At once, everyone nodded in agreement. Even though some of them had a reputation for being shameless, they all wanted Kusagakure to become strong, or maybe if the village was strong enough, they wouldn't have to act shamelessly at all.
After assigning all the tasks, Charlie left the meeting room with Kana, who seemed like she wanted to say something but kept her head down. Once they were out of earshot,
"Lord Kusa," Kana hesitated, then leaned in close to his ear, covering her mouth with her hand and lowering her voice, "we're running low on funds."
As his assistant, she was well aware of the Land of Grass's shaky financial situation. Still, after Charlie's earlier confident speech, it felt embarrassing to admit this in front of everyone. Sure enough,
Charlie raised an eyebrow, suddenly remembering the harsh truth: the Land of Grass was nearly out of money. It was a small country to begin with, recently rebuilt, and before that, there hadn't been many missions commissioned, so the income never balanced with the expenses. They barely scraped by by secretly selling intelligence to the three great nations.
Speaking of that, the Land of Grass's shinobi were actually quite skilled, being sandwiched between two great nations meant they sometimes managed to gather valuable secret information.
Sometimes, they even had the nerve to sell that information to enemy shinobi, playing both sides for profit. No wonder they'd been crushed once before. That wasn't just reckless, it was practically inviting destruction.
"Forget it," Charlie sighed, waving his hand. "I'll figure out the money problem." If he'd known earlier, he wouldn't have bragged so much but just said, "The Land of Grass is going through a tough time right now, but our goal hasn't changed."
Charlie truly believe that everyone has the strength to overcome challenges on their own, solve problems, and carry forward the spirit of the Land of Grass, a spirit that isn't afraid of hardship or poverty.
It was still early days in the rebuilding process, and facing some difficulties was to be expected. Still, Kana hesitated before speaking up. "Charlie, is there anything I can help with?"
"No, it's nothing serious," Charlie replied, shaking his head with a serious expression. "Just a few more late nights, that's all."
The Land of Grass was short on funds, but since it was a small village, the money needed for construction wasn't too much for now. Not wanting to dwell on those troublesome matters, Charlie decided to take Kana for a walk around the Land of Grass. Because of all the rebuilding, the place still looked like a wasteland, with everyone deeply absorbed in their construction work.
Just then, as Charlie was admiring the busy, hopeful scene, an old man came running over. "Lord Kusa!"
The guards moved to stop him, but Charlie waved them off. "It's fine."
He smiled warmly at the old man, who, judging by his age, had probably seen the Land of Grass fall and rise again. Thinking back, after the Land of Grass was destroyed, the country had fallen into chaos, countless so-called warlords and bandits fought over tiny scraps of land.
It was ridiculous; you could take just a few steps and be in someone else's territory. Back then, Ryoshi and Mujie were among those warlords, too.
Charlie had ended that chaos and restored order in the Land of Grass, making him a significant figure in the country, much like the legendary "shinobi God" from Konoha's past.
Looking at the old man, Charlie smiled and asked, "What brings you here?"
The old man looked a bit embarrassed, scratching his head and glancing nervously at the others nearby. Then, gritting his teeth, he called out to a rough-looking middle-aged man holding a child not far away, "Come here!"
The burly man hesitated but eventually approached, his legs trembling. "Lord Kusa, I… my father just hopes you can give this child a name."
He stammered, "If it's not possible, we'll leave. Sorry for bothering you."
He lowered his head, seemingly ready to turn away, but Charlie stopped him with a firm "Wait!" and looked closely at the child in his arms. The baby was chubby and absolutely adorable.
"Just born recently?" Charlie asked.
The man nodded eagerly. "Y-yes! Born the day after Lord Kusa took power! We're so grateful to you, I…"
"No need to say more, I understand," Charlie interrupted with a faint smile. "What's the clan name?"
"There isn't one," the man replied. "We're just commoners... no clan."
Charlie nodded slowly. He had nearly forgotten, outside the major shinobi clans, most civilians in the Land of Grass didn't have surnames. Many gave their children whatever names felt right in the moment, often with unusual meanings.
He looked thoughtfully at the baby and then said, "Kusagakure is starting over. A new village, a new era. What came before, loss, weakness, shame, we leave it behind. From this point forward, we grow stronger together."
He rested a hand gently on the child's head.
"Since your son was born on the second day of our restoration, how about the name Hajime? It means 'beginning.' A symbol of the village's rebirth… and the first step toward a future where the Land of Grass stands tall."
Everyone fell silent for a moment, then burst out in admiration. "What a wonderful name! Truly worthy of our leader!"
Only nobles traditionally had surnames, but he was different. His surname was Kusa, Charlie Kusa, a symbol of resilience, like grass that stubbornly survives no matter what.
Even if you're just a simple blade of grass, you still have to shine in your own way. But who exactly was he? Nobility or commoner didn't matter anymore.
From now on, the textbooks of the Land of Grass would be personally written under his authority. He was in charge here. This new era for the Land of Grass meant that even commoners changing their names was a big deal.
After receiving thanks from Shinosuke and his son, he pressed on with Kana, inspecting the ongoing construction throughout the Land of Grass. Finally, he returned home.
Because of Kana's special situation, she stayed at his place temporarily, both for convenience and to help take care of him.
Next on the agenda were the construction of the Land of Grass, dealing with the Land of Rain's "Stealing the Sky" plan, and, of course, making money. All were top priorities, and he was very busy.
As for making money, what options did he really have? The Land of Grass was a dead-end place. Aside from writing books and selling intelligence, there wasn't much else.
Even if the Kusagakure Shinobi wanted to take on missions, no one came to hire them. He certainly couldn't start live-streaming to hype up how beautiful the Land of Grass was and lure people in to harvest their kidneys!