"Hokage-sama, the iron mines have all been consolidated and acquired. Nearly a quarter of the iron mines in the Land of Fire are now under the name of the Leaf Iron Company."
"Now that the war is over, pig iron prices in the Land of Fire are stabilizing. And because of the last futures plan, prices probably won't fluctuate much over the next year or two. If the Leaf wants to recover its investment, our estimates say it'll take five to eight years."
"And this operation was... fairly rough. As for the daimyo..."
Shikato reported the recent results of the mine acquisitions one by one.
To be honest, Shikato did not really agree with Haru's decision to buy iron mines on such a large scale.
The investment was huge, and the payback period was long.
If that amount of money had been used to train ninja instead, the Leaf's recovery speed would have been far greater.
And this time, the Leaf's treatment of its competitors could only be described as ruthless. Terms like coercion, seizure, and profiteering fit perfectly. The families that controlled the iron mine trade in the Land of Fire were all either rich or powerful, and they had already taken the matter to the daimyo.
"Relax, Shikato. I can guarantee that future demand for steel will far exceed your imagination. We may even have to worry about production failing to keep up and prices rising."
"In the past few months alone, the Leaf has consumed more steel than it did in the entire previous year, and that was when we were still at war."
"Factories, roads, housing, electric lights, power lines, and all kinds of infrastructure consume enormous amounts of steel. The Leaf has already begun stepping onto the road of industrialization. We're only going to go farther and farther, and from the Leaf, that influence will spread across the entire Land of Fire."
Haru's words stirred Shikato's emotions.
The Leaf's development over the past few months had truly been unbelievable.
Only a few months ago, the village's merchants had been half-dead, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Now, the sharper shop owners already had one or two branch stores open.
The area that once held only scattered merchants was already beginning to resemble the commercial center Haru had described before, complete with food, drink, entertainment, and everything else.
The Leaf's population had also grown by nearly a quarter. During this period, the village had taken in huge numbers of refugees. Building the power plant, the sweatshop factories, and expanding the road network all required vast amounts of labor.
And the Leaf's various sources of revenue had climbed steadily, breaking past fifteen billion.
If you excluded the daimyo's funding, the main pillar of the Leaf's finances had always been the commissions it skimmed from ninja missions. Now that share had shrunk sharply, not even accounting for one-sixth anymore.
Part of that was naturally due to the war reducing the number of missions available. But even if mission volume returned to its normal level in the future, or even surpassed it, it still would not take up a large share of the Leaf's finances again. If it could make up a quarter, that would already be impressive.
In just a few short months, that feeling of surging life and flourishing vitality was still right there before his eyes.
"As for the daimyo, go smooth things over."
"Even though the Leaf can already develop very well without his funding, we still need to maintain a decent relationship with him. When it comes to dealings between countries, the daimyo's influence is stronger than that of any hidden village. And in the future, the Leaf's business ventures will still need to work with him."
Haru told Shikato to go calm the daimyo down. Any excuse would do, as long as it looked right to the people below.
I give you face, you give me face, and everyone stays peaceful. The ones who died were all those greedy parasites anyway, and the daimyo himself had also used the chance to seize their property.
The only difference was that the Leaf had been more direct, using knives to force a choice, while the daimyo ate the same meat within the rules of the game and just made his manners look a little better. They were all the same kind of people, so there was no need for one to laugh at the other.
And right now, the Leaf's development still needed the daimyo's power. It was not yet time to fall out with him. So far, the cooperation between the Leaf and the daimyo had actually been quite pleasant. Replacing him now would only mean another long adjustment period.
The daimyo would understand such a small misunderstanding.
If he did not, then Haru really would have to start considering replacing him. After all, if emperors in one world could dissolve in water, then daimyo in this world could dissolve in paper bombs.
"Understood, Hokage-sama."
Shikato nodded, then picked up another file and said,
"The Mist Village's Third Mizukage, Mizuto, has accepted the Leaf's invitation to the Five Kage Summit."
"Now we need to confirm the location, date, and attendee list."
Haru thought about it for a moment.
That was indeed a major issue.
The last time a summit of this kind had been held in the Leaf, it was when Hashirama was still alive.
Back then, Hashirama had personally sent out invitations, and the spirit of the message had basically been this: if they did not give him face and come to the Leaf willingly, then he would personally visit their villages and invite them himself.
His sincerity had been overwhelming.
Haru had no doubt that Hashirama genuinely would have gone personally with gifts in hand to invite the other four Kage to the Leaf.
Of course, the other four village leaders had probably been scared half to death when they saw that invitation.
If Hashirama personally came to invite them, then that probably would not have been an invitation at all. It would have looked more like a village-destroying campaign.
In the end, they had all obediently come to the Leaf.
But Haru did not have the First Hokage's personal prestige or crushing strength. He could not just walk into the other villages and drag their leaders here.
So he needed to find a location everyone could trust.
The Second Hokage of the Leaf and the Second Raikage of the Cloud had both died at a negotiating table near the border. If the summit were held in the Leaf again, the other four villages really might not dare come.
What if it was a trap? What if the Leaf planned to ignore all conventions, gather the full force of the village, and wipe out all four other Kage in one swoop?
That would be the end of everything.
"Notify the other four villages. The Leaf will hold the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Hot Water to establish the postwar treaty."
"Security will be handled by the Hot Water Village. Each of the Five Great Ninja Villages may bring only one personal guard squad."
After some thought, Haru decided to hold the summit in the Land of Hot Water. The country sat apart from the main powers, and the Hot Water Village had always had a reputation for being harmless, even being called a land that had forgotten war.
If the summit were held there, no village would have much reason to refuse. And since each could bring only a single squad, there was less risk of anyone trying anything.
Besides, he had heard the scenery there was beautiful, and the hot springs were famous.
Holding the summit there meant he could enjoy a nice business trip on the public budget too.
"Understood, Hokage-sama."
Shikato nodded again, then left the room to handle the tasks Haru had assigned.
"And now I can slack off again."
Haru reclined on the sofa with an ice-cold cola in hand.
It really was delicious.
That lazy peace did not last long, though. Soon, someone knocked on his office door again.
"Hokage-sama."
Orochimaru walked in somewhat stiffly, his heart full of excitement. He was finally going to study under the Hokage today. The anticipation was almost too much.
"Orochimaru. How've you been feeling since filming wrapped up?"
Haru looked at him and chatted casually.
At this age, Orochimaru had not yet developed the aura of the future deranged scientist. In front of Haru, he still looked almost shy.
It was hard to imagine seeing Orochimaru like this in the future.
Too bad there was no camera around. Otherwise Haru absolutely would have taken a picture.
"It's been all right. It's just that the girls at school get a little too excited when they see me now. It's started interfering with my studies."
Orochimaru sounded a bit helpless. He found dealing with those empty-headed girls unbearably annoying. He would much rather spend the break reading more books.
"Hahaha. That really is tough for you. Jiraiya would probably love your treatment, though."
Haru understood Orochimaru's situation very well. Back when Haru himself had been at the ninja academy, he had been just as popular. But like Orochimaru, he had not cared much. Back then, Haru had been obsessed only with growing stronger so he could deal with Tobirama, Hiruzen, and the First Great Ninja War.
After chatting for a while, Orochimaru could no longer contain his thirst for knowledge and finally asked the question that mattered most.
"Hokage-sama, what are you planning to teach me today?"
"Come with me to the Uchiha compound."
Haru brought Orochimaru straight back to the Uchiha clan grounds, to the place where Tobirama conducted his experiments.
The moment they entered, three separate barrier seals activated around them. They were there to prevent Tobirama from escaping, and one of them was specifically a spatial sealing formula designed to counter techniques like Flying Thunder God. It was actually a seal Tobirama himself had once left in the Scroll of Seals.
Back when Tobirama had invented Flying Thunder God, he had worried, after the Leaf was founded, that such a monstrous forbidden technique might leak and cause irreparable losses to the village.
So he had deliberately created a space-sealing barrier to counter it.
The downside was that the conditions for activation were strict. It could only restrict movement in a fixed place. Later, he had recorded it in the Scroll of Seals.
Haru had dug it up and used it on Tobirama.
He still remembered how dark Tobirama's face had been that day.
Orochimaru followed behind Haru, constantly looking around in every direction. His eyes went wide at the sealing formulas all around him, overflowing with the desire to learn.
Coming here today really had been the right choice.
The Uchiha compound actually hid a secret base like this. The Hokage really was going to teach him something real.
"Tobirama, stop for a minute. I'm specially approving one of your clones to rest for a little while today. Come out and meet someone."
Haru looked at the dozens of Tobiramas working all over the lab and called to one of the clones, letting it stop for a moment and meet Orochimaru.
"Hmph. You really are so generous."
Tobirama's face was dark with displeasure. Somehow, no matter what Haru said, he always managed to make Tobirama angry.
Specially approving one clone to rest for a little while?
What kind of beast even said something like that?
It really was true, then. Haru was using him like a full-time beast of burden.
"Tobirama, don't be mad. I've brought you a fine young workhorse for the future. No, a fine student. His talent for research is no less than yours."
Tobirama looked past Haru and fixed his eyes on Orochimaru.
At that point Orochimaru's mind had already frozen.
He was looking at the Leaf's Second Hokage.
The dead Second Hokage was standing here again?
"Orochimaru, you should know this man well enough. This is the Leaf's Second Hokage."
"The Second Hokage died during negotiations between the Leaf and the Cloud. But even in death, he still worried about the future of the Leaf."
"He voluntarily came to me in a dream and taught me a forbidden technique, one that lets the dead return and remain in the world for a long time in a special form. He willingly chose to continue shining for the Leaf in this dark underground laboratory, burning himself away in silence to illuminate the Leaf's future."
"This is what true Will of Fire looks like."
"Tobirama, would you say I've got that right?"
Tobirama's face instantly turned black.
As expected of an inherently evil Uchiha.
Now Haru did not even need to draft lies anymore. He just spoke them on the spot.
When the truth was that Haru had secretly dug up his grave and then used Tsunade as leverage to force and blackmail him into slaving away in this lab doing research.
But when Tobirama saw the stars practically shining in Orochimaru's eyes, he gritted his teeth and said,
"Yes."
"I'm doing this... for the Leaf. Here."
He had no choice but to follow Haru's script and admit to everything.
What was he supposed to do, deny it all and expose the full truth?
That his grave had been dug up?
That Haru had used Tobirama's own forbidden technique on him and left him with no choice but to endure humiliation and work for him?
That would have been dragging his dignity across the floor, and doing it right in front of Haru and a younger generation talent at that. Tobirama still wanted to preserve at least the last scraps of his face.
For the sake of the Leaf, becoming the root that worked unseen in darkness, burning himself to light the Leaf's future, now that was at least a story with dignity.
Sometimes, a little self-delusion really never went out of style.
"The Second Hokage really is amazing."
Orochimaru's face was full of admiration, stunned by Tobirama's Will of Fire.
But what interested him even more was this: what kind of forbidden technique could return the dead to the living world?
Orochimaru licked his lips without thinking. He could feel his blood trembling. He knew that from this day onward, his life would be divided into two halves.
Everything after today was going to become much more interesting.
Wait.
Did Orochimaru just lick his lips?
Haru noticed the little motion.
Looking at Orochimaru's still-young face, he suddenly felt a strange sense of unreality. Lip-licking was Orochimaru's signature move in the original story.
Right now, Orochimaru was still just a normal child, only a little too curious. His mind had not yet twisted into anything truly warped. With Tobirama as a guide, maybe he would not grow into that original future of becoming a deranged scientist who turned himself into something half-male and half-female.
Then again, Tobirama himself was hardly normal.
So Orochimaru becoming a deranged scientist under Tobirama's guidance would not exactly be strange either.
After all, what kind of normal person, immediately after his older brother died, rushed to use his brother's corpse for human experimentation?
Still, with Tobirama there, Orochimaru was at least much less likely to defect from the Leaf in the future.
If Tobirama still somehow managed to fumble this, Haru could make fun of him with that black mark for the rest of his life.
Though Haru absolutely did not want that to happen.
"You say this child has research talent on the same level as mine?"
"Hmph. Really?"
"I don't believe it."
(End of Chapter)
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