At the very least, as long as Li Anshi showed no ill will towards Konoha, the ninja clans of the village would not agree to unite with other villages to encircle and kill him.
Back in his woodcarving shop, Li Anshi put down the carving in his hand. When he went to get a new piece of wood, he realized he was out of softwood.
"Well, that's enough for today."
"Tomorrow, I'll go to the Hokage's office to post another mission for softwood, and while I'm there, I'll ask the Third Hokage if I can see the complete version of the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Since there was no more softwood in the shop, Li Anshi stopped carving for the day.
After arranging the finished carvings on the shelves, he closed the shop door to rest.
The next day, Li Anshi slept until he woke naturally. After tidying himself up, he opened a drawer.
"Er..."
Looking at the few bills inside, several black lines appeared on Li Anshi's forehead.
"That Tsunade..."
While Li Anshi had been away in the Land of Whirlpools, Tsunade had naturally been looking after the shop.
When he returned yesterday, he had glanced at the shelves and calculated that about fifty thousand Ryo worth of goods had been sold in those ten days.
But now, the money in the drawer added up to just over seven hundred Ryo.
Needless to say, the rest had probably been taken by Tsunade to gamble.
And, as usual, she had lost it all.
"It seems the bond between Tsunade and Ashina Uzumaki wasn't that deep. His death didn't change her luck at the tables."
Li Anshi didn't know the mission rewards in other villages, but in Konoha, the lowest-level D-rank missions paid between five hundred and ten thousand Ryo.
The mission he posted to collect softwood was at the very bottom of the D-rank category. The reward, depending on the quality of the wood, could range from six hundred to three thousand Ryo.
Tsunade had left him seven hundred Ryo, just enough to post one mission.
If the ninja who completed the mission brought back good quality wood, Li Anshi would have to make up the difference.
Shaking his head, Li Anshi took out the seven hundred Ryo and closed the drawer.
This debt... must be recorded!
The next time Tsunade came by, he would tell her she had to use the rent to cover it!
Just as he opened the shop doors, Li Anshi was surrounded by four or five children.
"Mister, mister, I want to buy a flying dagger!"
"Me too, me too."
"I want the kind Little Li's Flying Dagger uses! Give me ten!"
"I'll take three!"
"Alright, alright, there's enough for everyone."
Since customers had arrived, Li Anshi naturally wouldn't turn the children away.
Knowing they all wanted to buy flying daggers, he brought out two boxes directly.
Inside were his carvings of the weapons of Konoha's famous ninjas.
For example, the flying daggers of Little Li's Flying Dagger, the White Fang short sword of Konoha's White Fang, and the Third Hokage's Power Pole, among others.
Among them, the most popular was, of course, his own flying dagger.
Second to that was Sakumo Hatake's White Fang short sword.
The Third Hokage's Power Pole also sold well.
However, it still couldn't compare to the Second Hokage's Sword of the Thunder God.
As for the First Hokage's Wood Golem, because Li Anshi had made it quite large, the price was naturally several times higher than the other weapons, so not many children could afford it.
A while ago, because of Sakumo Hatake's fame, the White Fang short sword had been the bestseller.
But in the last few days, after the news of Li Anshi's feats in the Land of Whirlpools had reached Konoha, the sales of his flying dagger had skyrocketed, surpassing the White Fang to become the top seller.
After he opened the doors, parents continued to bring their children into the shop to buy daggers, until his entire stock was sold out. Only then did the children's enthusiasm begin to wane.
However, although the name "Little Li's Flying Dagger" had caused quite a stir recently, not many people actually knew that Li Anshi was him.
Those who knew his true identity would not come to bother him.
Those who didn't know simply thought he was an ordinary woodcarving shop owner, which allowed Li Anshi to enjoy his peace and quiet.
After putting up a sign at the entrance that read "Flying Daggers Sold Out," Li Anshi closed the shop and headed towards the Hokage's office.
Since he had nothing urgent to do, he didn't use the Body Flicker Technique, instead walking at a leisurely pace.
Along the way, Li Anshi could feel that the smiles on the faces of the villagers were more numerous than before. Every few steps, people were gathered in small groups, chatting, and the name "Little Li's Flying Dagger" was never far from their lips.
With a nearly "invincible" powerhouse in their village, all the villagers felt a sense of pride.
Of course, Li Anshi also knew that with so many people discussing him, the village's higher-ups must have had a hand in it.
Besides further spreading his fame, this was also to let the villagers know that in the near future, the Uzumaki clan would be returning to Konoha.
On one hand, the higher-ups were sending a signal to the villagers to be friendly towards the Uzumaki.
On the other hand, the returning Uzumaki clan consisted of only thirty-odd children under the age of twelve. By tying these children to his name in their propaganda, they intended to let everyone know that the Uzumaki had his backing, to prevent anyone from getting any untoward ideas upon seeing that the clan had no adults.
Lady Mito Uzumaki was the wife of the First Hokage. Given her status, she could not personally stand up for the Uzumaki clan.
The village's higher-ups also didn't want to alienate her by allowing the Uzumaki to be bullied.
Under these circumstances, using Li Anshi's name was the most suitable solution.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had only decided to do this because he knew of the relationship between Li Anshi and Tsunade.
After understanding the changes in the village, Li Anshi nodded slightly.
If it would help the Uzumaki clan integrate smoothly into Konoha, he didn't mind letting the children use his name.
In any case, with the natural talent of the Uzumaki, these children would grow up quickly.
Within three years, Chunin would emerge from their ranks.
Within ten years, a Jonin might be born.
At that point, the Uzumaki clan would have firmly established its foothold in Konoha.
About half an hour later, Li Anshi arrived in front of the Hokage's building.
"Hello, I'm here to post a mission."
The young ninja registering missions heard a familiar voice. He looked up and was startled.
"It's you?"
This young ninja still remembered that this lord was able to go directly to the second floor.
And later, Lord Shinpei, the guard at the stairway, had warned him that this lord was covered by Konoha's "secrecy regulations."
A Jonin, and under "secrecy regulations"—it was hard for the young ninja not to speculate about Li Anshi's identity.
However, no matter how accurate his guesses were, he didn't dare to voice them.
He even had to be careful not to talk in his sleep and reveal the lord's identity.
If he did, a trip to prison would probably be unavoidable.
"Lord..."
The young ninja had just opened his mouth when his expression changed.
By calling him 'Lord,' am I also leaking information?
"No need to be so formal. Just follow the rules."
Li Anshi nodded with a smile and took out the seven hundred Ryo from his pocket.
"It's for collecting softwood again. This is the reward."
"Of course, I can add to it later, up to three thousand Ryo for high-quality wood or a sufficient quantity."
"Understood."
Taking the money from Li Anshi, the young ninja quickly registered the mission and handed him a mission certificate.
When a ninja completed the mission, they could deliver the softwood directly to Li Anshi's shop. After he approved it, he would give them the certificate, which they could then bring here to collect their reward and update their records.
In the five great ninja villages, outside of wartime, for a Genin to be promoted to Chunin, they needed to complete a sufficient number of missions and submit a promotion application to the village.
Of course, if they had a squad leader, the leader could submit the application on their behalf.
The village would then conduct a series of tests to determine if the ninja had the capabilities of a Chunin before approving the promotion.
The most important difference between a Chunin and a Genin, besides strength, was the ability to complete missions independently.
This "independent completion of missions" was an integrated ability that included gathering intelligence, identifying the mission target, and completing the objective.
Upon becoming a Chunin, one could take Genin as subordinates for squad combat, join a Jonin's command for more difficult missions, or form a one-person team to accept and complete solo missions.
As for Jonin, promotion was not simply a matter of strength.
Every Jonin had a strong influence in the village, their own troops under their command, and voting rights on various village decisions.
A village had many ninjas with Jonin-level strength, but only about fifty could hold the official title of "Jonin."
Take Sakumo Hatake, for example. In recent years, most of the Chunin promoted from the commoner ranks had come under his command.
As for Li Anshi, because he had no intention of being a full-time ninja and didn't show his face much in front of the other Konoha ninjas, he was currently the only lone Jonin in the village.
Even his previous three subordinates had already been absorbed by Hiruzen Sarutobi as Anbu candidates.
He wondered if, after three years, Sagawa and the others had completed the first stage of training for the Little Li's Flying Dagger and successfully joined the Anbu.
Tucking the mission certificate into his pocket, Li Anshi nodded at the young ninja and then stepped onto the stairs to the second floor.
Following a familiar path, Li Anshi knocked on the door of the Hokage's office.
"Come in, Anshi."
After getting Hiruzen's permission, Li Anshi pushed the door open.
"Hahahaha, Anshi, you've given me another big surprise this time."
Seeing Li Anshi, the smile on Hiruzen's face grew even wider.
After the news from the Land of Whirlpools had returned, the other four villages had sent envoys to Konoha again, both openly and covertly requesting that he adopt a "no use of Little Li's Flying Dagger" policy.
These envoys had come with the hopes of their villages.
As long as Konoha signed a "no first use of Little Li's Flying Dagger" agreement, they were willing to give up a portion of their mission quotas, a move that would greatly boost Hiruzen's prestige.
In particular, from the words of these envoys, Hiruzen could almost see the envy and jealousy of the Kage of the four great villages.
At Li Anshi's current age, he could protect Konoha for at least another forty years.
While the other villages were fighting over mission shares, Konoha could focus on development for four decades. Hiruzen was confident he could lead the village through its initial transition.
As for the future direction of the ninja profession, that would be up to the next generation, and the one after that, to decide.
Trust in the younger generation. The future is theirs, so let them complete it!
Hiruzen's task was to reduce the resistance to reform for the future "Kage" of Konoha, allowing the village to undergo a peaceful transformation.
This was definitely good news for Konoha.
However, although signing this agreement would be of great benefit, Hiruzen had not yet put his name to it.
Since the agreement concerned Li Anshi, out of both reason and courtesy, Hiruzen felt he had to let him know.
At the same time, if Li Anshi refused to sign, Hiruzen would not sign either.
After all, Hiruzen knew very well who was responsible for Konoha's current development.
If Li Anshi hadn't appeared, perhaps Konoha would still be embroiled in a bloody war with the Cloud, Sand, and Stone.
In that case, forget development; after several years of war, it would have been considered strong if it hadn't regressed by more than a decade.
"I just didn't want to see Tsunade sad, and I happened to have the ability, so I did it."
Li Anshi shook his head, not accepting Hiruzen's compliments.
Indeed, as he said, his trip to the Land of Whirlpools had nothing to do with Konoha.
It was just that Tsunade had come to him with her troubles, and he felt he had the ability to bring out some of the Uzumaki clan members, so he had made the trip.
"I know."
"But your actions have benefited Konoha. That is an undeniable fact."
Hiruzen had also gained some experience in how to interact with Li Anshi.
He also believed that as long as Sakumo Hatake and Tsunade were in Konoha, Li Anshi would not leave.
"By the way, Anshi, take a look at this."
Hiruzen pulled a document from his desk and handed it to Li Anshi.
Taking the document, Li Anshi was curious at first, but when he saw the large line of text at the top, his face instantly darkened.
"Proposal for the Five Great Ninja Villages on Konoha's Prohibition of the First Use of Little Li's Flying Dagger"
What the hell is this title?
Prohibit the first use of Little Li's Flying Dagger?
Are they trying to ban me?
Li Anshi also wanted to see just how the other great villages planned to do that.
With a certain morbid curiosity, he began to flip through the document.