You Be the Third Hokage

Later, Yuya opened a textile mill and a cannery.

Senju Hashirama was very satisfied with this, and equally pleased with Yuya's performance.

The only thing he was unhappy about was that this brat truly wouldn't move unless you cracked a whip over his head.

If you had this kind of talent, why didn't you say so earlier!

Senju Hashirama felt that if Yuya had revealed this ability to improve the village a few years sooner, everyone in Konoha would certainly be living much better now.

As for why Yuya didn't do so, it was simple: Yuya didn't want to be treated like a monster.

A six-year-old child being a bit extraordinary is one thing, but being too extraordinary is another; Yuya felt that if he stood out too much, it would lead to trouble, and he might end up being dragged away for research.

However, to the people of this world, what's wrong with being six? At six, you should already be on the battlefield (Fugaku Uchiha gives a thumbs up). How could anyone be more outrageous than the God of Shinobi?

Of course, that was only one reason; the second reason was...

There was no profit in it!

What would Yuya get for showing off his abilities other than working for free?

What kind of benefits could you expect Senju Hashirama to give a six-year-old child?

Besides...

These two things were actually necessities; even if Yuya didn't do them, Konoha would have started them eventually.

In fact, in the anime, Konoha is essentially the capital of a small, independent kingdom.

And according to official settings, the relationship between Konoha and the Land of Fire is not one of superior and subordinate, but one of cooperation.

This is why the Land of Fire only has the right to recommend the Hokage of Konoha, but no power to decide.

Konoha has the capability and strength to build itself into an independent power that integrates politics and economy.

However, it is quite obvious that because they were distracted by the large subsidies provided by the Land of Fire every year, none of the subsequent Hokage moved toward the direction of developing Konoha.

Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama were purely products of a chaotic era of war, fighting small battles every three days and big ones every five, constantly bickering with the Uchiha clan. Where would they find the time or energy to study how to develop the economy?

Wouldn't it be better to spend that time researching a few more ninjutsu?

That is how Tobirama became the Professor of Ninjutsu.

Senju Hashirama pioneered the new era of "one country, one village," but he had no clear plan on how to continue its development.

To sum it up in one sentence: he believed in the wisdom of his successors, while he only needed to find a way to stop this godforsaken era of war.

Thus, one can see that from the first year of Konoha until Naruto took office sixty years later, the development of Konoha—and indeed the entire world of Naruto—was sprinting headlong toward military power.

Of course, one cannot say this is wrong; after all, military power is the foundation for survival.

However, sometimes, military power and development are not mutually exclusive.

Or rather, only when the economy is handled well can one vigorously develop military power.

Yuya could change the infrastructure of Konoha in half a year, but he couldn't turn Konoha into a super village that had everything overnight.

One can only say that they must move toward that goal slowly.

A few months later, on a day that seemed perfectly ordinary to the rest of the village, Senju Hashirama called Senju Tobirama, Uzumaki Mito, and Kamigane Yuya into his room.

His face was flushed, and his body was radiating an extremely dangerous aura—it was overflowing chakra.

Even just the leakage of this aura was enough to make Yuya's heart jump with fear.

The strength of the God of Shinobi was truly unfathomable.

"As you can see, I can no longer control the chakra in my body. To prevent my death from causing chaos, we need to go somewhere else."

As soon as Senju Hashirama finished speaking, Senju Tobirama raised his hand to form seals, and the next moment, Yuya saw a flash of light as they were transported from the room to a forest outside Konoha.

"Just as we discussed before, after I die, you must seal me to prevent some petty villains from desecrating my corpse," Senju Hashirama instructed Senju Tobirama.

The reason Senju Hashirama had scattered the Senju clan throughout Konoha and made them change their names was precisely to prevent petty villains who coveted his Wood Release from targeting his kin—

And history proved that Senju Hashirama's foresight was sharp; after he died, the Senju clan was indeed attacked. In fact, even while he was alive, his own son had been targeted by those coveting his Wood Release. Of course, we know the result: other than Hashirama, no one else in the Senju clan possessed the chakra type for Wood Release—

These people were unscrupulous, and Senju Hashirama didn't need to think twice to know that someone would definitely come for his corpse.

If it weren't for the fact that his body was impervious to fire and water, Senju Hashirama would have just asked Tobirama to burn him to ashes and be done with it.

Regarding death, these ninjas born in the chaotic era of the past were long since mentally prepared.

It was an era where one's life hung by a thread; no one dared to guarantee they would live to see tomorrow.

"I know, Big Brother," Tobirama nodded.

"And then, a few final words of advice," Hashirama scratched his head and laughed. "Don't keep such a tight leash on the Uchiha; you should learn to relax a little."

Tobirama curled his lip; with Madara Uchiha as a precedent, he truly couldn't bring himself to trust the Uchiha.

"Forget it, you have your own plans. Kagami Uchiha is a good successor. After he becomes the next Uchiha clan head, you can tilt some resources toward the Uchiha."

Tobirama nodded.

Just as Yuya was muttering to himself, Hashirama looked at him: "Yuya, compared to Tobirama, I haven't taught you much. Other than picking you up, I haven't really looked after you. I haven't been a very competent master."

Yuya was silent for a moment before speaking: "Master... no matter what, I will never forget that you saved my life."

Senju Hashirama looked at Yuya and spoke softly, "After Tobirama, how about you take over as the Third Hokage?"

Yuya's pupils dilated sharply, and he looked at Senju Hashirama with a face full of shock.

"Master... are, are you serious?"

Senju Hashirama smiled slightly, then looked over at Tobirama, "With Tobirama here, you can grow at your own pace. I believe that in ten years, you will be able to transform Konoha into something entirely new."

"In terms of raw strength, there are few in the entire Shinobi World who can defeat either me or Tobirama, but even with the two of us combined, we don't even know how to start a garment factory, let alone manage one..."

Senju Hashirama took a deep breath, then looked at Yuya with an incredibly serious expression, "Tobirama and I are just rough men who only know how to fight; we are completely clueless when it comes to how to ensure everyone in Konoha lives a good life, but you are different."

"I believe that as long as you focus on improving your abilities over these next ten years, once you succeed Tobirama as the Third Hokage, Konoha will surely become a much better place."

"In this regard, you are far, far more capable than both me and Tobirama."

"Therefore, I want you to serve as the Third Hokage."