"We wiped out the Summoning Beast Monkey Clan and got a five-hundred-hectare pocket world?!"
Five hundred hectares was roughly 7,500 mu. After subtracting the odd corners, the land occupied by buildings, the areas for raising livestock and growing fruit trees, and the necessary ninja training grounds...
The area devoted solely to growing food was about 3,000 mu. By the current standard in the Ninja World, where three mu of farmland could support one person, it was enough to keep a thousand people fed and clothed.
Excluding the ninjas, the Uchiha Clan had about three thousand clansmen, with roughly two hundred Genin.
Uchiha Shikata didn't consider them combat assets. They were the cradle that would sustain the Uchiha Clan's prosperity for generations to come. But if the worst happened seven days later and an all-out conflict erupted with the Senju Clan, even the Uchiha's four leaders would struggle to protect their many vulnerable clansmen.
They might even become hostages their enemies could use against them.
But now that Uchiha Takeyasu had told them about the world of [Paradise], they could stock it with enough supplies to support four thousand people in the short term. With no worries holding them back, they would have the confidence to fight without restraint.
"This good news couldn't have come at a better time."
Uchiha Shikata didn't ask Uchiha Takeyasu how he had obtained it. They were all Kage Level powerhouses, and it was perfectly normal for them to have hidden trump cards.
Uchiha Shikata was delighted that Uchiha Takeyasu could offer a pocket world as an asset for the clan. It was proof that the Young Lord cared about the clan and didn't take it for granted.
Besides, if he had insisted on digging into every little detail, he would have been unfit to serve as Clan Head long ago.
The beginning and the process didn't matter. As long as the outcome was good, that was enough. Poking your nose into too many things could get you beaten up.
"But figuring out how to reach [Paradise] is a major challenge for us."
Setsuna Uchiha pinpointed the crux of the problem and turned to Uchiha Takeyasu.
To reach the pocket world where the Summoning Beasts lived, they would either need a contract with a Summoning Beast and have a ninja use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to transport them there, or find the corresponding entrance in the Ninja World.
"Summoning Jutsu is out of the question. Even if I hadn't killed all the monkeys over there, our ordinary clansmen without Chakra wouldn't be able to travel there."
"The entrance to [Paradise] in the Ninja World is in the Land of Hot Water. Moving large numbers of clansmen and supplies there would be difficult, too."
The three men couldn't help looking disappointed, but Uchiha Takeyasu's next words made them brighten up.
"However, if I can learn Senju Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Technique and figure out how space-time teleportation works, I might be able to create an array that directly links the clan compound to [Paradise]."
Although Uchiha Takeyasu disliked Senju Tobirama, he had to admit that the man was undoubtedly a genius. His Flying Thunder God Technique allowed him to move instantly to a place he had marked beforehand. The farther the distance and the greater the mass of the object being moved, the more Chakra it consumed.
Other than that, it had no requirements.
If he could understand the Flying Thunder God Technique, then, with his Summoning Jutsu and exceptional talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu, Uchiha Takeyasu believed he could create a Space-Time Teleportation Array based on the Flying Thunder God Technique, provided he had a sufficient theoretical foundation and a clear direction.
Seeing how serious Uchiha Takeyasu was, and that he wasn't just making empty boasts, Uchiha Shikata readily agreed. "Killing the Second Raikage should be enough to secure the instructions for learning the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"If Mito Uzumaki refuses, she can't blame the Uchiha for taking offense. We'll burn down the Hokage Building together!"
Uchiha Kaku was even more radical than Setsuna Uchiha. This plan had a direct bearing on the clan's future security, and his words left Setsuna feeling as if his own line had been stolen.
"Elder Kaku, calm down. It hasn't come to that yet."
Setsuna Uchiha coughed and looked at Uchiha Shikata. "The Clan Head should assign everyone their tasks. Seven days is neither a long time nor a short one."
"Right. Today, I'll take the Young Lord to meet the Security Department and familiarize him with its management system. Elder Setsuna will be responsible for contacting our former subordinate clans. As for negotiating with Mito Uzumaki over the Flying Thunder God Technique..."
Uchiha Shikata's gaze fell on Uchiha Kaku. "Elder Kaku, please handle this with the utmost care. We can't let Mito Uzumaki discover our intentions. If necessary, you can feign retreat to gain the upper hand."
"Leave that to me. I'm quite good at haggling."
Thinking of Uchiha Kaku's past performance, Uchiha Shikata and Setsuna Uchiha didn't say anything more. They set off to take care of the day's business.
"Konoha has six main departments that oversee its various affairs."
"The first one we should pay close attention to is the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, which answers directly to the Hokage. It's usually called the Anbu for short."
As he showed Uchiha Takeyasu around the clan compound, Uchiha Shikata explained Konoha's official structure.
"Anbu members are selected from the village's outstanding ninjas who are close to the Senju of the Forest. They wear animal masks to conceal their identities, and their strength starts at Chunin."
"Their full strength should be seventy members. The strongest are probably the four Anbu squad leaders known as Tiger, Blast, Ox, and Elephant. Keep an eye on them. They're loyal to Senju Tobirama, and they're all Kage Level."
Uchiha Shikata wasn't impressed by the Anbu's strength. Four Three Tomoe Uchiha Elite Jonin could hold their own against an ordinary Kage Level powerhouse, so his face was full of scorn.
"To keep an eye on the Uchiha Clan, Senju Tobirama didn't send the four Kage Level powerhouses or most of the Anbu's elite to the battlefield. He only brought the Kage Guard, who couldn't do much. Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, who died there, were the Anbu's chief and deputy chief. They got what they deserved."
Uchiha Shikata knew those four squad leaders very well. They visited the Uchiha Clan Compound every few days. Even the Uchiha in the Conservative Faction were sick of such blatant surveillance.
Every time there was a clash, he, the Clan Head of the Compromise Faction, had to clean up afterward.
"He probably wanted to give Sarutobi Hiruzen some prestige so he could take charge of the Anbu without a hitch."
Uchiha Takeyasu's lips curled in mockery. "Before we wiped out the Kage Guard, Kagami Uchiha and the others told me Sarutobi Hiruzen had been chosen as the Third Hokage."
"Good riddance to Senju Tobirama!"
Uchiha Shikata clapped his hands and laughed.
"This time, the Young Lord really did something satisfying."
"When Elder Setsuna heard the news, he drank himself into a stupor that very night. The only other time that happened was when Clan Head Madara left Konoha."
"Thankfully, that time he was heartbroken and lost. This time, he was happy and overjoyed."
Uchiha Shikata's smile faded. He looked deeply at the youth beside him. "Takeyasu, you're an outstanding Young Lord of the Uchiha Clan."
"You're too kind, Clan Head Shikata."
Uchiha Takeyasu replied modestly, "I was only doing my duty as a clansman."
"If everyone thought like that, the Uchiha wouldn't have so much damn nonsense to deal with."
Uchiha Shikata shook his head and returned to the subject.
"The second is the Administration Department, which assists the Hokage in managing Konoha's government affairs. It oversees internal development and construction, communicates with other nations and ninja villages, and controls the finances."
"Resources are a major obstacle to the development of a clan. If so many of the Senju of the Forest holding high positions in the Administration Department hadn't died, the Uchiha might have been left looking up at the Senju Clan ten years from now."
Hearing Uchiha Shikata's lament, Uchiha Takeyasu could relate. In his previous life, he hadn't had any money and couldn't even afford to get married, let alone raise the next generation.
It also reminded him of the Sarutobi Clan's famous three-thousand-strong ninja army in later generations. He could hardly imagine how much Sarutobi Hiruzen had bled Konoha dry.
At the very least, he'd drained the Uchiha and the Senju of the Forest, those two great clans, completely dry.
When it came to looting the spoils, he had to admit that the man deserved a resounding "respect."
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