Making Money, Making Lots of Money

Hashirama looked at Yuya calmly, then sighed: "That is indeed true. Aside from being my disciple and Tobirama's nephew-in-training, you have no other helpers."

"But what if I told you... that you actually have allies?"

Hearing Hashirama's words, Yuya looked up, bewildered: "Who?"

Hashirama spoke softly: "The Uchiha."

Yuya was speechless.

Hashirama: "Kagami Uchiha is the next patriarch of the Uchiha. Tobirama doesn't trust many Uchiha, but Kagami is a good child. Tobirama trusts him, and his strength is quite good; he is a strong contender for the next Uchiha patriarch."

"If the Uchiha are willing to support you, you will no longer be alone."

Yuya fell silent. A moment later, he shook his head and chuckled: "Everyone says you are clueless about village affairs, Master, but it seems that was all nonsense."

Senju Hashirama dropped his expression and returned to his usual goofy look: "Hahaha, is that so? Is that so? I just learned a thing or two from watching so much."

"Hmm... so... what do you think?" Hashirama steered the conversation back. "If you have any interest in this... I think Tobirama would be very happy to see it happen."

At this moment, how could Yuya not realize that Senju Hashirama had called him over not just to give final instructions, but more importantly...

To see through his bottom line and decide how to treat him.

Yuya took a deep breath, looked up at Senju Hashirama, and said: "I have no interest in the position of Hokage."

Surprise appeared on Senju Hashirama's face, and he looked at Yuya with a silly expression: "Oh? Then what are you interested in?"

Yuya looked up and said to Senju Hashirama with a serious face: "If you really want me to contribute to Konoha, Master, then leave the economic development of Konoha to me."

Senju Hashirama was truly surprised this time: "Economic development?"

Yuya nodded: "The phenomenon I mentioned earlier, where a fixed amount of money creates several times its value by circulating, is essentially what we call an economy."

"Its characteristics are the circulation of goods, the satisfaction of spirits, and social stability. Simply put, the better the economy, the more abundant the goods, the more satisfied the spirits, and the more stable the society will be."

"Breaking this down, the circulation of goods can be divided into production, transportation, consumption, and reproduction. This cycle can continue infinitely."

"The material foundation brought by the economy leads to spiritual satisfaction. The more abundant the materials, the more satisfied the spirits; the two complement each other."

Yuya knew that if he didn't show his "value" today, he would likely be kicked out of Konoha by tomorrow.

Senju Hashirama was a kind-hearted man, but he was also the First Hokage.

He could not allow someone like Yuya—who lacked a sense of belonging to the village and was unwilling to work for it, yet possessed genuine talent—to remain in his village.

This talent did not refer to this economic theory.

Senju Hashirama had never heard of this theory before, so he naturally couldn't have a concept of it.

Therefore, what Hashirama valued was Yuya's "Kekkei Genkai" for sensing gold, mining gold, and gathering gold.

The Land of Fire was currently the wealthiest of the five great nations, but if Yuya went to another country, that title might belong to someone else in a few years.

Thus, Senju Hashirama could not let Yuya leave.

The first step of the probe was to see if there was any sense of belonging to the village.

The second step was to see if there was any ambition for the village leader's position.

If there was neither, then what did he want to do?

Konoha could not afford another wave of instability.

Yuya understood this, so he simply played his trump card.

If you want me to work for Konoha, I'll just say it: I have no interest in the Hokage position not because I lack ambition, but because my ambition is to make money—to make lots and lots of money. Now you understand, Master?

Did Senju Hashirama understand?

He didn't understand a damn thing!

Even though the definition of economy could be summarized in a few lines on a search engine, it was condensed essence. If Senju Hashirama could have figured out the definition of economy on his own, he, the God of Shinobi, wouldn't have founded Konoha fifteen years ago—oh, it's been sixteen years now—and still have the village in such a sorry state, with so many ordinary people going hungry and lacking clothes every day.

Of course, everything is relative; the situation in the other four great ninja villages was no better.

At least in Konoha, every ninja clan could ensure their people were fed and could learn ninjutsu. Not many ninja villages in other countries could achieve that.

Smaller nations like the Land of Iron or the Land of Whirlpools could manage it, but that was because the villages were small, the scale was limited, and they didn't need much food; ordinary people could get by on scraps.

That night, Senju Hashirama and Yuya talked for a long time.

No one knew exactly what was discussed, but the next day, Yuya went to report to Senju Tobirama. He stopped going to the Ninja Academy and basically started working as a junior secretary.

Yuya looked annoyed, but he couldn't show it while Tobirama was around.

Senju Tobirama also wanted to see just how much Yuya could actually do, so after some thought, he let Yuya handle the planning for the area in the south of Konoha.

Yuya rolled his eyes. Forget it; that area was full of ordinary people, and there was no challenge at all.

However, he only dared to grumble in his heart. Since the orders were conveyed through Senju Tobirama, outsiders naturally assumed they were Tobirama's commands.

And so, the south side of the city underwent a reorganization.

To summarize it in two words: demolition.

They tore down the old houses in the south, leveled the land, and rebuilt them into uniform high-rise buildings.

The buildings didn't need to be very tall, just about four stories would do. Compared to the previous one-story flat houses, the housing capacity increased by three-quarters, and with the help of ninjas, the efficiency was extremely high.

However, aside from having ninjas assist in the initial stages, Yuya repeated the same tactics he used for the Wetland Bridge once the foundation was laid.

Senju Tobirama watched with his heart in his throat; to level such a massive area in the southern part of Konoha just like that—how much money must this have cost?

Especially when he later heard that not only were the original residents given new houses, but they were also handed a large sum of money!

Nearly one hundred thousand ryo per person!

Well, Yuya felt quite shameless about this; one hundred thousand ryo per person was equivalent to only five thousand yuan in his past life. If he had actually tried that back then, people would have certainly revolted.

But here, the people had never seen such a spectacle before. Such a good deal actually fell into our laps?

Move! Only a fool wouldn't move!

Then, as a massive amount of money was scattered, Senju Tobirama watched with his heart in his throat. Do I have that much money? Does Konoha have that much money?

Senju Tobirama truly couldn't hold back and asked Yuya where on earth all this money came from.

Yuya chuckled, "Which eye did you see me spending money with?"

"Yes, these people were each given relocation compensation, but that is a one-time payment. These people need to buy food every day, right? I had people open a steamed bun shop, open 24 hours, and then set up a general store that sells everything. Do you believe that within two months, this money will all flow back?"

"And then, this money is also the wages for them to work on building the houses."

"Otherwise, do you think I was bored enough to let the ninjas lay the foundation and then let these people build the rest themselves?"

"The point was to ensure that the value they consumed did not exceed the value they created."

Although this was somewhat capitalistic and a bit too heartless, absolutely no one felt it was wrong. In fact, they even thought this method of the Second Hokage was brilliant—truly brilliant. In the end, for the cost of a single Jonin mission's wages plus one hundred thousand ryo per person, they gained three-quarters of the area's housing, a stone-paved road, and supporting infrastructure like streetlights and public restrooms.

Yuya himself felt shameless, as he hadn't really treated these ordinary people who provided the manual labor as people at all. But after Senju Tobirama finished auditing the accounts and realized it really hadn't cost much, he looked at the brand-new southern district of Konoha...

He seemed... to have understood something.