Future Plans

Another month passed in the blink of an eye.

Year One of Flame Hidden Village (corresponding to Year One of Konoha, though slight differences existed due to changes in the timeline). The Five Great Nations had each established shinobi villages, and the other smaller nations followed suit. Among them, the Land of Waterfalls had been renamed the Land of Flame, with the Uchiha Clan taking the lead in establishing the Hidden Flame Village. The village's symbol bore the design of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and its first village chief, Uchiha Madara, was granted the title of "Flame Shadow."

Shinobi villages from small nations had no right to confer the title of "Kage." Even if they proclaimed one themselves, they would not be recognized by the shinobi villages of the great nations. But the one declaring himself Kage was the Uchiha Clan, a powerful and prestigious clan acknowledged throughout the Shinobi World. Backed by such strength, the other villages truly had nothing to say.

Land of Fire, Konoha.

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

Konoha had already begun to take on the shape it would have in later generations. The Hokage Office Building beneath Shadow Rock was not as grand as its future counterpart, but it already had a dedicated conference hall. The hall was full at that moment, yet every face carried a trace of solemnity.

"Hmph, Flame Hidden Village. I told you the Uchiha Clan's ambitions didn't 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, having removed his armor, sat at the head of the table. Hearing this, he scratched his head and said, "Uh... Madara has always hated losing since we were children. He must be unwilling to accept it, but there's no need for everyone to worry. As long as I'm 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 gleamed in his narrow eyes. "The Daimyo Palace of the Land of Waterfalls was actually willing to change its nation's name. Either the Daimyo Palace has extremely deep interests tied to the Uchiha Clan, or... the Uchiha Clan used some kind of coercive method. For example... 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." Nara Shikaku's tone was grave. "But if that is truly the case, it means the Uchiha Clan has grand ambitions."

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

"If you ask me, we should take the initiative and eliminate future trouble." Tobirama's gaze was icy. "The shinobi of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind have also been stirring at our borders. We might as well deal with them together."

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

Curiosity flashed through Nara Shikaku's eyes. "Oh? Please tell us, Lord Hashirama."

"According to the records of our Senju Clan, there are nine monsters in the Shinobi World formed from immense masses of chakra. I want to find them and distribute them among the other nations. That way, the military strength between nations will be balanced, and wars will become less frequent."

"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 makes up his mind, even I can't persuade him otherwise." Tobirama was quite helpless, but then his tone shifted. "But one thing is certain: the Uchiha Clan must never 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 openly built in front of one. The space behind the waterfall was a core area accessible only to the upper echelons of Flame Hidden Village.

At that moment, Flame Hidden Village was also holding a meeting to discuss the village's future development.

A large rectangular conference table stood in the spacious hall, with a strategic map spread across it. Madara sat boldly 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, Yan Hong stood beside Madara. Pointing at the strategic map on the table, he declared, "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, Yan Hong began speaking 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 can enter the Ninja Academy at the age of six to learn the basic knowledge needed to become 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 gaining sufficient experience and passing an overall strength assessment, they can become Chunin. The same applies to Jonin. This will ensure that a shinobi's strength matches the difficulty of their missions as much as possible, reducing shinobi casualties."

"Tsk tsk, what a novel ranking system." Izuna was intrigued. "It is indeed 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 can break free from the busy cycle of missions after training newcomers, allowing them to improve their strength as much as possible and devote themselves to combat. But there is still one problem: we lack manpower."

Yan Hong continued, "At present, our village has only three clans. Our numbers are simply too small. I suggest taking in more clans. Of course, we do not need every motley bunch. When the time comes, I will select several high-quality clans and recruit them into our ranks. Uh... there will inevitably be resistance during the recruitment process. Chikuma, when the time comes, bring your clansmen and make a trip with me."

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

Yan Hong'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 yourself again? How much longer can your eyes hold out?"

Yan Hong reassured him, "Uh... don't worry, Brother. The ones we're targeting this time are all second- or third-rate small clans. They may not be strong, but they are useful. Subduing them should not require me to use the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan."

Izuna suddenly said in dissatisfaction, "Hey! Yan Hong, you're doing everything. Doesn't that make me, your older brother, seem useless? Why not let me go instead?"

Yan Hong smiled faintly. "Don't rush, Second Brother. I found something even more important for you to do."

"What is it?"

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