Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

"It's all for the long-term peace of the ninja world," Nagato said. "Then, we'll set off back to the Land of Rain tomorrow. The Hokage will probably be very busy these next few days, so we won't bother you any longer."

"Alright, Deidara, thank you for taking good care of him," said Uchiha Touko.

The following day, Nagato and Konan led the delegation from the Land of Rain who had come to participate in the Chunin Exams back to the Land of Rain, while Uchiha Touko began to formally handle the aftermath of this military conflict.

The first event was a public memorial ceremony held in front of the Konoha Heroes Monument.

That morning, both Uchiha Tokō and the Third Hokage attended the ceremony wearing specially made black suits.

As the current Hokage, it was perfectly normal for Uchiha Touko to preside over this ceremony. As for the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, everyone had made such a great sacrifice to save his grandson, so Sarutobi Hiruzen also solemnly participated in this ceremony with Konohamaru.

Meanwhile, the heads of the various ninja clans in the village also changed into black suits and came to the scene. Even Naruto, who had been locked in his house since Deidara sent him back to the village that day, changed into a black suit embroidered with the Uzumaki clan crest early this morning and came to the Konoha Heroes Monument.

Naruto looked serious at that moment, his usual playful demeanor completely gone.

As the young clan leaders of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, Sasuke and Neji, who also attended the ceremony, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Naruto. For the past two days, Naruto had been staying indoors, and even Hinata's attempts to contact him had yielded no response, which had greatly worried them. However, seeing Naruto attend the memorial ceremony now put their minds at ease.

Although it was clearly not the right time for conversation, the two exchanged glances with Naruto and then stood in their designated positions, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Before long, Uchiha Touko, dressed in a black haori, slowly walked to the front of the stage. After walking onto the stage, Uchiha Touko did not rush to speak. The ninjas and civilians who came to participate in this ceremony below also remained silent.

After a three-minute silence, Uchiha Touko looked back at the Konoha Heroes Monument behind him before slowly speaking:

“Four hundred and seventy-nine names.” Uchiha Touko’s tone was heavy. “These are not cold numbers, but four hundred and seventy-nine once vibrant lives, four hundred and seventy-nine burning wills to protect Konoha, comrades-in-arms who fought side by side, neighbors who helped each other, a father who was the pillar of a family, a gentle mother who was a child, a proud child and grandchild of an old man… It is you, all of you here, the void in your hearts that can never be filled.”

Uchiha Touko's gaze slowly swept over the crowd standing solemnly below the stage, passing over the faces that were trying to hold back tears, the clenched fists, and the children's innocent yet sorrowful eyes.

"Just three days ago, the conspiracy of the Hidden Cloud Village shattered the peaceful tranquility. The flames of war once again mercilessly burned the peace we cherished. We were forced to take up arms, not to conquer and plunder, but to protect—to protect the future represented by the Will of Fire."

"Fortunately, we, Konoha, achieved the final victory."

"But we also paid a heavy price for this victory. These 479 comrades used their most precious lives to build an insurmountable wall for the future of Konoha! Their blood stained the banner of victory! Their souls became the cornerstone protecting Konoha!"

Uchiha Touko's voice wasn't very loud, but it clearly reached the ears of every Konoha resident present. Naruto raised his head, gazing thoughtfully at the Konoha Heroes Monument behind Uchiha Touko.

"The price of victory is far too heavy. This weight will forever weigh on my heart and on the shoulders of all the living. The names of these 479 heroic souls will not only be engraved on cold stone tablets, but also etched into the depths of the souls of every one of us who are alive! Their sacrifice is the most severe test for us: Are we worthy of the respite they bought with their lives? Are we strong enough, united enough, and wise enough to protect everything they defended with their lives?"

"The dead are gone, and the living remain. Endless grief and sorrow are our right at this moment. But to wallow in grief is the greatest betrayal of the departed! They fell so that we could continue forward, so that the flame of Konoha could burn even brighter!"

"So rise up! Fellow countrymen of Konoha! Wipe away your tears, grasp the kunai and hope in your hands! Inherit their legacy, shoulder their dreams! Let the light of these 479 heroic souls guide our path forward!"

Uchiha Touko suddenly turned around, faced the monument again, and bowed almost bent over, remaining there for a long time.

When Uchiha Touko straightened up again, his face showed only steely resolve.

"In the name of the Fifth Hokage, I hereby declare:"

These 479 warriors are heroes of Konoha! Their names and deeds will be forever etched in Konoha's history! Their souls will forever remain with Konoha, and with the inextinguishable Will of Fire!

"May your souls rest in peace. Konoha will remember your sacrifice! We will carry on your will! Where the leaves dance, the fire will never die! We will continue to illuminate the new seedlings and protect this village—until the end of our lives!"

As Uchiha Touko finished speaking, the scene fell into a three-minute moment of silence once again.

Three minutes later, everyone present raised their heads and solemnly gazed at the Konoha Heroes Monument in front of them.

After Uchiha Touko finished speaking, he placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the Konoha Heroes Monument and then bowed again.

Behind them, Hiruzen Sarutobi followed closely with Konohamaru. While bowing and presenting flowers, Konohamaru knelt down and performed a kowtow.

After Konohamaru woke up, he learned what price Konoha had paid to rescue him from Kumogakure. From that day on, the boy seemed to have grown up overnight. As soon as his body recovered a little, he began to ask his grandfather how to become stronger.

Subsequently, the leaders of the various ninja clans came to the monument one by one, bowing and offering flowers.

The civilians who came to participate in the ceremony also stepped forward one after another.

The entire ceremony lasted for the whole morning, and the crowd in front of the monument slowly dispersed around noon.

For the villagers, the incident was almost over, but for Uchiha Touko, it was just the beginning.

Just now, the court of the Land of Fire received a document from the official government of the Land of Lightning. The daimyo of the Land of Lightning, in strong terms, accused Uchiha Touko of disregarding peace and wanting to start a war between the two countries. He also demanded that Uchiha Touko immediately release the detained ninja from Kumogakure. Otherwise, if the two countries go to war, Uchiha Touko will be the biggest war criminal who destroys the peace of the ninja world!

Although the shamelessness of the Daimyo and officials of the Land of Lightning was well-known throughout the ninja world, Uchiha Tokō couldn't help but laugh in anger after seeing the document. Clearly, Konoha was the victor in this military conflict, so how dare these barbarians from the Land of Lightning call him a war criminal!

Of course, the ministers of the Land of Fire would not stand idly by while their respected Grand Minister of State was humiliated, and immediately drafted a more incisive document to send back.

Uchiha Touko knew that this pointless war of words between the two sides would probably continue until their A truly regained consciousness before the prisoner exchange negotiations would officially begin. However, A was first turned into a charred corpse by Uchiha Touko, then had an arm blown off, and finally had to endure the damage caused by the Heavenly Delivery Technique. It was estimated that it would take at least ten days to half a month for him to regain consciousness.

Therefore, for Uchiha Tokō, the most important thing now is to arrange the compensation for the fallen soldiers.

In order to further strengthen the cohesion of the village's ninjas and prepare for the upcoming system reforms, Uchiha Touko plans to personally distribute the compensation money to each household. Therefore, Uchiha Touko will likely be very busy for some time to come.

……

As the people attending the memorial ceremony gradually dispersed, Naruto arrived at the Konoha Heroes Memorial and silently gazed at the reliefs on the stone tablet that recorded various major events since the founding of Konoha. From the establishment of Konoha by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, to his father's sacrifice to seal the Nine-Tails, and then below these reliefs were the names of one ninja after another who sacrificed themselves for Konoha.

Naruto reached out and touched the names, feeling the texture emanating from the stone tablet, his expression dazed.

Since returning from the battlefield, Naruto's heart has never been at peace.

Although his teacher had told him about the nature of war since he was a child, and the fact that the people of the Land of Fire had been living better and better over the years told him that Konoha was on the right path, in the past few days, a voice seemed to be constantly telling him in his subconscious that chakra should not be a tool of war, but a bridge for mutual understanding between people. Only in this way can the ninja world achieve true peace.

However, the values ​​he had formed from the education he received from Uchiha Touko since childhood made it difficult for him to accept this point. Therefore, Naruto's thoughts have been very chaotic these past few days, to the point that he is even awakened by that subconscious voice when he is sleeping.

Chapter 227 Ninja Sect

"Chakra should not be a tool of war. People can understand each other through the connection of chakra, and only then can true peace come..."

Inside the Hatake residence, Naruto suddenly woke up with a start, then gasped for breath.

Ever since he returned from the battlefield that day, this eerie voice has been echoing in his mind while he sleeps, repeating the same words over and over.

However, Uchiha Touko had already explained the idea of ​​eliminating war through mutual understanding in a very simple and clear way when he was teaching the three of them.

Resources in the ninja world are limited. When resources are insufficient to fill one's stomach, even if both sides understand each other's hunger, when faced with only one serving of food left, can mutual understanding alone make one side voluntarily give up filling their stomach?

Naruto knew that this was impossible, but the voice kept ringing in his ears, as if reminding him that this was his mission.

Naruto sighed, reached out and touched the seal on his abdomen, his consciousness entering the sealed space.

Naruto approached Kurama, who was lying on the ground. Kurama raised one eyelid and said, "What are you doing here so late at night instead of sleeping?"

"Brother Kurama, did you really not hear any strange noises inside my body?" Naruto asked, looking up.

"You've asked me that question so many times, and I haven't heard a thing," Nine-Tailed Fox said, baring his teeth. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to sleep."

After saying that, Nine-Tails closed its eyes and changed its position to lie down.

"Wait a minute, Brother Kurama," Naruto said hurriedly upon seeing this.

"Kid, if you're really that free, then go outside and train. If you lose to that Uchiha brat in the Chunin Exams, don't even think about borrowing my power again," Kurama said impatiently.

"Brother Kurama, do you think chakra can really connect people's hearts and make them understand each other?" Naruto sighed and leaned against the sealed gate with a sense of loss.

Upon hearing Naruto's question, Kurama's eyes snapped open. He looked down at the boy in front of him, who was not even as tall as his claws, and fell silent.

“Nine Lamas, in the future, you will meet a boy with bright blue eyes. At that time, you brothers will all be of one mind with him, and you will play freely together in the wilderness.”

Suddenly, Kurama recalled the words spoken by the Sage of Six Paths when he was young, as he stroked Kurama's soft fur.

"A boy with azure eyes? Old man, you'd better be referring to this kid." Kurama thought to himself.

"Sigh, Kurama-nii, just take it as me talking nonsense. How could chakra possibly have such a function?" Naruto, who had not received a response from Kurama for a long time, stood up helplessly, instinctively dusted off the non-existent dust beneath him, and prepared to leave the sealed space. "I won't disturb your rest any longer. Goodnight, Kurama-nii."

"Chakra can do what you say, no, the function you're describing is the original purpose of chakra when it was first created." At that moment, Kurama's voice rang out behind Naruto.

"What?" Naruto turned around in disbelief and looked at Kurama.

"Boy, stick your fist out." The Nine-Tails inside the sealed space sat up, looking down at Naruto, and then stretched out a huge fist from the sealed gate.

"Show your fist? Fist bump, huh?" Naruto raised his right fist somewhat bewildered, and the two fists, one big and one small, touched.

In the next instant, a flood of memories and emotions that weren't his own suddenly surged into Naruto's mind. From the joy of living in the wild with Kurama, to the rage when influenced by the negative emotions of humans, to the bewilderment when he encountered Konoha's First Hokage, who said, "Ku-Tails, you're too strong. For your safety, you need to be sealed away," followed by the shock of being pinned down by a giant wooden doll, to the resentment and anger when controlled by Madara Uchiha's genjutsu, then the boredom he felt inside the bodies of two generations of Jinchuriki, including his mother, to the fury he felt when controlled by the masked man during the Nine-Tails' rampage, and finally, the memories of being inside his own body.

With these memories and emotions, Naruto finally understood why Kurama harbored such great hostility towards humans.

At the same time, Kurama also realized that the voice that had been in Naruto's mind these past few days was not a lie, and Kurama felt that the voice was very familiar, as if it had been heard somewhere before.

"Is this... really something that chakra can do?" Naruto asked, looking blankly at his hands.

“This is called Ninjutsu, kid,” Kurama said.

"Ninjutsu..." After exchanging punches with Kurama, Naruto naturally mastered this technique that uses chakra to connect their hearts. At this moment, he became excited, "If we have this technique, mutual understanding between people won't be just empty words, and then peace..."

Naruto became more and more excited as he spoke, but his excitement came to an abrupt halt when he thought of the word "peace."

Yes, this technique can enable people to understand each other and communicate their thoughts, but it cannot solve the most fundamental problem: what good is mutual understanding when faced with limited resources?

Thinking of this, Naruto's mood plummeted again.

"However, if I have this technique, I can fight alongside Sasuke and Neji in the future... No, how can this technique be used for fighting? That shouldn't be the original purpose of chakra... But... Ahhhhhh!" Inside the sealed space, Naruto suddenly clutched his head in agony and rolled around inside the sealed space.

"Hey! Kid, calm down!" Nine-Tails quickly called out to remind him.

After a long while, Naruto, who was inside the sealed space, finally calmed down, his head covered in sweat.

"Are you alright, kid?" Nine-Tailed Fox asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I...I'm fine." Naruto looked up and forced a smile.

"Did you hear that voice again just now?" Nine-Tailed Fox asked, frowning.

“Yes.” Naruto nodded. “Just now, I was just having a thought in my mind about using this technique you taught me to fight alongside Sasuke and Neji next time, when that voice appeared again.”

"However, Kurama, back in the Ninja Cult era, with this technique in existence, there should have been very few wars between people, right?" Naruto asked at this moment.

"The era of Ninjutsu? That was a long time ago," Kurama said. "It predates the ninjutsu you use now by a great deal. It was a time when humans were still ignorant and either feared or abused the power of chakra."

"The wise man who created the Ninja School believed that chakra is the manifestation of spiritual energy and a bridge for understanding between people. He used chakra to help people cultivate wasteland, irrigate, heal wounds, and even... quell conflicts. He allowed people to feel each other's thoughts and pain through chakra, thereby achieving understanding and coexistence. This is the original 'Ninja School'—a path of cultivation that pursues peace and understanding through the medium of chakra."

“That sounds wonderful,” Naruto said, “but in the future, chakra will become a weapon for people to fight each other…”

"Yes... No matter how beautiful the ideal, it cannot withstand the complexity and desires of the human heart. The wise man who founded the Ninja Clan had two sons. The elder son inherited great power and talent. He believed that power was the key to bringing peace and that order needed to be established and maintained by the strong. His younger son, on the other hand, inherited his ideals and indomitable spirit. He believed in the understanding and bonds between people and that peace could only be created through joint efforts."

Naruto's heart pounded, as if some kind of destiny was echoing in his ears: "And then...they..."

The Nine-Tails' voice grew stern: "The clash of ideologies ultimately escalated into a battle between brothers. The elder brother pioneered the path of 'jutsu,' refining and combat-oriented chakra, pursuing the ultimate power and individual strength. The younger brother, on the other hand, inherited the mantle of 'Ninjutsu,' emphasizing cooperation and connection. Their struggle spanned the entire era and completely transformed the way chakra was used. Ninjutsu's peaceful ideal of 'connection and understanding' was gradually replaced by the struggle and killing of 'jutsu' under the temptation of war and power. Thus began the era of 'ninjas' and 'ninjutsu'... The world that wise man envisioned ultimately deviated from its ideal."

Naruto nodded upon hearing this.

"Kid, you don't seem surprised at all by this?" Nine-Tails asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Yes, my teacher once taught me that if the resources of the ninja world cannot meet everyone’s survival needs, then even if people can understand each other, it still cannot prevent war from coming,” Naruto said.

Kurama fell silent upon hearing this. He remembered that the first time he used chakra in battle was when two neighboring villages were fighting over the only water source.

“Your teacher certainly has a keen understanding of this,” Nine-Tailed Fox said.