Teaming up to set a trap

And so, the next day, those youngsters who harbored intense hatred and had no idea how to bide their time fell into pools and drowned in all manner of "accidents."

Konoha had no choice. To preserve the nobles' succession rights, they could only bring back the nobles' "illegitimate children" from elsewhere to inherit their estates.

These "illegitimate children" were far easier to use than those fools who thought themselves clever. They knew their lives, wealth, and status all depended on a single whim of Uchiha Genya's, so they did whatever Konoha's ninja told them to do.

The more compliant nobles were scared out of their wits at the sight, too. They strengthened their household security as much as possible, and some of the more timid ones even approached Konoha to sign long-term security contracts, hoping to buy their way out of disaster.

For a time, almost the entire Land of Fire fell under Konoha's control. Many members of the Nara Clan were dispatched to take charge of government affairs in its major cities.

Even that was not enough. Many ninja who had excelled in academic subjects at the Ninja Academy were temporarily pulled in as well.

They might have lacked experience, and their abilities might have been limited, but at least they were extremely loyal. Handling government affairs temporarily was no problem for them.

Xuanye did not let the Nara Clan touch the finances. Some of the civilian ninja training under Kakuzu had already completed their studies and could be sent out to gain practical experience.

After all, they could not dump the financial affairs of the entire Land of Fire on Kakuzu alone. He really could not handle it all.

Kakuzu had never imagined he would face such a delightful problem: not having enough time to manage all the