Although Shadow Clone Zero did not understand why the original body seemed to foresee every step, having everything arranged in advance felt truly comfortable. All he had to do was keep acting as a mascot.
And reality was indeed as he had imagined. The Land of Fire's economy soared, every system underwent a wave of reform, and old burdens were cast aside. Everything looked wonderful, but the one thing that remained unchanged was the population. Its growth had remained painfully slow in recent years.
Not only was Shadow Clone Zero himself puzzled about why the population cap had been locked in place, but so were the high-ranking officials under him.
In the twenty-third year of the Land of Fire, another plan was launched. Yet this time, fierce backlash erupted as soon as the announcement was released.
"People? Where am I supposed to get people for you?"
Shadow Clone Zero looked strangely at the Human Resources Department minister standing before him. Why was he being asked to provide people?
"The Research Department needs people, the Management Office needs people, even the hospitals are asking me for them! Lord Yuan, if you don't come up with a solution soon, I'm quitting as Human Resources Department minister!"
"Don't be like that..."
The newly announced policy was military expansion. They needed both ordinary people and shinobi, at a ratio of ten to one.
It sounded simple enough, but the specific numbers that followed were somewhat abrupt.
A standing army of 1.5 million and a ninjutsu force of 100,000. For the Land of Fire, whose population was gradually approaching 500 million, this did not seem like much of a problem. But... once it was put into practice, they discovered that there truly were not enough people.
"How could there not be enough people? Last year's