"These are all things you need to deal with. I've already handled most of them for you, but I can't make decisions on these. Take a look first, and once you're done...
If there's no problem, just sign them!
If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving!"
After bringing Bai Ye into the office, Shikaku piled the remaining mountain of documents in front of him and prepared to head home.
There was no finishing it!
There was absolutely no finishing it!
Granted, plenty of these matters had to wait until Bai Ye returned for a decision.
But even the petty little things had left him feeling ready to explode.
"Wait, Shikaku. Just give me a rundown. There's also something I want to discuss with you afterward!"
Bai Ye called Shikaku back.
How was he supposed to read this many documents?
Just as he'd thought...
Becoming Hokage was sheer torture.
If he had to handle all these things himself, it would be the death of him.
With such a useful helper around...
Why let him go to waste?
Besides, he still had something to discuss with Shikaku.
Of course he couldn't just let Shikaku leave!
At Bai Ye's words, Shikaku stiffly turned his head, his face full of resignation.
So he wasn't even allowed to leave now?!
These hadn't been his responsibility in the first place!
Could a Hokage really be this lazy?!
Which past Hokage had ever been like Bai Ye?
His laziness was simply astounding!
"Fine. I'll only give you the rundown. The final decisions are yours!"
Then Shikaku explained that ninja from Kirigakure had come to invite him there to discuss a major business deal.
Ninja from the Rain Ninja had also arrived, saying they wanted to discuss business with Konoha.
But the Rain Ninja wanted to negotiate here rather than have Bai Ye travel to them.
Next came some miscellaneous matters.
For instance, they had notified Tsunade, but her response had been unequivocal: she absolutely would not return.
They had also notified Jiraiya, but he had things to deal with lately, so it might be a while before he returned.
That was about it.
After hearing all this, Bai Ye pondered for a moment. He wasn't particularly concerned about the other matters.
His main concern was Kirigakure.
As for the others, such as the Rain Ninja, perhaps their visit had something to do with the upheaval in Konoha.
Nagato probably wanted to send someone over to investigate.
As for why he hadn't used Zetsu or Obito, Bai Ye had no way of knowing.
By now, Itachi had most likely joined the Akatsuki as well.
Perhaps Itachi was also a factor. After all, the Uchiha had won, yet Itachi had still defected.
That was clearly different from the anime.
In the anime, Uchiha Itachi had wiped out the Uchiha Clan and become a rogue ninja, but the current situation was very strange.
It would be perfectly natural for Nagato to send someone to investigate.
Still...
If Nagato had sent someone, they ought to be a fairly important figure.
An Akatsuki member?!
They had so many rogue ninja, but sending any of those would be out of the question.
They would be identified the moment they arrived.
Nagato certainly couldn't come himself, much less send the Deva Path, so Bai Ye already had a pretty good idea who their visitor was.
"Was the visitor from Amegakure a purple-haired kunoichi?"
"Yes... you know her?"
Shikaku gave Bai Ye a surprised look. Hearing that, he wondered whether Bai Ye actually knew someone from the Rain Ninja.
"No. I just happened to catch sight of her on my way back."
That confirmed it!
It was Konan!
He hadn't expected Konan to come herself.
If it was Konan, it seemed he could set a new plan in motion.
He had been wondering how to approach the Rain Ninja.
At present, the Akatsuki was actually divided into two factions.
Of course, one was Nagato's public-facing faction, while the other was headed by the Masked Man. At the moment, Zetsu was its only other member.
Everyone else currently followed Nagato.
Besides, the Akatsuki was full of talented people. Apart from a few uncontrollable individuals, recruiting the others would bolster his fighting strength.
Unless it was necessary, Bai Ye naturally had no intention of going to war with them.
Besides, Konan had always been deeply hostile toward and suspicious of the Masked Man.
That was something Bai Ye could use.
What surprised him, however, was that Konan had actually come to Konoha.
Although Hanzō had caused Yahiko's death, Danzo had also been involved.
If Danzo hadn't worked with Hanzō back then, the Akatsuki would never have suffered that devastating disaster.
Konan wouldn't have been captured, leading to Yahiko's death and Nagato having both legs blasted apart.
So Konan ought to have been unwilling to set foot in Konoha, at least in this manner.
Yet she had come anyway.
In that case, he would have to be a little careful when approaching her later.
He couldn't scare her off.
That would interfere with his plans.
Kirigakure's invitation to discuss cooperation, on the other hand, was rather ambiguous.
After all, Kirigakure was currently under Obito's control.
So did Obito want him there to discuss cooperation, or to recreate what Kinkaku and Ginkaku had done to Tobirama Senju back then?
Bai Ye felt the latter was more likely.
More importantly, what could Kirigakure and Konoha possibly cooperate on right now?!
Kirigakure was still closed off.
Viewed that way, there was naturally little scope for cooperation.
But would he refuse to go?!
Absolutely not!
This was an opportunity Obito was handing him!
Bai Ye had been wondering how to get involved in Kirigakure's affairs.
Showing up uninvited would have been rather abrupt, but with Obito inviting him, that was a different story.
There was still talent to be found in the current Kirigakure.
Hozuki Suigetsu, Yuki Haku, and Kimimaro Kaguya.
As long as he found them, he could take them all away. There was no need to leave them for Orochimaru.
Besides, wasn't Obito still ruling Kirigakure?
He could put an end to Obito's rule while he was at it.
If he only had the Mangekyo Sharingan, Bai Ye certainly wouldn't have gone to Kirigakure.
But now he had senjutsu, a sage body, and eternal eyes.
If he still didn't dare go, wouldn't those abilities be wasted on him?!
Besides, Obito wasn't the only one with Kamui. He had it too, and his was Dual Kamui!
"I understand all that. Arrange a meeting with the Kirigakure ninja first. As for Tsunade, I'll go see her myself later."
"You're going personally, Lord Hokage?!"
After hearing Bai Ye's reply, Shikaku's expression turned a little odd.
Good grief...
Bai Ye was going to handle it himself?!
"Wouldn't that be a little inappropriate... given your current relationship..."
Shikaku couldn't shake the feeling that if Bai Ye went to find Tsunade like this...
They might actually end up fighting.
For starters, one was an Uchiha and the other a Senju.
On top of that, Bai Ye had killed Hiruzen Sarutobi, although Tsunade might no longer care after reading about Nawaki in the newspaper.
But with Tsunade's temper, meeting Bai Ye could easily set her off!
"I'm definitely going. Konoha is short on medical personnel right now, after all. It would be a good thing if Tsunade returned to train some for us!"
The stronger Konoha became, the greater the Uchiha's clan fortune would be!
So in Bai Ye's eyes, Tsunade's return was definitely even more important than Jiraiya's.
For one thing, Jiraiya's return would, at most, add another Kage-level combatant to Konoha.
Once Tsunade overcame her fear of blood, she could do the same, and more importantly, she could train medical ninja for the village.
So Bai Ye could leave Jiraiya alone, but he absolutely had to bring Tsunade back.
Seeing that Bai Ye had already made up his mind, Shikaku said no more.
There were only two possible outcomes anyway.
Either Tsunade would refuse to return, just as before.
Or Bai Ye would actually manage to persuade her to come back.
Her return would naturally be better, but if she refused, things would simply remain as they were.
"What about the Rain Ninja?"
"I'll approach the Rain Ninja later. Shikaku, there's something very important I want to discuss with you."
Seeing Bai Ye's serious expression, Shikaku suddenly grew solemn as well.
Earlier, he had assumed Bai Ye was only saying that to make him stay, then trick him into doing more work.
He understood now.
He was allowed to leave, but the work still had to get done.
And Shikaku also understood why Bai Ye wanted to establish that reform council of elders!
It turned out this bastard just didn't want to handle government affairs. Anything he could dump on someone else, he absolutely wouldn't do himself!
So many people, himself included, had thought Bai Ye was doing it to improve the village. Clearly, he was doing it to improve his own life and give himself an excuse to slack off!
So when Bai Ye said there was something important he wanted to discuss...
Shikaku had thought it was bullshit!
Utter bullshit!
But now that Bai Ye had said it again, he suddenly felt it might really be something important.
But...
Hadn't the matter with the Land of Fire been resolved?!
Could it be about Kumogakure?!
Kumogakure was now clearly considering war with Konoha, so Bai Ye was also preparing to fight them.
Was that the important matter Bai Ye wanted to discuss?!
"Actually, I've been considering something. If ninja have no missions to do, could they do something else? I want to develop commerce and address people's livelihoods in the village.
Not just ninja, but civilians too. We need to include them all and make the village more prosperous. What do you think of that idea?"
Bai Ye explained his thoughts. In his view, this would also address some of the Shinobi World's problems at their root.
Why was the Shinobi World filled with war?!
Wasn't it because that was how its system worked?
Ninja, as the central force of this world, existed to carry out missions.
But there were only so many missions. Even if he eventually unified the Shinobi World, this issue would still have to be addressed.
Without missions, he couldn't just leave all those ninja waiting to die, could he?!
So they would definitely have to develop commerce and other industries.
Otherwise, relying solely on missions would probably leave most ninja starving to death.
And to change that situation, ordinary people needed a way to make a living too.
They shouldn't have to become ninja just to survive.
Then ordinary people wouldn't fight tooth and nail to become ninja.
That problem had actually more or less been resolved during Kakashi's era.
Although Kakashi was called the weakest Hokage.
During his time, however, Kakashi had focused everything on infrastructure, greatly improving living standards for both ninja and civilians.
He had accomplished something no other Hokage had managed.
People's livelihoods!
That was Kakashi's greatest contribution as Hokage.
And if Bai Ye wanted to unify the Shinobi World, he had to consider that.
He couldn't keep governing under the same old model.
When Shikaku heard Bai Ye's words, he was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected Bai Ye to be thinking so far ahead.
Develop commerce?!
That was probably something none of the previous Hokage had ever considered.
Even when they had pursued development, it had been limited. But judging by Bai Ye's attitude, he clearly wasn't just talking.
Did he actually have something in mind?!
"But this isn't something we can change overnight. If we're going to develop commerce, we first need to identify suitable industries, right? Besides, if we really do this, how will we distribute the profits?!"
Shikaku thought Bai Ye's idea was good.
But they still needed industries to work with. What would happen if they came into conflict with another clan or someone else?
And they had to balance the interests within the village, didn't they?!
Surely Bai Ye ought to put the village first now, and the Uchiha second?!
The Uchiha were already rich enough, weren't they?!
Many clans actually weren't doing all that well these days.
That made the distribution of profits very important.
Bai Ye had ousted his predecessor, Hiruzen Sarutobi, over the unequal distribution of benefits.
Surely Bai Ye couldn't turn out just like Hiruzen Sarutobi now?!
"Let's lay the groundwork along two tracks: infrastructure and food. Then we'll advance technology."
The Shinobi World did have technology. It wasn't completely devoid of it.
To carry out his reforms in this world, he first had to ensure adequate infrastructure and food supplies.
Once everyone had enough to eat, they could start considering other things.
Infrastructure would stimulate the economy, while technology could create more jobs.
That was Bai Ye's thinking. After all, if people couldn't even fill their stomachs, everything else was just empty talk.
"Well... Lord Hokage, it seems you've already thought this through yourself..."
After listening to Bai Ye, Shikaku finally caught on.
It seemed Bai Ye had worked all this out long ago.
He could clearly tell that Bai Ye had given it serious thought.
"Then what role should shinobi play in all this?! And the clans?"
Shikaku asked curiously.
Since Bai Ye had thought of using infrastructure and food production to help the whole village prosper, there was another question.
What role would shinobi play in it?
"The role shinobi will play... we'll let time tell. We're all feeling our way forward. We could have Earth Release shinobi build infrastructure and Water Release shinobi improve the soil, things like that?!
"In any case... there'll always be a use for shinobi. What do you think of my idea?"
Bai Ye wouldn't look down on everyone from some godlike perspective and assume he was superior.
With Shikaku being one of the sharpest minds in this world, there was no reason not to consult him.
Bai Ye felt that, for some questions, he could ask others for their opinions.
"It's quite good, but there are plenty of details that need refining. For instance, how do we distribute the profits, and how do we keep both the ninja clans and the civilians satisfied?
"Then there are those technological issues you mentioned. We could break those down further too, but overall, this can absolutely work!"
Konoha finally had an administration-minded Hokage!!!
Even if this administration-minded Hokage was incredibly strong in battle!
At last, someone who did real, practical work for the people.
A Hokage of the people!!!
Shikaku suddenly felt that he had made the right choice back then.
Perhaps having Bai Ye become Hokage really was better than keeping Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Not a moment was spent mourning Hiruzen Sarutobi. Taking the stage now was the strongest administration-minded Hokage, Uchiha Bai Ye!
Before you continue