A Shadow Clone slipped into the ramen shop, adding seven-spice powder to the bowl. He overheard the villagers saying, " Delia, the widow from the western part of the village, is being harassed by debt collectors again. Those wealthy gentlemen run a casino and lured her son into gambling. He lost all of his husband's pension, and now they're forcing her to use her house as collateral."
Tsubasa's clone asked, "Isn't Phoenix Tower the only casino in Konoha? And Phoenix Tower doesn't offer loans, does it?"
The villagers sighed, "The inner village only has one casino, Phoenix Tower, but the outer villages have over twenty. Many ninjas were lured into gambling, lost everything, and were then forced to mortgage their houses to pay off their debts. Now, houses in the Konoha Inner Village are incredibly expensive. Many villagers couldn't withstand the pressure of high-interest loans, sold their houses, and moved to the outer villages."
Tsubasa's clone chuckled, "You really know how to find loopholes to infiltrate Konoha! I'll investigate. If anything like this happens again, remember to tell me. You are the people of Konoha, the most powerful. If you encounter any injustice or unfairness, you can come to me, and I will definitely resolve it. I'm taking care of this matter. If there's anything else, speak quickly..."
That evening, Tsubasa issued orders. Shikaboshi Nara, the Anbu Captain, adjusted his glasses. " The Anbu has already intervened in the investigation, but the relationships between those noble families are too complicated..."
Before he could finish speaking, Tsubasa suddenly looked out the window. "Have the Anbu take the Konoha Military Police Force to shut down the casinos. Arrest everyone who dares to lend money at exorbitant interest rates on Konoha territory! Confiscate all illegal proceeds, impose the maximum fines, and settle all debts. Solve the victims' livelihood problems; those without a place to live should be provided with housing; those who want to work should be given jobs; those who are addicted to gambling and unwilling to work, let them be..."
In the Hokage's office, a long table was piled high with scrolls. Five secretaries and fourteen high-ranking officials sat upright. Tsubasa tapped the task list in front of him lightly with his fingertips and asked, " Shikaboshi Nara, shall we begin extending the public satisfaction survey to other villages this month?"
Shikaboshi felt a cold sweat break out on his back. The outer village had a population of over three million; with the limited manpower of the Anbu, conducting an investigation would be an agonizing task. He was about to explain when Tsubasa added with a smile, "We're recruiting ordinary people from the outer village as auxiliary police officers, specifically to help the Konoha Military Police Force handle these miscellaneous tasks."
Uchiha Tomioki immediately replied, " The Konoha Military Police Force will definitely do a good job." Hearing this, Shikaboshi Nara, the head of the Anbu, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The Lord Hokage had indeed considered things thoroughly.
Tsubasa then asked, "How are the newborns doing this year?" After saying that, he took a sip of tea and looked at Tian Flying Swallow.
Tian Flying Swallow replied, "This year, the number of newborns in Neicun increased by 213,123, more than double that of last year."
"Pfft—" Tsubasa spat out a mouthful of water. "Is this some kind of exaggeration? The entire Konoha village only has about 200,000 adults. How could they have so many newborns? Don't bring in children from other villages to impersonate them and scam for newborn welfare! Anbu, investigate this thoroughly!"
Shikaboshi Nara immediately replied, "Yes, Lord Hokage."
Tian Flying Swallow suppressed a laugh and said, " Lord Hokage, I've investigated this matter. According to your new childcare law, they really haven't done anything wrong. This story begins with Shiranui Takeshi, who is the brother of Tian Mai's younger sister. Shiranui Takeshi felt that his family bloodline was too thin, as he was the only male left in the clan after the war. Therefore, he and his wife made a bold decision—to have a child through surrogacy."
He would find women in other villages to help him give birth, then bring the children back to his own village to raise. After a hospital examination, it was discovered that every child was his biological offspring. Using this method, he fathered 63 children in just six years.
According to Konoha's newborn subsidy policy, three children entitle one person to a 300-square-meter apartment. He's acquired 21 rune-enchanted apartments just by having children. With current Konoha apartment prices at 1.1 million yen per square meter, each child brings him over 100 million yen in wealth. Other birth subsidies are also substantial, but none are as extravagant as the housing subsidies. Seeing such huge profits, others have followed suit, leading to the current surge in newborns. I estimate there will be even more next year.
Tsubasa couldn't help but burst into laughter. "No wonder I saw so many pregnant girls on the streets of Konoha! Turns out the main force of childbirth is still in other villages! This brother-in-law of mine, I have to meet him, he's a real talent, I should promote him."
Uchiha Tomioki was furious. "What kind of talk is this! This is utterly outrageous! Lord Hokage, I want to impeach Shiranui Takeshi! He's gone too far! How can anyone have a child like that?"
Hyuga Tensei chimed in, "If this continues, Konoha will soon be overcrowded! This phenomenon must be severely punished!"
Akira Senju disagreed. "Why don't I see a problem? Doesn't our Konoha encourage childbirth?" He was secretly planning to do the same himself, so what's with you all jumping out to oppose it?
Other high-ranking members of Konoha expressed their opinions, with most opposing and a minority supporting. They all looked at Tsubasa, waiting for his decision.
Tsubasa's expression turned serious. "From a moral standpoint, I don't support this approach. But from the perspective of Konoha's laws, since we haven't prohibited it, they haven't broken any rules. First, this was something their family discussed, so there's nothing seriously wrong with it; second, encouraging childbirth is our basic policy—more people means more power. We don't require monogamy either, Konoha currently has more women than men; third, having a large population isn't a problem—we can just build more houses. Konoha can expand outwards. Building hundreds of stories high is no big deal. Konoha needs to develop, and clans need to grow stronger; population is key."
Uchiha Tomioki protested, "That's not fair to us Uchiha! Our clan has always practiced monogamy."
Hyuga Tensei also complained, "We Hyuga Clan are also like this, it's so unfair!"
Tsubasa continued, "Since we're on the topic, let me be blunt. There's no absolute fairness in this world; we leaders can only try our best to maintain relative fairness. We've implemented Nine-Rank Clan System, and so far only the Uchiha Clan is Fourth-Rank Clan. Why can't we expand? Because we don't have enough population. We don't even have Third-Rank Clan yet, let alone Sage-Rank Clan. First-Rank Clan needs over 300,000 people; we're far from needing to restrict births! I don't advocate Shiranui Takeshi's approach, but I don't oppose it either, because it's a good way to quickly grow a clan!"
"Now, under our governance, the children of Konoha can enjoy free, high-quality education, their medical expenses have been reduced by more than half, and there are various rewards for having children. My goal is to encourage everyone to quickly build super clans."
Take Shiranui Takeshi for example. He's the only male heir left in his family. How else can he develop his clan? He's already fathered 63 children, and in a few decades, he could have a hundred or two hundred. If his children use this method to reproduce, four generations could reach a population of 300,000, achieving the scale of the First-Rank Clan.
Moreover, all children receive the highest quality free compulsory education in Konoha, and even the worst will become Elite Chunin. Ten Elite Chunin one Jonin, ten Jonin produce one Elite Jonin, and ten Elite Jonin one Kage Level. Perhaps, one of his descendants will Super Kage a Kage-level shinobi. With good luck, a super genius might even emerge, potentially becoming a Sage -level shinobi. In less than a century, he's grown from a single individual into a top-tier Sage Clan of 300,000 people—impressive, isn't it? All of this is for the long-term development of the clan.
These words left all the Konoha leaders speechless. Previously, everyone thought that Sage-Rank Clan was an unattainable dream, but now, after hearing the Hokage's words, it didn't seem so difficult to achieve.