Uchiha's personal opinion

Since Uchiha Tokumitsu had already backed down, Hatake Sakumo couldn't say anything more.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Sakumo-kun~"

Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded in satisfaction.

Chapter 291 Forming Alliances

After being revised by Sakumo Hatake, the Konoha Ninja Academy education reform proposal was passed unanimously in the House of Representatives without any doubt.

All the Jonin expressed their support for Shomo's correct direction, adhered to Governor Tokuko's wise guidance, and upheld the Uchiha clan's policies and guidelines.

After all, although the Great Purge was short-lived, its intensity and depth taught the Konoha ninja a vivid lesson.

Only then did everyone realize how ruthless and cruel powerful families could be when they got angry...

Naturally, the education reform proposal passed unanimously without any changes and was then sent to the Senate for a final vote.

Of course, given the current situation, if the Senate, where the ninja clans are gathered, didn't have one or two dissenting votes arranged by the Uchiha clan as mere decorations, it would most likely have passed unanimously.

However, regarding the Chunin Exams, a matter that Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't seem to care much about, the Jonin members of the House of Representatives all spoke enthusiastically.

"The joint entrance exam for the Ninja Academy and the Police Preparatory School is still a bit small. The village still has quite a few experienced Genin who can participate in the Chunin Exams. Letting them advance will also help alleviate the current mission pressure on the village."

A civilian Jonin suggested.

Besides the genin who came from the ninja academy, some commoner ninja families also had a small number of genin who were trained by themselves based on the ninja clan education model. These genin were recruited during the war and they also obtained the status of genin. If these "gray ninjas" of Konoha could be promoted through the Chunin Exams, it would also help to expand the influence of commoner ninja families.

"If the Chunin Exams were limited to a joint exam between the two schools in each village, it might seem like it lacks scope..."

Another Jonin suggested, "Perhaps we should invite other ninja villages to hold a joint exam?"

"Konoha is the best in the ninja world. Inviting other villages to participate in the joint exams will also help spread the village's reputation and power in the ninja world."

"That makes sense..."

The Jonin all agreed.

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo naturally followed suit. The Jonin council members also felt that their opinions had been fully respected, and were naturally very pleased.

Then, Sakumo Hatake, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, announced that he had fully accepted everyone's suggestions and entrusted Tokumitsu Uchiha, the Governor-General of Konoha, to invite other ninja villages to participate in the Chunin Exams.

Of course, Uchiha Tokumitsu wouldn't handle this matter personally, so he summoned Mitokado Homura, who had previously been in charge of Konoha's foreign affairs department, and instructed him to send invitations to all the ninja villages, large and small, for the Chunin Exams.

The supple Mitokado Yan accepted the task without complaint, patting her chest.

Just as the House of Representatives of Konoha announced plans to hold the Chunin Exams and the Senate passed a proposal to reform ninja school education with a 99% approval vote, invitations for the Chunin Exams were sent to every ninja village, large and small, throughout the ninja world.

The first to respond was naturally Kirigakure, controlled by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

The Kirigakure Jonin Joint Conference immediately announced its participation in the Konoha Chunin Exams and planned to send thirty outstanding Genin to take the exams.

The Hidden Grass Village, under the control of the Hidden Fire Gate Shogunate, agreed to send its genin to participate in the joint exam only after confirming that food and lodging would be provided. Furthermore, it was stated that the Hidden Fire Gate Shogunate was still required to conduct a qualification review of all genin going to the exam, and the number of participants could not be determined at this time.

Even the well-informed Konoha envoy couldn't help but admire the Grass Ninja Village's complete collapse.

Such flexibility is truly remarkable and a rare quality of the Grass Ninja Village.

Next was Amegakure, which had a very close relationship with Uchiha Tokumitsu.

After receiving the invitation from the Konoha envoy, Hanzo of the Salamander didn't say much. He simply flipped to the last page and, upon seeing the seal of Uchiha Tokumitsu at the end, immediately stated that he would send genin to the exam as promised, although the number of genin could not be determined at the moment.

After several rounds of war, Amegakure was already facing a shortage of talent. Although it had obtained a lot of resources through Uchiha Tokumitsu's hiring, the training of excellent genin was not something that could be done overnight. In addition, the ambitious Hanzo of the Salamander did not want the excellent genin he sent from other ninja villages to Konoha to only have a one-day visit, so he still had to conduct a proper selection process.

Meanwhile, Sunagakure, which was still engaged in a brutal tug-of-war with Iwagakure, hesitated for a moment before expressing its willingness to participate in the Chunin Exams held by Konoha. It sent a large team of sixty people in twenty genin squads to the exams. In addition, with the accompanying jonin, inspection team, and business delegation, the number of people exceeded one hundred.

Konoha envoys who came to Sunagakure to extend invitations were accepted without question, and they were all welcomed.

The reason Sunagakure was willing to send its valuable Jonin to lead a group of Genin to Konoha at such a critical moment in the war was mainly to curry favor with Uchiha Tokumitsu and to take this opportunity for the accompanying business delegation to purchase military supplies in Konoha.

Moreover, after the village of Sunagakure was converted into a state, it faced another problem besides international intervention.

That is, the Sand Village ninjas simply do not have the ability to govern a country.

This is also a major reason why the Sand Village organization is currently struggling to expand its national ninja army and launch a counterattack against the Iwagakure.

In order to maintain order and governance in the various oases, and to avoid the limited ninja forces being too dispersed, Sunagakure had to retain the original local nobles of the Land of Wind and allocate resources to them. However, the efficiency in both the collection and transportation of resources was appalling. Therefore, Sunagakure also planned to "learn from the Shogunate's strengths to control Iwagakure" once again, and the inspection team that accompanied them to Konoha came for this purpose.

……

"Sunagakure's request is reasonable enough, so we won't blame you for acting on your own this time."

After the messenger returned to the village and reported Sunagakure's proposal, Uchiha Tokumitsu said to him.

"Thank you for your forgiveness, Lord Deguang!"

The messenger immediately expressed his gratitude.

To agree to submit Sunagakure's request without authorization is a significant overstepping of boundaries.

However, Uchiha Tokumitsu was in a great mood because he saw a new space for profit, so he did not intend to pursue the matter further.

Learning about systems is the easiest way to subtly change someone's thinking. Uchiha Tokumitsu did not reject the arrival of the Sunagakure inspection team, and even feared that Sunagakure might not have grasped the essence of the Tokumitsu Shogunate.

Moreover, the Nanagakawa Stock Exchange and its joint venture, which have recently experienced sluggish growth, are very willing to provide Sunagakawa with a full range of operational services, from financial support to production management and logistics warehousing.

"Are you a Nara clan member?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu spoke to the Konoha ninja who was serving as an envoy to Sunagakure and had his hair tied in a bun.

"Yes, Lord Tokumitsu, I am Nara Yukiyoshi, and I am indeed from the Nara clan, but like Shinpei Jonin, I am from a collateral branch."

Nara Shinpei was a combat strategist when Uchiha Tokumitsu was stationed in the northwestern border defense force of the Land of Grass. He was the only Nara ninja with whom he had a relatively good relationship.

"In that case, you should take on more loads..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu casually drafted a reply and handed it to Nara Shinji, "Take the people from the United Company and go to Sunagakure again. Tell them that I have agreed to all of Sunagakure's requests..."

"As ordered!"

Nara Shinji was overjoyed and respectfully accepted the document handed over by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Every Konoha ninja is well aware of the United Company's status and importance within the Uchiha clan.

The fact that Nara Shinji and the United Company were able to go to Sunagakure together again shows that Uchiha Tokumitsu still had some goodwill towards him.

This is a small but significant benefit for the Nara clan, who are still in dire straits.

"Perhaps it can serve as a link to improve relations between the family and the General..."

Nara Shinji happily accepted the order and left.

Within the Nara clan, apart from direct descendants whose names contain the character "deer," all other members are from collateral branches.

Although the Nara clan is not as clearly separated from the main branch of the Hyuga clan, the direct descendants still have a significant advantage in the allocation of resources within the clan.

However, if Nara Shinji successfully latches onto Uchiha Tokumitsu's coattails, then that's a different story.

For the Nara clan, who are adept at climbing the social ladder, the favor from superiors outweighs the traditional differences between direct and collateral branches.

Furthermore, if the current collateral branches of the Nara clan can successfully join the Uchiha clan's sphere of influence and grow stronger, then it's not impossible for them to become direct descendants in the future.

After all, the Nara clan, known for producing many intelligent people, has never cared much about their appearance.

However, the attitudes of Iwagakure, which is still engaged in a bloody battle with Sunagakure, and Kumogakure, which has just emerged from the shadow of war, are somewhat ambiguous.

After the Konoha envoys sent by the Ministry of State Affairs arrived at the Cloud Village headquarters in Cloud Thunder Gorge, they were first told that the current Raikage was in seclusion and should not be disturbed, thus giving the Konoha envoys a polite rebuff. Then, after the Konoha envoys waited anxiously for several days, the Third Raikage emerged from his training room and politely declined Konoha's invitation.

"Kumakuha has been ravaged by war and is truly unable to organize its genin to go out for the exams. Please forgive us, Konoha."

The Third Raikage said, "It's not that Kumogakure has a problem with Konoha. Konoha's strength is unparalleled in the ninja world, which is universally acknowledged. It's just that Kumogakure's strength has been greatly reduced, and they simply can't muster enough teams to participate. That's why they had to make such a difficult decision..."

Faced with the Raikage, known for his toughness, and hearing his gentle and earnest words, the Konoha envoy had no choice but to return to the village.

However, Iwagakure flatly rejected Konoha's invitation, stating that they were busy fighting the Sunagakure rebels supported by the shogunate to restore order in the ninja world and could not spare any manpower to participate in Konoha's Chunin Exams. But if Konoha was willing to join in the fight against the Sunagakure rebels, then Iwagakure could send a team of genin to participate in the event.

Faced with this almost impossible condition, the Konoha envoys who went to Iwagakure could only return empty-handed.

"...There's no need to pay attention to Iwagakure and Kumogakure."

After receiving the messenger's report, Uchiha Tokumitsu issued an order: "The little Cloud Village is already a pile of bones in a tomb, and the insignificant Iwagakure is barely clinging to life. Since they have made their choice, let them be!"

……

It must be said that Mitokado Homura, as the former head of Konoha's Foreign Affairs Department, was quite capable.

In the following days, many more small ninja villages accepted Konoha's invitation to the joint exam, including the Snow Village of the Land of Snow, the Star Village of the Land of Bears, and the Hot Spring Village of the Land of Hot Springs. Even the Frost Village, whose southern region was controlled by the Fire Gate Shogunate, had a Southern Frost Ninja Team created by Mitokado Homura.

For a time, the Chunin Exams, which garnered a huge response, became the most talked-about topic in Konoha. Even the poorest civilians in the Konoha slums couldn't help but stand up proudly when talking about Konoha's international standing.

The Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Stone Village, who refused Konoha's kind invitation, became examples of ungratefulness in the eyes of the Konoha villagers and were heavily criticized in public opinion. As for the shadow of the purge that once shrouded Konoha, it had long been thrown to the back of the minds of the Konoha villagers.

Uchiha Tokumitsu was very satisfied with the effect of this "hype".

But soon after, news from the northern ninja world enraged the entire village of Konoha.

The three legendary ninja villages of Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Takigakure, along with the northern delegation from the Land of Frost, which was formed by Iwagakure, announced that they will hold a joint Chunin Exam!

What was once a spur-of-the-moment transnational Chunin Exam suddenly became a tool for the major powers of the ninja world to choose sides. With the division of the Chunin Exams into the North and South of the ninja continent, those small ninja villages that were once ignored by the Five Great Ninja Villages suddenly became popular, with all sorts of envoys coming to their door, using all sorts of coercion and inducement to try to get them to join their side.

It's for no other reason than to create a buzz.

It seems that the more ninja villages that participate in the Chunin Exams held by their side, the stronger they are.

This is stealing Konoha's thunder!

This is a fight against Konoha's influence!

The villagers of Konoha were quickly enraged. In taverns, shopping streets, and restaurants of all sizes, there were all sorts of calls to "punish the northern barbarians".

In Konoha's public opinion, Kumogakure was merely a defeated foe, and Iwagakure was a rabble that couldn't even defeat Sunagakure. The alliance of these two losers was an attempt to challenge Konoha's authority, and they needed to be punished by the assembled ninja army.

Of course, although members of the House and Senate expressed their indignation in private to cater to the village's public opinion, they never made any clear proposals in the meetings of the two houses.

Everyone is observing the attitudes of the top leaders.

Especially Uchiha Tokumitsu's attitude.

"Tokumitsu-kun, the village is in an uproar; everyone is clamoring to declare war on Iwagakure and Kumogakure..."

Hatake Sakumo felt that the village's public opinion had become a bit extreme recently, so he came to Uchiha Tokumitsu for advice.

"So, Sakumo-kun, do you intend to declare war on Kumogakure and Iwagakure?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu countered with a question.

"...not in the short term."