Chapter 196: Stir it Up, Just Go Ahead and Stir it Up
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Minamoto Miyuki's words instantly stunned the Prince, who had been excited just moments ago. *So when you said "kill him," you were referring to me?*
However, Minamoto Miyuki gave the other party no time to react, shouting towards the door, "Uncle Asuma, please send this fellow to Teacher's place!"
A figure appeared ghost-like directly behind Minamoto Noda. This noble, accustomed to a life of comfort and prestige, didn't even react before losing his ability to resist. After Asuma subdued Minamoto Noda, he turned back, looked at Minamoto Miyuki with a helpless smile, and said, "Your Highness the Daimyo, you can just call me by my name."
"How could I do that?" Minamoto Miyuki shook his head. "Setting aside that you were one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve who protected my father back then, you are also Konohamaru's uncle. Konohamaru and I are like brothers; how could I directly call you by your name?"
Minamoto Noda, subdued by Asuma, widened his eyes upon seeing this, struggling desperately and斥道 (chìdào - berating/angrily reprimanding): "Minamoto Miyuki! I am your own granduncle! By doing this, are you not betraying the spirit of your deceased father in heaven?"
"And you are fit to be my granduncle?" Miyuki, seeing this old fellow flaunting his seniority, retorted unceremoniously. "The Land of Fire is flourishing under Teacher's governance, yet you, for your own selfish interests, slander a pillar minister of our Land of Fire! Attendants! Strip him of all his noble titles!"
"Um, Your Highness the Daimyo, the matter of stripping noble titles requires the presence of someone from the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to be finalized," a eunuch beside Minamoto Miyuki reminded him at this point.
"I don't care! I don't want to see this fellow appearing in court tomorrow still holding his noble titles! Understand?" Minamoto Miyuki said, appearing somewhat unreasonably pestering. At this moment, he truly seemed like an eight-year-old child.
"Well then, I shall take this fellow to see Lord Hokage first?" Asuma asked.
"Remember to say hello to Teacher for me. Also, incidentally, help me post a cricket-catching mission at the Mission Hall. I heard there's a special kind of extremely fierce cricket in the Land of Grass. If possible, help me bring one back," Minamoto Miyuki said.
"Alright..." Asuma looked at the child before him with a complicated expression. The previous Daimyo, if not exceptionally wise and martial, could at least be called an outstanding ruler. But this child, Minamoto Miyuki, how should one put it? A bit too fond of play.
However, thinking about the current Land of Fire, and the development speed under Uchiha Douhuan's leadership, which had increased by severalfold compared to when the previous Daimyo was alive, Asuma also felt it was good for this child to continue living so carefree.
Of course, more importantly, after Sarutobi Hiruzen retired, his somewhat strained father-son relationship with Asuma had repaired considerably. After Asuma got married, he also began to mature, becoming more receptive to his father's opinions than the reckless youth he was before. And Sarutobi Hiruzen had also made it very clear to him: the current situation in the ninja world would soon usher in a new round of war. At this time, they absolutely could not hold Uchiha Douhuan back.
Although he was quite pleased to see his own father being ousted by a younger man, he couldn't understand why his father, after stepping down, started supporting Uchiha Douhuan in all aspects.
To this, Sarutobi Hiruzen's answer was very simple: Because he is the Hokage now.
Even if they fought to the death in the village before, that was an internal struggle. But now, Konoha, and the Land of Fire, faced the pressure of external war. Furthermore, regardless of how Uchiha Douhuan came to power, as long as he became Hokage, on some level, he was already naturally in the same camp as Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Soon, Asuma brought the trussed-up Minamoto Noda to the Hokage office.
After Asuma explained his purpose, Uchiha Douhuan also came before the other party with a cold face and questioned sternly, "So you are the mastermind behind inciting those young officials to force the palace, correct?"
"Hmph! Things have come to this, what more is there to say! That the state affairs of my Land of Fire should fall into the hands of a treacherous minister like you! I truly don't know what my nephew was thinking, to actually let you be this Grand Minister of State! And my grandnephew has also been deceived by you; holding the position of Daimyo, yet he indulges in will-sapping pastimes all day!" Minamoto Noda said, craning his neck stubbornly.
"Well said," Uchiha Douhuan glanced disdainfully at the other. "Then I would like to ask, in these years I have governed, have there been any problems with the development of the Land of Fire?"
Minamoto Noda was about to speak, but Uchiha Douhuan gave him no such chance.
"The reason you say these things is nothing more than because the reforms I presided over blocked your path to wealth," Uchiha Douhuan sneered. "In your fiefdom, the four newly built factories provided tens of thousands of job opportunities for the surrounding commoners, thereby affecting the land rent from the lands in your hands. That's why you're jumping up and down like this to play the clown. And what's even more ridiculous is, before Kado and the others invested in building factories in your territory, I had them pay you a special visit, asking if you needed to buy shares in the factories. I dare say I have given you old nobles enough face, but you yourselves did not cherish it."
"Hmph! I stood up solely for the sake of our Land of Fire's state and society!" Minamoto Noda retorted stubbornly.
"You dare to prattle to me about serving the country? You look down on these merchants, feeling your noble hands shouldn't be tainted by this stench of copper. But as soon as your own little plot of land is affected, you jump out to stir up all this!" Uchiha Douhuan looked down condescendingly, his expression filled with contempt, pointing his finger directly at the other's nose as he cursed.
"The other countries in the entire ninja world have never stopped coveting the lands of my Land of Fire! And in the current situation, anyone with even a modicum of foresight can easily see that a war is brewing beneath these calm waters! Everything I have done these years has been in preparation for this future war! But what about you? At this time, you attempt to pull the rug out from under me, all for your petty land rents! Stir it up! Go on, stir it up! Stir until my Konoha has no military supplies for future wars, suffers defeat! Stir until my Land of Fire is in chaos, stir until the Land of Fire is destroyed!"
Uchiha Douhuan raised his hand, drew Jirai from the sword rack beside him, and placed it against Minamoto Noda's neck. The cold glint of the blade and the crackling arcs of lightning terrified Minamoto Noda, throwing him into utter disarray. He instinctively looked towards Uchiha Douhuan, but upon raising his eyes, he saw the undisguised killing intent in the other's eyes. Minamoto Noda, a pampered, useless noble, how could he withstand the killing aura Uchiha Douhuan had cultivated on bloody battlefields? He directly fainted under the shock of this killing intent.
"Inahi, take this fellow to the Security Department. Lock him up with those other death-courting fools. Let the Yamanaka clan give them a good 'greeting'," Uchiha Douhuan glanced disdainfully at the other, then turned and instructed Uchiha Inahi.
...
At the court assembly the next day, Uchiha Douhuan, who hadn't attended court for a long time, appeared in the court hall and stood at the head of the civil officials.
Miura Kazuo, who would normally stand in this position, instead stood obediently below Uchiha Douhuan, head bowed, not saying a word. This made some people instantly sense something unusual.
However, before these people could think further, as Minamoto Miyuki entered the palace hall surrounded by a retinue of ceremonial officials, the court assembly formally began.
Minamoto Miyuki, upon taking his seat, saw Uchiha Douhuan standing at the forefront of the civil officials at first glance. A joyful expression immediately appeared on his small face: "Teacher, you've come! Attendants, grant Teacher a seat!"
"Your Highness needn't be so," Uchiha Douhuan refused somewhat speechlessly. Although he knew this child probably meant well, he was just barely in his early twenties this year; he hadn't reached the point where he needed a seat just for standing for a while.
"Uh, alright then," Minamoto Miyuki nodded.
"If you have matters to report, speak! If not, court is dismissed!" a eunuch beside Minamoto Miyuki then shouted at the top of his voice.
Just then, Miura Kazuo, who had kept his head bowed silently until now, turned and gave a signal with his eyes to a subordinate behind him.
"Reporting to Your Highness, your subject has a memorial to present!" The subordinate who received the signal immediately stepped forward. "Your subject impeaches Tajima Yukio, Yamamoto Masahiro, Shimizu Ken... and fifteen others for forming cliques for private gain, corruption and perverting the law, dereliction of duty, and the crime of insubordination!"
After he led the charge, other allies of Miura Kazuo also stepped forward one after another, impeaching officials involved in the previous challenge against Uchiha Douhuan. The accusations became more and more outrageous, until finally, someone, unable to fabricate anything further, simply accused them of rape and plunder.
"What? Such vermin are hidden within the court of my Land of Fire?" Minamoto Miyuki was enraged upon hearing this.
"Your Highness, problems have arisen in the court of my Land of Fire. I, this Grand Minister of State, cannot shirk responsibility. Your subject pleads guilty," Uchiha Douhuan said unhurriedly at this moment.
"Teacher, what are you saying? Teacher, as Hokage, toils day and night for the national security of our Land of Fire. How can Teacher be blamed because of these vermin?" Minamoto Miyuki said, then turned to look at Miura Kazuo. "On the other hand, Minister of the Left, court trifles have always been handled by you. Now that problems have arisen in the court of my Land of Fire, how do you explain yourself?"
Miura Kazuo felt his scalp tingle from Minamoto Miyuki's words. *No, you two, master and disciple, are having a jolly time, so you push all the blame onto my head, right? So I'm just a part of your master-disciple play, huh!*
Although he thought this, Miura Kazuo dared not show any dissatisfaction. He simply knelt to the ground: "Your subject is guilty. But I implore Your Highness to give this old subject a chance to atone for his crime by rendering meritorious service."
"Then regarding this case, I shall entrust it to the Minister of the Left. Minister of the Left, you absolutely must not disappoint me," Minamoto Miyuki said to Miura Kazuo.
"Thank you for Your Highness's grace," Miura Kazuo said after kowtowing, only then slowly rising.
However, just then, from the rear of the civil officials' ranks, a young official suddenly stepped forward: "Your Highness! Those people just now are all innocent! This is all framing by the national traitors Uchiha Douhuan and Miura Kazuo!"
"Insolence!" Minamoto Miyuki was furious. "And who are you?"
That person stepped forward, standing tall and proud, his face filled with the resolve to face death: "Your subject, Nishiyama Jirōsuke, requests the execution of the national traitor Uchiha Douhuan!"
"Silence!" Minamoto Miyuki slammed his chair and stood up, the anger on his small face undisguised. "My teacher's name, is it for you to call directly!"
"Your Highness!" Nishiyama Jirōsuke knelt to the ground, his head banging loudly.
Uchiha Douhuan looked indifferently at this person. Of those on the list the Anbu gave him yesterday, basically all had been apprehended by the Security Department and taken to the interrogation room. Only this one, due to urgent family matters requiring him to be out of Konoha, had escaped. However, what Uchiha Douhuan didn't expect was that this fellow actually still had the guts to attend court and even dare to challenge him like this. Even Uchiha Douhuan had to admit that although this fellow was a bit brainless, his courage was not small; at least far stronger than Minamoto Noda who had fainted directly in the Hokage office yesterday.
"Your Highness, regarding this matter, the Minister of the Left already received word yesterday and requested our Land of Fire's Capital Security Commander, Hatake Kakashi, to dispatch his Konoha Security Department for investigation. I imagine the results are already in. Why not have the evidence brought up?" Uchiha Douhuan suggested.
"Alright," Minamoto Miyuki nodded.
Before long, Kakashi walked into the court hall with a squad of Security Department members. Each of these members carried a person with a dazed expression, drooling, and making "aba-aba" sounds. And the one personally carried by Kakashi was none other than Minamoto Noda, who had been trying to admonish Miyuki in his palace hall just yesterday.
"Paying respects to Your Highness," Kakashi, after entering the hall, first bowed to the Daimyo, then took out a thick stack of evidence and said, "Your Highness, this is evidence directly retrieved from their memories using the secret technique of Konoha's Yamanaka clan. However, after undergoing interrogation, these individuals' minds have already collapsed. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Miura Kazuo looked at the people sitting on the floor, drooling "aba-aba," and his mouth twitched slightly as he thought: "You ninjas are truly professional in these matters."
"The Security Commander eradicated vermin for the country with utmost dedication; what crime is there?" Minamoto Miyuki said while accepting the evidence.
"Your Highness! They are all loyal and patriotic individuals! How can they be treated like this?" Nishiyama Jirōsuke cried out again in anguish at this point.
"Loyal or not, patriotic or not, I will be the judge! It's not for you to comment!" Minamoto Miyuki reprimanded angrily. Subsequently, Minamoto Miyuki pushed his hands forward. "Daring to slander my teacher! Men! Strip him of his court robes, remove his official hat, execute his nine relations! Along with these people, as a warning to others!"
"No! Your Highness!" Nishiyama Jirōsuke was still shouting towards Minamoto Miyuki as his court robes were being stripped off, but Minamoto Miyuki seemed to have no intention of sparing him.
After Minamoto Miyuki used the "Imperial Edict: Nine Clan Annihilation Jutsu," the entire court hall fell deathly silent. No one dared to cross him at this moment.
After a while, Minamoto Miyuki hopped down from the throne on his short legs, came before Uchiha Douhuan, took Uchiha Douhuan's hand, and said, "Teacher, you absolutely mustn't take the slander of these treacherous ministers to heart. The court affairs of my Land of Fire still require your diligent care."
(End of Chapter)
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