Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 164 War preparations
“It is because Fu has gained my approval that she has not submitted to humanity as you claim,” Chongming said.

"Uh, is this big fox your companion?" Fu asked, looking at Naruto.

"My teacher told me it's an important companion of mine, but it won't even tell me its name!" Naruto muttered as he glanced back at Kurama.

At this moment, Chongming also noticed Naruto's pair of bright blue eyes, and then said meaningfully, "Kid, gaining the Nine-Tails' approval isn't that easy."

While the two were communicating inside the sealed space, people outside noticed their unusual behavior.

"All of you, come behind me. Sasuke, go to the village and call your father back." Mikoto, on high alert, called the children of her family behind her and said to Sasuke.

Just as Sasuke was about to go out to call for backup, Naruto and Fu came to their senses at the same time.

"Huh? Aunt Mikoto, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, looking at the group of people who were on high alert, somewhat bewildered.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble." Fu realized that her conversation with Naruto in the sealed space might have been a bit frightening to the others, so she immediately apologized.

"Sasuke, come back, it's alright now." Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and then said to Sasuke, who was about to leave.

"Alright." Sasuke, seeing this, also returned to the living room.

"Uh, miss, are you the same kind of person as Naruto?" Neji asked at this moment.

“Yes, he and I are both human…” Fu admitted, but before she could finish speaking, Mikoto interrupted her.

"Alright, since there's nothing else, let's all sit down and have some snacks. Let's all get along well," Mikoto said.

"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.

……

In the Hokage's office, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Inoichi, who had rarely left their clan territory since Uchiha Toko's coup, were summoned by the Hokage today.

"Chief Nara, Chief Yamanaka." After the two entered the office, Uchiha Touko greeted them with a smile.

"Greetings, Fifth Hokage." The two bowed to Uchiha Touko.

"No need for such formalities, please have a seat." Uchiha Touko invited the two to sit down, then went to a cabinet to take out tea leaves. While brewing the tea, he said to them, "Long time no see, how have you two been lately?"

"It's not bad, I guess. It's rare to have some free time. Apart from my wife nagging me every day, these days have been the life I've always dreamed of," Nara Shikaku said with a smile.

“I can’t compare to him. Although I’ve put aside my official duties, the family business has expanded a lot recently, and I have to keep an eye on it,” Yamanaka Inoichi said.

Uchiha Touko only stripped the three clans of their power in the village, but did not impose any restrictions on other aspects of the three clans. With the relocation of the Land of Fire's capital to Konoha, the Nara clan, which ran a medicinal herb business, was not in a bad situation. After all, their medicinal herbs and prescriptions were exclusively for ninjas, so the influx of a large number of nobles did not have a significant impact on them, unless they were willing to stoop to selling aphrodisiacs. However, given the Nara clan's level of complacency, this was highly unlikely.

The Yamanaka clan's flower business and the Akimichi clan's restaurant business both benefited after the Land of Fire moved its capital to Konoha, and the scale of their businesses expanded considerably.

"It seems you've all been doing well lately, which puts my mind at ease," Uchiha Touko said with a smile.

"What does the Hokage have to tell us that he has summoned us here today?" Nara Shikaku asked.

"Heh, you can't hide it from the Nara clan chief after all." Uchiha Touko poured a cup of tea for each of them. "I called you two here today because there is something I need your help with."

"Please give your instructions, Fifth Hokage." The two nodded in unison.

"Nara clan chief, what is your opinion on the current state of the war between Iwagakure and Takigakure?" Uchiha Touko asked.

"Iwagakure and Takigakure?" Nara Shikaku stroked his chin and analyzed, "If we only consider the strength of both sides, Takigakure could only hold out against Iwagakure for two weeks at most, and that's assuming Takigakure uses its tailed beasts."

"The Jinchuriki of Takigakure is currently in Konoha," Uchiha Touko said.

“Then it would be difficult to last even a week.” Nara Shikaku spread his hands and said, “The leader of Takigakure is so weak that even qualifying as an elite Jonin would be a struggle in a major ninja village. Not to mention that Iwagakure has combination ninjutsu, a powerful weapon on the battlefield. Whether it’s high-level or mid-to-low-level combat power, Takigakure is no match for Iwagakure.”

"What if Takigakure had outside help to hold off Iwagakure's high-ranking forces, and Konoha also provided them with combined ninjutsu, plus logistical support from the Land of Fire?" Uchiha Touko asked with a smile.

"This..." Nara Shikaku frowned slightly upon hearing this, and at the same time quickly began to calculate.

“If we follow the conditions you’ve given, then Takigakure should be able to hold out for a long time and still retain the possibility of a counterattack.” Nara Shikaku pondered for a while before giving his answer. “However, if, as you say, our Land of Fire fully supports Takigakure, even if Takigakure manages to hold out in this war, we won’t benefit from it.”

"The obvious benefits are few, but the hidden interests behind them are enough to tempt every ninja village." Uchiha Touko shook his head with a smile. Although Nara Shikaku was extremely intelligent, his perspective on problems had always remained that of a ninja. Or rather, he had never imagined that war could be played like this. This form of proxy war was indeed a bit beyond the scope of the ninja world.

"Clan Chief Nara, you might want to read these before making a judgment." Uchiha Touko handed Nara Shikaku the contract he had signed with Iwata Sawaki, as well as the specific plan he had discussed with Gato.

To ensure the war proceeded as he envisioned, Uchiha Tokō needed the assistance of a master strategist. Therefore, it was indeed time to utilize Nara Shikaku, a war strategist who had experienced the Third Shinobi World War.

Therefore, after finalizing the plan, Uchiha Touko did not intend to hide anything from Nara Shikaku and revealed all the current information to him.

After reading the information provided by Uchiha Touko, Nara Shikaku was filled with shock. Uchiha Touko's actions had completely exceeded his imagination as a ninja.

After a long pause, Nara Shikaku finally said, "If that's the case, then Konoha can gain the greatest benefit in this war without losing a single soldier."

Nara Shikaku put it relatively mildly, but this contract was essentially a blood-sucking pump for Takigakure. From the perspective of national interests, Takigakure was a loser no matter the outcome of the war, as long as Iwata Sawaki signed this contract. "That is, the war can continue indefinitely, right?" Uchiha Touko laughed.

“That’s right.” Nara Shikaku nodded. If we look at it this way, for Konoha, the best course of action is to keep this war going for as long as possible.

"That's why I called you here," Uchiha Touko said.

“As you both know, I only participated in the Third Shinobi World War as an ordinary soldier, so I have no experience in how to control the situation of a war,” Uchiha Touko said.

When Yamanaka Inoichi heard Uchiha Touko's words, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. An ordinary soldier... what ordinary soldier could have the record of killing hundreds of enemies in a single battle?
"So, what does the Hokage want us to do?" Nara Shikaku asked.

“I plan to have you lead an elite squad to the battlefield in the Land of Waterfall to provide support. You will have full command of this unit,” said Uchiha Touko. “Of course, considering our current non-aggression pact with Iwagakure, the identity of this squad must be kept strictly confidential. At the very least, they cannot wear Konoha headbands. The same goes for you Ino-Shika-Cho; do not make a move unless it is a matter of life and death.”

"Are we going to support Takigakure?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked.

“No, what the Hokage means is that we will act as a third party on this battlefield, helping whoever is at a disadvantage,” Nara Shikaku said.

“That’s right, exactly.” Uchiha Touko nodded. “Because of our contract with Iwagakure, the village cannot directly support your operations this time. So, I don’t expect you to achieve great results, but you must ensure your safety, understand?”

“Understood.” Nara Shikaku nodded. “Then, I wonder which unit the Hokage intends us to take out?” Nara Shikaku pressed. “It can’t be our own clan’s ninjas, can it? Although I’m more confident in commanding our own clan’s ninjas, it would be hard to explain if we used our clan’s Ino-Shika-Cho battle technique.”

“I plan to have you take the Sarutobi clan ninjas with you. Among the village's current ninja teams, only those who are strong yet lack distinctive features, so their identities won't be exposed,” Uchiha Touko said.

“If it’s them, that’s good,” Nara Shikaku said. “However, Hokage-sama, are you sure I can command them?”

Although the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the Sarutobi clan have basically stopped interacting after Hiruzen Sarutobi exhausted their past friendship, on the battlefield, if there is any rift between soldiers and commanders, the consequences could be extremely fatal.

"You can rest assured about that. Besides you, I also plan to have Asuma lead this team," Uchiha Touko said.

“That solves the problem,” Nara Shikaku said.

With the young head of the Sarutobi clan present, there was no fear that these Sarutobi ninjas would disobey orders, and for Nara Shikaku, controlling Asuma was not a difficult task.

"When do we leave?" Nara Shikaku asked.

“Three days from now,” Uchiha Tokō said. “You can also escort our first batch of support to them.”

……

After the Third Hokage retired, the previously strained relationship between father and son improved significantly.

Of course, the main reason was that the Third Hokage swallowed his pride and personally stepped in to help Asuma propose marriage to Kurenai Yuhi.

After getting engaged to Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma, like a middle-aged man who has reached a certain age and settled down, did some work as a Jonin in the village.

However, after receiving Uchiha Touko's order, he readily accepted the mission.

Three days later, under the cover of night, the group disguised themselves as wandering ninjas and left Konoha.

During these three days, Onoki's mood was not so good.

At the start of the war, Iwagakure achieved remarkable results on the first day, but in the following days, their forces clearly stalled in advancing the front lines.

Their invincible combination of Earth Release ninjutsu met its match on the battlefield.

Although the time it took for the Takigakure ninjas to practice the combination ninjutsu style Lightning Release: Kirin taught to them by Uchiha Touko was very short, and even though they used nearly a hundred ninjas to unleash this ninjutsu, its power was far less than the original version, it was still the Lightning Release style that was most effective against Earth Release.

What disgusted Onoki and the frontline commander, Kyoto, even more was that the Takigakure ninjas suddenly became incredibly wealthy, throwing explosive tags at anyone they saw as if they were free.

Takigakure certainly doesn't have the financial strength, and considering the combined Lightning Release ninjutsu that appeared on the battlefield before, it's obvious to Onoki who is supporting Takigakure behind it.

Of course, what truly changed the course of the battle was the addition of the Akatsuki organization. On the battlefield a day earlier, Huang Tu had the opportunity to kill Iwata Sawaki, the leader of Takigakure, but the appearance of a purple-haired woman in a red cloud robe directly changed the situation. After joining the battlefield, Konan saved Iwata Sawaki and took over all the explosive tag traps set by Takigakure. Under her control, these explosive tags seemed to come alive, causing heavy losses to Iwagakure on the front line in just a few breaths. Even Huang Tu was seriously injured in the attack.

"Damn Akatsuki! Have they forgotten who was providing them with financial support before?" Onoki slammed his fist on the table in anger. "And that damned Uchiha Touko, he's only sending supplies instead of troops! How infuriating!"

"Lord Tsuchikage, please calm down," said one of the ANBU members in the Tsuchikage's office.

"Bring me Uchiha Touko from Konoha!" Onoki took a deep breath and turned to give the order.

Soon, Onoki and Uchiha Touko's video conversation resumed.

"What's wrong with Tsuchikage? Why are you so angry after just a few days? Is the situation on the battlefield not looking good?" Uchiha Touka asked with a smile, looking at Onoki's slightly flushed cheeks.

"It seems the Hokage isn't showing much respect for our alliance," Onoki said after taking a deep breath.

"Oh? I wonder what you mean by that, Tsuchikage? Our Konoha directly rejected the alliance request from the Land of Waterfall. Isn't that enough?" Uchiha Touko said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)