Kaede's gaze lingered on the battlefield, but his mind was elsewhere. This exam, this stage, was more than a simple test of strength. It was the net he had cast—for Danzo, for the Akatsuki, and for fate itself.
Among all his hidden goals, one weighed on him most heavily: Itachi.
According to the system's relentless warnings, Itachi's end was already written. A genius who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan at a young age, but whose brilliance came at a cost. His body ravaged, his life cut short, his destiny sealed—to fall at Sasuke's hand.
It was a fate Kaede could never accept.
From the beginning, he had believed that if he could shift Sasuke's hatred away from Itachi and onto himself, then the brothers would never clash. The cycle would break, and Itachi would be spared.
But when both brothers set foot in the Land of the Gods, the system's prompts returned. The destined battle would still come, its time and place altered, but its inevitability intact.
That was the curse of his intervention. By saving the Uchiha clan, Kaede had already twisted history. What should have been erased re-emerged elsewhere, fate recoiling like a serpent, reshaping itself around his choices.
Still, he would not relent. He would fight fate itself if he had to.
Beyond the brothers, his eyes turned to the wider world.
Kusa, the Grass Country, whispered at the borders. Their shinobi, masters of techniques designed to counter the great nations, were watching closely. Ever the opportunists, they reached out to the Land of the Gods with intelligence and gestures of goodwill. They wanted to ensure that when war came, they would not be crushed beneath it.
And they were not alone. Many of the small nations had begun to think the same way. They had seen the Chunin Exam with their own eyes—where even "children" of the Land of the Gods displayed power on par with jōnin.
Naruto and Gaara, both jinchūriki. The heirs of Konoha's old clans, now nurtured by the God Tree, wielding strength beyond their years.
An exam that should have been a mere formality had become a display of supremacy. A warning to the entire shinobi world.
Even the shinobi of Kumogakure, who had come with secret orders to conspire with Danzo and Akatsuki against the Land of the Gods, now felt unease gnawing at their hearts.
Why rush into war? Why not wait, grow stronger, and bide their time? Was the Raikage so desperate?
Because here, in the Land of the Gods, they had seen a different way of life.
Smiles on every civilian's face. Ninja not as disposable tools, but as pillars of the nation. Prosperity, unity, and strength radiating in every corner.
It was unlike anything in the shinobi world. And it frightened them.
For in this land, Kaede's will had taken root. And in his hands, even destiny itself trembled.
(End of Chapter)
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