Konoha: Rebuild the glory of the Uchiha!

Chapter 121 A mere twenty-five-year mortgage? I, Uchiha Madara, am going to be in debt!

"Lord Hokage, I've closed another big deal. Those rich fools from the Land of Lightning are surprisingly wealthy, unlike those penniless paupers from the Land of Wind, who are so stingy!"

Kakuzu pushed open the door to Uchiha Kuzu's office while shouting, showing no regard for the fact that he was in the Hokage's office. However, as Konoha's top salesman, Kakuzu was incredibly capable, willing to work 007 and voluntarily work overtime. Such employees were hard to find even with a lantern, so Uchiha Kuzu had always been very lenient with him.

Currently, only Orochimaru in the entire Hidden Leaf Village possesses such potential!

Kakuzu entered the room and saw Chiyo with a long face, looking displeased. What was that green-eyed guy saying?!

The land of crickets and wind, can't you keep it a secret for a little while?!

Kakuzu noticed that Uchiha Nan was not in the office again. Without even thinking, he knew that the Hokage had gone off somewhere to slack off again, and he would have to wait in the office for a long time. The contract still needed Uchiha Nan's signature!

"You are... Chiyo, a ninja from Sunagakure?"

"Exactly!"

Kakuzu quickly recognized Chiyo's identity, and the entire Hidden Leaf Village knew that Sunagakure had sent an envoy to visit the village.

Kakuzu, thick-skinned and ruthless, selectively ignored his earlier offensive words, found a stool and sat down, his small green eyes looking at Chiyo as he pondered.

According to news I heard from Nara Shikato, Sunagakure is going to form an alliance with Konoha this time, and it seems that the two villages will also start trading.

Currently, Konoha's main clients are the daimyo, nobles, and middle-class commoners of the Land of Fire. In just over a year, Konoha's commercial reach has gradually extended to all sectors of the Land of Fire, and companies registered under Konoha's name have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

Wealthy merchants and nobles from the Land of Fire jump off their trains to Konoha, obediently handing over their money, registering companies in Konoha, and conducting the same business as before, contributing large sums of tax revenue to Konoha every year, eager to integrate into Konoha, a violent institution undergoing transformation, and become a brand-new community of interests. An indescribable capitalist monster is growing rampantly.

Although Konoha's business development is rapid, the time frame is still too short. The ninja village and the daimyo are not even on the same track. Konoha has to go through the daimyo's channels for many businesses, especially those involving cross-border transactions. They can only access these transactions with the daimyo's help. Since the daimyo is contributing, Konoha inevitably has to share some of the profits with him. Doing business is about making money peacefully. Fighting and killing cannot last.

Is the Hokage now trying to open up his own channels?

Ninjas have considerable spending power, but the village of Sunagakure is a bunch of poor people who can't be squeezed out much. The spending power of the small ninja villages around Konoha might even be stronger than that of Sunagakure!

Chiyo seemed to sense that the green-eyed guy in front of her was thinking something that would offend Sunagakure.

Never mind. Even a fly is still meat. After all, Sunagakure is one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Let's chat with this poor bastard from Sunagakure first.

After some deliberation, Kakuzu made up his mind: whether there's a chance or not, it's better to take a shot first and ask around; business opportunities never fall from the sky.

Kakuzu quickly introduced himself: a senior executive in the Ministry of Finance, the leader of Konoha's business negotiations, and a long list of titles from the Business Intelligence Department. Chiyo was stunned. She couldn't believe that this impolite guy was actually a high-ranking official in Konoha. Could he be the person in charge of negotiations for the business team that the Hokage had mentioned?

"Selling chakra? Konoha does have this project, it's quite popular now. Many disabled ninjas and ninjas who can't get missions sell it. Konoha consumes a lot of electricity, so the price isn't low, but your Sunagakure wants to sell it? Tsk tsk tsk."

“Your Sunagakure site will have to be rebuilt, which will be a cost. Moreover, compared to Konoha, your Sunagakure’s electricity consumption is negligible. I estimate that all of it will have to be divided into small tanks and transported to Konoha for unified recycling, which will immediately increase the cost. The price of chakra will not be too high.”

"What? The Hokage is going to send people to sell food, medicine, and daily necessities to Sunagakure?"

"How can Konoha make any money? Do you know how high the transportation costs are? I think the Hokage has gone mad!"

"You still need to recruit workers from Sunagakure? That's a good idea. Konoha is short of workers everywhere, from factories to construction sites. The environment in Sunagakure is probably so bad that the villagers are suffering just to live. Coming to work in Konoha's factories is like winning the lottery."

Kakuzu pulled out several portable calculators from somewhere and started calculating costs and benefits in front of Chiyo, his face growing darker with each calculation.

If this business goes on for a year, won't Konoha lose money? No matter how you calculate it, Konoha can't make any money. Has the Hokage gone mad, doing a business that doesn't make money?

Are they going to lose money to support Sunagakure?

The horn, who had spent his life pursuing money and profit, was there sighing heavily. He wouldn't sign contracts for businesses that were destined to fail; he'd let Nara Shika go and sign them instead, and let him take the blame if they lost money.

Chiyo watched as Kakuzu sat there sighing after completing his calculations, and a thought struck her: would the alliance agreement between Konoha and Sunagakure fall through? It seemed Konoha was going to lose a lot of money.

"Goodbye, farewell!"

Kakuzu left Uchiha Nan's office without looking back. He made his living by taking a cut of the profits, and he didn't want to waste a single moment on a deal that was sure to lose money.

Chiyo was left sitting alone on the sofa, lost in thought. She waited for a long time, but Uchiha Nan did not appear.

"Lord Lu Yuan, why didn't the Hokage come today? I've been sitting here waiting for ages. Could it be..."

Chiyo was very anxious. After waiting for a long time without seeing Uchiha Nan, she nervously went to Nara Shikamaru, the Hokage's assistant, to inquire about Uchiha Nan.

"Miss Chiyo, you can wait a little longer this afternoon. The Hokage probably has something important to attend to."

Nara Shikagawa brushed off Chiyo. He had sent someone to Uchiha Nan's house that morning and knew about Uchiha Nan's feat of taking on two people at once the night before. It was impossible for him to come this morning, and it was uncertain whether he could come this afternoon.

I can't exactly tell Chiyo that the Hokage of Konoha is indulging in some kind of passionate lovemaking and has probably skipped work for a day.

Chiyo spent the morning sitting idly in the Hokage's office, while Madara Uchiha strolled around Konoha Village with great interest. After deciding to settle down in Konoha, Madara's hesitant and anxious mood suddenly improved a lot.

"There are so many more people in Konoha than before," Madara Uchiha remarked as he walked, marveling at the changes in Konoha. The difference between Konoha at night and during the day was enormous, especially in terms of the number of people—it was like night and day.

Soon Madara Uchiha arrived at Konoha's sales office and toured the model house with the staff. Madara thought it was nice; it was just a basic suite. If you were willing to spend the money, Konoha could design a luxury house just for you.

Since the goal was to extract money from nobles and wealthy merchants, corresponding services would certainly be provided. However, Madara Uchiha didn't care about such things. He had already transcended base desires and had long since begun to pursue spiritual fulfillment. An ordinary single apartment was already quite good. In any case, it was more comfortable than Madara Uchiha's life in the underground cave.

"The room is equipped with basic amenities, including an electric light, a water heater, an electric pot, and other latest products developed by Konoha's laboratories."

As the staff introduced the room's amenities, Madara Uchiha paced back and forth, a strange feeling welling up inside him.

Despite Madara Uchiha's best efforts to conceal his expression and emotions, the staff could still sense the emotional fluctuations emanating from him. It wasn't that the staff member was particularly strong; it was simply that he had seen this kind of emotion and expression far too often—even the high-ranking nobles reacted the same way when they first encountered such infrastructure.

Has Konoha developed that quickly?

When did these strange ninja tools come about? The room lights up when the light is turned on and off. It heats water anytime, anywhere. Is it a new type of energy source like electricity? What happened while I was away from Konoha?

All of this is thanks to Uchiha Nan. Well, we can reluctantly add Tobirama Senju, since it was Uchiha Nan who resurrected Tobirama Senju using Edo Tensei and provided the best research conditions. Tobirama Senju only provided a little bit of technical support.

Uchiha Kunan put a lot of effort into promoting the widespread use of electricity in Konoha. Everything in the room was a new product combining electricity and chakra. Over the past year, Uchiha Kunan had been putting immense pressure on Senju Tobirama, and they did indeed create a lot of useful household furniture.

The research team, composed of dozens of Tobirama Senju, unleashed its potential, driving technological innovation in a way that Uchiha Nan couldn't comprehend.

However, considering the distorted technological development of the ninja world—a state of being both backward and advanced—Uchiha Nan isn't surprised. While Konoha is still a purely agricultural country, thirty-odd years later, in Naruto's era, its technological development is not only close to modern times, but it has even produced advanced electronic products like computers. Then, in Boruto after Naruto becomes Hokage, only fifty-odd years have passed. The technology displayed then becomes even more outrageous.

Kishimoto, that old scoundrel, is ultimately just a manga artist. That's truly a unique characteristic of the ninja world!

As an old-fashioned figure from the previous era, Madara Uchiha naturally didn't have a good life. Even a top ninja like Madara Uchiha never enjoyed such modern living facilities.

Ordinary people in Konoha can live such a life. Going deep into the grassroots and understanding the people at the very bottom of the ninja world, Uchiha Madara suddenly remembered this sentence from the book. The little boy Ito Sousuke's family bought this kind of house yesterday.

Uchiha Nan, that junior, actually executed the plan quite well.

But all of this doesn't come for free; it starts at twenty years, and regular apartments don't have such superior facilities. If it were a show flat decorated like this, another ten years would probably be enough.

However, Madara Uchiha was not fully aware of all this, and even if he had known the cost, he wouldn't have said anything.

Even the most powerful ninjas have to risk their lives on missions to live a carefree life, while ordinary people can work comfortably in factories for thirty years. What more could you ask for in such a life?

If I let you go hungry for two meals, you'll behave!

"I'll buy this house for whatever price you ask!"

Madara Uchiha really liked the apartment and was ready to pay for it, but after the staff quoted a price, Madara realized that he didn't have enough money!

Back then, Madara Uchiha would sneak into the movies without paying, and the money he has now was stolen from a few reckless ninja who tried to rob him on the road.

"Sir, if you don't have enough money, we offer loan services, but..."

The staff looked Uchiha Madara up and down. He looked like a refugee from the countryside, probably someone who had come to Konoha by begging for food and barely scraping by.

For an old man like Uchiha Madara, starving to death on the roadside is the normal outcome in this ninja world; he wouldn't even make it to Konoha. He was truly lucky.

However, buying a house in Konoha is probably impossible in this lifetime. Although the mortgage business in Konoha is growing wildly, even in Konoha, mortgages are only available to certain people. An old man like Uchiha Madara can at most work in a sweatshop for a few years to make ends meet, living in a cheap shack with seven or eight people, not knowing when he will die. But at least he can eat his fill before he dies, which is not a bad way to die.

The ideal targets for mortgage loans in Konoha are young people who work in factories and construction sites, and who can work like cattle for twenty years with just two meals a day.

"Mortgages are generally for twenty years. If you can't make the payments by then, Konoha will take the house back. You'll lose all the money you've paid and the house itself."

The staff wanted to persuade Madara Uchiha to give up, but the old man was doing odd jobs at the factory every day and living in a wooden shack. Actually, it was not bad. At least he was protected from the wind and rain and wouldn't starve.

"I'll take out a loan, I want this house!"

Madara Uchiha interrupted the service staff's well-meaning rambling. He'd lived in the underground cave for so long; while he didn't crave material comforts, he wouldn't refuse them if offered. Even the elderly need to enjoy their later years. As for money, it was even simpler for Madara. He could just send a clone to the gold exchange to take on some bounty missions, collect a few kills, and make money. A very simple concept: make money by doing missions!

"The first batch of houses is about to be completed, and you can buy one without participating in the lottery if you pay in full... Hey? Why am I telling you this? Are you really sure you want to take out a loan?"

"."

"Alright. Show me the relevant documents that were issued to you when you entered Konoha."

Seeing that Madara Uchiha had made up his mind, the staff tried to persuade him a few more times before shutting up. After all, his salary was calculated based on sales commissions and loan business. If he couldn't repay the mortgage and Konoha forcibly repossessed the house, Madara Uchiha wouldn't be blamed for sleeping on the street.

There's no shortage of houses in Konoha that are hard to sell right now, and there's no fear of not being able to get them back.

Madara Uchiha pulled out the identification he had been given when he entered the village and quickly completed the loan application. The staff even kindly asked Madara if he had a stable job, saying that if not, they could introduce him to a factory job, which was considered a good deed.

"Go work in a factory?"

Madara Uchiha recalled the theoretical ninja production and ninja diversion system in Uchiha Nan's book. He could agree to it first and then send a clone to experience it; it wouldn't waste much chakra.

After a series of complicated purchase contracts and loan agreements were signed, Madara Uchiha paid a portion of the money and officially began taking on a 25-year mortgage!

After finishing a series of trivial matters, Madara Uchiha looked at the sun outside; it was almost noon.

"Is it already this late?"

"It's time to return this book to that child."

Chapter 122 Uchiha Madara: How can children be so addicted to this boring gacha game?!

The ninja academy has changed so much.

Madara Uchiha stood at the main gate of the Ninja Academy, surveying his surroundings. It was much larger than when he had left Konoha.

There are statues here?

Uchiha Nan, I'm growing more and more fond of you. Uchiha Madara looked at the main gate of the Ninja Academy, where statues of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara still stood, and couldn't help but smile.

In order to promote the legitimacy of the Uchiha clan, reverse the covert suppression of the Uchiha during Tobirama Senju's rule, and improve the Uchiha clan's status in the hearts of the villagers of Konoha, Uchiha Kusunoki went to great lengths. He not only made a movie to whitewash Uchiha Madara, but also placed statues of Konoha's founder, Uchiha Madara, and Hashirama Senju in various important places in Konoha, gradually elevating the Uchiha clan's status from the very beginning.

The fact that the major shareholder who founded Konoha directly defected is a stain that will take time to clear. In a few years, Uchiha Nan thinks he can use the annals of history to slightly revise the textbooks, saying that Uchiha Madara only traveled outside the village and had a friendly sparring session at the Valley of the End.

Madara Uchiha was admiring his own statue, then glanced at the statue of Hashirama beside him, and then expertly drifted into memories.

Last time I came to the Ninja Academy with Hashirama, I think I scared a little girl to tears! How awful!! Why did that bastard Hashirama manage to cheer her up with just a flower!

"Jingle Bell!!"

Madara Uchiha was still reminiscing about the past when the school bell rang. A moment later, the students of the Ninja Academy happily ran out of the classroom. The moment when school was over at noon was always the happiest!

"How wonderful." Madara Uchiha's previously cold expression softened into a smile. This is the new life of Konoha. (The contrast between Madara's smile after helping the little girl in the anime is truly striking.)

So many ordinary people's children! Madara Uchiha observed the students. Now, the majority of students at the Konoha Ninja Academy are ordinary people's children, villagers, and ordinary people. Is this what they call universal education?

Before Madara Uchiha left Konoha, the Konoha Ninja Academy was very small, initially consisting mainly of Uchiha and Senju disciples. Later, as Konoha expanded, various ninja clans from the Land of Fire joined Konoha seeking protection, and the Ninja Academy grew in size accordingly.