"Is that so?" Uchiha Touhuan glanced around at everyone in the palace. "So there's no precedent for this?"
"The Left Minister is right. There is indeed no precedent for this in the Land of Fire," another civil official stepped forward. "Moreover, if martial law is hastily declared, the people of the Fire Capital will be dissatisfied."
"And who are you?" Uchiha Touhuan frowned.
"I am Matsuda Seisuke, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Land of Fire," the man who stepped forward said.
"I understand." Uchiha Touhuan slowly walked towards the palace door, saying as he spoke, "I am but a military man who knows nothing of politics. I know I cannot bear such a heavy burden placed upon me by the late king, but as a citizen of the Land of Fire, I know to be loyal to the king and serve my country! But now, treacherous officials have already jumped out!"
"You, Matsuda Seisuke, are one." Uchiha Touhuan raised his hand and pointed at Matsuda Seisuke, then turned and pointed at Abe Taiichi, "And you, Abe Taiichi!"
After Uchiha Touhuan's words fell, the officials in the palace were in an uproar.
"Hokage, I'm afraid your words are inappropriate," Abe Taiichi said, his face twitching slightly after being called a traitor by Uchiha Touhuan.
"Inappropriate?" Uchiha Touhuan sneered. "The late king's body is still warm, and the assassins who killed him are still at large. If martial law isn't enforced, who can guarantee His Highness's safety? Left Minister, can you? You can't! If His Highness suffers any harm, even if you and your entire clan are sacrificed, it won't make up for it!"
"You…" Abe Taiichi's face flushed red and then paled. He knew that if he didn't say something now, the label of traitor would be firmly pinned on him.
However, at this moment, another person stepped forward and said, "Grand Tutor is right. In the current situation, His Highness's safety should be the top priority. The Left Minister's objection based on the lack of precedent is biased."
Uchiha Touhuan looked at the speaker with interest; this person wasn't on Kakashi's kidnapping list that night.
[It seems this Left Minister has quite a few political enemies in the court.] "
Miura Kazuo, what do you mean by that?" Abe Taiichi looked at the speaker.
"Hmph, isn't my meaning obvious? Besides, the late king appointed the Grand Tutor to assist in governing; that meaning is also quite clear, isn't it?" Miura Kazuo stepped forward, confronting Abe Taiichi head-on.
After Miura Kazuo finished speaking, the civil officials in the bedchamber immediately erupted into a noisy argument. At this moment, the four-year-old daimyo Minamoto no Miyazaki was also at a loss for words, standing blankly in front of the daimyo's bed.
Uchiha Touhuan and Kakashi stood at the entrance of the palace, watching the civil officials' passionate bickering.
For Kakashi, today was quite an eye-opener; these ministers, usually so high-ranking to ninjas, were now arguing no different from the shrewish villagers in the village.
"Enough!" Uchiha Touhuan, seeing that the two groups had almost stopped arguing and having grasped the power structure of the Fire Country's court, immediately intervened to stop the farce.
The sounds within the sleeping quarters subsided slightly, and then everyone turned to look at Uchiha Touhuan. Uchiha Touhuan strode towards Minamoto no Yūkimaru, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, give the orders."
Minamoto no Yūkimaru stared blankly at Uchiha Touhuan, only recovering after a long while before finally saying, "I will follow my master's arrangements." Uchiha Touhuan nodded, strode out of the sleeping quarters, and arrived at the open space in front of them. At this moment, all the elite Jonin of Konoha, except those on missions elsewhere, were present.
"Pass on my orders: from this day forward, Konoha ninja will take over the defense of the Fire Capital. Once reinforcements arrive, the Anbu will cooperate with the security forces to complete the blockade and martial law of the Fire Capital. Anyone suspected of being suspicious will be killed without exception!" Uchiha Touhuan coldly declared.
Asuma and his two companions, who had been waiting outside the sleeping quarters and unaware of what was happening inside, were also taken aback.
Kazuma immediately stepped forward to question them.
However, Uchiha Touhuan had already looked in that direction, his Mangekyou Sharingan activated, the killing intent emanating from his eyes almost materializing.
Kazuma was also stunned by this killing intent, the words stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.
"Should we take this guy…" Kakashi arrived beside Uchiha Touhuan at this moment and asked softly.
"No need." Uchiha Touhuan shook his head, "Just a clown, he can't cause any trouble."
...
After the arrival of the security forces and ANBU reinforcements, and the complete control of the Fire City's defenses, Uchiha Touhuan showed a relieved expression. At this moment, the entire Fire City was completely under his control.
For Uchiha Touhuan, this series of arrangements required little thought; the history of his previous life had already provided him with a plethora of standard answers.
Moreover, compared to his predecessors, Uchiha Touhuan had a unique advantage: Shisui's eye technique, Kotoamatsukami, directly resolved the issue of his legitimacy. Now, with both righteousness and power in his hands, there was no reason for him to perform worse than his predecessors.
After dawn, as the civilians of the Fire City were about to go out, they discovered that the streets were filled with heavily armed ninja patrolling, announcing martial law to every household. It was only then that the civilians living far from the Daimyo's palace realized what had happened.
Although somewhat dissatisfied with the curfew, seeing the batons and kunai in the ninjas' hands, they obediently returned home.
The first batch of security personnel who arrived initially thought that establishing martial law in the Fire City would be difficult, given that the Fire City was more than twice the size of Konoha. However, their force, including the assisting Anbu, numbered only slightly over seven hundred. Yet, with the cooperation of the civilians, they easily gained control of the Fire City. The security personnel couldn't help but marvel at how much higher the civility of the civilians was, no wonder the Fire
City was a capital. Uchiha Touhuan wasn't surprised by this outcome. Unlike Konoha, the Fire City didn't have laws preventing ninjas from arbitrarily harming civilians, and the nobles weren't as lenient as the Third Hokage had been. Angering a noble meant certain death for their samurai.
After the martial law was lifted, Uchiha Touhuan found a residence near the capital of the Fire Capital and settled in. He also had Kakashi gather information on all the officials in the Fire Capital. As for the young daimyo, his shadow clones kept watch over him until a few days later, after the old daimyo's burial and the new daimyo's enthronement ceremony, presided over by Kikuchi Tomoken and others. At the new daimyo's first court assembly, Uchiha Touhuan, dressed in the Hokage's robes and carrying the Grand Minister's robes, arrived at the assembly.
After a series of rituals, Uchiha Touhuan, standing before the officials, was the first to step forward, bow to the young daimyo on the throne, and slowly began to speak.
"I am deeply grateful for the late King's trust in entrusting me with this important task, but I am aware of my youth and lack of virtue. These past few days I have been filled with anxiety, fearing that I might fail the late King's expectations. I beg Your Highness to rescind the late King's decree, for I am truly unworthy of the position of Grand Minister of State." Uchiha Touhuan said, a few tears welling up in his eyes.
Just as Left Minister Abe Taiichi was about to speak, Miura Kazuo stepped forward and said, "Grand Minister of State, what makes you say such a thing?"
"We greatly admire the Grand Minister of State's lack of ambition for power, but this is, after all, the late King's dying wish. How can it be revoked? Your Highness's actions would surely place Your Highness in a position of filial impiety."
After Miura Kazuo finished speaking, several more people stepped forward behind him, each offering their own opinion.
"Yes, the Grand Minister of State has been by Your Highness's side day and night these past few days, protecting you with utmost devotion. We have all witnessed this. This position of Grand Minister of State is truly yours." "That's right. After learning of the attack on the late Emperor, the Grand Minister of State rushed here alone day and night. His loyalty is as clear as day. Please do not refuse this position of Grand Minister of State."
At this moment, Nagano Kiri looked around and also stepped forward: "Yes, Grand Minister of State, please do not refuse."
As one of the three regents appointed by the late King, besides Uchiha Touhuan, Nagano Kiri and the other two, although their official positions were not prominent at this time, their words carried more weight than anyone else's in the court. After he spoke, Abe Taiichi realized that the situation was hopeless. Thinking of the ninjas who had been loitering in front of his residence these past few days, he could only grit his teeth, shrink back, and remain silent.
"This..." Uchiha Touhuan, facing everyone's urging, also made a hesitant gesture.
At this moment, Minamoto no Yūkimaru rose from his throne, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "Is Master going to abandon me?"
These past few days, Uchiha Touhuan's shadow clones had been protecting the child closely, and they had gotten along quite well, shielding him from any disturbance. This undoubtedly provided a great sense of security for a four-year-old child who had just experienced a catastrophic tragedy, the brutal deaths of his father and brothers.
The terrifying figure of Manda had clearly left a deep scar on the child, and now, Uchiha Touhuan's words of resignation had immediately terrified Minamoto no Yūkimaru.
And Minamoto no Yūkimaru's words had effectively killed the match.
Soon, two civil officials behind Miura Kazuo stepped forward and, without a word, took the official robes from Uchiha Touhuan's hands and draped them over him, repeatedly saying, "Minister of State, please don't refuse anymore." Uchiha Touhuan's didn't move during this process. Only after the robes were completely on him did he look up at Miura Kazuo, a meaningful smile flashing across his face.
These past few days, Kakashi had gathered quite a bit of interesting information about this Minister of State, Right, within the Land of Fire.
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