Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

905. Labor and management only quelled the fire, but didn't extinguish it.

"...This document is correct, it was indeed written by the daimyo, however...the 50 billion mentioned on it does not specify that it is in cash, and as you, Lord Golden Lion, know, apart from your Land of Wind, no country should be able to produce it all at once, even the Land of Wind would need to use gold dust instead."

After staring at the document for a long time, his eyes darting around several times, the civil engineer slowly and deliberately spoke.

"Huh? So what do you mean?"

Shinto raised an eyebrow. Smart people do have quick minds. Although Tsuchiki's IQ wasn't as high as Azabu or Nara, it was still a rare 95 in the ninja world. Of course, he knew that the Land of Earth couldn't come up with 50 billion. He was just making a scene to embarrass Onoki. Who told this old schemer to humiliate him before? If it were just once or twice, he could tolerate Sunagakure clashing with Konoha and Kumogakure. But this old schemer kept clashing with them, making Sunagakure get two zeros in the Chunin Exams, even worse than small ninja villages like Kusagakure. If he didn't embarrass Onoki again, he'd really think the Golden Lion King was good-natured.

Labor and management have only quelled the fire, but haven't put it out!

"Since the Daimyo has lost the bet, we will of course accept it. However, our Land of Earth does not have that much cash. How about this... we can use an equal amount of jade instead. The price of jade has been rising steadily, so I think you, Lord Golden Lion, will not lose out. What do you think?"

After pondering for a few seconds, Tsuchiki spoke to Masato.

To be honest, he wouldn't even want to give away the jade if he could. Now that it's a peaceful era, those noblemen and literati love this stuff. There haven't been any wars in recent years, so the price of this stuff is getting higher and higher. He estimates that if there aren't any major battles in the next few years, the price will continue to soar. This is a huge fortune!

But now that things have come to this point, and these idiots have already signed the agreement, with so many prominent figures present, they can't deny it even if they want to.

"Cultural people do think faster, huh... Since you've put it this way, considering we've known each other for decades, I should at least give you this face. However, I intend to use this money to compensate the daimyo of the Land of Fire. I have no problem with that; I just don't know if the daimyo of the Land of Fire will agree..."

Onoki has already lost face this time, and continuing this commotion isn't a solution. Although it's a pity not to see Onoki's face swollen from being beaten, he can't really fight Onoki here. After all, this is Onoki's territory. If a fight breaks out here, Onoki, that old schemer, has a fiery temper and will definitely start a war. Now that World War III is over, there are only a few years left until Kaguya's release. What if Onoki causes some kind of accident that prevents him from getting past the final boss? Wouldn't he be disgracing his peers?

As for those random pieces of jade, he didn't care about them. To put it bluntly, they were just a bunch of rotten stones, and their prices weren't even as good as the gold dust from Sunagakure. He had already made a little money by defeating these daimyo, so he might as well just dump this mess on the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

As Masato spoke, all the people with the "Iwa" prefix, including Onoki, turned to look at the Fire Country Daimyo, who was covered in cold sweat and whose legs were trembling as if he had just been trampled on. Onoki's dark purple nose and eyes, though unspoken, were clearly full of warning.

"I...I'm fine. If your country is facing difficulties, you can repay them slowly..."

Stared at by a group of murderous Iwa ninja, especially Onoki's murderous gaze, the Fire Country Daimyo, who had wasted years of his life on drinking, gambling, and womanizing, couldn't take it. Onoki's small body was like a raging beast in his eyes. This was their territory, and there was no White Fang or the Hokage to protect them. He had wanted to leave long ago when Shiki and Onoki were fighting. Although the 50 billion was tempting, he wouldn't take it even if he were given 500 billion, since he didn't need the money anyway.

Right now, all he wants is to resolve this matter quickly and return to the Land of Fire. He will never come to the Land of Earth again, especially not to these ninja strongholds, where they are always ready to fight and kill. It's too damn dangerous. Just thinking about the little white lights that emanated from Onoki's hand earlier still sends chills down his spine. He doesn't dare to say anything more.

"Now that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire has agreed, we will gradually pay you back the debt. What do you think, Lord Golden Lion?"

The reaction of the Fire Country Daimyo was within Tsuchiki's expectations. Hearing him say that, Tsuchiki turned to ask Masato.

"Since the Daimyo of the Land of Fire has agreed, I naturally have no objections. Sigh! Brother Tsuchimaki, being a subordinate to such a boss must be exhausting, right?"

After shrugging, Masato put his arm around Tsuchimaki's neck, expressing deep sympathy.

"Ahem... Lord Golden Lion, you really love to joke."

Civil engineer was terrified by his words and broke out in a cold sweat. He absolutely could not continue the conversation like that, or he might really run into a masked dwarf one night. There was a reason why those high-ranking officials had disappeared without a trace in the past two years.

"Damn bastard... Humph! Let's go!"

Of course, Onoki wouldn't be provoked by this bastard's few words, but seeing this bastard putting his arm around his leader's shoulder in front of him made him feel like he had eaten shit. If he didn't want to cause any more trouble, he would have really fought this bastard to the death.

...

"Tch! You're so old and still have such a temper! No wonder that nose of yours can't be cured. Now that the accounts are settled, I won't disturb you any longer. Sayonara...!"

Shinto used his Observation Haki to whisper his complaint to Onoki's short back, making sure everyone could hear him. Then, he waved to the daimyo with a grin. His disciples and underlings were still waiting for him to return. After all, this was Onoki's territory; who knew if they would be ambushed by some mysterious dwarf on the way? Onoki was even better at playing the "blind spot" game than Senju no Uchiha. He wouldn't feel comfortable letting them go back on their own.

"That bastard...(▼he▼メ)"

"At the same time, let those noble lords in Daming Prefecture recommend a new Daming, and deal with this idiot cleanly."

Just as Onoki stepped out, he heard this bastard's "whispering," paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth and pretended not to hear, continuing to drift forward with his underlings. After leaving the private room, Onoki said to Tsuchiki through gritted teeth.

This was the first time in decades that he had been verbally abused on his own turf. It was all because of that idiot's name; why pretend to be a big shot when you have no money? (▼へ▼メ).

906. Uchiha Fugaku was born at the wrong time.

One month has passed since the first joint Chunin Exams of the ninja world ended.

The impact of this joint Chunin Exams continues, with the MVP of the exams, Uchiha Itachi, the young clan leader of the Uchiha clan, causing a small sensation in the ninja world. As a member of the Uchiha clan, the most prestigious clan in the ninja world, he has an innate advantage. In addition, he evolved to the three-tomoe stage at the age of eleven or twelve. His good looks and extraordinary talent made him stand out in this joint Chunin Exams and attracted a large number of female fans. This momentum is even stronger than that of Uchiha Shisui two years ago.

Now, everywhere in the ninja world, people are talking about how Konoha's Uchiha clan has produced a young clan leader with explosive talent.

After Shisui Uchiha rose to power two years ago, he became complacent, which is somewhat a case of "a promising child may not amount to a great adult." However, Itachi Uchiha's performance in the Chunin Exams was undeniable. His impressive family's Fire Release techniques, combined with his three-tomoe Sharingan and genjutsu, were dazzling. Apart from showing off a bit in the first one-on-one battle, he didn't even lift a finger afterward, ending battles with a mere glare. This cool and arrogant performance was extremely popular with girls.

Actually, apart from Itachi Uchiha, both the Cloud Village's young man who inherited the Third Raikage's black lightning release and possessed the storm release bloodline limit, and the blond kid from Onoki whose palm could grow a mouth and who was suspected to be Shiki's youngest son, were very strong. In particular, Onoki's blond disciple was also a handsome young man who could ride a big bird and fly around at a young age. He was definitely a rising star in the future.

However, with Itachi Uchiha's strong momentum, no one really paid much attention to the Storm Release boy or Onoki, that young blond disciple who could ride a big bird. Most people's conversations revolved around the young Uchiha clan leader.

However, this joint Chunin Exams brought joy to some and sorrow to others.

The most worrying one is Hiruzen Sarutobi, the administrative president of Konoha Village.

Although he failed to humiliate Onoki, he managed to prevent Onoki from showing off his genius disciple, so he barely achieved his goal. Although there was some regret, he could still accept the outcome of sending Uchiha Itachi to participate in the Joint Chunin Exams. Although Konoha's roster had declined in recent years, Uchiha Itachi's amazing performance could still intimidate some of the surrounding villages.

However, he hadn't expected Uchiha Itachi to be so popular. After returning from a two-month absence, his popularity in the ninja world was almost on par with that of a superstar. The Uchiha clan was already in turmoil due to the sudden rise of Uchiha Shisui two years ago, and they had been quite restless for the past two years. Now, Uchiha Itachi's meteoric rise to fame caught him off guard. He had always tried his best to promote peaceful coexistence between the Uchiha and the village. After all, the Uchiha were one of the founding clans of Konoha and had been the core of Konoha's fighting force for many years. He really didn't want to see the village and the Uchiha take the final step.

He had received countless complaints about the things the Uchiha clan had done in the village over the years, but he had always turned a blind eye to them because of their past contributions. But now, because of Itachi Uchiha's sudden rise, the Uchiha clan could no longer be suppressed.

He was now genuinely regretting letting Itachi Uchiha make an appearance. If he had known that Onoki was such an idiot for letting his disciple clash with a Cloud Ninja boy who was his natural counter right from the start, he would have been better off keeping a low profile like Sunagakure and just sending a few boys to make a cameo appearance. Otherwise, so many troublesome things would have happened.

"Snapped!"

Every time he thought of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi would slap himself across the face, leaving the ANBU underlings standing guard in the shadows completely bewildered. Had the Hokage's temper gotten so bad after only a few years since his wife died?

Some quick-thinking members of the Anbu have already started considering whether they have any widowed or unmarried aunties or older women in their families they could introduce to the Hokage to become soulmates. Having them as family would make it easier to rise in rank...

"Hiruzen, ever since Itachi Uchiha returned, the Uchiha clan has been making more and more noise. Although Fugaku Uchiha is still relatively calm, I don't think he will be able to stay calm for long."

"It was Koharu Utatane, who was standing behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, who said this."

To be honest, among all the Uchiha clan leaders since Madara, Fugaku Uchiha is arguably the most competent one. He wasn't too influenced by the Uchiha clan members. If Fugaku had been the clan leader decades ago, during his grandfather's generation, the village might have actually been able to coexist peacefully with the Uchiha clan. When the First Hokage died, it was the peak of the Uchiha clan's power. Fugaku's foolish grandfather, who was promoted by the clan members, couldn't resist their influence and led an attack on their teacher when the First Hokage passed away. In return, he was tricked by the Second Hokage through the Guard Department.

If the clan leader at that time had been Fugaku Uchiha, whose right brain was clear, it would be hard to say what the outcome would have been.

Since becoming the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku Uchiha has worked diligently and conscientiously, which is evident to all. However, his lineage is ultimately not the orthodox one of Madara's. Although he is relatively calm and has not been swayed by his clansmen to stand up and compete for the Hokage position, he is still not the orthodox one, and his strength is not as invincible as Madara's. He is simply unable to suppress those clansmen with extreme ideas.

Now, with the rise of their genius son, the unrest in the hearts of the people is even more uncontrollable.

"...Hiruzen, hesitation will only lead to more trouble. Take action now while there are no signs of war between the villages."

After Koharu Utatane finished speaking, the cultured Mitokado Homura said with a solemn expression. This time, he didn't accept the big gift from his friend Danzo, but truly considered the interests of the village. The Uchiha had always been the core of Konoha's fighting force. It could be said that without the Uchiha, Konoha's fighting power would drop by at least a third. It was that exaggerated. Although the Uchiha clan was arrogant and disliked by the villagers, their fighting power was indeed real. Although the Hyuga clan had competed with the Uchiha for the title of Konoha's number one clan with the support of Hiruzen Sarutobi in recent years, they were ultimately only somewhat competitive. The Byakugan was indeed powerful and even considered one of the three great dojutsu alongside the Sharingan, but its function was singular. Its overall combat power was really no match for the Uchiha's red-eyed freaks. Especially since the red-eyed freaks could ultimately evolve into the Mangekyou Sharingan. They were people who had lived through Madara's era and had personally witnessed how awesome Madara's eyes were.

The Nine-Tails is a huge monster in their eyes, but in Madara's eyes, it's just a mere pet.

907. How come this bastard hasn't aged yet?

It was precisely because of the Uchiha clan's importance to the village that, although he had been sung and subdued by the Uchiha before being taken in as a disciple by the Second Hokage, he never targeted the Uchiha clan for the sake of the village and to repay his teacher's life-saving grace. However, in the past two years, the Uchiha clan had been aggressively recruiting members, and it was obvious what they were up to. Especially in the last month, Uchiha Itachi's popularity in the ninja world had surpassed even that of Kagami, and the Uchiha clan's underhanded tactics had become more and more frequent. He felt he could no longer tolerate it.

"Konho is right, Hiruzen. Our teacher said back then that the Uchiha are a stabilizing factor for Konoha!"

At this point, Konoha's "half the sky" also spoke up. Two years ago, he tricked a few old guys from the Uchiha clan into sending people to Root, all in order to get more pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan so that he could transplant more Hashirama cells, hoping to awaken the Wood Release that could dominate everything. He also hoped to incite conflict between the Uchiha and the village, indirectly causing trouble for the Uchiha, and then forcefully ascend to the Hokage throne, unify the ninja world, and become the king of the world.

But damn it, those old Uchiha guys were so cunning. The people they gave him were almost all marginal members of the Uchiha clan, with a whole bunch of single-tomoe, double-tomoe, and even those who hadn't awakened their Sharingan yet. But not a single triple-tomoe. This infuriated him, but he was helpless. As Orochimaru had said, ten pairs of double-tomoe were no match for the amount of power a single triple-tomoe could suppress the First Hokage's cells, let alone those trashy single-tomoe. They were completely useless.

He had originally planned to find an opportunity to test whether Uchiha Kagami had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, but he didn't expect that the joint Chunin Exams of Iwagakure would make Uchiha Itachi famous in the ninja world and accelerate the turmoil in the Uchiha clan. Now even his usually quiet friends can't stand it anymore.

This is an opportunity!

Although the Uchiha clan is very strong overall, the current village roster could easily wipe them out. They could take as many three-tomoe Sharingan as they wanted, and if Kagami awakens his Mangekyou Sharingan, that would be even better...

Just imagining the image of him waving his hand through a small grove of trees while sporting three kaleidoscopes made Danzo's heart pound uncontrollably. It was just too damn exciting!

"...I will talk to Fugaku Uchiha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to his three friends' words, then turned and looked out the window at Konoha. He then started puffing away on his pipe, leaving his three friends to inhale secondhand smoke for half an hour. Finally, he shook his head and rejected Mitokado Homura and Danzo's suggestion.

He had always adhered to the First Hokage's ideology and was unwilling to take action against the Uchiha clan until the very last moment. Putting aside the Uchiha's contributions to the village over the decades, he couldn't bring himself to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi, the core of the Uchiha's fighting force.

"Hey!"

Koharu and Homura sighed helplessly. Ever since the Fourth Hokage and Biwako died, they had noticed that their friend had become increasingly indecisive. It wasn't just because of his age; perhaps he had simply given up.

However, there was nothing they could do about what their friends said, since they were just assistants to the Hokage, not even the chief.

"Hmph! Yourou hung up. I have to go. You two chat."

Seeing his best friend shake his head, Danzo's image shattered instantly. He snorted coldly, turned around with a dark face, and slammed the door shut. His movements were short, powerful, and fluid, suggesting that he was regretting missing the Hokage position by a mere 0.03 seconds back then.

......

"Hahaha! You guys have no idea, Onoki's red nose is so angry it's almost as strong as my Armament Haki! That bastard, I gave him face and brought people to participate in this Chunin Exams, and this bastard actually tried to slap me in the face..."

While Hiruzen Sarutobi was worrying so much he was practically bald, in the Kazekage Tower conference room in Sunagakure, Masato was telling everyone the story of the Chunin Exams, especially the scene in the Daimyo's private room where he pointed at Onoki's nose and cursed him as a poor bastard. To vividly describe Onoki's expression at that moment, he used both hands and feet and couldn't stop.

"..."

Everyone present was speechless. They didn't come here to listen to this damn debate with Onoki. Recently, that young Uchiha clan leader has become so popular, and some girls in their clan have suffered because of him. Posters of Uchiha Itachi are plastered all over the room. They all wanted to find out from this old man whether Uchiha Itachi was really as amazing as people say.

But the meeting had been going on for half an hour already, and this old man was still bragging about his story of verbally battling Onoki in the Daimyo's private room. What could be summarized in one sentence was being dragged out for half an hour. If it weren't for the fact that this old man didn't look old at all and could probably still hold his own against Kurama, they would really want to slap him in the face!

But then again... how come this bastard hasn't aged a bit yet?!

Generally speaking, a ninja's physical functions begin to decline after the age of fifty, and their condition also declines. Even a puppeteer who pays attention to maintenance, like Lord Chiyo who has never suffered any injuries in his life, will not be as sharp as he was in his prime. The movements of the Chikamatsu Ten Ninja were not slower by a fraction.

But this bastard is clearly not a puppeteer, and his fighting style is still the same as always: close-range combat with unstoppable force. Although his defense is tough and he hasn't suffered any injuries, this kind of fighting style is quite physically demanding. Yet, this bastard was able to go toe-to-toe with Konoha's Nine-Tails a few years ago, which is somewhat mystical.

They really didn't dare interrupt the old man's self-indulgent rant, so they just treated it as listening to him brag; they'd heard it for so many years already, a little more wouldn't kill them...

Didn't you see that his two disciples and Feng Ying were listening to him boast?

"So... what's the deal with that Uchiha Itachi, teacher?"

After finally waiting for the old man to finish his self-indulgent fun, in order to prevent him from starting over, "Conan's dad," the beloved disciple, received a look from Rasa and quickly and helplessly stepped forward to change the subject and talk about serious business.

After all, this concerns the future of the village. Although their village didn't take the Joint Chunin Exams too seriously because they didn't have any geniuses of that age, and even the people who went with Shinto were randomly selected by Rasa, the information they received showed that Onoki's blond-haired disciple from Konoha, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure were all rare geniuses. One of them inherited the Black Lightning of the Third Raine and also possessed the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai, while the other had learned a secret technique that no one in Iwagakure had been able to learn for decades. He would definitely be an explosion expert in the future.

The most outrageous one has to be Uchiha Itachi, who's recently become incredibly popular and has female fans everywhere. His popularity in his village is almost catching up with that of Karin's father, the number one handsome man in the ninja world.

They all wanted to confirm with this old man whether Uchiha Itachi was really that awesome. Although this old man was usually crazy and unserious, his judgment of people was still reliable.

Wasn't it this old man who discovered Kudo, who could hold his own against "Yellow Flash" for several minutes?

908. Not all Uchiha are Madara.

"...This Uchiha Itachi... He's already evolved to the three-tomoe Sharingan at such a young age, so he's naturally quite formidable. I estimate he awakened his Sharingan even earlier than my idol. It's practically a certainty that he'll awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, one in a million in the Uchiha clan, in the future. And his genjutsu talent is naturally excellent as well. Once the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan evolves to the three-tomoe Sharingan, their genjutsu is never too bad. And this kid is even more formidable. That powerful man from Kumogakure, Darui, who was definitely a Jonin, couldn't even last a single round against his genjutsu before being instantly killed."

Masato shrugged. "That's Kishimoto's youngest son. He's like Minato Namikaze, what's there to say? If he weren't so exceptionally talented that the plot couldn't proceed, Kishimoto wouldn't have risked being shot to death. You know, this youngest son is way more popular than the eldest..."

"Sigh! I never expected that Konoha, which has already declined, would produce another extraordinary genius, and even two at once, especially this Uchiha Itachi..."

When Rasa heard Masato say this, he sighed helplessly. Although Sunagakure had a small number of soldiers after several generations of hard work, they had enough double-flower red-clad soldiers. In the entire ninja world, apart from Konoha, which village had as many double-flower red-clad soldiers as they did?