It could only be said that misfortune and fortune are intertwined.
"Oh, I almost forgot I was still holding you up. My apologies."
Torifu slowly lowered the lake. Although he was extremely careful, it still stirred up monstrous waves. However, protected by the Truth-Seeking Orbs, the water could not dampen Torifu's clothes at all. After a wave of his hand calmed the lake water, Torifu prepared to return to the village. Today's mission was perfectly accomplished. He had advanced to the Six Paths level without paying any price; the breakthrough was achieved quite effortlessly. "After resting for a day or two, I will go look for that valley on the map and see what secrets it holds."
Now that Torifu had become Six Paths level, his speed was astonishingly fast. The lake water hadn't even recovered its calm when Torifu had already returned to the airspace above Konoha.
"It only took the blink of an eye? As expected, I'm truly powerful."
Torifu's external appearance had not changed at all, but his inner self had undergone a massive transformation. He could practically destroy a large village with a mere lift of his hand, without even exerting much effort. He slowly descended from the sky, returning to the Kumotsuru Clan compound.
As soon as he landed, a white figure hugged Torifu.
Torifu smiled and stroked Akihara's head. "Be good, Akihara. Did you have fun at your grandparents' house these past few days?"
Akihara released Torifu and nodded. "I had fun, but it was a bit boring without Mommy and Daddy. But Sister Aihana played with me!"
The boy didn't look unhappy at all. Aihana must have spent a lot of effort entertaining him these past few days. He would certainly have to bring her a gift the next time he visited the Uchiha Clan compound.
"You're back too. Is everything completed?" Naori walked out of the house and asked.
"Ah, it's finished, but I might have to go out again in a couple of days. I don't know how long that trip will take."
"I might come back the same day, or it might take a while."
Naori was a little confused to hear that Torifu had to leave again, and that it might take a long time.
"What is it about? Do you need my help?"
Torifu shook his head. "No need. It's just a small matter I can handle myself."
Exploring the unknown location on the map was enough for Torifu alone, as he wasn't sure if the place was safe. If it was a highly dangerous location, Torifu himself would of course be fine. However, if he brought Naori along, it could easily lead to danger. Furthermore, the efficiency would be nowhere near that of Torifu acting alone.
Seeing that Torifu didn't need her, Naori did not press the issue further.
"Alright, then you can go without worry. I'll take care of things at home."
Torifu hugged Naori upon hearing this. It was precisely because Naori was at home that Torifu could leave with peace of mind.
Afterward, the couple went about their respective tasks. With a few days away from home, there was a lot to tidy up, so Naori immediately started working. Torifu didn't have many tasks. He mainly needed to call Dan and Anka to inquire about the situation in Konoha over the past two days and see if anything had happened. He also needed an update on the construction of the factory behind the mountain. These were the most important matters within Konoha, and the few things Torifu personally cared about. All other miscellaneous affairs, large and small, Torifu left to his puppets to handle; he didn't concern himself with them at all.
Soon, the calls for work reports came in. The first was from Anka. Based on the sound, he seemed to be in the office with Amado nearby.
"Hokage-sama, nothing particularly significant happened in Konoha during your two-day absence."
"The only major event was that the ninja returning from the Rain Province had their mission payments settled. Konoha's finance department made a large expenditure of approximately eleven million ryō."
Anka's report was quite concise, mainly because Torifu's absence was too short for anything major to happen in those two days. It was mostly just a formality. This financial expenditure had been calculated as soon as the ninja departed. It was far less than Torifu's original estimate. Eleven million ryō was nothing to Konoha's treasury, and they wouldn't worry about development and construction for the next quarter. This expenditure also indirectly helped Torifu become Six Paths level, making it completely worthwhile. Where else could one find such a good deal: eleven million ryō for a Six Paths level ninja? If Uchiha Madara knew about this, he would probably climb out of his grave and hand eleven million ryō to Torifu, asking him to pull some strings.
"Alright, Anka, I understand. I will personally come to the office tomorrow morning; I need your assistance with a few things."
Anka on the other end of the phone immediately replied, "Hokage-sama, you don't even need to say that. This is what your subordinate should do. I guarantee I'll be on time."
Satisfied, Torifu hung up the phone. With Anka's help, the proposal for the Amegakure aquaculture plan would certainly be written more perfectly. Torifu always trusted Anka deeply in this regard.
Just as Anka hung up, Dan called in. "Hokage-sama, the Anbu personnel who went to the Rain Province have all returned. There were no unusual movements in Konoha over the two days."
"In the ninja world, the Land of Water learned about the Rain Province situation and sent us a letter asking if we needed help. I declined them."
"There were no other major issues."
Torifu nodded upon hearing this. "Mhm, well done. If the Land of Water had gotten involved, it would have been very troublesome. That was the right thing to do."
Dan naturally smiled at the praise. "Your subordinate knows the Hokage-sama's strength. With the Kazekage and the Tsuchikage as well, help was definitely not needed."
After chatting for a few more minutes, Torifu hung up the phone. Konoha was as peaceful as ever. Although trivial matters were constant, they were all conducive to development. The entire ninja world was also developing in a direction of prosperity. Since Torifu took office, the number of wars in the ninja world had significantly decreased. Friction between nations had virtually disappeared.
It was worth noting that during the period when the ninja villages were first established, various nations often started wars. It was just that the scale was too small to affect the history of the entire ninja world, so it was not recorded. But even small-scale wars caused significant losses to the various ninja villages, which is why Hashirama eventually called the Five Kage Summit to discuss peace.
Now that Torifu managed Konoha, using his own strength to influence the entire ninja world, state-to-state wars had completely vanished, except for those deliberately incited by people with malicious intentions. Therefore, besides the villagers of Konoha, the people of the entire ninja world held a good impression of Torifu. After all, a person who could bring peace was destined to be praised in any era. War was the one thing everyone hated the most.