Naruto: Yes, Uchiha-sama.

Chapter 138 Tobirama Senju received twelve imperial edicts in one day. Should good people be held at gunpoint?

The Grand Secretary resigned again and again for various reasons.

It is only natural.
With tears in his eyes, Tobirama Senju had no choice but to accept this hot potato. Konoha had no reason to refuse such a task, as they would have to rely on the bigwigs of the Land of Fire for funding next year. Because of the reparations from Kumogakure, Akatsuki's funding would far exceed Konoha's in the next few years!
"Then I'll await good news from Konoha. I hope Konoha won't disappoint His Highness the Daimyo."

The Grand Secretary's tone was meaningful, and his face showed a complex expression.

Akatsuki Village is a bunch of bastards!
Konoha isn't exactly a good place either.

we can even say.

Konoha is the culprit behind all this, and this mission is perhaps a test of Konoha's obedience by the bigwigs of the Land of Fire.

Akatsuki Village has already messed things up over there.

We should at least test Konoha's attitude.

They fear the unknown more than failure.

The bigwigs from the Land of Fire wanted Konoha to suppress Akatsuki and give them an explanation. No matter how perfunctory Akatsuki's explanation was, it could still be considered a success!

If Konoha succeeds.

no doubt
In the near future, the Land of Fire will provide Konoha with a large amount of investment and funding. Even the Daimyo may improve their attitude towards Konoha and Hashirama Senju.

If it cannot be done.
Then the future of the Land of Fire will really be hard to predict.

To put it bluntly, these nobles from the Land of Fire don't have many cards to play, in fact, they have very few. They can only use their past traditions and the economic power they still hold to manipulate the ninja villages.

How can something that can't be obtained on the battlefield be obtained at the negotiating table?
You have food, I have guns?
You are my granary!
The Grand Secretary could hardly have imagined such a situation.

Times are changing too fast.

It happened so fast that it caught him off guard.

It's only been a few years!
The power of the ninjas had grown so great that even the once high and mighty nobles had lost the means to effectively suppress them.

The only way for the Land of Fire to break this awkward situation is to establish a truly national ninja village.

To train a ninja force that belongs to the nation!

But putting it into practice is extremely difficult.

When the ninja villages were first established in various countries, they attracted almost the entire majority of ninja clans. Apart from a few far-sighted and insightful individuals, most of the noble families did not realize the seriousness of this matter and continued to follow the old path, believing that they could incite hatred and war between ninja villages to maintain the past order.

But after slapping the entire Hidden Cloud Village, Makoto Uchiha turned around and started slapping them again, waking them up with a single blow.

Do you really think that attacking the ninja village will stop you from attacking us?

He wants them all!

The opportunity has now been missed. The remaining ninja clans in the Land of Fire are few in number and weak, mostly just a bunch of low-ranking ninja.

Each of them was being watched closely by the ninja villages.

We gave you the chance to join the bright and promising Akatsuki/Konoha, but you refused. Instead, you went to curry favor with the nobles. Be careful when you're on missions, because shurikens might suddenly fly at you and kill you!

Even if it means starting all over again.
They went to promote ordinary people and selected talented children from among them to become ninjas.

But this is an extremely difficult thing.

Are we supposed to expect the Land of Fire to officially establish a ninja academy?

They were unable to systematically train ninjas, nor could they find sufficiently powerful secret ninjutsu.

Ninja clans often value their secret techniques and bloodlines more than their own lives, and would rather let them rot in their hands than reveal them.

Knowledge is power; it can truly change one's destiny.

The same applies to the ninja world.

For example, Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi are classic examples of how knowledge can change one's destiny.

They have mastered core technologies, and it is not an exaggeration to say that one of them could start a ninja world war. One of their life-saving techniques is also top-notch.

Applying this to ninja clans, if bloodline can't compete with bloodline ninjas, ninja clans can compete with secret techniques.

For example, the most classic example is the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. These three clans are all masters of secret techniques, capable of standing alone and holding a place in the ninja world. After forming an alliance, even bloodline ninja clans do not want to antagonize them.

These secret techniques were painstakingly developed by the clan's ninjas. They are the foundation upon which the clan stands and the rare treasures that allow them to establish themselves in the ninja world!

Therefore, ninja clans naturally desire to monopolize their own knowledge and bloodline.

However, their niche is currently occupied by powerful nobles. If given the opportunity to gain economic power, a ninja version of the Nine-Rank System will definitely emerge.

In this ninja world, emphasizing open source is too advanced.

Currently, the ninja academies established by various ninja villages only teach the most basic Three Body Techniques and some basic taijutsu techniques and experience.

Even the Akatsuki village is the same.

The reason why Makoto Uchiha was not strongly resisted by the ninja clans in Akatsuki Village for recruiting so many ordinary children as ninjas was not only because he had money to bribe the ninja clans, but also because Makoto Uchiha did not touch the core interests of the ninja clans.

In order to cope with the war, Uchiha Makoto had neither the time nor the energy to train them extensively.

They focused all their energy on physical training.

A group of low-ranking ninjas specializing in taijutsu pose no threat to their status. On the battlefield, they would just be cannon fodder sent to their deaths.

Who would complain about having too few cannon fodder?

Makoto Uchiha did indeed intend to use them as cannon fodder. This is truly cruel and realistic.

But the ninja world has always been this cruel reality.

of course
Makoto Uchiha could not allow this situation to continue indefinitely.

This involves a matter of stance.

If Uchiha Makoto were merely a clan head, he would have to oppose the public disclosure of ninjutsu secrets. However, his main clan, the Uchiha, resides in Konoha, and his highest position is that of the Kage of Akatsuki.

He was also well aware that his core support base was not the ninja clan, but rather the ninjas who came from ordinary backgrounds.

Therefore, this is one of the key areas of adjustment for Uchiha Makoto in the next few years.

We must continue copying Tobirama Senju!
Implementing a system where Chunin/Jonin lead classes can gradually change the current situation.

Taking on promising disciples and teaching them ninjutsu is a method that ninja clans can accept.

Even the most powerful ninja clans like to invest in and recruit geniuses from ordinary backgrounds. If they can recruit them, it's a huge profit for the clan. Even if they can't, it's still a profit!

And Makoto Uchiha would absolutely not give these ninja clans a chance to interfere.

He will gather all these talented ninjas from ordinary backgrounds into the Anbu. This is a right that the Light and Shadow are born with, and no one has the right to say anything against it.

We must use various means to bring them together into another force.

Ninjas from ordinary backgrounds have an absolute numerical advantage. With such a large number, geniuses will always emerge. You might even hit the jackpot and encounter a ninja like Minato or Jiraiya. They also have a large and stable base of support, enough to gradually undermine the ninja clans' influence in the village.

In short, even with the backing of the powerful Akatsuki village, it would be incredibly difficult for Makoto Uchiha to promote someone from an ordinary background to become a powerful ninja.

Not to mention the nobles of the Land of Fire who are severely out of touch with the ninja world.

To build a large ninja village like Konoha Akatsuki by utilizing ninjas from ordinary backgrounds, it would not only require a massive amount of resources and funds to recruit talent and develop secret techniques, but also at least a decade or more of preparation.

It sounds like there's a chance to break the deadlock.

But if you really ask the nobles in the Land of Fire to pay for this matter of defending the foundation of the Land of Fire, probably very few of them would be willing to pay.

More than a decade has passed. With all that money and energy, why don't they consider using another method to infiltrate ninja villages and collude with ninjas?

Wealthy merchants can befriend and serve ninja villages, so why can't nobles, who are even richer and have higher status, do the same?

Their bodies are quite flexible too!

The Fire Kingdom's ship has sunk, but they can still live a carefree and happy life on another ship. This is probably what the insects are really thinking.

They even had to consider whether the forces formed by these ordinary ninjas might join forces with other ninja villages and turn against them, these noble people.

Unlocking wisdom grants immense power, and the sheer number of unruly people rebelling is far more terrifying than the power unleashed by a ninja village.

"I see."

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency."

Senju Tobirama gazed at the old minister, whose expression seemed somewhat dazed.

He did not understand why the Grand Secretary looked so haggard and was sighing so much.

Because the two sides are simply not on the same wavelength.

Although Makoto Uchiha's behavior was incredibly arrogant and took Tobirama Senju by surprise, it was also within reason. After all, Makoto Uchiha is an Uchiha.

Tobirama Senju could swear to the Sage of Six Paths that Konoha had absolutely no intention of rebelling, not even to the point of becoming Cao Cao's subordinate. Konoha would remain absolutely loyal to the Land of Fire!
The elder did not say anything more and left the Hokage's office, intending to return to the capital of the Land of Fire immediately. The Land of Fire had many affairs to attend to and could not do without him, the elder. He also needed to report back to the daimyo and give a detailed account of his visit to Konoha.

After seeing off the Grand Secretary.

Tobirama Senju waved his hand, summoning several ANBU ninjas and ordering them to secretly protect and follow the elder. At the same time, he immediately issued an order to organize Konoha's elite ninjas to begin a serious investigation into the matter.

Three full days have passed.

The investigation team dispatched by Konoha thoroughly searched the crime scene, and the result was exactly as Tobirama Senju had predicted.

Got nothing.

There was very little evidence at the scene, and the only physical evidence pointed to Takigakure Village.

In order to obtain further clues.

Tobirama Senju also rudely demanded the remains of the victim's family from the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

In the Ninja World.

While ninjas may not be able to extract information from ashes, they certainly do have ways of obtaining information from the dead.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire barely managed to suppress the pressure from some of the high-ranking nobles and nodded in agreement, but stipulated that the corpse must not be further damaged.

Tobirama Senju made a promise—he would absolutely not damage the corpse.

However, the final result greatly disappointed Tobirama Senju. The assassin's methods were extremely cunning, as if he had prepared in advance, destroying the brain nerves of the entire victim family, rendering the related memory extraction techniques completely ineffective.

The secret technique to make the dead truly speak.
It's not that he has no ideas at all.

War is the greatest driving force for technological advancement; the spear and the shield will be constantly updated and replaced.

Seeing the power of the Akatsuki's explosive tag attack, Tobirama Senju had an idea for a technique called Multiplying Explosive Tags. He also had to pair it with corpses that were completely reanimated by the Impure World Reincarnation technique. The combination of the two could truly achieve the effect of mass-producing humanoid self-destructing devices.

However, the true power of the Impure World Reincarnation technique lies not in this; Orochimaru, another genius in the future, has a different idea.

Orochimaru focused his energy on improving and restoring the strength of the reanimated ninjas to their former lives, and then using the reanimated ninjas to fight, instead of following Tobirama Senju's ideas to continue researching humanoid self-destruct devices.

However, the Impure World Reincarnation technique is not even in its infancy yet.

Tobirama Senju only had a general idea and inspiration in his mind; he hadn't even decided on a specific research direction. To perfect it and actually activate it would require a lot of experiments, resources, and time, and even Tobirama himself couldn't be sure how many resources and time it would take to complete this technique.

Six months, one year, two years
ten years?
Who knows how long it will take?

Or whether this technique can be completed at all is an unknown in Tobirama Senju's mind.

And obviously.
The daimyo of the Land of Fire wouldn't give Tobirama Senju much more time to master this technique.

He's having a tough time too.

In order to reduce the impact of the massacre of the entire noble family of Qinghua, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire has been doing everything he can to suppress the news.

Uchiha Makoto had no intention of making matters worse by vigorously publicizing and amplifying the incident.

If the great nobles are truly forced to unite and boycott Akatsuki, the consequences will be severe.

At this stage.

They can continue to quietly make a fortune using the salami-slicing tactic.

But the longer it takes, the better.

The harder it is to keep the news of this matter a secret.

The powerful nobles of the Land of Fire, whose intelligence networks were not to be underestimated, went into a frenzy after learning of the incident. They submitted memorials to pressure the daimyo of the Land of Fire to apprehend the true culprits as soon as possible and bring these heinous individuals to justice.

And these nobles were not fools.

They are all thousand-year-old foxes.

They are very skilled at the most basic principles of seeking advantage and avoiding harm.

Even though the real culprit was already obvious, the Akatsuki ninja appeared at the crucial time and place, and ultimately gained the most benefits.

However, before there is solid evidence, no one dares to take the lead in accusing Akatsuki of doing this.

Even nobles from the Qinghua family dared to kill those from the Xiaoren Village, and most of the great nobles didn't even have the same family background as the Qinghua family. They were also afraid of death.

These insects didn't dare to fire on Akatsuki Village, but they did dare to put pressure on the Daimyo.

And that's incredibly daring.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire was attacked several times.

The pressure is too great.

Then he could only put pressure on Tobirama Senju.

Ultimately, it even evolved to...
Tobirama Senju received twelve imperial edicts in a single day.

(End of this chapter)