Future Plans

Another month passed in the blink of an eye.

Year One of Flame Hidden Village. (Corresponding to Year One of Konoha, though due to changes in the timeline, it differed somewhat from the original.) The Five Great Nations had each established their own shinobi villages, and the other smaller countries followed suit. Among them, the Land of Waterfalls was renamed the Land of Flame, where the Uchiha Clan took the lead in founding the Hidden Flame Village. The village's emblem bore the pattern of the Sharingan's Three Tomoe, and its first village chief, Uchiha Madara, was given the title of Flame Shadow.

Shinobi villages in small countries had no right to confer the title of "Kage." Even if they proclaimed it themselves, they would not be recognized by the shinobi villages of the great nations. However, the ones declaring themselves Kage were the Uchiha Clan, a prestigious and powerful clan universally acknowledged across the Shinobi World. With their formidable strength as a foundation, the other shinobi villages truly had nothing to say.

Land of Fire, Konoha.

After more than a month of construction and development, Konoha had absorbed a great many clans from the Land of Fire, and the village continued to grow in scale.

Konoha had now begun to take on the shape it would have in later generations. Though the Hokage Office Building beneath Shadow Rock was not as grand as it would become in the future, it already had a dedicated conference hall. At this moment, the hall was full, yet a trace of gravity lingered on everyone's faces.

"Hmph, Flame Hidden Village. I said the Uchiha Clan's ambitions did not end there." Tobirama set down the intelligence report in his hand and said coldly, "Brother, the Land of Waterfalls... heh, it should be called the Land of Flame now. They are right beside our Land of Fire. In the future, they may very well seek revenge against us."

Hashirama, who had already shed his armor, sat at the head of the table. Hearing this, he scratched his head and said, "Uh... Madara has been someone who hates losing since he was young. He is definitely unwilling to accept this in his heart, but there is no need for everyone to worry. As long as I am here, he will never be able to harm the village."

"But we cannot let down our guard either."

The speaker was a middle-aged man with a small goatee. Wisdom glinted in his narrow eyes. "The Daimyo Palace of the Land of Waterfalls was actually willing to change the name of its country. Either the Daimyo Palace and the Uchiha Clan are bound together by extremely close interests, or... the Uchiha Clan used some kind of coercive method. Such as... genjutsu."

Hashirama exclaimed, "Clan Head Shikaku, are you saying the Uchiha used genjutsu to control the daimyo of the Land of Flame?"

"It is only a guess of mine." Nara Shikaku's tone was grave. "But if that is truly the case, it means the Uchiha Clan's ambitions are immense."

"That is highly possible." As one of the few genjutsu-type shinobi of the Senju Clan, Toka Senju spoke with certainty. "Given the Uchiha's mastery of genjutsu, they could completely control an ordinary person without anyone noticing."

"I say we should take the initiative and eliminate future trouble." Tobirama's gaze was icy. "The shinobi of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind are also stirring at our borders. We might as well deal with them together."

"Absolutely not!" Hashirama rebuked sharply. "We finally achieved peace. Would that not drag everyone back into war? I have a suggestion instead."

A flicker of curiosity flashed through Nara Shikaku's eyes. "Oh? Please speak, Lord Hashirama."

"According to the records of our Senju Clan, there are nine monsters in the Shinobi World formed from immense concentrations of chakra. I want to find them and distribute them among the other countries. That way, the military strength of each country will be balanced, and wars will occur less often."

"You mean the Tailed Beasts?" Nara Shikaku pondered for a moment. "It is a solution, but it does not address the root of the problem."

"Then let's do it that way. Once my brother has made up his mind, even I cannot persuade him otherwise." Tobirama was rather helpless, but then his tone shifted. "But there is one thing: the Uchiha Clan must never be allowed to obtain the power of the Tailed Beasts!"

Land of Flame, Flame Hidden Village.

Unlike Takigakure, which had built its village behind a waterfall, Flame Hidden Village had been established openly in front of one. The space behind the waterfall was a core area that only Flame Hidden Village's upper echelon could enter.

At this moment, a meeting was likewise being held within Flame Hidden Village to discuss the village's future development.

A long rectangular conference table stood in the spacious hall, with a strategic map spread across it. Madara sat imposingly at the head of the table, while only Izuna, Miyakenichi, the clan head of the Chinoike Clan, and Chikuma, the clan head of the Taketori Clan, sat below him.

As the Flame Shadow's assistant, Enkō stood beside Madara. Pointing at the strategic map on the table, he said loudly, "Now that we have our own village and have successfully infiltrated the Daimyo Palace, we have taken the first step of our plan. Next, we will enter the second phase: development."

At Madara's nod, Enkō began to speak in an unhurried tone. "First, I propose establishing a Ninja Academy and implementing a shinobi ranking system, dividing the village's shinobi into three ranks: Genin, Chunin, and Jonin. Children may enter the Ninja Academy at the age of six to learn the fundamentals of becoming shinobi. After four years of study, those who graduate successfully will become Genin. Three Genin will be led by one Jonin to carry out simple missions. After building up sufficient experience and passing an overall strength assessment, they will become Chunin. The same applies to Jonin. This will ensure, as much as possible, that a shinobi's strength matches the difficulty of their missions and reduce shinobi casualties."

"Tsk, tsk. A very novel classification system." Izuna was intrigued. "It truly is an effective way to gauge a shinobi's strength."

Miyakenichi nodded in agreement, while Chikuma yawned listlessly.

"With financial support from the Daimyo Palace, shinobi with Jonin-level strength will be able to break free from busy missions aside from training newcomers, allowing them to improve their strength as much as possible and devote themselves to battle. However, there is still one problem: we lack manpower."

Enkō continued, "At present, our village has only three clans. Our numbers are far too few. I suggest taking in more clans. Of course, we do not need just any rabble. When the time comes, I will select some high-quality clans and bring them into our fold. Uh... resistance will inevitably arise during the process of recruiting them. Chikuma, when the time comes, take your clansmen and come with me."

"Hm?" Chikuma snapped awake as if from a dream. "What? Are we fighting? Who are we fighting this time?"

Enkō's mouth twitched. "That's right. We're fighting."

The moment he heard there would be another battle, Chikuma immediately declared excitedly, "Hahaha, no problem! Leave it to us!"

Madara frowned slightly. "You want to handle it personally again? How much longer can your eyes hold out?"

Enkō reassured him, "Uh... don't worry, Brother. This time, we are dealing with second- and third-rate minor clans. They may not be strong, but they are all useful. Subduing them should not require me to use the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan."

Izuna suddenly said with dissatisfaction, "Hey! Enkō, you have been doing everything. Doesn't that make me, your older brother, look useless? How about I go instead?"

Enkō smiled faintly. "Second Brother, don't be impatient. I have found something even more important for you to do."

"What is it?"

"I need you to make a trip to the Lightning Country. Uh... to catch a little pet."