Chapter 146 A Minister of a Superior Nation Does Not Bow to a Lord of an Inferior Nation "Naruto, come here." Uchiha Touhuan waved to Naruto, who obediently came to his side.
"What exactly happened?" Uchiha Touhuan asked, looking at Naruto.
"Uh..." Naruto tried to organize his thoughts. The misunderstanding between him and his good older brother tonight was quite significant, which was why he had caused such a mess.
"Uncle Hokage, don't bother my little brother. I did everything myself!" Deidara suddenly said to Uchiha Touhuan.
"Hey." Uchiha Touhuan chuckled upon hearing this. "You're quite the loyal one, aren't you?"
"Enough!" At this moment, Onoki's veins were bulging, and a crimson red color was spreading from his bulbous nose across his entire face.
But with Uchiha Touhuan right in front of him, he had to maintain basic courtesy. "Hokage, take your disciple back first. Don't let him wander around the village for a while. Otherwise, if something happens to him, it's something neither of us wants to see, don't you agree?"
"Of course," Uchiha Touhuan didn't provoke the old man who was already on the verge of turning red. He pulled Naruto and prepared to leave. "It's my fault for not disciplining him properly and causing trouble for the Earth Shadow. Naruto, apologize to the Earth Shadow."
"I'm sorry." Naruto bowed respectfully to Onoki.
After Uchiha Touhuan took Naruto away, they hadn't gone far when they heard a loud argument coming from the Earth Shadow's building behind them. A while later, Deidara's powerful scream echoed through the night sky.
Upon hearing the scream, Naruto shrank back and cautiously glanced at Uchiha Touhuan. Seeing that Uchiha Touhuan didn't seem to intend to pursue the matter, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
For the next few days, knowing he had caused trouble, Naruto obediently stayed in the inn until the Joint Chunin Exams officially began.
During the first three days of survival testing, although the two teams brought by Uchiha Touhuan fought extremely hard, only two Uchiha clan members and one civilian member made it to the final confrontation stage.
Fortunately, in this highly dangerous exam, none of the six genin brought by Uchiha Touhuan died; only three were seriously injured. Their injuries, however, helped the two Uchiha clan genin awaken one pair of double-tomoe Sharingan and one pair of single-tomoe Sharingan respectively.
The situation was roughly this: two Konoha teams were surrounded and attacked by a combined squad of Hidden Stone Village genin from the exam hall, facing a dire situation with overwhelming numbers.
However, to preserve Konoha's strength, several civilian ninja from the guard unit spontaneously and fearlessly began protecting the Uchiha clan members within their teams.
After three were severely injured, the immense mental shock caused two Uchiha clan members to undergo a transformation, ultimately achieving a last-ditch counterattack and killing all those who had surrounded them. This scene stunned everyone who wanted to see Konoha humiliated.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Touhuan, sitting in the VIP section, remained calm. Onoki, standing beside him, said, "Looks like we should congratulate the Hokage; the village has gained two more geniuses."
"Those two are still far from being good enough," Uchiha Touhuan said without changing his expression. "Shingetsu is alright, but Masato is still a long way from the standard of a Chunin in our Uchiha clan. Besides, they can't be considered geniuses in Konoha."
Onoki's words faltered. How could he possibly respond to that? "So what if Konoha has geniuses?!"
Moreover, after the survival test, Uchiha Touhuan rewarded the four civilian ninjas who had fought desperately in the test, but the two clansmen who had successfully advanced to the Sharingan were criticized by him.
"What, do you think you won so gloriously?" Uchiha Touhuan scolded the two clan genin who wore their ancestral sunny expressions because of their Sharingan advancement. "Don't forget how you got your Sharingan!"
The two, who had been smug, were reminded of the scenes on the battlefield where their teammates desperately shielded them from ninjutsu, and they lowered their heads in shame.
Only after Uchiha Touhuan left with Naruto and the others did several other civilian-born security ninjas approach them and say to Uchiha Shingetsu and Uchiha Masato:
"Well, don't take it too seriously. The Hokage's strict requirements are for your own good." One of the civilian-born security ninjas comforted them.
"Yes, you two are more talented than us. Only if you advance to the next round can you better protect the village's honor," said one of the team members, whose head was still wrapped in bandages.
"If you really feel bad about it, then do your best in the next round, for our sake too."
These civilian ninjas owe their current strength to the generous teachings of the Uchiha clan instructors in the garrison, so they naturally felt great care for these two Uchiha clan members who were even younger than them.
"Thank you everyone." Uchiha Shingetsu thanked everyone with pursed lips.
"No need to thank me." A teammate waved his hand, "Just do your best in the upcoming matches."
"Yes!" Uchiha Masato nodded vigorously.
Onoki had witnessed everything that happened in front of the training ground, and could only sigh deeply.
He had learned a lot about the Uchiha clan's situation in Konoha through his spies planted there, but with Uchiha Touhuan's rise to power, the spies were exposed and eliminated one by one, and Onoki no longer knew much about the situation in Konoha.
But what he didn't expect was that in such a short time, the Uchiha clan had perfectly integrated into the village.
"This Fifth Hokage, his methods are truly extraordinary." Onoki couldn't help but sigh.
...
Soon, the day of the final competition arrived.
On this day, not only the leaders of the ninja villages of neighboring countries, but even some daimyo from various countries came to Hidden Stone Village to watch this grand event.
As the only two HoKage present, Uchiha Touhuan and Onoki had changed into their respective formal attire and sat on the main platform of the arena.
However, at this moment, a clueless person approached Uchiha Touhuan.
The newcomer had a greasy face and looked bloated; even his luxurious silk robes couldn't hide his foolishness.
He approached Uchiha Touhuan and immediately questioned, "You are Uchiha Touhuan? The Fifth Hokage of the Land of Fire?"
"May I ask who you are?" Uchiha Touhuan frowned slightly. Since he took office as the Grand Minister of State of the Land of Fire, no one had dared to speak to him like this for a long time.
"Hmph, I am the Daimyo of the Land of Grass. Why don't you bow to me?" the Daimyo of the Land of Grass said. Some time ago, he received a reply from the Land of Fire. He had to admit that Miura Kazuo's writing skills were indeed impressive; just a 400-word essay had made him curse in his bedchamber for a whole day.
Coupled with the compensation and reconstruction price list from the Hidden Grass Village, this completely enraged him.
Therefore, after hearing that Uchiha Touhuan would be attending the joint Chunin Exams in Hidden Stone Village , the Daimyo of the Land of Grass, despite the fact that no ninja from his own country were participating, insisted on showing up to join the fun, just to verbally abuse Uchiha Touhuan.
In his eyes, Uchiha Touhuan was a lowly ninja who did things for money, and even if he was the hokage of a major country, he couldn't be disrespectful to him. Didn't he see that Onoki bowed respectfully when he saw him?
"Heh, who do we have here? It's just an ignorant fool." Uchiha Touhuan said with a light laugh.
"You..." The Daimyo of the Land of Grass was furious, "Didn't the Daimyo of the Land of Fire teach you anything about respect?"
"I only know one principle, that is, a subject of a superior nation does not bow to the lord of a inferior nation. You want me to bow? Are you qualified?" Uchiha Touhuan looked down at him, his eyes full of coldness.
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