A Ninja Shouldn't Be Like a Mercenary

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"Oh?"

Senju Tobirama raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at his older brother with some surprise. "I didn't expect your perspective to change so much, big brother."

"Well, it's not bad! Keep it up."

After that, he ignored Hashirama and handed a list and some documents to Kaito.

"Here, Fourth Hokage. These are the research projects Orochimaru and I have organized over the past couple of days, along with the required funds, resources, and equipment."

"Take a look and see if there's any issue."

"If there aren't any problems, please approve them as soon as possible so we can get started on the research!"

Time waits for no one, and Tobirama was bursting with excitement, eager to dive into this work. By developing new technologies, he hoped to make Konoha stronger and wealthier faster.

"Got it."

Kaito nodded and took the documents, quickly flipping through them. After scanning the contents, he grabbed a pen and began marking and circling specific items. Once he finished, he handed the documents back to Tobirama.

"Focus on the items I've marked as priority research projects and try to complete them as soon as possible," Kaito said.

"These will be instrumental for the village's development and can even be used for international trade to generate huge profits."

"Actually, some home appliances are already being researched by the Hidden Cloud Village. We can't afford to fall behind—we need to surpass them. Got it?"

"As for the genetic and Kekkei Genkai research, you can work on that in parallel, but this year's primary focus should be on home appliance development!"

"I'll make time to visit and help personally. Worst case, I'll send a shadow clone over to assist."

"For funding and resources, just take this approval note to the finance department," he added, writing a quick authorization and stamping it with his Hokage seal before handing it over to Tobirama.

"Understood!"

Tobirama accepted the files and approval note, shot a quick glance at Hashirama and Madara, then turned and left swiftly.

Once Tobirama was gone, Kaito turned to Hashirama and Madara. "You two shouldn't waste any time either."

"Hashirama, take Madara to the engineering department and start laying out the project plans. Let's get this on the schedule ASAP."

"I've assigned a good number of people to assist you, including ninjas skilled in Earth Release. This project needs to move quickly."

The expansion and renovation of Konoha were central to the success of Kaito's first five-year plan. He believed the combination of Hashirama and Madara's Wood Release would make rapid progress possible.

Not to mention, he had also dispatched a significant number of ninjas to the engineering department for this.

This wasn't just about speeding up the work—it was also intentional.

He was purposefully guiding ninjas to adapt to contributing to basic infrastructure tasks.

Gradually, he wanted to expand their horizons, moving them away from being confined to missions like escorting, battling, or scavenging for items.

Tasks like building infrastructure, managing water resources, constructing roads, and even farming could be turned into missions for lower-level ninjas who couldn't handle high-stakes assignments.

This would also address issues of livelihood and work for them, keeping them from needlessly risking their lives.

After all, there was no rule that ninjas couldn't be involved in infrastructure or agriculture.

Ninjas shouldn't be narrowly defined as killers or mercenaries.

Such a definition would only lead to short-lived careers, dependency, and an inability to achieve peace.

To boost Hashirama's enthusiasm, Kaito shared his vision and philosophy with him and Madara.

Both were stunned.

It hadn't occurred to them that there was such depth to this approach.

Even more, they hadn't realized Kaito was already working on fundamentally altering the role of ninjas to create a peaceful and fulfilling life for them.

"I think your idea is fantastic, Kaito!" Hashirama said, his tone filled with admiration. "Honestly, none of us—not even me or Madara—had considered this angle before."

"Agreed," Madara nodded, crossing his arms. "If we look at it this way, merely uniting the ninja world wouldn't be enough to ensure peace."

"Only by redefining the role of ninjas, making the profession disappear or evolve, and fully integrating them into the daily lives of ordinary people, can we truly achieve a peaceful and happy life for them."

"Since you have such a vision, Hashirama and I will help you get started," Madara added.

Of course, he wasn't thrilled about becoming a workhorse for someone else.

But at this point, he didn't have much of a choice.

If he had to go through this, he might as well delegate tasks to other ninjas under the guise of training and reshaping their mindset.

"Ha! I'm glad you think that way," Kaito said, laughing heartily. He pointed a finger at Madara and released a beam of light that entered Madara's body.

Immediately, Madara felt some of his sealed power returning. While it only restored him to a standard Kage-level strength, it was enough to give him some hope.

For anything beyond that, Kaito would need to release the Edo Tensei technique, find him a better body, and offer a high-quality sacrifice.

"There you go! I've temporarily lifted part of the seal, so your strength is restored for now. Work hard, and I'll reward you accordingly."

"If you can truly impress me, restoring your peak powers—or even bringing you back to life for real—isn't out of the question. Go ahead!"

With a grin, Kaito waved dismissively at Uchiha Madara, spinning promises.

"Hmph! Truly bringing me back to life?"

Hearing such lofty words, Madara wasn't moved. Instead, he sneered internally.

He knew Kaito harbored secrets, and mysterious ones at that.

But he didn't believe Kaito could so easily accomplish a true resurrection.

That wasn't a simple trick; it was the power of the gods.

Unless one day Kaito unlocked the Rinnegan—or took his own Rinnegan—it wasn't possible.

Even then, there would still be a heavy price for reviving someone.

For someone of Madara's caliber, Kaito might burn through his own life force entirely just to bring him back to his prime.

Madara didn't think Kaito was that generous—or that foolish.

Kaito, on the other hand, could pretty much guess what Madara was thinking. He knew Madara didn't believe him.

But he didn't care.

Once Kaito broke the limits of Edo Tensei and created a true resurrection technique, reviving Hashirama first, Madara would naturally believe him.

By then, Madara's attitude would change on its own.

Besides, unless Madara agreed to a contract with him, Kaito wasn't planning to revive him anyway.

On the other hand, Hashirama's favorability was just two points away from meeting the threshold. Kaito was looking forward to seeing how the contract with Hashirama would unfold.

This would be the first contract with a "living dead."

"Let's go, Madara!"

Hashirama called out to Madara, leaving the Hokage's office together.

— — —

"Whoosh!"

Just then, Uzumaki Mito suddenly teleported into the room.

Glancing at Hashirama as he left, she stepped in front of Kaito and said, "Kaito, now that you've taken over as the Fourth Hokage, how do you plan to deal with the daimyo?"

"Should we send someone to inform them? Maybe ask for some funding while we're at it?"

"The village is about to undergo major reforms and large-scale construction. We'll need money everywhere!"

"It's not like we can expect the Uchiha clan to foot the entire bill."

"Even with land contracts and construction projects, it doesn't seem fair."

"If we rely too heavily on them, the entire village's real estate might end up in the hands of the Uchiha. That wouldn't be good for the village's development."

"Oh?"

Kaito raised an eyebrow, contemplating for a moment before responding:

"Informing the daimyo is fine. Let them know we're planning big things!"

"As for the construction projects, it's not just the Uchiha clan who can contribute funds, manpower, or resources."

"Other ninja clans in the village, as well as merchants, wealthy individuals, even the daimyo and the Fire Country's rich nobles, can all get involved and invest."

"Then, based on their contributions, we can distribute profits accordingly."

"This way, we can bring the village's clans, merchants, and even the Fire Country's elites into alignment with our goals."

"It'll make them part of our unified front and greatly reduce the difficulty of absorbing the Fire Country in the future. What do you think?"

Kaito wasn't incapable of taking everything for himself.

However doing so would significantly slow Konoha's growth, hinder the eventual unification of the Fire Country, and delay progress.

That wasn't what he wanted.

He wanted to unify the ninja world as quickly and efficiently as possible, win hearts, and form more contracts to send people to the Pirate World.

The goal? Expanding his influence there.

After all, the Pirate World was far larger than the Ninja World—by a hundredfold or more.

Even if the entire ninja world's population moved over, there was no way they could dominate the Pirate World on their own.

And since the ninja world was his base, the more people he could contract here, the better—and the faster, the better.

He would shape the ninja World first into something far more meaningful—an organized force focused on building and protecting, not just mercenaries chasing profit as mere tools for hire. Kaito was determined to reshape the world, correcting its flaws and creating a better, brighter future.

— — —

"Huh?"

Mito's eyes lit up as she processed his plan.

"You're right! We can involve all the wealthy villagers!"

"Actually, we could publicly raise funds from the entire population, offering shares in return. Let everyone take part in the expansion!"

"With that, the villagers would also benefit from the growth."

"And getting the daimyo and Fire Country nobles to invest is a brilliant move."

"Once we show our strength and sincerity, this approach could even work in other nations when we expand in the future. Their resistance might not be so fierce."

"Brilliant! This plan achieves so many goals at once!"

"Alright, let's do it this way!"

Though the Senju and Uzumaki clans weren't as wealthy as the Uchiha at the moment, their foundations were still solid. They could certainly contribute a substantial amount to secure shares in the project.

This would ensure the Senju and Uzumaki clans' future interests.

As for losses?

Given Kaito's plans and Konoha's current military strength—especially with the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki clans thriving, not to mention the resources from the Pirate World—losses were unlikely.

This plan was built on Konoha's power and its capacity to produce and export goods.

For Konoha, there was no downside.

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