Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

What's even more infuriating is that the current ruler of Konoha is an Uchiha.

Unlike back then, when at least there was Hashirama Senju, the Kage still dared to spout nonsense at the Five Kage Summit hosted by Hashirama, none of them dared to utter any harsh words in front of Madara Uchiha. Onoki had personally witnessed how humble and subservient his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, was in front of Madara Uchiha…

Therefore,

He dared not take the risk.

If we anger Konoha and provoke the Sixth Hokage of the Uchiha clan... that would be an absolute catastrophe.

"...Then, Lord Tsuchikage, what should we do next?"

At this point, Huang Tu had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak.

He wasn't just playing along with his grandfather. Onoki didn't need to use such methods to cultivate his son's reputation. Besides, he had already given up on having Hirotsuchi succeed him as Tsuchikage and had set his sights on his granddaughter Kurotsuchi's generation.

"What can we do? Let's stick to the original plan. Remember to spread the word that we were targeted by the Cloud Ninja and Sand Ninja, which is why no one made it to the finals. Although we can't eliminate all the negative effects, it's better than doing nothing. Wenya, I'll leave this to you."

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage."

Wenya responded loudly.

"Also... the village needs a thorough overhaul. Based on the intelligence we have so far, our genin who participated in this Chunin Exams were not targeted maliciously; rather, they were simply too weak and were all eliminated in the preliminary rounds."

Onoki suddenly calmed down as if he were a different person. He looked at everyone present and said coldly, "This shows that there is a problem with the training mechanism within our village. The genin are getting worse and worse with each generation. If this continues, we will collapse on our own without the Cloud Ninja or Sand Ninja taking action. Therefore... the training mechanism in the village must be changed."

The leaders present, especially the heads of several major clans, suddenly felt extremely uneasy. They finally understood why Onoki was so furious. It turned out that his anger was not directed at Konoha or other villages from the beginning; the blade of the struggle had quietly turned inward.

Using the excuse of failing the Chunin Exams,

The blade was pressed against the neck of the heads of the various families.

"Although we learned from Konoha and established a ninja academy, so far our ninja academy can only train a hundred or so genin each year, and very few graduates of the ninja academy can become jonin. On the other hand, as far as I know, the sister of the Sixth Hokage, the son of the previous head of the Uchiha clan, and the heir of the main branch of the Hyuga clan all graduated from the ninja academy."

Having said that,

Even the most oblivious person would understand what the Tsuchikage was up to.

that's it,

Taking advantage of the changing external situation, Onoki seized the opportunity to continue his reforms within Iwagakure.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sunagakure Village

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, wasn't in a good mood either. Although he wasn't as furious as Onoki, he wasn't overly happy about his children's outstanding performance in the Chunin Exams. His mood immediately became heavy after seeing the news that his other son, Tomaki, who had failed to make it to the finals, had sent back to the village.

Puppetry

This unique skill belonging to the Sand Village ninja eventually spread.

Moreover, it's not as simple as just a few fragments being leaked out. According to Kankuro, the puppeteer's legacy that Konoha obtained is related to that S-rank rogue ninja, Sasori of the Red Sand.

"Scorpion, does this have anything to do with you?"

Luo Sha stood by the window, deep in thought for most of the day, and finally made a decision. He realized that relying on his own thoughts and guesses would not yield any results; he needed to obtain concrete information, specifically regarding the Red Sand Scorpion.

To my shame,

Although he, as the Wind Shadow, had arranged for the Dark Guard to investigate, they had never discovered any valuable clues.

In contrast,

Two reclusive old people were so well-informed that even he, the Wind Shadow, had to admit defeat.

Alone, Luo Sha left the Fengying Building and arrived at the secluded residence of the two advisor elders. He saw an old lady and an old man fishing in front of the pond. He walked up to them and said softly, "Elder Chiyo, Elder Ebizo, please forgive me for disturbing you."

"It's Rasa! What happened? Why did you come to find us two old folks?" Granny Chiyo's tone was harsh, causing Rasa to unconsciously clench his fists.

"Sister, please don't do this."

beside,

Ebizo had no choice but to step in and smooth things over, sighing and saying, "I'm sorry, Lord Kazekage, um... has something happened in the village?"

"Everything is normal in the village."

Luo Sha gathered his strength and suppressed his anger. Although he disliked Granny Chiyo's arrogant attitude, the two old women's influence in the village was indeed deeply rooted. They were old and senior, and he, as the Kazekage, really couldn't put on any airs in front of them.

“It was my son Kankuro. He sent a message saying that he encountered a Konoha ninja who used puppetry during the Chunin Exams.”

"A Konoha ninja who uses puppetry?"

Ebizo was taken aback.

He frowned slightly. "Konoha obtained the complete puppetry technique? If Rasa came to them personally, it must mean that some Konoha ninja simply mastered the basics of puppetry."

"Probably."

Rasa nodded. "Moreover, according to Kankuro's letter, the puppet controlled by the Konoha ninja he encountered, the crow he used, and the other two black ants and salamanders left in the village all originated from the same source."

After these words were spoken,

Grandma Chiyo, who had been keeping her eyes half-closed, suddenly lost her composure.

She knew perfectly well who created the crows, black ants, and salamander puppets. They all came from the same source... which meant that the puppetry tradition that ended up in Konoha came from her grandson, Sasori.

"Luo Sha, are you sure?"

Granny Chiyo turned her head and stared at Rasa.

"That's Kankuro's assessment. Although my son is dull-witted, his passion for puppetry is genuine. It's unlikely he would admit to something wrong. Besides, I don't think he has the guts to lie," Rasa said, subtly affirming his assessment.

"So... what brings you here? To interrogate me?"

Grandma Chiyo said angrily with a sour face, and it was clear that the old lady's mood was getting worse.

“You’ve filtered it out, I don’t have the guts…” Rasa gritted his teeth, suppressing his displeasure, and instead of arguing with Granny Chiyo, he changed his words and said, “I came to ask the two elders if they have any information about Sasori. If we can contact Sasori, I want to ask what exactly happened. Only after knowing the details can we negotiate with Konoha.”

Grandma Chiyo's face twitched slightly, but she didn't say anything.

“We did have contact with Sasori.” Seeing his sister fall silent, Ebizo hurriedly spoke up, frankly admitting that they had some dealings with Sasori, the S-rank rogue ninja. “However, I’m afraid you will be disappointed, Kazekage. Our contact with Sasori has always been one-way communication from him. We have no way to contact Sasori.”

Is that so?

Luo Sha blinked, clearly not quite believing it.

For this,

Ebizo was also helpless. He knew that what he said sounded like he was just being perfunctory, but that was the truth. They really wanted to contact Sasori, but Sasori never left any clues for them to find, nor did he leave any means of contact. He just sent messages one-way.

"Of course, it's not that there's absolutely no way... it's just..." Ebizo stammered, unsure how to begin.

This immediately piqued Luo Sha's curiosity.

He pressed on, "What is it? Elder Haibizang, please speak freely. Does Scorpion have any requests?"

"Yes."

Ebizo took a deep breath. Although he still found it difficult to say, he decided to say it himself rather than have his sister say it.

"Scorpion said he wants to go back to the village."

"what?"

Luo Sha was stunned for a moment.

They even wondered if there was something wrong with their ears, causing them to experience these auditory hallucinations.

"About two weeks ago, we received a letter from Scorpion. He left a message saying that he wanted to return to the village and hoped that the village could forgive the crimes he had committed. He said that as long as we withdraw the warrant for Scorpion's arrest, he will come back to serve the village."

Ebizo finished speaking with a wry smile.

My feelings are so complicated that words can't describe them.

"...I want to go back to the village." Luo Sha frowned deeply. This matter...is really a bit difficult! Sasori's defection was because he used his fellow villagers for human experiments, creating forbidden human puppets. To be precise, it wasn't because he created human puppets that he broke the law, but because he killed his fellow villagers, which led to his being wanted.

In particular, those who fell victim to Sasori were not ordinary civilian ninjas; among the dead were members of powerful clans from Sunagakure.

Pardon the scorpion.

This means facing the wrath of several powerful clans whose status is no less than that of the Hyuga and Aburame families of Konoha.

This issue,

It's really quite difficult to handle.

As for the reason why he felt disgusted because Sasori had killed his fellow villagers, Rasa did not have such moral fastidiousness. He did not mind letting Sasori return to the village. After all, Sasori, who had committed a serious mistake, could not threaten his position as Kazekage. If he could obtain the forbidden technique of human puppetry from Sasori, it would actually strengthen the village's power.

Yes,

Luo Sha had already secretly agreed to Scorpion's return to the village, but he was still worried about how to appease the powerful clans in the village.

[Chapter 452 Departure]

Not to mention the impact of the Chunin Exams on various villages and countries, Haku, who had been recuperating in the hospital for nearly twenty days, finally walked out of the hospital. His recovery time was more than ten days earlier than that diagnosed by Yakushi Nono. It's not that Yakushi Nono's medical skills were lacking, but rather that she had already brought Karin, who had recovered, to help.

Although he is only a descendant of the Uzumaki family,

However, Karin did inherit the powerful vitality of the Uzumaki clan almost perfectly. Not only did she quickly recover from the brink of death, but she was also able to bleed out some blood so that Haku could end his agonizing days in the hospital sooner.

Having fully recovered his energy, Bai didn't linger and went straight to the Hokage Building, standing in front of Zongxian.

"Have you fully recovered?"

"Yes."

"How's your research on the stuff I gave you last time coming along?"

"Although I haven't practiced it, I've grasped the general idea. It's not a very complicated technique, and it's not difficult to learn."

Zongxian smiled silently. Only a genius like him could say such things. The thing he gave him would take an ordinary Jonin three to five months to study and might not yield any results. He had already experimented on his trusted Jonin.

"So, you should understand what needs to be done, right?"

Zongxian tapped the table with his fingers.

“I understand, and I am prepared.”

Bai responded in a deep voice.

There was not the slightest bit of fear.

"very good."

Zongxian was very satisfied with Bai's reaction. It was a waste for such a useful talent to follow Orochimaru. Fortunately, things change so strangely. Bai eventually abandoned darkness and turned to light with Orochimaru and ended up in his hands after all the twists and turns.