Following the clash between Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara, the other four great shinobi villages remained completely silent, as though they had all gone on radio silence.
The Capital of the Land of Fire — the Royal Palace.
The Daimyo sat in his study, having not slept all night.
On his desk lay intelligence reports rushed back by his spies.
“Monsters…
they’re all monsters…”
How he wished that either Hashirama Senju or Uchiha Madara had been killed.
But no—they had only been sparring.
Weren’t ninjas supposed to kill each other?
Since when did they start sparring?
The Daimyo sighed and leaned back in his chair.
He had long known that Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara had surpassed the level of jonin, fighting like gods on the battlefield.
But this time was even more exaggerated than before.
A thousand-armed Buddha nearly a kilometer tall—if someone had told him it was the Sage of Six Paths, he would have believed it.
Thankfully, when Konoha had come seeking aid last time, he had been generous with his payment.
Ten billion ryo—though it pained him—had at least temporarily appeased those monsters.
But…
Money alone was not enough insurance.
What if one day Konoha wanted not just his money, but his life?
After a long moment of thought, the Daimyo picked up his brush and wrote a personal letter, extending goodwill toward Konoha.
“Summon my attendant.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Deliver my letter to Konoha.” The Daimyo sealed the letter and handed it to his attendant.
“Inform them that I invite the Chancellor of the Civil Affairs Department, Uchiha Hikaru, to the capital to discuss next year’s aid to Konoha.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Konoha, Senju Compound.
Tobirama Senju emerged from the basement, his face pale.
His brother had defeated Uchiha Madara—he had been pleased about that.
So what if Madara had grown stronger?
Let him be strong—the Senju were still the strongest.
As long as his brother remained as the anchor, the Senju clan had nothing to fear.
But then that wicked Uchiha Izuna had also grown stronger—unreasonably, incomprehensibly stronger.
Yesterday, right after the battle between Hashirama and Madara, Uchiha Izuna had come to him and challenged him to a spar.
How could Tobirama tolerate that?
“I lost to Uchiha Hikaru, not to you.
You were always my inferior,how dare you speak of valor?”
He had actually lost.
When facing Izuna, he felt as though he were facing Madara himself—that oppressive pressure, that all-encompassing suppression of ocular power.
He and Izuna had fought each other for years; they knew each other inside out.
Before, their strength had been evenly matched.
But in yesterday’s battle, he had been dominated from start to finish.
Tobirama’s pride could not accept it.
The victory his brother had won for the Senju, he had lost back.
On the surface, it was a tie between the Senju and Uchiha—one win, one loss.
In reality, the Senju had lost, and lost completely.
His brother was stronger than Madara, but only by a narrow margin.
Now Izuna was far stronger than him, not to mention Hikaru.
Even counting Sister-in-law Mito, the Senju’s overall strength fell short of the Uchiha’s.
So Tobirama threw himself back into his human experiments.
He had to accelerate them.
If he could inherit his brother’s power…
unlock the secrets of Wood Style…
the Uchiha would be no match for him.
Uchiha Compound.
The entire Uchiha clan was in celebration.
News had spread throughout the compound—according to Hikaru-sama’s report, Madara-sama had fought Hashirama to a draw, and Izuna-sama had thoroughly thrashed Tobirama Senju.
Who could possibly stand in the Uchiha’s way now?
Many clansmen had already begun thinking about consecutive Hokage terms.
“After Madara-sama steps down, the next Hokage will still be an Uchiha!”
Inside Madara’s residence.
“HAHAHAHA…” Uchiha Izuna laughed out loud, a rare sight.
“Yesterday, I regarded Tobirama as no more than clay chickens and tile dogs—a man who advertises his own head for sale.”
“Izuna, Tobirama Senju is still the Chancellor of the Chancellery.
That kind of talk is not conducive to—”
“Brother, I understand.” Seeing his brother about to lecture him again, Izuna quickly changed the subject.
“Hikaru, I truly have you to thank for this.” He turned to Hikaru.
“That old fox Tobirama always looked down on me with those sideways glances.
Today, I finally got my revenge.”
“It’s just a pity you have no blood brother.”
Hikaru waved his hand dismissively, not continuing on that topic.
In truth, his mind was on something else—capturing the Tailed Beasts.
Even if he successfully integrated Hashirama’s cells in the future, his combat power would not increase dramatically.
One was to train in the Sage Arts of the Three Great Sacred Lands—Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, or Shikkotsu Forest.
Any of their Sage Modes could greatly enhance combat ability.
The other was to become the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
Unfortunately, the Three Great Sacred Lands were sealed off by barriers, and he had yet to find an entrance.
The next day.
Konoha Administrative Hall, Conference Room.
The Hokage, the Three Department Chancellors, the Six Ministers, and the newly established Vice Ministers of the Six Ministries were all present.
As more and more ninja clans joined Konoha, position allocation had become a major issue.
The minor clans were manageable, but the major clans could not be left without official posts.
Aside from the Military Department, which had no Minister and was directly under the Hokage’s command, the other five ministries were fully staffed.
So Hikaru had created the position of Vice Minister—equivalent to a deputy minister.
Each ministry would have two Vice Ministers, which both satisfied the major clans’ demand for official positions and did not disrupt the ministries’ normal operations.
Today, there was a new face in the conference room.
The head of the Kaguya clan—Kaguya Iwahō.
The Hyuga and Kaguya clans had been on friendly terms for generations.
After repeated persuasion from Hyuga Ten’nin, the Kaguya clan had finally been convinced to relocate to Konoha.
With Ten’nin personally vouching for them, Iwahō had brought his entire clan from the Land of Water to join them.
Hikaru had given the Kaguya clan the position of Left Vice Minister of the Works Department.
The Kaguya were warlike and skilled in combat, but they were all brawn and no brain.
The Works Department had many construction projects requiring substantial manpower, which would be a good way to temper those hardheaded bones.
“Everyone.” Hikaru rose, surveying the room.
The conference room fell silent.
“For the sake of peace in the shinobi world and to prevent those with ill intent from using the Tailed Beasts as weapons of war, Konoha is officially launching the Tailed Beast Capture Plan.”
“Given that the Tailed Beasts possess the power to destroy the shinobi world, the capture operation will be personally carried out by the Hokage-sama and Lord Hashirama.
From today onward, all daily affairs of Konoha will be handled by the Three Department Chancellors and the Six Ministries to ensure the village continues to function normally.”
Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju looked eager, practically raring to go.
Especially Madara.
The sparring match from the other day had not been enough to satisfy him.
Now that he heard he could leave the village to capture Tailed Beasts, he could feel his blood boiling.
While Madara and Hashirama set out to capture the Tailed Beasts, Hikaru was not idle either.
As soon as he stepped out of the conference room, he received the Daimyo of the Land of Fire’s personal letter.
The Daimyo invited him to the capital to discuss next year’s aid to Konoha.
Hikaru tucked the letter away, already formulating a plan.
Konoha’s efforts to attract investment and business had been progressing slowly.
Though the food and entertainment district had gradually taken shape and merchants were slowly moving in, the results were not ideal.
Konoha had simply been founded too recently—very few merchants were willing to invest.
If he could get the Daimyo to endorse them at this juncture…