After working all afternoon, Haru and Tomita finally finished stamping all kinds of forged receipts in advance, leaving only the money itself to arrive.
Afterward, Haru rested his chin on both hands and began discussing Konoha's future development with Tomita. He very much wanted to hear Tomita's thoughts.
After all, Haru had no one else he could use right now. The only foundation he had was the Uchiha clan.
Tomita could be considered one of the Uchiha clan's outstanding talents. He was highly gifted both in battle and in managing the clan. Otherwise, there was no way he could have held the entire Uchiha clan together after Madara's departure.
After Haru took power, Tomita had also done his best to teach him how to become a qualified clan head, so Haru respected him a great deal.
"I think the most important thing right now is still recovery and rest. The first priority is ninja... and missions..."
"..."
Haru listened seriously.
Mm. Very traditional. The same old approach. Train as many ninja as possible, strengthen Konoha's power, and ask the Daimyo for as much funding as possible.
Still dependent on others.
A standard ninja mindset.
But it was hard to blame him. In this wretched world, ninja were supposed to temper themselves, grow stronger, and then take missions to support themselves.
Another victim poisoned by the idea that ninja were just tools.
What Haru wanted to do was far more than that. Industry, agriculture, commerce, entertainment, every kind of sector, he wanted a hand in all of them. He wanted to turn Konoha into a giant trust, monopolizing resources and harvesting profits.
With overwhelming economic power and cultural influence working together, Konoha could constantly export its universal values to the rest of the world.
If Konoha only became militarily strong, the inevitable result would be a joint attack from the other four great ninja villages.
Since he could not yet dominate the world by force alone, then he would use another method to dominate it. He could not seriously just sit there waiting for Naruto and Sasuke to appear out of nowhere.
Of course, the most important issue was still ideology.
The First Hokage's naive way of thinking was simply too outdated. It could never serve as Konoha's guiding principle. He needed a proper education in politics and history.
"Any outstanding organization must have a lofty goal. Konoha's goal, naturally, is peace in the ninja world."
"On that basis, we need to develop military power, politics, the economy, and culture. Konoha's military strength is naturally beyond question, but in politics, economics, and culture, Konoha's influence is far behind..."
"The first thing Konoha needs to solve is its economic problem. If we want to overtake others, ninja and Daimyo fighting over land is a dead end. They've already been ahead in that field for over a thousand years."
"So we must build industry, advance technology, and develop productive capacity..."
Haru spoke at length.
Talking politics was basically a core skill for people from his old world. In every university dorm, once night fell, a great reformer, a great politician, or a great strategist would appear at random.
It was just a pity that most of them could only point at the world from inside their dorm rooms rather than fulfill their ambitions.
Of course, Haru was not some true professional. But he only needed to open the path. The elites of Konoha would naturally walk the rest of the road themselves.
Tomita sat there listening, sweat gradually appearing on his forehead. At first he could still understand a little, but later on he had no idea what Haru was talking about anymore.
"Industry must develop steel. Steel is the lifeblood of industry..."
"If you want prosperity, build roads first. Konoha's roads really do need work. In the future, we'll even develop trains..."
"..."
Tomita unconsciously left his mouth hanging open.
Although he could not understand Haru's words, he felt they were profound truths. They had a very advanced sort of weight to them.
All he needed to do was nod.
"Tomita, Konoha's future should be grand. It shouldn't exist merely as a ninja village. Do you understand what I mean?"
Tomita swallowed.
At a moment like this, admitting he did not understand would be far too embarrassing.
"I think I roughly understand. But Haru-sama, aren't you thinking a bit too far ahead..."
Tomita carefully chose his wording. The First Great Ninja War was not even truly over yet. Konoha's fighting with Kirigakure and Iwagakure still had not reached a final conclusion. There was only a temporary ceasefire. No one knew what the future would look like.
"A man without long-term concerns will always have immediate worries."
"The one who does not plan for the whole situation cannot plan for a single region. The one who does not plan for the long future cannot plan for the present."
Haru spoke earnestly.
"The one who does not plan for the long future cannot plan for the present... Clan Head-sama, those words are profound."
Tomita praised him sincerely. He felt that he himself had been too shallow. Right now, perhaps only Haru could lead Konoha toward a true future.
"All right, that's enough for today."
"Notify the various clans that we'll hold a meeting tomorrow. The funding has arrived, so it's time to divide the money. I was away from Konoha during this period, and I imagine they've all been waiting impatiently."
Haru felt there was no real point in continuing the discussion with Tomita. The two of them simply were not thinking on the same wavelength.
It was also about time to recruit a Hokage aide. Haru found himself thinking of a certain pineapple-haired figure.
Nara Shikaru should be a good candidate. Members of the Nara clan were naturally high-IQ people.
If Haru spoke with him, he should be able to gain something.
"Understood, Clan Head-sama!"
Tomita nodded. Over the last few days, the heads of the other clans had frequently come to probe him, all wanting to know how much funding the Daimyo had sent down.
Naturally, Tomita had told them nothing. To every single one of them, he had been warm, polite, and completely ignorant.
By evening, Haru returned home. The area outside the house, which had previously been somewhat messy, had already been cleaned spotless.
"Master, you're back!"
"Mm, I'm back."
Faye and Lynn stood together at the door waiting for Haru. He casually reached out and patted both of them on the head. Their hair was smooth and soft, and touching it felt oddly soothing, almost like petting a cat.
"Haru, are these two masseuses you hired?"
"This cat is very satisfied with their hands."
Maru strutted out of the room with elegant catlike steps, clearly still not understanding the relationship between Haru and the two sisters.
"Not at all. They'll be living here from now on. I've officially left single life behind, you pure little cat."
Seeing Maru at home, Haru felt completely relaxed, and immediately started teasing him.
"What?"
"You traitor!"
Maru's cat eyes went wide. They had agreed to be brothers forever. Whoever got into a relationship first was supposed to be the loser!
Haru and Maru messed around for a while, while Faye and Lynn went to prepare dinner. Tomita had already sent over plenty of ingredients.
Before long, dinner was set on the table.
Four dishes and one soup.
Haru sat there while the two sisters stood to one side attending to him, which made him somewhat uncomfortable. He was not a baby, so why should someone else be helping him with every bite at the table?
"Sit down."
"Since you're with me now, you don't need to be so restrained. From now on, this is your home too."
Haru waved a hand, telling them to serve themselves a bowl of rice each and eat together with him.
Originally, Haru had wanted to change the way they addressed him too. Calling him by name would have been enough. But the sisters refused no matter what, so Haru did not force the issue.
That night, Haru lay with his head resting on Faye's lap while she cleaned his ears for him, and Maru sprawled across Lynn's lap while she stroked his fur.
"Haru, this cat approves of the two of them joining the household, as long as they keep pampering me like this every day."
Maru narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, smoothly accepting the new members of the household.
"Oh? That's good."
"And don't you dare change your mind later."
After saying that, Haru took Faye and Lynn toward the bath.
After washing up, Haru returned to the bedroom in high spirits.
Tomita was very thoughtful. The bed was even bigger and softer than Haru had imagined.
Faye and Lynn stood there in their bathrobes, their cheeks slightly red, and spoke together:
"Master, please be gentle."
(The remaining ten thousand words are omitted.)
Outside the room, Maru listened to the sounds coming from within and covered his ears with both paws.
"Damn it, I was careless!"
"My sleeping spot got stolen!!!"
(End of Chapter)
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