Chapter 194: Kazekage Assassinated, Artist Fails Exam
Hearing this, Neji nodded. After continuously striking Kazahana Dotō's acupoints and completely sealing his chakra, he then removed the chakra armor from Kazahana Dotō's body.
While dismantling it, Neji scanned the internal circuits and chakra formula distribution with his Byakugan. Although Neji couldn't create similar items, having spent all day with Tenten, he still had a keen eye for such things.
Shikamaru and the others, meanwhile, trussed up Kazahana Dotō, who was now completely neutralized.
"Didn't you say you'd give me a quick death?" Kazahana Dotō, being treated thus, was naturally unwilling and glared angrily at the group.
"We only said we'd give you a decent death; we never said it would be quick," Sasuke chuckled lightly. "As for what kind of death befits your status as a Daimyo, naturally, it must be after the new ruler of your Land of Snow has judged your sins, and then you die in the full public view."
Sasuke's words made Kazahana Dotō's eyes look ready to split with rage. He immediately wanted to burst out cursing, but before he could open his mouth, Shikamaru stuffed a wad of something into his mouth, forcibly stopping his words.
At this moment, inside Rainbow Glacier, Kazahana Koyuki, under the watchful eyes of the multitude, personally used the hexagonal crystal to open the seal of the treasure. Seeing the seven-colored rainbow light illuminate the entrance, the Land of Snow citizens who had followed her instantly erupted in fervent cheers.
"Your Highness! You truly are Her Highness the Princess!"
"Wonderful! Our Land of Snow is saved!"
However, after the rainbow light slowly dissipated, what was hidden inside the treasure was an apparatus that looked like it had been gathering dust for a long time.
"This is..." Kazahana Koyuki came before this apparatus, raised her hand to wipe off some dust from its surface, revealing the label above, "Geothermal Generator? This is what Father said could bring happiness to the Land of Snow?"
"Of course. This thing, for your Land of Snow, is far more important than any treasure," just then, Sasuke's group, dragging the ashen-faced Kazahana Dotō, walked into the interior of the treasure chamber and said.
"Naturally, this only holds true if you are a competent Daimyo. For this fellow here, this thing is utterly worthless."
"Kazahana Dotō..." Kazahana Koyuki looked at the trussed-up Kazahana Dotō with a complicated expression. However, Kazahana Dotō was in no mood to pay attention to this niece of his. Instead, he stared with incredulous eyes at the geothermal generator. He simply couldn't imagine that the treasure which had become an obsession, a demon in his heart after so many years of scheming, was actually such a thing. Kazahana Dotō found it unacceptable!
"With this, your Land of Snow's agriculture will be able to develop normally. Your father was definitely a very farsighted Daimyo," Sasuke also lamented at this point, looking at the geothermal generator. "If this machine had been operating normally all these years, the livelihood of your Land of Snow's people wouldn't have deteriorated to such an extent. After all, your land area is more than enough to support your populace."
"But it's a pity," Sasuke looked down at Kazahana Dotō at his feet. "Your country produced such a vermin."
...
As the treasure was opened and the geothermal generator restarted, Kazahana Koyuki also entered her loyal royal palace, acclaimed by the entire Land of Snow.
Uchiha Douhuan in Konoha, having received the news, simply entrusted the full responsibility of formal negotiations with Kazahana Koyuki to Sasuke. Furthermore, using a Ryuchi Cave messenger snake, he sent Sasuke the formal attire of the Uchiha Clan Young Head, complete with Hokage short sleeves.
Therefore, at Kazahana Koyuki's coronation ceremony, Sasuke also wore this attire, representing Konoha in full dress. He made a speech at the ceremony, emphasizing the friendly relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Snow, and particularly highlighting the important contributions made by the Land of Fire during the Land of Snow's recent restoration of order.
And after Kazahana Dotō's public trial concluded satisfactorily, with Kazahana Dotō, sentenced by the enraged Land of Snow citizens to a death in the style of Louis XVI, being executed, Sasuke also, representing Konoha, formally began negotiations with the Land of Snow.
After a round of negotiations, Kazahana Koyuki and Sasuke each signed their names on the alliance treaty.
To avoid provoking Onoki's fragile nerves next door at this time, the treaty signed by the two nations was not the Konoha Pact reached with the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Rice Paddies previously. Therefore, Konoha would not garrison troops within the Land of Snow's territory; it would be more focused on non-military economic cooperation.
Of course, outside the treaty, Sasuke also, on behalf of Konoha, promised to help the Land of Snow in the future develop a ninja force sufficient to guard their borders, based on their chakra armor. The price, however, was that the Land of Snow would provide the utmost policy convenience to Land of Fire merchants coming to invest.
...
"Well done," In Konoha's Hokage office, Uchiha Douhuan looked at the mission report and the results of this negotiation submitted by Sasuke, nodding with satisfaction. "You did even better than I expected."
"Teacher, you overpraise me," Sasuke said with a smile after brewing Uchiha Douhuan a cup of tea.
"After some time, it should be about time to hold the Chunin Exams. This time, our Konoha plans to host a Joint Chunin Exam, to let the geniuses of your generation properly show their faces in the ninja world. Do you have the confidence to achieve good results in this exam?"
"Of course. Among ninjas of the same age, I think there should be few who can be our opponents," Sasuke said with a smile.
Uchiha Douhuan looked at the other's expression, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. This damn Indra chakra carrying the 'sunny' gene is unchangeable, isn't it?
The only thing that gratified Uchiha Douhuan was that Sasuke, while now 'sunny', still hadn't done anything like proactively going out to get beaten up. Without experiencing the lack of guidance from masters during his growth as in the original timeline, this kid still had a clear understanding of his own strength and wouldn't do things like challenging powerhouses far beyond his own capabilities.
"Hehe, since you've said so, then I'll set your Chunin promotion standard a bit higher. If you don't win the championship, then you'll just obediently remain a Genin for another year," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled. "Of course, to treat everyone equally, Neji and Naruto will also have this standard."
"Meaning, only one person from our squad will become a Chunin?" Sasuke asked.
"It's also possible that none of you will," Uchiha Douhuan reminded unhurriedly.
"Then Teacher, just you watch. This time, the championship is mine for the taking," Sasuke said, full of confidence.
...
After Sasuke left, Uchiha Douhuan also arranged for the preparations for the Joint Chunin Exams. The geniuses of Sasuke's generation had grown up; it was time to flex some muscle to the ninja world.
However, just as Konoha had prepared the invitations for the Joint Chunin Exams and before they could be sent out, two consecutive events in the ninja world made Uchiha Douhuan nervous.
Firstly, Kazekage Rasa's years of courting death finally led to an accident. The Sunagakure Jinchuriki, Gaara, under Rasa's day-after-day assassination attempts and probings, finally snapped at his own father. Briefly reaching a consensus with Shukaku, he directly killed Rasa.
Sunagakure's economic lifeline was thus directly severed. Although Gaara was subsequently brought under control, Sunagakure really had no way to deal with him. After all, they couldn't find a second person capable of being Shukaku's Jinchuriki.
After hearing this news, Uchiha Douhuan immediately made a trip to Ryuchi Cave, contacted Orochimaru, and repeatedly confirmed whether this matter was related to him. Only after Orochimaru denied it did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Rightly so. The original Konoha Crush plan that fellow orchestrated, its main purpose was still to send off his already decayed teacher, allowing him to depart as a hero. But now Sarutobi Hiruzen had already retired and completely disregarded village affairs; the old man's greatest hobby every day was fishing by the Naka River. Orochimaru himself, after Akatsuki completely contracted and relaxed their pursuit of him, had been engrossed in researching natural energy. How would he have the spare time for such pointless activities?
Therefore, regarding Rasa's passing, as Konoha's overt ally, Uchiha Douhuan also represented Konoha in sending condolences to Sunagakure.
However, merely two days later, news came again from the Land of Earth: Iwagakure Chuunin Deidara, due to offending too many people in the village, was voted down during the internal Jounin promotion selection. In a fit of rage, he directly slashed his headband and became a rogue ninja.
Upon hearing this news, Uchiha Douhuan's heart immediately tightened.
What's this situation? Kazekage assassinated is one thing, but immediately followed by the artist failing the exam? The Fourth Great Ninja War truly seems imminent.
"In that case, then this plan, it's also time to start pushing it forward," Uchiha Douhuan said, taking out a long-prepared proposal titled "Ninja Professionalization Reform Plan (Konoha Year 61 Draft)" from his desk.
Over these past few years, under Uchiha Douhuan's intentional reduction, Konoha's mission quota, especially the share of D-rank missions like finding cats, dogs, or picking up trash, had already decreased by a little more than half compared to the Third Hokage's era. Simultaneously, the official funding from the Land of Fire to Konoha, also under Uchiha Douhuan's tough policies, had risen by a full three times, already accounting for 5% of the Land of Fire's annual tax revenue.
In other words, the current ninja sequence in Konoha, apart from those stationed at the border and dispatched garrisons, as well as the special sequences of Anbu and the Security Department, most Chuunin and Jounin remaining in the village were in a state of leisure, supported by Konoha, their daily task being to train and improve their strength.
And Uchiha Douhuan's plan was to formally separate ninjas from these tedious tasks, allowing them to concentrate on training and improving their strength. In other words, to transform from mercenaries into professional soldiers.
In this proposal, Uchiha Douhuan divided the reform into three parts.
The first was the professionalization of the military system.
Uchiha Douhuan planned to restructure the ninja profession's ranking system:
Abolish the Genin/Chuunin/Jounin classification, implementing a military rank system of Shinobi Soldier → Shinobi Lieutenant → Shinobi Major → Shinobi General → Kage Marshal.
The existing Mission Hall would serve as a place for those ninjas with less outstanding talent, who wouldn't be absorbed into the army system, to accept D-rank missions to support their families.
Simultaneously, Uchiha Douhuan also planned to make institutions like the Ninja Tool Research Institute and the Medical Ninja Academy independent, as specialized technical sequences.
The second part concerned economic security.
Firstly, a certain proportion of the Land of Fire's annual tax revenue must be allocated as military expenditure to maintain the operation of the reformed ninja army. Although due to Uchiha Douhuan's status as Grand Minister of State, no one in the Land of Fire's court dared to use funding to obstruct Konoha, Uchiha Douhuan was, after all, a special case. If this sum, which would only increase in the future, couldn't be fully established as policy, then it was foreseeable that Uchiha Douhuan's successor might still encounter the predicament of needing to wrangle with those noble masters in court every year for funding.
Additionally, Uchiha Douhuan also planned to establish a sound ninja welfare system.
To be honest, Konoha's current ninja welfare system, even a dog would shake its head at. Because they were mercenaries, the ninja profession had no retirement security. It was only because ninjas, who risked their lives daily with their heads tucked in their waistbands, rarely lived to retirement age that this aspect hadn't caused problems sooner.
Therefore, Uchiha Douhuan planned to establish a ninja pension system. Ninjas who served for twenty years or retired from the ninja sequence due to injury would receive a monthly sum as living security.
Finally, there was the system for protecting ninjas' rights and interests.
Firstly, the service age for ninjas would be limited. Uchiha Douhuan planned to directly abolish the Ninja Academy's early graduation policy. Furthermore, a red line would be drawn for the ninja service age: individuals under 12 years old would be prohibited from joining the ninja sequence. And, in the future, after increasing the Ninja Academy's years of education, this age limit would be further increased.
After all, Uchiha Douhuan was truly fed up with this pathological practice of sending elementary school students to the battlefield.
As for what to do if the war situation became urgent in the future? Uchiha Douhuan stated that if Konoha, under his hand, was pushed to the point of needing to send children under 12 to the battlefield, then his tenure as Hokage would have reached its end.
Uchiha Douhuan planned to complete this push within two years. By then, Konoha should also be prepared to take on the entire ninja world single-handedly.
However, just as Uchiha Douhuan was planning to take this proposal to the court assembly, the spies monitoring the court officials brought Uchiha Douhuan some rather unpleasant news.
A portion of the civil ministers planned to unite and impeach him, this Grand Minister of State, for usurping power, wanting to force Uchiha Douhuan to return political power to the Daimyo.
To be honest, when Uchiha Douhuan received this news, he thought he had misread it. How dared these people?
(End of Chapter)
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