As I looked at the papers in front of me, I glanced at the three ninjas I had, whom I planned to make into my bodyguards for when I had to make diplomatic trips or that sort of thing.
From the right, we have Yamato, a newly registered ninja who joined the village three days ago; next is a Hyuga ninja named Katsuki, a special jonin; and finally, we have the elite chunin, not by choice, but because the beatings I gave her finally paid off: Kurenai Yuhi.
Katsuki and Kurenai were here because they possessed something I lacked: awareness of my surroundings and skill in genjutsu. Yamato was here primarily to train him and keep a close eye on him in case Danzo did something reckless, since I had literally taken him from him.
Speaking of which, I think I'll stop teasing Danzo for a while, at least. I tease him a lot, saying I want him to do something stupid so I can send him to a nursing home, but knowing how radical and extreme he is, he probably ends up doing something out of sheer frustration and anger toward me.
"I imagine the three of you know why you're here, right?" I asked, just to make sure we were all on the same page.
"You summoned us to be your new bodyguards, Hokage-sama," Katsuki said, his back straight.
Kurenai just glanced at him as if she were looking at some strange guy, then looked at the young man she'd never seen before, who had appeared out of nowhere. He looked a little younger than her, but not by much.
"Why do you think that?" I asked her.
Making him think—something those from the Hyuga branch family aren't used to—he remained silent, without replying.
At this, I just looked at Kurenai with an "I can't believe it" expression, while she returned mine with one of "this can't be happening."
The truth is, one of those who had asked me to have bodyguards was Hiashi himself, since he wanted someone from his clan to be part of it.
Since he's been helping me quite a bit, I decided to accept, and in response, he sent me the individual standing in front.
"Well, just so you know, you're more of a proposal than a consolidation," I explained.
"What did he mean?" Yamato asked.
"I need to see if you can act as a team, because generally, if there's a situation, whatever it may be, it will be the three of you who check for any danger, or in other cases, protect me from it—something that will probably never happen, since I can defend myself. But putting that aside, I need to see if you can work as a team and hold your own," I replied, looking at the three of them.
"So you're going to give us a test, Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked.
"You see me taking up a lot of time," I complained, waving my fingers. "Ushi and Ban," I ordered.
At that moment, two ANBU appeared, one with the ox mask, Ushi, and the other with the monkey mask, Ban.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," they both said in unison.
"Take these three to the Forest of Death; they must spend a week there cooperating to survive, and if any of them come near the fence surrounding the forest, they will be disqualified from any bodyguard position and jonin promotion for three years," I declared.
The eyes of the three in front of me widened in shock.
"Wait, what's with these harsh measures?" Kurenai protested.
"You think it's unfair? Do you want me to increase the time from three years to five or seven?" I asked her, to which I received only silence.
Knowing about my interactions with the little monkey, Kurenai knows that the best thing she can do to avoid making things worse is to remain silent.
This measure was intended to make them take all of this seriously.
"Alright, head to the Forest of Death immediately," I ordered, looking at some other documents.
"Won't we have time to prepare?" Hyuga asked.
"If you want, you can force them to go to the forest in just their underwear, to make it more interactive," I replied.
He was about to say something, but Kurenai covered his mouth, since whatever he said, no matter what, she would take it as a yes, even if he said no.
"Well, don't waste any more time," I said.
Yamato, who saw all of this and, being used to Root Life, like him, didn't really care about any of it; what worried him most was looking bad in front of me.
Not to mention that he already knew about all of this. Why did I tell him? Easy, I forbade him from using Wood Release in this survival test, not because I didn't want him to see it—they'd find out sooner or later, and it's better he found out early. Rather, it's because relying too heavily on a bloodline fries your brain; just look at most of the Hyuga and Uchiha; not a single one is sane, with a few exceptions, as always.
"Remember that Ushi and Ban will be watching you and will give me a report on your performance, not to mention that you can't interfere with your test at any point," I reminded them as the three of them silently left for the Forest of Death while the two ANBU disappeared in a Shunshin.
...
The economic situation in my clan was quite good.
Since becoming Hokage, it's been much easier to commit my crimes, since no one suspects me, and especially since, being in the highest position in the village, I can make my moves without having to worry about being watched.
The only ones who would try to monitor my movements are the Mummy and the two Worms, but thanks to my actions, the latter two's political power has plummeted so much that they're now just a nuisance; no one pays them any attention, no one listens to them, and no one cares about them.
They have their clans there, where they're elders and they screw everyone over, but they can't send their clan members to spy on me, because if they do, both they and the clan will be branded as traitors.
The other one, who could cause problems, is Danzo. But since I know perfectly well what he does, how he moves, and the routes he takes—being a closed-minded senile old man, he doesn't change his habits or movements because, having never had any problems, he thinks everything is fine—it suits me for him to stay that way. I can easily monitor all the areas and routes his Root ninja oversee.
I say criminal acts because I'm basically using my privileges as Hokage to facilitate my employees and men, who are almost ready to expand my secret company, which no one will know I own, to the other nations.
This way, I can control the world economy and, indirectly, the villages themselves.
I can already see myself in the future building an airplane to sell land on the Moon; now that I think about it, there are people living on the Moon.
Maybe I should go there and steal everything from those Otsutsuki up there and annihilate them while I'm at it. If there are no witnesses, then the people who live there renting will never know they're in an Indian burial ground, or in this case, an Otsutsuki burial ground.
Having significant political and economic power goes hand in hand with being an evil person.
(Note: I spent some time thinking about what to write, since I was confused myself for a moment, but being a bad person and being evil are not the same thing; someone can be evil but not a bad person. I think the best example of this is Dr. Doofenshmirtz.)
Well, right now, my subordinates are spying in other nations to see what difficulties and needs they have.
The idea is to make a good deal, but one that we can exploit, something like low prices, but with taxes based on the quantity of items they buy, or offering interest, something like that.
Something that benefits them in the short term but ultimately benefits us. Right now I have so much money that I can spend it even if I lose money, but that doesn't change the fact that this is still an investment, so sooner or later I'll replace everything I spend with a profit.
In the Land of Wind, at least in most of the surrounding cities, what they need is food and water. Thanks to my large greenhouse, we have plenty of that, enough to donate a good amount to orphanages so that all the children can grow up nourished and, as future cannon fodder, big and strong, and if possible, able to withstand two fire jutsus.
Now, all joking aside, the Suna Desert is quite inhospitable, and food and water can be very scarce at certain times of the year. That's why they tried to "invade" neighboring countries and why Orochimaru tried to take over Konoha.
Now, on the other hand, since the civil war has already begun in the Land of Water, selling weapons isn't a crazy idea. Thanks to several members of my clan, who, thanks to my great eloquence, dedicated themselves to fuinjutsu, specifically running a factory of explosive talismans, we have enough to sell to both sides.
Thanks, Obito, you're finally doing something right with your life.
We could also sell the rebels food or first-aid supplies, whether bandages or medicinal and poisonous herbs; by the way, the illegal factory in the capital of the Land of Fire has been profitable, especially with the sweets.
Those candies laced with drugs to make them addictive are a steal, to the point that they're considering opening a dentist to capitalize on the massive candy consumption by many people there.
Now, with the Land of Earth, bringing herbs or agricultural supplies would be ideal; given the scarcity of greenery in those places, productions like cloth or similar items are very limited. Most of what they find is obtained through trade or theft.
Not to mention this, we have basic foodstuffs, since that was one of the reasons for the war. The only difference is that Iwa has the ability to obtain other supplies, but I imagine that the number of ninjas, or in this case, the country's population, wouldn't be enough.
While in the Land of Lightning it's more complicated but not impossible, since, like the others, it also has needs for food, livestock, and certain resources, as living in the mountains can make obtaining certain resources difficult.
If there were no animosity, rivalry, or resentment between countries, the Land of Fire could have already economically dominated the others. But these countries wouldn't give Konoha a single ryō to spare, simply out of spite. They prefer to resort to war and sometimes uncivilized conflicts to meet their needs.
However, a company of dubious origin would appear, which turns out to be a conglomerate of several smaller countries, whose leader is well hidden—a front to gain entry to these places without being kicked out. I might be open to negotiations.
Likewise, the four countries need food, livestock, and wood, which I can produce in abundance to trade with them. So, doing all this shouldn't be too difficult, especially if I'm ruthless enough to smuggle in hygiene and fashion items and sell them at exorbitant prices.
While I was writing the report on the movements of those two brats—I can't call them brats anymore, since one's married and the other already has a one-year-old—I heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," I said, looking very serious as I turned to see Asuma.
"Hokage-sama, ouch!!" he exclaimed when a book popped out of his head.
"Okay, you can only call me sensei, or forget it," he scolded. I still don't like honorifics like "sama," but because of the position and the customs, I accept it, but accepting it doesn't mean I like it now.
"Sorry, sensei," the young monkey apologized, picking up the book and placing it on the table.
"So? Why are you here? None of you three ever come to visit me to see how I am, so you need something from me, don't you?" I complained, to which Asuma could only look away, a little embarrassed.
"Well, yesterday I had a fight with my father about my brother and how I should act to represent the clan, and honestly, I'm already fed up with all this, so I'd like to request a transfer from the village so I can go to the capital," he explained.
Upon hearing that, I simply continued writing.
"Oh, well, good for you, have a good trip," I said without looking at him.
He just blinked.
"Just like that? Aren't you going to draw some parallels for all this?" In response to his question, I tossed him a copy of a document already prepared with all of this, since, knowing the future, I knew this would happen, so I already had it on hand. Besides, if I didn't do it myself, I was going to send it there so it could mature a bit.
"What?" Asuma wondered.
"You forget I'm a witch; now, if you don't leave, I'll turn you into a toad. I'm very busy, choo choo," she said, gesturing for him to leave the office.
Asuma could only manage a bead of sweat on his forehead before bowing and leaving.
Once he was gone, I just sighed.
"How fun it is to be Hokage; you spend all day sitting and looking at reports."