Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 188 Konoha knows we don't
“But even so, those unruly people in the Land of Waves are not satisfied. Just because I charge a toll for the bridge I built to recoup costs, they want to have someone blow up my bridge and build their own.” Gato complained incessantly. “Hokage, the moral standards of the people in the Land of Waves are far inferior to those in our Land of Fire.”

Uchiha Touko was also stumped by Gato's words. When did the unruly people of Konoha become able to talk about moral standards?
But when he thought that Gato was comparing him to Tazuna from the original work, who concealed mission information, joked about the lives of hired ninjas, and even morally blackmailed them after the truth was exposed, Uchiha Touko's lips twitched, but he didn't refute Gato.

"Perfect, then let the three of them go with you." Seeing this, Uchiha Touko simply handed the task over to his three disciples.

“This… Hokage,” Kado said, glancing at the three boys beside him. “It’s not that I don’t trust you three young masters, but according to the information my subordinates have sent back, the other side has the help of Zabuza Momochi, an elite Jonin from Northern Mist Village. Although you three young masters are exceptionally talented, it’s still too dangerous for you to face such a veteran elite Jonin.”

"Oh? He's here too?" Uchiha Touko almost lost his composure upon hearing this. Good heavens, does Zabuza really have to be the boss of this beginner village?
However, Uchiha Touko wasn't worried about the strength of the three of them. With their current strength, even if they encountered a weaker Kage-level powerhouse, such as the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, although they couldn't defeat him, they could still escape unscathed without any problem. Zabuza's dream of having the Sixth Hokage on his left, the Seventh Hokage on his right, and Indra under his feet, as in the original timeline, was probably out of the question.

Moreover, Sasuke and Neji became excited upon hearing Zabuza's name.

"Momochi Zabuza?" Sasuke sneered. "Is he the owner of the Executioner's Blade that my father beat to a pulp? Perfect, I'll use him to sharpen my Purple Lightning. My teacher's Lightning Blade could crush an entire village with a single strike, and my Purple Lightning Blade can easily overwhelm half of Kirigakure."

"A ninja from Northern Mist Village, huh? He sounds like someone of considerable importance among them?" Neji pondered for a moment before looking at Uchiha Touko. "Sensei, if we capture him alive, can the village help us exchange him for the Byakugan that our Hyuga clan lost?"

"You three should capture this guy first," Uchiha Touko said. "Capturing him alive is much more difficult than killing him."

"You want to capture that guy alive, right, Neji? I'll help you," Naruto said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"Alright, everyone go back and prepare before setting off. Neji, this mission is in your hands, is that alright?" Uchiha Touko asked.

“Of course,” Neji nodded.

"Then, is there anything the three young masters need me to prepare? If you have any needs in your daily life, please feel free to mention them, and I will do my best to meet them," Kado said to the three disciples without saying anything more, seeing that Uchiha Touko seemed determined to entrust this task to them.

"Uh, Uncle Kado, may I stop by Clear Spring Town on my way to eat their ramen?" Naruto suddenly raised his hand at this moment.

“Of course,” Kado laughed. “The ramen in Siqing Town, is that right? I’ll arrange it right away and make sure you can eat the best ramen there when you arrive.”

"Naruto, don't cause trouble for the mission's employer!" Neji reminded him at this moment.

“Young Master Neji, there’s no need to be so polite. We’re old acquaintances. You helped me get rid of troublesome enemies, so it’s only right that I help you with some of your daily difficulties,” Gato said with a smile.

"In that case, prepare a set of shuriken and explosive tags for me." Sasuke didn't stand on ceremony with Gato at this moment.

“Alright, is there anything else you need?” Gato asked. “Does Lord Neji need me to prepare ninja tools for you?”

"No need," Neji shook his head. "Let's set off as soon as possible."

“Alright.” Kado nodded. “Then, shall we meet at the south gate of Konoha in three hours?”

"Okay, let's arrange it this way." Neji nodded.

……

After Neji and the others left, Uchiha Inahi also entered the office and placed an invitation on Uchiha Touko's desk.

"What is this?" Uchiha Touko asked curiously.

"It's an invitation from the Fifth Mizukage. Next week marks the third anniversary of the Fifth Mizukage's official ascension to the throne, and he plans to hold a ninja parade," Uchiha Inahisa explained. "The Fifth Mizukage would like to invite you to attend."

"Couldn't Commander Fugaku just attend to this kind of thing?" Uchiha Touko frowned. "I remember saying that Fugaku can make all the decisions about the garrison in the Land of Water with a single word."

“That’s right,” Uchiha Inahi explained, “Commander Fugaku needs to arrange for the Konoha garrison to participate in their military parade.”

Uchiha Touko: ? ? ?

"Our Konoha ninja army is participating in their Kirigakure parade?" Uchiha Touko felt like he had misheard and asked repeatedly, "Under what pretext? Are they specially invited guests?"

"No, it's under the name of the Water and Fire Army, and according to the plan, they're going to be the grand finale." Uchiha Inahisa said speechlessly. Takagi Seiman's shameless behavior completely refreshed his worldview. What, are they afraid that other countries in the ninja world don't know that your Southern Mist Village is Konoha's dog?

"Is Takagi Seiwan out of his mind?! When did the ninja world start having military parades with garrison formations?" Uchiha Touko said in disbelief.

“According to the Mizukage, this is a testament to the friendship between our two countries,” said Uchiha Inahisa.

"Go and tell Fugaku that I won't be going. Let him represent me at the parade, and send him a Hokage short-sleeved shirt." Uchiha Touko said. To be honest, even he, as the Hokage, felt a little embarrassed to participate in such a parade.

At this moment, in Nanwu Yinshuiying's office.

Takagi Seiwan sat in his office chair, explaining the precautions for the military parade to his subordinates.

"Lord Mizukage, are we really going to invite the Konoha garrison to our military parade?" one of Takagi Seiman's subordinates asked hesitantly. "If we do that, there will be even more voices of dissatisfaction from the village."

"Dissatisfied with me? Do those people even know who they're talking to?" Takagi Seiwan's eyes narrowed. "During this time, have the security forces strengthen their control over the village. I don't want our distinguished guests to hear any discordant voices!"

"Yes, sir!" Takagi Seiman's subordinate acknowledged the order and left. "Also," Takagi Seiman looked at another subordinate, "we Kirigakure ninjas must dress smartly on the day of the parade! Let the rest of the ninja world see the spirit of Kirigakure!"

"Yes!" the Hidden Mist ninja nodded. "Are we trying to show Konoha that we can also protect the Land of Water?"

“No, it’s about letting the common people of the Land of Water know that we are protecting the Land of Water, while Konoha doesn’t know that we are!” Takagi Seiwan said.

……

While this ridiculous military parade was being prepared, Naruto and his two friends, along with Gato, arrived in the Land of Waves.

"Is this the bridge?" Neji looked at the bridge in front of him that spanned a strait and connected the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire, then turned to look at Gato.

“That’s right.” Kado nodded. “I funded the construction of this bridge. After its completion, the journey between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire was shortened from 3 hours by boat to 20 minutes, greatly increasing the convenience of trade between the two countries.”

"This is a good thing for the Land of Waves, right? With improved trade facilitation with the Land of Fire, the living standards of the common people in the Land of Waves should also improve, so why would they hire ninjas to sabotage it?" Neji said.

"What's the toll rate here?" Sasuke glanced at the checkpoint on the Fire Country side, where the staff were busy collecting tolls, then turned to Gato and asked.

“The toll I charge is absolutely reasonable,” Cardo said. “The current toll is based on strict calculations of the current traffic volume and the cost of building this bridge. I expect the payback period to be extended to 15 years, so the toll is not unacceptable for merchants.”

Just kidding. Gato is now a business tycoon in the ninja world. He's long past the stage of accumulating initial capital through dishonest means. Now he's started to seek fame. The money that this bridge can make is really not worth Gato's attention.

"So, it's the people from the Land of Waves who feel that you're taking the money they should be making." Sasuke looked at the checkpoint on the Land of Fire side of the bridge. No matter whether you were coming from the Land of Fire or the Land of Waves, the toll booths were all on the Land of Fire side.

“Uncle Gato, the people you hired on this bridge are all from the Land of Fire, right?” Sasuke analyzed.

“That’s natural. These job creation opportunities should definitely be reserved for the Land of Fire. As for the poor people of the Land of Waves, they’ve already earned far more money in trade between the two countries than they ever could before. What more could they want?” Kado said.

“It’s not poverty that’s the problem, but injustice,” Sasuke said with a frown. “Not everyone in the Land of Waves can make money in the cross-sea trade between us, but the people on the coast there can see our residents making money every day, so naturally they’ll be envious.”

“That makes sense. The ones who hired ninjas to cause trouble are probably the villagers living on the opposite bank,” Neji said.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto overheard their conversation, but he was completely baffled, wondering how his two companions had come to this conclusion.

Sasuke and Neji ignored Naruto and instead looked at Gato. "However, I didn't expect them to be able to hire an elite Jonin. Have the mission prices in Northern Mist Village dropped this low?"

"Young Master Sasuke, you may not know this, but in Northern Mist Village, income depends entirely on the mission earnings of the village's ninjas. Furthermore, they owe Kumogakure a large debt, so they accept any mission that comes their way."

“That explains it. Supply exceeds demand, which naturally leads to lower mission prices,” Sasuke said. “However, even their ninja sword owners need to do these kinds of low-paying, demanding missions. It seems like Father is putting a lot of pressure on them.”

"Young Master Sasuke has some knowledge of economics?" Gato looked at Sasuke in surprise.

"Hehe, my teacher taught me a little bit about this," Sasuke chuckled.

“That’s no wonder,” Kado said. “His unique insights into economics are sometimes even better than mine, someone who has been in the business world for many years.”

As Gato sighed, he sized up Sasuke. In Gato's mind, Sasuke's importance had risen once again. Judging from the current situation, Sasuke was very likely to take over Uchiha Tokō's position in the future. So, this was the person he and his successor would be counting on for their future livelihood.

"So what do we do now? Should we just wait for the person who's planning to destroy the bridge to show up?" Naruto asked.

“No need.” Sasuke shook his head. “Uncle Gato, please spread the word that you plan to hire some civilians from the coastal areas of the Land of Waves to work on the bridge, but on the condition that they tell us the whereabouts of the ninjas who destroyed the bridge earlier, as well as the identity of the person who hired these ninjas.”

"I think it won't be long before some of them can't hold back anymore." Sasuke looked at the sparse villages along the coast of the Land of Waves on the other side of the bridge, a meaningful smile on his face.

"Yes, I'll arrange it right away." Kado nodded, giving Sasuke a meaningful look. Sasuke was already beginning to resemble Uchiha Touko.

……

At this moment, in Tazuna's home in the Land of Waves, Zabuza sat imposingly at the head of the table, eating a meager meal.

"Zabuza-san, try this." Tazuna placed a piece of meat in front of Zabuza, who took it without a word and ate it in large mouthfuls.

"Um, Mr. Zabuza, when will your village's reinforcements arrive?" Tazuna asked at this moment.

"What's your hurry?" Zabuza glanced coldly at Daz and said, "Don't forget, after we helped you destroy this bridge in Konoha, Kirigakure will take a 40% stake in the bridges that your Land of Waves builds."

“Of course,” Dazna said with a forced smile.

"Something terrible has happened!" Just then, a boy rushed into Tazuna's house, panting, and said, "Gato has sent out a message saying that he wants to hire people from our Land of Waves to work on the bridge, but he's demanding that we reveal the whereabouts of the ninjas he's hiring. Some people from the village have already gone to the bridge!"

(End of this chapter)