After nearly three months of busy work outside, Fumori Masaki and the others finally returned to Konoha Ninja Village. Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado couldn't help but tease them, saying, "You really did some earth-shattering things."
As high-ranking officials of Konoha Ninja Village, they naturally knew about Fumori Masaki's plans. It was just that his swift methods were astonishing. It wasn't appropriate to discuss it outside, but after returning to the Hokage Office Building, they could properly joke with their comrades.
"It's merely one part of a pre-determined policy, not yet a complete success," Fumori Masaki said with a smile, immediately announcing the start of the Hokage Cabinet meeting. They didn't have time to rest properly now.
In the room where the Hokage Cabinet meeting was held, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura reported first, stating that all the Chakra Samurai had been eliminated. Their numbers, after being compared with the roster in the Daimyo's mansion, were confirmed to be accurate. It could be concluded that the trouble with the Chakra Samurai would never reappear, and their leader, Uchiha Koku, was also dead. The internal enemy that Konoha Ninja Village had always worried about had thus disappeared.
Kagami Uchiha and Torifu Akimichi then reported on the measures taken within the Daimyo's mansion, detailing the contents of the Daimyo's agreement and the discussions with other local lords.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado knew the outcome of the events, but not the details. Now was a good time to fill in the gaps and let them understand the full picture.
After the four had finished their reports, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado stood up to report on the village's management and the diplomatic relations with other countries. Although the villagers were somewhat surprised by the Hokage's actions, they generally remained supportive. The Daimyo's mansion had lost the people's trust due to various perverse actions.
As for other countries, the allied nations naturally showed their support, and the northern nations also raised no objections, considering it an internal affair of the Land of Fire—of course, they had no way to raise any objections.
Next was the report on the losses incurred by the civil war. Although Konoha Ninja Village had a technological advantage, due to the unique nature of Uchiha Koku and the Chakra Samurai, the Konoha combat forces still suffered some casualties, though fortunately not particularly severe.
Fumori Masaki stated that all sacrificed ninjas and samurai should be given honorable recognition, and their families should be well compensated and their daily lives taken care of. There should be no neglect for the warriors who bled and sweated for the village. This had been formally implemented after the Second Great Ninja War, and the others naturally had no objections.
After officially summarizing the results of this civil war, everyone felt as if they had just woken from a dream. They never would have imagined that Konoha Ninja Village would have such a day: the Daimyo's mansion had now become a symbolic place, and the administrative power of the country had fallen into the hands of Konoha Ninja Village and the local lords. This was something that Konoha Ninja Village, which had only been an mercenary organization in the past, could never have imagined.
This meant that Konoha Ninja Village officially became a member of the Land of Fire's political system.
Compared to the past, the relationship between Konoha Ninja Village and the Land of Fire became closer. Perhaps it would lose some of the independence that only a mercenary organization had, but judging from the current strength and status of Konoha Ninja Village, this loss was insignificant, because it would only manifest in areas where Konoha Ninja Village was weak. But what about now?
Although it was said that the political power of the entire Land of Fire was jointly managed by Konoha Ninja Village and the local lords, in reality, Konoha Ninja Village, as the most powerful local force, had a very high say. It is conceivable that in the future, it should gradually become a situation dominated by Konoha Ninja Village.
In this way, the so-called independence lost due to the close relationship with the Land of Fire was irrelevant—in the future, the Land of Fire would be led by them, so who could influence Konoha Ninja Village's internal affairs?
Of course, although Konoha Ninja Village had the most say due to its formidable military strength, other powerful nobles should not be underestimated, especially those border lords. Their samurai were very elite, and if they had joined during the civil war, Konoha Ninja Village would have paid a greater price.
And Konoha Ninja Village, in order to maintain the internal stability of the Land of Fire, had to maintain good relations with other nobles. There was no need to worry about the weaker nobles; in the future, they would undoubtedly follow Konoha Ninja Village's lead, as long as they were given some other benefits to satisfy them. They could not possibly resist Konoha Ninja Village, and there was no need to resist when given incentives.
However, those powerful nobles might affect Konoha Ninja Village's future dominance of order. Konoha Ninja Village must seriously consider this.
"According to the agreement, the affairs of the Land of Fire will be discussed in a council with representatives from Konoha Ninja Village and local lords. Our first step is to implement this system and standardize it, just like our voting seats in the Southern Alliance. We need to find a way to achieve implicit decision-making power. As long as we can do this, we will gradually be able to seize the power of other local lords in the future," Fumori Masaki said.
"According to your idea, Masahiro, all these institutionalizations must be decided by the supreme law. Everyone must obey the supreme law and act within its framework. This way, everything will have a legal basis, and there will be room for peaceful discussion. Unlike the vague power divisions of the past, everything will be planned by the supreme law," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
"Yes. The supreme law will be the guarantee that binds each other in the future, and also the guarantee for building trust. As long as everyone obeys the supreme law, if anyone dares to violate it, they will become a public enemy of the entire nation. Even a Kage cannot act recklessly," Fumori Masaki emphasized. "Of course, relying solely on the supreme law is not enough. We also need to establish a corresponding supervisory mechanism to ensure the implementation of the supreme law, as well as various communication agencies. I believe that as long as all of this can be successfully established, the country will be even more stable than before."
In an era without a supreme law, the nation's legal framework was not as well-developed, especially since autocratic monarchs had the ability to disregard laws. This indirectly led to some brutal struggles, because whoever had strength gained everything, especially within the royal family.
In the era of supreme law, because everything was legally regulated, including the succession order of monarchs and so on, powers constrained each other, preventing situations where autocratic monarchs held all power. In Fumori Masaki's previous life, the emergence of supreme law was an important standard of social progress. Throughout history, both ancient and modern, whenever supreme law was established and functioned well, there were often no serious civil wars. Even powerful, greedy, and cold-blooded empires, as long as there wasn't a complete bottom-up overthrow, generally did not experience particularly serious situations. Even if there were, it was only once or twice, and they never shook the foundations of the nation.
Although the ninja world was a society with the extraordinary power of chakra, chakra could be controlled by humans, and in recent years, the requirements for aptitude have been continuously lowered. As the monopoly is further broken and chakra technology further develops, this will greatly narrow the gap between the citizens of the country, breaking the barrier between ordinary people and ninjas.
The current joint formation of a combat unit by Konoha ninjas and samurai is a preliminary manifestation of this achievement, and it is expected to get better and better in the future.
When everyone possesses chakra or controllable power (chakra technology that ordinary people can also use), it is equivalent to everyone being mortal, with no significant difference between them.
With constraints both above and below, there is no difference in social order from Fumori Masaki's previous life. Even in past eras, there was essentially no difference; the concept of might makes right also existed in ancient times of his previous life, for example, the famous saying: "The Son of Heaven is he who has strong soldiers and horses!"
The ninja world was simply a situation where the ninjas themselves were more powerful, leading to a certain imbalance. However, now there are more and more civilian ninjas and chakra technology to restrain them, coupled with the popularization of new ideas. Fumori Masaki believes that the power constraint of the supreme law is completely fine; what remains is the constraint of power.
"The first thing I want to make clear to everyone is that, although the power of the Land of Fire is jointly managed by the village and local lords, in order to ensure that the village's will can be accurately passed down in the future and not be influenced by local nobles, we must fully grasp the administrative power of the country in the hands of the village! At least it must be in a dominant position! We can listen to the opinions of the nobles, establish an internal democratic mechanism, absorb opinions from all parties, and prevent us from going down the path of a monarch, but we cannot allow other nobles with different ideas to influence our policies!" Fumori Masaki emphasized.
"Although the highest law has not yet been stipulated, Masaki, you must be trying to emulate the Southern Alliance's voting system, right?" Uchiha Kagami said.
"Yes. What we need to do next is to make the vast majority of seats our people. How do we do that? Our Konoha Ninja Village currently has over 30,000 active ninjas, of which over 20,000 are combat ninjas or support ninjas. The remaining ninjas, who focus on administrative abilities, are at most over 10,000. We simply cannot rely on these people to govern the country." Fumori Masaki said, "Therefore, we must pass a resolution to arrange those who implement the village's ideology into all aspects of the country. After establishing new national institutions, we will ensure that our people become the vast majority of members in those national institutions."
"To achieve this goal, we must reform the village's system! In the past, due to the employment system, Konoha Ninja Village was primarily a military organization. Our management of internal ninjas was also militarized. But now, as you know, due to the popularization of new ideas and the needs of ninja life, many ninjas are becoming less and less like ninjas, especially those who focus on administrative abilities."
"In the future, regarding the village's system, I believe it will be based on the New Ninja Sect ideology, making the personnel relations of the village closer. The relationship between Konoha departments and Chakra practitioners will also be redefined, transforming Konoha into a crucial political entity within the country. The military will no longer be its entirety, but only a part of it—because the village must, in any case, achieve complete leadership over the army to prevent the phenomenon of military secession."
The others listened silently. It was probably the first time Fumori Masaki had fully articulated his ideas, but now that they heard it, everyone suddenly realized that Fumori Masaki had never hidden his thoughts. As early as in his past books, Fumori Masaki had already explained his ideas. The only difference was that back then they were unsystematic, but now they were systematic.
"Masaki, are you trying to make the village achieve comprehensive leadership over the Land of Fire?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.
"Yes, only in this way can we prevent the Land of Fire from deviating from Konoha Ninja Village's policies. As it stands, I can say without hesitation that Konoha Ninja Village represents the most advanced group and the most advanced ideology in the Land of Fire. Neither other countries nor those local nobles can compare. Allowing Konoha Ninja Village to exercise comprehensive leadership prevents problems of deviating from the path, and I see no error in that." Fumori Masaki replied.
The others nodded slightly, expressing their approval of Fumori Masaki's opinion. If it were them, they might have thought the same way. The current situation of Konoha Ninja Village was truly excellent, and there was every reason to go further. Now that everyone's minds had been liberated, they naturally wouldn't be constrained by the past's restrictive situation.
"Of course, to achieve such a goal, the entire village system must be reformed. At that time, it would probably be impossible to say that the village is still a ninja village." Fumori Masaki said.
"Just tell us what to do, and we will do our best. In these years, when has Masaki's decision ever gone wrong? And I feel that Masaki has already taken care of many people in the village. Although it is a reform of the village system, it has gradually begun in the past, and now it is merely implementation. It won't affect too much, and it may even be a good thing for many people." Akimichi Torifu smiled, and the others repeatedly agreed. They were all students of the Second Hokage, and to be valued by the Second Hokage was not only about ability but also about ideology. They were undoubtedly supporters of the policies from the First and Second Hokage all the way to the current Third Hokage.
"Thank you." Fumori Masaki nodded and said with a smile, "However, regarding Torifu's words, there's something I want to say. The first thing I want to do is reform the village's leadership style. In the past, the village was led primarily by the Hokage, with others assisting, which was essentially no different from an autocratic monarch. Since we are going to establish constraints on power in the future, this situation must also change. I propose that in the future, the village will be led by a collective leadership."
"Collective leadership?"
"Yes, multiple people will form representatives to make decisions on village affairs. The power of these representatives will still be concentrated, but the internal personnel must fully embody the characteristics of democracy and be selected by the village's personnel, just like the Hokage's vote of confidence." Fumori Masaki said, "Although the Hokage's vote of confidence can ensure the Hokage's personal qualities, relying on an individual might lead to problems at any time. Expanding the personnel can also ensure that major policies do not go wrong."
"This is essentially the formal establishment of the Hokage Cabinet. I think, having worked together in the Hokage Cabinet for so long, you all should understand."
The others nodded. The Hokage Cabinet was, to some extent, a collective leadership, but because it wasn't comprehensive, the decision-making power was still in the Hokage's hands. It was just that Fumori Masaki had good qualities and could listen to opinions from all sides, but as Fumori Masaki said, one could not rely entirely on an individual's qualities.
The establishment of collective leadership would mean that Fumori Masaki would relinquish all the autocratic power of the Hokage, which commanded everyone's respect. Power is not something that can be given up just like that; if the Daimyo hadn't been forced by everyone, how could he have given it up so easily?
And with Fumori Masaki's contributions, the village's power was concentrated in him, and no one had any complaints. In the future, he might even serve as the head of state, with all the power of the entire Land of Fire and the ninja village resting upon him. In such circumstances, for Fumori Masaki to make the decision to divide power was undoubtedly admirable.
And this move by Fumori Masaki will further consolidate the constraints on power and the implementation of the highest law—if even this person, who might be called the strongest dictator of the Land of Fire in the future, chooses to restrain his own power, what reason do others have to hold onto power and not let go? This will be the direction that guides righteousness.
"Collective leadership is only the first step in reforming the leadership style, including fully establishing collective leadership. We also need to establish corresponding systems. In addition, there are various other departmental reforms, which will probably not be a matter of one or two years." Fumori Masaki said, "Just to cultivate personnel sufficient to lead the entire country, it will take at least ten years as a basic unit. My goal is to complete the transformation of the village system and national institutions within ten years, complete the comprehensive leadership of the country within thirty years, and promote it throughout the Southern Alliance to complete the transformation within fifty years. The next step is the struggle against the northern countries. Under the greatest possible circumstances, we will win them over to form a ninja world alliance and achieve common prosperity in the ninja world continent."
"That will probably be a long and arduous journey." The others exchanged glances and laughed.
"Such hard work is worth it; it will bring us closer to the ideals of Lord Hashirama and Lord Tobirama." Fumori Masaki said seriously, "This will be a brand new beginning for Konoha."