"The Ninja Clan Capital Corporation has been in operation for almost three years now. I suppose everyone has already grown accustomed to a comfortable life, haven't you?"
Inside the grand reception hall of the Northern Border General's Mansion, Hyuga Soushu scanned the assembled representatives seated formally from various ninja clans, speaking in a very relaxed tone—completely different from the seriousness he had displayed during internal clan Jonin meetings. "It's been a year since our last meeting. Looks like some of you have been enjoying yourselves a little too much."
"Too much comfort leads to the return of softness, making even Shifting Body Techniques sluggish."
The Nara clan leader was the first to voice agreement. "Though it's been some time since last seeing Lord Soushu, your brilliance remains unparalleled, maintaining the same awe-inspiring dignity as ever. Truly admirable!"
Hyuga Soushu gave this unusually respectful Nara clan leader a slightly surprised look before responding after brief contemplation. "Now that most of us don't need to do missions for cash anymore, my lords, never forget that personal strength remains the foundation of our existence!"
Soushu immediately suspected something was off—whenever something seemed unusual, there was always a reason behind it.
As the intellectual backbone of the Hokage faction, for the Nara clan leader to display such rarely-seen humility indicated there must be specific requests forthcoming.
Irregularities caught his attention again.
Glancing at the somewhat anxious Sarutobi Shinnosuke, combined with the Hyuga Clan's intelligence regarding difficulties faced by the Central-Southern Border Forces' jurisdiction area, Hyuga Soushu pondered deeply.
Most representatives from ninja clans were usually elite family members attending these conferences. Yet among the Hokage faction, they broke tradition—not only having the Hokage's heir, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, present in person but also gathering together the leaders of Ino–Shika–Cho triad under one roof—an extraordinary occurrence carrying significant implications.
This meant they had urgent requests that needed answers—issues big enough to affect their whole clan. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to gather such a powerful group.
"That does sound about right," one of the clan reps muttered, nodding along with the others.
"Did everyone finish reading the documents distributed earlier?" Hyuga Soushu again surveyed left and right while speaking leisurely. "Any thoughts or opinions on the outline contents, my lords?"
"Not gonna lie, I'm a little lost," Fugaku Uchiha expressed himself very candidly.
What he actually voiced represented the sentiments of all assembled clan representatives, who hesitated to express such honestly themselves.
"In short," Hyuga Soushu patiently explained kindly, "it means our production efficiency far exceeds demand across the ninja world."
"This should've been good news for the Ninja World. But instead, we're facing resistance—even open hostility—from both the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth!"
The Nara clan leader couldn't help interrupting eagerly.
"I understand your urgency, but please hold on just a moment!"
Hyuga Soushu frowned deeply and continued, "Furthermore, the goods transported from the territories under the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation are highly competitive in both quality and price throughout the ninja world. In addition, these territories hardly require any imported goods from other countries at all. Therefore, this is the fundamental issue."
Hyuga Soushu paused and took a sip of tea, waiting for these outdated clan representatives to process what he had said.
"If there's only exporting without importing, then it means Gold Kan flows in but never out," one of the representatives muttered.
Among them, the Nara clan leader was the first to catch on. He murmured thoughtfully with a frown, "But the Gold Kan does get distributed among our people, and they will spend it eventually, won't they?"
"The net inflow is simply too large. I'd estimate that most countries' treasuries are running low on stockpiled Gold Kan by now," Hyuga Soushu offered as a hypothesis.
The ninja clan representatives appeared suddenly enlightened, though most still looked confused, merely mimicking others' expressions superficially.
After all, ignorance itself isn't the worst thing—what's truly dangerous is displaying your ignorance openly.
"Then if I may ask, Lord Soushu, how should we respond to this?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke could no longer contain himself, so he stood up respectfully and asked, "You're recognized by all clans as our wise sage and the backbone of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation—we believe you must have solutions!"
"You flatter me," Hyuga Soushu replied with a faint smile, neither confirming nor denying.
Anyone can talk nice. Putting yourself in a lower position for gain? Not so hard either. But once real interests are at stake... everything changes.
The Hokage faction ninja clans led by the Sarutobi were able to secure representation within the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation mainly due to strategic considerations—aimed at balancing internal powers and diffusing the power concentration within the Hokage faction. That certainly didn't mean Hyuga Soushu would allow their influence to expand endlessly.
All the clan representatives fell silent, and an awkward quiet filled the room.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, still standing in a formal posture, felt slighted. It was difficult to save face under such circumstances, yet inappropriate to show anger openly, so he grudgingly sat back down.
"Very well then!" Hyuga Soushu finally spoke after a long pause. "To alleviate the current crisis faced by each family, the Hyuga clan, based on the principle of shared benefits, plans to open Land of Lightning's market to all clans within the corporation—but the exclusive distribution rights must go to the Hyuga clan."
"The Land of Lightning..." The clan representatives immediately showed interest.
Due to the existence of the occupied territories in the Land of Lightning, the Hyuga clan had always monopolized trade relations with that country. Furthermore, the occupied territories were rich in resources and products, making it nearly impossible for goods produced in other clans' territories to enter the markets of the Land of Lightning and Kumo's controlled regions.
Now, even if Hyuga Soushu's offer required further observation to determine its effectiveness in significantly alleviating the sales difficulties faced by various ninja clans, at the very least, it signaled his proactive attitude toward addressing problems.
Moreover, opening the door for discussions was already rare and precious enough. As for expecting the Hyuga clan to make substantial sacrifices without cause, although some family representatives occasionally entertained such thoughts, they knew better than to voice them openly—they lacked both the courage and the nerve.
"The estimated annual trade volume of the Land of Lightning alone reaches a scale of ten billion. With proper allocation, each clan can expect profits in hundreds of millions annually."
Hyuga Soushu emphasized, "But please remember this is goodwill voluntarily offered by the Hyuga Clan, not a right you are entitled to receive."
"What we grant, you may take. What we have not given—do not even dare to desire!"
"Understood!"
Upon hearing these words, representatives from various ninja clans couldn't help but feel moved, responding in unison with solemn expressions.
As for the ideas stirring in their minds—plans to ask the Hyuga Clan to establish trade routes with the Land of Water—these were now silently discarded.
"Additionally, I have another proposal."
Now that he had fully taken control of the meeting's tone, Hyuga Soushu dropped another bombshell: "The predicament our company currently faces boils down to those arrogant daimyos and Hidden Villages who refuse to recognize the trend of the times and insist on going against the tide of progress. This cannot be tolerated!"
Hearing this statement, the representatives found it relatively easy to understand.
After all, their current issue was that the two major countries—the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth—were preparing to close their trade routes, leading to a surplus of goods.
Yet even at this moment, they still couldn't understand how the nobles of these two great nations could remain so stubborn and unreasonable.
After all, the goods sold by the ninja clans were undeniably top quality yet affordable, and available in sufficient quantity to satisfy an entire nation's needs. So why use such unfair competitive measures to block imported goods?
Did they seriously have so much money to burn that they'd actually prefer buying their own crappy domestic stuff instead?!
"To address this issue, I propose forming a Standing Ninja Army under the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, consisting primarily of new recruits freshly trained as genin and led by core ninja from our various clans, ready to face any potential challenges!"
Hyuga Soushu's words struck like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples of shock through the room.
A Coalition Force!
And moreover, a Standing Ninja Army organized nominally by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation!
If the infiltration of ninja clans into every region and their control of key economic lifelines had already begun eroding the power of the noble families under the traditional one-village-one-nation system, then forming an independent Coalition Army would be nothing short of a direct denial of the Five Hidden Villages' legitimacy itself.
Particularly for Konoha, this clearly signaled looming division!
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's expression changed slightly, but quickly regained composure.
For the Hokage faction that had maintained firm control over Konoha until now, inserting some loyal low-ranking ninja and elite jonin into this so-called coalition force as moles wouldn't be difficult. More importantly, solving the pressing issues faced by the Central-Southern Border Forces took priority; otherwise, not only would this year yield no gains for the Hokage-aligned clans, but even collecting transfer payment funds for the village would become problematic!
Meanwhile, Fugaku Uchiha's thoughts raced. During his travels, he recalled seeing countless newly graduated genin deployed across various regions—an astonishing sight indeed!
Though from the Uchiha Clan's high standards perspective, these genin barely differed from ordinary civilians—simple targets that could be eliminated with a single kunai—looking at it another way, if Soushu's forces could deploy such a massive genin army, then his personal direct ninja force must contain even more elite, professional standing troops!
Even this, the Uchiha Clan, as a marital ally among ninja clans, had never fully understood—or perhaps, had not taken the initiative to investigate.
"I should find Takahiro and have a serious talk later."
Only now did Fugaku Uchiha recall Takahiro Uchiha, a fellow clansman who had long served under Hyuga Soushu. He silently decided that after the meeting, he must have an in-depth conversation with this upper-ranked ninja from the same clan, someone regarded by outsiders as one of those who came under the Hyuga banner through the marriage alliance.
Although he had never directly asked or deliberately sought answers, wasn't it Takahiro's responsibility, as a member of the Uchiha Clan, to proactively convey such information?
Fugaku's face twisted and turned with his stormy thoughts. Hyuga Soushu glanced at him but mistook these changes for simple considerations of weighing gains and losses.
"Excuse me, Lord Soushu," spoke the Nara Clan Leader again, "roughly how many ninja are planned for this Standing Ninja Army?"
"How does three thousand sound?" replied Soushu casually.
"...!"
Honestly speaking, three thousand ninja forces weren't considered many—perhaps merely equivalent to the forces deployed during a mid-to-large-scale ninja war.
But the real issue was something else entirely: once members were pulled from each ninja clan to join this coalition force, who would actually be in charge?
Plus, the Standing Ninja Army was made up entirely of warriors dedicated solely to combat, without any civilian responsibilities. Maintaining such a significant force in peacetime meant massive financial expenditures; where exactly would all this money come from?
Even if the Hyuga Clan, rich as they were, could cover the entire military budget of these three thousand ninja, the other clans wouldn't be at peace. After all, the common saying among ninja is "you serve the one who feeds you," and those receiving salaries from the Hyuga for too long would inevitably start shifting their loyalties.
What's more, with these ninja detached from direct family supervision, close daily interactions would inevitably lead to strong bonds forming among them. If certain individuals harbored ulterior motives and promoted seizing authority from their birth clans, gaining support within the newly established standing army—wouldn't this pose a risk for families being undermined internally once again?
Therefore, establishing a permanent coalition of ninja clans went far beyond simply reallocating clan resources; it presented a profound test concerning clan power structures and loyalty.
"Since the concept of a Standing Ninja Army was my proposal, I'll take the first step forward—consider this setting an example for everyone!"
Hyūga Soushu continued in a relaxed tone: "The Hyūga Clan will contribute nine hundred genin and three hundred chunin or above-level clan ninja to this Coalition Force of Ninja Clans!"
"And for maintenance expenses, we can simply divide the costs equally based on each clan's contribution ratio!"
As soon as he finished speaking, representatives from various ninja clans couldn't help exchanging whispers.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, however, focused on another question entirely.
Exactly where did Soushu get the figure of nine hundred genin?
As everyone knew, although the Hyūga produced capable individuals at a relatively high rate, their total population remained limited. The clan could never afford to allocate so many main-line heirs for cannon-fodder roles like low-ranking ninja. With such a surplus of people, wouldn't it be wiser simply to let them marry and increase the birthrate instead?
Clearly, the Hyuga Clan has already started training outsiders as reinforcements.
In other words, Hyuga Soushu has already solved the issue of using expendable forces to counter the growth of ninja clans.
For the Hokage faction, this is truly the most fatal development!
The reason Konoha strictly enforces the system where jōnin-sensei lead genin teams was precisely to prevent the leakage of ninjutsu knowledge and unchecked growth in the number of ninja. Yet now, the Hyuga Clan has openly disregarded this unspoken rule.
Thinking about this, Sarutobi Shinnosuke could only sigh inwardly.
No matter what happened, so long as the increasingly powerful Hyuga Clan didn't directly declare the creation of a new Konoha village, the village would have no way of reining them in.
"The Uchiha Clan will dispatch 300 people to join the Coalition Force!"
Fugaku Uchiha gritted his teeth and made an equally heavy commitment.
For the relatively traditional Uchiha Clan—which had never trained ninja outside their own bloodline—dispatching 300 members was already the absolute limit for both the main family and its vassal clans. Moreover, compared with the wealthy and well-funded Hyuga Clan, the Uchiha were far behind financially.
"Honorable Lord Shinnosuke,"
The Nara clan leader leaned in closer and whispered a few words into Sarutobi Shinnosuke's ear.
"You may decide for yourself. We all trust the Nara clan leader's judgment."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke quietly replied helplessly.
"Alright then."
The Nara clan leader nodded, then raised his hand and announced, "The four great clans, along with the Ino–Shika–Cho triad, will jointly dispatch seven hundred ninja to join the force!"
"Hiss!"
The hesitant representatives from other ninja clans immediately stared wide-eyed in shock!
They began rushing forward one after another to declare their commitments and set goals, fearing they might fall behind even a single step.
Even if they didn't care much for the Hokage faction, those powerful clans would never act without profit. Thus, jumping on the bandwagon was undoubtedly the safest bet.
Within less than ten minutes, the Coalition Force of Ninja Clans had been hastily assembled, growing rapidly to a size of four thousand ninja!
Unbothered by the overstaffing, Soushu Hyuga pressed on, "If that's settled, then we need to find an appropriate opponent to execute Capital Corporation's Open Door policy!"
"Open Door?"
Only now did the ninja clan representatives fully grasp the meaning behind those newly coined terms in Soushu Hyuga's meeting outline—if diplomacy fails, send our ninja forces to forcibly open their doors and implement the Open Door policy!
"All coalition forces must assemble within one month."
Soushu Hyuga raised his right hand and pointed toward the location of the Land of Iron on the map behind him, continuing, "Within two months, the Land of Iron must comply with the Open Door policy by force!"
"Sounds good!"
The clan representatives had no objections to this resolution.
Although officially recognized as a neutral country within the Ninja World, the Land of Iron was, in reality, merely a remnant of the old samurai powers—an entity that ninja held absolutely no affection for whatsoever. As for its supposed neutrality—Denial doesn't change facts—but sometimes, it changes nations.
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