Recently, a small group led by Sasuke and Naruto has been making waves at the Ninja Academy.
They call themselves the Seven Stars Society, a group of seven people led by Sasuke and Naruto, including Kiba, Chino, and Choji.
Adding to this are Shikamaru and Neji, who probably didn't want such a dramatic name but were forcibly dragged in by Naruto.
The group quickly achieved the feat of dominating the Ninja Academy, even defeating many graduating seniors.
This isn't surprising, as the group consists of ninjas from clans with deep-rooted ninja traditions.
Even Naruto, despite his poor academic performance, has become quite formidable after learning simple taijutsu techniques from Kakashi, thanks to his superior regenerative abilities and an extraordinary amount of chakra.
Most seniors are no match for them.
If it were just normal sparring, the teachers at the ninja academy wouldn't care. After all, the ninja academy is ultimately a place to train ninjas.
But these guys skipping class and going out to play all the time is a real problem. Iruka has been having a major headache lately, since six of the Seven Stars are from his class.
However, the parents of these kids don't seem to care much. Most of the ninja children sent to the ninja academy are important members of their clans. The purpose of going to the ninja academy is more about making friends and forging lifelong bonds than studying.
Now that these guys are playing together all the time, the parents are more than happy with that.
As for Fugaku, after Itachi's death, he reflected on his past parenting methods and stopped demanding that Sasuke be a genius. Now that Sasuke behaves like a normal, playful child, he feels gratified.
So, the parents at the dinner table laughed heartily when they heard about this.
...
Days passed by, and half a year flew by in the blink of an eye. Uchiha Touhuan's Eternal Eye was successfully born in the summer of Konoha 57.
During these six months, the village also experienced tremendous development. In just six months, Konoha had acquired the appearance of a capital city of the Land of Fire.
All of this was largely thanks to Yamato, Konoha's master architect. In those six months, he made a fortune just by building mansions for the village's nobles.
However, this guy was quite sensible; he clearly understood why he had achieved his current status.
Therefore, after acquiring wealth, he voluntarily handed over 70% of his earnings to the village for its financial planning.
In addition, the entire village has been transformed under the Sanqing Education program.
The villagers who have completed their reforms and been released have fully realized whose village this is and dare not cause trouble anymore. The long-standing problem of street vendors occupying the roads has been greatly improved.
More importantly, the troublemakers in the village have gradually given up their bad habit of spreading rumors. This is mainly because the prices in the village are indeed becoming more and more outrageous.
In the past, working four or five hours was enough to feed the whole family for a day, but now these villagers have to work hard every day to earn money for food, so they naturally don't have time to do such nonsense.
However, this situation couldn't continue. Protests about the excessively high prices in the village had repeatedly appeared on Hokage Uchiha Touhuan desk, indicating that even some of the ninjas couldn't afford the prices.
Uchiha Touhuan, in his capacity as Grand Minister of State, specifically raised this issue at court. However, the civil officials in the assembly disagreed.
"Grand Minister of State, you are mistaken," said Kazuo. "Where are the prices high? Prices in the capital have always been like this. As the new capital of the Land of Fire, it's normal for prices in Konoha to be a little higher."
"Is that so?" Uchiha Touhuan looked at Kazuo expressionlessly.
This old man had been riding high for the past six months. His biggest political enemy was dead, and Uchiha Touhuan, to recognize his contribution to the capital relocation, had promoted him to the position of Left Minister. When Uchiha Touhuan wasn't attending court, he was the head of the civil officials.
And during this time, the merchants who flocked to Konoha had showered him with gifts.
It's only because this old fellow still has some sense of propriety, knowing that some things are off-limits, and has consistently restrained his subordinates from interfering with the village's ninja ranks; otherwise, Uchiha Touhuan would have dealt with him long ago.
However, in the past six months, Uchiha Touhuan's main focus hasn't been on the imperial court, which has given the old fellow the illusion that he and Uchiha Touhuan have developed some kind of tacit understanding, with the trivial matters of the court being his responsibility, while Uchiha Touhuan controls the military and politics.
"Yes, Your Excellency, this is a normal economic phenomenon; the market will regulate itself," a civil official under Kazuo stepped forward and said.
"So this is a normal economic phenomenon?" Uchiha Touhuan nodded with a half-smile. "Then it seems I was overthinking it. But shouldn't those merchants give back to the country after making money? For example, by investing in industries and providing jobs for the people?"
"Grand Minister, you are mistaken," Kazuo said. "These merchants pay a considerable amount of taxes every year. The Land of Fire's current development owes much to them."
"I understand." Uchiha Touhuan nodded with a cold smile. It was clear that these old fogies had received a lot of benefits, otherwise they wouldn't be so enthusiastic in cheering for these merchants.
"However, I think they pay a bit too little tax." Uchiha Touhuan said coldly. "The country gave them the opportunity to make money, so they were able to make money. Therefore, I think giving back to the country is their due obligation."
Uchiha Touhuan's cold voice made these ministers recall that night in the Land of Fire half a year ago.
Kazuo swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he spoke, "Then, I wonder what the Grand Minister of State thinks they should pay?"
"I think 70% is quite appropriate, don't you all agree?" Uchiha Touhuan said calmly.
"70%?" Uchiha Touhuan's words caused a huge uproar in the court.
"Grand Minister of State, the commercial tax in the Land of Fire has always been only one-tenth! If you suddenly collect 70%, most of Konoha's merchants won't be able to survive!" a civil official said.
"Am I talking about merchants?" Uchiha Touhuan turned and glared at the speaker. These civil officials were masters of playing the game of sophistry, but Uchiha Touhuan, now with his sword in hand, had no intention of playing these political games.
If they disobeyed, he'd just kill them, which would free up space for his upcoming ninja transformation plan.
"Shopkeepers and vendors operating normally will continue to be taxed under the old policies. This new tax law mainly targets large merchants," said Uchiha Touhuan.
"This...this is competing with the people for profit!" another civil official stepped forward and said.
"Competing with the people for profit?" Uchiha Touhuan chuckled and looked at the speaker. "Murayama Takuyu, a native of the Fire Capital, entered the court as an official ten years ago.
In the past ten years, he has accepted bribes totaling 1.343964 billion taels of silver. Just yesterday, one of your paintings was purchased by a grain merchant for a high price of 30 million taels of silver."
Uchiha Touhuan said expressionlessly, while taking out a scroll from the sealed scroll on his body.
"I am a rough man and do not understand the art of calligraphy. I wonder which minister can help me appraise this painting and understand why it is worth 30 million taels of silver?" Uchiha Touhuan's hand trembled, and a scroll of calligraphy with the four characters "Integrity for the Public Good" was opened.
"Grand Minister of State...I..." Murayama Takuyu's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"Competing with the people for profit?" Uchiha Touhuan sneered. "I think it's competing with you gentlemen for profit, isn't it?"
An eerie silence fell over the court. No one dared to step forward. After Abe Taichi's faction was wiped out, none of those currently standing in the court had clean hands.
" Kazuo," Uchiha Touhuan suddenly called out names.
"Your subject is here," Kazuo stepped forward, sweating profusely. At most, Murayama Takuyu's crimes would only result in his death, but if Uchiha Touhuan uncovered his actions, his entire clan could join Abe Taichi in death.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just asking," Uchiha Touhuan said with a warm smile. "I'm not familiar with the laws of the Land of Fire. I wonder how Murayama Takuyu's case should be handled? Can the Left Minister enlighten me?"
"Murayama Takuyu... embezzled... embezzled and broke the law, according to the law... should be executed," Kazuo said, trembling.
"Then what are we waiting for? Do you expect me, the Hokage, to personally mobilize the village's ninjas?" Uchiha Touhuan's expression turned cold. "Guards!"
Two samurai guarding outside the palace entered and grabbed the trembling Murayama Takuya.
"Your Excellency, Minister of State, spare me! Your Excellency, Minister of State, spare me!" Murayama Takuya cried out frantically.
However, Uchiha Touhuan merely waved his hand expressionlessly, and the two samurai dragged him away.
"Do any of you gentlemen have any objections to my new tax law?" After a while, Uchiha Touhuan asked unhurriedly.
"Your Excellency, Minister of State's actions are a benevolent policy that benefits the country and its people," Kazuo said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Yes, yes, Your Excellency is right. The country gave them the opportunity to make money, and they should naturally repay the country after making money; it is their duty." Another civil official stepped forward and said.
"But what about the customs of commercial taxation in the Land of Fire?" Uchiha Touhuan raised an eyebrow.
"This rule was established a century ago, and it's naturally no longer suitable for the country's development. The relocation of our Land of Fire's capital to Konoha presents an opportunity for significant reforms," Kazuo said with a forced smile.
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