Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

“Your Excellency, of course I know.” Iwata Sawaki smiled bitterly. In just a few months, the appearance of this leader of Takigakure had changed drastically. His beard was unkempt, and his eyes were bloodshot. The refined image he had before the war was gone. He looked helplessly at Konan and said, “But if we lose this war, Takigakure will cease to exist. What future will we have then?”

"Ah, this is war." Konan could only sigh upon hearing this, and then said, "Our Akatsuki organization will do everything in its power to help you win this war."

"Thank you for your help, Your Excellency the Angel," Iwata Zeki said to Konan after calming himself down a bit.

Konan pursed her lips and nodded, then walked out of the command post tent. Looking at the ninjas in the camp with their blank stares, Konan couldn't help but let out a long sigh, thinking to herself:

It seems that only Nagato's plan can bring lasting peace to the ninja world.

Konan wasn't initially very optimistic about Nagato's plan to collect the Tailed Beasts and then use them to intimidate major powers. The reason she always stood behind Nagato was mainly because of Yahiko's last wish and the mutual support they had built over the years. However, after experiencing this period of war, Konan's mindset began to change somewhat.

"Shikaku-senpai, shall we take action today?" In a cave somewhere in the Land of Waterfalls, Asuma lit a cigarette and asked Shikaku.

“Not for now.” Shikaku replied to Asuma while staring at the map in front of him, his mind constantly deducing the course of the war.

“We’ve been waiting here for days, we’re practically rusting,” Asma said after stretching.

“Our recent actions have been a bit too high-profile. It seems that Iwagakure has reached its limit in its patience with us. They have sent several elite Jonin teams to search for us recently, so we can only lay low for the time being.”

“But if we keep hiding, the Land of Waterfalls might not be able to withstand their attack,” Asuma said.

Apart from the three members of the fifteenth generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the others in this team were all assigned to assist the Land of Waterfall in resisting the attack of Iwagakure. Therefore, it was not unreasonable for Asuma to be anxious, since he had already discussed with Kurenai before setting off that the two of them would get married after the war ended.

"Young clan leader, obey Nara's orders," said an elite Jonin from the Sarutobi clan in the group.

The speaker was named Sarutobi Yukiya. He had previously served as the captain of this group of Sarutobi clan private soldiers. After the Sarutobi clan cooperated with Uchiha Tokkou to register their identities, he went to work for the Anbu.

After receiving this mission, the Third Hokage summoned him. In addition to instructing him to protect the young clan leader Asuma, Hiruzen Sarutobi also specifically instructed Yukiya Sarutobi to try his best to repair the relationship between the Sarutobi clan and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio during this mission. Going back to the way things were before was out of the question, but at least they shouldn't completely break off all ties.

Therefore, in this operation in Takigakure, the Sarutobi Army adopted the lowest possible stance, completely obeying Nara Shikaku's command. Even when several clansmen were killed in the war, no one expressed any objection to Nara Shikaku.

"Alright." Asma could only nod and continue smoking in the cave.

"Asuma! Put out the cigarette!" Suddenly, Yamanaka Inoichi, who was sensing the environment outside the cave, turned around and shouted.

Startled by the sudden shout, Asma dropped his cigarette. Without bothering to pick it up, he stomped it out and asked, "What happened?"

"I sense a massive amount of chakra approaching us; it's very likely the Jinchuriki of Iwagakure!" Yamanaka Inoichi said gravely.

"Jinchūriki?" Nara Shikaku's face turned serious upon hearing this. Don't be fooled by the fact that his current squad could easily wipe out a small country; when facing a Tailed Beast, they are no different from ants.

"Everyone, hide well!" Nara Shikaku whispered the order.

Inside the cave, everyone held their breath.

However, not far from where they were hiding, Han, the Jinchuriki of the Five-Tails, was running at full speed toward the rear of Takigakure. His mission was to destroy the rear of Takigakure. This long-running war had clearly exhausted Onoki's patience, and he planned to send Jinchuriki directly to the rear to deliver a fatal blow to Takigakure.

However, as Han was advancing at full speed, six figures dressed in red cloud robes suddenly blocked his path.

"Get out of my way!" Han roared upon seeing this, unleashing the power of the Five-Tails Mu-ou's Boil Release. Steam erupted from his body, and Han's power was amplified several times in a short period of time. He wanted to deal with the person blocking his way as quickly as possible.

However, right in front of Han, a young man with orange hair and black short sticks stuck in his face slowly raised his right hand as Han charged straight at him.

"It's time for you great powers to feel the pain," the orange-haired youth slowly spoke. "Shinra Tensei!"

A tremendous repulsive force appeared out of nowhere, and Han, who was charging at high speed, was caught off guard and thrown into the air. He barely managed to regain his balance in mid-air.

After landing, Han took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, asking, "Who are you?"

Chapter 166 Deidara's Arrival

"I am...Pain, the god of the new world!" The six puppets surrounded Han completely.

At this moment, King Mu also noticed the eyes of the newcomer from Han's perspective.

"These are... the old man's eyes! Oh no! Han, run!" King Mu shouted a warning.

"Escape?" Han was taken aback. In his memory, his tailed beast companions had never been so panicked.

"Although we don't know how he obtained this power, those eyes are definitely beyond our ability to contend with!" King Mu said. "So, run!"

"Really? But I have a feeling we can't escape." Han said with a wry smile, looking at the six men who had surrounded him.

"Does your Akatsuki organization really have to be enemies with Iwagakure? How much commission did Takigakure give you? Iwagakure can offer you much more." With his escape route completely blocked, Han could only try to negotiate.

"How arrogant you are! You great powers have never cared about the lives of people from small nations, have you?" Payne said coldly, slowly raising his hand. "Feel the pain of small nations, Shinra Tensei!"

"Wait!" Han shouted, but a huge repulsive force came, followed by a series of explosions.

Hiding in the cave, Yamanaka Inoichi sensed the commotion and his expression grew increasingly terrified. Nara Shikaku was also flustered by his expression. What on earth had his old friend seen?

As the noise of the explosion gradually subsided, Yamanaka Inoichi sensed that the chakra fluctuations of the Jinchūriki from Iwagakure were disappearing at an incredible speed, along with his life force.

As the smoke from the explosion slowly dissipated, the orange-haired youth who was leading the group, carrying the nearly dead Han in one hand, turned to look in the direction of the cave where the Konoha group was hiding.

In that instant, Yamanaka Inoichi broke out in a cold sweat. In that brief moment, he felt as if his ancestors were waving at him.

Fortunately, the other party simply nodded in their direction and then turned and left with the Five-Tails' Jinchūriki.

Inside the cave, Yamanaka Inoichi breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground. Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Asuma quickly went to help him up.

"What exactly did you see?" Lu Jiu asked hurriedly after helping the other person up.

"Six people, and they took only three minutes to defeat the Five-Tails' Jinchūriki," Yamanaka Inoichi said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "The aura of each of those six people was no weaker than that of a Tailed Beast."

"Six people?" Nara Shikaku looked incredulous upon hearing this, took a deep breath, and asked, "Are you sure they only took three minutes to defeat the Jinchuriki of Iwagakure?"

“That’s right,” Yamanaka Inoichi said. “Moreover, the other party eventually discovered my presence, but fortunately, he didn’t have any ill intentions towards us.”

“To defeat a Jinchuriki in three minutes, even if there are six of them, that’s no less than the Hokage’s strength,” Nara Shikaku pondered. “Even the Hokage would have to put in a lot of effort to defeat a perfect Jinchuriki without using the Mangekyou Sharingan’s genjutsu.”

“What are you saying? Even I know that the Hokage doesn’t know genjutsu, so he definitely can’t defeat the Jinchuriki so quickly,” Asuma said at this moment.

As Asma finished speaking, all eyes in the cave turned to him.

Everyone, including Sarutobi Yuki, looked at each other with speechless expressions. Asuma scratched his head, wondering what everyone meant by those looks.

“Um, young master Asuma, please don’t say such things in front of the Hokage again.” Sarutobi Yukiya organized his thoughts before speaking to his young master.

"Of course I wouldn't say that to him, I'm not stupid," Asuma said nonchalantly.

"Let's stop talking about these irrelevant things and figure out who those six people are first," Yamanaka Inoichi said.

“If I’m not mistaken, those six people should all be from the Akatsuki organization,” Nara Shikaku analyzed. “Right now, there are three other forces on this battlefield besides us: Iwagakure, Takigakure, and the Akatsuki organization. Among them, only they have the ability to use Iwagakure’s Jinchuriki.”

After Shikaku finished speaking, the expressions of Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza also became serious.

"Uh, why does everyone look like that?" Asuma asked, somewhat puzzled. "Isn't Akatsuki our ally?"

“They are indeed friendly forces.” Yamanaka Inoichi was somewhat helpless upon hearing this, and could only patiently explain to the young master of the Sarutobi family, “However, you have heard about the Akatsuki’s achievements recently. Their ‘Angel’ and that ‘Undead’ on the front lines are already comparable to the weaker Kage among the Five Great Nations. And now, they actually have six more people who are even stronger. This is not good news for us. After all, they are mercenaries, and no one can guarantee that they will not become our enemies next time.”

"This... then what should we do?" Asuma, after Yamanaka Inoichi's explanation, understood the seriousness of the matter and turned to Shikaku to ask.

“This matter is no longer something we can decide. Let’s go back and explain the situation to the Hokage as soon as possible so that he can make the decision,” Nara Shikaku said.

"Everyone, pack up and get ready to return to Konoha. Be careful along the way and don't let anyone discover our whereabouts, understand?" Shikaku instructed.

"Yes!"

……

The news that the Five-Tails Jinchuriki had gone missing quickly reached the Tsuchikage's office.

Upon receiving this news, Onoki instinctively suspected that Uchiha Touko was behind it. After all, apart from the Mangekyou Sharingan, no one in the ninja world could render a Jinchuriki powerless in such a short time. Furthermore, the fact that the village ninjas found no trace of the Tailed Beast transformation when they searched along Han's route further confirmed this.

However, before he could even take the initiative to make a video call to Uchiha Touko to question him about the matter, the Akatsuki organization on the front line announced that they were responsible for the incident.

"What exactly is the Akatsuki organization trying to do!" Onoki slammed his fist on the table. "Do they want to drag the Land of Rain into this war as well?"

"Bring me Hanzo. I want to get a good look at what the Land of Rain is really planning!"

After Onoki issued the order, it took a long time for the person in charge to report back: "Lord Tsuchikage, we have sent many call requests to Amegakure, but they have not responded."

Onoki slammed his hand on the table, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the urge to go to war with the Land of Rain. The Land of Waterfall alone was already giving him a headache, but at least he could still maintain the initiative in the war. However, if he rashly declared war on the Land of Rain, the course of the war would be completely out of the Land of Earth's control.

"Send someone to contact the Akatsuki and ask them what conditions they want for them to release him. Also, bring Rōshi back to me. The Akatsuki have their eyes on our Jinchūriki, so we can't let him continue to roam around outside."

"Something's wrong! Lord Tsuchikage!" Before Onoki could finish speaking, a commotion suddenly came from outside the door.

Onoki looked closely and realized that this was the man he had sent to keep an eye on Deidara. Could it be that Deidara had blown up somewhere in the village again?

"It's terrible, Tsuchikage! Deidara disappeared early this morning, and then we found this at his house." The Jonin hurriedly handed a note to Onoki.

After taking the note, Onoki only glanced at it before his blood pressure began to rise uncontrollably.

Old man, I'm going to pursue true art. Don't look for me unless it's absolutely necessary!

"Does this brat even know what he's doing?" Onoki shouted excitedly, but he was so excited that he twisted his back when he stood up.

Upon seeing this, the others in the Tsuchikage's office quickly stepped forward to support their Tsuchikage.

After Onoki recovered, someone finally spoke up and asked, "Lord Tsuchikage, how should this be handled? Should we just label Deidara a rogue ninja?"

"A rogue ninja? That brat isn't even a ninja anymore, what kind of ninja is he rogue for!" Onoki cursed. "Send men to search for that kid's whereabouts, and bring him back as soon as you see him! That kid shouldn't have gone very far."

"Yes!" Everyone in the Tsuchikage's office accepted the order in unison.

However, Onoki was also overwhelmed by the series of bad news. He seemed to have forgotten that his disciple could fly, and at a considerable speed. By now, he might have already flown out of the Land of Earth's borders.

In the sky above the Land of Fire, a giant clay bird soared through the air. On its back, Deidara spread his arms wide, feeling the wind that symbolized freedom brushing past him.

"Whoosh!" Deidara cheered. "Little brother, have you missed me? Your big brother is here!"

A day later, the clay bird in the sky landed in a small town near Konoha. After landing, Deidara ate a quick bite and continued his journey towards Konoha.

After the Land of Fire moved its capital to Konoha, Konoha naturally could no longer surround the entire village with walls as before, leaving only one or two exits. Of course, the previous walls were not demolished, since the core area where the Daimyo's palace and the Hokage Building were located was inside the previous walls. Therefore, Deidara could move freely in the outer commercial area. However, when he wanted to enter the core area, he was stopped by Kotetsu and Izumo.

"Kid, you can't just go in here. Where are your parents?" Gangzi Tie asked patiently after stopping Deidara.

“My parents aren’t home, but my little brother is inside,” Deidara said.

"Your little brother?" Izumo Kamatsuki frowned.

“Naruto Uzumaki! Your Fifth Hokage’s disciple!” Deidara said casually.

"Naruto's older brother?" Kotetsu looked shocked upon hearing this.

Ever since Naruto officially inherited the name of the Uzumaki clan and was taken in as a disciple by Touko Uchiha, his true identity has gradually spread among the ninja circles of Konoha. Now, in Konoha, almost every ninja of Chunin rank or above knows that Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage.

Although everyone was keeping the secret under Kakashi's instructions, they all spontaneously started calling Naruto "Young Master Naruto."

Now, a boy a few years older than Naruto has come to Konoha, claiming to be Naruto's older brother. More importantly, this kid has a head of blond hair, which makes the two of them wonder if the Fourth Hokage made some mistake when he was young.

It has to be said that Deidara's blond hair is indeed very misleading. Seeing this, Kotetsu said to Deidara politely, "Wait here for a moment, I will bring him to see you."

“Okay, thank you very much, brother,” Deidara said.