Chapter 133: Tuan Zang Ascends, the Grand Army Sets Out

This is unreasonable!

If it weren't for Hui Uchiha delivering the news, Shisui would have thought someone was deliberately spreading rumors.

"Even if Tuan Zang were extremely fast, a round trip would still take half a month. Why did he return in just four days?"

Half a month assumes everything goes smoothly; if the Lord is unwilling to give the funds, or deliberately stalls, it could take one or two months.

It could even be that Tuan Zang waits there bitterly for a month or two, only to receive next year's allocation, and his resentful return is uncertain.

Hui Uchiha scratched his head, his face full of doubt, "I'm not clear on that either."

It wasn't just the two of them who were puzzled; Zhuanqin Xiao Chun, Mizuto Monen, and the senior Konoha officials were equally baffled. If the 500 million and two allocation weren't solidly placed before everyone, and if they didn't know the Shimura clan had already declined and couldn't suddenly produce that much money, they would never have believed this fact.

At this point, Nara Suzaku finally looked at the Lord's envoy group and proactively asked, "The Lord agreed to the allocation; is there any other request?"

The envoy leader's gaze flickered lightly as he said, "The Lord knows the Thunder Country's invasion, Konoha's resistance is difficult, and after much deliberation he decided to allocate funds, hoping Konoha will not betray his trust and will keep the enemy beyond the borders."

When those words were spoken, the whole room fell silent; Zhuanqin Xiao Chun didn't believe it, Mizuto Monen didn't believe it, Nara Suzaku didn't believe it either—how could the Third, after writing so many letters without receiving money, suddenly understand?

But since the envoy leader said so, they couldn't directly refute him.

Tuan Zang saw through their scheming, let out a cold laugh, straightened his chest and ordered, "Enough, Nara Suzaku, you first take the Lord's envoy group to rest and entertain them.

The others come with me to the Hokage Tower; additionally, summon all divisions and prepare the ninja army's departure."

"Yes!"

The Anbu members who arrived together did not hesitate; upon hearing the words they immediately left to convey the orders.

The rest looked at Zhuanqin Xiao Chun and Mizuto Monen; Mizuto Monen remained silent, while Zhuanqin Xiao Chun's face turned ashen and could only stare, speechless.

Tuan Zang came riding on his success; in a few words he seized control of the situation.

Soon, a group of senior officials and clan heads, including Shisui, were summoned to the Hokage Tower. Unexpectedly, Tuan Zang did not do anything superfluous; he simply followed the Third's prior instructions, and the military funds were quickly disbursed. Once the final payment is settled, all supplies can be obtained on schedule, and the ninja army can set out north in three days.

After finishing the discussion about the army, the crowd gradually fell silent; everyone stared at Tuan Zang, whose great achievement made some feel uneasy.

Tuan Zang also sensed their thoughts; expressionless, he scanned the crowd and then calmly ordered, "During the army's movement, the Police Department must intensify patrols and prevent anyone from causing trouble."

Such an order aligns with the Police Department's duties, and since Shisui and Tuan Zang have communicated secretly, refusal is impossible; thus they readily agreed.

Seeing this, Tuan Zang nodded in satisfaction, then issued orders to each division; the commands essentially told them to perform their duties and work together to maintain Konoha's stability.

He even mentioned the two assistants, assigning them to cooperate on logistics.

The Police Department agreed, and everyone naturally had no objections, also gaining a new respect for Tuan Zang.

However, this harmonious scene made the other two assistants sigh; after a brief glance and hesitation, they remained silent.

Seeing no one object, Tuan Zang nodded and gave his final summary.

"Rizhan is gravely ill; the Village's affairs cannot be left unattended. Until Rizhan recovers or a Fifth is chosen, I will temporarily act as Hokage. If anyone has no objections, return and prepare."

"The Third is gravely ill?!!"

The Third's health remains a Village secret; although those present hold high positions, most only speculate from upper‑level hints, and very few know the exact details.

Now that the Third's condition is confirmed, the scene becomes momentarily chaotic.

"Tuan Zang, stop talking nonsense. Rizhan is just overworked from long‑term duties; a period of rest will suffice, no need to appoint a substitute Hokage.

Moreover, you should have told Rizhan about the Lord's allocation; he's waiting for you in Sarutobi Clan territory," Zhuanqin Xiao Chun burst out laughing and quickly explained.

If that's the case, then the Third's condition doesn't seem severe.

Someone breathed a sigh of relief, and those with opinions also fell quiet.

However, most people were indifferent to Zhuanqin Xiao Chun's rescue; if the Third's illness isn't serious, why wasn't it disclosed, and why let the two assistants take charge instead?

Regarding Zhuanqin Xiao Chun's disruption, Tuan Zang was unsurprised and continued, "Regardless, recovery takes time. Before Rizhan recovers, someone must handle Konoha's affairs. I will speak with Rizhan and explain that I will manage the Village's administration during this period."

When those words were spoken, everyone stared at each other in silence; it was clearly a power struggle among the three assistants.

Although Zhuanqin Xiao Chun had previously approached some clans, they discussed resisting the Uchiha and did not agree to help her and Tuan Zang seize power.

Tuan Zang's prestige and deterrence far exceed those of the other two.

"Then let Rizhan decide."

Zhuanqin Xiao Chun had no argument; Mizuto Monen, seeing this, responded in agreement.

The crowd dispersed, leaving only Shisui, the two families of Zhu Die, and Hyuga Nissoku following the three assistants to Sarutobi Clan territory.

At this time, the Third was still recuperating at home, with medical ninja and Yuan Fei A Si Ma constantly by his side.

After the few entered, Shisui noticed that after only a few days, Sarutobi Asuma also looked much gaunter.

Shisui guessed that besides fatigue, the other side might have learned about the currency exchange office's news.

When the few arrived, the Third straightened his posture; upon seeing Tuan Zang, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Zhuanqin Xiao Chun immediately informed him of the Lord's allocation, then in a few words clarified the earlier matter.

The Third sighed inwardly; had the Lord allocated funds earlier, his eldest son would not have met misfortune.

After a moment of contemplation, his breathing grew uneven; under the anxious gazes, the Third slowly said, "Konoha's administration indeed needs someone to oversee it. For this period, I entrust the three assistants to cooperate and jointly maintain Konoha's stability."

Three assistants?

Shisui was not surprised by this outcome; given his understanding of Tuan Zang, if Tuan Zang were not allowed to surface now, he would never settle peacefully. The Third also understood this, but Shisui thought that letting Tuan Zang rule alone would be too dangerous, so the three must check each other to buy time until Tsunade returns and everything can get back on track.

Tuan Zang furrowed his brow; this was not the result he wanted. Just as he was about to speak, the Third added, "After the upcoming Jonin council, we will select a Fifth."

After speaking, the Third gave Tuan Zang a relieved glance; Tuan Zang's heart jumped, swallowing his rebuttal, and he immediately said, "Don't worry, Rizhan, I will look after the Village during this time."

The Third nodded; after those two sentences he seemed a bit weary, and the others, seeing this, took their leave.

Thus, the future overseer of Konoha was decided and quickly disseminated throughout all levels of Konoha.

Later, the reason behind the Lord's allocation was uncovered.

Nara Suzaku was in charge of entertaining the Lord's envoy group; after arranging simple lodging, he prepared drinks and dishes for everyone.

After a few bottles went down, Nara Suzaku extracted information from the Lord's envoy group.

It turned out the Lord's allocation had nothing to do with Tuan Zang; the sudden approval was because the Lord, through his own channels, learned that the Third's eldest son was killed while rushing to Kyoto to request funds.

The Northern Thunder Country's actions grew ever larger; although the Lord was indifferent to the Thunder Country's invasion, the death of the Hokage's eldest son shocked him greatly.

He worried that because of this matter his relationship with Konoha would become too strained, so he agreed to allocate funds and send a messenger to appease Konoha; however, the envoy encountered Tuan Zang and Root on the way, and they simply returned together.

"No wonder Tuan Zang didn't take the opportunity to act." Shisui realized, thinking that given Tuan Zang's character, achieving such a great feat would not lead him to immediately select the Hokage, let alone become Acting Hokage like the Third Hokage; it certainly would not be so easy to speak.

The transferred Xiao Chun kept cursing silently, but it was too late to regret; Tuan Zang had already used this to obtain the Third Hokage's permission, allowing him to legitimately intervene in village affairs.

However, the three were long‑time friends; seeing the matter settled, after a brief chat the three lost their anger and began to tacitly control Konoha.

This was not what Shisui wanted to see, but he remembered Sima Yi and Yan Shifan's instructions, did not act, and instead waited quietly for the chance.

During that time, Shisui suddenly received a letter from Tuan Zang; the content was so astonishing that even Yan Shifan tut‑tut in amazement, stating plainly that Tuan Zang had a third of Sima Yi's demeanor, which left Shisui speechless and very angry; after reading it he burned it outright.

Thus, until the third day, the great army set out, and before every household the scene of families parting was evident.

Before departing, Shisui selected three forbidden techniques from the clan's forbidden arts and handed them to Hui, earnestly admonishing: "The power of these forbidden arts is great, but the cost is high. Apart from the first one, you may choose a few people to teach the other two. If you encounter a strong enemy they might be useful, but regardless, you must remember to protect Grandfather."

Hui took the scroll and said irritably, "You've been saying this hundreds of times since yesterday; rest assured, even if I die I won't let Uncle Yi have any trouble!"

Shisui's cheeks flushed red, he gave a wry smile, then walked to Sima Yi's side and solemnly asked, "Grandfather is departing today; is there anything else you wish to tell me?"

Sima Yi was listening to Yan Shifan's farewell, and upon hearing this he looked at Shisui; he knew Shisui was uneasy about his departure, so he smiled lightly and comforted, "If anything is undecided, you may ask De Qiu; don't mind his methods, whether to adopt them is up to you."

After speaking, he looked at Yan Shifan, who also knew that, although this fellow constantly called everyone "sir" and addressed each as "junior", appearing very humble, he actually hoped Shisui would leave quickly.

"Mr. Zhongda, on this journey please take good care of your health; the Uchiha have juniors, sir need not worry!" Yan Shifan, seeing the two about to bow, replied with a reluctant face.

"With De Qiu looking after me, I have no worries. I believe that when I return, the great matter will be completed."

Sima Yi smiled; if this were a previous life, such a person would naturally be hammered, but now there is no need.

Yan Shifan had not been here long; he never realized the importance of strength, and after awakening a single hook jewel he lost interest in cultivation, turning instead to deeply develop the forces Sima Yi was secretly building and delighted in it.

Sima Yi believed that by the time Yan Shifan reacted, he would have already gone far enough.

"Grandfather."

Shisui looked at Sima Yi, his eyes full of reluctance.

"Remember the words of old, do not be one‑sided, do not become lax; Grandfather awaits your good news."

Having said that, once the Uchiha clan troops had gathered, Sima Yi immediately turned, mounted his horse, raised his hand and waved; the clan troops set off at once.

When the Uchiha arrived at the gathering point, everyone couldn't help looking toward them.

No wonder, horse‑riding ninja are indeed extremely rare.

Some even whispered, half‑mocking, half‑teasing, their reactions varied.

Yet Sima Yi had long been unperturbed, his expression remained calm.

Although everyone was a ninja, a large‑scale march could not go through the forest, and the speed would not be fast; three horses here were enough to keep up with the unit.

Moreover, he trained his body every morning, and with chakra augmentation, even if he met a special section of road he could handle it calmly.

Though he cared little, the surrounding clan members furrowed their brows one by one; some even clenched fists and lowered their heads, seeming embarrassed.

Hui's eyes hardened; he glanced around, then looked at those ninja who were about to speak, but Sima Yi raised his hand to stop them.

Sima Yi had taught many clan members etiquette, and many Uchiha also knew that the clan history and ninja world history, the subjects of thought and politics that tormented them were also personally arranged by Sima Yi.

At this moment he turned back to look at the crowd, his gaze sharp, aura extraordinary, and merely riding past made everyone feel a prickling behind their backs, instinctively averting their eyes.

"You are still young, yet you cannot tolerate even a few harsh words; how can you become great later, how can you revive the clan's glory!"

Sima Yi was in his sixties, older than the Third Hokage; he was the only one present qualified to say this.

He brandished his horsewhip, gave a sharp command, and the crowd's bodies shivered; their faces flushed red, shame overwhelming.

"Lift your heads!"

Another harsh shout, and the crowd instinctively straightened their chests and raised their heads.

"You are the main force of this reinforcement; they are merely the weak who need your protection. As members of the Uchiha, you must have this awareness, puff out your chests, look forward, tell them, when the Uchiha act, this battle will be a guaranteed victory!"

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

The crowd felt their blood boil, aura exuding, and they roared in unison; the aura of two hundred men pressed the others in the hall to retreat, daring not to meet eyes.

Sima Yi did not exaggerate; among the two thousand ninja reinforcements originally planned, only a few hundred ninja clan members were worth noting, the rest were merely foot soldiers serving as cannon fodder.

Among these ninja clan ninjas, the Hyuga made up the majority, but the information they received from higher‑ups was: Hyuga reinforcements were insufficient, and the Tian Country defensive line had been breached.

Therefore they could not utter such grand boasts, nor had the confidence or standing to mock or refute the Uchiha; they could only remain silent, watching with envy.

The Hyuga stayed silent, and the other ninja clans dared even less to oppose the Uchiha; subsequently the Uchiha clan members found that after they reacted, those people fell silent instead.

Cowardly behavior, only flapping their lips, not worth worrying.

Sima Yi observed these family reactions without taking them to heart.

After a short while, once the great army was fully integrated, a ninja that Sima Yi had never heard of led the army toward the Tang Nation defensive line.

Originally Shisui had cooperated with Tuan Zang; the commander should have been Sima Yi.

However, after Tuan Zang succeeded, he immediately chose to betray the Uchiha and wrote a letter unilaterally announcing the end of cooperation with the Uchiha, even stating that he was a disciple of the Second Hokage and would never do anything to harm Konoha's interests.

Then, after compromising with the other two assistants, he gave the Jonin squad leader position to Nara Suzaku and used this to keep him in Konoha, and subsequently swapped the commander selection to his own people.

Replacing the Uchiha people, the other two assistants naturally raised both hands in approval.

Fortunately, the commander only was responsible for bringing the army to the Tang Nation defensive line, and had no authority to command.

This was also the point where Shisui was speechless; Tuan Zang had betrayed the Uchiha over a title that existed only in name, and even now Shisui still could not understand.

"Now that Tuan Zang has turned traitor, what do you think he'll do next, teacher?"

Within the clan lands, seeing that time had passed, Shisui knew the reinforcements had already set out, no longer gazed outward, and turned to ask Yan Shifan.

Yan Shifan was prepared and explained, "I heard Mr. Zhongda speak of Tuan Zang; this man is not only ruthless but also quite arrogant. The letter he sent the other day was a display of his arrogance."

"In earlier years I also met some fellows who claimed to be talented yet unappreciated; they believed they possessed countless strategies, the power to overturn the world, a heart to cleanse the universe. They thought that once they rose, the nation would become rich and the people strong overnight, but in reality they were all talk, deceiving themselves."

"Tuan Zang is much like them; he has just begun to grasp Konoha's power, yet feels he can control everything, can easily suppress the other two assistants, and the position of the Fifth Hokage is already within his grasp, but he has been intoxicated by the present victory and cannot see the situation clearly."

"Watch it, even if we do not act, he will soon hit a wall; then he will understand that without Uchiha support, what he holds are merely rootless flames, like willow catkins in the wind."

Friday and Saturday are both fully booked with classes, from morning till night; if I post the update later it'll be too late, so I'm writing tomorrow's now, otherwise I'm afraid that dragging the class into the evening will really break the update!

o(╥﹏╥)o~(End of chapter)