Hokage: Unable to persuade Madara, I chose to build my own ninja village.

Chapter 71 Tobirama Senju: Perhaps I was really wrong, and I should learn from the Akatsuki!

Hokage Office.

After completing his mission, Hashirama Senju brought Madara Uchiha to the Hokage's office to say goodbye to Tobirama Senju and to make a routine report.

Generally speaking, once you reach the position of Hokage, you're basically no longer needed for missions.

However, Hashirama Senju was clearly an exception.

"Big brother, I knew it. The plan you mentioned before would just be a waste of Konoha's precious funds."

"But since you're not willing to give up, I'll let you have your way. But you must be careful when you go out on missions, and don't cause any big trouble in the ninja world."

"You must remember what I said."

Tobirama Senju sat in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk, speaking earnestly while looking up at his older brother and glancing at Madara Uchiha standing next to Hashirama Senju out of the corner of his eye.

Madara Uchiha stood still, not even giving Tobirama Senju a proper look, clearly not wanting to have any interaction with the inherently evil Tobirama. He was nothing but trash!

of course.

The same goes for Tobirama Senju.

If possible.

He had no desire to have any interaction with the inherently evil Uchiha Madara, but he was simply a little worried.

If Hashirama Senju went out on a mission alone, Tobirama Senju wouldn't worry at all, but his older brother insisted on dragging the inherently evil Madara Uchiha along on missions.

This made Tobirama Senju very worried.

Of course, given their strength, an S-rank mission would be a piece of cake for them. So Tobirama Senju wasn't worried that they would fail the mission and cause Konoha's reputation to decline. What Tobirama was really worried about was that the two of them would inexplicably start fighting when they were together. The earth-shattering scene would probably be more than the mission reward could pay for the damage they caused.

It wasn't like Tobirama Senju hadn't experienced something like this before. During an escort mission, when danger struck, his older brother lost control of his strength and destroyed all the goods being escorted. As a result, they not only failed to earn the mission's reward but also had to lose money. In the end, they even had to personally go to the mission's initiator to bow and apologize.

"Tobirama, I understand, I understand!"

"What you're talking about happened a long time ago. The reason that happened was because my strength had just made a big leap at that time, and I wasn't fully familiar with it yet."

Hashirama Senju chuckled awkwardly a few times, trying to make amends for himself.

"In that case, Madara and I will be leaving now. I'll leave Konoha in your care for the time being."

"Oh, and I almost forgot, I haven't told Mito about this yet, so remember to tell her when you get home tonight."

As Hashirama Senju said this, he impatiently grabbed Madara Uchiha, intending to leave Konoha immediately and begin their first mission as a team.

"Big brother, you bastard!"

"Won't I get yelled at again when I get home tonight?"

As Tobirama Senju watched Hashirama Senju's departing back, he thought resentfully, "Every time I need to stay out all night, I always end up telling my sister-in-law instead of myself. I don't know that when she gets angry, her Vajra Chains don't discriminate."

After a string of curses and swears.

Tobirama Senju picked up a book from the table, the latest issue of "New Ninja". Ever since he noticed that his older brother Hashirama Senju's "condition" was getting worse, he had started collecting every issue of "New Ninja".

Thanks to Uchiha Sei's money-making abilities, he bribed many people, and the print run of "New Ninja" increased daily, becoming an extremely popular publication in Konoha. The content was nothing special, basically no different from ordinary periodicals, except that "New Ninja" would add a short essay in the most conspicuous place that even Senju Tobirama found somewhat unbelievable.

The previous short essay had already made Tobirama Senju feel its power, and considering that the protagonist of the story was the Akatsuki village founded by the inherently evil Uchiha Makoto, Tobirama Senju became even more wary.

"Should we take any coercive measures against 'New Ninja'? The stories in it may seem ordinary on the surface, but they're far too captivating!"

As Tobirama Senju thought, the reason he hadn't made up his mind yet was because "New Ninja" didn't contain any content that violated Konoha's safety regulations. Taking coercive measures against "New Ninja" rashly would definitely provoke resistance from Akatsuki Village, and it would also be illegitimate.

"Let's see what seductive content is in the latest version."

Tobirama Senju opened "New Ninja" and one of the short stories quickly caught his attention.

[A strange law exists in Akatsuki Village: Upon enrollment at the Ninja Academy, each new student receives two coupons—a "book coupon" redeemable for any book, and a "honey coupon" redeemable for a small jar of Akatsuki-brand honey. Both coupons must be used simultaneously; neither can be omitted.]

No one knew why this law was enacted. Until one of Master Guangying's speeches at a school.

[The young Uchiha Makoto wasn't wearing the Light and Shadow God Robe; instead, he was carrying an old book. He first opened the title page, showing everyone a water stain—it looked exactly like a drop of honey. "Fifty years ago, my grandfather was the poorest genin in the clan." "That day, he was on a mission, and his house caught fire. He rushed back and only managed to salvage two things: this ninjutsu book with its edges curled from the fire, and half a jar of unopened honey." "Grandpa said that what was truly valuable in the fire was the ninjutsu principles in the book; the honey was just a little sweetness to prepare for the future, in case the principles were too bitter."]

[Changing the subject, Uchiha Makoto pulled a document from his robes—the "Akatsuki Village Research Funding Supplement Proposal"—its cover also stained with a drop of honey. "Starting today, for every book voucher the village uses, the Ministry of Finance will automatically allocate 1790 ryo to the 'Akatsuki Village Research Fund.' This money is specifically for children under twelve—to buy books, parts, even lab wrenches—the only condition is: a page from their favorite book must be included in the budget report."]

[The audience was initially silent, then erupted in cheers. One parent muttered, "You can save money by buying books?" Uchiha Makoto smiled and replied, "Books are seeds, scientific research is the tree, and the Ministry of Finance is simply cashing in on the future benefits."]

A few days later, a long line formed outside the Ninja Academy bookstore. The children exchanged their newly acquired book vouchers for books like "Three Years to Become a Medical Ninja, Five Years to Become a Medical Master" and "An Introduction to Fire Release Chakra Nature"... The bookstore owner simply put up a blackboard at the entrance: "Today's Hottest Book—'An Introduction to Fire Release Chakra Nature' is now available."

Just two months later, a group of students in Akatsuki Village had mastered the basics of Fire Release ninjutsu. On the day of the school's performance, they collectively spelled out the words "Books are sweet, and so are funds" using Fire Release techniques. From then on, Akatsuki Village had a new saying: "The more you read, the faster the funds are spent; the faster the funds are spent, the faster you learn ninjutsu."

A daimyo, who had come incognito, listened from the shadows as the children spelled out in fire-style patterns, "Books are sweet, and so are funds." He finally understood: those two coupons and one honey, that 1790 taels of silver, were all seeds planted by the Light and Shadow Lord himself. The daimyo gently tapped the railing and sighed to his accompanying scribe, "Do you see? The backbone of Akatsuki Village has never been ninjutsu, but rather treating books as seeds and silver as spring water—for every page a child turns, a spoonful of funds is poured; as the tree grows taller, a branch is pruned and planted back in the soil. In this way, knowledge will grow into a forest, and one day Akatsuki Village will become the most powerful and prosperous village in the ninja world!"

(End of this chapter)