Ninjutsu, besides being used for combat, can also be applied to production.
However, in most ninja villages, exploration into applying ninjutsu to productive uses remains at a relatively primitive stage. For example, using Fire Release to grill fish or Lightning Release to create batteries.
For most ninja, ninjutsu is naturally meant as killing techniques. Using chakra for construction and development? That's just shirking real duty—or a sign of having too much time on your hands.
But in Konoha today, this mindset is shifting. An unprecedented transformation is underway.
The day after the summer solstice, the Konoha Times issued a newspaper, devoting an entire page to Uzumaki Heiyan's summer solstice speech.
Uzumaki Heiyan's words spread into every household across the village.
The most prominent photo in the paper showed Heiyan raising his arm high atop a hill, with a crowd rallying around him. It perfectly captured Konoha's current spirit—unity in purpose, strength in solidarity.
A few days later, addressing the current difficulties Konoha faced, a new series of reform measures were announced from the Hokage office.
The first round of reforms mainly involved establishing several new departments.
First was the Medical Department, headed by Tsunade as its director. The goal of this department was to extensively select talent from within the village, train medical ninja, develop Medical Ninjutsu, and build hospitals and medical facilities—ultimately creating the most comprehensive and advanced medical system in the shinobi world.
The Medical Department would not only serve Konoha villagers but also open its doors to all shinobi and civilians across the world of shinobi, dedicated to curing diseases and improving the quality of life.
Next came the Cultural & Tourism Department. Its purpose was to integrate the tourism resources within Konoha and surrounding areas to attract visitors worldwide while vigorously promoting Konoha's ninja culture to every nation.
Then was the Construction Department, led by Uzumaki Heiyan, who served as the Hokage's advisor. Heiyan's task was simple: expand the Leaf Village to accommodate more residents. He would use Yin-Yang Release to create housing structures, leaving the follow-up work such as interior design and sales to other members of the Construction Department.
Finally, there was the most important department: the Research Division of New Applications for Ninjutsu.
"New applications for ninjutsu" refers specifically to techniques employed for production and daily living.
This department was personally directed by "Professor of Ninjutsu" Hiruzen Sarutobi, also known as the Third Hokage, with Orochimaru serving as deputy head. Its membership included shinobi from all major clans within Konoha, making it the largest and most populated department.
Before this, due to sanctions imposed by the Daimyo's Mansion, many Konoha ninja had been unable to take missions, remaining idle for long periods.
But now, caught up in this wave of change, almost every ninja in the village jumped in with full enthusiasm.
As it turned out, many hands really did make light work.
With everyone's efforts, Konoha seemed like a machine re-fueled and roaring back to life, thundering forward with renewed power.
The reforms charged forward like wildfire, unstoppable.
In addition to the newly created departments, some existing departments in Konoha also underwent optimization and reorganization.
For instance, the Administrative Department.
Since the end of the First Great Ninja World War, for over a decade, Konoha's Administrative Department had been composed of four individuals: Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado. All four had been students under the Second Hokage, possessing deep seniority and unshakable status within the village.
Had nothing unexpected occurred, this quartet would have continued ruling, governing Konoha for another twenty or thirty years until old age forced them to retire.
But that is now a thing of the past.
In just the past six months, Heiyan had driven three of the four Elders from their positions, leaving only Hiruzen Sarutobi remaining.
Vacant positions naturally required fresh blood to fill them.
The reorganized Administrative Department still had four members—aside from Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, the others were Heiyan, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.
From the elders' perspective, this was undoubtedly an unusually young group. Among the four, the oldest—Hiruzen Sarutobi—was barely in his early forties, while the youngest, Heiyan, was only fifteen.
These four individuals would take charge of Konoha's future governance and policy-making.
This bold personnel reshuffle clearly demonstrated Konoha's high-ranking elders' determination to carry through with reforms.
In the Hokage office,
"Heiyan, thanks to you, the village hasn't collapsed,"
Sitting in his chair, Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe as he sincerely thanked Heiyan.
"Hokage-sama, I simply offered a few suggestions. That's all. The reform has just begun; many challenges are yet to come. Only through the united efforts of all Konoha shinobi can we ultimately resolve these issues and lead the village out of its predicament."
Heiyan humbly replied.
"I hope so," Hiruzen said with a smile, his tone tinged with emotion.
"Hokage-sama, do you have any concerns?" Heiyan noticed the insincerity behind Hiruzen's smile and asked thoughtfully.
"Hmm…"
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen put down his pipe and sighed before responding, "What I'm worried about now is how the Daimyo's Mansion will react…"
Konoha's ongoing reforms aimed at complete independence from the Daimyo's Mansion. From the Daimyo's point of view, such a scenario could never be allowed.
If Konoha succeeds, it would achieve full independence both militarily and economically, freeing itself entirely from the jurisdiction of the Daimyo's Mansion. Once that happens, Konoha, located right at the heart of the Land of Fire, would effectively become a *guozhongzhiguo* (a state within a state).
Under such circumstances, tensions between the Daimyo's Mansion and Konoha were sure to intensify further. This could result in increasingly severe countermeasures—including harsher sanctions against Konoha, or even…
War.
That was exactly what troubled Hiruzen most.
"Hokage-sama, may I ask whether you truly believe that nobility is something inherent to the Daimyo?"
Heiyan suddenly posed such a question.
"I don't."
Shaking his head slowly, Hiruzen answered, but then helplessly added, "Still, countless commoners across the Land of Fire, and even many shinobi in Konoha itself, do believe it."
"So, the reform we're pushing forward isn't just about changing Konoha. It's meant to impact the Land of Fire—and even the hundreds of millions of ordinary people across the entire world of shinobi."
Uzumaki Heiyan continued after Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, making a shocking statement that stunned his companion.
Then, he went on to explain:
"The number of ninja in Konoha only numbers in the thousands. Even if we complete this reform and apply large amounts of new ninjutsu toward production and construction, the resulting gross output would still be limited on the scale of the entire Land of Fire. That's because most of the population—over one hundred million people—are ordinary civilians. They are the main productive force within the nation.
And these commoners are treated as resources, tightly controlled by the Daimyo and nobles.
What we must do now is carry out this comprehensive reform and use Konoha Village's advantages—in medicine, housing, security, culture, and tourist landscapes—to attract large numbers of regular citizens, especially various kinds of technological talent, to relocate to Konoha. Our ultimate goal is to transform Konoha Village into the de facto economic, cultural, and commercial center of the Land of Fire.
Once that happens, the influence the Daimyo's Mansion holds over the populace will greatly decrease, while Konoha's power will rise correspondingly within the Land of Fire.
At the same time, Konoha's ninja, after shedding their former violent and bloodthirsty image, will engage in production and construction using advanced ninjutsu to benefit the people, thus naturally earning the support and affection of ordinary citizens.
When Konoha has both authority and popular backing, we can make our final move:
We'll spread the word among the people of the Land of Fire that the Daimyo and nobles are parasitic leeches clinging onto the backs of commoners—backward reactionary forces. Meanwhile, ninja possess chakra, a power bestowed by god. We will use this strength to help people escape the Daimyo's exploitation and oppression, allowing them to live happy lives.
In this way, we'll sideline—or even directly eliminate—the Daimyo's Mansion, leaving the Daimyo himself buried in history. Then Konoha Village will take its place, leading billions of the Land of Fire's citizens toward a future marked by progress, peace, and beauty."
...
After hearing Heiyan's speech, Hiruzen Sarutobi was deeply shaken, unable to recover for quite some time.
His understanding of the ninja village, the nation, and even the Daimyo's Mansion had been completely overturned by Heiyan's words.
After a long silence, he finally spoke again.
"It seems this reform will inevitably push Konoha into direct confrontation with the Daimyo's Mansion. Once the Daimyo realizes what's happening, he certainly won't sit idly by."
Hiruzen sighed once more, his expression extremely serious. "We must also prepare ourselves for conflict."
"The Daimyo has always been out of touch with the people. By the time he reacts, it might already be too late."
Heiyan dryly remarked, then added, "No matter what comes, we'll face it head-on. If the Daimyo's Mansion dares move against Konoha, we'll fight them to the very end. Let's see who winds up standing tall in the end."
...
As Heiyan and Hiruzen Sarutobi were engaged in this conversation,
Thousands of miles away, at the Daimyo's Mansion in the Land of Fire:
"Your Grace, something terrible has happened! That Uzumaki Heiyan has returned to Konoha Village and started a grand reform movement, attempting to break free from economic dependence on the Daimyo's Mansion... This is clearly outright rebellion!"
Konoha Shin rushed into the Daimyo's Mansion in a great hurry, reporting this news to his lord—the Fire Daimyo.
Once the Daimyo's most favored retainer, Konoha Shin had fallen out of favor after failing an important mission and receiving punishment from the Daimyo. Ever since then, he had developed deep hatred toward Konoha, especially toward Heiyan.
Therefore, upon learning that Heiyan was pushing for reforms within the Leaf Village, Konoha Shin realized his chance for revenge had arrived and immediately ran to the Daimyo to file accusations and stir up trouble.
"Ahh..."
After listening to Konoha Shin's report, the Daimyo covered his mouth as he yawned lazily, appearing half-asleep.
The reason for his drowsy appearance wasn't because he had been overwhelmed with state affairs, but rather because he had played mahjong all night and had just woken up in the afternoon.
"I thought something really big had happened. Let those ninja mess around however they want. Only when they've completely failed and have nowhere else to turn will they realize how good they had it under the Daimyo's House."
The Fire Daimyo remained calm and indifferent, clearly not taking the matter seriously at all.
"My Lord Daimyo, please do not let your guard down!" Konoha Shin urged anxiously.
"In that case, stop funding Konoha entirely. Starting today, the Daimyo's Mansion will no longer give the Leaf one single coin until those ninja sincerely repent."
After a moment's consideration, the Daimyo issued his order.
In his view, shinobi were ultimately beings who needed a master. Without a master to serve, ninja held no value or purpose.
This belief had already been proven historically—once, the samurai had also thrived, but once the Daimyo's Mansion stopped employing them, they could only either switch professions or fade away unnoticed, gradually disappearing from history.
Whether samurai or ninja, all were merely vassals serving the Daimyo's Mansion.
The Daimyo, was the true master of this world, a fact already confirmed countless times throughout over a thousand years of history.
Thinking thus, the Daimyo yawned again and continued playing mahjong.
...
The news about Konoha's reform didn't reach only the Daimyo's Mansion—it spread throughout the world of shinobi to other great ninja villages as well.
As the greatest among the Five Great Ninja Villages, for the past thirty years, Konoha had always been the model imitated and learned from by every other ninja village.
During the time of the First Hokage, each hidden village had been established following the "one nation, one village" system pioneered by Konoha. Then during the era of the Second Hokage, the Anbu and the Ninja Academy system established by Tobirama Senju were also adopted by other villages.
But this time was different.
In the Land of Wind, Sunagakure stood watching.
The shinobi of Sunagakure watched Konoha's reform unfold with a mix of spiteful glee and eager anticipation.
They all knew perfectly well why Konoha was forced to reform—in recent months, Suna had received numerous missions from the Fire Daimyo's Mansion that originally belonged to Konoha, effectively stealing Konoha's income.
Reform? Give me a break! As a ninja, isn't it better to just do your job, take missions from the Daimyo's Mansion, and get paid well for it?
Thanks to this, over the past six months, Sunagakure's shinobi had become richer, and the village itself flourished with thriving prosperity. In their eyes, Konoha's so-called reform plans were nothing more than ridiculous nonsense.
In the vast Sunagakure village, Pakura was the only one who genuinely cared about Konoha's reforms and Heiyan Uzumaki's current situation.
She felt worried for Heiyan and silently sent her prayers, hoping he could lead Konoha Village through this crisis.
In the Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
Regarding the news of Konoha's reforms, Iwagakure remained indifferent, choosing to watch from the sidelines.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, believed that if this reform utterly failed, Konoha's strength would surely crumble further. To Iwagakure, this was undeniably good news.
However, if Konoha's reforms did yield some results, Iwagakure could also consider drawing appropriate inspiration from them.
No matter what happened, the outcome would benefit Iwagakure.
In the Land of Lightning, Akagakure.
Six months had passed since the Battle of Uzugakure, but within Kumogakure, the rebellion sparked by the Raikage's defeat still hadn't been fully quelled.
Amid internal chaos, Kumogakure naturally had no time to pay attention to Konoha's transformation.
In the Land of Water, Kiri.
Over these past six months, under Madara Uchiha's command, Danzo had imposed a cruel and bloody high-pressure rule over Kiri.
Today, Kiri had become an expanded version of Root, where every ninja lived masked lives under codenames instead of real names.
The entire village was shrouded in gloom and silence; people avoided making eye contact on the streets, afraid to speak.
Danzo found out about the changes happening in Konoha right away.
Bang!
He slammed his fist down hard on the heavy oak desk, wearing an expression of deep anger and gloom.
"Sensei Hiruzen, you've been deceived by Uzumaki Heiyan. You've lost your basic judgment. How dare you carry out such absurd reforms? It's like dragging Konoha into a bottomless abyss... You've betrayed Sensei's trust and the responsibility given to you back then."
Danzo muttered, his eyes sharp with coldness.
Even now, he remained firmly convinced that no one deserved the title of Hokage more than him. Only Danzo Shimura could protect everything belonging to Konoha.
Suddenly—
"Come down to the basement," a hoarse, aged voice echoed directly inside Danzo's mind.
A tremor ran through Danzo's body. Without hesitation, he hurried downstairs to meet Madara Uchiha.
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