Chapter 196 The Kazekage is Assassinated, the Artist Fails the Exam.
Neji nodded upon hearing this, and after repeatedly striking pressure points on Kazeka Noto's body, completely sealing his chakra, he removed the chakra armor from Kazeka Noto's body.
As Neji dismantled it, he scanned the circuitry and chakra formula distribution inside with his Byakugan. Although Neji couldn't create something similar, he spent all his time with Tenten and had a good eye for these things. Meanwhile,
Shikamaru and the others tied up Kazeka Noto, who was now completely free of the threat.
"Didn't you say you were going to give me a quick death?" Kazeka Noto was naturally resentful of being treated this way and glared angrily at the group.
"We only said we'd give you a dignified death, not a quick one," Sasuke said with a light laugh. "As for what kind of death would be worthy of your status as a daimyo, that would naturally have to be after your new emperor of the Land of Snow has judged your sins, and then you'd die in the public eye."
Sasuke's words made Kazahana Nutō's eyes widen in fury, and he was about to unleash a torrent of curses, but before he could speak, Shikamaru shoved something into his mouth, forcefully silencing him.
At that moment, inside the Rainbow Glacier, Kazahana Koyuki, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, personally used the hexagonal crystal to open the seal of the treasure. Seeing the seven-colored rainbow light illuminating the entrance, the citizens of the Land of Snow who had followed her erupted in enthusiastic cheers.
"Princess! You really are Princess!"
"Great! Our Land of Snow is saved!"
However, as the rainbow light slowly dissipated, what was hidden inside the treasure was a seemingly long-sealed instrument.
"This is..." Kazahana Koyuki approached the device, wiping away some dust to reveal a label. "Geothermal generator? This is what Father meant by bringing happiness to the Land of Snow?"
"Of course, this is far more important to your Land of Snow than any treasure." Sasuke and his group, carrying the ashen-faced Kazahana Noto, entered the treasure's interior, and then said.
"Of course, this was only established if you were a qualified daimyo. For this guy, this thing has no value whatsoever."
"Kazahana Noto..." Kazahana Koyuki glanced at the bound Kazahana Noto with a complicated expression. However, Kazahana Noto had no interest in his niece; instead, he stared incredulously at the geothermal generator. He couldn't believe that the treasure he had meticulously planned for so many years, the very thing that had become the source of his inner demons, was actually this. Kazahana Noto couldn't accept it!
"With this, your Snow Country's agriculture can develop normally. Your father was definitely a very farsighted daimyo." Sasuke said, looking at the geothermal generator. "If this machine had been running normally all these years, the people of your Snow Country wouldn't have fallen into such a state of decline. After all, your land area is more than enough to support your people."
"But unfortunately," Sasuke glanced down at Kazahana Koyuki at his feet, "your country has produced such a monstrous creature."
...
As the treasure was opened and the geothermal generator restarted, Kazahana Koyuki entered her loyal palace amidst the cheers of the entire Snow Country.
Upon receiving the news, Uchiha Touko entrusted Sasuke with the responsibility of formal negotiations with Kazeka Koyuki. He even sent Sasuke a Hokage-style short-sleeved robe, the formal attire of the young Uchiha clan leader, via a communication snake from Ryuchi Cave.
Therefore, Sasuke wore this robe at Kazeka Koyuki's coronation ceremony, representing Konoha in formal attire. During the ceremony, he emphasized the friendly relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Snow, highlighting the Land of Fire's significant contribution to the Land of Snow's efforts to restore order.
After the successful conclusion of Kazeka Noto's public trial, where he was sentenced to death in the same manner as Louis XVI by the angry citizens of the Land of Snow, Sasuke, representing Konoha, formally began negotiations with the Land of Snow.
Following these negotiations, Kazeka Koyuki and Sasuke each signed their names on the alliance agreement.
To avoid triggering Onoki's fragile nerves at this time, the agreement signed between the two countries was not the Konoha Pact reached with the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields. Therefore, Konoha would not station troops within the Land of Snow's territory, focusing primarily on non-military economic cooperation.
Of course, in addition to the agreement, Sasuke, representing Konoha, promised to help the Land of Snow cultivate a ninja force capable of defending their borders, based on their chakra armor. In return, the Land of Snow would provide maximum policy benefits to Fire Country merchants investing there.
...
"Well done." In the Hokage's office in Konoha, Uchiha Touko looked at the mission report submitted by Sasuke and the results of the negotiations, nodding with satisfaction. "You did even better than I expected."
"You flatter me, sir," Sasuke said with a smile after making Uchiha Touko a cup of tea.
"The Chunin Exams are coming up soon. This time, Konoha plans to hold a joint Chunin Exam, giving this year's geniuses a chance to shine in the ninja world. Are you confident you can achieve good results?" "
Of course, among ninjas of the same age, I don't think you can find many who can rival us," Sasuke said with a smile.
Uchiha Touko looked at the other's expression, his lips twitching slightly. This guy's Indra chakra's "sunny weather gene" is incurable, isn't it?
The only thing that made Uchiha Touko feel relieved was that Sasuke, while still sunny-natured, hadn't actually gone out to get beaten up. Without the lack of training from powerful ninjas during his growth like in the original timeline, this kid still had a clear understanding of his own strength and wouldn't challenge opponents far stronger than himself.
"Hehe, since you've put it that way, then I'll set your Chunin promotion standard a bit higher. If you don't win the championship, you'll be stuck as a Genin for another year," Uchiha Touko chuckled. "Of course, to be fair, Neji and Naruto will also be subject to the same standard."
"So, only one person from our team will become a Chunin?" Sasuke asked.
"It's also possible that none of them will," Uchiha Touko calmly reminded him.
"Then you just wait and see, teacher. This championship is definitely mine," Sasuke said confidently.
...
After Sasuke left, Uchiha Touko also arranged the preparations for the Joint Chunin Exams. The geniuses of Sasuke's generation had grown up, and it was time to show their strength to the ninja world.
However, just as Konoha had prepared the invitations for the Joint Chunin Exams and hadn't even had a chance to send them out, two events in the ninja world made Uchiha Touko nervous.
First, after years of reckless actions, the Kazekage Rasa finally met his end. Gaara, the Jinchuriki of Sunagakure, finally snapped after facing Rasa's daily assassination attempts, and briefly reached a consensus with Shukaku to kill Rasa.
Sunagakure's economic lifeline was thus severed. Although Gaara was subsequently taken into custody, Sunagakure couldn't really do anything about him, as they couldn't find a second suitable Jinchuriki for Shukaku.
Upon hearing this news, Uchiha Touko immediately went to Ryuchi Cave and contacted Orochimaru, repeatedly confirming whether he was involved. Only after Orochimaru denied it did he breathe a sigh of relief.
That's right. The main purpose of this guy's original plan to destroy Konoha was to send his already decaying teacher off on his way, allowing him to leave as a hero. But now, Hiruzen Sarutobi has retired and completely ignores village affairs. The old man's greatest hobby is fishing on the Naka River. Orochimaru himself, after the Akatsuki completely withdrew and eased their pursuit of him, has been engrossed in researching natural energy; he has no time for such trivial matters.
Therefore, regarding Rasa's passing, Uchiha Touko, as Konoha's apparent ally, also sent condolences to Sunagakure on behalf of Konoha.
However, just two days later, news came from the Land of Earth that Deidara, a Chunin from Iwagakure, had offended too many people in the village and was eliminated in the internal vote for Jonin promotion. In a fit of anger, he slashed off his headband and became a rogue ninja.
Upon hearing this news, Uchiha Touko's heart tightened.
What's going on? The Kazekage was assassinated, and now an artist has failed the election? The Fourth Shinobi World War seemed imminent.
"In that case, it's time to start pushing this plan forward," said Uchiha Touko, pulling a pre-prepared document from his desk titled "Ninja Professionalization Reform Plan (Konoha 61 Case)."
Over the years, under Uchiha Touko's deliberate reduction efforts, Konoha's mission quota, especially the D-rank missions involving finding cats, dogs, and scavenging, had decreased by nearly half compared to the Third Hokage's era. Simultaneously, the Fire Country's official funding for Konoha had tripled under Uchiha Touko's strong policies, now accounting for 5% of the Fire Country's annual tax revenue.
In other words, Konoha's current ninja ranks, aside from those stationed on the borders and dispatched troops, as well as the special ranks of the Anbu and the Security Department, consist mostly of Chunin and Jonin remaining in the village, largely unemployed and supported by Konoha, their daily task being training to improve their strength.
Uchiha Touko's plan would formally free ninjas from these tedious missions, allowing them to focus on training and improving their skills—in other words, transforming them from mercenaries into professional soldiers.
In this plan, Uchiha Touko divided the reform into three parts.
The first was the professionalization of the military system.
Uchiha Touko intended to restructure the ninja profession's ranking system:
abolishing the Genin/Chun/Jonin ranks and implementing a system of Ninja Soldier → Ninja Lieutenant → Ninja Sasuke → Ninja General → Kage Commander.
The existing mission hall would then serve as a place for those ninjas whose talent wasn't outstanding and wouldn't be recruited into the military system to take on D-rank missions to support themselves.
At the same time, Uchiha Touko also planned to separate institutions such as the Ninja Tool Research Institute and the Medical Ninja Academy as independent technical tracks.
The second part concerned economic security.
Firstly, a certain percentage of the Land of Fire's annual tax revenue must be allocated to military expenditures to maintain the operation of the reformed ninja army. Although, due to Uchiha Tokō's position as Minister of State, no one in the Land of Fire's court dared to use these funds to obstruct Konoha, Uchiha Tokō was a special case. If this ever-increasing amount of money couldn't be fully secured as policy, it's foreseeable that Uchiha Tokō's successor might face the same predicament of having to haggle with those noble lords in court every year over funding.
Secondly, Uchiha Tokō planned to establish a comprehensive ninja welfare system.
Frankly, Konoha's current ninja welfare system is appalling. Because they are mercenaries, ninjas have no retirement security. It's only because ninjas risk their lives every day that they rarely live to retirement age; otherwise, this system would have been in place long ago.
Therefore, Uchiha Tokō planned to establish a ninja pension system, where ninjas who had served for twenty years or who retired from the ninja ranks due to injury would receive a monthly allowance as a living guarantee.
Finally, there's the system for protecting ninja rights.
First, there's the age limit for ninja service. Uchiha Touko plans to abolish the early graduation policy of the Ninja Academy and draw a red line on the age of ninja service: those under 12 years old will be prohibited from joining the ninja ranks. Furthermore, this age limit will be further increased as the Ninja Academy's educational years are extended in the future.
After all, Uchiha Touko is truly fed up with this morbid practice of sending elementary school students to the battlefield.
As for what to do in future emergencies? Uchiha Touko stated that if Konoha is forced to send children under 12 to the battlefield under his leadership, then his time as Hokage will be over.
Uchiha Touko intends to complete this plan within two years, by which time Konoha should be ready to take on the entire ninja world single-handedly.
However, just as Uchiha Touko was about to present this plan to the imperial court, an ANBU spy monitoring the court officials brought him some unpleasant news.
A group of civil officials planned to unite and impeach Uchiha Tomitsu for abusing his power, intending to force him to return control to the daimyo.
To be honest, when Uchiha Tomitsu received this news, he thought he was seeing things. How dare these people?
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(End of Chapter)