Time passed bit by bit.
There was less than a month left in the chaotic fifth year of Akatsuki (Konoha).
Sparse snowflakes were floating in the sky of the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
Although no major events like war happened this year, many things still happened.
Unlike previous years, Uchiha Makoto focused his energy and time on manipulating the internal affairs of the Akatsuki Ninja Village, as well as Konoha, the Land of Fire, and many other matters this year.
The results were remarkable!!
The high-level officials of the Land of Fire were jittery because of a series of actions by the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
Konoha's situation was also not good. The high-level officials fought openly and secretly, causing chaos. Various forces were contending for supremacy. It was only because there were still two pillars (Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara) suppressing things from above that no major chaos occurred.
However, the Akatsuki Ninja Village remained extremely peaceful.
Uchiha Makoto didn't want to spend all his time in the office, so in recent days, he split off Shadow Clones to quickly handle a lot of affairs, and now he finally had free time.
He no longer holed up in his big villa but took Uzumaki Tsubaki out of the house.
Since Uzumaki Tsubaki became pregnant and gave birth, this was also her first time going out after recuperating.
She held his arm, like an ordinary couple.
Although light snow was fluttering, under the snow curtain, it still presented a scene of vitality where all things competed for freedom!
The two walked slowly on the street where the accumulated snow was half melted. The road was full of villagers carrying New Year goods, men carrying cured meat, women holding floral cloth, and children jumping around holding sugar figures. The exhaled white breath mixed with the shouts of street vendors was very pleasing.
The assembly lines in the factories had been running for a whole year.
The workers' lives were not easy, and only now could they rest. Carrying the wages saved for a year, they began crazy consumption, enjoying a little pleasure.
The streets were bustling with people, and the lively and prosperous streets were congested.
Fortunately, Uchiha Makoto had anticipated this. He had long realized that the population pouring into the Akatsuki Ninja Village this year would be far more than in the previous two years, so he not only expanded the streets early but also planned the infrastructure of the inner and outer cities, so it could barely accommodate them.
From time to time, a few ninjas looking like reporters carried cameras, looking for shooting angles and positions in the crowd on both sides of the street.
They were personnel under the newspapers and media owned by the Akatsuki Ninja Village, specially responsible for the external promotion of the Akatsuki Ninja Village to attract more talents to come.
Back then, the purchasing power promotion articles of Konoha and the Akatsuki Ninja Village... part of the funds came from here.
This New Year special obviously had the same purpose.
However, the intensity of this promotion would be stronger than ever.
Not only targeting Konoha and the Land of Fire, but also the countries and ninja villages of all sizes in the ninja world, especially the areas close to the Land of Fire.
Because the Akatsuki Ninja Village had spread its stall too wide, the number of skilled workers began to be insufficient. Except for absorbing a part from various places in the Land of Fire initially, it was difficult to do so again.
In order to maintain the operation of their factories, major factory owners in various parts of the Land of Fire had begun to deliberately retain the workers under their rule... even proposing to raise wages for workers.
—Hayek's big hand exerting force.
This gave Uchiha Makoto a headache.
He couldn't blatantly send ninjas to forcibly snatch skilled workers, so he could only choose to train them himself, but this was too costly and slow.
Or he could only increase promotion efforts to absorb more skilled workers from the Land of Fire and surrounding areas.
Besides skilled workers...
There were also ninjas!
As the Akatsuki Ninja Village went further and further on the road of integrating ninjutsu and industry and applying it to daily life, the demand for the number of ninjas in the Akatsuki Ninja Village would inevitably increase in the next few years.
Because a large amount of technical work involving ninjutsu could only be done by ninjas; ordinary people simply couldn't do it.
Even though students graduating from the Ninja Academy had been supplemented into the village's ninja system, it was still not enough. After all, they were from ordinary backgrounds. Proficient in applying taijutsu and simple D-rank and C-rank ninjutsu, they would be Genin at most in their lives. With hard work, they might have hope of becoming Chunin.... But their families didn't have inherited ninjutsu, and they themselves didn't have the talent to learn secret techniques, nor the talent to research ninjutsu.
Uchiha Makoto trained them more to cultivate "workers" who met the standards of the new era for the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
Of course, there was also an element of luck in his heart.
What if he opened a blind box and drew a child with talent like Orochimaru?
In short, the Akatsuki Ninja Village needed not only low-end ninjas but also high-end ninjas... especially ninjas with technical secret techniques!
If he wanted to cultivate this gap of high-end ninjas himself, it would definitely not be achievable in a short time. Then he could only suck from the surrounding areas.
Although large ninja villages like Konoha were hard to suck from, he could suck ninjas from small ninja villages.... Don't underestimate ninjas from small ninja villages; there were also many unique experts among them, for example, Kakuzu whom Uchiha Makoto had always wanted to find.
This one was a talent among talents, a beast of burden among beasts of burden!
The Akatsuki Ninja Village lacked such high-level beasts of burden... ahem... high-level ninjas the most!
Looking at the lively scene in front of him, Uchiha Makoto couldn't help worrying about the future of the village, even though he came out to relax this time.
Compared to Uchiha Makoto's slightly complicated thoughts, Uzumaki Tsubaki was much purer.
Her eyes sparkled with light.
"How long has it been... the Akatsuki Ninja Village has changed so much!"
"Is this the street lamp you mentioned.... it's quite nice."
"This is all thanks to the Two-Tailed Cat. The cost of burning coal alone would be too high, so the progress definitely wouldn't be so fast, but the Two-Tailed Cat is free... However, the Two-Tails' chakra is ultimately too little. If it were the Nine-Tails, extracting chakra once could be used for a long time.... The kitty is really useless."
"If the Two-Tailed Cat heard this, it would be angry!"
"Isn't that lazy Two-Tailed Cat sleeping in its nest at home? Besides, I love telling the truth. I said the same thing to the Sage of Six Paths!"
"But last night you said the Two-Tailed Cat is the most... among Tailed Beasts."
"I love telling the truth, but it doesn't mean I won't tell a little lie."
Facing such a lively scene, Uzumaki Tsubaki couldn't help speaking, and Uchiha Makoto "explained" to her from the side.
Her tone revealed a bit of incredulity. She hadn't been out for just half a year, but she didn't expect the scene in her memory to have changed as soon as she went out.
Walking all the way, all she saw was a happy atmosphere.
The Akatsuki Ninja Village was bigger, more populous, and more prosperous than in Uzumaki Tsubaki's memory.
It's just pity for the Two-Tailed Cat, which completely became a part of the couple's flirting play.
And Uzumaki Tsubaki's tone made Uchiha Makoto's mood extremely comfortable.
After all, the Akatsuki Ninja Village was the ninja village he created. Under his rule, the villagers lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the economy prospered.... Praising the Akatsuki Ninja Village was actually praising himself.
...
Land of Fire.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was in his bedroom, looking at the snowflakes falling from the sky.
"Snow... snow..."
"If only people in the world could be as pure white as you..."
He murmured.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire had just met with the Minister of Finance, and a freshly released annual financial report was delivered to him.
Unlike eating next year's food this year in the Warring States period, since entering the ninja village era, the finances of the Land of Fire had begun to improve, especially in the last year or two, financial revenue had greatly increased.
Today's financial revenue of the Land of Fire was extremely gratifying.
What was even more delightful was that in this brand new era, capital began to flow, productivity began to increase significantly, and next year's financial revenue would increase even more.
But while the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was happy, he still couldn't be completely happy.
Because of the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
That's right, the Akatsuki Ninja Village saw the changes of the times first and seized the opportunity, extending its tentacles into business and political circles. Relying on powerful military force and advanced technology, it forcibly occupied many profitable tracks, and even started monopolies in some fields, so the power of the Akatsuki Ninja Village expanded the fastest.
And they f*cking don't pay taxes!
Ninja villages in a semi-independent state do not need to pay taxes to the state. The high-level officials of the Land of Fire really didn't have the guts to send tax officers to the Akatsuki Ninja Village to collect taxes. Instead, they needed to take out a large amount of funds every year to support the Akatsuki Ninja Village.
Facing the Akatsuki Ninja Village, the Land of Fire could still maintain a great advantage at the economic level by relying on the volume accumulated in the past.
But what about the future?
Five years, ten years?
The Akatsuki Ninja Village has already started issuing its own currency and intervening in agriculture, which involves the foundation of the country.
Sooner or later, the industries where the Land of Fire originally occupied an absolute dominant position will be swallowed by the forces of the Akatsuki Ninja Village, and the Land of Fire has no effective countermeasures in this process.... The checks and balances handed down by the older generation are no longer as powerful as in the past when facing ninja villages formed by ninja clans.
Now the Land of Fire can only watch the Akatsuki Ninja Village do whatever it wants and expand wantonly bit by bit.
What is even more hateful is...
There are moles within the high-level officials of the Land of Fire!
That group of nobles represented by intellectuals just f*cking like to sell out the country!
As a Daimyo, his information channels are far beyond ordinary people's imagination. Although still not as efficient and sensitive as ninja villages, they are actually not much worse.
The news of the bonds released by the Akatsuki Ninja Village to the outside world was obviously delivered to the Daimyo's desk long ago.
Buying Akatsuki Ninja Village bonds at this time is tantamount to sending money to the Akatsuki Ninja Village, and then this money will turn into kunai shooting at the foundation of the Land of Fire.
What is the difference between this behavior and betraying the Land of Fire?
But according to the intelligence received by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, many high-level officials and great nobles of the Land of Fire have quietly contacted the Akatsuki Ninja Village in private. Not only do they buy it themselves, but they also drag relatives and friends to buy it together... A sure-win business, everyone likes it!
Even the family behind the Lord Elder....
Of course.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire did not blame the Lord Elder.
Because this is not the Lord Elder's fault. When a person reaches a certain position, many things cannot be managed, and in many cases, one cannot help oneself and can only turn a blind eye.
He is difficult, the Lord Elder is also difficult, and the two can only reluctantly maintain a tacit understanding.
Thinking of these troublesome things.
The Daimyo's face sank, and he could only hope that the strategy against the ninja village hosted by the Lord Elder would work.
And soon, not long after the Minister of Finance left.
The Lord Elder of the Land of Fire also walked towards the Daimyo's bedroom.
"Your Highness..."
"En, Lord Elder, you're here."
After a simple salute.
The Lord Elder looked up at the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
"Your Highness, you look a little unwell... please take care of your health."
"Old problem."
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire said lightly. Compared to these indifferent pleasantries, he cared more about another thing—how is the situation inside Konoha.
"Lord Elder, how is the plan going?"
"Your Highness... it can be said that there are some twists and turns, but the problem is not big..."
"After all, although the Uchiha clan is a bit stupid, last time they came up with a briefing, vowing to make Senju Tobirama lose face in front of Konoha villagers and ninjas, but as a result, problems occurred within their Uchiha clan, allowing Senju Tobirama to find an opportunity to step on the heads of the Uchiha clan to improve his prestige...
"However, their obsession with defeating the Senju clan and having the family produce a Second Hokage is unusually firm. They did not admit defeat, but became more crazy and radical, seeking a lot of assistance from the Akatsuki Ninja Village, planning to make a big move next year."
"Judging from the current situation, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan has become public in Konoha, and the strength gap between the two sides is not large. So according to the character of the Uchiha clan, as long as we find an appropriate excuse and timing, it will be easy for them to take the opportunity to cause trouble in Konoha and create friction."
The Lord Elder of the Land of Fire said.
Based on the intelligence in his hand, he carefully analyzed the current situation inside Konoha to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
Although the performance of the Uchiha clan was really unsatisfactory, the briefing hosted by themselves was actually messed up by the disadvantaged Senju Tobirama, losing face in front of the high-level officials of Konoha.
But in the current situation.
This is actually not a bad thing.
Because the Uchiha clan is proud enough, unyielding enough, and even more crazy enough.
Senju Tobirama making the proud Uchiha clan lose face in front of the high-level officials of Konoha like this will only stimulate the Uchiha clan's competitiveness more, making them more extreme and uncontrollable. As long as an appropriate excuse and timing are found, it is very likely to make the high-level officials of the Uchiha clan lose their rationality and fall out with Senju Tobirama.
Once an armed violent conflict occurs, it will be difficult to end.
The interests of the family will coerce the big shots of both sides—Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.
Once the two of them confront each other and start fighting, it will be a matter of time before Konoha falls apart.
Moreover, there is an Akatsuki Ninja Village eyeing covetously outside.
The Lord Elder of the Land of Fire had long seen that the Akatsuki Ninja Village also harbored ill intentions towards Konoha, doing too many things in private to erode Konoha's basic foundation and harm Konoha.
However, only a small group of people, such as Senju Tobirama, saw these things, but even if these people saw it, they couldn't say it, let alone stop it.
Because of Uchiha Makoto's identity.
Because of the status of the Uchiha clan in Konoha.
As long as they act under this banner, it is like political correctness, unassailable.
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