War Profits

Yichen returned to the village from Obito Uchiha and then convened a High-Level Meeting with everyone.

This meeting was a post-war debriefing conference and also a conference to clarify the Strategic Direction for the village's future.

At this meeting, all the high-ranking members of the Iwa ninja were absent, and even Ōnoki, who was in charge of the construction branch in the Land of Bears, was recalled by Yichen.

Yichen smiled and said, "Everyone, relax a bit. Let's talk about what we gained from this First Shinobi War."

"Let's leave aside the battle losses and spoils; everyone knows that. Senior Mei, tell us about the status of our fulfillment of the three peace agreements with Konoha, Sunagakure, and Cloud ninja."

Ming nodded, took out a set of data, and began to analyze it line by line. "In this war, we defeated the Sunagakure and the Cloud ninja."

"Although we didn't gain any advantage in the battle against Konoha, as the victors, we still reaped huge benefits from all three of them."

First, regarding territory. "The Land of Earth has successfully taken over two regions in the southwest and northwest of the Land of Fire."

"The daimyo has already sent officials to these areas. This territorial expansion is different from the last time when they simply cut off a supply line in the northern Land of Fire."

"These two plots of land are truly inhabited and productive, fertile areas."

"The magistrate was very satisfied with this. He promised that as long as they could maintain control of these two territories, the village's funding would be increased by half."

"Hiss~" Everyone gasped, and only one thought crossed their minds: There are so many?

Yichen smiled and said, "It seems that the wealth of the Land of Fire far exceeds our expectations."

Ming nodded and continued, "The war reparations from Konoha, Sunagakure, and Cloud ninja have been received."

"This is a huge sum of money; the village won't be short of funds for a long time."

Ming glanced at Yichen and said, "Especially the pile of gold sand that Kazekage got; it's several times more than what we got last time."

Everyone knew about this and looked at Yichen with strange eyes. Only their own Tsuchikage would sign such a treaty, directly seizing someone else's weapons for battle.

Stealing weapons is one thing, but the real problem is that they use them as money.

Ming said, "We'd better think about how to spend this money and turn it into strength."

Yichen laughed and said, "Simple, continue to expand the army. This battle shows that we still don't have enough manpower."

"As our territory expands, we'll need even more ninjas. Don't worry about not having enough missions to support them."

"With the establishment of the Land of Bears Branch, we now have four branches in total. The funding from these four medium-sized countries is enough to support quite a few ninjas."

Tomoko asked, "Teacher Yichen, if we expand the army again, will we have enough missions for these ninjas to carry out?"

"The students we recruited during the last expansion were still at the Ninja Academy and hadn't graduated yet. I think it was this graduating class."

"Every graduating class from now on will be twice the size of previous years. Can we really handle so many ninjas?"

Tomoko expressed her concerns.

Yichen smiled and said, "Don't worry, after this First Shinobi War, we will have many more ninjas to guard our new territories."

"Now that we have the money, let's establish two new branches in the two territories of the former Land of Fire."

"The one in the southwest can be built simply, according to the standard of a temporary camp. Five hundred ninjas will be stationed there year-round to maintain order."

"This one in the northwest, not far from us, we'll build a branch here just like the ones in Yuki, Oni, Taki, and Kuma."

"These branches, like before, are each stationed with 1,500 ninjas to maintain control over these areas."

"These five branches alone, each temporary base will require eight thousand ninjas."

"So don't worry that we have too many ninjas and there won't be enough missions for them to carry out."

Tomoko nodded and said, "I understand. For the new Ninja Academy recruitment, I will recruit more students than we currently have."

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "Let's expand the enrollment scope. Don't we have ninjas all over the Land of Earth? They're responsible for checking the talents of children in different places, right?"

"Previously, everyone was worried that if they took in too many children, it would be difficult to explain to Daming, and the village wouldn't be able to absorb them."

"Don't worry about it now. Let them take back everything that was confiscated before. It doesn't matter if they're a few years older."

"Tell the Daimyo that you want to station ninjas in the occupied territories of the Land of Fire, as the villages don't have enough ninjas. The Daimyo will agree."

"Also, bring those children's families to the village. If the village can't accommodate them all, we'll expand it. What's there to be afraid of if we have money?"

Seeing Yichen's nouveau riche tone, Tomoko and the others nodded blankly.

After Yichen finished speaking, Ming continued to read out each of his gains one by one.

Finally Yichen added, "There's more good news: Matsutani Shinya has become a quasi-Kage."

"What?" Ōnoki stood up abruptly.

Yichen smiled and said, "That's why he returned before the others."

Although Matsutani Shinya was lazy, he was very clever. He knew that becoming a quasi-Kage and continuing to stay in Kirigakure might cause the Mist ninja to have some inappropriate thoughts.

So even though he was the commander, he abandoned his troops and returned alone.

Ōnoki nodded excitedly. He tried to suppress his excitement, but he couldn't, and finally burst into laughter.

Everyone else was also very excited. Other countries have fewer and fewer Kage Level, but we have more and more. This is a great thing.

Saka asked, "Should we let Shinya join the Advisor Group?"

Yichen rubbed his head and said, "Let's forget about it for now. He's like me, he's not cut out for this."

"We'll bring him in as an Honorary Advisor once he officially becomes Kage Level."

Everyone:...

After a pause, Yichen ignored everyone's expressions and added, "Let's bring Han in too. Everyone has seen what Han has done for the village over the years."

"His skills have improved in the past two years, yet he remains hardworking and conscientious. The village can't turn a blind eye. I think the Honorary Advisor is a good choice."

Considering Han's performance over the years, everyone felt that he deserved such treatment and such a position.

"What powers does Honorary Advisor have?" Ōnoki asked.

Yichen said, "I had thought about this before. They don't manage specific departments, but they can attend High-Level Meeting and participate in voting."

"Given the current situation in the village, it's essential to establish such an honorary position. In the future, if simple-minded ninjas like Sokai become Kage Level, we can arrange it this way as well."

The group exchanged glances and nodded; they were all aware of Sokai's situation. Having awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, becoming Kage Level ninja would be relatively easy for him.

However, his intelligence is really not suited to holding real power.

Ōnoki then asked, "Where is Shinya now?"

Yichen said, "He's still in the hospital. His injuries were indeed severe this time. Even with Sage Mode, he hasn't recovered yet."

"However, it can also be considered a blessing in disguise. Without this serious injury, he wouldn't have been able to become a near-Kage."

Ōnoki quickly asked, "Have you arranged for someone to protect me?"

Yichen laughed and said, "Don't worry, three Anbu will take turns protecting him. The room next to his has been cleared out, and Han is staying there."

Hearing that Han lived nearby, Ōnoki felt relieved. Then he began to silently calculate the number of high-level combatants in Iwagakure.

After counting them once, Ōnoki asked, "How's the situation with the Sokai?"

Yichen smiled and said, "Fugaku Uchiha has already told me how to train a ninja like Sokai's strength is improving very quickly now."

"Without using the Mangekyō Sharingan, he already has Jonin- level strength using only the Three Tomoe. And his rapid growth period isn't over yet."

Everyone nodded, looking forward to it.

Speaking of Sokai, Tomoko said, "Riori has also become Quasi-Jonin. This time, when the ninjas of the Land of the Falls Branch were besieged by Konoha, she almost died in battle."

Yichen nodded and said, "Yes, she did well. I'll teach her a few Ninjutsu as a reward."

Tomoko:...

"Why do I feel like I've hurt Riori?"

Kitsuchi said, "There's also good news. During Obito Uchiha's invasion of the village, Atsumi Akino tested the effectiveness of the Space-Time Barrier many times."

"She collected a lot of data, and after these days of organizing it, she finally got results."

Kitsuchi was present at the scene, so he paid close attention to the matter.

He produced an experiment report and said, "Akino has found a way to stabilize Space-Time."

"Experiments have shown that small items can now be transported over long distances without damage."

Yichen was taken aback and asked, "Doesn't that mean she's learned the Flying Thunder God Technique?"

Previously, Atsumi Akino used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to achieve Space Teleportation of objects.

However, ninjas cannot be teleported, because normal ninjas cannot withstand the pressure of Space Teleportation.

But things are different now. Finding a way to solve the pressure issue during teleportation means we can teleport ninjas, which also means we can teleport ourselves.

Teleporting yourself using coordinates—isn't that just like the Flying Thunder God technique?

Kitsuchi said, "Akino herself said the same thing, but the space reinforcement isn't perfect yet, and it's still a bit short of being a teleportation ninja."

"Once she can teleport ninjas, she can try teleporting herself. At that point, she will have truly completed her training in the Flying Thunder God Technique."

"However, Akino said that even if she learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, she would still be far from being comparable to Minato Namikaze. She had only reached the level of teleportation, which she couldn't use in combat."

Yichen nodded. He had expected this, and he hadn't expected Yichen Atsumi Akino to be able to exert much combat power.

Yichen took out the rent he had just received from Obito Uchiha and said, "Obito Uchiha to our village intending to cause trouble. Although he didn't succeed, I still managed to extort some things from him."

Everyone's eyes lit up when they saw the insights of Madara Uchiha that Yichen had presented.

Saka said with great emotion, "This is good stuff. The Five-Attribute manual you brought back last time was very important in helping us defeat the Cloud ninja so quickly this time."

"The village's Jonin, as well as some talented Genin and lower, have all read these tips, and in two months, everyone's Ninjutsu has improved considerably."

"That's why they were so adept at dealing with the Cloud ninja this time."

Yichen smiled and said, "Then let Senior Saka handle these insights. However, these insights are all about Kekkei Genkai, so not many ninjas will be applicable to them."

Everyone nodded after reading it.