Chapter 179: Two Years Later
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After A left, dragging Killer Bee with him, Tobi emerged from the ground.
"Lord Douhuan, what now?" Tobi asked. They had constructed such an elaborate Truman Show for Killer Bee, but now Truman himself had been forcibly taken away.
"Let's call it a day," Uchiha Douhuan clapped his hands and removed his disguise. "Finally, I don't have to wear this getup anymore."
"But, we've already sold all the tickets for the finals," Tobi said. "All those people who bought tickets came for Killer Bee."
"So what?" Uchiha Douhuan spread his hands. "We sold those tickets fair and square by our own skill; on what grounds should we refund them?"
"As for how to explain to the audience who bought tickets..." Uchiha Douhuan pondered for a moment, then decided, "Just say our program encountered an irresistible force from official channels and had no choice but to cancel. No need to say much else."
"Will that be enough?" Tobi asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Yes," Uchiha Douhuan said. "Explaining too clearly would actually be detrimental to our plan. Leaving some room for them will, on the contrary, encourage their wild speculation. I remember the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning seems to be a white man, right?"
"I understand." Tobi then went to make the arrangements.
"By the way, from now on, one team of White Zetsu will be permanently stationed in the Land of Lightning. You don't need to do much, just engage in some petty theft and 'zero-dollar shopping' under the guise of dark skin every few days," Uchiha Douhuan then instructed.
"Yes!" Tobi nodded.
"The Land of Lightning Has Hip-Hop" program, which had been all the rage in the Land of Lightning for nearly a month, thus ended so unceremoniously.
The black audience members who had bought tickets were naturally very dissatisfied with this outcome. Under the deliberate guidance of the White Zetsu remaining in Kaminari no Miyako, oppositional sentiments quietly grew.
Over the next period, the public security level in Kaminari no Miyako declined particularly severely, which was also a very normal occurrence.
The black-white rift in the Land of Lightning had been provoked. A large number of 'hājīhēi' (derogatory term for black Kumo citizens influenced by rap culture) in Kaminari no Miyako naturally gathered together. This group of 'hājīhēi' sang crime-related rap every day; what would happen as a result was self-evident.
And the Land of Lightning's Daimyo had, generations ago, already become a mascot who merely obeyed the Raikage's every command. Therefore, by the time A, far from Kaminari no Miyako, became aware of this situation developing in his own country, this turmoil was already completely out of control and had begun to spread throughout the entire Land of Lightning.
A, upon discovering all this, naturally wouldn't sit idly by. He directly had the Land of Lightning's Daimyo issue an order prohibiting the continued existence of rap music within Kaminari no Miyako.
But this ban, on the contrary, helped complete the closed loop within the rap culture. From then on, the Land of Lightning's underground rap scene formally got on the right track.
Originally, when rap culture was in the public eye, singers still had some scruples. But now that it had officially moved underground, the lyrics became increasingly unbridled. Violence, crime, and hatred, all introduced under the guidance of the White Zetsu, were written into the lyrics and sung at the underground gatherings of the 'hājīhēi'.
A, facing this unprecedented new way of playing, appeared somewhat at a loss. Even now, he hadn't realized why all this was happening within the Land of Lightning and was still trying to solve the problem using past methods. He dispatched a large number of Kumogakure ninjas to try and capture the main culprit behind all this, the rap singer Chris Light, Uchiha Douhuan's disguise, to understand everything.
But Uchiha Douhuan, far away in Konoha, after hearing White Zetsu's report, directly signaled Tobi to make a big move.
When Chris Light's body was found hanging in a conspicuous place in Kaminari no Miyako, with all fatal wounds clearly inflicted by a samurai's long sword, the conflict was thoroughly ignited.
That night, the 'hājīhēi' within Kaminari no Miyako gathered together and directly launched a riot.
A large number of 'hājīhēi' from Kaminari no Miyako gathered, launched a protest march, and then the White Zetsu mixed into the marching crowd used 'zero-dollar shopping' to open the gates to a new world for the Land of Lightning's 'hājīhēi'.
After this, the black-white rift within the Land of Lightning was laid bare for all to see, and it also, more or less, affected the relatively closed-off Kumogakure Village.
Under the influence of this atmosphere within the country, ninjas of different skin colors within Kumogakure also began to lose their previous trust in each other. And this point was most directly reflected in the suddenly soaring casualty rate numbers in ordinary missions.
After experiencing all this, Killer Bee also began to realize he might have been used. He also tried to make efforts; his new songs began to promote love and peace.
But this had no effect whatsoever. The White Zetsu mixed into the Land of Lightning only needed to spread the rumor that he had been co-opted by the Land of Lightning's higher-ups to turn all his efforts into bubbles.
After all, people only believe what they want to believe.
...
After also stirring up the waters in the Land of Lightning, his biggest rival was too preoccupied to bother him. Konoha, on the other hand, truly entered a period of high-speed development.
In just two short years, Konoha's prosperity had already surpassed that of the former Fire Capital. Various sectors flourished. The originally weaker military industry, with the support of the major client, the Land of Waterfall, also developed rapidly.
And Konoha's new generation of children also thrived in this rare environment of peace.
Sasuke, as he grew older, became increasingly composed. His manner of dealing with people already possessed some of the elegant demeanor of a noble young master. Although he usually kept a low profile at the Ninja Academy, the Seven Star Society study group, which currently dominated the Academy, was indisputably led by him.
Naruto, however, was his complete opposite, always wearing a radiant smile on his face. Different from the original timeline, Naruto's popularity among the girls in the Ninja Academy even surpassed Sasuke's, who was in the same grade. After all, for those little girls, compared to Sasuke who appeared gentle and polite but exuded a slight sense of distance, a sunny and cheerful boy like Naruto seemed much easier to get along with.
The Konoha 12 precursors from their year also had their own respective encounters and developments.
Among them, the most unexpected for Uchiha Douhuan was Haruno Sakura.
According to Tsunade, this child's talent in medical arts was astounding. In just a few years, she had completely mastered basic medical ninjutsu. Furthermore, her talent in the fine chakra control most needed by medical ninjas was uniquely advantaged. Tsunade had already taken her on as her direct successor in advance.
It could be said that among this year's students, apart from those two freaks Naruto and Sasuke, this girl was the strongest. However, Sakura's current achievements did not come entirely without a price.
The dark eye circles the little girl sported year-round and her hairline, which had receded by a centimeter before she even turned 12, all proved that studying medicine was truly not something an ordinary person could persevere in.
And Sakura, immersed in the ocean of knowledge, naturally had no time to indulge in girlish romantic fantasies all day as in the original timeline. Moreover, because she spent all her grooming time studying, she appeared somewhat unkempt, and her relationship with Naruto was just that of normal peers.
As for those children who joined Konoha later, Fū had lived in Konoha for two years, forming deep friendships with Naruto and the others here. Her desire to return to Takigakure Village was not as strong as it was initially.
Karin, after some hesitation, still proactively sought out Uchiha Douhuan and became the Three-Tails Jinchuriki. As for the reason, it was because she wanted to have enough strength in the future to repay Uchiha Douhuan who rescued her and her mother from hell.
As for Deidara, this kid had already become Yamato's golden partner, serving as the Chief Demolition Expert for Yamato Construction Group. Konoha's current infrastructure speed owed a great deal to his contributions. Furthermore, under this fellow's research, Konoha's basic chemistry level also advanced by leaps and bounds.
...
Another graduation season arrived. The sixth-year students of the Ninja Academy, after completing their graduation exams, successfully received their forehead protectors and joined Konoha's ninja sequence.
Inside the Hokage office, Uchiha Douhuan smiled and placed a Konoha forehead protector on Neji's head, then patted his shoulder and said, "Not bad, looking very spirited. Congratulations, from today onwards, you are a true ninja."
Neji's eyes were also full of excitement. To be personally awarded a forehead protector by the Hokage was definitely an immense honor.
"After graduating, any plans?" Uchiha Douhuan asked with a smile after serving Neji a cup of tea.
"All according to Teacher's arrangements," Neji replied.
"With your current strength, directly participating in the Chunin Exams wouldn't be any problem at all. However, finding ninjas in your year who could form a team with you is truly not easy," Uchiha Douhuan said. "Originally, I planned to team you up with Lee and Tenten, who usually play with you all. Lee is fine, but Tenten, after graduating, directly joined the Ninja Tool Research Institute. Finding someone temporarily would just drag you two down."
"Tenten's talent in ninja tool development is indeed not quite suitable for a frontline combat squad," Neji said at this point.
"By the way, that combat tactic of yours, how's the research coming along?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
"After Tenten received help from the Yamanaka clan, she has already developed a ninja tool capable of long-distance vision sharing," Neji reported.
"I know about that. I was also startled when I saw that little gadget. I also didn't expect something capable of changing the battlefield situation to come from the hands of an 11-year-old girl," Uchiha Douhuan said.
About a year and a half ago, Neji, due to the lack of offensive power in his family's inherited ninjutsu, gradually found himself unable to defeat his two junior disciple brothers. Consequently, he turned his attention to various ninja tools with peculiar functions. And Tenten, whose family owned a ninja tool shop and who had loved researching such things since childhood, hit it off immediately with Neji.
Tenten developed new ninja tools according to Neji's needs, while Neji provided the necessary experimental data for her during combat. The two could be said to have hit it off right away.
And Uchiha Douhuan, having noticed their ideas, naturally cooperated fully in this matter. Not only did he grant Tenten access to all of Konoha's library collections, but he also specially established a research institute for new-style ninja tools. And Katasuke Tōno, who originally caused great trouble in the future, was also absorbed into it, beginning research on scientific ninja tools ahead of schedule.
However, although Tenten and Neji's close cooperation was effective, and Neji could always rely on the little gadgets developed by Tenten to give his two junior disciple brothers a hard time during intra-disciple spars, the biggest problem still lay before the two of them.
That is, they were ninjas, and most battles they would face in the future would likely be encounter battles. The number of ninja tools a person could carry on their person was limited. Although Neji, with Tenten's assistance, could display strength far exceeding his own level, he couldn't possibly prepare thoroughly for every battle after scheduling it like an arranged fight, could he?
Facing such a predicament, Tenten, after a period of deep thought, finally found a glimmer of a solution.
That was, she would maintain contact with Neji from a distance, and then, based on the characteristics of the enemies Neji encountered, send the ninja tools Neji needed to his side using summoning techniques.
When this plan first appeared on Uchiha Douhuan's desk, Uchiha Douhuan was also stunned by this genius tactic, similar to a "mute AD Carry" from a game he had played in his past life.
However, although this tactic was feasible, the technical difficulties were by no means few.
Firstly, with the current communication technology in the ninja world, it was simply impossible to support real-time sharing of complex combat intelligence when the two were separated by a considerable distance. Secondly, there was the matter of long-distance ninja tool summoning. Currently, the only ninjutsu in the ninja world capable of accurately teleporting inanimate objects regardless of distance, besides their Konoha's Flying Thunder God Technique, was Kumogakure's Heaven Transfer Technique.
But now in all of Konoha, only Shiranui Genma and his team had mastered a somewhat incomplete Flying Thunder God Technique.
However, this did not stump Tenten. This little girl's talent in ninja tools completely surpassed Uchiha Douhuan's imagination.
After contacting the Yamanaka clan through Ino, and for the sake of Neji being Uchiha Douhuan's disciple, the Yamanaka clan fully cooperated with Tenten's research.
Tenten spent three months, and with the assistance of the Yamanaka clan, developed a ninja tool capable of sharing vision within a ten-kilometer range.
After Uchiha Douhuan learned this news, he immediately classified the technology for this ninja tool as top secret.
Tenten, always staying with the Hyuga clan's young master, probably hadn't even realized the strategic significance of this kind of ninja tool herself. This thing, combined with the Hyuga clan's no-blind-spot vision, was basically equivalent to giving the commander a full map hack on the battlefield.
Once this technology leaked out, the entire ninja world's desire for the Byakugan would absolutely become even crazier than it was now.
"Now, only the problem of the summoning technique remains," Neji said. "Currently, Tenten's summoning technique can only accurately deliver ninja tools into my hands within a ten-kilometer range, and this still requires my chakra to cooperate."
"However, if you encounter a truly strong enemy, you might not have the spare effort to guide the summoning technique," Uchiha Douhuan reminded.
(End of Chapter)
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