Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

"What are your plans for settling down with the mother and daughter?" Tsunade asked.

"Of course, we'll find them a place in the village to settle down. As for Karin, I'll arrange for her to enroll in the Ninja Academy. The future of the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques will probably fall on this little girl. I don't dare to count on Naruto's sealing techniques."

“Alright.” Tsunade nodded. “The Senju clan’s former territory still has space for the mother and daughter to live in, and I can take care of them nearby.”

“Alright, then I’ll leave it to you.” Uchiha Touko nodded.

Seeing how readily Uchiha Touko agreed, Tsunade couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

[He didn't have any interest in this miraculous bloodline? Even with her medical skills, she couldn't guarantee it would be more effective than directly absorbing the other person's life force.]

If Uchiha Touko knew what the other party was thinking, he would definitely cry foul, as he truly had no interest in the Uzumaki clan's bloodline limit.

First of all, Uchiha Touko's fundamental purpose in this operation was to intimidate the surrounding small countries, and at the same time, he wanted to try to stir up the situation between the Fire and Earth Kingdoms. Rescuing Karin and her daughter was just a side thing. In addition, although Uchiha Touko did not consider himself a good person, the moral bottom line instilled in him in his previous life would prevent him from doing such a thing.

Anri Uzumaki and her mother were temporarily placed in the Senju clan's territory.

The next day, Uchiha Tokō received a letter of condemnation from the Daimyo of the Land of Grass regarding the events in Kusagakure, which was sent to the officials of the Land of Fire.

The young daimyo was so engrossed in cricket fighting that he hadn't attended court for a long time. The current court of the Land of Fire could be described as a one-man show by Uchiha Touko, the Grand Minister of State. Therefore, the officials in the court were hesitant to read the document, which was entirely condemning Uchiha Touko.

"Read it," Uchiha Touko said unhurriedly, "Let me hear what this Daimyo of the Land of Grass has to say?"

Chapter 140 War is imminent in the ninja world

The entire court was silent, and the minister holding the document had no choice but to grit his teeth and begin reading.

The entire document accused the Hokage of using force in the Land of Grass and demanded that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire reprimand the Hokage. The wording was rather subtle, but the minister reading the document, seeing Uchiha Touko's increasingly gloomy expression, understood that the other party must have understood.

After reading the document, the minister was drenched in sweat, and the entire hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Miura Kazuo." Uchiha Touko slowly spoke, calling out the name of Miura Kazuo, who was currently planning to play the coward and get through today's morning assembly.

After being called upon, Kazuo Miura, though extremely unwilling, had no choice but to step forward.

"How is this usually handled?" Uchiha Touko asked.

“Your Excellency, such things happen quite often,” said Kazuo Miura. “Friction is inevitable between ninja villages during missions. If the matter is serious, the daimyo will issue such a document. However, under normal circumstances, there is no need to pay much attention to it.”

As Kazuo Miura said, such condemnatory documents generally have little effect; they are more of a formality to demonstrate the daimyo's presence. As a major power, the Land of Fire rarely suffers losses in missions, so it has always been the recipient of such documents. The former daimyo had accumulated quite a few of these in his study, and he would never let the previous Hokage see them. However, the problem now is that the daimyo of the Land of Grass may not know who is currently in power in the Land of Fire. Sending such a document at this time is tantamount to pointing fingers at Uchiha Touko and cursing him.

"So, I just got scolded for nothing and that's it?" Uchiha Touko said with a gloomy face.

"Konoha had already issued a statement in advance, warning all the ninja villages in the ninja world, but Kusagakure still went its own way. They deserved what they got! And now they're the ones condemning us?"

"Then how does Your Excellency, the Grand Minister of State, intend to handle this?" asked Kazuo Miura.

"Of course we should give them a piece of our mind!" Uchiha Touko said. "Tell them that they won't accept a single penny less in compensation, and if they want war, the Land of Fire will fight to the bitter end!"

"Understood..." Miura Kazuo breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He had thought that Uchiha Touko wanted to start a war directly. If it was just empty talk, that would be fine. Miura Kazuo estimated that the Land of Grass didn't have the guts to start a war directly.

After the morning assembly, Uchiha Touko returned to the Hokage's office with a gloomy face and asked Uchiha Inahisa to bring Gato over.

Upon hearing that Uchiha Touko had summoned him, Kado immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed to the Hokage's office.

During this period, Gato has been riding high. As one of the first to pledge his loyalty to Uchiha Toko, Toko set an example for these businessmen. Gato alone took over nearly half of the most lucrative investment areas around Konoha. Although 70% of these businesses were secretly owned by the Uchiha and Hatake clans, the scale of his businesses has actually expanded several times over. In fact, by following Uchiha Toko, he has earned far more money than he did in the poor, remote area of ​​the Land of Waves.

More importantly, due to his close relationship with Uchiha Touko, Gato's social status has also risen accordingly. In the entire business world of the Land of Fire, who doesn't respectfully address him as Mr. Gato? Even those big businessmen who used to have difficulty even meeting him, such as Yokokawa Yuhiro, now have to fawn over him.

However, Cardo is very self-aware. He knows that he owes his success entirely to someone else, and that he is not entirely irreplaceable.

Therefore, upon hearing Uchiha Touko's summons, Gato immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed to the Hokage's office.

"Your Excellency, Minister of State, what brings you to my office?" Gato asked Uchiha Touko with a fawning smile as he entered the Hokage's office.

Uchiha Touko glanced at Gato, then took a set of tea leaves from a nearby cabinet and brewed some tea on the spot.

After the tea was brewed, Uchiha Touko handed a cup to Gato. Gato respectfully accepted the cup, tasted it, and immediately exclaimed, "I have long admired the Grand Minister's exquisite tea ceremony. Today, I am fortunate to taste it, and it truly lives up to its reputation!"

Uchiha Touko nodded with a dry laugh and said, "Mr. Gato, I heard you've made a fortune recently. Congratulations!"

"This is all thanks to your patronage. I will never forget your kindness," Kado said, immediately putting down his teacup and bowing respectfully.

"Alright, alright." Uchiha Touko nodded. "Now, I have something I need you to do."

“Please give your orders, Your Excellency,” Cardo said.

Uchiha Touko opened a map of the Land of Fire in his office and pointed to a small town on it, saying, "I plan to have you set up a ninja tool factory here. However, this factory will actually be wholly owned by the Uchiha clan and will be directly connected with the ninja tool industry of the Uchiha clan's summoning beast, the ninja cat clan. You only need to be the person in the factory on the surface."

"A ninja tool factory?" Gato was taken aback upon hearing this, before replying, "Your Excellency, the ninja tool market in the ninja world is basically saturated now, and it's difficult for us to make a profit."

"Is the ninja tool market in the ninja world saturated?" Uchiha Touko asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s right.” Kado nodded. “Each ninja village has its own suppliers for ninja tools, and the profits are basically transparent, so there’s not much room for manipulation.”

"Do you think I don't know what you're saying?" Uchiha Touko glanced at Gato and said, "Don't forget, the Ninja Cat Clan, who have cooperated with the Uchiha Clan for generations, accounts for 30% of the entire ninja tool business in the Land of Fire."

"This..." Kado was also puzzled as to why Uchiha Touko would still open this business when he clearly knew there was no profit in it.

"Gato, when do you think the ninja tool business is the best?" Uchiha Touko poured Gato another cup of tea and then asked.

“Of course, it’s during wartime,” Gato said. “Calvin, the biggest arms dealer in the Land of Lightning, made his fortune selling explosive tags during the Second Shinobi World War, and he made a fortune during the Third Shinobi World War. I heard that he has the support of both the Daimyo and the Raikage of the Land of Lightning.”

"So it turns out that the ninja tool business is most profitable during wartime," Uchiha Touko said with a half-smile.

“Of course…” Kado nodded, wanting to give another example, but then he suddenly realized something, his pupils contracted, and he asked incredulously, “Could it be…”

“You only have three months to prepare,” Uchiha Touko said. “Regardless of cost, I want to see a complete ninja tool production line in three months.” Uchiha Touko said, “The ninja world is about to descend into chaos.”

Chapter 141 Joint Chunin Exams

"Yes." Kado, covered in sweat, accepted the order and left. Indeed, as one of the Kage of the Five Great Nations, Uchiha Touko was capable of determining the fate of this continent.

In the following days, after meeting their current clan leader, Karin and her mother, who had just arrived, gradually got back on track. Tsunade personally took care of Anri's health, while Karin was assigned to Naruto's class by Touko Uchiha.

Then, Naruto gained another classmate for his nightly sealing technique lessons.

But as she continued learning, Karin began to feel somewhat resentful of her current clan leader.

"Are you really the head of the Uzumaki clan?" Karin asked, looking at Naruto who was scratching his head while working on a Ryougi Seal.

"Don't say anything! I'll be done in a minute!" Naruto obviously didn't have time to pay attention to Karin at the moment, as he was focused on maintaining the seal on the scroll.

"The position is wrong!" Karin said, rubbing her forehead as she looked at the scroll the other person was gesturing with.

Sure enough, the next instant, Naruto's chakra tore the scroll apart, and at this moment, a stack of ruined scrolls had already piled up beside him.

Naruto dejectedly piled the ruined scroll aside, then took out a new one.

"Why did Teacher Douguang assign me the task of teaching you the Two Elements Seal?" Karin said, looking completely exasperated. "It's so simple, why can't you learn it?"

"I really want to learn it too, but I always fall short. What can I do?" Naruto said sullenly.

"Sigh, if it weren't for your abnormal regenerative ability, I would really doubt whether you are even one of our people," Karin said. "Not only is your hair color different from mine and my mother's, but your sealing technique is also terrible."

"Fine, let's do it again," Karin said. "After all, you're my clan leader."

"Please!" Naruto perked up and pulled out another blank scroll. "I'll treat you to ramen after class."

During this time at school, Karin got along quite well with Naruto and Sasuke.

When Karin first arrived at the school, she was ridiculed for her hair color, just like Kushina had been years before. But soon, those who mocked her experienced the iron fist of the Seven Stars Clan's bully. Naruto seemed genuinely eager to be a good clan leader and protect his clan members. He was always smiling and friendly, but when faced with those who mocked Karin, he would directly take action. Sasuke and the others wouldn't just stand by and watch, so in just two days, no one in the entire ninja academy dared to mock Karin's hair color anymore.

Karin, who hadn't experienced much friendship since childhood, naturally cherished the friends she made through Naruto. So, even though teaching Naruto sealing techniques was a huge torment, Karin would only complain a little.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Touko, who was being tortured with the help of others, was leisurely making tea in the Hokage's office.

However, it didn't take long before Uchiha Inahime knocked on the Hokage's office door.

"Come in," Uchiha Touko casually called out.

Uchiha Inahisa entered the office, bowed, and reported, "Lord Hokage, Iwagakure has sent a letter."

"A letter from Iwagakure?" Uchiha Touko raised an eyebrow. "Bring it here."

"Yes!" Uchiha Inahi handed a letter to Uchiha Touko.

After taking the letter, Uchiha Touko looked at it and saw that it was sealed with Iwagakure's sealing wax seal. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "That old bastard Onoki did a pretty formal job."

Uchiha Tokō opened the envelope and began reading the letter that Ōnoki had sent him.

In the letter, Onoki first congratulated Uchiha Touko on becoming the Fifth Hokage of Konoha. After writing a lot of nonsense, Uchiha Touko finally saw something of substance.

The Hidden Stone Village invited the Hidden Leaf Village to participate in their joint Chunin Exams.

"The Joint Chunin Exams?" Uchiha Touko looked at the letter sent by Onoki with great interest, thinking to himself, "Is that old man finally going to make his move?"

"Rice fire!" Uchiha Touko called out, looking up.

"Here I am."

"Who is the current head instructor of the security force?" Uchiha Touko asked. Since becoming Hokage, he hadn't really been involved in the security force's affairs, except for inspecting it every two or three weeks.

"The head instructor of the security force? It's Shisui-nii," Uchiha Inahisa replied.

"So it was Shisui?" Uchiha Touko nodded.

After the coup ended, Uchiha Tokō originally planned to have Shisui become a captain in the Anbu, but Uchiha Itachi's death plunged him into deep internal strife.

The Fugaku family has gradually recovered from Itachi Uchiha's passing. Only Shisui believes that if he had offered Itachi more advice, Itachi wouldn't have ended up like this.

Therefore, after that day, Shisui declined Uchiha Touko's promotion application and only took a leisurely position in the guard unit.

Kakashi understood the feeling of being completely powerless to help someone lose a friend, so he assigned Shisui the position of chief instructor of the guard unit. His daily job was simply to teach the members during their training time after their patrols.

"Have him come over," said Uchiha Touko.

"Yes." Uchiha Inahi accepted the order and left.

Not long after, Shisui arrived at the Hokage's office, bowed to Uchiha Touko, and asked, "What brings you here, Hokage-sama?"

“It’s not working hours yet, there’s no need to be so formal.” Uchiha Tokō said, pouring Shisui a cup of tea. “Speaking of which, this is the first time you’ve come to the Hokage’s office since I became the Fifth Hokage, right?”

“Yes.” Shisui looked up at the Hokage’s office, which was now completely different from the Third Hokage’s, and couldn’t help but sigh. Come to think of it, it was in this very office that he started down the wrong path.

"Touko, tell me, what do you want to see me here for?" After a while, Shisui looked at Uchiha Touko and asked.

"Are you training the members of the security team? Among the new members recruited before, were there any particularly talented ones who met the Chunin standard?" Uchiha Touko asked.

“If we're just talking about Chunin standards from the village, there are a few with rather outstanding talent,” Shisui said. “But why are you suddenly asking this?”

Uchiha Touko handed Onoki's letter to Shisui. After reading the letter, Shisui frowned. "The Joint Chunin Exams? If that's the standard, then there isn't a single genin in the Security Force who meets the standard."

Generally speaking, these joint Chunin Exams are usually a stage for villages to showcase their strength to the outside world. Therefore, the strength requirements for genin going to other villages are more stringent than those for regular Chunin Exams. After all, when they go out, they represent the face of their village. So, every time there is a joint Chunin Exam, the participating ninja villages will send their own super geniuses to fight. Some smaller ninja villages will even suppress the level of some ninjas who are talented but not yet good enough, creating some high-age genin.