Stronger Than Anyone Else

In the month that Oguri Hayashi stayed in Takigakure, the entire village underwent a transformation as if reborn.

Large tracts of wasteland began to appear in front of the villagers' homes.

Only now did those villagers realize how easy it was for ninja to cultivate land with ninjutsu. In Takigakure, where water resources were abundant, ninja only needed to use Earth Release to easily divide the land into 100m x 100m squares. This allowed them to effortlessly turn fertile silt into rice paddies. Even the most foolish person could see that once rice was planted in such paddies, the yield would be astonishing.

The ninja had already done their part, and the villagers no longer needed them to teach them how to proceed. They began transplanting rice seedlings and farming the land.

Normal soil modified by chakra would become very soft. To harden the soil, one would likely need to increase chakra output. However, if wood was used as a framework, with soil covering it and the wood deeply embedded in the ground, and finally baked with Fire Release, the embankment would become extremely sturdy.

There were no lakes upstream of the entire village. If an embankment failed to hold back a lake, it would cause floods and bring destruction to the villages below. Therefore, there were no lakes or reservoirs upstream. All the waterfalls were rerouted using Earth Release and then consolidated into a low-lying basin. After building an embankment with wood mixed with wet soil, a lake was formed.

In the future, this lake would teem with a large number of fish, and even attract other predators.

However, this was undeniably a good thing for Takigakure. Putting aside other benefits, the original lake had become fertile farmland. The fish in the lake, which were originally difficult to catch, were now swimming in the rice paddies, making them incredibly easy to catch. The villagers of Takigakure could practically lie by the paddy fields and scoop up fish.

But for the residents of Takigakure, after escaping the basic problem of sustenance, they began to become interested in ninjutsu.

People are not interested in things that do not benefit them.

If ninjutsu could protect them, they would certainly be interested in ninjutsu.

However, they had hunters protecting them and didn't need to spend their own money to post missions and hire ninja. Thus, the village lived a life of extreme peace, detached from worldly affairs. Most ninja were primarily used to protect the village. In a place like Takigakure, ninja had no real outlet for their skills, and the villagers naturally didn't understand the value of ninja.

In contrast to ordinary civilians, ninja did not need to participate in wars. The training of ninja was even more arduous than the lives of ordinary people. Both ninjutsu and taijutsu training were extremely demanding. It wasn't uncommon for a five or six-year-old Uchiha Sasuke in the manga to burn his mouth and lips with the Great Fireball Technique. This was also why the people of Takigakure lacked motivation to become ninja.

But now, these ordinary people finally saw the power of ninja—their productivity.

This gave them ample motivation to become ninja.

If a child who had learned ninjutsu could help them build a house, saving them ten to fifteen days of work, they would be willing to let their sons learn ninjutsu.

This was human nature.

When ninjutsu could save them time and effort, the people of Takigakure would throw themselves into learning ninjutsu with unprecedented enthusiasm.

"You plan to teach them ninjutsu?" Tsunade asked, somewhat incredulously.

She had already witnessed many things here, learning a great deal of valuable knowledge that she had sent back to Konoha, which was why she had stayed for so long.

Konoha was not currently at war, and with Orochimaru and Jiraiya there, she didn't have to worry about any problems in Konoha, so her hemophobia-induced leave was perfectly justified.

However, on this matter, she held different opinions and insights regarding Oguri Hayashi.

"Are you trying to turn all of them into ninja? Their situation will become very dangerous!" Tsunade reacted intensely.

Not killing civilians was an unwritten rule among ninja, though there were instances of eliminating witnesses for certain missions. However, unless absolutely necessary, civilians were not involved in ninja battles.

But now, if these ordinary civilians learned chakra and ninjutsu, they would be different.

They would be the reserve force among ninja, the reserves in war, ready to draw a kunai at any moment to kill their enemies. If war ever broke out in Takigakure, anyone who could become a ninja would be killed by the enemy.

Oguri Hayashi's decision put them in a very dangerous position.

Ordinary Takigakure ninja and villagers lacked this common sense, but Tsunade had it, hence her intense reaction.

"If they are in this village and receive the village's protection, then they should share its fate," Oguri Hayashi said, looking at Tsunade. "Learning ninjutsu can help the village and help them live better lives. They are not just helping the village; they are helping themselves."

"This place is different from Konoha."

The ordinary people of Konoha could hide under the protection of Konoha's ninja and live their lives as civilians forever. However, the villagers here had to learn ninjutsu to protect themselves and increase the overall productivity of Takigakure.

"Besides, why don't you promote chakra cultivation methods among ordinary people?" Oguri Hayashi said, partly understanding and partly confused. "Is it to control and monopolize knowledge and privileges?"

"Only those loyal to the village and the Hokage are qualified to receive the Transformation Jutsu, Clone Jutsu, and Substitution Jutsu?" Oguri Hayashi's words left Tsunade speechless.

"Only the direct disciples of your Hokage can cultivate the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Super Strength Technique?"

"If they aren't your direct ninja, even Konoha ninja aren't qualified to learn them, are they?"

"It's not like that." Tsunade's defense was weak. Oguri Hayashi's words hit the core of the issue, rendering her unable to speak. "If enemy village ninja were to acquire these techniques, it could bring immense losses to Konoha."

"That's a complete excuse," Oguri Hayashi shook his head. "If ten people learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, even if three of them defected, the benefits to Konoha would outweigh the drawbacks. This is something even a child can calculate."

Tsunade was dumbfounded and speechless. Deep down, she vaguely knew that Oguri Hayashi's words might, possibly, perhaps, be correct.

"You are simply afraid that if there are too many ordinary people who can use ninjutsu, and even a significant number of geniuses emerge, you won't be able to control them."

"But you can't stop eating because you're afraid of choking."

"I am not afraid that they will rebel against me after becoming powerful."

Oguri Hayashi tilted his chin up, his arrogance evident. "I will be stronger than anyone else!"