The Uchiha Clan's Sun

A house, a bank account, some belongings... these are things that will never change.

Therefore, the village has a foster care program that raises these children until they have a certain level of self-reliance before letting them go home to live on their own.

They will receive a monthly allowance, and when they reach a certain age, their ninja talent will be tested. Those with talent will be allowed to enter the ninja academy to study. Once they reach adulthood, their parents' pension will be given to them in a lump sum.

These orphans may not be called orphans, but rather the orphans of heroes.

Many people in Konoha Village went through this process, such as Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

The orphans adopted by Yakushi Nonou's Konoha Orphanage are true orphans. Most of them were adopted by Yakushi Nonou from all over the ninja world. They had no roots or homes in Konoha, no subsidies, and relied entirely on Yakushi Nonou for support.

This is also why Yakushi Nonou had such a difficult time!

After pondering for a moment, Uchiha Jin said, "Although the village has done a good job in settling the orphans of heroes, it is not systematic and has many shortcomings!"

"It's like the issue of distributing subsidies."

"Most of those children were only four or five years old when they came out of the foster care program. Although they had a certain degree of independence, they were still confused about many things, especially when it came to spending money."

“Although the village gives them a subsidy of three thousand taels of silver every month, it’s barely enough for someone who can buy groceries and cook for themselves. But would you expect a four or five-year-old child to buy groceries and cook for themselves every day?”

"They're not even as tall as the stove!"

"And this is during peacetime!"

"As the dormitory supervisor just mentioned, the prices of all supplies rise during wartime, including food!"

"A bowl of ramen costs 750 taels now, and the 3,000 taels subsidy can't even buy four bowls of ramen!"

"Those whose parents left them with substantial savings are fine, but what about the children who don't have enough savings?"

"So many orphans in the village actually live a miserable life, sometimes hungry and sometimes full!"

"I think everyone can relate to this!"

......

Chapter 321 People's hearts can be won!

Uchiha Jin's words caused most of the civilian ninjas present to show a look of sighs.

It's said that children in the ninja world mature early, but if they hadn't experienced so much of reality, who would want to transform from innocence to maturity?

Although the one-country-one-village system ended the chaotic Warring States period, the war never ended; instead, it escalated to a higher level!

Konoha has been established for less than fifty years. Excluding the dozen or so years during the lifetime of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, Konoha has experienced three Shinobi World Wars and countless smaller wars in the remaining thirty years!

It's fair to say that Konoha Village has been either engaged in war or preparing for war until now!

Konoha Village is only so big. After decades of war, who hasn't lost a few relatives, and who hasn't lost friends?

Those from large clans are alright, but there are definitely many ordinary ninjas in Konoha who lost both parents at a young age! As for those from small and medium-sized clans, who knows how many have been swallowed up by the dust of history, how many are left with only a few survivors, and how many are left with only one surviving member!

Just like the Hatake clan, to which Kakashi Hatake belongs, they were a famous samurai clan during the Warring States period, and their Hatake swordsmanship was renowned throughout the ninja world!

Now, only Kakashi Hatake remains of the entire Hatake clan. Judging from Kakashi's reserved and brooding nature, the clan might be wiped out in a few decades.

If even clans are like this, then it goes without saying that ordinary ninjas, who have little to no resources or ninjutsu inheritance, are in even worse shape.

Moreover, due to certain special reasons, whether a person has the talent to become a ninja also depends on heredity and bloodline!

The children of ninjas are more likely to become ninjas themselves, while the offspring of ordinary people are more likely to remain ordinary, and the sons of scapegoats are still scapegoats!

The main reason why Konoha Village goes to great lengths to raise those orphaned ninjas, besides its reputation, lies precisely here!

Because those orphans are more likely to become ninjas!

This has led to a phenomenon where, among all the ninjas present, their parents were most likely also ninjas.

Because of the continuous war, many of these people lost their parents at a young age, making them more able to resonate with what Uchiha Jin said!

"Sigh, if it weren't for Uncle Uchiha mentioning it, I would have almost forgotten. When I was a child, I spent all my allowance in just three days after I was released from the orphanage. If it weren't for the help from my father's comrade-in-arms, I wouldn't be alive today."

"Me too, I survived thanks to the help of my neighbor, an elderly woman!"

"Heh, I'm much worse off than you guys. My father's companions are all dead, and nobody cares about me! After I spent all my allowance, I survived the first few months by fishing by the river and...stealing food. Then I slowly learned to cook for myself..."

......

Many people in the meeting room were deeply moved, and the atmosphere in the meeting room became somewhat heavy.

Seeing this, Uchiha Jin knew the time was almost right and continued, "So the village's current way of settling the orphans of heroes can't be said to be problematic, but it's certainly not comprehensive!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the meeting room understood what Uchiha Jin was thinking.

It seems that Uchiha Jin is going to reform the village's childcare system!

Most people in the meeting room didn't know what to say, so they remained silent and observed.

However, Masao, the dormitory manager in the finance department, was getting restless.

Although we don't know how Uchiha Jin will be modified yet, no matter how he is modified, it will definitely be better than before, which means that more money will be needed than before!

The village's financial resources have been 'snatched' by the Uchiha clan, but the money will ultimately come from the village's own pockets, whether the finance department pays it directly or indirectly through the Uchiha clan!

How could Masao Utatane, the head of the finance department, stand idly by?

"Ahem, Elder Uchiha, this kind of reform is not something that can be done overnight. We just took action against the Konoha Police Department and many other departments, and we haven't even seen any results yet. Isn't it a bit too hasty to take action against the childcare team?"

"Besides, we've already told everyone about the village's financial situation, so shouldn't we wait until the village has recovered a bit before discussing this further?"

Knowing that he didn't have enough influence to directly reject the proposal, Masao, the dormitory manager, could only postpone it until Koharu and Homura, the two heads of the finance department, returned.

Uchiha Jin scoffed at this, saying, "We can stall, but can we stall the children who are starving in the village?"

"The dormitory supervisor shouldn't forget that the Battle of Kikyo Mountain just ended, which cost Konoha thousands of lives. How many of those children will be left behind as orphans?"

After a pause, Uchiha Jin looked at everyone in the conference room and said, "To put it bluntly, those of us in this line of work basically live on the edge."

"Although the Hokage just told you to protect yourselves, who among you can guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen tomorrow?"

"Do you also want your children to starve and have to steal, rob, and scavenge for food after you die?!"

With a thunderous boom, Uchiha Jin's words caused an uproar in the conference room!

Many people in the meeting room blushed, and quite a few ninjas who had personally experienced similar things even slammed their fists on the table and stood up!

"Change it! The system of childcare centers must be changed!"

"That's right! Even if we have to put everything else aside for now, we must do this first! Our future is also the future of the village!"

"The village must establish a suitable system; we absolutely cannot let those heroes' orphans go hungry again!"

"I'm working so hard so that I can give my child a stable life. His mother has already died in battle. If my child can't even get enough to eat after I die, what's the point of all this hard work!"

......

Amidst the fervor of the crowd, not only ordinary ninjas but also many clan ninjas became agitated.

Although those clan ninjas who lost their parents did not go hungry under the care of their clans, it was impossible for them to live a very good life!

Even a powerful clan like the Uchiha couldn't possibly take care of every orphan perfectly, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people with extreme views!

When Masao, who was turning over the dorm, saw this scene, his clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and he trembled and dared not say a word!

Many of these agitated people had already cast menacing glances at him because of his previous words. If he dared to utter another word of "no," he might be torn to pieces!

Upon seeing this, Uchiha Jin's eyes flickered.

Now that we have the people's hearts at our disposal, the next step is to cleverly link the orphanage's affairs with the Konoha orphanage!

Chapter 322 It's just a few meals, Konoha can afford it!

After a while, everyone's emotions gradually calmed down under the comforting words of Minato Namikaze, Shikaku Nara, and others.

Uchiha Jin then added, "Don't worry, everyone. Now that we've raised the issue, we're here to solve it!"

After a pause, Uchiha Jin said in a somewhat low voice, "But before that, I'd like to ask you all a question. You all know about the Konoha Orphanage, right?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, wondering why Uchiha Jin would bring it up.

However, many people who knew about the Konoha Orphanage showed admiration.

Uchiha Jin continued, "Although the Konoha Orphanage is named after 'Konoha,' it is a privately owned organization."

"Unlike the orphans of heroes adopted by the foster care program, most of the children adopted by the Konoha Orphanage are from ordinary families!"

“These children from ordinary families come from Konoha, from all over the Land of Fire, and some whose origins are unknown.”

After a pause, Uchiha Jin glanced at the bewildered crowd below and continued, "I know you don't feel anything about this, after all, these children's parents haven't made any contributions to the village, and these children probably won't make any significant contributions to the village in the future either."

"But you must understand that the culprits who have caused these children to be displaced and forced to live a life of hardship are none other than us, these large villages that have been fighting each other all along!"

Uchiha Jin's words were unpleasant, causing many people present to frown.

Uchiha Jin shook his head slightly and continued, "I know some of you might be thinking that it was never Konoha that started the war, and that Konoha also suffered greatly in the war!"

At this point, Uchiha Jin gave Tsunade a meaningful look, leaving her completely bewildered.

But Uchiha Jin had no intention of explaining, nor was it possible for him to explain anything.

After all, we can't tell Tsunade that she destroyed a village because of just one sentence!

Uchiha Jin continued, "In most of the previous wars, Konoha was indeed on the defensive, but in order to avoid suffering greater losses ourselves, we pushed the battle lines to other places and shifted the losses to other places quite often!"

"Therefore, in the eyes of those small countries, while the great powers that start the war are certainly despicable, the great powers that transfer the harm onto them are equally despicable!"

After a pause, Uchiha Jin sighed and said, "I'm not saying this to blame anyone. After all, from our own perspective in Konoha, doing this is perfectly reasonable."

"What I'm trying to say is, since someone has stepped forward to try and fix this broken world, shouldn't we lend them a helping hand without harming the village's interests?"

Uchiha Jin's words left many people in the conference room with puzzled expressions and complicated feelings.

To be honest, even if their different positions allow them to act with a clear conscience in many things, it's impossible for them to feel no guilt or remorse whatsoever.

Otherwise, so many people in the world wouldn't be pursuing 'peace' in various ways, and so many people wouldn't be hoping for 'peace'.

So if it really doesn't harm their own interests, or even their fundamental interests, it's not unreasonable for them to lend a hand!

Minato Namikaze then asked, "What are Elder Uchiha's thoughts on this?"

Uchiha Jin had already prepared a response and replied directly: "First of all, the Konoha Orphanage already has a mature system to take care of children who have lost their parents. What it lacks now is only manpower and funds."

“The childcare center has no shortage of people or money, but it lacks a mechanism for caring for ‘older’ children aged four to six.”

"So my idea is to merge the Konoha Orphanage and the foster care center! To give the Konoha Orphanage a proper name!"

Uchiha Jin's words immediately silenced the entire conference room, with most people frowning and remaining silent.

Although Uchiha Jin spoke lightly, they all keenly noticed that this matter was not so simple!

The most direct question is, after the Konoha Orphanage and the foster care center are merged, should those orphans and the orphans of heroes be given the same treatment?

This is not a small sum of money!

Most importantly, the orphans in the Konoha Orphanage did not bring any benefits to the Konoha Village, so they were not entitled to such treatment!

In the subconscious of the crowd, those orphans were not considered "one of their own"!

Uchiha Jin had naturally considered this point, so he said directly, "Of course, although the Konoha Orphanage and the foster care program have been merged, the treatment of heroes' orphans and other orphans will still be different!"

"After the Konoha Orphanage and the foster care center merged, they will only be responsible for taking care of the children's basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and preschool education. They will not be responsible for anything else!"

“Those orphans of heroes started receiving subsidies at the age of six. This is a benefit that their parents fought for with their lives, so there’s nothing more to say about it.”

"While they receive a monthly stipend, the Konoha Orphanage will continue to provide them with food until they graduate from the Ninja Academy!"

"Of course, these children can also choose to leave the orphanage and live on their own, or eat out on their own."

"The existence of the Konoha Orphanage is simply to provide them with a guarantee, so that they won't have to worry about survival!"

"And all the other orphans get is a full meal!"

Similarly, the Konoha Orphanage will not take care of them forever; they will be removed from the Konoha Orphanage at the age of twelve at most!

"This way, the village won't have to pay too much!"

In other places, a twelve-year-old is still a child who needs to be taken care of.

However, in this world, twelve years old is the age when one graduates from the Ninja Academy and officially becomes a ninja. Even ordinary families have basically begun to become independent. Uchiha Jin also chose this age range based on the actual situation.

After hearing Uchiha Jin's explanation, the expressions of everyone in the meeting room gradually softened.

If it's just a full meal, people can still accept it.