Konoha Notes

Chapter 290 Porridge and Wine

"Even your appetite is starting to resemble that of an old man, Shuji."

The lights in the old house in the western suburbs were dim. Xiu Si sat at the dining table, sipping the warm white porridge in his bowl.

Tsunade sat opposite, holding a small sake pot in her hand, with a plate of snacks in front of her.

“This is a work injury.” Xiu Si said without looking up. “I want this bowl of porridge reimbursed.”

Tsunade rummaged around in the air, then tossed out a few coins: "Approved."

She watched Shuuji slowly sip his porridge and said, "The Five Kage Summit, the Raikage always has something on his mind."

The last meeting was decades ago, during the era of the First Hokage, and the topic was the Tailed Beasts. If the original story continues, the next Five Kage Summit will also be about the Tailed Beasts.

"And we don't even know if anyone will object."

"How does Cloud Village plan to reorganize the competition format?"

“We should change the current annual joint martial arts exercise process and add multiple host venues,” Xiu Si said. “In that case, it will probably still be similar to before, except that the villages with the capacity to host will take turns hosting each year.”

"Oh?" Tsunade shook the sake bottle. "Is the Raikage... jealous of Onoki's 'Western Exchange Program'?"

“This isn’t about being envious of the right to host an independent home event.” Shuji put down his spoon. “What can a consistently popular, core event area located outside the village bring to the non-ninja residents of the village?”

He counted on his fingers: "A huge number of job opportunities. Stable real income. Restaurants, hotels, handicraft stalls... all the supporting industries will thrive."

"Even from a security perspective, the additional permanent posts and positions created for this reason mean that ninjas have an additional stable source of income besides going out on missions."

"The locations of Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and later Kirigakure, and even Sunagakure, were not good. When they were first established as ninja villages, they considered safety and secrecy more. This also means that it was not easy to get to those villages in terms of transportation."

"Without a large-scale event that is catchy and consistently attractive as a brand, it will be difficult for them to obtain this revenue in the long run."

Konoha doesn't need this kind of gimmick.

Occupying the most central and convenient location in the ninja world is a natural selling point. Even without joint martial arts exercises, the venue area can maintain sufficient popularity.

The spicy liquid slid down her throat, but Tsunade's eyes grew even clearer.

"The alliance of the five villages has actually become a mutual support effort..." she said after a long pause.

“That’s one way to put it.” Xiu Si nodded. “From the perspective of maximizing the revenue of the Five Villages Joint Tournament, the most ideal solution would be to create a completely new tournament area in a sufficiently open neutral zone.”

"The reconstruction will involve putting all revenue, including ticket sales, sponsorships, and merchandise, into a public pool, which will then be distributed according to the agreed-upon ratio."

Tsunade scoffed: "Unless it's placed right around the village, even the villagers will complain about it."

After all, when it comes to job positions and personnel placement, it's not just a matter of money.

Taking Konoha as an example, the existence of the stadium area outside the village made the establishment of the police branch incredibly smooth. Even if the Uchiha were dissatisfied, at least the branch and the headquarters were still separated, so the conflict wouldn't be so intense.

There will be much more room for subsequent operations.

Xiu Si scraped the last bit of porridge from the bottom of the bowl and put it in his mouth. The warm porridge slid down his esophagus, spreading warmth in his stomach, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

“Let’s start by negotiating the ‘alternating home games’ plan.” Xiu Si put down his empty bowl. “We need to establish a permanent organization to coordinate the schedule, set the rules, and manage resources.”

"It's roughly about expanding the competition schedule, setting up regional divisions, and finally having a grand final."

"We've reached an agreement with Kumogakure. I'll talk to Sunagakure about the rest."

After all, among the five great ninja villages, Sunagakure is the only one that does not have the objective conditions to independently hold events.

Even if all five villages were gathered together, they wouldn't have enough strength to maintain their own independent law and order.

The Cloud, Rock, and Mist each have two Jinchūriki, in addition to the Kage.

Even though the Hidden Mist Village is theoretically ravaged by the Blood Mist, it still retains a powerful high-level combat force.

"Next, we just need to wait for Iwagakure and Kirigakure's opinions on the Five Kage Summit."

There wasn't much wine left in the pot, so Tsunade drank it all in one gulp.

She looked around, then looked for a second pot.

"A little is enough."

Shuji stood up, took the empty bowl, and also the sake pot. "You're really meddling, old man Shuji." Tsunade picked up a edamame. "That Mei Terumi from Kirigakure, why does she have to come to you for everything?"

"Could it be that he's really captivated by our Lord Shuji? We've only met once before."

"Just a normal question."

"That sounds really suspicious."

"What is a ninja?" Shuuji's voice came from the kitchen, mixed with the sound of running water. "That's what she asked."

Tsunade chewed on edamame and looked up at the ceiling.

"Even the people of Kirigakure consider such issues..."

"So?" she raised her voice, "Did Grandpa Shuji offer any unique insights?"

The sound of water in the kitchen stopped, and Shuji wiped his hands and came out.

"Didn't we make that clear when we brought you back?"

Tsunade met his eyes, and suddenly smiled.

Yes, for them, this is a question that doesn't need to be discussed.

To fulfill the unfulfilled dream of the past, to continue what those before us did not finish—that's all.
-
During the joint military exercises, the representatives leading each village were considered to be people with some authority.

After initial communication, Konoha summoned the leaders of each village.

The meeting was held in a simple meeting room within Konoha Village. The leader from Iwagakure was Bunga, while the leader from Sunagakure was still Maki.

The meeting was convened under the pretext of "reporting on the interim benefits of the joint military exercise and discussing the proposed distribution plan."

The first part went very smoothly.

Konoha's finance staff presented charts showing current ticket revenue, sponsorship amounts, and merchandise sales, along with a preliminary distribution plan. The figures were clear, the proportions reasonable, and no one raised any objections.

"The above is the projected profit forecast and distribution plan for this joint military exercise. Since there are no further questions, it will be implemented accordingly."

Shuji raised his hand and rolled up the documents.

"Next, in order to ensure that joint military exercises can achieve better development in the future."

"Konoha proposes that the Five Kage Summit be held next month to discuss the reform of the tournament system."

The representative of Iwagakure immediately fell into deep thought.

Then, he saw Samui of the Cloud Village raise his hand: "The Cloud Village agrees."

Have you discussed it with Konoha yet...? Then the two sides have probably reached a consensus on the follow-up plan.

Next was Maki from Sunagakure: "Sunagakure agrees."

Wenya didn't look at him. Sunagakure's position was the easiest to handle. He turned to Mei Terumi—Kirigakure seemed to have not yet made a decision—and immediately spoke: "This is not within my jurisdiction; I need to report to the Tsuchikage, please…"

"Kigakure agrees."

Wenya stopped making a sound.

His gaze swept over everyone present. Samui of Kumogakure remained expressionless, Maki of Sunagakure was calm, and Mei Terumi of Kirigakure had her eyes slightly lowered.

Konoha... has all the agreements been reached with each of the other villages? Only Iwagakure remains?
A feeling of stagnation blocked in Wenya's chest.

Shuji's gaze lingered briefly on Mei Terumi before turning to Bunya, his tone calm: "Iwagakure needs time to consult, and Konoha understands."

"The meeting is now adjourned. The specific time and location of the Five Shadows meeting will be announced separately after each village confirms them."

Wen Ya immediately stood up, his movements somewhat hurried. He looked around and found that apart from his own people, the representatives of the other four families were still sitting calmly in their seats, showing no intention of leaving immediately.

He gritted his teeth, said no more, turned around and quickly left the conference room.

The message must be sent back to the village immediately and reported to Lord Tsuchikage.

(End of this chapter)