Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 126 The Changes in the Uchiha Clan

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha, is 67 years old.

After being impeached and removed from office, the elderly Hiruzen Sarutobi became depressed. One night, while drunk, he took a walk and accidentally fell into the water, where he stopped breathing in the early hours of the morning.

Pawn!

It's all the fault of the younger generation of ninjas in the Sarutobi clan. They knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was nearly 70 years old and that he was in a bad mood, yet they let the old man live alone in the huge Hokage mansion, which resulted in tragedy.

This is the conclusion reached by the investigation team dispatched by the Konoha Jonin Tournament.

After expressing their deepest sorrow, the Jonin Conference punished the Sarutobi clan by removing 28 Sarutobi ninjas from their positions and sending them home to reflect on their actions.

The incident caused quite a stir, and rumors spread everywhere that "the Hokage actually died in a water pit, proving that water style is indeed effective against fire style."

The villagers of Konoha found such a bizarre rumor quite plausible and began to discuss it amongst themselves, none of them considering how Hiruzen Sarutobi could possibly have drowned.

Ordinary people don't have brains, but ninjas don't. Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were even more skeptical. If a genin can walk on water, how could Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, fall into the water and choke to death?

However, after they personally examined Hiruzen Sarutobi's body, they found that it was indeed a perfectly healthy body, with only obvious signs of water inhalation in his lungs and signs of inflammation and high fever.

There were no signs of battle inside the Hokage's residence, only an overly lush vegetation.

But ninjas never believe in evidence. Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado firmly believe that Hiruzen Sarutobi was murdered.

But they also knew that the vast majority of Konoha Jonin in the Jonin Tournament disliked Hiruzen Sarutobi and were overjoyed at his death, as if they had gotten rid of a huge burden.

That's why the Jonin Conference swiftly concluded that he died of illness, striving to send Hiruzen Sarutobi to the memorial tablet as quickly as possible and completely close the coffin.

The two old men and women, unwilling to give up, sent their trusted ninjas to urgently convey the relevant information to Jiraiya, who was out searching for Tsunade, urging him to speed up and bring her back.

Perhaps, when Tsunade returns, she will be able to see some problems and turn things around.

The cause of Hiruzen Sarutobi's death is of great importance, as it will not only affect the situation of the Sarutobi clan, but also determine the future power of the two individuals and the future of their respective families.

You can't be satisfied until the very end.

Uchiha Izumi found out everything that had happened in the village and told it all to Xia Zuo, making Xia Zuo laugh out loud: "Those two old men and women have really lost their minds. They were standing on the dry bank after Hiruzen Sarutobi died, but now they've jumped into the water themselves."

"Izumi, your Uchiha clan has recovered well, and their intelligence gathering is very satisfactory."

Uchiha Izumi laughed and said, "Hehe, because we Uchiha are rich now."

"Following my brother's advice, I separated and resettled the clan members, which reduced the clan's expenses. After cooperating with Tian Tian's family, our income increased several times over."

"With money, we can buy more properties, settle more people, and recruit more ordinary workers."

Uchiha Izumi tilted her head cutely and said in confusion, "And then—I don't know how it happened, but the information was collected just like that."

Xia Zuo laughed and said, "A ninja's job is to gather intelligence, but in reality, there isn't that much secret intelligence."

"No matter how secretive or confidential the intelligence is, it is inevitable that it will be spread during the process of use and transmission. As long as there are enough industries, enough people, and effective information management, it is natural to obtain intelligence by gathering information."

"For example, the Book of Seals in Konoha Village has only been opened a few times in the past 20 years. Only the Fourth Hokage learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Orochimaru learned the Impure World Reincarnation Technique."

"The secrecy has been maintained to such an extent that even most of the ninjas in Konoha Village still know that the Scroll of Seals is hidden in the Hokage's office?"

Uchiha Izumi asked doubtfully, "Brother, there are always some pieces of information that are kept very secret, and no one knows about them."

Xia Zuo nodded: "I admit, it does exist."

"But information that can be kept completely secret is rare, and if it can't be used for anything, it's just worthless dead information."

Uchiha Izumi nodded: "I understand, brother."

Xia Zuo nodded and continued, "In a few years, as your generation of Uchiha ninjas gradually come of age, your strength will naturally increase, and the structural reform of the Uchiha clan will be almost complete."

On the night of the Uchiha massacre, all the Jonin died, and the once powerful direct lineage was wiped out, clearing away all obstacles to reform.

Therefore, Xia Zuo, through Uchiha Izumi and Uchiha Shisui, implemented sweeping reforms of the Uchiha clan, completely overturning the previous clan-wide cohabitation system.

Building a wall around themselves not only completely isolates them from Konoha Village, leading to a lack of communication and emotional distance, but also makes them particularly vulnerable to being alienated.

When faced with a powerful enemy, the wall offers no defense whatsoever, making it particularly easy for the enemy to besiege it.

Therefore, no walls or gates of any kind were built in the new Uchiha clan territory.

There were no visible guards on the four main roads; instead, there was a surveillance network consisting of Uchiha ninjas, ninjutsu monitors, ninja cats, and crows.

Most importantly, this new Uchiha clan territory is very small, with an even smaller population. Even the dignified Uchiha clan patriarch, Uchiha Izumi, does not live in the clan territory, but instead lives in the original old house.

Taking herself as an example, Uchiha Izumi broke up all the families without ninjas and scattered them throughout Konoha Village, where they lived among all sorts of villagers.

The Uchiha clan's territory was transformed into a dormitory for singles. Only single young Uchiha ninjas and young Uchiha ninjas who had just started families would live in their clan's territory.

After all, it's rent-free.

In addition, during holidays, Uchiha Izumi would gather his clansmen here to distribute holiday benefits, assess the children's academic performance, and award scholarships.

As the family became increasingly wealthy, they began distributing money more frequently, with each distribution being quite generous.

After the Uchiha clan returned home with large bags and small packages, it naturally aroused the jealousy of the villagers, and a series of bad rumors began to circulate.

Both Izumi Uchiha and Shisui were worried about this, which made Xia Zuo laugh and comfort them, telling them not to worry and teaching them how to open up channels for villagers to join the Uchiha family.

The villagers of Konoha soon discovered that as long as their children married Uchiha children, even if it was just a simple boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, Uchiha Izumi would treat them as relatives and provide them with various benefits.

In just one year, the wind direction reversed 180 degrees.

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