Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

"Lord Hokage, you need not worry about this matter. If necessary, Hyuga will destroy their Byakugan and remove their names from the clan register," said Hiashi Hyuga without the slightest hesitation.

Uchiha Touko glanced at Hyuga Hiashi, thinking that the old man had probably been wanting to do this for a long time.

Based on the information that Uchiha Touko was able to obtain, it is not hard to see that after Hyuga Hizashi's death, the head of the Hyuga branch family became someone from Hyuga Kaname's lineage. It is clear that these Hyuga elders were not clean in the matter of Hyuga Hizashi's death.

"Hehe, the Hyuga clan leader is so considerate of the village. The Hyuga clan truly deserves to be the backbone of the village." Uchiha Touko laughed. "However, the Hyuga clan leader should still take this as a warning. After all, if everyone in the village can completely control a private army that only obeys their orders, it will add a lot of trouble to the management of the village. Don't you think so?"

"Yes," Hiashi Hyuga nodded.

When Hyuga Hiashi heard Uchiha Touko's words, his heart sank. It seemed that the Fifth Hokage was planning to take action against the Caged Bird System of the clan.

Indeed, no ruler with a sound mind would tolerate having a group of armed forces within their own ranks whose lives are entirely in the hands of another, who can completely control them.

Previously, due to the existence of the Caged Bird system, the Hyuga clan had never entered the village's upper echelons, only guarding their own little territory. Therefore, even if the Hokage's faction wanted to interfere, they could not find a reason.

But this time, those idiots, Hyuga and Teru, were completely blinded by the temptation of the Hokage position offered by Utatane and Mitomon, and handed all the reasons to the Hokage.

Hiashi Hyuga had very complicated feelings about the Caged Bird System of his family. For Hiashi Hyuga personally, this system could be said to be one of the reasons that led his younger brother to his death.

However, as the head of the Hyuga clan and the biggest beneficiary of this system, if he were to abolish it, firstly, he wouldn't have the ability, and secondly, he would really be reluctant. After all, with this system in place, unless several main clan forces unite to force him to abdicate like this time, his position as head of the clan would be completely unshakeable.

Even in the future, as long as he doesn't make any major mistakes, the position of family head will continue to be passed down among his descendants, just as he took over the position from his father.

But now, it's clear that Uchiha Touko intends to take action against the clan's Caged Bird System.

"Elder Hyuga, according to tradition, each Hokage personally takes on a three-person team as disciples. Before I became Hokage, I had already taken on the second son of Elder Fugaku's family as a disciple, so I plan to choose the other two from among his peers," said Uchiha Touko. "I think Neji has good talent, and I plan to take him on as a disciple at a later date. I wonder what the Hyuga clan head thinks?"

Hiashi Hyuga's pupils contracted. He understood Uchiha Touko's deeper meaning almost instantly. Uchiha Touko's move was far more ruthless than directly ordering the Hyuga clan to abolish the Caged Bird system.

Although the Hyuga clan now has leverage over the other party, the Hokage's forceful interference in the internal affairs of the village's ninja clans will inevitably leave room for criticism.

But now, Uchiha Touko's sudden proposal to take Neji as his disciple has left everyone speechless.

After all, the tradition of the Hokage taking on talented young people from the village as disciples has been in place since the First and Second Hokage took on six disciples, including the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Third Hokage continued this tradition by taking on the three legendary Sannin as his disciples. Although the Fourth Hokage died young, he also took on a three-person team as his personal disciples before taking office. Now, Uchiha Touko has brought up and actively continued this tradition, which seems to make perfect sense.

However, the problem lies in the fact that there is another unspoken rule under this tradition: the disciples accepted by the Hokage are eligible to inherit a portion of their teacher's political assets. In other words, becoming the Hokage's disciple means having the qualifications to become the Hokage in the future.

This is why Hiruzen Sarutobi's attempt to force Jiraiya into power recently did not encounter much resistance in the process.

Logically speaking, it would be a good thing for the Hyuga clan to take on a Hyuga child as a disciple, but the problem lies in the fact that the person Uchiha Tokō chose was a member of the branch family.

Becoming a disciple of the Hokage gives you the potential to become the Hokage yourself. Regardless of whether you actually become the Hokage, the position itself carries a certain political significance.

Once Neji becomes Uchiha Touko's disciple, the Caged Bird Seal on his head will no longer exist.

Otherwise, what would outsiders think of the Hyuga clan's main branch? Holding the future Hokage's life in their hands, are they trying to become the village's supreme ruler? At that point, the Hyuga would probably find themselves in an even more troublesome situation than the Uchiha clan before them.

However, even if Neji's Caged Bird Seal is lifted and he is promoted to the main family, it would still be a difficult thing for the Hyuga clan to accept.

After all, the Hyuga clan had never before removed the Caged Bird Seal from the branch family. Even during the Warring States period, when the main family was short-handed, they would only select talented children from the descendants of the branch families who had not yet been enshrined in the Caged Bird Seal to join the main family.

Once a caged bird, always a caged bird; this is why this system has been able to continue to this day.

Now that this precedent has been set, will the other branch families still obediently follow the orders of the main family?

More importantly, once Neji becomes the head of the main family, he could easily win over a large number of branch family members by offering to lift the Caged Bird Seal. It probably wouldn't be long before the Caged Bird Seal becomes a mere shell of its former self.

It can be said that Uchiha Touko silently placed two poisoned cakes in front of the Hyuga clan.

Hyuga Hiashi was sweating profusely. While he hesitated, he was also relieved that he had sent the children to the Uchiha clan as soon as possible to sever his ties. Otherwise, given Uchiha Touko's methods, it wouldn't have taken much effort to wipe out the Hyuga clan.

As for directly rejecting Uchiha Touko's offer to take him as a disciple, if this incident hadn't happened, Hyuga Hiashi would still have had this option. But now, the Hyuga clan was involved in a coup, and the Hokage's lenient treatment was already an act of leniency. To refuse the Hokage's offer to take him as a disciple now would be like an old man eating poison—courting death.

[Fine, consider it compensation for the daily rate.]

Hiashi Hyuga sighed and nodded, saying, "In that case, I thank the Hokage for his kindness on behalf of Neji."

"Clan Chief Hiashi, please don't say that," Uchiha Touko chuckled. "Guiding the talented children in the village and leading them down the path of the Will of Fire is also the Hokage's duty, isn't it?"

“The Hokage is right,” said Hiashi Hyuga.

"I've always thought Clan Chief Hiashi was a smart man, but I still want to remind Elder Hyuga that I don't want my disciples to have any questionable qualities on them during the apprenticeship process." Uchiha Touko stared at Hyuga Hiashi. "Do you understand?"

……

Chapter 116 Raise troops to Luo!

After dealing with the Hyuga matter, Uchiha Touko left the Hokage's office and went to the new prison by the Naka River with his sword.

After rescuing Hiashi Hyuga from his clan, Kakashi returned to this side and intensified his interrogation and trial of the remaining forces of Utatane and Mitomon throughout the night.

After Yuta and Isao Mitokado admitted to receiving financial assistance from Iwagakure, Kakashi found the matter much easier to handle.

Kakashi made a special trip to the Yamanaka clan and transferred two former Jonin who had been forcibly retired. To show his sincerity, Yamanaka Inoichi personally took them to the Nakagawa Grand Hotel.

The captured ninjas from both clans were not even interrogated. After the Yamanaka clan forcibly obtained their information using their secret techniques, they were rendered incapacitated and then executed on the spot.

For rogue ninjas, except for a few with special identities, this is the general procedure for most ninja villages.

Furthermore, throughout the entire process, Kakashi thoughtfully tied the current clan leaders of the two clans, who had already become one-armed warriors, and the two advisors who had been captured earlier, to chairs and watched the whole thing unfold.

Watching their carefully cultivated clan ninjas being eliminated one by one, the two advisors were furious. If they hadn't been gagged beforehand, they probably would have already started cursing Kakashi and Uchiha Touko with the most vicious words.

Soon, Uchiha Touko arrived. After seeing Uchiha Touko enter the interrogation room, Kakashi gave up his chair in the interrogation room.

After sitting down, Uchiha Touko looked at the four people tied to the chairs in front of him with a half-smile.

Upon seeing Uchiha Touko, the two advisors struggled violently, their heads shaking incessantly.

"It seems the two former advisors have something to say?" Uchiha Touko winked at Kakashi, who then waved away the others in the room before stepping forward alone and taking out the rags that had been stuffed into their mouths.

"Uchiha Touko! You'll die a horrible death!" As soon as Koharu Utatane was able to speak, she couldn't wait to curse Uchiha Touko.

However, the next second, a police baton landed on her mouth. Kakashi probably wanted to do this for a long time, and this time he really went all out. With one blow, Koharu Utatane's old teeth fell out one or two, and her cursing stopped abruptly.

“Actually, I’m really curious,” Uchiha Touko said slowly, “I already spared your two clans out of respect for the Third Hokage. In any other village, your entire clan would have been wiped out as losers. Why did you have to court death?”

"Hmph, how dare you, an inherently evil Uchiha, become Hokage? When the Second Hokage suppressed the Uchiha Setsuna Rebellion, he should have wiped out your entire clan!" Mitokado Homura also cursed, but before he could finish speaking, he followed in the footsteps of Utatane Koharu.

"You have the nerve to mention the Second Hokage?" Uchiha Touko chuckled upon hearing this. "Did the Second Hokage teach you that you can collude with forces from other villages to achieve your own goals?"

"Hmph, Uchiha Tokyou, you'd better think about how to explain this to the Daimyo!" Utatane Koharu spat out a mouthful of blood and mumbled through her slurred speech, "You've only just taken office as Hokage and such a huge incident has already occurred in the village. The Daimyo won't let you off the hook! Your good days are about to end!"

"Is that so?" Uchiha Touko smiled and pondered for a moment. "It seems that's really the case. How should we explain this to the Daimyo? This is truly a difficult situation."

"So, why not just change your daimyo?" Uchiha Touko chuckled.

Just then, a person rushed in from outside the interrogation room.

"Lord Hokage! Urgent report from the City of Fire! Orochimaru has led an assassination attempt on the Daimyo. The Crown Prince is dead, and the Daimyo is seriously injured! The Twelve Guardian Ninja are fighting desperately to hold them off! Please, Lord Hokage, proceed to the City of Fire to provide support immediately!"

The urgent report from this person echoed throughout the underground interrogation room. Uchiha Touko and Kakashi both looked at the four people in the interrogation room with ambiguous smiles.

“Uchiha Touko…you…you…” Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado looked at Uchiha Touko in horror. It was not hard to tell from their expressions that this matter was inseparable from Uchiha Touko. Uchiha Touko’s courage was completely beyond their comprehension.

"Kakashi, send the two on their way. Then, gather the village's elite Jonin, and we'll head to the Fire Capital to support the Daimyo."

The two advisors wanted to say something, but the next second, sharp kunai slit their throats. Their cries turned into weak, feeble groans like broken bellows, and their life force quickly faded as they collapsed to the ground.

Uchiha Touko then swiftly finished off the remaining two with his sword before walking out of the interrogation room and looking at the daimyo's direct subordinate ninja who had come to deliver the information.

"What?! They actually dared to assassinate the Daimyo! Kakashi! Summon all the elite Jonin still in the village. I'm going to support the Daimyo first. You all follow me as soon as possible!"

"Understood!" Kakashi nodded in acceptance and then rushed out of the guard station as fast as he could.

Uchiha Touko then looked at the ninja who had come to deliver the message: "You come with me and give me all the detailed information on the way!"

"I...I understand." The ninja who came to deliver the message nodded, panting heavily.

The next second, after the two left the guard station, Uchiha Touko lifted the other person up, then stepped on lightning and transformed into a bolt of lightning, rushing towards the City of Fire.

Meanwhile, Kakashi quickly gathered the village's elite Jonin and set off overnight to provide support towards the Fire Capital.

At this very moment, in the capital of the Land of Fire, Orochimaru was controlling Manda, wreaking havoc in the daimyo's palace. The once magnificent palace had been reduced to ruins. Only in front of a small palace were a few ninjas desperately trying to resist the onslaught of the man and the snake, using various ninjutsu and a golden chakra barrier formed by the Thousand Hands of Kannon. Meanwhile, Orochimaru's army of wandering ninjas was mercilessly slaughtering the samurai guarding the daimyo's palace on its perimeter.

"Asuma! When will the Hokage's reinforcements arrive!" In front of the only relatively intact sleeping quarters, a monk dressed in robes stood with his hands clasped together, doing his best to maintain the Thousand-Armed Kannon barrier surrounding the sleeping quarters. However, he was also covered in sweat and was clearly at his limit.

"I don't know either! My old man is no longer the Hokage!" Sarutobi Asuma said, using a series of fire-style ninjutsu to repel the Manda's attack on the barrier.

"Damn it! Wasn't this guy your father, the Third Hokage's, disciple? Why is he suddenly trying to assassinate the Daimyo?!" A man wearing a blank headband shouted at Asuma, "I always said that the nation's ninjas should be completely obedient to the Daimyo, and the position of Hokage shouldn't exist!"

"What kind of time is this to be talking about this!" Asuma shouted back, "Besides, this guy became a rogue ninja years ago, and the village has never stopped hunting him down!"

"Stop arguing! I can't hold on much longer!" The senior monk between the two said through gritted teeth.

"Jiri! You remove the barrier first, go back and refine your chakra. The rest of you, come with me and hold them off! We absolutely cannot let him hurt the Daimyo and the young prince again!" Asuma roared upon seeing this.

The next second, the golden barrier shattered with a loud bang, and Di Lu groaned as he fell to the ground. The others guarding the palace rushed forward fearlessly.

Four of the ninjas, their bodies crackling with lightning, rushed swiftly to Orochimaru and Manda's vicinity and began forming hand seals.

Four bolts of lightning-attribute chakra converged in the air, forming a lightning cage that enveloped Orochimaru and Manda.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Dream Lightning Man!" The four attackers shouted simultaneously, increasing their chakra output.

"A combination ninjutsu?" Orochimaru looked up at the lightning cage above his head for a while before suddenly fixing his gaze on the caster closest to him. "It looks quite powerful. I can't let you complete this smoothly."

The next instant, a giant snake burst from the ground beneath the feet of the caster in the southeast corner, opened its scarlet mouth and swallowed him whole. With one of the casters gone, the lightning cage that had enveloped Orochimaru and Manda's heads vanished instantly.

"Star Dragon!" Asuma shouted, trying to rush forward to help, but a terrifying mud dragon rose from the ground and kept spraying earth-attribute chakra projectiles at him.

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

"Wind Escape·Vacuum Jade!"

Faced with the siege, Orochimaru calmly and methodically formed hand seals and released one ninjutsu after another. Although the twelve guardians directly under the daimyo were all top-notch Jonin, Orochimaru seemed to be strolling leisurely when facing them.

With Orochimaru and Manda working together, the twelve ninjas perished one by one under the onslaught of ninjutsu and the snake's jaws. Soon, only Asuma and Kazuma, the two strongest of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, remained. However, their stamina and chakra had been exhausted while resisting Orochimaru's storm of ninjutsu.

"It's time to end this." Orochimaru said, forming hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

At that moment, the earth's veins surged wildly, and a gigantic mud dragon, comparable in size to Manda beneath Orochimaru's feet, rose from the ground. Chakra gathered in the mud dragon's mouth, and a terrifying earth-attribute chakra energy blast slowly materialized.

After a muffled roar from the mud dragon, the earth-attribute chakra projectile hurtled towards the only remaining building in the entire palace, amidst the despair in Asuma and Kazuma's eyes.

However, the next second, a thunderclap came from the sky, and a streak of azure lightning flashed, shattering the earth dragon bullet.

……

Chapter 117 The Emperor Entrusts His Son to His Son

As the lightning slowly dissipated, both Asuma and Kazuma in front of the palace, and the officials of the Land of Fire hiding in that small chamber, trembling with fear at the approaching Orochimaru and Manda, all saw a towering figure at that moment.