Then Let Me Come

The next day, Senju Tobirama brought Yuya to the Uchiha compound.

Compared to the past, when Senju Tobirama would see an Uchiha ninja every few steps he took, the Uchiha compound was much more deserted now.

Even so, Senju Tobirama still sensed several pairs of eyes watching from the shadows.

Tobirama sneered in his heart with disdain.

So they still left their forces behind in their own compound, huh?

Hmph, as expected, the Uchiha are not to be trusted.

The Uchiha clan head came out to welcome Senju Tobirama.

He was the successor to Madara, and in the early days, he had wanted to follow in Konoha's footsteps. However, after Tobirama took office, he stripped them of much of their power, leading to a great deal of criticism against the clan head, who in turn held little respect for Tobirama.

After all, he had once staked everything on Konoha, but unfortunately, Tobirama, as Hokage, still did not trust the Uchiha.

"What brings the Hokage to the Uchiha compound today?" the clan head asked in a very calm tone.

Tobirama did not mind, calmly taking out a scroll: "This is a classified mission I am assigning to the Uchiha. The operation must be fast, precise, and ruthless; do not let a single target escape."

After Tobirama finished speaking, Yuya, who was following beside him, spoke softly: "Also, do not kill anyone. Once lives are taken, there will be no room for negotiation."

The clan head frowned. What does this brat mean? Do I need you to teach the Uchiha how to do their jobs?

Yes, at thirteen years old, Yuya was over 1.5 meters tall, nearly 1.6, and was no longer a child but a youth.

Tobirama, however, did not care, merely echoing: "Then don't kill anyone. The Uchiha clan should be able to manage that, right?"

The clan head felt a surge of anger in his heart. What is the meaning of this? Looking down on our Uchiha?

"Of course... we guarantee the mission will be completed," the clan head said in a deep voice.

Tobirama nodded, then looked at Yuya: "He is my assistant in handling political affairs. He has some plans he would like to discuss with the Uchiha clan."

The Uchiha clan head looked at Yuya, but frowned: "This..."

"Yuya," Yuya grinned, "My name is Yuya."

The Uchiha clan head nodded: "Very well, young Yuya, what is it you wish to discuss with us?"

If not for Tobirama standing right there, the clan head would have gotten up and left long ago.

Yuya then took a stack of papers from his pocket, pulled one from the top, thought for a moment, pulled a second one, tucked the rest away, and handed the two sheets to the Uchiha clan head.

The Uchiha clan head took the papers, and after just a glance, his expression changed.

The clan head frowned as he set down the first sheet to look at the next, and after finishing the second, his brow furrowed even deeper.

He handed the two sheets back to Yuya.

Yuya looked at the clan head, somewhat confused: "Sir, is there something you don't understand? It should be written quite clearly here."

On these two sheets, Yuya had written about the construction and use of waterwheels.

The other was a proposal to build a water plant within the Uchiha compound.

The Naka River, which flowed to the east of the Uchiha compound, was a river that spanned the Land of Fire and eventually emptied into the sea in the east.

Its water flow was very steady and quite massive.

It had the perfect foundational conditions for establishing a water plant.

Yuya did not know what the clan head was considering; in Yuya's view, the Uchiha clan could earn a massive amount of money from this water plant.

And building a large waterwheel upstream to irrigate farmland was an excellent opportunity to win over the hearts of the people.

Yuya had tailored these two plans specifically for the Uchiha clan.

In Yuya's opinion, when the Uchiha clan saw these proposals, they should have knelt down, hugged his leg, and called him "daddy" immediately.

But as it turned out, the other party was frowning even harder.

"...This... please allow us to discuss this within the clan before giving the Hokage an answer."

"Of course, we will complete the mission you assigned to us immediately."

In the end, this was the response Yuya received.

Yuya was full of question marks, and as he left the Uchiha compound with Senju Tobirama, Tobirama looked at the deep-in-thought Yuya and smiled: "Are you confused as to why the Uchiha clan didn't readily agree to such good terms?"

Yuya frowned and nodded: "Yeah, not only could this bring them millions of ryo in annual revenue, but the waterwheel irrigation plan—even though the farmers are the ones benefiting—would also give them a great reputation... Why wouldn't they agree to this decisively?"

Senju Tobirama sneered: "Because that is the Uchiha clan! They simply do not believe that anyone would harbor good intentions toward them!"

Yuya looked up at Senju Tobirama, and then, his eyes gradually turned into dead fish eyes.

Senju Tobirama frowned: "What are you looking at?"

"Master Uncle, I think I know why the Uchiha don't trust me."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because you are too terrifying, Master Uncle. They see you and stop trusting me."

"You brat! Stand still! Stop right there!"

Konoha made a massive move that day.

The Police Force dispatched three squads and arrested every owner of the gambling dens on the Commercial Street.

Naturally, conflicts were inevitable during the process.

However, the Uchiha clan still possessed some combat prowess; at the very least, they had no trouble dealing with these people.

Although some ended up with broken arms or legs after the fighting, not a single person died.

Then, Senju Tobirama stepped forward.

Standing on the moral high ground, he produced the laws of Konoha and interrogated the gambling den owners on why they had failed to comply with the statutes.

The owners began to quibble, claiming they weren't practicing usury but merely charging handling fees.

They insisted that the copper coins were indeed worth one hundred thousand ryo and that those people had borrowed the money voluntarily.

Senju Tobirama then publicly read out the explicit legal texts right there on the Commercial Street, leaving the gambling den owners in utter despair.

With a wave of his hand, Senju Tobirama ordered them to be expelled from the village.

As for the hundreds of millions in cash seized from those eight gambling dens, it was all confiscated by the state.

Furthermore, those who had borrowed money were not off the hook.

"Allow me to introduce you to the gambling den run by Konoha itself—no, it is not called a gambling den; it is called the City of Gold!"

"Gambling inside is not called gambling; it is called placing bets. There is no cash inside, only chips."

"Once you finish playing, you exchange your chips for money."

"In any case, the stench of money absolutely does not exist within my City of Gold."

"Additionally, our City of Gold strictly prohibits lending and forbids entry to minors."

"I hope everyone is aware of this."

"As for those who owed money to the previous gambling dens..."

"Don't think you can run! You owe us now!"

"Pay up! Whether you go to the Steel Mill to haul bricks or do anything else, just pay me back!"

"If you don't pay, I'll break your legs."

Yes, wipe out the gambling dens to get rich, then turn around and establish an official, fair, just, and transparent City of Gold.

"You opening a gambling den? Not allowed! We do it? Perfectly fine!"

What is a double standard? (Tactical lean back.jpg)

Meanwhile, Kirigakure and Sunagakure watched this scene and pondered...

It seemed...

There was potential here...

Consequently, it wasn't long before those two villages copied Konoha's homework and launched their own crackdowns on gambling dens.

And it must be said, they really did rake in quite a bit of money.

They also opened official gambling dens, though unfortunately, their scale could never compare to Konoha's.

After all, Konoha was capable of attracting people from other nations to come and spend their money there, whereas Sunagakure and Kirigakure could not.

As for the changes happening in the outside world, the Uchiha clan couldn't care less.

They were currently holding their eighth clan meeting.

Yes, they had been debating for eight days whether to accept the proposal Yuya had put forward, yet they still hadn't reached a decision...

I have organized the timeline and posted it in the preface of the work; those interested can go take a look. I am writing according to the timeline in those materials.