Though he was speechless, the matter lay right before him. He sighed inwardly and resigned himself to getting to work.
He picked up the document at the top of the stack and read its contents:
The fifteenth:
Today, Luofeng Mine yielded 1,800 jin of iron ore. It has been transported to the Clan Land and received by the warehouse. Clan head, please approve its storage.
Approved!
The fifteenth:
Today, three ordinary clan members were lost in Rosy Night Forest. Upon investigation, only three gnawed skeletons were found. It is preliminarily suspected that wild beasts were responsible. Clan head, please order the extermination of the wild beasts in the surrounding forests.
Approved!
After half a day had passed, he looked at the documents still remaining—well over half the stack—and could not help rubbing his eyes.
"There aren't many major matters, but there sure are a lot of trivial ones. And they all need the clan head's approval. Plus, spring's here, so the beasts around us are starting to stir."
"Huh? Haru seems to still be outside. She can give me a hand."
Only then did he remember that the young woman who had been taking care of him was still outside airing things out, so he called Uchiha Haru in.
"Here's what we'll do. Sort the minor matters from the major ones. Anything that hasn't caused deaths or economic losses counts as minor. Understand?"
Uchiha Haru nodded blankly, then asked with some concern:
"But... is this really all right? I'm only..."
"Hey, I'm the acting clan head now. What I say goes!"
"O-Okay..."
And so, Uchiha Gen became the second generation of hands-off shopkeepers. He sat nearby drinking tea while Haru sorted the documents.
After a while, only after finishing a cup of tea did Uchiha Gen slowly pick up the documents categorized as major matters and begin reading them.
The eighteenth:
Today, 153 clan members with talent for ninjutsu have been received. Clan head, please make arrangements.
Name list...
"Hmm? New clan members?"
Uchiha Gen frowned in thought. Looking over the names, he found that they were generally five or six years old.
"Children?"
Uchiha Gen suddenly understood. Of course.
Besides the ninja forces within the Clan Land, the Uchiha had many clan members scattered throughout the Land of Fire who lacked ninja talent. Likewise, any members born in the Clan Land without talent would be sent away.
Some were assigned to manage clan businesses, while others were sent to engage in other trades. Though these clan members could not become ninja, they carried the bloodline. If their descendants were born with ninja talent, they would be sent back.
"No wonder. If the clan only had these few thousand people, how could it possibly keep up with fighting and killing every day? So this is where it all comes from."
He checked the archived files again and discovered that, from the first half of the year until now, nearly another thousand children had been registered one after another.
With this influx of fresh blood, the Uchiha Clan's strength had been replenished. Experienced clan members were promoted and assigned to train the newcomers in batches.
However, Uchiha Gen had only just taken over clan affairs and was unsure where to assign these new members. He simply set the matter aside to let Madara decide when he returned.
He then picked up the next document...
Senju Clan Grounds.
Tobirama was also reviewing documents with a stern expression, frowning from time to time.
"Why have so many new industries suddenly emerged in the Land of Fire lately? Could they have something to do with the new Daimyo? It seems an investigation is needed."
For some unknown reason, many things never seen before had suddenly appeared on the market recently. The moment they emerged, they received widespread praise and spread like a virus, rapidly swallowing up the market. Their growth was beyond imagination.
"The Southern Grand General's Residence's uprising failed? What a useless bunch!"
At present, aside from the occasional conflicts between ninja villages, the world of ordinary people in the Land of Fire was equally unsettled. Various forces occupied mountains and declared themselves kings, carving out territories and establishing themselves as Daimyo. Strife never ceased.
The ninja clans made a fortune from war. They not only accepted mercenary missions, but also occasionally raided wealthy merchants to strengthen themselves.
In the blink of an eye, two months passed.
The Uchiha Clan began a new battle plan.
Under Madara's guidance, Uchiha Gen became increasingly adept at handling government affairs. Combined with his understanding from his previous life, he leapt to become the most prestigious person in the Uchiha Clan.
After all, under Gen's leadership, the clan's economy had doubled. Everyone received tangible benefits, so how could they not be grateful?
"So normally, when the distance is too great, messages are delivered through summoned beasts?"
Uchiha Haru answered earnestly, "Yes, Lord Yuan. With the Summoning Technique and Reverse Summoning Technique, this is the fastest way to send messages over long distances. And the Ninja Cat Clan has faithfully supported us Uchiha for generations, so there is absolutely no need to worry about their loyalty."
Hearing Haru say this, Uchiha Gen nodded slowly. In that case, the intelligence from the ten pieces he had placed on the board was real.
He had not expected that in only a few months, those ten outer clan members had all established their own territories and gained considerable standing in business.
The combined net profit from this spring alone had reached ten million ryo.
"Well, reply to them. Tell them to keep using it as capital and gradually expand their scale. If they have the capacity, they can also establish an underground intelligence network. They can use Bounty Stations as their selling point and bounties as bait to issue missions, gathering intelligence from every angle."
"Yes!"
Ten million ryo was not even enough to cover a few weeks of food expenses for the entire Uchiha Clan. It was neither here nor there.
But this was only the beginning. If it developed for a year or two, the profits would be unimaginable.
After Haru left, Uchiha Gen looked at the empty desk and muttered to himself:
"As expected, getting billions of steps ahead lets you seize the initiative. I'll claim every industry in advance and bring the underground Bounty Stations under my control as well. Then I won't lack money for experiments in the future."
As a scientist, funding was a crucial link. He had no desire to be like Orochimaru, having to placate his financier Danzo for his research, painstakingly control small countries, and even misappropriate funds from a certain organization.
That would not only be troublesome, but would also make it easy for others to target him. Even if he established laboratories all over the world, people would eventually come knocking.
As he thought, Uchiha Gen began to doze off. When he woke, he found that night had come again.
"Haru?"
"I'm here, my lord."
"What time is it now?"
"It's already ten."
Ten o'clock? Time really flew...
"Let's go back."
"Yes."
Uchiha Haru had married in her early years, but her husband had unfortunately died in battle later. She had only been twenty-three then.
Though they had been married for quite some time, she had unfortunately never left her husband any children. Now, she was gradually approaching thirty.
That was already considered advanced age in the Naruto World, but now that she followed Uchiha Gen every day and no longer had to undertake all kinds of dangerous missions, perhaps her lifespan could exceed the average limit.
On the way back, the two chatted idly, and their conversation turned to the Ninja Cat Clan they had discussed during the day.
"Are all the summoned beasts in our clan from the Ninja Cat Clan?"
"No. On the contrary, very few in the clan have signed contracts with the Ninja Cat Clan."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Because the Ninja Cat Clan cannot provide effective combat power, so..."
Before you continue