Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 141 Controlling the Daimyo

"Tsk... Konoha is really in a sorry state right now! Luckily, the so-called Nine-Tails attack was just a ruse in our plan. If the Nine-Tails had really unleashed its power in Konoha, the village would be in real trouble!"

Sitting in the Hokage's office, Uchiha Touya flipped through the documents in his hand and said with a sigh.

Konoha in this timeline is much worse off than in the original story. After all, in the original story, Orochimaru only defected from Konoha after the Third Shinobi World War, and he didn't cause much of a stir in Konoha.

Secondly, in the original story, the Third Raikage fought a three-day, three-night battle with tens of thousands of Iwa ninja to cover the retreat of the Cloud Village and the Rock Village. The two villages almost fought to the death. In comparison, the hatred level of Konoha has to be slightly lower.

In this Fourth Shinobi World War, both the Third and Fourth Raikage died at the hands of Konoha. Iwa ninja were also determined to suppress the powerful Konoha. The two great ninja villages, while not perfectly coordinated, were at least of one mind, focusing solely on destroying Konoha.

If it weren't for the immense threat posed by the Yellow Flash and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki later on, Konoha really wouldn't have been able to withstand the opponent's offensive. Even if Minato Namikaze was incredibly fast at mowing down enemies, with all the lower-level ninjas killed, it would have been impossible for one person to hold a line of fire.

"There are only a little over three thousand active ninjas... Even if we include the hidden strength of the major clans, the current number of Konoha ninjas wouldn't exceed five thousand..."

"Tsk... There are still several hundred ninjas who should be from the Uchiha clan. They're not really on the same page with Konoha yet."

"If we remove those hastily trained ninjas under the age of eleven or twelve, Konoha's actual strength on the surface probably doesn't even have two thousand ninjas."

At its peak, Konoha had over 10,000 ninjas on record alone. If you include ninjas hidden in secret departments and clan ninjas who were not registered, the total number of ninjas was probably between 20,000 and 30,000.

Admittedly, among the 20,000 to 30,000 ninjas, the vast majority were low-ranking ninjas who were cannon fodder, and most of those who died in the Fourth Shinobi World War were such ninjas.

But no matter how much cannon fodder a ninja is, they all come from ninja school training, which takes a lot of time and effort.

Not to mention that although the mortality rate of genin is the highest, it does not mean that chunin and jonin die less; their mortality rate is only slightly better than that of genin.

It can be said that the current Konoha Village has lost about two-thirds of its overall strength compared to before the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Furthermore... without enough ninjas, it's impossible to carry out more missions, which naturally prevents the collection of more funds, and without sufficient funds, it's impossible to train more ninjas...

This is actually a vicious cycle. Losing half of the ninjas and losing two-thirds of the ninjas may seem like only a difference of one-sixth, but the recovery speed of the ninja village may be more than twice as fast.

Uchiha Touya shook his head, looking worried, as if he were very concerned about Konoha. This made the real Hokage, who was currently slumped under the table, stammer and speak up:

"Ugh... Feiyu, why are you worried about this? Anyway, you'll be able to control the other ninja villages by then, so there's no need to worry about a new Shinobi World War. Let Konoha recover slowly—cough cough umm..."

Uchiha Touyu stroked Tsunade's blonde hair, patted her head, rolled his eyes, and said impatiently, "Get your work done!"

"Besides, who says Konoha's recovery speed has nothing to do with me! The faster Konoha recovers its strength, the more power it can sacrifice in the future!"

Uchiha Touya's desire to control the five great ninja villages wasn't driven by any lust for power; rather, he saw the entire ninja world as his own medicine garden and nursery.

Even if he wants to reap the rewards of the ninja world, he first needs to cultivate these leeks! How can letting these ninjas grow wildly compare to meticulous cultivation?

Tsunade, who was below, whimpered twice and then resumed her work diligently. Even when she heard about Uchiha Tou's idea of ​​sacrificing Konoha ninjas, she did not react at all, but only worked a little more intensely.

After a while, Uchiha Tou let out a long sigh of relief. Tsunade climbed out from below, wiped her mouth, and sat in Uchiha Tou's lap.

"There's nothing we can do about it... Konoha's recovery speed is already fast enough, and the Ninja Academy is already recruiting at full capacity, lowering the entry standards. If we expand any further, Konoha's finances won't be able to support it!"

Although the number of ninjas is small, the training expenses are much greater than those for ordinary soldiers, since ordinary soldiers do not need to go to school.

It can be said that the training cost for each ninja was no less than that for an ordinary officer, and the equipment requirements far exceeded those for individual soldiers in the era of cold weapons.

The funds for Konoha Village come partly from the Land of Fire and partly from the appropriation of funds for various missions.

Needless to say, the Land of Fire's budget is limited. Just considering the funding for missions, they take about two or three out of ten. After all, there are many platforms in the ninja world that issue missions. If they take too much, the ninjas might all go to the underground black market to do missions.

In addition, with such a small number of Konoha ninjas, the funds obtained from missions will naturally not be much.

"The funding issue... doesn't really matter. I'll definitely control the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire. How much money they want will just be a matter of a word, won't it?"

Uchiha Touyu slipped his hand inside Tsunade's collar, playing with it as he spoke. Upon hearing this outrageous plan, Tsunade blushed, narrowed her eyes, and nestled tightly against Uchiha Touyu's chest.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Feiyu. Please let me know if there's anything you need my help with!"

"Speaking of which, Feiyu, you're still a member of the Uchiha clan, those Uchiha..."

"Don't worry about those Uchiha clan members. It's best if they like to live in their own little world. I'll have my own plans for when the time comes. These people are all top-quality medicine, much more precious than ordinary ninjas."

In Uchiha Touyu's eyes, the Uchiha clan was certainly very important, but this proof was more about their preciousness.

Although his bloodline is now close to the Six Paths level, and he even possesses the Sage's Eyes and Body, it is clearly only at the lowest level among the Six Paths level. He is far inferior to even the Otsutsuki, who is not a pure-blooded being, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in his bloodline.

However, ordinary ninjas are no longer of much use to Uchiha Touyu, but those ninjas with the Otsutsuki bloodline can still help Uchiha Touyu continue to improve.

"By the way, besides the Uchiha clan, where is the Senju clan of Konoha? I haven't found much information about them in Root... The Senju clan is quite a valuable resource!"

Upon hearing the words "Senju clan," Tsunade, who was nestled in Uchiha Touka's arms and dazed from being touched by Touka's hand, shuddered slightly and regained some clarity.

But when she looked up at Uchiha Tou pleadingly, all she saw was Uchiha Tou's cold gaze.

Feeling a sharp pain in her chest and seeing Uchiha Tou's increasingly impatient expression, Tsunade revealed a hint of bitterness and said:

"Ugh, I... I understand... Back then, because of Grandpa's wishes... some members of the Senju clan chose to assimilate into Konoha and intermarry with other ninjas, while others... stayed in Konoha's medical, educational, and Anbu departments..."

"I...I will find a way to gather the members of the Senju clan back together..."

"Yes, we need to make them have more children and train more ninjas. The stronger their bloodline development, the better their medicine will be."

Uchiha Touyu chuckled and said something, glancing at Tsunade. Tsunade looked at the smiling Uchiha Touyu, her eyes glazed, and nodded.

"Understood, I will satisfy you, oh... I will cultivate more great medicines for you, and more cauldrons..."

"Good job, that's a good boy. Let me reward you properly."

Uchiha Touyu loosened his grip, softening his hold and gradually lowering it, going from a high point to a low point. Tsunade, the fat sheep, had increasingly glazed eyes, almost dripping with tears, and her body twisted as if she wanted to completely bury herself in the body of the little man in front of her.

Then the Fifth Hokage of Konoha was placed on the Hokage's desk. He felt a chill on his body, followed by intense heat.

……

Three months later, Tsunade officially became Hokage. However, there was still one thing to do after becoming Hokage:

Head to the capital of the Land of Fire and obtain the Hokage appointment letter from the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Although this is just a formality, as a sign of respect, the Hokage usually goes to the Land of Fire in person, at most with a few members of the Shadow Guard.

This time, Tsunade took Kushina Uzumaki, Shizune, and Tou Uchiha directly to the capital of the Land of Fire.

In any case, while some members of the Kageshield in Naruto openly reveal their identities, others, like the Anbu, conceal them. As long as Uchiha Touyu wears a mask and has Tsunade's endorsement, he naturally doesn't need to worry about his identity being exposed.

In fact, given Tsunade's status as Hokage, she could easily have granted Uchiha Touya a pardon and recalled him to Konoha; it was simply a matter of whether Uchiha Touya himself was willing to do so.

The four of them traveled from Konoha to the capital of the Land of Fire without being in a hurry. Along the way, Uchiha Touyu enjoyed the company of the three women, and it took them about half a month to finally arrive at the Daimyo's residence.

The rest is history. Even the Fire Country Daimyo, protected by the so-called Twelve Guardians of the Fire Country, was powerless against Uchiha Tou and was easily struck by the Divine Speed ​​Technique.

Not only the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, but also the nobles and ministers of the Land of Fire, basically the entire upper class of the Land of Fire was wiped out and turned into puppets of Uchiha Touyu.

Even the 12 guardians of the Land of Fire were controlled by Uchiha Touya as a precaution.

While the chakra version of the God-Slaying Technique might be extremely difficult to crack, discovering it isn't difficult. Leaving aside abilities like the Byakugan, simply using chakra perception to sense the brain's chakra flow is enough to uncover the problem.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire is not the Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages. No one doubts that the Kage of a village has fallen under a genjutsu because the Kage's strength is so great that others would not be able to predict it.

As for figures like the Daimyo, if the policies they implement change too much, or if they exhibit any unusual behavior, the Guardians will definitely check the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's head immediately to see if he has been affected by illusion magic.

Only by controlling these so-called 12 guardians with illusion magic can the secret truly be kept secret.

However, to Uchiha Touyu's surprise, he actually saw a familiar face among the 12 Guardians, namely Asuma, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old but had already begun to show signs of premature aging.

In the original work, Asuma was a member of the Twelve Guardians for a long time. As to whether it was due to youthful arrogance, dissatisfaction with his father, or simply because he was the son of the Hokage and had political goals, the original work does not fully confirm this.

It's possible that both scenarios are true, but in any case, he has now joined the 12 Guardians, and is the youngest of them all.

Uchiha Touya didn't go easy on him, but ultimately, considering that they were classmates before, he controlled him with the Divine Speed ​​Technique and made him the leader of the 12 Guardians and the daimyo's most trusted confidant.

"But if that happens, Asuma probably won't go back to Konoha. It doesn't matter, being a guardian is definitely better than being a regular ninja anyway."

The guardians of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire not only hold a noble status and possess far more power and wealth than ordinary Jonin, but they also enjoy greater security than ninjas from ordinary ninja villages.

According to Uchiha Touyu, since the establishment of the 12 Guardians system, no Guardian has ever died while on duty.

In comparison, the villagers' lives are much more tragic; most of them don't even live to retirement age.

In the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire, Uchiha Tou sat in the head seat at the very top. The Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Tsunade, and many other nobles of the Land of Fire sat below, looking at him with utmost respect.

"The Land of Fire's next task is to cultivate as many ninjas as possible. In addition to providing strong support to Konoha, we also need to train a large number of people in the chakra diffusion and refining technique!"

Upon hearing this, the daimyo of the Land of Fire frowned and spoke with some difficulty:

"Providing funds for the restoration of Konoha is not a problem, but there are still several difficulties in promoting chakra training among the entire population."

"What are the problems? Tell me!"

"First of all, there is a lack of teaching resources... The entire Land of Fire has about 3 million citizens, but even if you include those wandering ninjas and even ronin samurai, the number of people with chakra probably does not exceed 3."

"Chakra refining techniques, while not exactly advanced, still require at least one or two years of study and understanding before one can truly refine chakra."

(End of this chapter)