Chapter 54: Not Just Anyone Can Be Konoha's Scapegoat King
Plans change faster than they are made.
Especially since this era hadn't yet reached the ninja world history timeline Kitahara was familiar with. So, sometimes, predicting the future was still more reliably done by the old folks at Mount Myoboku…
Last night, the crow had incited the little boy to strive for the dream of becoming Hokage, and it itself was ambitiously wanting to achieve something great… Only to be immediately confronted by life's greatest difficulty: the bedding beneath it was just too clingy.
Forget it, forget it, let those people off for now. Besides, the cub is too young, they still have plenty of time. Great deeds can't be rushed…
During this period after returning to Konoha, Jiraiya was often nowhere to be found. Uchiha Itachi and Kitahara's routines gradually returned to normal. Every morning, they would go to the training grounds to practice. In the afternoon leisure, they would tease Sasuke until he cried. In the evening, they would stroll by the lake with the family.
Occasionally, the little boy would also agree to Izumi's requests, secretly running off to stake out the sweet shop and help her buy a bag of sweets in advance before school let out.
Amidst this leisurely life, Uchiha Itachi didn't slack off on his training. He could finally stably enter Sage Mode on his own and began to research his own Sage Art ninjutsu.
Just as the genius little ninja's strength was advancing by leaps and bounds, Uchiha Shisui, who had periodically beaten him up, returned to Konoha… This also signified the end of the Land of Grass incident.
The lazy Kitahara hadn't even had time to arrange Danzo's scapegoat situation when that old man returned to Konoha with great merit… Danzo Shimura, in the Land of Grass incident, through a series of feints and real moves, forced Tsuchikage Onoki to lose his influence over the Land of Grass.
Danzo's subordinates quickly surrounded the Land of Grass's only ninja force, compelling the Land of Grass to abandon its southern border defenses facing Konoha, verbally reaching a mutual defense treaty… Meaning, Konoha would be responsible for protecting the Land of Grass in the future, and there was no need for the small country to exhaust its strength to support the Hidden Grass Village.
Although they couldn't directly station ninjas yet, Konoha ninjas could freely enter and exit in unlimited numbers under the pretext of protecting the Land of Grass. If they encountered Hidden Grass Village ninjas during missions, there was no need for any entanglements or explanations…
At the same time, Danzo didn't let the Hidden Grass Village off either, unifying the ninja promotion of the Hidden Grass Village under Konoha's management… Meaning, establishing a unified standard. In the future, Hidden Grass Village ninjas would have a more standardized promotion mechanism, a requirement for the elite-ification of Hidden Grass Village ninjas.
Ninjas without strength in the Hidden Grass Village would be dismissed. Ninjas wanting to be promoted to Chunin or Jonin would have to obediently go to Konoha for review, otherwise, they couldn't be promoted…
Whether it was those ninjas wanting to accept higher-level missions to support their families, or those wanting to become ninjas, the head of Konoha's Root had already planned out their lives for them.
Besides these, there were also various methods including mission registration, transfer of national mission commissions, etc., almost transforming the Hidden Grass Village into a subordinate ninja village of Konoha…
Konoha's Scapegoat King was truly formidable in external affairs.
The ANBU members dispatched with Danzo had to put aside their prejudices against him and Root. Even Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shisui, who had previously known about Danzo's petty schemes and maneuvers, had to acknowledge his capabilities were worthy of a Hokage Advisor.
Although they hadn't captured Zetsu, this 'Konoha rogue ninja,' the entire Konoha, from top to bottom, believed Danzo's achievement was greater than capturing Zetsu… The Hidden Grass Village, which Konoha hadn't obtained even through multiple Shinobi World Wars, had submitted during a mission to pursue a rogue ninja.
If before Danzo had finalized the situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi could still define his actions as damaging the peaceful relations between Konoha and the Hidden Grass Village… It was just that Danzo's actions were a step faster.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, under pressure, had to appoint him as Hokage Assistant. His subordinate ANBU training class, namely Root… now had the same power as ANBU to select members from within the village's ninjas.
To consolidate the achievements of this Land of Grass incident, and also to coerce the ninjas of the Hidden Grass Village into submission, Konoha's leadership set a time for a joint Chunin promotion examination, to be participated in by ninjas from both Konoha and the Hidden Grass Village.
Jiraiya, who usually appeared and disappeared like a divine dragon, finally showed his head after receiving the news, casually demanding the list from his teacher and adding Uchiha Itachi's name…
At the training grounds near the clan compound.
Because it was a rest day, Uchiha Izumi was also practicing shuriken. She clearly wasn't that serious, glancing towards the base of a tree from time to time… Itachi was secretly eating a skewer of Three-Color Dango, Shisui was reading a book beside him, and Kitahara was pecking at a pomegranate it had found from who-knows-where.
The little girl pouted unhappily, "Itachi…"
The little boy's face looked even worse than hers, "Izumi, you need to be more focused when throwing shuriken!"
"...Caw..."
Kitahara forcefully spat out a pomegranate seed stuck in its throat and cawed with a sigh. Some people truly stop at nothing!
Shisui, however, couldn't help but chuckle softly, handing the little boy a tissue and looking at Uchiha Izumi, "Itachi is making a lot of sense..."
"He's clearly just sneak-eating..." Uchiha Izumi looked dejectedly at the little boy wiping his mouth.
"I just needed a suitable hidden weapon..." Uchiha Itachi forcefully argued. Suddenly, his palm shot up. What was clearly an ordinary bamboo skewer for food flashed like a meteor in an instant, disappearing into the bushes.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
With a fierce shout, a wall rose in front of the bushes. The chakra-infused bamboo skewer penetrated the thick wall... The suddenly activated ninjutsu instantly startled the leisurely group.
"Who's there!"
"Come out!"
"Relax, relax..." The stout, white-haired old man jumped out, frantically making the children put down their ninja tools.
Uchiha Itachi was rather embarrassed, "Teacher Jiraiya..."
Jiraiya ignored him, busying himself with finding the bamboo skewer on the earth wall, marveling, "Covering an ordinary bamboo skewer with chakra, has the chakra blade already been applied to this extent... Truly my disciple!"
"..."
Kitahara had a head full of question marks. Jiraiya wouldn't be Fugaku in disguise, right? Did something happen that I don't know about?
Jiraiya turned his head with satisfaction and looked at Uchiha Itachi, "I came to inform you, I've already signed you up for the Chunin Exams."
Hearing the news of the Chunin Exams, the reactions of the few were quite different. Uchiha Izumi's eyes were full of admiration, Shisui was mostly gratified, and Uchiha Itachi was full of motivation:
"Yes, Teacher Jiraiya!"
"The old man said you must strive to do well, preferably eliminating all the others from the Hidden Grass Village. Seeing the chakra blade, I'm relieved..." Jiraiya nodded and then instructed, "But also avoid casualties. After all, this is the first time jointly holding it with the Hidden Grass Village. Try to control yourself."
"Yes!"
"I thought you were on a date with the little girl!" Jiraiya glanced at Uchiha Izumi, then looked disdainfully at his disciple, "Even if you really were on a date, she's too different from Tsunade when she was young. Your taste is really bad..."
Uchiha Itachi weakly gestured for him to leave, "Teacher Jiraiya..."
(End of this chapter)