Inside the Hokage Building, in Hiruzen Sarutobi's office.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the few people in front of him with a hint of annoyance; they were the ones Yuuki disliked and had kicked out of the group chat.
How could they afford to buy Ninjutsu from Yuuki? Even if they could, they wouldn't be willing, as the price was ten times higher than for others for no reason. Who would agree to that?
These clan heads, devoted to Hokage-sama, ran to Hiruzen Sarutobi to complain after being dealt with by Yuuki.
It would be strange if Hiruzen Sarutobi was pleased to see them. You couldn't make it work with Uchiha Tomoki, so you came to me!
What do you take me for, the Hokage, a backup plan!?
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt extreme disdain internally, but it didn't show on his face.
"Alright, I have received all your requests. As the Hokage, I will not stand idly by in the face of such behavior!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately stated that he wouldn't ignore it, then changed the subject and said,
"All of you, go back and await further news!"
After sending them away, Hiruzen Sarutobi also felt a headache coming on.
Neither Yuuki nor Hiruzen Sarutobi took these minor clan heads seriously.
What Hiruzen Sarutobi was worried about was Yuuki's actions. Yuuki's move was undeniably ruthless, directly plummeting Konoha's appeal to Ninja to an all-time low.
Judging by the prices Yuuki sold to various clans, once Yuuki opened it up to civilian Ninja, the conditions would certainly not be too stringent.
This act of binding Ninja with naked self-interest, in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, completely deviated from the will of fire.
It was no different from a merchant. Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't imagine if Konoha could even exist if all Konoha Ninja became solely profit-driven in the future.
Ninja lose their steadfast beliefs and become solely profit-driven. Doesn't Uchiha Tomoki worry that one day, when he can't provide benefits, he will be completely abandoned?
Hiruzen Sarutobi was powerless in the current situation. After all, he felt he couldn't defeat Yuuki, and the Reaper Death Seal was sealed by the Fourth Hokage after he sealed the Nine-Tailed.
In Konoha, almost every Ninja knew about that sealing Jutsu. Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't think he had a chance to successfully use the Reaper Death Seal on Yuuki.
The only way was for him, the Hokage, to personally step in and use the richer Ninjutsu resources of Konoha, compared to the Uchiha, to prevent Yuuki from recruiting Ninja.
However, this kind of action could be described as a self-destructive move that harms a thousand enemies and damages oneself by a thousand.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know the term 'involution,' but based on years of experience, he knew that once he got involved, Konoha and the Military Police Force would increasingly lower their standards.
In Yuuki's understanding, if Hiruzen Sarutobi were to join, both of them would eventually be caught in the spiral, and Konoha wouldn't gain much either.
After all, once the competition started, it wouldn't stop anytime soon. If Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to win, he wouldn't have an advantage with ordinary Nature Transformation.
He would have to use forbidden Jutsu from the book of sealing. By then, everyone would truly be able to use Edo Tensei, and the Ninja World would be lively!
Not to mention that such consequences were unacceptable to Hiruzen Sarutobi, this approach also didn't align with Hiruzen Sarutobi's philosophy.
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, Ninja should actively sacrifice for Konoha and for their comrades, without expecting anything in return.
Those kinds of Ninja were good Ninja. As for the sacrificed Ninja, just give them a hero title and a small sum of money!
Hiruzen Sarutobi had always done things this way. Not to mention Naruto, who was a Jinchuriki; Hiruzen Sarutobi's approach, though disgusting, did indeed 'conquer' Naruto, so it had some effect.
However, Iruka, also the son of a hero, didn't fare much better than Naruto when he was young. Yet, he still diligently dedicated himself to Konoha.
It's no wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi valued Iruka so much. The descendants of prominent clans and Naruto were all placed in his class. Iruka was the embodiment of what a Konoha Ninja should be in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind!
Yuuki, however, admired Mizuki more. This was how a person should be: striving forward for one's own pursuits, whether shamelessly or despicable, but this is what a normal person is like!
Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't think of any way to stop Yuuki. The only thing he could do now was write letters!
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's helplessness, the Military Police Force issued an announcement.
The Ninjutsu Pavilion has been established. As long as you are a Konoha Ninja, you can complete the bounties publicly announced by the Military Police Force to earn points. Once you reach a certain number of points, you can purchase Ninjutsu from the Ninjutsu Pavilion!
Yuuki was openly stealing the Mission Department's livelihood, but everything was still within the rules.
After all, these weren't missions, nor did they offer mission rewards; they were simply tasks for the Military Police Force.
But looking at these bounties, what was the difference from missions?
"Bounty Work: Find a lost cat for a certain Konoha family."
"Bounty Work: Escort a certain merchant caravan safely to the Land of Water."
"Bounty Work..."
Also announced were the prices of Ninjutsu in the Ninjutsu Pavilion. After careful calculation, Ninja discovered that a B-rank Ninjutsu could be purchased by completing just 30 bounty tasks to accumulate enough points. This was truly a great blessing!
"Hahaha! I finally have a chance to learn Ninjutsu! I can master that Great Fireball Technique within a year!"
"I can't believe it, all Nature Transformation are available! I'm going to cut ties with my old, immortal master right now. I'm not serving him anymore!"
"Points are indeed easy to earn, but these Ninjutsu are so expensive! I don't have that much money!"
"You think a B-rank Ninjutsu for only 500,000 ryo is expensive? Do a dozen B-rank missions, and the money will come, won't it?"
"But I'm a Genin, I can't take B-rank missions!"
"Then take C-rank missions! Do a hundred or so, and it'll work out, right?"
"That's true, but why is this B-rank Ninjutsu so cheap? The points are similar to a D-rank Ninjutsu, and the price is only 100,000 ryo?"
"Let me see, isn't this the Shadow Clone Technique? This is illogical. Why is such a powerful Ninjutsu so cheap?"
Clearly, this Chunin knew the power of the Shadow Clone Technique, and he was completely baffled by this point.
The same scene was unfolding across Konoha. Everyone had noticed that the Shadow Clone Technique, a B-rank Ninjutsu, was surprisingly cheap.
Until someone leaked that the Military Police Force, in order to quickly improve everyone's strength, yet without lowering the difficulty too much (as the preciousness of Ninjutsu was well-known),
Lord Yuuki ultimately decided to accelerate the rate at which everyone acquired points, specifically lowering the price of the Shadow Clone Technique to the minimum to help everyone grow quickly!
The person who leaked the information was, of course, arranged by Yuuki, and what he said was indeed true; it was to speed things up.
But the other reason didn't need to be told to them!
From that day on, Konoha had two mission-issuing agencies: the Mission Department and the Military Police Force.
The civilian Ninja, who made up the vast majority, used to only serve as cannon fodder to deplete enemy Ninja tools and Chakra, but now they became Yuuki's laborers.
And before long, these laborers would double in number!
These Ninja, who were extremely eager for Ninjutsu, would take the money earned from the Mission Department and exchange it for Ninjutsu at Yuuki's Military Police Force.
And to prevent these Ninja from suddenly having an epiphany and privately teaching others, after the Military Police Force's daily operations were gradually taken over by newly recruited Ninja and civilians,
Those Uchiha Ninja, who were bored after daily studying Anbu and Root knowledge, were specifically responsible for investigating instances of private instruction.
After several typical cases were caught, there was no punishment, only a very simple collective responsibility. Besides the individual, their family members, relatives, descendants, and friends were all blacklisted.
They were prohibited from taking any bounties from the Military Police Force in any form, which directly deterred everyone.
After all, although there was no punishment, they would completely lose the means to acquire Ninjutsu in the future. For one or two trees, they would lose the entire forest!
The plan to 'kidnap' Konoha Ninja had officially begun!
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