Naruto: Yes, Uchiha-sama.

Chapter 129 The times are moving forward, and Akatsuki Village represents the future!

Autumn has arrived.

Surrounded by the Akatsuki ninja army, Lord Kōyō returned to his loyal Akatsuki village.

The villagers of Akatsuki, who had already learned of the Akatsuki army's triumphant return, spontaneously organized a ten-mile-long welcome outside the village, waiting on the road that Uchiha Makoto would inevitably take on his return to Akatsuki.

Uchiha Makoto was already at the very front of the group, and he immediately spotted the Akatsuki ninja who had been waiting for a long time, welcoming the group home!

Uzumaki Tsubaki Shizuku, who was waiting at the front of the welcoming team, immediately broke into an incredibly bright smile; she had also seen him.

He also saw Shizuku Uzumaki.

The two waved to each other.

Uzumaki Tsubaki Shizuku couldn't wait and ran up to Uchiha Makoto, throwing herself into his arms.

at the same time.

The music starts.

It's a pity that it's not a song about lovers being separated and then reuniting.

It's not just background music for those who love light and shadow!
At this moment.

Makoto Uchiha is not only Shizuku Uzumaki's husband, but also the guiding light of the entire Akatsuki village!
Before Uchiha Makoto even approached the welcoming party, the numerous Akatsuki villagers excitedly greeted him.

"Wan Sheng!"

"Long live Lord Light and Shadow!!"

"Long live Akatsuki Village!!!"

Uchiha Makoto smiled, taking Uzumaki Tsubaki Shizuku's hand as he greeted the enthusiastic villagers. The Akatsuki ninja behind him cheered with equal jubilation. War was a monster that could destroy everything. They were lucky to have survived and returned to their long-awaited home, where their parents, lovers, and friends were. The atmosphere was incredibly warm, and almost everyone had a smile on their face.

Only the guards responsible for maintaining order at the scene were on high alert. They watched the surrounding villagers warily, as the assassination attempt on Master Guangying by ninjas from Kumogakure a while ago had served as a reminder to them.

There were many people and distractions at the scene.

You must be careful at this time.

They couldn't let anything happen to Master Guangying at the doorstep of Akatsuki Village, but fortunately everything was normal and Uchiha Makoto entered Akatsuki Village smoothly amidst cheers.

On his way back, Uchiha Makoto discovered that the Akatsuki village had expanded considerably.

The most obvious change is that the street has been widened by three or four meters again, and there are even several buildings that look like utility poles on both sides of the road.

The number of villagers coming and going has increased dramatically.

There were many more shops along the street that Uchiha Makoto had no recollection of.

Kazuma, who was standing next to Uchiha Makoto, kept talking about the developments of Akatsuki Village over this period of time.

According to Makoto Uchiha's original plan, the residential area, commercial district, and technology park that he wanted to build in Akatsuki Village have all been completed and passed inspection.

The wealthy merchants of the Land of Fire gathered to invest in the Akatsuki Village, hoping to do business under its name. They saw huge business opportunities in the Akatsuki Village's ceasefire agreement. By affiliating with the Akatsuki Village, they could more easily break through the commercial barriers set up by the Land of Lightning.

And even more importantly...

The times have changed.

Since the end of the chaotic wars between ninja clans, the era of ninja villages began. This was especially true in major powers.

Take the Land of Fire for example.

The Akatsuki and Konoha ninjas can be said to have redefined the ninja order of the Land of Fire.

After the establishment of Konoha and Akatsuki, both sides not only tried to win over the ninja clans, but also gathered up the smaller ninja forces in the Land of Fire. The place where most of the ninja clans gathered is now the headquarters of the ninja village.

Those smaller ninja factions or clans who were unwilling to relocate, but were constrained by the prevailing trends of the times, could only join Konoha or Akatsuki according to their own choices. Although they remained in their original locations, they still obeyed the orders of the ninja villages they were loyal to.

They are scattered throughout the country, large and small, and will become key defensive nodes for the ninja village.

However, these small ninja forces now possess a degree of autonomy due to the special historical period, and are politically opportunistic double agents, profiting from both Konoha and Akatsuki.

Of course, this was unavoidable. At the beginning of the village's establishment, there were many things to do, and Konoha and Akatsuki generally adopted a tolerant attitude towards these small ninja forces.

As long as you don't openly betray us and generally follow the orders of the ninja village, we can all live in peace for now.

The daimyo even cooperated with the ninja village, with the daimyo issuing the extermination mission and the ninja village being responsible for its implementation.

With the joint efforts of Konoha and Akatsuki, the restless ninja forces, bandits, and refugee rebels in the Land of Fire were either driven to other countries or completely wiped out, and the turbulent social order of the Land of Fire was brought under control in the first year.

In a peaceful environment.

As a result, ordinary people were able to catch their breath.

Wealthy merchants also became active immediately, using their savings to invest in building factories. Because the Land of Fire had a large population and market to support it, they recovered the fastest, and their power continued to rise.

However, when doing business, collusion between officials and businessmen is inevitable in order to obtain preferential policies.

However, due to their social status, wealthy merchants generally don't have illustrious family names, so their status in the Land of Fire isn't very high. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in business. Given the choice between wealth and power, anyone with a brain would unhesitatingly choose power.

Therefore, wealthy merchants are often in a weak position in such transactions, and many are forced to become fronts for the nobles. The consequences of disobeying are self-evident.

However, the wealthy merchants continued to steadily expand their power. Of course, if they continued to expand their influence, they would soon be met with a heavy blow. It would be a pity not to slaughter a batch of pigs that had been fattened up.

They were naturally very unhappy with the names and nobles above their heads. They instinctively felt that these guys were just lucky to be born into good families and that they had no ability to make capital grow rapidly.

Of course this is indeed the case.

Wealthy businessmen hope to rapidly increase their capital, and even use their capital to achieve a leap in social status. This situation of being at the mercy of others is a thorn in their side.

However, for some unspeakable reason, relying on the powerful figures in the government, these things are currently very difficult to accomplish.

They had no choice but to find another way.

The ninja village, which is changing the world order in the new era, is naturally the best choice.

Uchiha Makoto's attitude towards merchants and the policies he implemented were clearly much better than those of the nobles.

At the very least, Uchiha Makoto genuinely intended to play the capitalist card and destroy this rotten old ninja world.

The nobles were more conservative and wanted to maintain the old order. Having controlled land resources and power, they didn't really care about capital, progress, or freedom.

Maintaining the current system is better than anything else.

(End of this chapter)