Outside Konoha, the once-desolate Naka Shrine rapidly transformed into a bustling settlement.
Kei simply couldn’t understand it.
Why were shinobi—arguably the most efficient labor force imaginable—used almost exclusively for warfare instead of construction and development?
War had always been a drain on economic prosperity. Unless people were driven to the brink of survival, who would willingly throw away their lives?
Building and developing—that was the true path.
The farming instincts buried deep within Kei’s soul had awakened.
Earth Release could reshape the land.
Water Release could irrigate fields.
Unlike ordinary people, shinobi weren’t constrained by the natural environment. They could carry out large-scale farming and livestock breeding almost anywhere.
Even someone as weak as Uchiha Oboro, whose overall ability barely ranked F, possessed a level of productivity that surpassed a hundred ordinary laborers while consuming fewer resources than ten.
It practically violated the law of conservation of energy.
The Naruto world remained woefully underdeveloped.
Its people’s productivity was simply too low.
Ordinary villages could only cultivate farmland near rivers and lakes.
Even now, settlements still fought bloody conflicts over access to water.
And yet shinobi skilled in Water Release never seemed to consider using their abilities for agriculture.
To Kei...
That was an unforgivable waste.
He had no intention of allowing such absurdity to continue.
Thus, before anyone realized it, the lands surrounding Naka Shrine were transformed into sprawling farms and ranches.
What others considered barren wasteland...
Kei saw as fertile soil.
Years of neglect had left the earth rich and black. A single handful looked as though it would ooze oil.
As for the lack of water?
That was only a problem because shinobi lacked imagination.
Water shortages troubled ordinary people.
For shinobi?
It was hardly an issue.
All it took was forming a few hand seals.
While the Hokage focused on consolidating his influence and building military strength...
Uchiha Kei quietly expanded his own territory.
He reclaimed vast stretches of wilderness.
Trading posts were established along every major route leading to Konoha.
Hot spring resorts appeared deep within the mountains.
Fortified checkpoints gathered wandering refugees.
Strategic strongholds became havens for Rogue Ninja , who were even assigned missions.
In short...
If anything flowed into Konoha—
Money...
People...
Trade...
Influence...
Uchiha Kei intended to claim his share.
Even without the System, Kei was confident he could support a massive population within two years.
With the System assisting him...
Konoha’s Mission Hall had become almost irrelevant.
Even then...
He still wasn’t satisfied.
His long-term strategy was simple.
Surround Konoha with thriving settlements until the village itself became nothing more than the inner city of his growing domain.
Centered around Naka Shrine, the elderly Uchiha Gen led the Iga Group in constructing forty-nine mountain lodges surrounding the main hall dedicated to the Iga Group’s central hall .
The complex became known as the Forty-Nine Iga Halls.
From this day forward...
It would serve as the academy of Iga-style ninjutsu.
Any Rogue Ninja who rendered meritorious service to the Uchiha could study there.
Konoha’s Ninja Academy had already revolutionized the shinobi world simply by openly teaching the Three Basic Techniques, allowing villages to mass-produce genin.
The Forty-Nine Iga Halls went much further.
Students learned everything.
The Three Basic Techniques.
Chakra control and extraction.
The complete Iga curriculum of the Five Disciplines and Seven Methods—
Food.
Incense.
Medicine.
Breathing.
Physical conditioning.
Those with sufficient talent who passed the academy’s examinations would even receive the Iga ninjutsu manual, Bankawa Shūkai.
It contained the fundamental applications of the Five Nature Transformations, along with the Iga school’s simplified hand-seal system.
Even someone clumsy with hand seals could graduate from the Forty-Nine Iga Halls and perform Water Release techniques using only three seals.
They wouldn’t be much slower than shinobi who relied on lengthy, complicated sequences.
If Konoha’s Ninja Academy resembled an elementary school that produced expendable soldiers...
Then the Forty-Nine Iga Halls were a true vocational academy.
Its graduates would become the backbone of the shinobi world—
At minimum...
Chūnin.
While the Iga Group focused on education...
The Kōga Group wasn’t idle either.
They occupied a nearby hill overlooking Naka Shrine.
The once-unnamed mountain was renamed Handō Mountain, where they established a dōjō dedicated to Kōga Group’s temple (Dainichi Nyorai).
It also became the intelligence and mission center for Rogue Ninja .
Unlike the Iga, whose specialty was instruction...
The Kōga excelled at weapon forging.
With the blueprints supplied by Uchiha Kei...
Legendary weapons such as the Second Onimaru, Third Kikumonji, and the Twelve Heavenly Masterworks were all recreated.
To wandering shinobi, these were priceless treasures.
Ironically...
Neither Kei’s Uchiha nor the Kōga craftsmen were particularly impressed.
Their true ambition was to forge these famous blades from chakra-conductive metals.
After all...
A legendary sword with a story behind it would always command a far higher price than an ordinary masterpiece.
Sometimes...
A hundred times more.
And someone would absolutely pay for it.
After all...
What swordsman could resist wielding Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, the blade said to have slain demons?
Or a sword whose legend claimed...
"The blade cuts flesh...
The spirit cuts souls."
Not to mention...
It came with its own glowing visual effect.
Kei was equally convinced that no man could resist becoming a shinobi equivalent of a legendary swordsman .
That meant it was finally time to acquire a chakra-conductive ore mine.
Under Kei’s relentless planning, the area gradually became something resembling an entirely new hidden village.
The only thing it lacked...
Was population.
But Kei had no doubt that would change.
Sooner or later...
This place would flourish.
Watching all of this unfold, Hiruzen nearly lost his composure.
Refugee shinobi fleeing from the Land of Water and the Land of Wind had gathered under Uchiha Kei’s banner.
Their numbers had already surpassed a thousand.
Many of them were wanted criminals throughout their own countries.
Previously, they had scattered across the Land of Fire, hiding in isolation.
Now...
They openly gathered inside the settlement Kei had built.
Most were weak.
But how many enemy spies were hiding among them?
Did Uchiha Kei even realize what kind of people he was harboring?
"What a filthy mess."
"What utter nonsense."
Hiruzen ground his teeth.
One day...
I’ll swallow this place whole.
Kei, however, couldn’t have cared less.
He understood that the true foundation of his power would always be the people summoned by the System.
Gathering large numbers of Rogue Ninja served only one purpose.
To muddy the waters.
While Hiruzen regarded Uchiha Kei as his greatest immediate threat...
Kei had never regarded Hiruzen as his objective.
Following another person’s rhythm meant forever performing someone else’s song.
His own sights were fixed on something far greater.
The stars.
The endless sea beyond them.
Everything he could see...
Was worth pursuing.
Everything his heart desired...
Held limitless possibilities.
The Third Hokage wasn’t important.
The daimyō wasn’t important either.
What truly mattered...
Was a future without needing either of them.
There was only one reason Kei had gathered so many restless Rogue Ninja .
He wanted to uncover the truth behind the Bingo Book Exchange—the underground bounty network commonly known as the Bounty Exchange.
Who was financing it?
With hidden villages and official mission systems already established...
Why did so many missions—and such enormous sums of money—continue flowing into the Bounty Exchange?
And why were those underground contracts almost always far more lucrative?
Konoha accepted assassination missions.
Even contracts targeting Konoha shinobi could simply be taken by another hidden village.
So why did so many clients insist on using the underworld instead?
It didn’t make sense.
Someone had to be supporting the organization.
A network that spanned the entire shinobi world couldn’t survive on Rogue Ninja alone.
It required enormous financial backing.
Kei intended to make the first move.
Using the System, he would create an alternative mission marketplace—
High rewards.
Low risk.
Open to everyone.
No restrictions on identity.
Then he would watch carefully.
If the appearance of this new marketplace forced the Bounty Exchange to raise its own rewards...
That would prove someone powerful was funding it from behind the scenes.
If, on the other hand, the Bounty Exchange collapsed because Rogue Ninja now had a better option...
Then it had simply been a natural byproduct of the growing Missing-nin population.
But if the rewards there also increased...
Then the conclusion would be unavoidable.
Someone wanted to keep Rogue Ninja alive.
Someone wanted the shinobi world to remain in perpetual chaos.
And if that were true...
Things were about to become very interesting.
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