Naruto: Starting from Eating the Gold Fruit

Chapter 172 The Radiant and Majestic Third Hokage

For any civilization or nation, survival is the primary concern.

Given the assurance of survival, most people would be willing to maintain the status quo and comply with the rules set by those in power.

The obvious benefits that Yuya brought to Konoha Village by making it wealthy are self-evident.

One hidden benefit is that the various families agree that Yuya manages the village.

In other words, most of the clans in Konoha would not allow anyone to cause trouble for Yuya.

This is also the main reason why Danzo Shimura has now retreated into seclusion.

He couldn't openly oppose Youya, because the other families were no longer on his side.

Once a chain of interests is formed, anyone who tries to break it will face a desperate counterattack from every single lock on that chain.

not to mention……

Yuya did give the Shimura family a share of the profits.

Therefore, even within the Shimura family, there was no objection to Yua's leadership.

Under these circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for Danzo Shimura to cause any trouble; in fact, it would be completely hopeless.

However, Danzo desperately wanted the position of Hokage of Konoha.

You can understand Danzo's attachment to this position as a kind of obsession.

He wasn't unaware that Youya was more suited for the position than he was, nor was he unaware that Youya had done far better than him.

But he just had his eye on this position.

His mindset was: even if it's just as an agent! Even if it's just for one day! As long as I can sit in that position... as long as I can sit in that position... even if it's just for one day, and I have to give it back to You Ya the next day, I'll be satisfied.

Of course, this is his current mindset. If he really gets his wish one day, he will probably think things like, "Just one more day, just one more day and I'll give it back to him," or "Just one more day, just one more day!"

You Yake understands all too well what people are like when they face power.

Danzo wanted power, but he didn't dare to actually raise an army to rebel. What could he do in the end?

The only option is to find Yuya's weakness and then take action.

This civil service exam was, in Danzo's view, an opportunity.

Upon learning this news, Danzo immediately took out his savings accumulated over many years in the Shimura family and, regardless of the cost, found the math teacher at the Konoha Village's regular academy and paid a high price to have the Shimura family members tutored.

He spent hundreds of millions of taels of silver in six months to pave the way, and this was his own personal property. He couldn't possibly use the Shimura family's public assets to achieve this goal, because if he did, the credit would go to the entire Shimura family, and his personal abilities would be downplayed.

Therefore, he personally funded more than 20 math teachers from the Konoha Ninja Academy to come to the Shimura clan to tutor the clan members after their classes ended. Each teacher earned several million ryo during this period, and they were all beaming with joy.

Of course, the results were also remarkable.

More than 500 members of the Shimura family made it to the final stage.

Danzo Shimura was pleased with himself.

In his view, at least 300 of these 500 people would make it onto the final list of civil servants.

If Yuya had secretly manipulated the process and only allowed a little over a hundred people in, that would have been even better, as Danzo would have had more to say.

However, Danzo was unaware that he had already fallen behind when he chose to use legitimate means to catch up on his studies and get on the exam list.

Because he played the game according to the rules of the game.

What are you thinking when you're playing a game where someone else sets the rules?

Even if you do win, it's definitely because the person who made the rules deliberately let you win.

The final list announced by Konoha at the end of year 37 also conveyed this meaning.

You'd say Danzo lost out...

More than 100 members of the Shimura clan were successfully selected for the final list.

You think he made a profit...?

The other families also have around a hundred people; it seems like there's something fishy going on here.

But here's the problem...

When asked what happened, most of the more than 500 members of the Shimura family were dejected, saying that the math exam question was too inhuman, and that it was impossible to solve the problem in just one hour.

Danzo Shimura was furious. "If you can't produce one, how come others can?!"

You guys have no ability but you're still here spouting nonsense?!

After getting angry, Danzo Shimura was in a dilemma.

It's obvious that Youya is using tricks, but if he makes a scene, how?

What right do you have to cause trouble?

You think this topic is too difficult?

But some people did it, and they got full marks; quite a few of them did.

You say the final result is unfair?

Then Yuya will throw out the exam papers one by one, and that will be a slap in the face for the Shimura family members.

Who doesn't want to save face these days?

If you ask these members if they are willing to publish their exam papers, apart from the few who did answer, the others definitely wouldn't.

Besides...

In the end, there were still more than 100 people selected for the 3000-person final list. These 100-plus people are definitely on Youya's side.

Danzo Shimura felt a tightness in his throat, making him feel terribly uncomfortable.

In the end, he could only console himself, "Oh well, at least more than a hundred people were selected..."

When Konoha conducted its year-end accounting, some Konoha officials who were of advanced age or even older were forced to submit their resignations, and their subordinates took their place.

Although many people are unwilling, Youya is not going to reason with them this time.

Those who are willing to cooperate should hurry up and retire.

Those who are unwilling to cooperate...

Hehe, you don't think that after all these years in office, I have no dirt on you, do you?

Apart from a few elders personally trained by Hashirama Senju who were indeed free from corruption, who else has a clean record?

After You Ya directly targeted and eliminated several high-ranking officials, sending them to prison, the others immediately backed down, cooperating in various ways and willing to give up their positions to retire early.

Having completed this series of personnel changes, Yuya could be said to have completely taken control of Konoha from top to bottom.

Now that the internal problems have been resolved, it's time to look at the external issues.

Ok……

Let me see how you guys are doing lately, have you made any money yet?

How can I fleece you if you don't make any money?

Then Yuya was completely dumbfounded.

What's wrong, bro?

You can't even copy homework properly?

Why is our GDP still at these levels after all these years?

Alright, I guess I'll have to set up some transport lines for you guys.

After looking around, Yuya passed over Kirigakure first. It wasn't that Kirigakure was too far away. In fact, if you consider the distance in terms of time, Kirigakure is the closest of the four major ninja villages to Konoha.

After all, given that there is currently no railway connecting Konoha and other villages, most of the time they still have to carry things by hand or on horseback.

Meanwhile, those from Kirigakure can bypass the Land of Whirlpools and reach Konoha's port by water, which takes only ten days.

Of course, if land routes could be connected to railways, land routes would be faster than water routes.

However, it looks like it will take several more years.

Logically, the village of Kirigakure should have chosen to come to Konoha recently.

But the same problem remains.

A few years ago, the internal strife in Kirigakure nearly destroyed the village. Many factories were in dire need of rebuilding, and the population had decreased by almost half. It was nowhere near as industrially strong as the other villages.

Therefore, Yuya directly ruled out Kirigakure.

So...should we choose Kumogakure?

It's not that it's impossible.

The Hidden Cloud Village has a large population, and the Land of Lightning is indeed quite large with many suitable places.

However, after careful consideration, Youya shook his head and ruled it out.

Cost is a major issue; the personnel costs in Kumogakure are much higher than in Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

Moreover, the Third Raikage and Yua's uncle, Tobirama Senju, are exactly the same—they're like greedy creatures; once money goes in, they don't want to give it back.

Being too stingy won't do.

That leaves only Iwagakure and Sunagakure...

After much deliberation, Yuya summoned the Sunagakure representative stationed in Konoha to his office.

The representatives from Sunagakure arrived looking puzzled, but left overjoyed.

The representatives from other villages also had good connections, and Yua really didn't intend to hide it, so the people from other villages also learned about Yua's cooperation with Sunagakure.

In short, Yua said that he could cooperate with the Sand Village's factory to produce Masked Rider figures. To be honest, Konoha Village's own handicraft factory is far inferior to the Sand Village, which specializes in making puppets.

Moreover, Sunagakure Village has recently been rushing down the road of pandering to otaku. No matter if you are an otaku or an otaku, as long as you have money, you can have any kind of mechanical doll you want to customize.

Yua is also planning to make a life-size Gundam model, but Sunagakure says they can do it, but they need Yua to provide specific design suggestions.

Yua didn't have time to waste, so she simply planned to wait until the relevant anime came out, then point at the TV and tell the people of Sunagakure: "Do it this way."

Just fine.

This is just one aspect of the collaboration.

The second point is that Yua wants to deepen the cooperation with Sunagakure in the clothing industry. Because Sunagakure is located in the desert, their fabrics are very particular about being airtight and breathable. The main feature is that it can't let in tiny sand particles while still being breathable. This kind of material is very good. Yua said that he could invest in opening a clothing factory in Sunagakure. Sunagakure can provide raw materials, or Sunagakure can simply provide funds and personnel while Konoha provides technology for the two sides to cooperate.

If it works well, then we can open some furniture factories, curtain factories, and other secondary markets.

Moreover, while your Sunagakure village may lack other things, it certainly doesn't lack sand.

I have the technology to turn sand into glass. Would you be interested in collaborating?

The Sand Village representative looked at Yua with great eagerness.

This isn't the Hokage of Konoha, this is their Sunagakure's God of Wealth!

He immediately said that he would send it to the Third Kazekage as soon as possible, and assured him that they would give Konoha a reasonable and generous price!

Then they went back overjoyed.

Then the news reached the ears of other representatives stationed in Konoha.

They couldn't sit still any longer.

The representative from Iwagakure immediately extended an invitation to Yuya to dine at the largest restaurant in Konoha.

Once this kind of unofficial, private invitation is sent over, Youya basically knows what's going on.

If we talk about it in the Hokage's office building, it's official business, and official business must be handled officially. There are many things that are not easy to say openly. But if we treat each other to a meal and have a private chat, both sides can be more open with each other.

You Ya understands and agrees.

I went there after get off work that day.

After a few rounds of drinks, the villagers of Iwagakure started to play the victim, saying that Iwagakure and Konoha have always been friendly partners, but Iwagakure is poor and most of the country has nothing but dirt, so they are miserable!

You Ya waved his hand dismissively and said what he wanted to say.

So the representative immediately knelt down and cried out, "Hokage, do you think our Iwagakure still has a chance?"

You Ya was speechless, but he understood what was going on.

People die for wealth, birds die for food, and the profits involved are indeed substantial.

And to be honest...

It's true that Sunagakure is often windy and sandy, and Iwagakure is full of mounds of earth, so sandstorms are frequent there too. Therefore, their fabrics are actually quite good.

We just signed a cooperation agreement with Sunagakure; if we were to abandon our trading partner now...

Is there anything unethical about this?

Yuya raised this question, and the representative from Iwagakure immediately declared righteously: How can this be considered immoral? It's clearly Sunagakure deliberately deceiving Konoha; the price they offered is unreasonable! We from Iwagakure only need 90% of that price!

Youya immediately smiled. It turns out that fools are a minority in this world.

Especially when it comes to the distribution of profits, there are even fewer fools.

Sunagakure and Konoha only have this intention; the contract hasn't been drafted yet, so how can there be a price?

Iwagakure's stance is that regardless of the final cooperation agreement between Konoha and Sunagakure, Iwagakure is willing to pay 90% of the price to complete the cooperation.

You Ya immediately threw all that bullshit morality aside.

Morality? How much is it worth?

Then Yuya didn't hold back and said, "Since your Iwagakure village has such abundant land resources, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time."

The representative from Iwagakure Village said they would listen attentively.

Yuya immediately presented a series of afforestation plans to the representatives of Iwagakure. In fact, when Yuya had just become Hokage, he had already made inferences about the four nations of Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water.

In other words: If I were the Kage of a ninja village in this country, how would I lead everyone to wealth and prosperity?

This is a thought that will more or less appear in the minds of anyone who has watched Naruto.

In the original history, Sunagakure forced Gaara's unfortunate father to pan for gold in the sand to supplement the village's finances. Is it possible that he could lead the village to wealth and prosperity?

Of course there are.

Moreover, Youya has already completed the first step.

He was instigated by Hokage.

This naturally refers to the construction of the Grand Canal in the Land of Wind, which was spearheaded by the Second Kazekage of Sunagakure but ultimately benefited the Third Kazekage.

Although it took more than a decade to build, once it's finished!

Even if life in Sunagakure was difficult, it could never have reached the point in history where a village of Kage needed to go out and seek their fortune.

Strictly speaking, the sand in Sunagakure is also a resource. As long as the technology for making glass is developed, even rough glass can be profitable.

Not to mention that the puppeteers of Sunagakure are natural-born figurine makers; as long as they are associated with culture, their wealth can flow in like a river.

Yuya didn't point out a path to wealth for Sunagakure before because Konoha hadn't developed yet, so he couldn't let other villages develop.

But now the situation is different.

Look at the leeks around you... your neighbors, if they're too poor...

There's hardly any profit to be made in business in Konoha...

Therefore, let's fatten it up a bit so we can make some small cuts later.

That's what Youya thought, and that's what she did.

Then Iwagakure got the hang of it and immediately offered 10% of their profits to compete with Sunagakure for business.

Oh, this makes me a little embarrassed.

Then, after feeling guilty for three seconds, Yuya turned around and decided to build the clothing factory in Iwagakure.

On this day at the end of Konoha Year 37, after the Anbu ninja presented Yua with some recent intelligence as usual, they couldn't help but ask a question with some doubt:

"Recently, representatives from Sunagakure and Iwagakure have started fighting in Konoha..."

"Won't this affect Konoha's reputation, Hokage?"

Yuya, somewhat guiltily, covered his face with an information scroll, then said it was nothing, just some...

Hmm, it's a minor issue.

(End of this chapter)