Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 214 Konohamaru's Crisis
Uchiha Touko's Versailles-like remarks caused Onoki and A's lips to twitch, but they had nothing to say about the outcome of the trial.
With no one from their village making it to the third round, there's no point in them staying in Konoha now.

However, before leaving, Ai glanced at Uchiha Touko, who was being flattered and surrounded by the leaders of a group of small ninja villages, and thought to himself, "The cradle of geniuses? Heh, I hope that Sarutobi clan kid won't disappoint me."

The third round of the competition will begin in two weeks. Because no ninjas from the Land of Earth or the Land of Lightning advanced, the daimyo of both countries sent a letter to the Land of Fire canceling their trip the day after the survival test ended. As for the daimyo of the Land of Water, let alone the Chunin Exams held in Konoha, even if a joint Chunin Exam were held in their own territory, the daimyo of the Land of Water, who is obsessed with women, probably wouldn't attend.

Three days later, after Kurotsuchi and the others finished their treatment, Onoki had no intention of staying in Konoha any longer and returned directly to Iwagakure with his genin. On the same day, A also bid farewell to Uchiha Touko.

That night, Ai returned to the hotel where he had previously met with the spy from the Land of Lightning.

"Is everything arranged?" Ai asked directly after meeting with the head of the Cloud Village's spies who had infiltrated Konoha.

"As you instructed, everything has been arranged." The other party nodded. "We have completely figured out the target's whereabouts and habits. This time, we will use half of our undercover agents, which should ensure the operation goes smoothly."

“Tomorrow afternoon, we will officially set off to return to Kumogakure. You can make your move then, and I will personally meet you on the outskirts of Konoha,” Ai said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

The following afternoon, at the entrance of Konoha Village, Uchiha Touko, dressed in formal attire, shook hands with A to say goodbye according to etiquette.

"I'm grateful for the hospitality I've received from Konoha during this time," Ai said.

"Please forgive me for the poor hospitality during this period, Lord Raikage," Uchiha Touko said with a smile as he shook hands with A.

"Your Excellency Hokage, you flatter us. Konoha has treated our Kumogakure with great courtesy, there's no question of any lack of hospitality," A said. "Next time Kumogakure holds the Joint Chunin Exams, Hokage, you must do us the honor of attending."

"Definitely, definitely." Uchiha Touko nodded with a smile.

The two shook hands again to say goodbye, and then the group from Kumogakure embarked on their journey.

After seeing the Raikage off, Uchiha Touko returned to his office, where Nagato and Konan had been waiting for him for quite some time.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, both of you." Uchiha Touko immediately made tea after returning to his office. "Was the previous match exciting?"

Because of Onoki, and because the Akatsuki members, including the Five-Tails, were still unaccounted for, the Amegakure ninjas were temporarily unable to appear. Therefore, the Amegakure ninjas were always watched by a designated person in charge in the VIP room. However, in order to show his sincerity in cooperating with Nagato, Uchiha Touko specially prepared a secluded room for the two of them to watch the Chunin Exams.

"For a disciple of the Hokage to possess such strength at such a young age, he will undoubtedly become a powerful figure in the future," Nagato said.

"Tsunade has already examined you, right? How are you?" Uchiha Touko asked, looking at Nagato who appeared somewhat weak.

"I'm not very optimistic, but it shouldn't affect our future cooperation." Nagato, in his wheelchair, raised his withered arm and touched his eye sockets. "As long as I can hold on until the day I see true peace, then I will die without regrets."

“Nagato…” Konan, standing beside Nagato, pursed her lips, hesitant to speak.

“That day won’t be too far away,” Uchiha Touko said.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the Hokage's office, and a loud voice came from outside: "Uncle Hokage, I'm coming in!"

As soon as the voice fell, the door was pushed open, and Deidara swaggered into the Hokage's office.

These past few days, Onoki has been staying in Konoha, confined to Kakashi's house and unable to leave. This is undoubtedly torture for a member of the underworld. So, as soon as Onoki left, Deidara immediately went to find Yamato. In just a short time this morning, Deidara had already visited two construction sites. Moreover, if Uchiha Touko hadn't made the messenger emphasize that he must come, this kid would probably still be at the construction site mixing explosives right now.

"Uncle Hokage, what do you want with me?" Deidara asked casually.

“Didn’t we say we’d help you find a job? This will be your future boss,” Uchiha Touko said.

"Is that so?" Deidara glanced at Nagato. He didn't say anything about Nagato's wheelchair-bound appearance. After all, as long as it didn't interfere with his art research, it didn't matter where he worked.

"This seems to be..." Konan looked at Deidara with a puzzled expression. As the second-in-command of a ninja village in a neighboring country of the Land of Earth, and having fought against him on the battlefield not long ago, Konan naturally had some information about Iwagakure. This information naturally included information about Deidara, Onoki's personal disciple, and she also knew about his previous defection.

Konan looked at Deidara and felt that this whole thing was somewhat absurd. After all, Deidara was a disciple of the Tsuchikage, who defected to Konoha and then joined the Akatsuki organization through the Hokage's introduction. It just seemed so abstract.

"You don't need to worry about this guy's strength. He's already reached the level of an elite Jonin. In another two years, even a regular Kage probably won't be a match for him," Uchiha Touko said with a smile.

"You can come with us in a bit," Nagato readily agreed.

After talking with Uchiha Touko that day, Nagato thought a lot about it. The problems with Uchiha Touko's plan that he pointed out were indeed objectively real.

On the contrary, the unification war that Uchiha Touko described—ending all the conflicts in one war—had been lingering in Nagato's mind. The scene of the ninja world after unification, as depicted by Uchiha Touko, was constantly stirring his heartstrings.

Putting aside everything else, just the fact that after unification, the mountains separating the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind could be blown open, allowing excess moisture from the Land of Rain to enter the deserts of the Land of Wind, thus enabling both countries to cultivate crops normally, is something Nagato simply cannot refuse. You see, the reason why the Land of Rain had previously struggled so much was not only due to its geographical location between three major powers, but also because its land was unable to grow food due to its climate, forcing them to spend a lot of money every year to import food from abroad, which was undoubtedly a heavy burden.

Therefore, after thinking about it for several days, Nagato initially approved of Uchiha Touko's cooperation plan. As for Deidara, Nagato simply brought him under his command, treating him as a babysitter for his partner.

"Lord Hokage, would you be so kind as to reveal a little more detail about the plan to me?" Nagato asked at this moment.

“Of course, come with me.” Uchiha Touko smiled slightly, intending to take Nagato to the secret room for a detailed discussion, but at that moment, there was a series of urgent knocks on the door.

"It's terrible, Hokage!" Uchiha Inahashi knocked on the door and then pushed it open, rushing to Uchiha Touko's side and whispering, "The Third Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, has apparently been kidnapped, and his tutor, Ebisu, is seriously injured."

"What?!" Uchiha Touko stood up abruptly upon hearing this. "Konohamaru has been kidnapped?"

After a moment of deep thought, Uchiha Touko calmly said to Uchiha Inaho, "Go tell Kakashi about this and have him lead the security forces to search the village. At the same time, send a message to the border troops to immediately seal off the border. Does the Third Hokage know about this?"

"I don't know yet," Uchiha Inahi said.

"Send someone to inform the Third Hokage about this. Then, have Kakashi oversee the Hokage's office and ask him to calm the Third Hokage down. I'll go there personally, and at the same time, have Kakashi arrange for a team of Anbu to be ready to support me." After saying this, Uchiha Touko picked up Jiraiya from the sword rack beside him.

"Where are you going?" Uchiha Inahi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course we're going to rescue them." Uchiha Touko gritted his teeth.

"Do you already know who the robbers are?" Uchiha Inahi asked.

"In the entire ninja world, besides those bastards from Kumogakure, who else would be so keen on kidnapping other people's children?" Uchiha Touko cursed.

"Lord Hokage, do you need any help?" Nagato asked at this moment.

"No need. We should have treated you both well, but something like this happened in the village, and we're already very sorry. We wouldn't have the heart to trouble you further," said Uchiha Touko.

"Lord Hokage, I think our cooperation can begin now," Nagato said. "Konan, please give the Hokage a ride."

After saying that, Nagato looked at Uchiha Touko, his Rinnegan eyes filled with sincerity: "If it's a pursuit, flying might be faster."

Uchiha Touko gave Nagato a deep look, then nodded, turned to Konan, and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Angel."

"Lord Hokage, please." Konan knew the situation was urgent. She came to the window and quickly formed hand seals. A series of white papers flew out from her sleeves and gathered in the air to form the shape of a large bird. The two of them jumped onto the paper bird one after the other.

"Hey, Uncle Hokage, I'll go with you too." Deidara then took out some clay and started chewing it, summoning a large clay bird, and then jumped onto the bird's back.

Uchiha Touko glanced back at the other person, and considering that someone would be needed to rescue people when he fought A later, he nodded and said, "Go pick up Naruto and the other two first, and then come with me."

……

(End of this chapter)