After sleeping for six hours, Yuzuru had no choice but to get up and head to the president's office again.
On the way, he looked at the Sea Capital, where everything still needed rebuilding, and felt a headache coming on for the first time.
There was too much to do.
He had dared to take sweeping action against the nobles and the daimyo and keep the common people settled because he was strong enough himself. With Rin's deterrent presence as well, no one in the entire Land of Water could stir up any trouble.
But after resolving those major problems, there were still plenty of minor ones.
In the original story, Mei Terumi had taken a good ten years or so just to restore some of Kirigakure's vitality. Less than a year had passed now, so getting this far was already quite an accomplishment.
Fortunately, he would not run into financial problems like Mei Terumi had. The savings of the daimyo and nobles were far greater than he had imagined. Change only needed time; the other aspects were not much of a problem.
There was just one thing: the village really had too few capable people available.
For a major village like Kirigakure, its number of Jonin was pitifully small.
After the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had been kicked down to a lucky trio, several more had been killed by others who came along later.
Of the current Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, aside from Zabuza with Kubikiribōchō, only Ringo Ameyuri of the Lightning Blades and Kisame Hoshigaki, who had inherited Samehada, remained.
The Hoshigaki Clan was a fairly sizable clan, but unfortunately, it had no bloodline limit.
The only other decent Jonin were Ao and Mei Terumi.
Their talent reserves were infinitely close to zero, giving Yuzuru an incredible headache.
Ever since becoming president of the Sea Capital, he too had begun living a life of sighing.
"Mr. President, when will you let me fight Kakashi?"
Just then, a woman with long, dark red hair and pointed teeth came up to Yuzuru and asked, her face full of excitement.
Zabuza and Kisame followed behind her.
After all, Ringo Ameyuri was their senior from the previous generation.
"Fight, my ass. Don't you know what condition your body's in?"
Yuzuru said irritably.
"I don't have much longer to live anyway. I might as well enjoy myself more."
Ameyuri was very easygoing about it.
"Kisame, Zabuza, keep an eye on her. Don't let her do anything stupid. The Sea Capital barely has anyone reliable as it is. If you die too, I really will be out of options."
Hearing this, Zabuza and Kisame nodded at the same time.
"Understood, Mr. President."
"All right, since you're here, come along. There happens to be something to deal with today."
Yuzuru spoke as he walked. "Have you all had breakfast?"
"Yes."
"Good. Buy me a serving, then. I haven't eaten yet."
Zabuza looked at Kisame, and Kisame looked back at Zabuza. In the end, Zabuza went to buy it.
After arriving at the presidential building, Yuzuru sat in his chair and looked at the piles of documents on his desk, feeling another headache coming on.
He felt that if this kept up, he really might drop dead.
A while later, Kakashi arrived at the office, followed by people from those bloodline clans.
The several bloodline clans did not even have a hundred people between them. Some clans even had only one person left.
Seeing Mei Terumi standing in a line all by herself, Yuzuru was so angry he actually laughed.
"Kakashi, you can go for now. Find the Chinoike Clan as soon as possible."
"Yes."
Once Kakashi left, Yuzuru looked at the people before him, beckoned to Mei Terumi, and got out of his chair.
"Help me deal with this paperwork first."
Mei Terumi froze for a moment, staring blankly at Yuzuru.
"What are you standing there for? Sit!"
"Oh, okay."
Mei Terumi sat down somewhat apprehensively, then began working through the documents on the desk.
"All right, let's talk about your situation now. I'm different from your former Mizukage, whose heads were full of shit. You should all have seen the changes in the Land of Water and the Sea Capital over these past few months."
"Starting today, I'll arrange suitable areas for you in the Sea Capital. You won't have to hide anymore or worry about persecution. Bloodline clans can exist within the Sea Capital, but that doesn't mean you get all sorts of special privileges."
"After autumn begins, Sea Capital Academy will open its first official round of admissions. Every member of your bloodline clans aged six and up but under fifteen is to attend school, whether or not they've awakened their bloodline limit."
"The next generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist will be selected from the academy's outstanding graduates. There are currently four swords remaining, and the children of your clans will all have a chance."
"But keep one thing in mind. Anyone who doesn't want to take part in combat should go to the science and technology academy or the medical academy. I don't want you forcing your younger clan members into the military. Even if they get in and graduate, they won't become recruits."
"In short, I'm giving you freedom, and I won't restrict you too much. But you'd all better watch yourselves, too. Don't casually attack ordinary civilians just because you belong to a bloodline clan. I don't want to turn my blade on the Sea Capital's residents, but that doesn't mean I can no longer wield it. Does everyone understand?"
"Yes."
Everyone hurriedly nodded.
"As for the Kaguya Clan, I know most of your clan members have problems with their personalities. So, after your children graduate from the military academy, as long as they score above ninety in both academic subjects and mental health classes, they can become fourth-class soldiers directly, skipping the recruit observation period."
Hearing this, the Kaguya Clan's leader looked delighted.
"Don't celebrate too soon. If they can't score ninety in those two subjects, forget it. Not only will they be unable to enter the military, they won't be able to graduate normally either. Their only option will be to delay graduation and start as recruits. If they're delayed for two years, they can drop out and go home."
"The Kaguya Clan will not disappoint you, Mr. President."
Hearing this, Yuzuru smiled and said nothing.
It sounded simple, but when the graduation exams actually came, Yuzuru would show them what difficult meant.
These people clung to their old ways of thinking. The exams had to hit them hard and change their ninja logic at its very core.
"All right, go to the oversight department. Ao will tell you where your new residences are. You have two days to move whatever your clans need to move and clear the space. If you're short on manpower, go to the Sea Capital Guard. They'll help you."
After everyone left, Yuzuru looked at Mei Terumi, who was still handling paperwork, pulled over a chair, and sat down to work through it with her.
He had to admit that having one more person handling it really did make things much faster.
By lunchtime, the two had mostly finished the documents that had piled up yesterday.
Mei Terumi stretched and looked at Yuzuru beside her, the corners of her mouth rising slightly. She could not help leaning closer to him and asking softly, "Mr. President, is there anything else you need me to do?"
"Nothing for now. You can go back and rest. Go carry out those two missions tomorrow."
Yuzuru spoke without raising his head as he worked through the last few documents.
Hearing this, Mei Terumi pursed her lips. Seeing that no one else was around, she leaned straight onto Yuzuru's shoulder.
Yuzuru ignored her. Only after patiently finishing the remaining documents did he turn to look at her.
"Looks like you still have too much free time."
"You said it yourself. Today is my day off, and I've already worked overtime. Shouldn't I get some, hmm, overtime compensation?"
Mei Terumi boldly wrapped her arms around Yuzuru's arm and pressed her whole body against him.
"Heh. You weren't like this a few months ago. Back then, you were shouting about killing me."
"Who hasn't been young and foolish?"
"So you know better now?"
"Mm-hmm. I know better now."
Mei Terumi closed her eyes and hugged Yuzuru's arm tightly.
"All right, go back and rest. There's still plenty to do later. Sorry for the trouble, but I'll need you to do a lot of running around for a while."
Yuzuru looked at her and said with a smile.
Seeing that she remained unmoved, pretending to be asleep, Yuzuru said nothing more. He took the unfinished three-year plan for the Sea Capital out of his drawer and continued adding to it.