Kagami Uchiha

The Uchiha clan was dissatisfied with Senju Tobirama.

Because after Senju Tobirama took office, he not only restricted the power of the Police Force but also moved the Uchiha clan grounds several kilometers to the east, adjacent to the river.

On the surface, the Uchiha clan's territory appeared larger, but in reality, this move pushed the Uchiha clan far away from the center of power.

The members of the Uchiha clan naturally harbored grievances.

They had previously tried their best to integrate into Konoha, and yet this was the result? Is this how you treat us?

The people of the Uchiha clan were prone to extreme thinking.

Moreover, what Senju Tobirama did in this matter was indeed underhanded.

Consequently, the Uchiha clan's dissatisfaction with the Second Hokage grew day by day.

Facing his clan's current attitude toward the village and the Second Hokage, Kagami Uchiha saw it all and felt anxious in his heart.

"What's wrong?" Kagami Uchiha's wife, Masako Uchiha, was a dignified, elegant, and gentle woman.

Masako walked over and knelt beside Kagami Uchiha, who was sitting in the courtyard watching the stars, and leaned against his shoulder. Masako said softly, "I can't help with those ninja matters of yours, but sometimes, saying things out loud makes them much easier to bear."

Kagami Uchiha held Masako and remained silent.

The men of the Uchiha clan were basically all ninjas, and only a few women with outstanding talent would be heavily cultivated, such as the young girl Rou Uchiha, who had high talent for Fire Release; it was only because of Senju Tobirama's reform of the Ninja Academy that they had sent Rou to school.

However, their sincerity was met with Senju Tobirama's alienation, the pushing of the Uchiha clan away from the center of Konoha, and the shrinking of the power of the Police Force in their hands.

Could Kagami Uchiha tell Masako about these things?

He could not.

Masako Uchiha's surname was not changed after marrying him; it was her original family name.

Kagami Uchiha could only force a smile: "It's nothing, it's just that I have to go on a mission again tomorrow, and I won't be able to see you for a long time."

Masako Uchiha's eyes immediately turned red, and then she gathered her courage and said to Kagami Uchiha, "Then we can go to sleep early tonight."

Kagami Uchiha nodded, held Masako, and walked into the bedroom.

The next day, Kagami Uchiha arrived at the Hokage's office.

"Lord Hokage, did you call for me?"

Senju Tobirama looked at Kagami Uchiha and said softly, "I have a task that needs you to do. If you do it well, the reward will not be much, and if you do it poorly, you will be cursed by many people. Are you willing to accept?"

Kagami Uchiha did not hesitate at all: "I am willing, Lord Hokage."

The corners of Senju Tobirama's mouth rose slightly, and then he shook his head and said, "I will have my assistant coordinate the specific details with you. If there is anything you don't understand, you can also discuss it with my assistant through the Ninja Scroll."

Kagami Uchiha nodded respectfully and agreed.

Senju Tobirama signed his name on a piece of paper and handed it to Kagami Uchiha.

Kagami Uchiha took it, and after just one glance, he was somewhat shocked.

"This... Lord Hokage... that bridge... is it really okay to arrange for ordinary people to build it instead of letting ninjas do it?" Kagami Uchiha asked the question that naturally came to mind.

Senju Tobirama sighed inwardly, thinking that a normal person would indeed think this way at first...

After sternly telling Kagami Uchiha that this matter truly required him to assemble ordinary people to do the work, Kagami Uchiha nodded and withdrew.

But when Kagami Uchiha posted the recruitment notice, he found that things were different from what he had expected.

He was troubled from the very first moment.

Because there were too many people applying.

There were over a thousand applicants for a project that was only expected to take three hundred people. Kagami Uchiha had a gentle temperament; he could kill an enemy with a single strike, but when it came to his own people, he couldn't bring himself to be harsh.

He had originally thought he wouldn't need to use the contact information for the advisor given to him by Lord Tobirama, but now it seemed...

Kagami Uchiha took out the Ninja Scroll used for communication and wrote down the problem he had encountered.

He received a reply on the scroll very quickly. Looking at the detailed content that could be described as teaching him step-by-step how to recruit, Kagami Uchiha clicked his tongue in wonder.

As expected of Lord Senju Tobirama's advisor, this line of thinking was truly clear.

Afterward, Kagami Uchiha found these ordinary people and asked if anyone understood construction, water conservancy, or blueprint drawing.

Surprisingly, there were indeed two old men who were in the construction industry, but drawing required professional tools, and Kagami Uchiha didn't have any on hand, so he couldn't let the two demonstrate on the spot.

Afterward, Kagami Uchiha used the family as a unit, letting those among the thousand-plus people who were from the same family nominate one person; this person could have skills or strength, and it was less likely for someone from a large family to be selected.

The main members of Konoha were, of course, those large clans, but these ordinary people also made up a fairly large number.

Truth be told, the number of ordinary people within those ninja clans themselves was relatively small.

Therefore, they needed a large number of ordinary people to serve them.

It was just that before Konoha existed, these large clans could only rely on providing protection to ordinary people in exchange for the ordinary people giving them the majority of the harvest from a year of farming.

It could only be said that this model was not something ordinary people would choose unless they couldn't survive otherwise.

After working hard to farm and reclaim land all year round, these ninjas would take away more than half without doing anything.

The key was that it would be fine if they could actually provide protection, but the fact was that before the establishment of Konoha, except for the Uchiha and Senju clans, most groups needed ordinary people to provide them with food and resources, yet they could not guarantee the safety of these ordinary people.

It was because the strength of these clans was truly insufficient.

Konoha had solved this dilemma perfectly.

These clans no longer provided protection to commoners; instead, they served the village, and in return, the village provided them with corresponding resources.

This saved a great deal of trouble.

It must be said that the founding of Konoha truly set an excellent example for the other nations on the continent.

It was no wonder that other countries had followed suit one after another to establish their own ninja villages.

However, this gave rise to a new problem.

Compared to the few thousand ninjas in a village, the number of commoners was certainly much greater.

Not to mention that over the years since its founding, Konoha had essentially turned no one away.

This resulted in Konoha often lacking enough land for these commoners to farm and fill their bellies.

Consequently, there were many idle individuals.

Solving this problem was not difficult; one way was to reclaim more land.

However, this method was somewhat challenging, as these commoners would rather starve to death in Konoha than return to the dangerous outside world.

The other method was to increase productivity.

Whether it was increasing crop yields or initiating projects like the current one, allowing hundreds of households to earn capital was a way to boost productivity.

Yet, this approach was destined to be unsustainable.

Because there was no money.

A dozen kilograms of gold could build a single bridge, but to revitalize Konoha and launch large-scale infrastructure...

Even adding the two hundred-plus kilograms of gold Yuya had hidden in his sealing scrolls, it was simply not enough.

If there were a gold mine... Yuya might have been able to use that as a starting point to leverage the development of the entire village.

But just like starting a business, the first pot of gold might not be the most important thing, but you absolutely had to have one.

Two hundred-plus kilograms of gold...

It truly wasn't enough.