreased. The ninja in the village were basically focused on the silver mines. Rumors were only a topic of conversation, but silver mines were profit.
As for civilians, they did not have that much independent thinking ability. Whichever direction the wind blew, they believed.
Just then—
An ANBU ninja quickly walked in and delivered the latest issue of Ninja World Weekly into Onoki's hands.
"Tsuchikage-sama, this is bad."
Onoki frowned, took it, and after seeing the interview content, his expression changed drastically.
"Insolent brat!"
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