Naruto: Starting from Eating the Gold Fruit

Chapter 158 Conditions and the Fox

The peaceful development of Konoha has had a profound impact on the world.

In particular, the series of reforms implemented by Youya are so beneficial to the village and to the centralization of power in the "Shadow" that it is clear to anyone with eyes to see how much those reforms have benefited the village.

Putting everything else aside, Yua Konoha currently wields the most power in the world.

This is something that people in other villages in Konoha can see.

These people were not spies from other villages.

Rather, he was a diplomat, similar to the one Yuya had in her previous life.

Their accommodations were even arranged by You Ya.

The so-called state guesthouse is not a single room, but a luxurious 20-story hotel.

Even a national team of 100 people wouldn't fill half of the other villages.

Not to mention that compared to places like state guesthouses where people are clearly protected (and monitored), people from other countries would rather rent or buy a room in Konoha and live among the common people to observe how Konoha's grassroots operations work.

Regardless of what decisions You Ya makes, those who ultimately implement them and reach the grassroots level are definitely the grassroots representatives.

For example, Konoha's inner city now has four districts. Each district is divided into eight horizontal avenues, each four bays wide, and eight vertical avenues, which are further divided into sixty-four sub-districts. Each sub-district has a street office, which is an agent elected by the people themselves to manage daily affairs.

Sometimes, the government documents that You Ya received from above were directly communicated to them so that they could pass them on to everyone in the street office; other times, they were simply announced directly through newspapers and television.

However, in newspapers and on television, they usually tell people what to do and why, or they simply try to fool the villagers of Konoha.

Of course, Yuya's purpose was good. For example, he would publicize in newspapers and on television that he had fought the Second Raikage and seriously injured him, but in reality, he was almost killed by the Second Raikage.

This kind of "false advertising" is necessary.

It's impossible to really say that he was beaten up and ran away like a dog, right?

That would be a blow to Konoha's overall reputation.

but……

The Second Raikage died in an internal rebellion; he can only refute this if someone resurrects him using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

However, at that time, it will depend on whether the people are willing to believe in you, the enemy who attacked Konoha and brought pain to the people of Konoha, or whether they are willing to believe in the Third Hokage who led Konoha to prosperity.

Therefore, that true history can only be read in future unofficial histories, where later generations will spit on it and curse: "What rubbish! How dare you scoundrels insult the only true god of Konoha Village, the guardian of world peace, the Third Hokage of Konoha?"

Then they simply forgot about it and didn't take it seriously.

Don't underestimate the power of public opinion; it can often play a role that even war cannot.

For example, right now, people from other countries and villages think that Konoha is a paradise. As long as you come here, you can do nothing all day, drink afternoon tea, and enjoy the scenery, and you can earn a million ryo a month and become a superior person...

However, in reality, Konoha's foundation is the blessing of 955, and only by working hard can one live a good life.

The idea that you can enjoy the scenery while sipping afternoon tea is just a joke.

However, many of these jokes are actually taken seriously.

At least……

Every year, people who travel from afar to Konoha are invariably disappointed.

They imagined Konoha to be a fairyland surrounded by celestial energy, a place where one could feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth simply by looking up.

However, upon arriving in Konoha, all they saw were factories belching black smoke and busy people.

However, since they were already there, most people thought, "Why not make the best of it?"

Moreover, even the outer city of Konoha is much better than where they used to be.

Therefore, even if they live in the outer city of Konoha, these people will not have any objections.

After all, putting aside ideals and returning to reality, at least here they won't starve to death...

Many refugees come from the same country:

The Land of Water.

The rebellion within Kirigakure has intensified.

Well, calling it a rebellion isn't quite right either.

To the Third Mizukage, those ninja clans were traitors.

However, for these ninja clans, the Third Mizukage was the traitor.

It's impossible for the Third Mizukage to have risen to power solely through his own hard work and struggle.

There are only two people in the entire ninja world who can do this.

One was named Hashirama Senju, and the other was named Madara Uchiha.

The Third Mizukage clearly didn't have that much fighting power.

If such a thing truly existed, these ninja clans wouldn't have been able to fight him for so long; they would have been wiped out long ago.

Therefore, the Third Mizukage was able to rise to power only because he had the support of a ninja clan.

In fact, even now he has the support of ninja clans.

The internal strife in Kirigakure, to put it more bluntly, is...

Two factions of ninja clans fought fiercely for control of Kirigakure, resulting in a situation where only the winner could take all.

Ultimately, it's all Yua's fault. (Yua: ?)

If Yua hadn't developed Konoha so well, Kirigakure wouldn't have gained so much benefit.

Naturally, the civil war among these families will be delayed, and it may not break out completely for more than ten years, just like in the original history, before becoming the infamous Blood Mist Village.

Now, because of Yuya, Kirigakure has gained a lot of benefits from Konoha. The right to distribute these benefits after they are transported back is in the hands of the Mizukage. Those families that originally supported the Second Mizukage's rise to power, but were forced to resign because the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage were playing a game of charades, have lost their political leaders and have been ousted by those who supported the Third Mizukage. Naturally, they will not receive these benefits.

As the saying goes, seeing someone who was once inferior to you suddenly become richer and happier than you is worse than killing yourself!

Moreover, this is a struggle for interests.

Without the other party... then they would have monopolized all these benefits.

Before Yua took over, Konoha's economy was only worth a few billion yen a year.

However, as Yuya developed Konoha, the demand from Kirigakure increased year by year, and even selling fish could bring in billions of yen a year.

Who wouldn't want such a large sum of money?

and so……

If it weren't for him...would I be better off?

Unfortunately, there are quite a few people who share this idea.

This is the root cause of the war that broke out in Kirigakure.

But it's okay.

The war in Kirigakure lasted for over a year. In October of Konoha Year 34, the Third Mizukage of Kirigakure sent someone to Konoha to find Yua, stating that Kirigakure's internal problems had been resolved and that they could now take over the mineral resources they had promised Konoha.

Youya was immediately delighted.

Although strictly speaking, he did provide weapons to the Third Mizukage's enemy, he would definitely deny it at this point. After all, those weapons he provided didn't have the Konoha emblem on them, so he couldn't frame someone!

Although the support efforts over there were wasted, the victory here means the investment will be recouped.

Yuya was very happy, and then he sent someone to accompany the Third Mizukage to inspect the mineral veins in the Land of Water.

In late October of Konoha Year 34, the ninjas who went on an exploration mission returned to Konoha and remarked that the Third Mizukage was truly generous! Those mines did indeed have a considerable amount of copper and silver ore, as well as a small amount of gold ore.

You Yale was so angry he was practically blowing snot bubbles, and he immediately started arranging for people to go and mine the ore and bring it back.

But just then, the representative from Konoha and Kirigakure approached Yua...

On November 1, 1934, Black Zetsu arrived in Konoha. Although he had heard about the current situation of Konoha from White Zetsu, Black Zetsu still found it hard to believe how prosperous Konoha was now.

When Black Zetsu first followed Kaguya, it was in ancient times, when it was common to live only once every few miles.

Even after Konoha was rebuilt, Black Zetsu would just chuckle when he heard about it. How impressive could it be?

However, in the short few decades that followed Uchiha Madara, Konoha Village has actually become like this?

Black Zetsu escaped when Kaguya was sealed away a thousand years ago, and he has not stayed in the same place for the past thousand years.

It has been wandering around.

Furthermore, they are searching for the reincarnations of Indra and Asura.

During this period, he traveled across the continent, gaining profound knowledge. Then, when he saw Uchiha Madara, Black Zetsu knew he had found him.

Subsequently, through a series of behind-the-scenes maneuvers, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju embarked on opposing paths.

Madara Uchiha, blinded by the so-called Eye of the Moon plan, fought with all his might but was killed by Hashirama Senju and resurrected at the cost of sacrificing one of his eyes. Black Zetsu then realized that his plan had gone wrong.

That damned Hashirama Senju! You little brat, even though you're the reincarnation of Ashura, aren't you ridiculously strong?!

Mother, it's not that I don't want to bring you back to life, Mother, but how can I fight with this cheat code?!

After Madara Uchiha was resurrected, he performed surgery on himself, transplanting Hashirama's flesh into himself. Later, that small piece of flesh turned into Hashirama's face and grew on Madara's heart. It's like Hashirama's heart is tattooed on Madara's heart. You still say that you and Hashirama weren't true love?!

After that, Madara Uchiha continued to fill the underground world, mass-producing White Zetsu. Well, at least Madara Uchiha believed that he had created these White Zetsu. Little did he know that these things were biological weapons created by Princess Kaguya to fight against her family.

After finally clearing out the underground space, Madara Uchiha was old, over sixty years old, and really not suitable to go out and risk his life anymore.

And what if that bastard Hashirama Ichiju is still around?

Madara Uchiha never imagined that Hashirama Senju would die after their battle at the Valley of the End, and he certainly never imagined that Tobirama Senju would die now as well.

When Madara learned from White Zetsu that the two brothers were dead, his first feeling was excitement, but the waves of loss that followed were something he couldn't ignore.

Ultimately, he made Black Zetsu, whom he believed to be a being he created, gather intelligence for him.

Black Zetsu possessed a White Zetsu, wrapped its head in something like a Venus flytrap, and became "Zetsu".

He came to gather intelligence for Madara Uchiha.

……

October 3, Konoha 34.

Zetsu had secretly gathered a great deal of intelligence in Konoha, including who the Third Hokage was, how he rose to power, and what abilities he possessed...

His most famous fighting ability was severely injuring the Second Raikage with a single blow. It is said that the Third Hokage was only fifteen years old at that time!

(Second Raikage: If I hadn't finished filming, I would have crawled out of the ground and given a good beating to all you bastards who spread rumors.)

Zetsu was shocked upon hearing the news and mentally marked the Third Hokage as the most dangerous.

After all, the Second Raikage became famous before Konoha was founded, so no one really knew how strong the Second Raikage was.

The Third Hokage, now twenty-six years old, is probably even more terrifying.

This is a bit stressful. How come Konoha has all kinds of youngsters?

This person's strength is probably at least comparable to that of Tobirama Senju, the Third Hokage, plus his exceptional political talent in developing Konoha to its current state...

I wanted to cry but had no tears left.

However, intelligence still needs to be gathered, and soon...

An opportunity suddenly arose.

On November 3, 1945, a representative from Kirigakure approached Yua and, after some flattery, bowed deeply to him in a very humble manner.

Then, we, the Third Mizukage, express our deepest respect for you, the Third Hokage of Konoha, as boundless as a surging river and as overwhelming as a vast ocean…

Youya told him to stop talking nonsense and get to the point.

Then the representative from Kirigakure said, "Our Mizukage thinks it's not right for Konoha to do everything themselves. You previously provided our Mizukage with so many weapons, and we are very grateful for your great kindness. How can we trouble you with such a small matter? Let Kirigakure mine the ore for you and transport it to Konoha. You can pay for the transportation if you want, or we can just leave it at that. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Yuya immediately laughed in anger. This damn Third Mizukage is really ungrateful! Now that he's won the civil war, he's playing word games with me, isn't he?!

If we let the people of Kirigakure do it themselves, even a fool would know that they would desperately try to squeeze resources into the village. In the end, a copper mine that originally yielded more than a thousand tons would only produce a little over five hundred tons, which would be considered quite good.

Even though five hundred tons of copper ore would be enough to cover the cost of weapons for Kirigakure, and everything else would be a profit, Yua would definitely not be satisfied with just taking half.

Yuya slammed his fist on the table and warned, "Doesn't he know whose support the Third Mizukage relied on to win?"

Then the representative from Kirigakure immediately knelt down.

Then came a whole bunch of praise: "We owe it all to Konoha, we owe it all to the Third Hokage! Your towering figure is someone that everyone in Kirigakure respects... You..."

You Ya waved his hand to tell him to shut up.

You Ya wasn't buying into those platitudes. No matter how nicely someone spoke, could it be worth a truckload of bread?

Not to mention how many cartons of bread that half a copper mine could make...

only……

The Third Mizukage wasn't trying to renege on his promise. He came up with a good excuse: "It's a long and inconvenient journey for Konoha to send people here, and the transport equipment takes up a lot of space. Why don't you let the people of Kirigakure do this hard work for you?"

Although Yua knew this, the Third Mizukage also knew it was just a pretext; the Third Mizukage's real purpose was to give as little as possible.

Who knows what will happen then:

The Third Mizukage: I got billions of dollars back from the Third Hokage with just three sentences!

You Ya didn't want that to happen.

Yua squinted and tapped the table, pondering for a long time. A slight smile played on his lips before he addressed the Mizukage representative, saying, "This condition... it's not that I can't agree to it, it's just..."

I also have the relevant qualifications.

In the past few years, while we in Konoha were suppressing internal rebellions in your village, we invented the new technology of television.

If you are willing to sign a contract with Konoha to broadcast television to Kirigakure and include our official Konoha television channel, I am not unwilling to agree to this condition, and moreover...

"I can make the decision that we, Konoha Village, will receive 30% less of the resources we're entitled to... What do you think?"

You Ya grinned, his smile resembling that of a cunning little fox...

(End of this chapter)