My name is Uchiha Touhuan, and I beat the villagers so badly they cried out in pain.

Chapter 103 Immortals, Countless in Rank

After the two left the Nakagawa Grand Hotel, Kakashi went to take the still-sleeping Naruto home, while Uchiha Touhuan headed towards the Hokage Building alone.

Upon arriving at the Hokage Building, Uchiha Touhuan nodded to the members of the First Guard Battalion, who had taken over the security of the Hokage Building, and then went straight into the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was standing alone by the window of the Hokage's office, smoking. He only turned around to look at Touhuan Uchiha after hearing the door open.

"Has that masked man been dealt with?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.

"Did the Third Hokage want me to finish this or not?" Uchiha Touhuan said sarcastically.

Seeing Uchiha Touhuan's attitude, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed helplessly and said, "Touhuan, if I said I really have nothing to do with that masked man, would you believe me? My wife died at that man's hands six years ago."

"I believe you, of course I believe you." Uchiha Touhuan said with a half-smile, then found a chair in front of the Hokage's desk and sat down. "But do you know what kind of technique that guy used when I fought him? Wood Release! Do I need to explain what that means?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils constricted sharply, revealing an expression of complete disbelief.

"Third Hokage, you guys are really something. You actually came up with something from your Wood Release experiments. However, one of them was secretly used by that old dog Danzo to realize his own ambitions, and the other one even caused the Nine-Tails' rampage and killed the Fourth Hokage. If the First Hokage of the Pure Land knew about this, would he be so angry that he would come back to life?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he remained silent. He knew that he was too suspicious in this matter, and whatever he said would sound like he was making excuses.

After a while, Uchiha Touhuan sighed and said, "I've already taken care of that guy. The traces of his Wood Release were also erased by my ninjutsu. I used Sage Mode the whole time I was fighting him, so your crystal ball shouldn't be able to see anything. Therefore, this matter should only be known by the two of us."

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Touken Uchiha didn't want to make a big deal out of this, which made him feel a little more at ease.

"Thank you," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

"Don't thank me, you should thank the Hokage hat on your head and the divine robe you're wearing!" Uchiha Touhuan said irritably. "The Hokage can retire for any reason, even resigning due to a war defeat, but he absolutely cannot be forced out of office for such a reason! If the Hokage's name is tarnished, the village's morale will soon be shattered!"

Uchiha Tohsen made this choice not because Hiruzen Sarutobi had much influence over him, but simply because he didn't want to accept the Hokage's hat, which was inherently tainted by his past.

More importantly, he didn't want to set a precedent for purging the former Hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then understood what Touken Uchiha meant and nodded silently.

After a while, Uchiha Touhuan finally spoke slowly:

"That masked man is a weapon secretly trained by Danzo. The Nine-Tails' attack six years ago was orchestrated by Danzo, all for the purpose of killing the Fourth Hokage and then taking the Hokage position. His appearance this time is merely to avenge Danzo. Let's use this explanation to give everyone an account, what do you think?"

Uchiha Touhuan dumped a huge blame on Danzo, whose grave is probably overgrown with weeds by now, and then looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen: "The reason for the martial law tonight is that you, Third Hokage, discovered this historical problem, so you summoned the Security Department and the Anbu to act together in order to lure out the remnants of the rogue ninja Shimura Danzo and kill them in one fell swoop. In this way, your problem, Third Hokage, is at most that you were negligent."

"Danzo?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind stirred slightly. Although he felt that this was a bit unfair to Danzo, it seemed that the solution proposed by Touhuan Uchiha was the best one. It could preserve his reputation and allow him to retire peacefully, while also providing a reasonable explanation for the village's martial law order last night.

I'm sorry, Danzo, this is truly the last time.

"So, Touhuan, what are the conditions?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, looking at Touhuan Uchiha. He knew that Touhuan's help to him couldn't have been without a price.

"In the future, I plan to conduct a comprehensive review of the number of ninjas in the village. It's not good that ninjas trained with the village's resources are not in the village's ninja roster," Uchiha Touhuan said. "Therefore, I hope that the Sarutobi clan can cooperate in this matter."

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his cigarette and fell into deep thought.

Currently, the vast majority of the village's forces have fallen under Uchiha Tohsen's command. Uchiha Tohsen is practically the de facto Hokage, only needing a vote of nomination from the village's Jonin and the Daimyo's approval to become the true Hokage. The conditions that Uchiha Tohsen is now proposing are aimed at completely dismantling the last remaining power of this former Hokage.

"Alright." After pondering for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "I'll have them cooperate with the village's operations within the next couple of days."

Hiruzen Sarutobi understood that once he relinquished his last remaining power, he would truly be just a retired old man.

【but……】

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at Touhuan Uchiha in front of him. This man was charismatic, resourceful, and his strength was among the best in the ninja world.

Perhaps the village will achieve new glory under his leadership.

There's nothing wrong with being a retired old man.

After making up his mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked his final question: "Touhuan, what do you plan to do with Jiraiya?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was well aware that Jiraiya had been completely tricked by him in this matter. Despite not having the talent in this area, he had been put in this position by Hiruzen Sarutobi and was now in trouble. If possible, Hiruzen Sarutobi still wanted to help his disciple.

"As for Lord Jiraiya, he'll be stripped of his title and forced into retirement for voyeurism, endangering public safety, and producing and disseminating inappropriate books. How about that? From now on, he can just be a writer who travels around and enjoys life," said Uchiha Touhuan.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, stood up, walked to the office storage cabinet, and took out a tea set.

"I've heard that Chief Dou Huan is a master of tea ceremony. I wonder if this old man will have the honor of tasting his tea?"

After making his decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi's demeanor changed. At this moment, he was no longer the old and incompetent politician, but had regained the demeanor of the former hero Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Seeing this, Uchiha Touhuan smiled, took the tea set from Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand, and said with a smile, "Of course."

Kakashi took Naruto home and left him a note telling him to go to school as usual the next day. Then he went to the Hokage Building and entered the Hokage's office, where he saw Uchiha Touhuan focused on making tea.

"It seems you've reached an agreement," Kakashi said with a smile.

"Have a seat," Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Kakashi.

Soon, Uchiha Touhuan presented two cups of tea to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi.

After receiving the teacup, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly completed the entire tea ceremony, drank the tea, and then put it down, saying, "Chief Tohwan's tea ceremony skills are indeed well-deserved."

"You flatter me, Third Hokage," Uchiha Touhuan said with a smile. "If you like, you can come find me anytime in the future."

"Forget it." Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and laughed. "From now on, I'm afraid you won't have time to make tea anymore, Touhuan. The job of Hokage is very busy."

"Touhuan, can you tell this old man what you plan to do after you become the Fifth Hokage?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.

"After becoming the Fifth Hokage?" Uchiha Touhuan picked up his cup of tea, took a small sip, and then spoke. "There's so much to do. The village's system has many problems. To put it bluntly, the current village system was created by the First Hokage and Madara, two illiterate men who grew up in the chaotic Warring States period, on a whim. Although the Second Hokage patched up and solved some problems, some issues left over from that era will cause big problems sooner or later if they are not thoroughly resolved through systemic reforms."

"Is that so?" Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.

Afterwards, Uchiha Touken and Sarutobi Hiruzen discussed some issues concerning the village.

Uchiha Touhuan also picked out some less important things from his future plans and answered Hiruzen Sarutobi's questions.

The three of them drank tea and chatted about the dawn.

The sun rose as usual on December 13th, dispelling the darkness. The sun was exceptionally bright that day.

……

The next day, the village continued to function normally, with villagers going to school and work as usual.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was the first to issue a statement, explaining the reason for the martial law order issued last night, based on the plan proposed by Touhuan Uchiha.

Then, the plan for dealing with Nara Shikaku and the others who violated the martial law order last night is as follows: all three have been dismissed from their posts, and all ninjas from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans in various departments of the village have been stripped of their titles and privileges.

Finally, there is the matter of how to deal with Jiraiya, the advisor to the Hokage, for spying on others and for producing and distributing inappropriate books.

In addition, some ninjas within the Sarutobi clan's territory who were not part of the village's ninja roster also registered at the Hokage Building.

Within the Uchiha clan, the Fugaku family also held a simple funeral for Itachi Uchiha.

……

Three days later, a row of chairs was placed in front of the gate of the garrison headquarters.

Meanwhile, the small conference room inside the security department was also full of people. With a fluctuation of space-time ninjutsu, Genma Shiranui and the other two arrived in the conference room with Might Guy.

The latest novel is first published here!

Seeing this, Uchiha Touhuan, who was sitting at the head of the table, clapped his hands and said, "Alright, everyone's here. Genma, you guys go next door to change your clothes, then come downstairs."

Genma Shiranui and the other two nodded with smiles, but Might Guy was still confused about what had happened.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Kai, go change your clothes first," Kakashi said. "After we take the group photo, there's a banquet."

Might Guy wanted to say something more, but he was quickly pulled away by Genma Shiranui and the other two to change his clothes.

After the three of them changed their clothes, the group filed out of the security headquarters with smiles on their faces, with Kakashi and Uchiha Touhuan walking at the front.

Once outside, the winter sun shone exceptionally brightly.

"The weather's nice today," Kakashi said with a smile.

"Yes, the weather is perfect for taking photos." Uchiha Touhuan nodded.

The group walked towards the row of chairs, and Uchiha Touhuan smiled and beckoned to the people behind him, "Come on, come on, have a seat."

"Clan Chief Jaw, Clan Chief Shiki, please sit here! Gai, you sit next to Kakashi. Elder Fugaku, please move a little closer to me!"

"Brother Chengyi, could you and Captain Feng move a little closer to the middle? Don't be shy!"

Amidst the harmonious atmosphere, everyone found their own suitable place.

A civilian Chunin from the Security Department got this rare opportunity because his family ran a photography studio in the village. As for why such a simple task would be given to a Chunin, it's simple: the Security Department had no Genin left until the next expansion of recruitment!

After everyone was seated or standing properly, they each looked at the camera.

At that moment, Uchiha Touhuan reached out and grabbed Kakashi's left hand, which was resting on his knee, as Kakashi was sitting next to him.

Kakashi turned his head, and the two of them exchanged a bright smile before placing their hands on their knees.

"Sirs! On your marks!"

With the click of a shutter, a photograph that changed the entire Hidden Leaf Village, no, it changed the Land of Fire and even the entire ninja world, was forever etched in history.

Historians of later generations have had mixed opinions about the people in this photograph, but they have to admit that they were a group of people who completely changed the course of ninja history.

Later generations had only one comment on this photograph: "The immortals are lined up like hemp."

……

After taking the photos, everyone laughed and got up, heading to the venue where the Uchiha clan had held their last banquet.

At this moment, the banquet venue has been decorated. The dishes this time are even more luxurious than last time, and a bottle of champagne decorated with ribbons is placed in the ice bucket at the very front of the banquet table.

Uchiha Touhuan stepped forward, picked up the champagne, shook it vigorously a few times, and then flicked his finger to pry open the cork, causing a huge amount of foam to gush out.

"Bravo!" Thunderous applause and cheers erupted at the banquet.

Uchiha Touhuan poured drinks for the people around him, and at that moment, the banquet staff also came forward to fill the glasses of the people below.

"Gentlemen, our success in thwarting the plot of the thugs who sought to overthrow the village and protecting the Will of Fire within its walls is all thanks to your timely decisions." Uchiha Touhuan raised his glass. "Let's toast to the complete success of this operation!"

Everyone raised their glasses, but Kakashi stepped forward and said, "Wait a minute!"

Everyone turned to look at him.

"To be honest, everyone deserves credit for our ability to celebrate this victory today. However, the one who made the most difficult decision and led us to victory was none other than our Captain Uchiha Tohwan. Let's raise a toast to Captain Tohwan!"

"Indeed!" said Nagai Seiichi, who had now been transferred to the Jonin team as a captain. "Thanks to Chief Tohwan's decisive action, we were able to achieve such merit!"

"Come on, let me give the toast." Kakashi said, then looked at Uchiha Touhuan.

"May Captain-Commander Uchiha Tohkan have great luck in battle! May he enjoy good health and long-lasting victories!" Kakashi raised his glass high.

"May you enjoy health and longevity!" Everyone present raised their glasses.

After everyone finished shouting, they clinked glasses with those around them and then drank the wine in their glasses.

"Alright." Uchiha Touhuan clinked glasses with Kakashi and Uchiha Fugaku next to him, and after finishing their drinks, they all had bright smiles on their faces.

"Today is the happiest day of my life!"

……

(End of this chapter)