Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

“Uchiha Touhuan, we are the Second Hokage’s appointed assistants. In principle, you and the Security Department have no right to investigate us,” Mitokado Homura said in a deep voice.

"Does the Third Hokage also think so?" Uchiha Touhuan looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "This matter requires an explanation not only from Kakashi himself, but from all the ninjas in the village. For the sake of the Will of Fire, I urge the Third Hokage to uphold justice for Kakashi and for every ninja who may make sacrifices for the village in the future."

“Third Hokage, Tohwan is right.” Kakashi, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up. “It’s fine for me to suffer a little injustice in this matter, but it would be bad if the village’s ninjas started to doubt the Will of Fire because of it.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced up at Kakashi, feeling a headache coming on. He wondered where these kids had learned it from, and even Kakashi had started constantly mentioning the Will of Fire.

"Kakashi..." Utane Koharu wanted to scold Kakashi, but Sarutobi Hiruzen then shouted angrily.

"Enough!" Hiruzen Sarutobi glared at Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane with hatred. "How dare you mention the Second Hokage? As fellow disciples of the Second Hokage, I don't recall him ever teaching us such despicable methods!"

"Hiruzen, you..." Hiruzen Sarutobi's almost merciless words left Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado speechless for a moment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had no intention of giving them a chance to speak again. "Guards! Seize the two advisors and take them to the security headquarters for investigation!"

"Yes!" The door to the Hokage's office opened, and several Anbu members walked in. After the incident on the street was over, they returned to report. Compared to when they were lounging around on the street earlier, these Anbu members were much quicker to act. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the two advisors and placed their hands on their weapons.

"Advisors, please, don't make things difficult for us," a masked member of the secret service warned in a low voice.

Koharu Utatane looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in disbelief, but as soon as she looked up, she saw the warning look in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi just hoped that these two idiots would be smart and obediently follow him to the security headquarters. He, as the Hokage, could still find a way to get them out in a few days. But if they continued to cause trouble, the situation would escalate to the point where even he, as the Hokage, would be unable to control it.

"Hmph, Hiruzen, you'll regret this!" Mitokado Homura snorted coldly, but in the end, he did not resist. Together with Utatane Koharu, he was taken away from the Security Department under the control of the Anbu.

After the two were taken away, Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples wearily. These two idiots suddenly made him miss Danzo. After a while, he looked at Kakashi and Touhuan Uchiha and asked, "Kakashi, Touhuan, what do you think of this arrangement?"

"The Third Hokage is upright and impartial, truly admirable," said Uchiha Touhuan.

“You don’t need to say that, Dou Huan,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said. “Although this was just a momentary oversight on my part, ultimately, I, as the Hokage, also bear responsibility.”

“Third Hokage, please don’t say that. It’s the two advisors who are blinded by power and have forgotten the Will of Fire and the earnest teachings of the Second Hokage,” said Uchiha Touhuan.

“Hey, I’m partly responsible for how they ended up like this,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said. “However, Touhuan, Kakashi, for my sake, let’s leave it at that. I will personally step in to clarify all these rumors.”

"Thank you, Third Hokage," Kakashi nodded.

"Furthermore, Dou Huan, although the two of them made mistakes, they have still worked hard over the years, even if they haven't achieved anything. Please give me some face and ask the garrison to treat them a little better."

“Understood.” Uchiha Touhuan smiled. “After all, the two advisors hold high positions and great power. Before things are settled, they naturally cannot be locked up in the same place as ordinary people. Therefore, Third Hokage, the Security Department plans to build a special detention facility on the banks of the Naka River for this purpose.”

"Yes, that's fine too." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.

"Furthermore, Third Hokage, what have you decided regarding what Kakashi and I found at Orochimaru's base last time?" Uchiha Tohkan said.

Upon hearing Uchiha Touhuan bring this up, Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart tightened. After considering it for a moment, he said, "Let's postpone this matter. The village can't afford any more turmoil right now."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Touhuan looked troubled: "Third Hokage, this is indeed a bit difficult."

Uchiha Touhuan sighed, then continued, "To be honest, it's also my fault. There were just too many things tonight, and they all happened quite suddenly. I was so busy that I didn't notice to put that document away properly, and Shisui saw it by accident."

Uchiha Touhuan's face showed shame: "Third Hokage, you must know my cousin's personality. He is simple-minded and can't keep secrets. If this drags on, I'm afraid Shisui will inevitably overthink things."

"This..." Hiruzen Sarutobi was speechless for a moment, while Touken Uchiha quickly bowed.

"This matter was ultimately due to my negligence. Please forgive me, Third Generation."

Chapter 64 The Dust Settles

After hearing Uchiha Touhuan's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally understood why Uchiha Shisui, who always loved peace, would side with the Security Department tonight and attack the ninjas from his own village.

At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi also understood that this matter could not be delayed any longer. If he continued to conceal it, the Will of Fire he had been using to win over young talents of the Uchiha clan like Shisui would completely collapse, and Shisui would become completely alienated from him.

Although Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan is in the hands of Uchiha Touhuan, the power of Susanoo that Shisui just displayed is not something that ordinary ninjas can withstand. Once Shisui completely sides with the clan, the Uchiha clan will have two Kage-level fighters.

Conversely, if Shisui still believed in his Will of Fire, even though there might have been a rift between them, given Hiruzen Sarutobi's understanding of Shisui, Shisui would likely intervene to stop the Uchiha rebellion. This is probably why Tohsen Uchiha has remained restrained tonight.

After sorting out his thoughts, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Touhuan, it's not your fault. After all, no one could have predicted what would happen tonight."

“Since things have come to this, there’s no point in delaying any longer. Let’s officially begin the investigation,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said. “However, this is a serious matter, so I plan to have the Anbu and the Security Department investigate together. What do you think, Tou-hwan?”

Although the investigation into the collusion between the three clans and Orochimaru was imminent after Shisui learned of it, Hiruzen Sarutobi also learned from the previous investigation of Root and knew that this matter could not be entirely left to the Security Department.

The last time Uchiha Touhuan gained power, he developed his current power base in less than a month. If the power to investigate this case were completely handed over to the Uchiha again, Hiruzen Sarutobi dared not even think about what would happen.

“That’s only right.” Uchiha Touhuan nodded. If he were in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s position, he wouldn’t let the Security Department handle such a big matter alone. So, he had expected Hiruzen Sarutobi’s reaction. His purpose was simply to force Hiruzen Sarutobi to start investigating the matter.

Furthermore, joint investigations are not entirely without their advantages. Although with the involvement of the Anbu, Uchiha Touhuan is unlikely to continue his previous practices without restraint, this also gives him the opportunity to intervene in the Anbu, which he naturally finds appealing.

After everything was settled, Uchiha Touhuan and Kakashi each stood up to take their leave. Watching the two leave, Sarutobi Hiruzen lit his pipe again and looked out at the night.

After a long silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply. He had to admit that since Danzo's death, his control over the village had weakened considerably. At the same time, the events of today, especially the reactions of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, made him realize that he might really be getting old.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed repeatedly, pulling a letter from the table. He intended to write to Jiraiya again, but as soon as he wrote Jiraiya's name, he couldn't help but sigh again. Of his three former disciples, the only one he could rely on in the end was Jiraiya, who had once given him the most trouble.

"I hope that when he comes back, he can change all of this," Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

……

After Uchiha Touhuan and Kakashi left the Hokage Building, they went their separate ways at an intersection.

"Where are we going?" Uchiha Touhuan asked. "I don't remember your house being in this direction."

“Some old friends are still waiting for me; I have to go and tell them how it went,” Kakashi said.

"Are they former subordinates of the Fourth Hokage?" Uchiha Touhuan asked.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded, making no attempt to hide anything.

“Well, speaking of which, if the Fourth Hokage were still alive, the village wouldn’t be like this now.” Uchiha Touhuan said with some regret. “Kakashi, let’s take everyone to the Uchiha clan’s territory tomorrow. I’m planning to hold a banquet or something. Tonight, these seniors with the Will of Fire contributed a lot, and our Security Department should express our gratitude.”

"I understand." Kakashi nodded, said goodbye to Uchiha Touhuan, and headed alone towards the location where the conflict had occurred.

"Oh, right, remember to bring that guy who uses Wood Release tomorrow. The Security Department needs his help with something." After Kakashi left, Uchiha Touhuan suddenly remembered something and called out in the direction Kakashi had gone.

……

When Uchiha Touhuan returned to the Security Department, it was already late at night, but the entire Security Department was still brightly lit.

On his way back to the office, Uchiha Touhuan encountered several civilian officers carrying batons who were walking towards the interrogation room. Upon seeing Uchiha Touhuan, the civilian officers immediately stood at attention and loudly saluted.

"Captain Doo-hwan! Loyal!

After returning the greeting, Uchiha Touhuan patted one of the men on the shoulder, then reached out and flipped through his name tag, asking, "It's so late, aren't you going home yet?"

"Reporting to Captain Doo-hwan, we're not tired. In fact, the interrogation of the thugs isn't over yet, and we plan to finish it overnight!" The team member named Hasegawa Taro replied energetically.

Uchiha Touhuan glanced at the other man's uniform pockets, which were bulging with red envelopes and ninjutsu, and said with a smile, "It's good that you have this spirit, but you should still pay attention to the balance between work and rest. Hurry up and go home."

"Captain Doo-hwan! We're really not tired!" Hasegawa Taro said. He was joking. Two months' salary plus ninjutsu, how could he just go home and do justice to the security team and Captain Doo-hwan?

Uchiha Touhuan shook his head and said, "I really can't do anything with you guys. Go back to work. Tell my colleagues who are working overtime that they've all worked hard today. I'll try to find a way to get everyone some late-night snacks later."

"Long live Captain Dohwan!" As soon as Uchiha Dohwan finished speaking, the surrounding security team members cheered.

After finally managing to escape the enthusiastic group of teammates, Uchiha Touhuan returned to his office, where Uchiha Shisui, who had completed his mission, appeared to have been waiting for some time.

"How was the mission?" Uchiha Touhuan asked as he walked to his office chair.

“Everyone on the list has been arrested and brought to justice,” Uchiha Shisui said.

"That's good." Uchiha Touhuan nodded. "I plan to entrust you with the follow-up investigation of this matter."

"Me?" Uchiha Shisui was taken aback upon hearing this.

“That’s right. I’ve reached an agreement with the Third Boss on this matter. The Security Department and the Dark Bureau will jointly investigate it. In a couple of days, once our Security Department’s new detention facility is set up, the Dark Bureau will come to assist us. You’ve worked in the Dark Bureau before, so having you take the lead should be able to make the work progress better.”

"Understood." Shisui nodded. "Leave this to me."

"Shisui, don't let the clan down again." Before Shisui left, Touhuan Uchiha reminded him.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, here's an update. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

I'm on holiday at home, and I hope everyone can read this every day. It's really important to me. Thank you all.

Chapter 65 The First Encounter Between the Fourth Hokage's Former Retainers and Naruto

In the end, Uchiha Douhuan did not let everyone work overtime all night. After spending 10 taels of silver to invite the security department from home and making a bowl of luxurious ramen for everyone who worked overtime, Uchiha Douhuan asked everyone to go back and rest.

The next day, on a large open space of about 1000 square meters on the east side of the Uchiha clan's territory, the non-ninja members of the Uchiha clan were busily preparing the venue. Normally, this place was used for weddings of young people in the clan, but today, their clan leader was going to hold a banquet here to entertain the enthusiastic ninjas who had helped in suppressing the thugs who attempted to damage the reputation of the village's heroes with rumors, thereby undermining the purity of the Will of Fire.

So, the entire Uchiha clan was busy early this morning.

Meanwhile, at the Hatake family's ancestral home, Kakashi woke up early in the morning to find that Naruto, who had been given a day off due to the curfew the previous night and wanted to sleep in, was already up late.

"What are you doing, Kakashi-nii!" Naruto had been worried about Kakashi going out in the middle of the night, so he waited until Kakashi came back before going to sleep. Now that he was being dragged out of bed early in the morning, he was naturally a little unhappy. But Kakashi had already started putting clothes on his head without saying a word.

"I'm taking you out for a big meal today. If you don't want to get up, that's fine," Kakashi said.

"A big meal?" Naruto perked up upon hearing that. He quickly put on his clothes and followed Kakashi out the door.

Kakashi went out and first found Yamato, who lived not far from his house. After pulling him along, he headed towards the Uchiha clan's territory.

As they walked, Naruto realized something was wrong and looked up to ask, "Where are we going? Whenever I walked this way before, an ANBU uncle would come out and tell me that I couldn't go that way."

“You’ll see when you get there,” Kakashi said. “Also, from now on, there won’t be any place in the village that you can’t go.”

"Really?" Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Of course, if you want to play a prank, it's best not to go there, otherwise it would be too embarrassing for me to go to the Security Department to rescue them." Kakashi said.

The two of them, along with the silent Yamato, walked for a while before encountering Genma Shiranui and Raido Namiashi and a few others.

When Genma Shiranui and the others saw Naruto's blond hair, a look of disbelief appeared on their faces.

"They really do look alike..." Naruto Namiashi remarked, watching Naruto walk towards him while laughing and joking with Kakashi.

These former subordinates of the Fourth Hokage all knew that the Fourth Hokage had left behind an orphan, but after the Fourth Hokage died in the Night of the Nine-Tailed Fox, their positions became somewhat awkward.

If the Fourth Hokage hadn't died, these original members of the Shadow Guard would probably be holding important positions in the Anbu or the Jonin class by now.

However, the Fourth Hokage died in battle on the night of the Nine-Tails, which put them in an awkward position. They were all promoted by the Fourth Hokage, and as commoners or members of small ninja clans, they had no foundation in the village. Although the Third Hokage did not target them after regaining power, his faction would still intentionally or unintentionally marginalize them when assigning tasks.

Faced with this situation, they could only feel helpless. Although they knew that the Fourth Hokage had an orphan, Naruto's identity was too special. They dared not offer help even if they wanted to, since they themselves were in danger. At most, they could secretly teach a few troublemakers who made things difficult for Naruto a lesson, and even then, they couldn't let them know the reason.

However, now that Kakashi is willing to step forward and carry this banner, everything will be different.

After Kakashi brought Naruto to the group, Genma Shiranui was the first to reach out and pat Naruto's head. Then, things got out of control, and Naruto was dragged around like a rag doll by the group, being passed from one person to another until his blond hair became a mess.

"What are you doing? Who are you all?" Naruto was naturally very unhappy after being patted on the head. He pouted and glared at everyone, but his expression made everyone burst into laughter.

“Naruto, these older brothers and sisters were all your father’s subordinates back then,” Kakashi said with a smile from the side.

Kakashi understood perfectly that once he officially stepped into the limelight, aside from having to give the Third Hokage some face and not directly revealing Naruto's father's true identity, there was no need to be too strict with Naruto in other aspects. It was time to let Naruto be exposed to some of these things, since what he inherited from his teacher would ultimately have to be returned to Naruto, the teacher's true bloodline.