Chapter 212: Konohamaru's Crisis
Uchiha Douhuan's "Versailles-style" (humblebragging) speech made Onoki's and A's mouths twitch, but they had nothing to say about the results of this assessment.
With no ninjas from their villages entering the third round, there was no point in them staying in Konoha any longer.
However, before leaving, A narrowed his eyes and looked at Uchiha Douhuan, who was being surrounded and complimented by the leaders of various small ninja villages. He thought to himself, "The cradle of geniuses? Heh heh, I hope that child from the Sarutobi clan doesn't disappoint me."
The third round of the competition was scheduled to begin in two weeks. Because no ninjas from the Land of Earth or the Land of Lightning had advanced, the Daimyō of both countries sent official notices to the Land of Fire canceling their trips the day after the survival assessment ended. As for the Daimyō of the Land of Water, let alone a Chunin Exam held in Konoha, he probably wouldn't even attend a joint Chunin Exam held in his own country, being so infatuated with women.
Three days later, after Kurotsuchi and the others had finished their treatment, Onoki no longer had any desire to stay in Konoha. He led his genin directly back to Iwagakure. A also bid farewell to Uchiha Douhuan on this day.
That night, A once again came to the hotel where he had previously met with the Land of Lightning's spies.
"Is everything arranged?" A asked directly after meeting with the head of the Cloud spies embedded in Konoha.
"Everything has been arranged according to your instructions," the other party nodded. "We have completely figured out the target's movements and habits. This time, we will activate half of our dormant undercover agents. We should be able to ensure the operation is foolproof."
"Tomorrow afternoon, we will officially set off to return to the Cloud Village. You will make your move then. I will personally rendezvous with you on the outskirts of Konoha," A said in a low voice.
"Yes!"
The next afternoon, at the entrance of Konoha Village, Uchiha Douhuan, dressed in a formal suit, shook hands with A in farewell as per etiquette.
"We have been under Konoha's hospitality during this time," A said.
"Our hospitality has been lacking during this period. I hope Lord Raikage will forgive us," Uchiha Douhuan said with a smile while shaking A's hand.
"Lord Hokage is too kind. Konoha has treated our Cloud Village with great courtesy. How could there be any lack of hospitality?" A said. "Next time our Cloud Village hosts a joint Chunin Exam, the Hokage must grace us with his presence."
"Definitely, definitely," Uchiha Douhuan said with a smile and a nod.
The two shook hands again in farewell, and then the group from the Cloud Village set off on their journey.
After seeing off the Raikage, Uchiha Douhuan returned to his office. Nagato and Konan had been waiting there for a long time.
"I've kept you both waiting," Uchiha Douhuan said, immediately brewing tea upon returning to the office. "Was the competition earlier exciting?"
Because of Onoki, the two from the Akatsuki, who still had the matter of the Five-Tails to settle with them, found it inconvenient to appear publicly. Therefore, a nominal representative from Amegakure had been watching the competition in the VIP room. However, to show his sincerity in cooperating with Nagato, Uchiha Douhuan had specially prepared a secret room for the two of them to watch the Chunin Exam.
"For Lord Hokage's disciple to have such strength at such a young age, he will surely be a powerful figure in the future," Nagato said.
"Tsunade has already checked your body, right? How is the situation?" Uchiha Douhuan asked, looking at the slightly weak Nagato.
"Not very optimistic, but it shouldn't affect our future cooperation." Nagato, in his wheelchair, raised a withered arm to touch his eye socket. "As long as I can hold on until I see the day of true peace, then I can die without regrets."
"Nagato..." Konan, beside Nagato, pursed her lips, wanting to say something but holding back.
"That day is not too far away," Uchiha Douhuan said.
Just at this moment, a knock came from the door of the Hokage's office, and a boisterous voice came from outside at the same time, "Uncle Hokage, I'm coming in!"
As the voice fell, the door was pushed open directly, and Deidara swaggered into the Hokage's office.
With Onoki staying in Konoha for the past few days, he could only coop himself up in Kakashi's house and couldn't go out. This was undoubtedly a form of torture for a social butterfly. So, the moment Onoki left, Deidara couldn't wait to find Yamato. In just one morning, Deidara had already visited two construction sites. And if Uchiha Douhuan hadn't had the messenger emphasize that he must come over, this kid would probably still be at a construction site mixing explosives right now.
"Uncle Hokage, what did you call me for?" Deidara asked brashly.
"Didn't I say before that I would arrange a job for you? This is your future boss," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"Is that so?" Deidara glanced at Nagato. He didn't say anything about Nagato being in a wheelchair. After all, as long as it didn't interfere with him researching his art, working anywhere was still work.
"This person seems to be..." Konan looked at Deidara with a puzzled expression. As the second-in-command of a ninja village neighboring the Land of Earth, and having fought against them on the battlefield not long ago, Konan naturally had some intelligence on Iwagakure. This intelligence naturally included information about Deidara, Onoki's direct disciple, and she also knew about his recent defection.
Konan looked at Deidara, feeling that this whole situation was somewhat absurd.
After all, for Deidara, the Tsuchikage's direct disciple, to defect and come to Konoha, only to be introduced by the Hokage to join their Akatsuki, was an abstract concept no matter how one thought about it.
"You don't need to worry about this guy's strength. Currently, his strength has reached the level of an elite Jonin. In another two years, it's estimated that even an average Kage won't be his match," Uchiha Douhuan said with a chuckle.
"You can come with us directly in a moment," Nagato immediately accepted the matter.
After talking with Uchiha Douhuan that day, Nagato had also thought a lot. The problems with his plan that Uchiha Douhuan had pointed out were indeed objective facts.
On the contrary, the war of unification that Uchiha Douhuan spoke of, ending all disputes in a single war, had been lingering in Nagato's mind. The scene Uchiha Douhuan had painted of the ninja world after unification also constantly tugged at his heartstrings.
If nothing else, just the point about blowing up the mountains separating the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind after unification, allowing the excess water vapor from the Land of Rain to enter the Land of Wind's desert so that both countries could farm normally, was something Nagato simply couldn't refuse. One must know, the reason the Land of Rain had struggled so much before, besides the geopolitical factor of being located between three major powers, was that their land couldn't grow food due to the climate, forcing them to spend large sums of money to import food from abroad every year. This was undoubtedly a heavy burden.
Therefore, after thinking for several days, Nagato had also tentatively approved Uchiha Douhuan's cooperation plan. So, he directly took Deidara under his wing, considering it as looking after a partner's child.
"Lord Hokage, I wonder if you could reveal a bit more of the detailed plan to me?" Nagato asked at this time.
"Of course, come with me," Uchiha Douhuan smiled slightly, intending to take Nagato to the secret room for a detailed discussion. But just at this moment, a series of urgent knocks came from outside the door.
"This is bad, Lord Hokage!" Uchiha Inahi, after knocking, pushed the door open directly, came to Uchiha Douhuan's side, and reported in a low voice, "Lord Third's grandson, Young Master Konohamaru, is suspected to have been kidnapped. His tutor, Ebisu, is seriously injured."
"What?" Uchiha Douhuan stood up directly upon hearing the news. "Konohamaru has been kidnapped?"
Uchiha Douhuan narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment, then calmly said to Uchiha Inahi, "Go tell Kakashi about this. Have him search the village with the Guard Unit. At the same time, send a message to the border troops to urgently seal the borders. Does Lord Third know about this yet?"
"Not yet," Uchiha Inahi replied.
"Send someone to inform Lord Third of this matter. Then, have Kakashi hold down the fort in the Hokage's office and pay attention to calming Lord Third's emotions. I will go personally. Also, have Kakashi arrange an Anbu squad to be ready to support me," Uchiha Douhuan said, then raised his hand to pick up Swift Thunder from the sword rack on the side.
"Where are you going?" Uchiha Inahi asked, somewhat puzzled.
"To rescue him, of course," Uchiha Douhuan gritted his teeth fiercely.
"Do you already know who the kidnappers are?" Uchiha Inahi asked.
"In the entire ninja world, besides those black fiends from the Cloud, who else is so keen on kidnapping other people's children?" Uchiha Douhuan cursed.
"Lord Hokage, do you need help?" Nagato asked at this time.
"No need. I should have hosted you both properly, but for something like this to happen in the village, we are already very sorry. How could we possibly trouble you?" Uchiha Douhuan said.
"Lord Hokage, I think our cooperation can start from now," Nagato said. "Konan, give Lord Hokage a ride."
After speaking, Nagato looked at Uchiha Douhuan, his pair of Rinnegan eyes full of sincerity. "If it's a pursuit, flying might be faster."
Uchiha Douhuan looked deeply at Nagato, then nodded. He turned to look at Konan and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Angel."
"Lord Hokage, please," Konan also knew the situation was urgent. After coming to the window, her hands flew through seals. A stream of white paper flew out from her sleeves, converging in the air into the form of a large bird. The two jumped onto the paper bird one after the other.
"Hey, Uncle Hokage, I'll go with you too," Deidara also started to take out clay and chew it, summoning a large clay bird, and then jumped onto its back.
Uchiha Douhuan glanced back at him. Considering that when he fought A later, he would need someone to rescue the hostage, he nodded. "You go pick up Naruto and the other two first, then follow."
...
(End of chapter)
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