Chapter 718 The Times Have Changed

Land of Rain, Six Paths City.

Yahiko walked through Six Paths City with a group of Ninja wearing Amegakure uniforms. Looking at the bustling streets, he couldn’t help but exclaim:

“Who would have thought that just a few years ago, this was a wasteland with only a few old, dilapidated Villages.”

He didn’t think much of it when he was in Six Paths City every day.

Later, when his main work shifted to Amegakure and he had fewer opportunities to return, Yahiko realized how quickly Six Paths City had developed; it was changing with each passing day.

Every time he returned after a period, he would find new changes in Six Paths City.

Yahiko was an elder who joined the Shinobi Sect when it was first founded and participated in the initial construction of Six Paths City, so he felt an extra deep sense of emotion seeing all this.

The Rain Jonin following Yahiko had complex expressions.

Initially, Six Paths City was a poor, remote Hamlet compared to Amegakure.

In just a few years, the prosperity of Six Paths City far surpassed that of Amegakure, even exceeding the capital of the Land of Rain, shifting the economic center of the Land of Rain from the central to the eastern region.

“It’s all thanks to Lord Sōsuke,” the Rain Jonin said with a look of longing.

Most Rain Ninja wouldn’t be too concerned about the development of Six Paths City versus Amegakure, because most Ninja from Amegakure now also hold the identity of Shinobi Sect Ninja.

Shinobi Sect Ninja can work in Amegakure, and Rain Ninja who have joined the Shinobi Sect can also work in Six Paths City.

In the eyes of many, Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect have not officially announced their merger, but in reality, they are already a single Ninja Organization.

In fact, there was a proposal within the Shinobi Sect to directly merge Amegakure into the Shinobi Sect, but Sōsuke rejected it.

“Yes,” the other Rain Jonin nodded.

Before Sōsuke took control of Amegakure, he already had a group of supporters in Amegakure for various reasons. After taking control, the number and fanaticism of his supporters were no less than that of the former Hanzo, and perhaps even surpassed him.

The vast majority of Rain Ninja regarded Sōsuke as the true savior of the Land of Rain, believing that only Sōsuke could lead the Land of Rain to prosperity.

Under such circumstances, there naturally wouldn’t be any conflict arising from Six Paths City being more prosperous than Amegakure; the Rain Ninja would only feel that their savior was indeed amazing.

Yahiko smiled and led his subordinates towards the Shinobi Sect’s office building.

During the period when the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure were in a standoff, Yahiko truly couldn’t have imagined that the final outcome would be this good.

He originally thought that the best outcome would be for the Shinobi Sect to defeat Amegakure, cripple it, and then incorporate some Ninja who agreed with the Shinobi Sect’s ideals.

He didn’t expect Sōsuke to take over the entire Amegakure almost without shedding blood.

“Yahiko.” x2

Just as Yahiko was about to reach the office building, a soft female voice and a slightly surprised male voice reached his ears.

Yahiko turned his head and saw Nagato, Konan, and Sasori.

Yahiko smiled in response and then quickly walked forward.

“Director Sasori, long time no see,” Yahiko greeted Sasori.

In the end, Sasori did not leave the Shinobi Sect. Due to his contribution in inventing puppet prosthetics, he was specially promoted to be the director of the Shinobi Sect’s Chakra Technology Bureau.

“Mm, Minister Yahiko, long time no see,” Sasori replied calmly.

In addition to his position in Amegakure, Yahiko also held a nominal position as Deputy Minister of the Military Department in the Shinobi Sect.

After greeting Sasori, Yahiko lightly bumped Nagato’s chest with his fist and asked with a smile:

“How was your trip to the branch? Did you gain anything?”

After the Ninjutsu scroll reform, he was promoted to Jōnin Squad Leader of Amegakure. Nagato was also transferred from the Shinobi Sect headquarters to work at the Shinobi Sect branch in Bird Country.

Yahiko was quite envious of Nagato. At that time, he had also applied to go to Bird Country, but it was ultimately not approved.

After all, if they were to go to Bird Country, the things they would be doing were what Sōsuke had done in the Land of Rain. For Yahiko, who was dedicated to Ninja World peace, the sense of accomplishment would be immense.

Of course, serving as the Jōnin Squad Leader in Amegakure could also contribute to Ninja World peace. If calculating the authority of the positions, Yahiko’s position was even higher than Nagato’s.

Since Sōsuke, the de facto leader, was rarely in Amegakure, other high-ranking officials in Amegakure deferred to Yahiko, who more or less managed Amegakure.

However, fighting for peace at the Bird Country branch would be more to his liking.

“I gained a lot, but it’s hard to explain in a short time,” Nagato thought for a moment and replied.

It was difficult to summarize the things he gained from actually presiding over the work in Bird Country, and since the meeting was about to start, he didn’t elaborate.

Yahiko’s eyes lit up, “Then let’s have a good chat after the meeting.”

He was very curious about what Nagato had experienced in Bird Country and what his thoughts were.

Nagato nodded; he also wanted to share his experiences with Yahiko.

Then the group walked up to the office building together.

“Minister Yahiko, Minister Nagato…”

Along the way, the group met many elder members of the Shinobi Sect who were coming for the meeting, greeting each other.

Today was the Shinobi Sect’s annual grand meeting, where they would summarize the year’s work and determine the work for the next year. Basically, all Shinobi Sect Ninja holding important positions had to attend the meeting.

“Master Sōsuke!”

When the Shinobi Sect Ninja entered the conference room and saw the white-clad man sitting in the main seat, they instinctively straightened up, wanting to present their best state.

Muzuki smiled and nodded in response to each of them.

“In the past year, with the end of the war, the economy of the entire Ninja World has been steadily improving. Our sect’s Ministry of Finance, through a series of effective measures, has achieved rapid growth in fiscal revenue.

Firstly, thanks to technological breakthroughs, the sale of Ninja tools has become a major source of fiscal revenue. Both Daimyo and the various Ninja Villages are willing to pay high prices for our Ninjutsu scrolls. Our prosthetics are also very popular in the Ninja World, bringing in a considerable income…”

Kakuzu was the first to stand up and report as the Minister of Finance.

“In terms of expenditure, the Ministry of Finance has always adhered to the development philosophy of ‘people-centered,’ precisely allocating limited financial resources to key areas related to people’s livelihoods, social development, and public safety. We have increased investment in livelihood areas such as education and medical care…”

Muzuki listened and nodded.

Perhaps due to his sensitivity to money, Kakuzu, as the Minister of Finance, indeed did an excellent job, effectively implementing Muzuki’s ideas.

The Shinobi Sect in the eyes of the Five Great Ninja Villages was ambitious, and everything it did was for expanding its influence and strengthening its military power.

In reality, the Shinobi Sect’s finances did not spend much on military aspects; it was mainly on construction, public welfare, education, and technology.

Muzuki’s reason for this arrangement was also simple: he never intended to rely on that portion of the Shinobi Sect Ninja for warfare.

Because even if the Shinobi Sect spent all its money on the military, it would be impossible to elevate it to the level of the Five Great Ninja Villages in a short time.

Iwagakure and those other Great Ninja Villages have always been wary of Sōsuke’s Shinobi Sect, not the Shinobi Sect as an organization.

Moreover, although military spending was not too high, their technology had breakthroughs, and in reality, the Shinobi Sect’s military strength had significantly improved.

Apart from the Land of Rain, where the Shinobi Sect headquarters was located, Ninja from the Bird Country branch also reported, including Roshi and Nagato, although their work directions were different.

“Last year, the Bird Country Shinobi Sect branch added ninety new Shinobi Sect Ninja who recognized the Shinobi Sect’s ideology, and public recognition of the Shinobi Sect increased…”

“In terms of public order, the chaotic Ninja Organizations and rogue Ninja in the eastern and central regions of Bird Country have been cleared out…”

After everyone completed their summary, it was time to discuss the work for the new year.

“We must prioritize the development of Chakra technology. Even if there are no short-term results, we must not give up research,” Muzuki emphasized.

“Not only military technology but also civilian technology must be developed. Of course, the most crucial aspect is to increase productivity.”

Things like public welfare construction were something the Shinobi Sect had always been doing, and Muzuki wasn’t worried that anyone would forget.

But scientific development, due to Kakuzu and other Ninja’s backgrounds, was always easily overlooked and considered unimportant, especially in the civilian sector.

This wasn’t a problem with Kakuzu and the others, but rather with all Ninja, all Ninja in the entire Ninja World.

After the Shinobi Sect disbanded, the main theme of Ninja gradually evolved into conflict and war.

Currently, there are no Ninjutsu seen in the Ninja World that are used for production. All the Ninjutsu passed down from ancient times, or developed in modern times, were created for combat.

The Shinobi Sect Ninja nodded. Although some of them didn’t quite understand Sōsuke’s intentions, they still deeply approved in their hearts.

If you ask why, there is only one answer—Lord Sōsuke must have his reasons for having such an idea.

Aside from technology, Muzuki basically allowed the Shinobi Sect Ninja to act freely, and then he would check for gaps and make up for deficiencies.

As the meeting drew to a close, Muzuki spoke again:

“I think the Shinobi Sect branch in the Land of Rivers can be put on the agenda.”

Thanks to the successive efforts of Kakuzu, Roshi, and Nagato, the Shinobi Sect branch in Bird Country has been completely established and no longer requires support from the headquarters. It can independently maintain Bird Country.

Muzuki felt that the time had come to take another step.

“Isn’t it a bit early? Although the Land of Rivers doesn’t have a Ninja Village, its Ninja power is not weak, and the three Great Ninja Villages—Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure—probably won’t sit idly by as we grow stronger again,” Kakuzu said after thinking for a moment.

If the Great Ninja Villages didn’t intervene, it wouldn’t be difficult for the Shinobi Sect to deal with the Ninja Organizations and Ninja clans in the Land of Rivers, but Kakuzu believed that the Great Ninja Villages would definitely intervene.

In a better scenario, they might secretly trip up the Shinobi Sect and quietly fund the Ninja forces in the Land of Rivers.

In a worse scenario, they might directly break ties and openly deploy their Ninja forces to obstruct the Shinobi Sect’s actions.

Kakuzu’s idea was that the Shinobi Sect still had a lot of potential and could develop for some more time, so that the entire Shinobi Sect wouldn’t become a burden to Sōsuke when war broke out.

“It does feel too fast.”

“No, the work in Bird Country is almost finished.”

“Our Shinobi Sect’s goal is world peace. How can we not act out of fear of the Great Ninja Villages?!”

The conference room immediately fell into an argument. Most people supported Sōsuke, but some Ninja also supported Kakuzu.

Thump, thump.

Muzuki tapped the table with his fingers, and the conference room instantly fell silent.

“Just go ahead and do it. The Great Ninja Villages will not be an obstacle to the Shinobi Sect,” Muzuki said with a faint smile.

If the Great Ninja Villages felt that the Shinobi Sect’s actions threatened them and wanted to do something about it, Muzuki would let them know what a true threat was.

When he only had tens of thousands of Chakra, the Shinobi Sect needed to act discreetly. Now that he had over four million Chakra, did he still need to care about the opinions of those Great Ninja Villages? If so, his Chakra would have increased for nothing.

“Then it can indeed be put on the agenda,” Kakuzu instantly understood Sōsuke’s meaning.

The mood in the conference room immediately shifted, and no one opposed the plan to establish a branch in the Land of Rivers anymore.

“Confronting the Great Ninja Villages with one’s own power? Sōsuke, what other methods do you have that you haven’t revealed yet?” Kakuzu thought curiously.

Now, even if Sōsuke told Kakuzu that he was the reincarnation of the Six Paths Sage, Kakuzu would believe him.

Sōsuke once said that he might make mistakes, so one should question when necessary and oppose when necessary.

But Sōsuke had indeed never made a mistake. Even controversial decisions were eventually proven correct by time.

Possessing such extraordinary wisdom and unparalleled strength, it was not an unreasonable thing for him to be the reincarnation of the Six Paths Sage.

“To say he’s a reincarnation is to underestimate him; he is the Six Paths Sage of this era,” Kakuzu sighed in his heart.

Perhaps Sōsuke’s contributions currently don’t surpass those of the Six Paths Sage from ancient times, but in the hearts of their many Shinobi Sect Ninja, Sōsuke is the Six Paths Sage of the current era.

Even if the true Six Paths Sage from history were to be resurrected, the Shinobi Sect Ninja would only follow Sōsuke, not the so-called Six Paths Sage.

“Additionally, I plan to hold another large Martial Arts Tournament in Six Paths City. This time there will be no age limit or other restrictions. I welcome strong individuals from across the Ninja World to participate,” Muzuki continued.

“Will you also compete?” Kakuzu asked.

“I will not compete. If the first-place winner is interested, they can challenge me, and I will accept,” Muzuki shook his head and replied.

This Martial Arts Tournament was mainly to let his disciples rack up achievements and let the old-timers of the Ninja World know that the times have changed.

Kakuzu thought about it and felt it was quite reasonable. Otherwise, if the news of Sōsuke competing got out, many people would probably be too scared to come.

After the meeting, Muzuki called Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, taking them to his office.

“For the Land of Rivers branch, I want you three to work together on it,” Muzuki said.

The reason he had Nagato, Yahiko, and the others do different things was to train them, and now it was time to test the results of that training.

Yahiko had experience managing a Ninja Village, Nagato had experience establishing a branch, and Konan had learned many miscellaneous skills by following Kakuzu, so she could act as a cohesive agent and handle logistics for the two.

Yahiko and Nagato both showed surprised expressions.

When it was decided in the meeting to establish a branch in the Land of Rivers, they had already decided to apply to go to the Land of Rivers. They didn’t expect Sōsuke to have already decided to entrust this important task to them.

The three looked at each other and smiled.

They could once again work together for world peace.