Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

"Yes!"

The following afternoon, at the entrance of Konoha Village, Uchiha Touko, dressed in formal attire, shook hands with A to say goodbye according to etiquette.

"I'm grateful for the hospitality I've received from Konoha during this time," Ai said.

"Please forgive me for the poor hospitality during this period, Lord Raikage," Uchiha Touko said with a smile as he shook hands with A.

"Your Excellency Hokage, you flatter us. Konoha has treated our Kumogakure with great courtesy, there's no question of any lack of hospitality," A said. "Next time Kumogakure holds the Joint Chunin Exams, Hokage, you must do us the honor of attending."

"Definitely, definitely." Uchiha Touko nodded with a smile.

The two shook hands again to say goodbye, and then the group from Kumogakure embarked on their journey.

After seeing the Raikage off, Uchiha Touko returned to his office, where Nagato and Konan had been waiting for him for quite some time.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, both of you." Uchiha Touko immediately made tea after returning to his office. "Was the previous match exciting?"

Because of Onoki, and because the Akatsuki members, including the Five-Tails, were still unaccounted for, the Amegakure ninjas were temporarily unable to appear. Therefore, the Amegakure ninjas were always watched by a designated person in charge in the VIP room. However, in order to show his sincerity in cooperating with Nagato, Uchiha Touko specially prepared a secluded room for the two of them to watch the Chunin Exams.

"For a disciple of the Hokage to possess such strength at such a young age, he will undoubtedly become a powerful figure in the future," Nagato said.

"Tsunade has already examined you, right? How are you?" Uchiha Touko asked, looking at Nagato who appeared somewhat weak.

"I'm not very optimistic, but it shouldn't affect our future cooperation." Nagato, in his wheelchair, raised his withered arm and touched his eye sockets. "As long as I can hold on until the day I see true peace, then I will die without regrets."

“Nagato…” Konan, standing beside Nagato, pursed her lips, hesitant to speak.

“That day won’t be too far away,” Uchiha Touko said.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the Hokage's office, and a loud voice came from outside: "Uncle Hokage, I'm coming in!"

As soon as the voice fell, the door was pushed open, and Deidara swaggered into the Hokage's office.

These past few days, Onoki has been staying in Konoha, confined to Kakashi's house and unable to leave. This is undoubtedly torture for a member of the underworld. So, as soon as Onoki left, Deidara immediately went to find Yamato. In just a short time this morning, Deidara had already visited two construction sites. Moreover, if Uchiha Touko hadn't made the messenger emphasize that he must come, this kid would probably still be at the construction site mixing explosives right now.

"Uncle Hokage, what do you want with me?" Deidara asked casually.

“Didn’t we say we’d help you find a job? This will be your future boss,” Uchiha Touko said.

"Is that so?" Deidara glanced at Nagato. He didn't say anything about Nagato's wheelchair-bound appearance. After all, as long as it didn't interfere with his art research, it didn't matter where he worked.

"This seems to be..." Konan looked at Deidara with a puzzled expression. As the second-in-command of a ninja village in a neighboring country of the Land of Earth, and having fought against him on the battlefield not long ago, Konan naturally had some information about Iwagakure. This information naturally included information about Deidara, Onoki's personal disciple, and she also knew about his previous defection.

Looking at Deidara, Konan felt that this whole thing was somewhat absurd.

After all, Deidara was a disciple of the Tsuchikage. He defected to Konoha and was then introduced by the Hokage to join their Akatsuki organization. This whole thing is just too abstract to think about.

"You don't need to worry about this guy's strength. He's already reached the level of an elite Jonin. In another two years, even a regular Kage probably won't be a match for him," Uchiha Touko said with a smile.

"You can come with us in a bit," Nagato readily agreed.

After talking with Uchiha Touko that day, Nagato thought a lot about it. The problems with Uchiha Touko's plan that he pointed out were indeed objectively real.

On the contrary, the unification war that Uchiha Touko described—ending all the conflicts in one war—had been lingering in Nagato's mind. The scene of the ninja world after unification, as depicted by Uchiha Touko, was constantly stirring his heartstrings.

Putting aside everything else, just the fact that after unification, the mountains separating the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind could be blown open, allowing excess moisture from the Land of Rain to enter the deserts of the Land of Wind, thus enabling both countries to cultivate crops normally, is something Nagato simply cannot refuse. You see, the reason why the Land of Rain had previously struggled so much was not only due to its geographical location between three major powers, but also because its land was unable to grow food due to its climate, forcing them to spend a lot of money every year to import food from abroad, which was undoubtedly a heavy burden.

Therefore, after thinking about it for several days, Nagato initially approved of Uchiha Touko's cooperation plan. As for Deidara, Nagato simply brought him under his command, treating him as a babysitter for his partner.

"Lord Hokage, would you be so kind as to reveal a little more detail about the plan to me?" Nagato asked at this moment.

“Of course, come with me.” Uchiha Touko smiled slightly, intending to take Nagato to the secret room for a detailed discussion, but at that moment, there was a series of urgent knocks on the door.

"It's terrible, Hokage!" Uchiha Inahashi knocked on the door and then pushed it open, rushing to Uchiha Touko's side and whispering, "The Third Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, has apparently been kidnapped, and his tutor, Ebisu, is seriously injured."

"What?!" Uchiha Touko stood up abruptly upon hearing this. "Konohamaru has been kidnapped?"

After a moment of deep thought, Uchiha Touko calmly said to Uchiha Inaho, "Go tell Kakashi about this and have him lead the security forces to search the village. At the same time, send a message to the border troops to immediately seal off the border. Does the Third Hokage know about this?"

"I don't know yet," Uchiha Inahi said.

"Send someone to inform the Third Hokage about this. Then, have Kakashi oversee the Hokage's office and ask him to calm the Third Hokage down. I'll go there personally, and at the same time, have Kakashi arrange for a team of Anbu to be ready to support me." After saying this, Uchiha Touko picked up Jiraiya from the sword rack beside him.

"Where are you going?" Uchiha Inahi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course we're going to rescue them." Uchiha Touko gritted his teeth.

"Do you already know who the robbers are?" Uchiha Inahi asked.

"In the entire ninja world, besides those bastards from Kumogakure, who else would be so keen on kidnapping other people's children?" Uchiha Touko cursed.

"Lord Hokage, do you need any help?" Nagato asked at this moment.

"No need. We should have treated you both well, but something like this happened in the village, and we're already very sorry. We wouldn't have the heart to trouble you further," said Uchiha Touko.

"Lord Hokage, I think our cooperation can begin now," Nagato said. "Konan, please give the Hokage a ride."

After saying that, Nagato looked at Uchiha Touko, his Rinnegan eyes filled with sincerity: "If it's a pursuit, flying might be faster."

Uchiha Touko gave Nagato a deep look, then nodded, turned to Konan, and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Angel."

"Lord Hokage, please." Konan knew the situation was urgent. She came to the window and quickly formed hand seals. A series of white papers flew out from her sleeves and gathered in the air to form the shape of a large bird. The two of them jumped onto the paper bird one after the other.

"Hey, Uncle Hokage, I'll go with you too." Deidara then took out some clay and started chewing it, summoning a large clay bird, and then jumped onto the bird's back.

Uchiha Touko glanced back at the other person, and considering that someone would be needed to rescue people when he fought A later, he nodded and said, "Go pick up Naruto and the other two first, and then come with me."

……

Chapter 215 Uchiha Touko VS A

Uchiha Touko and Konan rode a paper bird towards the northeast of the Land of Fire. Before long, Deidara, along with Sasuke and the other two, caught up on a clay bird.

"Flying so fast?" Konan looked at Deidara standing directly in front of the clay bird, arms crossed, staring ahead. His expression was also strange. Deidara's flying speed was indeed beyond his expectations. Deidara was able to catch up within twenty minutes after picking up the person, and he seemed to be doing it with ease. With this ability to fly in the air, he would have no problem obtaining the qualification of a special jonin in any of the major ninja villages.

"Teacher." Behind Deidara, Sasuke and the other two greeted Uchiha Touko. Naruto looked the most anxious, as he was the closest to Konohamaru among the three.

"The three of you are here." Uchiha Touko nodded. "Deidara, you take these three with you, but don't follow too closely. If I get into a fight with the Raikage later, I'll have to leave the rescue to you guys."

"Don't worry." Deidara nodded. "Naruto already told me on the way here that the kid who was kidnapped is his little brother, so he's also my little brother, Deidara's little brother. If he dares to kidnap him, I'll make them fly in a minute."

The group traveled smoothly through the air, but it took them half a day to catch up with the Cloud Village group who had been traveling all night in the early hours of the morning.

"It really is them," Uchiha Touko said with a cold smile. The fact that they left in such a hurry clearly meant they had something to hide.

"Lord Hokage, do you need any help when the fight starts?" Konan asked at this moment.

“No need,” Uchiha Touko said. “This is an internal matter of Konoha. Furthermore, in our future cooperation, Konoha and your Akatsuki organization should try to avoid any open involvement before the final battle.”

"I understand." Xiao Nan nodded.

Uchiha Touko glanced at the Cloud Village group below, who were traveling at full speed under A's leadership. Compared to when A left Konoha, their group was significantly larger, indicating that the other side had been prepared.

Uchiha Touko sneered, drew his Lightning Bolt, and leaped down.

As Uchiha Touko's figure glided through the air, azure lightning began to gather around him, slicing through the night sky like a sharp arrow and landing heavily on the path that the Cloud Village group had to take.

Uchiha Touko made no attempt to conceal himself or launch a sneak attack; his appearance was a blatant declaration of his arrival.

After hearing the thunder and lightning in the sky, Ai stopped in his tracks, reached out to stop his subordinates behind him, and stared intently at Uchiha Touko who was descending from the sky.

"The Hokage?" After a while, Ai slowly spoke, "The Hokage seems to have a lot of free time. Was it really necessary to send us this far?"

"No, the Hokage's work is still very busy. However, it seems that you, Raikage, are even busier, having to rush back to Kumogakure late at night." Uchiha Touko stroked the blade of the Swift Lightning Blade, and a layer of electricity slowly rose on its surface. "Our Konoha lost a child today. The security team's investigation revealed that it is related to your Kumogakure delegation. Would you please come back with us for questioning?"

"It seems that the Hokage has come with ill intentions." Seeing Uchiha Touko's posture, Ai knew that if they didn't fight today, the situation wouldn't end well.

After saying that, Ai clenched his fists, and electric sparks began to appear on the surface of his body.

"It seems you're not planning to cooperate, Raikage." The kaleidoscope pattern with lightning bolts appeared in Uchiha Touko's eyes, and the silver eyeshadow of Sage Mode also appeared in his eyes. His aura rose steadily, and the Cloud Village members behind him were intimidated by this aura and involuntarily took a few steps back.

"Hmph." At this moment, Ai also released his own aura without reservation, helping his subordinates to block the oppressive force emanating from Uchiha Touko. "Does Konoha intend to start a war with our Kumogakure?"

"We of Konoha have always cherished peace, but we are not afraid of war in the face of provocation," said Uchiha Touko. "Besides, you are the ones who have come!"

As soon as Uchiha Touko finished speaking, he transformed into a bolt of lightning that pierced the darkness, and the lightning bolt in his hand swiftly slashed towards A.

Ai was not afraid of the attack at all. His fist was crackling with lightning as he met the attack head-on. The two retreated after a brief clash.

Two figures entangled in lightning collided repeatedly under the moonlight, each collision unleashing a blinding white light.

While the two were locked in fierce combat, the main force of the Cloud Hidden Army behind Ai also took the opportunity to flee towards the border.

However, they did not notice that a large clay bird was quietly chasing them in the sky behind them.

"Konohamaru is indeed in their hands." Neji observed with his Byakugan activated, sharing his vision with the three of them. In the scene he saw, in the Cloud Village team below, a middle-aged ninja in the middle had a sack on his back with a child of about 8 years old bound hand and foot. Who else could it be but Konohamaru?

“Senior Deidara, I’ll need your help to intercept their forces in the air later,” Sasuke said. “Make as much noise as possible. We’re very close to the border. The troops stationed at the border and the troops stationed in the Land of Hot Water have received the news and are heading this way. We should try to keep them here while we rescue them.”

"Why are you being so polite with me? Don't call me 'senpai,' just call me 'big brother' like Naruto does," Deidara said casually. "You want to make a big scene, huh? Well then, you'd better watch out for my spectacular artistic performance."

"Naruto, Neji, let's go!" Sasuke nodded. At this moment, Deidara controlled the giant bird to lower the flight altitude a little. After the three of them jumped off the giant bird, they followed Sasuke and headed towards the Cloud Village troops that were fleeing to the border.

……

At this moment, the two shadows in the midst of the fierce battle had also finished their warm-up.

Ai charged toward Uchiha Touko, shouting as he rode through the lightning. The lightning chakra wrapped around his right arm ionized the air into a blazing white trail. Uchiha Touko's Mangekyou Sharingan slowly rotated—in his vision, twelve possibilities of the future unfolded simultaneously like a mirror.

In the third image, the Raikage's fist will shatter the rock three meters to his left; the seventh image shows the opponent suddenly changing direction before contact; only in the ninth image will the lightning strike precisely where he is standing.

"Lightning-level brutality!"

Just as Ai was about to touch Uchiha Touko's figure, Touko's figure suddenly became ethereal. Lightning crackled through the rocks, and before the flying debris could even hit the ground, six shuriken wrapped in purple arcs of electricity attacked from different angles.

"A mere trick!" Ai's body erupted with even more dazzling lightning, and he raised his hand to knock away the hidden weapon.

But beside those shuriken, flashes of lightning streaked across the sky. The magnetic field created by the lightning instantly changed the shuriken's trajectory and accelerated them a second time.

Purple lightning burst forth from the tip of the shuriken, and six lightning spears intertwined to form a cage.

Ai's pupils contracted sharply as the plasma sparks generated by the collision of his right fist, which was surrounded by lightning, and the lightning spear illuminated the entire canyon.

When the light faded, three charred cracks appeared on his right shoulder.

"You can predict my movements?" Ai wiped the blood from her cheek, and suddenly, spiderweb-like cracks appeared in the rock beneath her feet. "Then let's try this!"

Blue chakra enveloped his entire body like tangible flames, and Ai's speed instantly surged. Seven afterimages appeared simultaneously in the canyon, each of them attacking Uchiha Touko with a different trajectory.

A's mastery of Lightning Release ninjutsu has clearly reached its peak; in terms of ultimate speed, he even surpasses Uchiha Touko by a hair's breadth.

"Is this the speed that only the Flying Thunder God Technique can catch up with?" Uchiha Touko's Mangekyou Sharingan spun wildly, countless future images overlapping on his retina. The next second, Uchiha Touko formed the Tiger Seal.

Seven illusions identical to the original appeared out of thin air, each assuming a different defensive stance, colliding with A's illusions one by one. The two's lightning clones exploded one after another, and A's true body appeared to the left of the battle light. His elbow strike, imbued with lightning, pierced through the illusions.

The true fighting light had already appeared behind him, and the lightning bolt in his hand struck down with lightning.