So How Was It Done?

For a family that had lived in poverty and hardship, the sudden return of the man of the house one afternoon with a large bag of rice—weighing several pounds—along with some wild vegetables, was enough to provide the whole family with two hearty, satisfying meals.

The point was that this kind of life was sustainable.

The next day, the man went to work again, and when he returned, he even brought back half a roasted chicken.

On the third day, it was another few pounds of rice...

On the fourth day...

On the fifth...

Anyone with eyes could see the reality of the situation.

So the question arose: Why didn't I have this?

Upon asking around, oh, it turned out that the Wetland Bridge project was hiring, paying daily wages, and as long as you worked hard, your pay was guaranteed.

Where had these commoners ever seen such a good deal?

In the past, such tasks were always missions for those ninja lords, having nothing to do with ordinary people like them.

All they could do was go to the fields every day to look around, and then just zone out.

Yes, zone out, because there was no work.

Or rather, there was no work suitable for ordinary people like them.

They dreamed of having a ninja in their family; although it would be dangerous, at least they wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing.

But now, they had another possibility.

Ordinary people might also have the ability to change their own lives.

Consequently, the number of people going to watch the construction at the Wetland Bridge increased every day, eventually attracting the attention of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama.

"How did you do it?" During their meal, Senju Hashirama couldn't help but ask Yuya out of curiosity.

"What?" Yuya was a bit confused, not understanding what Senju Hashirama was asking about.

"I mean, at the Wetland Bridge, how did you manage... to let so many commoners benefit? I checked, and I found that at least a thousand people have had their lives improved because of the construction of this bridge."

Senju Hashirama looked at Yuya and asked, "I want to ask, how did you do it, or rather...

Using such a small amount of money to make so many people wealthy—was this an accident, or did you know it would turn out this way all along?"

Hearing this question from Senju Hashirama, Yuya understood.

How should he put it? For ninjas who hadn't been systematically indoctrinated with economics, these economic problems, which could be considered elementary, were indeed difficult for them to grasp.

Yuya thought for a moment, picked up his cup, his plate, and two pairs of chopsticks, then said to Hashirama, "Master, look, now there is a bowl of rice in my bowl. Then, I divide this bowl of rice equally between this cup and this plate. The total amount of rice remains the same, right?"

"And if this cup continues to distribute to other cups, and this plate continues to distribute to other plates, is the money in this process becoming less and less, or more and more?"

Hashirama: "Naturally, it becomes less and less."

Yuya nodded: "Correct. If we follow the theory of distribution, that is indeed the logic. But there is one point you haven't considered, Master."

Hashirama blinked.

Yuya: "That is, in the process of distributing from this cup to another cup, it is not just distributing; it is simultaneously creating value."

A flash of lightning crossed Hashirama's mind, but he couldn't quite grasp it. He pressed his forehead, frowned, and said, "Creating value?"

Yuya nodded: "Exactly. For example, in the process of building the Wetland Bridge, a worker worked for a day and received his share of the wages. While this did indeed reduce the fixed amount of money, conversely, wasn't a portion of the bridge completed? This is the value he created."

"And by the same logic, he took these wages to a clothing store to buy a piece of clothing and gave the money to the shopkeeper. Theoretically, this money was distributed to another person, and he would have no money left in his hands, but the piece of clothing he held corresponded to his money. So the money didn't disappear into thin air; it was transferred into the value created by the clothing store owner."

"And the clothing the store owner made himself, when exchanged for money, naturally equates to the profit earned from the value he created."

"The clothing store owner doesn't just hoard the money; he also has to buy food and materials to make clothes. So, the question is, Master:"

"In this entire process, how much money was spent in total?"

Senju Hashirama was stunned.

Uzumaki Mito couldn't help but laugh, then picked up a chicken leg for Yuya: "Alright, alright, your master doesn't understand any of this at all. What's the use of telling him these things?"

Yuya tilted his head and nodded: "I suppose that's true."

Senju Hashirama was so frustrated he ate two extra bowls of rice.

That night, Uzumaki Mito was cuddling Senju Hashirama, drifting off to sleep in a daze, when she heard Senju Hashirama start muttering: "The wages are only that little, so why is it that they can buy so much food, buy clothes, and even build a bridge?"

Uzumaki Mito's sleepiness vanished. She opened her dead-fish eyes and looked up at Senju Hashirama, who was lost in deep thought.

"Mito, do you know why?" Senju Hashirama's eyes were filled with a thirst for knowledge.

Uzumaki Mito was expressionless: "I don't know why, and I don't want to know. I only know that I'm sleepy now. If you don't go to sleep, I'm throwing you outside."

Hashirama: "..."

The next day, at the Hokage Office:

"...So Tobirama, do you understand now? The wages paid to this worker were only that much, yet it created wealth far exceeding its own value." Senju Hashirama looked at his younger brother with a profound expression.

Senju Tobirama wore an expressionless face: "You didn't come up with this yourself; you don't have the brain for it."

Senju Hashirama immediately scratched his head in embarrassment: "Oops, was I exposed?"

Tobirama let out a cold snort, then lowered his head to attend to official business.

Unwilling to give up, Hashirama leaned in and asked Tobirama in a low voice: "So, Tobirama, do you know why? Why is it that even though only one sum of money was issued, it ended up creating so much value?"

Tobirama glanced at Hashirama and scoffed: "Of course I know, but I am very busy right now and have no time to waste on you."

Hashirama pursed his lips: "How boring, truly boring."

Hashirama left, but after he was gone, Tobirama furrowed his brows: "Indeed, the money remains the same amount after circulating through the cycle, but why does the value created keep growing?

And theoretically, it could actually continue to circulate infinitely?"

Tobirama felt a chill in his teeth; he suddenly felt that his grand-nephew...

Aside from being a bit slow at learning ninjutsu, that way of thinking which differed from the average person...

Seemed capable of bringing great benefits to Konoha...

At the very least...

If he himself could master this method, then using the least amount of money to create the greatest value would be the very style of governance he most desired.

The key question is...

How exactly is this done?