"That's naturally because the number of criminals in the Land of Water has been decreasing!"
Hearing Terumī Mei's question, Tachibana Jirō revealed an expression as if he were looking at an idiot. Meanwhile, both Biwa Jūzō and Terumī Mei showed thoughtful looks.
"In most parts of the shinobi world, it's extremely unsafe for merchants."
"For any caravan to transport goods from one place to another, not only do they need to hire shinobi, they also have to pay a large sum to the local nobility. Only then can they ensure smooth business operations."
"Keizumi-sama has cleared out the criminals within the Land of Water, allowing those merchants to no longer need to hire shinobi—that alone already saves them a huge expense."
"On top of that, the nobles of the Land of Water now don't dare to act excessively, which saves another large sum."
"When they can save money, those merchants will naturally flock to the Land of Water in an endless stream!"
Tachibana Jirō didn't keep them in suspense and directly explained the reason why commerce in the Land of Water had become increasingly prosperous.
"But… the number of commissions for our Kirigakure shinobi hasn't decreased…"
Before Terumī Mei could finish speaking, she suddenly realized something herself.
"That's right… because even though the Land of Water has been cleaned up by Keizumi-sama, everyone now yearns even more for justice. The cities of the Land of Water also know that the remaining Kirigakure shinobi are not evil people, so their trust in Kirigakure has increased!"
"The number of missions leaving the Land of Water hasn't decreased—in fact, it has increased. Some commissions are even being issued directly by various cities!"
Looking at Keizumi, Terumī Mei's gaze began to carry a sense of awe, as if looking up at a towering mountain. If all of this had been within Keizumi's calculations, then it meant that Keizumi possessed not only immense strength, but also a grand vision.
"Kirigakure's shinobi don't need to separate themselves from the nation as a whole."
"Kirigakure's Ninja Academy can recruit students from across the entire Land of Water. During their studies, they can be made to understand and internalize Absolute Justice. Upon graduation, evaluation of justice should also be an important selection criterion."
Keizumi spoke slowly. If he wanted to fully implement Absolute Justice, it wasn't enough to simply kill people—the follow-up was just as important.
"Recruiting from the entire Land of Water allows the country to preserve sufficient manpower. And evaluating justice ensures that these students develop sound values, so they know what is right and what is wrong."
"After graduating from the academy, these new shinobi can fully enter various industries. At the same time, those with a strong sense of justice can be selected to join the Police Force."
"In the future, the Land of Water's Police Force will not only maintain justice in every city, but will also serve as the nation's own reserve strength."
Keizumi continued. He had never intended to unify the Five Great Nations—something that, to him, wasn't even necessary.
Power itself held no importance to him. He only wanted to carry out his Absolute Justice.
"Integrating justice into the Ninja Academy…"
Hearing Keizumi's words, Terumī Mei fell into deep thought once more.
If someone else had said these things to her, she might not have listened at all. But the Land of Water—and even Kirigakure—had already effectively been defeated by Uchiha Keizumi. They had no room to bargain.
Not to mention integrating his ideology into the Land of Water—even if Keizumi had more excessive demands, the Land of Water and Kirigakure could only accept them.
…
And just as Uchiha Keizumi and Terumī Mei were discussing the future arrangements of the Land of Water, trouble once again broke out in Konoha.
"Why?!"
"Why aren't we Uchiha allowed to leave Konoha?!"
"We're all shinobi of Konoha—why can other shinobi leave the village, but only the Uchiha are forbidden from doing so?!"
Below the Hokage Building, members of the Uchiha clan, led by several elite jōnin, shouted angrily.
Coupled with the clan's inherited Sharingan glowing red when activated, those unaware of the situation might even think they were about to launch another coup.
"Sasuke, has your Uchiha clan really been forbidden from leaving the village?"
Not far from the Hokage Building, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke stood together, maintaining order and preventing onlooking villagers from getting hurt.
"That's true. Keizumi-sama wants to establish a Police Force in the Land of Water and select some people from the clan."
"But the Hokage doesn't seem to agree with Keizumi-sama's idea."
As a member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke was aware of the root cause behind the clan's unrest.
After the deaths of Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Fugaku, neither Uchiha Mikoto nor Uchiha Sasuke had been implicated. In fact, in the eyes of the clan, Sasuke had begun practicing Absolute Justice even earlier than most of them.
"A Police Force in the Land of Water?"
"Has Keizumi-sama already spread Absolute Justice there?"
"I really want to go and see it—what the Land of Water under Absolute Justice looks like!"
Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of longing. He had never seen the ocean in his life, and the Land of Water was surrounded by it—people there must see the sea every day, right?
"You'll get the chance."
"After we graduate from the Ninja Academy, we might be able to join the Police Force in the Land of Water."
"Even if the Third Hokage doesn't agree with Keizumi-sama now, once Tsunade-sama takes over, she'll definitely support him!"
Sasuke was also curious—what would a place fully governed by Absolute Justice look like?
"This is bad—the number of protesters is increasing!"
"It's not just the Uchiha being forbidden from leaving—the same restriction now applies to all shinobi who've had contact with Uchiha Keizumi!"
On the other side of the Hokage Building, Kakashi saw more and more shinobi approaching, and his expression changed drastically.
"Yamato, go find Tsunade-sama! Only she can stop this now!"
Kakashi gave the order, while he himself headed toward the entrance of the Hokage Building to maintain order.
"Why is the reaction so intense…"
Inside the Hokage Building, both Hiruzen and Koharu looked extremely grim. They had indeed enforced the order forbidding Konoha's shinobi from leaving freely—but they had never expected things to escalate to this level.
"This is forcing the issue!"
"The shinobi who have already decided to support Tsunade can't wait any longer—they want her to become Hokage immediately!"
Koharu's expression grew even more grim. She knew very well that her authority came from Hiruzen—and if Hiruzen was no longer Hokage, then all of her power would vanish as well.