Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 124 Tsunade returns to the village
However, when Neji saw Hyuga Hiashi appear at the door of Uchiha Fugaku's house, he knew that these dream-like days were about to end.

However, after following the head of the family back to the Hyuga family, Hyuga Hiashi suddenly called out to Neji.

"Ningji, follow me." said Hinata Hiashi.

Although Neji was full of confusion, he still followed Hinata Hiashi.

The two of them arrived at the quiet room in Hinata Hiashi's house one after the other.

After the two sat opposite each other, Hyuga Hiashi got straight to the point: "Ningji, the Fifth Hokage intends to accept you as his apprentice, so the family will free you from the cage."

As soon as Hinata Hiashi finished speaking, Neji was stunned on the spot. He did not expect that the surprise would come so suddenly. During this period of time when he was living in Sasuke's house, Sasuke would mention his teacher to him from time to time. In his words, the Fifth Hokage Uchiha Tokou was a powerful and wise man, and now, this person actually took the initiative to offer to accept him as a disciple.

More importantly, the family actually took the initiative to help him free himself from the caged bird, something he hated so much.

"Why me?" Neji asked in confusion. No matter what, it would not be his turn as a member of the branch family to have such a good thing as the Hokage accepting a disciple.

"Hokage-sama values ​​your talent." Hinata Hiashi said, "Before I free you from the cage, there are some things I should tell you."

After saying this, Hinata Hiashi took out a suicide note from his bosom and handed it to Neji: "This is the suicide note left by your father. I originally planned to give it to you when you are older."

"Father's suicide note?" Neji took Hizashi's suicide note, opened it and started reading.

After a long time, Ningji put down the suicide note and was speechless for a long time. He originally thought that his father was forced by this caged bird and had to become the scapegoat of the head of the family.

But unexpectedly, there was another hidden story behind his father's death.

"Okay, take off your headscarf. I'll free you from the cage. As for what you want to do in the future, that's up to you." Hinata Hiashi said, "Also, although Hokage-sama will teach you other ninjutsu in the future, don't give up the family's soft fist method."

"Yes." Neji nodded with red eyes and took off his headscarf.

……

A few days later, Uchiha Tokou brought Sasuke to the Hyuga clan. The Hyuga clan, which has always been known for its old-fashioned and polite nature, naturally did not make it as simple as it did for Sasuke to become a disciple. The Hyuga clan made sufficient preparations, and the entire etiquette process took a whole morning.

"Teacher." Neji bowed respectfully to Uchiha Tokou. It was only at this time that he met Uchiha Tokou for the first time.

Uchiha Douguang smiled and waved his hand, then said, "No need to be polite, Neji, what are your goals for the future?"

"Goal?" Neji was stunned when he heard that. His biggest goal used to be to surpass all his peers from the main family as a member of the branch family, in order to prove himself and seek justice for his father. But now that he knew the truth about his father's death, the caged bird he hated in the past was no longer there. So, when Uchiha Tokou asked him this question, he really didn't know how to answer.

"Haha, no need to rush to answer." Uchiha Douguang smiled, "You are only eight years old, you have plenty of time to figure this out. If you have any questions about your training in the future, you can always come to me. However, the real teaching will not begin until you have figured out what you want to do in the future."

"I understand." Neji nodded.

……

More than a month passed like this. During this month, under Yamato's hurried work, a palace that was as large as the original Fire Capital's palace rose from the ground in the northeast of the village. However, under Uchiha Douguang's deliberate arrangement, these palaces, even the most important and tallest main hall used for court meetings, was three inches shorter than the Hokage Building.

As the news of the official relocation of the capital to Konohagakure spread throughout the Land of Fire, many businessmen flocked to Konoha. In addition, the nobles in the Land of Fire also rushed to Konoha one after another to set up businesses here, and the village also experienced a great wave of development.

With the arrival of these nobles and big businessmen, the village naturally underwent great changes.

The biggest change was the dramatic rise in the reputation of the Guard. It was common knowledge that, coddled by the previous Hokage, the unruly people of Konohagakure were far more rude than the average for the Land of Fire. While the best among them had been imprisoned in the Guard's cells and would soon be assigned to the Sanqing Education Unit for both physical and mental training once Kakashi finished his duties in the Fire Capital, the rest were mostly no pushovers.

So, at the beginning, when those nobles and big businessmen entered Konoha, these unruly people did not take them seriously. After all, they were not even afraid of ninjas, so how could they be afraid of these stinky outsiders?
However, the nobles will not indulge them.

A more representative incident was when a street vendor's stall blocked a noble's carriage and he greeted the noble cordially, but was immediately greeted by the iron fist of the noble's subordinate warrior.

This was the result because this noble from the Fire City had just arrived and was doing this for Uchiha Tokou's sake. If he encountered such a thing in the Fire City, his warriors would have used this man to test their swords.

In the end, when the man was beaten to death, it was the patrolling ninjas from the village who arrived in time to stop the incident and punish both parties.

There were many similar incidents, which led to the villagers' hatred gradually shifting from the guards to these foreign nobles.

After all, although the guards would beat people, they would only do so at the last moment after warnings were ineffective. However, the warriors under these nobles would really fight at the slightest disagreement.

Uchiha Douguang was actually happy to see this happen. These unruly people in the village need to be taught a lesson by professionals. Otherwise, how could he show his kindness?

On the other hand, although the arrival of these nobles and big businessmen promoted the economic development of the entire village, it was also accompanied by gradually rising prices.

Uchiha Tokugawa had anticipated this. As the new capital of the Land of Fire, it was normal for prices to rise in Konoha after many nobles and big businessmen entered. However, what made Uchiha Tokugawa dissatisfied was that after these nobles and big businessmen made money, they did not think about how to repay the village at all, but just kept the money. Only a few of them, such as Cardo, were sensible and knew that they should increase investment in the village after making money to repay the kindness of the Hokage.

Uchiha Douguang watched all this coldly. After these people had completely taken root in the village, it would be time to use the visible kunai to rub against the invisible big hand.

But before that, Uchiha Douguang had another matter to deal with.

At noon that day, Uchiha Douguang also received a report from the guards at the village entrance that Tsunade had returned to the village.

It didn't take long before Tsunade arrived at the Hokage building with her disciple Shizune, and after announcing herself, she strode into the Hokage's office, Uchiha Tokou.

After Tsunade entered the Hokage's office, she first looked at the changes in this office that she had not stepped into for several years.

After seeing the knife rack and lightning placed in the most conspicuous place in the office, Tsunade's eyes moved slightly, but when she looked up and saw the four big words "Political Purity and Harmony" hanging on the knife rack, she couldn't help laughing.

"Ms. Tsunade, it's a bit rude of you to just barge into someone else's office like this." Uchiha Douguang said helplessly.

It was not until then that Tsunade turned around and looked at Uchiha Tokou. This was not the first time they had met. During the Third Ninja World War, after the battle in which Uchiha Tokou opened his Mangekyō Sharingan, it was Tsunade who personally helped heal his injuries. However, Tsunade had not expected that when they met again, Uchiha Tokou was already sitting in this office, still wearing the divine robe of the Fifth Hokage.

"Your office is quite nice, at least better than the old man's." Tsunade strode to pull a chair in the office and sat down in front of Uchiha Tokou's desk.

"If Miss Tsunade likes it, your office can be decorated like this in the future." Uchiha Douguang stood up and took the tea set from the antique shelf next to him and boiled some hot water.

"You have such a noble hobby? I didn't realize it." Tsunade said with her legs crossed. The last time they met, Uchiha Tokou, who was only ten years old, was covered in blood. When he was taken off the battlefield, although he was unconscious, he still held his Thunderbolt tightly in his hand. For Tsunade, it was hard to imagine that the young killer she had seen before was the same person as the gentle Fifth Hokage in front of her.

"Lady Tsunade, you're joking." Uchiha Douguang chuckled and made a cup of tea for Tsunade.

Tsunade picked up the tea and drank it all. Uchiha Douguang then asked, "Tsunade-sama, have you seen the things I asked Jiraiya-sama to bring you? Are you ready to return to the village to take up your post?"

"I've seen the things, but I don't plan to stay in the village for the time being." Tsunade said, "I came back this time just to see what kind of person is the one who forced the old man and that old pervert Jiraiya into such an embarrassing situation. Now it seems that he really lives up to his reputation."

"Really? Can you tell me the reason?" Uchiha Douguang didn't care about Tsunade's teasing. Tsunade was different from Jiraiya. Tsunade was the legitimate granddaughter of the Shodaime. In addition to her contribution to medical ninjutsu, it can be said that almost every ninja in the village had benefited from her. Her reputation in the village was terrifyingly high.

(End of this chapter)