Fifteen-Year Plan

After approving the Hatake family's documents, Nangō Kumoi did not immediately move on to the next official matter.

The breakthrough in strength had brought him not only confidence, but also clearer, farther-reaching thoughts.

He pushed back his chair and slowly walked to the map of the Ninja World, his deep gaze sweeping across the Land of Fire and the surrounding regions marked in different colors.

Super Kage-level strength gave him the ability to handle most crises on his own.

But governing a village—a shinobi village destined to be swept into even greater turmoil in the future—could never rely on individual might alone.

A timeline he had deliberately suppressed, one he had not yet considered deeply because he was new here and everything needed rebuilding, now surfaced with startling clarity.

The First Shinobi World War had only just ended in bloodshed with the sacrifice of his teacher, the Second Hokage, Tobirama.

But according to his vague memories, the Second Shinobi World War did not seem far off...

He silently calculated.

He could not remember the exact point when the Second Shinobi World War had erupted in the original timeline, but it seemed to have lasted a long time and been even more brutal.

Konoha had endured immense pressure and paid a terrible price. It was during that war that the future Sannin began to rise to prominence, but it had also left countless scars behind.

"If... if the Second Shinobi World War breaks out in fifteen to twenty years..."

Nangō Kumoi's fingers unconsciously tapped the edge of the map.

"Then Konoha may have only around fifteen years to truly build in peace and accumulate strength.

"Perhaps even less, because the friction, probing, and arms race before a great war may consume resources and energy in advance."

Fifteen years!

The number sent a chill through his heart.

Fifteen years was not long for the development cycle of a shinobi village.

Within those fifteen years, he had to complete Konoha's transition from "postwar recovery" to "initial prosperity," then into a village with powerful resilience against risk and deterrent strength.

This was not as simple as building a few houses and raising living standards a little.

"These past few days, I've focused on pensions, housing, improving livelihoods, institutional reform, and ideological guidance... That isn't wrong. Those are the foundations."

He murmured quietly, but his eyes sharpened.

"But we absolutely cannot leave people—especially outsiders—with the impression that Konoha's new Hokage only knows how to build things and is weak enough to bully.

"Nor can we let our own people become immersed in temporary peace and forget that the Ninja World has never truly been peaceful."

He returned to his desk, pulled out a brand-new blank scroll, and wrote at the very top:

[Konoha Fifteen-Year Integrated Development and War Readiness Plan Outline (Top Secret)]

His brush paused, and his gaze became incomparably deep.

His breakthrough in strength was like polishing a mirror, reflecting a clearer and more urgent timeline.

The smoke of the First Shinobi World War had not yet fully dispersed, yet the vague but heavy shadow of the Second Shinobi World War in his memories seemed to be faintly emerging twenty years ahead.

"Konoha has only around fifteen years of a 'golden window' to develop peacefully and accumulate strength."

In fifteen years, they had to not only heal their wounds and restore prosperity, but also turn the village into a fortress capable of deterring or resisting the next full-scale war.

Any slackness could lead to irreversible ruin.

Taking a deep breath, he let his brush fly across the page and began sketching this dual blueprint of "development" and "war readiness":

Livelihood Development: Conceal Soldiers Among the People, Forge a Resilient Foundation

Housing Project:

It was not merely a home that sheltered people from wind and rain, but also the first line of defense in the future.

Community planning had to reserve clear, sturdy evacuation routes and underground shelter spaces.

Beyond comfort and environmental protection, building material research needed to explore properties such as "impact resistance," "fire resistance," and preliminary "resistance to chakra aftershock disturbances."

Food and Strategic Supplies:

Achieving food self-sufficiency was a livelihood issue, but also a wartime lifeline.

They had to establish a systematic strategic reserve system, develop long-term storage technology, and plan emergency wartime measures for rapid production increases and distribution.

Medical System:

Basic medical ninjutsu had to be widely taught, the scale of medical ninja training expanded, and a tiered treatment system established, along with mechanisms for rapid wartime casualty transport and centralized treatment.

An efficient, resilient medical system directly determined combat casualty rates and postwar recovery capacity.

At that thought, a vague image of Pain's devastating strike flashed through his mind, and his brush stabbed heavily into the page.

Extreme Scenario Planning:

Key facilities such as hospitals, schools, and command centers had to consider dispersed layouts and reinforced main structures.

Important functional areas, such as operating rooms and core warehouses, should be planned underground or given special protection.

A permanent professional rescue force had to be established and equipped with specialized tools for dealing with ninjutsu disasters. In peacetime, they would handle disaster relief; in wartime, they would become the core damage-control and search-and-rescue force.

Transportation and Communications:

Improve the road network and prepare to establish a chakra communication system in the future.

This was not merely the lifeblood of the economy, but also the lifeline of strategic mobility, information transmission, and even emergency evacuation.

Industry and Technology: Build a Road in the Open, Advance in Secret

Industrial development had to progress in tandem with the covert enhancement of military potential.

Two-Way Conversion Channels:

All civilian technology research, such as chakra-conductive materials, engineering ninjutsu optimization, and efficient energy utilization, had to be assessed for potential military value.

Conversely, some non-core military technologies that could be declassified should be released for civilian use in a planned manner, raising overall industrial and technological standards.

Specialized Strategic Exports:

Future foreign trade could not consist only of ordinary goods.

They could export strategically valuable supplies such as "high-efficiency battlefield medical kits," "portable defensive barrier scrolls," and "special-environment survival equipment."

While acquiring funds and resources, they could quietly exert influence and even establish dependence on their technical standards.

Establish the "Konoha Comprehensive Technical Research Institute":

On the surface, it would focus on livelihood technology, agricultural improvements, and infrastructure techniques.

Secretly, it would establish the "Ninjutsu and Equipment Development Department" to explore new techniques and potential "otherworld-ninjutsu" fusion projects, with absolute secrecy and control.

Teacher Tobirama's traditions could not be abandoned. In the past, they guarded against the Uchiha; now, they had to guard against the entire Ninja World.

Talent and Training: Deepen the Roots, Await the Blossoms

This was the most critical part, and also the part that made Nangō Kumoi feel most deeply that even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice.

Ninja Academy Reform:

Gradually add compulsory subjects such as basic military theory, wilderness survival, small-unit tactical coordination, and battlefield first aid, while steadily raising the standards for physical conditioning and basic ninjutsu training.

This was a plan for a century. It had to be carried out subtly and could not be rushed.

Small-Unit Organization Adjustments:

Promote smaller Jonin-led squad structures. This would not only allow for more detailed teaching, but also make it easier to conduct intensive coordination training in tighter, more elite groups during peacetime, enabling them to quickly transform into effective combat units in wartime.

Comprehensive Training Ground Construction:

Plan the construction of comprehensive training grounds simulating complex terrain and combat environments, to be used for realistic combat training, testing new tactics, and large-scale joint exercises.

Ideological and Loyalty Education:

The increasingly powerful armed forces had to remain in the hands of disciplined, honorable shinobi loyal to Konoha and its correct development principles.

This was the foundation for preventing any form of internal collapse or tragedy in the future.