When the Medical Team returned to Konoha Ninja Village, Kazemori Masaki personally came to welcome them as Hokage, expressing his appreciation for the medical ninja who had worked so hard in a foreign land. Villagers who had heard the news lined both sides of the street, watching the Medical Team curiously and chatting among themselves, leaving the team a little embarrassed.
Fusang and Ise, who had arrived with the Medical Team, felt intimidated by such a grand reception. They stayed hidden in the crowd, afraid to show themselves, but whenever they raised their heads to look around Konoha Ninja Village, undisguised astonishment filled their eyes.
Konoha Ninja Village looked nothing like a village. Its streets were wide, its buildings looked newly constructed, and it had buildings and public facilities they had never even heard of. The villagers wore clean, tidy clothes, and their faces lacked the haggard look of the people in the Land of Rain. It was clear that they lived well.
So this was what Konoha Ninja Village was like? Even the place Fusang had lived before had never been so prosperous, and the Land of Whirlpools had been an entire country. In population, Konoha Ninja Village could not compare with even a small nation, yet conditions within the village seemed better than those in a national capital.
Fusang did not know that this was the result of Kazemori Masaki's dedicated development efforts. Using the revenue generated by commerce, he had signed numerous decrees that had transformed Konoha Ninja Village. Its interconnected streets, districts divided by function, and comprehensive laws had already surpassed those of any other place in this era.
However, this was also because Konoha Ninja Village did not cover a very large area. Its population was large only by a village's standards, and it had