Uchiha's personal opinion

Uchiha Tokumitsu became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Once all the land and houses in the new district are sold, won't we have to build another new district?"

Sakumo Hatake hesitated for a moment, "Wouldn't this trap the village in a vicious cycle of uncontrolled expansion?"

"That's simple. The new district can adopt a long-term rental model. All newly developed land belongs to the village, and the buildings on the land can be rented out for about thirty years. In addition, management fees and the like will be paid every year."

Uchiha Tokumitsu blurted out, "Furthermore, all shops in the new district will be required to pay a fixed business tax; then the village's finances will have a continuous income, isn't that great!"

"Tax collection..."

Sakumo Hatake still felt something was amiss, "But the village's current policy is that ninjas' self-operated businesses are tax-free. If taxes are levied... everyone will be dissatisfied."

There was another hidden meaning behind Hatake Sakumo's words: the business in Konoha Village is actually monopolized by various ninja clans, especially the Uchiha clan's monopoly on the arms industry, which is extremely profitable. The United Company even started out by openly resisting taxes through smuggling. If taxes were levied, would the Ministry of Finance dare to collect taxes from the Uchiha's ninja tool shops or the United Company's offices?

The village salary is barely a few cents, are you out of your mind?!

As for the ninja-run shops outside of the ninja clans, how much money can they collect? It's barely enough to pay the salaries of the tax-collecting ninjas!

"That's easy!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu already had a plan in mind: "We can adopt a new approach for the new district and an old approach for the old village; we can only implement taxation and long-term rentals in the new district, while the ninja village headquarters will still follow the original system. In this way, everyone will have no objections, right?"

"The development of the new district is of great importance; I need to think about it carefully..."

Sakumo Hatake still felt like something was off, and scratched his head again.

"In addition, a development management committee can be set up in the new area, under the jurisdiction of the House of Representatives. After all, this is a matter that involves the interests of the villagers, and it is reasonable for the members of the House of Representatives, who are all Jonin, to supervise it."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said calmly.

“You’re right. I’ll go back and initiate an inquiry in the House of Representatives.”

Sakumo Hatake immediately and very smoothly changed his stance.

No one in a position of power can resist the temptation and impulse to expand their authority and personnel to create a "large department system." Uchiha Tokumitsu's words really hit Hatake Sakumo's sore spot.

A few days later, just as the "Konoha Counter-Terrorism White Paper" compiled by the Political Affairs Department was freshly released, Uchiha Tokumitsu was enjoying the various masterpieces of the political affairs ninjas, such as searching for enemies in the air, creating cards in the air, and reversing right and wrong, when Hatake Sakumo came running over again.

"Deguang-kun, there is something very important I want to discuss with you."

This time, Sakumo Hatake abandoned his usual evasive manner and stated directly, "The House of Representatives unanimously passed the preliminary resolution to develop the new district, but we are currently facing a problem."

"What's the problem?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu leaned back tactically and asked with a smile.

"The village is out of money, and there's no budget available."

Sakumo Hatake asked, "Could we issue bonds on a stock exchange?"

Issuing bonds is really unnecessary.

Uchiha Tokumitsu smiled broadly, “However, we can achieve a shareholding cooperation, with everyone contributing funds to establish a special company~ It just so happens that the joint venture has accumulated rich experience in operating in various parts of the ninja world, especially in the oases of the Land of Wind.”

"How exactly will we cooperate?"

Sakumo Hatake humbly sought his advice.

"We could form a Konoha Village investment company and do development together!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu's smile was as sweet as honey. "Not only the Uchiha clan, but other ninja clans can also invest if they are interested. That way, even the Senate won't have any objections."

"Let's all make money together!"

As long as the Uchiha clan earns the most, that's fine.

Of course, Uchiha Tokumitsu wouldn't say these words out loud on the spot.

"In that case...wouldn't that mean the new district management committee would be established..."

Sakumo Hatake immediately thought of another problem.

"The management rights and ownership should be separated."

Uchiha Tokumitsu's eyes had turned into crescent shapes. "Come, come, let me analyze this for you in detail..."

Chapter 329 The Restless Heart

In actual counter-terrorism operations, the counter-terrorism forces did not capture or kill even a single Myoboku Mountain ninja frog, but one-third of the "white paper" was devoted to describing the origins and background of Myoboku Mountain, which Konoha called the "number one terrorist organization in the ninja world".

Even though a large part of the content was fabricated by the Konoha government ninjas, based on Uchiha Tokumitsu's "three truths and seven falsehoods" compilation guidelines, and combined with some research results from the Konoha Research Institute on the Greninja frogs of Mount Myōboku, the "108 wonderful uses of the Greninja frogs" in the white paper still seem quite plausible.

Originally, the ninja villages led by Iwagakure and Kumogakure scoffed at Konoha's publicly released "Konoha Counter-Terrorism White Paper," believing it to be just another piece of evidence of Uchiha Tokumitsu's "wanting to engage in service industries while also building landmark buildings."

However, when the ninja village's external affairs personnel returned the white paper to the village as if it were a treasure, they realized that their initial idea seemed to be somewhat wrong.

According to high-ranking members of the ninja village, such as Onoki and the Third Raikage, the views expressed in the so-called "white paper" were problematic in many ways. For example, it glorified the Konoha counter-terrorism forces' acts of aggression against the sovereignty of various countries and forcibly whitewashed the counter-terrorism forces' criminal detention and interrogation of ninja village intelligence personnel for stealing secrets.

But this does not mean that this so-called "white paper" is worthless.

For example, in the eyes of the leaders of various countries and major ninja villages, the technique of turning black into white in the "white paper" is simply a groundbreaking milestone. Its grammar and rhetoric are so captivating that they are hard to forget.

Of course, the daimyo, nobles, and high-ranking officials of the ninja village were well aware of the various medicinal values ​​of the ninja frogs from the Myoboku lineage.

After all, we are all respectable people, and it's not always good to talk about certain things publicly.

However, the most direct impact on the ninja world was that many anonymous wealthy individuals inexplicably posted missions to buy the Greninja frogs of Mount Myōboku in ninja villages and the black market, with the commissions for each mission being higher than the last.

As the white paper continued to spread, the medicinal value of the Greninja frog and various conspiracy theories about Mount Myōboku interfering in the ninja world became increasingly outrageous. Some unscrupulous booksellers, driven by greed, even extracted the content related to Mount Myōboku and the Greninja frog from the white paper, rewrote it, and sold it as a new book throughout the ninja world, where it became very popular.

Even the remote and small country of the ninja world, the Land of Forest, claims that toads have great medicinal value. For example, the forest frogs that are abundant in their country are a first-class tonic, and therefore the United Company placed a huge order for them.

The joint venture's purchasing activities further confirmed the wonders of frogs. Herbalists in the ninja world were overjoyed, treating the pirated white paper as a medical bible, and peddling fallacies such as ninja frogs prolonging life, forest frogs nourishing the skin, and ordinary frogs strengthening the body. This further fueled the craze for capturing ninja frogs in the ninja world.

Thus, the intelligence frogs, which were originally scattered throughout the ninja world, faced annihilation.

As the most numerous species in Mount Myōboku, the Information Frogs have little to no fighting ability and even less intelligence.

The biggest difference between the intelligence frog and ordinary frogs is that the intelligence frog can act like a camera, making it perfect for serving as a stationary spy.

However, based on the information disclosed in the white paper regarding Mount Myōboku's monitoring of the ninja world, the various daimyo prefectures and ninja villages, adhering to the principle of "better safe than sorry," immediately launched a large-scale indiscriminate culling of frogs in their headquarters and surrounding areas.

The captured frogs were also sent to secret research institutes in various ninja villages for research and analysis. As a result, something unusual was discovered. According to the researchers' analysis, the eyes of some frog carcasses contained special image information. Although they were unable to extract and analyze it, it was confirmed that they were undoubtedly the Myoboku Mountain Information Frogs mentioned in the white paper!

After learning that the information in the white paper about Mount Myōboku monitoring the ninja world was true, the daimyo, nobles, and high-ranking officials of various ninja villages, while intensifying their efforts to exterminate frogs, naturally gained more trust in the ninja frogs' ingenious uses. As a result, the intelligence frogs scattered throughout the country were subjected to indiscriminate and unannounced killings.

……

Shinnosuke Sarutobi, who was in charge of intelligence for the Akatsuki organization, quickly realized that the situation had changed.

The number of his "silent comrades" dwindled rapidly, and surveillance of key points in the ninja world quickly failed. All these changes caught him off guard.

When Jiraiya, who was "traveling through the ninja world" and "experiencing the local customs," hurriedly returned to the secret base and gave him a pirated copy of the white paper, Sarutobi Shinnosuke immediately felt dizzy and as if he was about to have a stroke.

Even when he learned that his clansmen, who had been exiled to the southeastern occupied territory of the Land of Lightning, had been killed by the anti-terrorist forces, Sarutobi Shinnosuke did not show such a distraught expression.

"We can't stay silent any longer!"

After a while, Sarutobi Shinnosuke finally came to his senses and said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Jiraiya, we need to seize the opportunity to take the initiative! Otherwise, as time goes by, we will become more and more passive!"

"...Wouldn't we be moving too fast?"

Jiraiya hesitated.

"If this continues to escalate, there will be no place for us in the ninja world!"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke slowly sat down, regaining his composure as he analyzed, "Now all countries are hunting toads, and the intelligence frog has already been exposed. If we don't launch an attack on the shogunate immediately, we will have no chance of getting any support!"

"The Akatsuki's greatest role for other ninja villages and countries is to maintain a continuous hostility with the Shogunate. Only through constant confrontation can they ease up their efforts to strangle us!"

"Brother Jiraiya, Mount Myōboku is a good place, but it is not a place we can escape to. And although the ninja world is vast, there are not many places to hide!"

Jiraiya understood Sarutobi Shinnosuke's intentions.

The haste to launch the attack wasn't due to idleness or a lack of strength to confront the Shogunate and the Allied Corporation. Rather, it was to demonstrate Akatsuki's resolve and execution capabilities to other forces secretly hostile to the Shogunate, thereby prompting them to appropriately ease their pressure on Akatsuki.

Otherwise, if this kind of slaughter continues throughout the ninja world, it won't be long before the frogs in the ninja world are wiped out, and the Myoboku lineage will be demonized.

"Then let's stick to what we discussed back then and start by targeting the joint venture!"

Jiraiya finally made up his mind.

"I'm going to Mount Myōboku tomorrow, and I'll conscript another Greninja frog unit then!"

"Greninja Squad... that's fine too!"

Although Sarutobi Shinnosuke was reluctant to do so, he nodded in agreement when he thought about the current state of the so-called Akatsuki organization, which consisted of only a handful of people.

However, unlike Jiraiya, Sarutobi Shinnosuke still harbored a kind of "human supremacy" view and remained somewhat wary of the toads of Mount Myōboku.

"Oh right, Jiraiya-nii-san..."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Sarutobi Shinnosuke added, "Could I also go to Mount Myōboku? If possible, I would like to pay my respects to the Great Toad Sage..."

"I'll ask Fukasaku first..."

Jiraiya hesitated for a moment before answering.

……

"Lord Tokumitsu..."

A green-skinned kappa peeked out from outside Uchiha Tokumitsu's office.

"Come in!"

A smile appeared on Uchiha Tokumitsu's face.

"As ordered!"

The green-skinned kappa immediately stood at attention, then trotted to Uchiha Tokumitsu's desk and gave a proper salute. "Might Guy, the physical training instructor at the Police Preparatory School and a senior police sergeant, is here to report for duty! Please give your instructions!"

Well... although in terms of etiquette, Senior Inspector Might Guy was exemplary in both his actions and words, without the slightest impoliteness, Uchiha Tokumitsu couldn't help but feel an urge to laugh.

"cough!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu coughed, suppressing his inexplicable laughter, and pointed to the guest chair in front of the desk, saying, "Don't be shy, Shinobu, please sit down. I have some private matters to discuss with you today."

"Reporting to Lord Tokukō, I am currently a Special Jonin!"

Matt Day immediately jumped up from his chair and replied in a loud, yet comical, voice.

"A special Jonin is still a member of the Jonin team, right..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't understand why Might Guy's reaction was so strange. He chuckled twice and said, "With Guy's strength, it's only a matter of time before he's promoted to Jonin."