Economic Strategy

Hearing Danzo curse in a fit of anger, Nawaki said, "Actually, there's a way to change the political status quo in the shinobi villages, and it would also greatly help unify the Shinobi World."

After Nawaki's analysis, the Konoha High Command had gradually stopped treating him like a junior and testing him. Instead, they were drawn in by his ideas. "Hurry up and tell us. What's the plan?" Danzo asked on behalf of everyone, voicing the question on their minds.

Nawaki smiled and pointed behind him. "It's closer than you think."

"You mean the Ninja Academy?" The Third Hokage glanced at the training ground behind Nawaki and asked curiously.

Nawaki nodded. "The Second Hokage's great innovation was no less significant than the First Hokage's. After he founded the Ninja Academy, shinobi were no longer an isolated group whose skills were passed down solely through their clans. Instead, they began forming ties with ordinary people, making it possible for the two to become one. The academies produced large numbers of outstanding shinobi, opening up an entirely new source of recruits for the villages. The other great villages all followed suit. If we expand the academies further and establish them throughout the country, we can increase the number of shinobi until they're no longer outnumbered in the world. Perhaps one day, everyone will be a shinobi. Then shinobi will naturally be able to rule the country."

Koharu couldn't help speaking up. "That's a brilliant strategic plan. If successfully carried out, it could peacefully transform the Land of Fire—and even the entire Shinobi World. Shinobi would become the masters of the world. But there's one fatal difficulty we need to overcome!"

Mitokado Homura said regretfully, "The economic problem you emphasized earlier! Although the academies have produced many shinobi from ordinary families, they either come from relatively wealthy households or possess exceptional talent. They're only a small minority among commoners. Most ordinary students can't graduate because they lack resources such as medicine, high-quality food, ninjutsu scrolls, and ninja tools.

"Besides, commoners' aptitudes vary widely. Some are born without a chakra nature, while others are too frail to extract chakra. The village doesn't have the funds to provide all new students with these resources for free!

"Commoners who fail to graduate from the academy are already past school age, and without any other skills, they struggle even to make a living.

"So, to ensure a high graduation rate, the Second Hokage required students to pay expensive tuition before enrolling, which was used to provide them with sufficient resources.

"Over time, unless they came from wealthy families or were the children of heroic shinobi who had sacrificed themselves for the village, few villagers sent their children to the academy. Even so, every year some ordinary students still failed to become shinobi."

After listening to them, Nawaki wasn't discouraged. He nodded and said, "So we're back to the earlier questions: how can Konoha unify the Shinobi World, and how can it escape the Daimyo's economic control? My answer is commerce! We should establish an economic system of our own and create a dedicated finance department to collect taxes, just as the Daimyo collects taxes from the people to support the country's finances."

"Commerce?"

"A finance department?"

"Taxes?"

The Konoha High Command repeated the key words Nawaki had used.

Nawaki continued, "That's right! First, commerce. I imagine that it's not just ordinary people—many clans, even major clans, must have members who can't become shinobi because of a lack of resources."

Most of Konoha's current leaders came from shinobi clans. Even those who didn't had established clans of their own. As clan heads or people in positions of power, they naturally understood the situation, and they all nodded in agreement.

Nawaki went on, "My Senju Clan faced similar problems in the past. Over the last two years, at my suggestion, adult clan members who couldn't become shinobi began forming merchant caravans to do business in other countries. Since the clan provided all the initial capital, only the caravan leaders received a small share of the profits. The rest of the members only had to contribute their labor in exchange for generous commissions. After deducting the cost of hiring shinobi guards, most of the remaining profits went to the clan.

"With those profits, the clan can provide training resources for all its members. We've also opened a large number of casinos and hotels throughout the Land of Fire. As the business has grown, our clan industries now earn tens of millions of ryo every month! My grandmother can confirm that."

The clan heads stared at Mito Uzumaki with gleaming eyes. Mito nodded. "What Nawaki said is true. Last month's profits came close to one hundred million ryo, more than enough to provide every clan member with training resources."

"Young Clan Head Nawaki really is a genius!"

"I never imagined he'd be so gifted in administration, too!"

"We hope Young Clan Head Nawaki will teach us how to run a business."

"Young Clan Head Nawaki, you have to teach us!"

The leaders all eagerly asked him for advice. Only a fool would turn down a chance to make money! They were all seasoned politicians, and in the face of profit, they didn't care about saving face. They asked their questions without shame.

The Third Hokage spoke up to quiet them. "Silence! Let's hear what Nawaki has to say!"

Nawaki nodded. "Since you're all interested, I suggest we pool our resources to form a transnational merchant caravan and earn money. The profits can be divided according to each clan's share of the investment, with five percent deducted as commercial tax and paid to the Finance Department for village development. What do you think?"

"We've never done business before. What if we lose money?" one clan head asked.

"As for international trade, my Senju Clan has two years of experience, and we've never suffered a loss. If we pool our resources and do business together and end up losing money, my clan will cover the losses. And we welcome every clan to send people to join the caravans, observe, and learn!"

"Clan Head Senju, we're deeply grateful for your generosity. Our clan will take part in this venture! We'll invest ten million ryo!"

"Hmph! My Uchiha Clan will invest fifty million ryo!"

"My Kurama Clan will invest ten million ryo!"

Seeing everyone eager to join, Nawaki smiled. "Please, don't rush. We can send representatives to the Senju Clan later to discuss the business in detail. My clan welcomes everyone. We'll call the consortium the Konoha Consortium. Now, I have something even more important to discuss!"

Hearing the money-making expert speak, the leaders fell silent and listened. Unbeknownst to them, Nawaki had already earned a measure of respect among the High Command.

"Commerce won't just bring everyone financial benefits. It will also give us an economic strategic advantage over the great nations and their shinobi villages!"

"What's an economic strategy?" Danzo asked with great interest.

"An economic strategy is a way to indirectly influence, or even control, another country's economy through commercial means!"

"Like the way the Daimyo controls us?" Danzo's eyes lit up, as if he'd glimpsed an entirely new world.

"Exactly, Elder Danzo. The Land of Fire is at the heart of the continent, and it has abundant resources of every kind. Its supplies of grain and timber in particular far exceed those of other countries! Meanwhile, because of their geography, the resources in the other countries are distributed very unevenly."