After getting the news of victory from Orochimaru, Jie spent three agonizing days waiting in Konoha.
Finally, the triumphant forces returned. If they hadn't come back soon, Jie was pretty sure his brain would have melted.
The entire campaign—from deployment to return—had only taken a week. Yet, Jie genuinely didn't know how he had survived it.
A mountain of administrative duties piled up every single day. He woke up before dawn and collapsed into bed long past midnight. Chained to the Hokage's desk, he didn't even have time to see Izumi, let alone his little brother, Sasuke.
When Jie left for work, Sasuke was still asleep. When he finally dragged himself home, the kid had already crashed for the night. If this kept up, Jie was afraid he'd forget what his own brother looked like.
Fortunately, this paperwork-induced torture was finally ending.
After giving the returning army a grand, village-wide welcome, Jie didn't give Orochimaru or his commanders a single second to rest. He immediately convened an emergency Jonin meeting.
Seeing Jie's visible impatience, Orochimaru frowned.
"Could there be a new war?" he muttered under his breath. 'Jie is far too anxious. Are the Hidden Mist and Hidden Sand attacking simultaneously?'
Even when facing the looming threat of Iwagakure, Jie had remained perfectly calm, acting as if everything rested securely in the palm of his hand.
But this unprecedented restlessness? Denying them even a moment to catch their breath? Orochimaru had never seen the young Hokage act like this.
Not daring to delay, Orochimaru immediately rushed to the Hokage building.
The various clan heads shared Orochimaru's grim assumptions. They rushed to the Jonin meeting room at top speed, terrified of missing critical intel. Within minutes, all the powerful figures of Konoha had gathered.
Seeing Jie Uchiha sitting at the head of the table with a dead-serious expression, everyone's heart collectively skipped a beat.
Whatever this was... it wasn't trivial.
"Everyone, I apologize for disturbing you the moment you returned, but this matter is extremely urgent," Jie began, his tone heavy. "This concerns the very future of Konoha, and I cannot afford to hide anything from you."
'The future of Konoha!'
Hearing Jie's words, the faces of the clan heads drained of color. They silently pondered the sheer severity of the problem. If it was this dire, maybe it wasn't just the Mist and Sand.
Was the Fourth Great Ninja War breaking out? Was Konoha about to face the impossible odds of fighting all four great nations at once?
And why hadn't their intelligence networks caught even a whisper of it?!
Shikaku Nara, however, was the only one in the room who knew the inside story.
Hearing Jie's incredibly dramatic introduction, he had to fight the urge to roll his eyes.
'Is this really necessary?' Shikaku thought dryly. 'You're just announcing a new administrative system so you can dump your paperwork. Do you really have to make it sound like the world is ending?'
But technically... Jie wasn't wrong. A massive system reform did concern the future of Konoha.
So, Shikaku kept his mouth firmly shut. He leaned back, thoroughly enjoying the show as the tension in the room skyrocketed. He couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they finally learned the truth.
He shot a subtle glance at Fugaku Uchiha. If the stoic clan head found out his son had called an emergency, village-wide meeting just to slack off at work, would he give his son's backside a good smack?
"Lord Hokage, please," one clan head finally blurted out, unable to bear the suffocating tension. "Is the Fourth Great Ninja War about to break out?"
"Rest assured, Lord Hokage! Under your leadership, even if the four great ninja villages attack us simultaneously, we can turn danger into safety!"
"That's right! This isn't the Konoha of the past!"
Eager to prove their loyalty in a crisis, several minor clan heads shot to their feet, shouting passionately.
Jie blinked, utterly baffled. "...Fourth Great Ninja War?"
What the hell were they talking about? He had just taken out three Akatsuki members. Nagato hadn't captured a single Tailed Beast yet, and Madara was still dead. Who exactly was going to start a Fourth Great Ninja War? Was Konoha supposed to declare war on the entire world and fight a one-versus-four?
Sure, with his current strength, it wasn't impossible. But Jie certainly didn't have the time to run around the globe beating up the other four great villages.
Jie looked at the passionate clan heads like they were idiots.
"While this does impact the village's future, it's not quite like that," he said calmly. "My purpose in convening this meeting is to announce a new organizational system."
He paused, letting the silence stretch. "I call it the Three Departments and Six Ministries system."
Immediately after, Jie repeated the explanation he had given Shikaku, breaking down the structure for the room.
No one capable of becoming a clan head was stupid. Upon hearing Jie's detailed plan, their eyes lit up. They stared at the young Hokage like a pack of hungry wolves.
Whether it was Three Departments and Six Ministries or Four Departments and Seven Ministries didn't matter. The truly important thing was obvious...Jie Uchiha was voluntarily delegating the Hokage's administrative power!
The ultimate decision-making authority would remain firmly in Jie's hands. But anyone placed in the newly formed Secretariat, General Staff, and Think Tank would hold immense political power.
The absolute brilliance of the system dawned on everyone present.
It prevented Konoha from devolving into an Uchiha dictatorship, actively allowing all the clans to participate in managing the village. Meanwhile, with Jie acting as the final gatekeeper with absolute veto power, there was no fear of any single clan growing too powerful to control.
It had to be said—whoever came up with this system was a political genius.
Seeing that absolutely no one in the room objected to his proposal, a massive wave of relief washed over Jie.
"Since everyone is in agreement, let's confirm the preliminary candidates for the Secretariat, the General Staff, and the Think Tank," Jie announced.
"For now, the Secretariat will consist of three people. I believe Tsunade of the Sannin, Clan Head Nara, and my father are highly capable and respected pillars of Konoha. They have the ability and prestige to take on these roles."
Jie swept his gaze across the room calmly. No one voiced any objections.
After all, the Secretariat's primary function was to serve the Hokage directly. Naturally, the Hokage had the right to handpick his own staff.
"As for the Think Tank and the General Staff, they are tentatively set at four members each," Jie continued...
"Orochimaru of the Sannin will lead the Think Tank. Jiraiya of the Sannin will lead the General Staff. The remaining members for both will be determined later. Does anyone have an issue with this?"
In Jie's vision, the Think Tank would brainstorm and provide feasible, rational solutions for political and administrative affairs. The General Staff would then handle the practical execution of those strategies.
Therefore, putting Orochimaru in charge of the Think Tank was the most logical choice. The man's pragmatic way of thinking closely mirrored Jie's own.
Unsurprisingly, not a single person dared to object.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya were legendary figures. In any other village, they were fully qualified to take the mantle of Kage.
Having them serve as mere department heads in Konoha was almost a slight to their abilities. Besides, none of the clan heads felt their own talents could even compare to the Sannin.
In the ninja world, strength still spoke the loudest.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru sat in silence, staring at Jie with a bitter smile.
He had rushed over here thinking a catastrophic event had occurred. He never expected that Jie was just aggressively restructuring the entire government so he could slack off and be a hands-off boss!
Thinking about the absolute mountain of administrative work he was about to shoulder as head of the Think Tank, Orochimaru felt a massive headache coming on.
'Maybe defecting is a good idea after all?!'
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