Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 199 Yuan Yuxie: I won't learn, I won't learn!
The impeachment case against Uchiha Tokō ended just like a farce.

The court of the Land of Fire was still operating normally, the only difference being that a group of young officials were missing from the court, and a large number of unclaimed lands had appeared in the Land of Fire.

The newly appointed officials continued to maintain the smooth operation of the Fire Country's court. In some areas, the heavy land rent that farmers had been burdening suddenly disappeared overnight, and they were even allocated the land they had always dreamed of. As for the cricket that Genji Yuki wanted, Uchiha Touko also sent Team 8, which served as a reconnaissance team, to the Grass Country to catch it for him. It can be said that, apart from the fact that some people's entire families were injured, everyone had a bright future.

After this incident, some people witnessed the terror of Uchiha Touko once again. What was even more frightening was that, compared to when Abe no Taiichi's faction was purged, this time Uchiha Touko had the full support of the Daimyo, and from any angle, there was nothing wrong with him.

Uchiha Touko was also very satisfied with Genjiro Yuuki, a disciple with a special status.

As for Uchiha Touko, as long as Genji Yuxie doesn't cause him trouble, he's willing to guarantee the child a lifetime of wealth and honor. As for the child's playfulness, he's just a child after all, and being a little playful isn't a particularly serious offense. Besides, the child's hobby is just playing with crickets, which is already quite economical for someone in his position.

However, after this incident, Uchiha Touko suddenly realized that this disciple, whom he hadn't really taken care of since he accepted him, seemed to possess some wisdom.

So, after Team 8 brought back the cricket that Minamoto no Yuuki wanted, Uchiha Touko personally took the cricket to the Imperial Palace.

After arriving at the palace, Uchiha Touko first announced his arrival before being led by a eunuch into Minamoto no Miyazaki's bedchamber.

When Uchiha Touko arrived, Minamoto no Mikawa and Sarutobi Konohamaru were sitting on the floor of the bedroom in a completely unseemly manner, staring intently at a small bowl in which two robust crickets were fiercely fighting each other.

"Get him! Amanomichi!"

"Don't lose to him! Great Ape Demon!"

The two children slapped the floor and shouted, but Ten no Minaka, who was highly regarded by Gen no Mikawa, was defeated after fighting the Great Ape Demon for a while.

"Hehe! I won again!" Konohamaru chuckled, using a small bamboo tube to retrieve his beloved general from the small bowl, and said with a grin.

"Damn it! This is the sixth cricket I had the village ninjas specially find for me, why can't it beat your Great Ape Demon!" Gen Yuxie's face was full of frustration.

"Because his cricket was nourished by special chakra." At this moment, Uchiha Touko, who had been watching for a long time, finally spoke up, "A cricket caught from the wild is naturally no match for it."

Upon hearing Uchiha Touko's voice, the two children turned around simultaneously.

"Uncle Touko?" Konohamaru greeted Uchiha Touko with a grin.

"Teacher? What brings you here?" Gen Yuxie was somewhat surprised to see Uchiha Touko. After all, apart from visiting him during holidays, Uchiha Touko had basically left him to his own devices.

"I've already caught the cricket scouts you wanted from the Land of Grass, so I brought them over for you. But it seems unnecessary; wild crickets are hard to compare to those nourished by special chakra," Uchiha Touko said with a smile after handing a bamboo tube containing crickets to Minamoto no Yuuki.

Upon hearing Uchiha Touko's words, Gen Yuxie instantly glared angrily at Konohamaru: "Konohamaru! You cheated!"

Konohamaru, of course, disagreed and immediately retorted, "I raised these crickets myself using my own skills, how can you say I'm cheating?"

"The chakra on this cricket, though very weak, is somewhat similar to your grandfather's summoning beast, Enma. You didn't use the drugs that Enma and your Sarutobi clan used to train their combined ninjutsu on this cricket, did you?" Uchiha Touko's lips twitched slightly.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi retired, he doted on Konohamaru, his only grandson. If the Third Hokage could only let Konohamaru grow up freely because he couldn't let go of power, now that the Third Hokage is constantly doting on this kid, the kid's mischievousness has only increased.

Kakashi received many complaints from villagers about this kid while he was in the police force, but out of respect for the Third Hokage, he couldn't really do anything about it.

"Teacher, I want a cricket like that too!" After learning why he had never been a match for Konohamaru in cricket fighting, Genji Yuuki blushed slightly and turned to Uchiha Touko.

"I haven't really researched how to breed these crickets. How about I ask the Aburame clan for you? They're the real experts when it comes to insects," Uchiha Touko said.

"That's great! You're the best, teacher!" Gen Yuxie immediately beamed with joy upon hearing Uchiha Touko's words.

"Alright, Konohamaru, you can go back now. I need to speak with His Majesty the Daimyo." Uchiha Touko said to Konohamaru.

"Alright then." Konohamaru nodded and tactfully left with his beloved general.

After Konohamaru left, Genji immediately ordered people to prepare tea and snacks for Uchiha Touko, and then led Uchiha Touko to sit down at the table in the bedroom.

Before long, a palace maid brought over the tea that had been brewed for Uchiha Tokō, the milk that had been prepared for Genji, and a plate of exquisite pastries.

At this moment, Yuan Yuxie took a sip of milk through a straw before speaking, "Teacher, later you should take away all the tea that the small countries around the palace have sent as tribute this year. I don't drink this stuff, it's a waste to leave it here."

“I appreciate your kindness, but those tea leaves are, after all, tributes from foreign countries. If I take them, people will inevitably criticize me, and things could turn out like what happened before,” Uchiha Touko said.

"Who dares! I'll kill him!" Yuan Yuxie said fiercely.

"You are now the daimyo of the Land of Fire, so you can't just say things carelessly," Uchiha Touko reminded him calmly.

“I know.” Yuan Yuxie smiled awkwardly.

“However, Yu Xie, you’ve been my apprentice for over three years now, haven’t you? I haven’t taught you much in these years, which is somewhat disappointing given your father’s expectations.” Uchiha Touko sighed. “Tell me, what do you want to learn from me? I’ll try my best to teach you anything I know, and even if it’s something I don’t know, I’ll find someone to teach you.”

"You can learn anything?" Yuan Yuxie's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but he still confirmed it first.

“Yes, you can learn anything,” Uchiha Touko said.

"Teacher, I want to learn how to cultivate a cricket like Konohamaru's Great Ape Demon. Can you teach me?" said Minamoto no Yukichi.

Uchiha Touko's lips twitched slightly. To be honest, if Naruto were here, Uchiha Touko would have already whipped him with a belt. But this kid was a Daimyo after all. Uchiha Touko reorganized his words before continuing, "Don't you want to learn something else useful?"

"For example?" Genji asked, looking at Uchiha Touko. "How about I teach you how to govern a country?" Uchiha Touko asked.

"How so?" Yuan Yuxie asked.

"I dare not say that my methods of governing the country will bring peace to the Land of Fire from now on, but they can certainly guarantee its long-term stability," said Uchiha Touko.

"Is it fun?" Yuan Yuxie asked, tilting his head.

"The way to govern a country is to take the people's livelihood of the entire nation on one's own shoulders. How can it be treated as a child's game?" Uchiha Touko said seriously.

“Then I won’t learn it, I won’t learn it.” Yuan Yuxie shook his head like a rattle drum. “I trust you, teacher, about governing the country. I won’t learn it. I’ll trouble you, teacher.”

“How about I teach you how to refine chakra and practice ninjutsu? Your father hoped I could teach you some self-defense techniques before he passed away,” Uchiha Touko said.

"Is it fun?" Yuan Yuxie asked.

“Ninjutsu training is like rowing against the current; one must train hard in the sweltering heat of summer and the freezing cold of winter, without the slightest slackening,” said Uchiha Touko.

"I won't learn, I won't learn!" Yuan Yuxie continued to shake his head. "I'm right here in Konoha now, with my teacher here. I don't believe anyone can break through Konoha's barrier and hurt me. My teacher and my senior brothers will protect me, right?"

Looking at Gen Yuxie's "studying? What a load of crap" expression, Uchiha Touka's lips twitched slightly. Should he slap the back of this kid's head three times right now, and then wait for him to come looking for him at home in the middle of the night?

"Are you really planning to play like this for the rest of your life?" Uchiha Touko asked.

“What’s wrong with that?” Gen Yuxie said. “Isn’t it better to leave professional matters to professionals? The Land of Fire has developed at such a rapid pace under your leadership, which is something that no previous daimyo of the Land of Fire has ever accomplished. Even if I learn these things and do it myself, I still can’t do it as well as you, so why should I waste my time?”

Yuan Yuxie spread his hands and said frankly, "Besides, even if I don't learn these things, as long as the Land of Fire can flourish during my reign, how could the history books of later generations possibly have a bad evaluation of me? So, teacher, please don't trouble your senior brothers. With you and your senior brothers here, I can play in peace."

Uchiha Touko's lips twitched; this kid seemed to be using him as free labor.

While there's nothing wrong with this approach—it saves him a lot of trouble—Uchiha Touko certainly can't openly agree to the kid's request right now.

Uchiha Touko slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He stared at Minamoto no Yuuki with a look of disappointment for a while before letting out a helpless sigh and turning to leave the palace.

At that moment, Yuan Yuxie was still calling out from behind, "Teacher, don't rush off, take the tea leaves with you."

……

After returning from Genjiro's office, Uchiha Touko went back to his office, picked up the military reform plan he had prepared earlier, and began to fill in the details.

Regardless of whether Yuan Yuxie truly intends to become a benevolent emperor who rules by doing nothing, or whether he is merely putting on an act like Emperor Kangxi to lull Ao Bai into complacency, one thing will remain unchanged: at least for a considerable period of time, this kid will not cause him any trouble.

As for the future? Once Uchiha Touko has truly completed his plan, he will probably have already reached the pinnacle of the ninja world. At that point, no amount of scheming will matter to him anymore.

Two days later, after Uchiha Touko had fully perfected the plan, he brought it up at the Jonin meeting in Konoha.

The plan was quickly approved and was scheduled to be officially piloted after the Joint Chunin Exams.

As the Chunin Exams approach, forces from the ninja world that responded to Uchiha Touko's invitation have recently arrived in Konoha.

The first to arrive at Konoha was the South Mist Village team, personally led by Takagi Seiwan. Generally speaking, for the joint Chunin Tournament hosted by the Five Great Nations, the ninja villages of the other major nations that were invited to participate would not arrive too early; only the smaller ninja villages would arrive ahead of time. However, Takagi Seiwan had no airs of a Kage and openly declared that it was an honor for the South Mist Village to be Konoha's dog. When he met and shook hands with Uchiha Touko at the village entrance, the expression on his face was exactly like that of a filial son who came to wish his father a happy birthday.

However, among the many small ninja villages that responded to Uchiha Touko's invitation this time, the Land of Rain was prominently featured.

Jiraiya, who had previously volunteered to go to the Land of Rain to investigate the Akatsuki, has returned to Konoha in the past two days. He also brought back a message to Uchiha Touko: Nagato wants to talk to Uchiha Touko and will personally attend the Chunin Exams this year as a sign of sincerity.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Jiraiya." After reading the information that Jiraiya brought back and the visiting card that Nagato had sent, Uchiha Touko looked up at Jiraiya, who had been waiting at his desk for a long time, and said.

"Don't say that." Jiraiya waved his hand. "It's what I should do. After all, I trained those three back then. You were right. If those three really intended to be enemies of the village, then I would become a sinner who aids the enemy. Besides, I'm just a genin now, and I don't deserve to be called 'sir' by you."

"Don't say that. The village has always remembered Jiraiya-sama's contributions. If Jiraiya-sama wishes, I will reinstate your Jonin status in a while," Uchiha Touko said.

"Well, traveling around the ninja world and doing some creative work, this kind of life isn't bad either." Jiraiya laughed nonchalantly. Although he hadn't forgotten about the Child of Prophecy all these years, the prosperity of the Land of Fire and Konoha Village made him begin to believe that the changes brought about by Uchiha Touko might really be developing in a positive direction.

"By the way, Jiraiya-sama, now that you're back, could you please take Naruto to Mount Myōboku sometime in the future to learn Sage Mode there?" Uchiha Tokō said.

However, no sooner had Uchiha Touko finished speaking than there was a frantic knocking on the door of the Hokage's office.

Naruto burst through the door, panting, and said, "Sensei, something terrible has happened."

"What happened?" Uchiha Touko frowned. "What kind of behavior is this, acting so recklessly?"

"There's no time to explain, you'll find out when you come home with me," Naruto said.

After Uchiha Touko followed Naruto home, he saw another blond guy sitting in Kakashi's living room slurping instant noodles, and his lips twitched slightly.

The newcomer was none other than Deidara, the newly promoted rogue ninja of the Land of Earth, the former Tsuchikage's direct disciple with a 3000 million bounty on his head offered by the underground gold exchange, and the chief demolition expert of the Konoha Yamato Construction Group.

(End of this chapter)