Hearing Mingye's words, Izuna also thought they made sense. Having no defenses was the greatest sign of confidence in oneself. If enemies really did attack this place, then there would be no need to defend it at all.
"Exactly! If that day really comes, the three of us brothers can just kill ourselves. Big Brother, Third Brother, what comes next is building the village! What do you plan to do?"
Madara nodded silently, agreeing with him. Then he ordered Izuna to begin building the village and specifically instructed him to gather the ninja clans that had already pledged themselves to them.
"Izuna, you're meticulous, so I'll leave this to you. The entire valley can be developed into a village. First, clear out a street, then we'll formally welcome the Hatake Clan. Didn't four or five other small, unknown clans take part in that ambush on the Senju Clan? We might as well bring them here too. The Kurohabaki Clan... yes, bring them in as well. They've submitted to us, after all. What do you think?"
Mingye seized the opportunity to speak up to Izuna.
"General Sato ordered us to kill Akiyama Nobunori within a month. That's our most important task for now. Second Brother, you don't need to worry about it. Focus on building the village. Big Brother and I will go back and take care of Akiyama Nobunori, and find a source of income to fund the village's construction!"
Izuna thought it over, then nodded.
"Be careful, both of you. I'll get things organized here. Big Brother, I'm not trying to criticize you, but you need to pay more attention, too. You're always so dismissive of fighting. They may be nobodies, but they're still enemies. If you can help our men take them out, then do it. We don't have enough clan members to spare right now!"
Mingye laughed. Suddenly, he remembered something else. As they established the village, he should put all their plans into motion. The useful ideas that Tobirama was supposed to develop should also be brought up now.
"Haha! Second Brother, we may have only fifty or sixty clan members, but they're all elite. The main reason the Senju Clan's ninja suffered such heavy casualties was that they never took us seriously. All right, I know you don't want to keep talking about that, so I'll stop. Let's talk about my ideas for building the village.
"As we build the village, I hope you'll set aside an area for a school and start building it at the same time—a Ninja Academy. Children from ninja clans can enroll when they're six, and after five years of study, they can apply to become ninja. In this era, a ninja's rank is determined by the amount of chakra they have. Once their chakra reaches a certain level, they're called a Genin, Chunin, or Jonin. That's not a good system. We shouldn't just make the ranks precise; they also need to be practical. In my view, a ninja's rank should be determined by the number and difficulty of the missions they've completed, as a measure of their strength. These plans may still be a long way off, but we need to start preparing now. Only then can we reduce casualties and deaths to a minimum when people fight and carry out missions!"
After listening to Mingye, Madara turned to look at him, his expression heavy.
"Third Brother, I didn't realize you were good for more than just scheming!"
Mingye couldn't be bothered with Madara's surprise and teasing, and continued.
"Next comes the village's day-to-day operation. We must take on all the missions currently available in the Land of Fire, then assign them to be carried out. Maybe we're not ready for that yet, but we need to prepare. We should also form a ninja army made up entirely of Jonin. Its purpose will be to guard the country's borders and wage wars abroad. Inside the country, we'll set up mission posts throughout the Land of Fire. They'll receive missions and report them to the village, where we can assign them to the lower- and middle-ranked ninja. That will bring in money while giving our ninja valuable experience, and it'll greatly reduce the death rate!"
When Mingye paused, Madara cut in with an addition.
"Children under twelve must not go to the battlefield. If we're going to do this, we'll do it right. Only Jonin should take part in wars. Anyone below Jonin must not fight enemies on the battlefield!"
Mingye nodded in agreement with Madara.
"Big Brother is right. Let adults bear the cruelty of war. Let the children live happily and smile for a while longer!"
"All right, Third Brother. I've noted everything you said. If there's nothing else, let's head down. Standing here in the wind isn't good for us."
Izuna nodded again, and with that, they had a plan for everything. Then Mingye remembered something else and spoke up.
"Organize the Anbu to observe what's happening inside the Land of Fire, as well as the political strategies and intelligence of other countries. Gather information on the ninja of every clan. We need more than strength; we also need reliable sources of information. To keep the enemy at a thousand miles' distance, we have to strike first when they're about to make a move—or be ready and wait for them to exhaust themselves!"
Izuna nodded again. The three of them stood on a desolate rocky hillside and laid out their initial plans for the entire village. After an unknown amount of time, Mingye suddenly laughed and asked Izuna:
"Haha! Second Brother, don't you feel like even the air has suddenly become fresher where we're standing? We've left that murky world behind. What we're building is that so-called hope!"
"Heh, with you two by my side, anywhere is full of hope!"
Izuna replied with a smile. Even Madara rarely laughed as he spoke.
"You two should know that it won't just be the three of us brothers from now on. We have to protect everyone who joins our village. In this wide-open place, everyone will be able to live happily, without the slightest danger!"
"Hahahaha!"
As the sun set, the three brothers stood on the yellow rock, seeming to savor the peaceful air. It was as if the massive rocky mountain could give them a sense of serenity they had never known before.
Everything was proceeding as Mingye had planned. They kept everything in meticulous order. After about three days, they had finished laying the village's basic foundations. Mingye then took his leave and headed alone for the Sarutobi Clan's stronghold. Unlike the Uchiha and Senju Clans, who had fought constantly for years and had to hide their strongholds in the vast world, the Sarutobi Clan's stronghold lay openly in a peach grove in the southern part of the Land of Fire. It was so exposed that there wasn't even an outside village to serve as a lookout. Only after Mingye entered the grove did he realize that things that seemed simple could conceal unfathomable traps once one was caught up in them. The huge mountain apes shrieked as soon as they saw him, their cries deafening. There was no need for anyone to raise the alarm; the entire forest already knew he had arrived.
Within a few breaths, three or four ninja appeared in his path. They watched Mingye with stern expressions, and one of them called out:
"Stop!"
"I'm Uchiha Mingye. I've come to pay a visit to the Sarutobi Clan!"
Mingye was genuinely curious. In the original manga, it seemed that the Sarutobi Clan only joined Konoha under pressure from the political situation in the Ninja World after Konoha was officially established. By then, Madara and Hashirama had already gained the power to sweep through the Ninja World. They weren't absolutely invincible, but no one in the entire Ninja World could defeat them. The Land of Fire had also begun to surpass the other countries from that point on, becoming the strongest. But now, the Senju Clan had been utterly defeated and nearly wiped out. Mingye was certain they would need at least ten years to recover. Would the Sarutobi Clan be willing to submit to the Uchiha Clan?
While Mingye considered the chances of recruiting the Sarutobi Clan, the three Sarutobi ninja summoned a leading ninja. He wore golden armor and seemed extremely wary of Mingye. He cautiously approached until he was ten meters away, then spoke.
"I'm Sarutobi Yuso. What brings a member of the Uchiha Clan here?"
Mingye chuckled. The other man's wariness was likely because word of his schemes had spread. Everyone might already know that the Uchiha Clan had a strange genius like him, skilled at plotting, and fear that they would be his next target. Hearing the question, he answered with another question.
"Are you authorized to make the decision?"
"Please, come with me."
Sarutobi Yuso didn't waste words. If he couldn't make the decision, he should bring in the clan head. Besides, he wasn't afraid that Mingye would try anything underhanded on his own. He gestured for Mingye to follow and led him to the clan's stronghold to meet its head, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
After walking for about twenty minutes, Mingye finally understood why there were no villages around the Sarutobi Clan's perimeter to serve as lookouts. The peach grove covered an enormous area, and it was home to a substantial number of monkeys. Every one of them stood nearly two meters tall and was incredibly sturdy. Mingye's rough estimate was that this troop alone could overwhelm a large portion of the Ninja World's current Genin. Some of the monkeys could even pile up enough force to kill Chunin and Jonin. It was simply unimaginable. No wonder the Sarutobi Clan wasn't afraid of being raided. With so many monkeys around, even a hidden intruder would be unlikely to go unnoticed. And if they were discovered, they would have to fight not only the monkeys but also the Sarutobi Clan's retaliation. It would take a lot of effort for little reward. They might as well fight the Sarutobi Clan head-on.
Thinking about all this, Mingye followed Sarutobi Yuso into a village surrounded by trees. They stopped in front of an imposing house, and Yuso turned to Mingye.
"The lord is waiting for you inside. Please, come in."
Mingye paused. As he walked toward the house, he kept thinking about how Sarutobi Yuso hadn't spoken to anyone during the journey. What he'd just said was interesting, too. "The lord" must mean Sarutobi Hiruzen, but what did "waiting for you" mean? Could the other man have known Mingye was coming? That was impossible. How did they communicate with one another? Still puzzled, Mingye entered the house. The faint aroma of wine reached his nose, making him forget for the moment what he'd intended to say. He walked to the table, nodded to the man seated at the head, then sat down and drank the wine in the cup as if he were at home.
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