In early March of the 15th year of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Akimichi Torifu led their troops in a large-scale battle against Iwagakure. After a fierce fight, the regular army of the Land of Water was routed and fled. Only thanks to the all-out cover provided by Kirigakure did they avoid total annihilation, but even so, the Land of Water no longer had the strength to continue fighting.
Consequently, the Land of Water began peace negotiations with the Land of Earth. Once the peace talks were initially settled and both armies withdrew, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Akimichi Torifu reorganized the border defenses. Determining that their presence was no longer required, they set off to return to Konohagakure.
Knowing that everyone else had already returned to Konohagakure, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Akimichi Torifu were eager to return home. They arrived at Konohagakure quickly, and while handing over the troops, Hiruzen Sarutobi's good friend, Danzo Shimura, came to greet them.
"Long time no see, Danzo." Hiruzen Sarutobi greeted him happily. "Has anything happened in the Village recently? It feels a bit different."
Danzo Shimura gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a strange look and said bluntly, "Did your brain rot from staying on the battlefield for too long? Didn't you receive the message the teacher sent you? Because too many civilians have flooded into the Village, if any Ninja Clan has unnecessary land, they can offer it up. Also, because of the resettlement of civilians, the locations of all Ninja Clans will be rearranged. I remember you should have agreed to this."
Dealing with the large number of civilians was the first priority for Konohagakure. If they weren't properly settled, the Village couldn't stabilize. Emergency measures were fine during wartime, but that wouldn't work once it ended.
The result of everyone's discussion was to have the Ninja Clans provide excess land. Because of the war, clans that had lost a large population no longer had the strength to control all their original land. Although they could continue to hold it after the population increased in the future, under the current circumstances, Tobirama set an example by contributing the unclaimed land within the Senju Clan, so other Ninja Clans had to follow suit.
Those less powerful Ninja Clans simply gave up the land directly, while families like the Uchiha, Hyuga, Sarutobi, and Shimura chose to hire civilians to farm for them. This freed up their own people from daily labor, allowing them to focus more energy on training. The only major clan that truly gave away all their land was the Senju Clan.
Calculating it this way, the major clans didn't actually suffer any real losses, so their resistance wasn't that strong. As for those Ninja Clans that gave away land directly... who would care about them? They didn't have any powerful strength and couldn't control the land themselves. Although giving it away was painful, with the compensation provided by the Village, they accepted their fate.
However, although the major clans weren't shaken at their roots, their status had begun to slowly decline. The Ninja Clans would only be an important force for the Village, not its foundation.
The tragic nature of the First Great Ninja War slowly washed away the remnants of the Warring States Period, and the Ninja Village system established by Senju Hashirama was consolidated.
Anyone who had participated in this war knew that relying on one clan alone was impossible to survive in the Ninja World. Only by gathering around the Village could they have enough powerful strength.
Perhaps because of this, the major clans began to compromise. The level of compromise now wasn't enough, but it would increase in the future, until Senju Hashirama's ideal was realized. However, it would certainly go through a cruel and troublesome process, and no one knew what the final result would be.
"Right, right! You don't know how difficult those people from Kirigakure were; they made me so stressed that I nearly forgot." Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed and rubbed the back of his head.
The two walked toward the Village. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the civilians on the road and clicked his tongue in wonder. Tobirama's arrangement was centered around the civilians, so the civilian living areas were close to the center of the Village, while the locations of the Ninja Clans surrounded them like guards. For the Ninja Clans, this arrangement was also good; not being near the bustling areas of the Village allowed them to focus on practicing their own Ninjutsu and ensured the mystery of their families.
"With so many people, there should be quite a few entering the Ninja Academy." Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
Previously, the Ninja Academy had issued a notice to recruit civilians, but because there were fewer civilians and they were hesitant, not many chose to enter the Ninja Academy. But now, with so many civilians, the number of people entering the academy certainly wouldn't be small.
"Hmm, in fact, a batch of children has already been arranged to go in. However, that's because they are all orphans." Danzo Shimura said.
The war damaged not only the soldiers but also the civilians involved. Even if Konohagakure didn't intend to harm the populace, the intense war still affected them. Among them were some who had lost their parents. They had no means of making a living, so instead of finding other methods, it was better to send them to become Ninjas. If these orphans were nurtured well, their loyalty to the Village would be very high.
"Orphans, huh? Entering the Ninja Academy is fine, but where will they live? You wouldn't give them land and let them farm it themselves, right?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.
"Of course not, so the Village has to provide relief for them. For this, the teacher had to go and discuss with the Feudal Lord to allocate more funds." Danzo Shimura shrugged.
"Being Hokage is truly hard work."
"That's for sure. I wonder who will be the Sandaime."
At this point, the two fell silent. All of Tobirama's disciples hoped that they could inherit the teacher's position. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura were the same. They were good friends, but also competitors, both hoping they could surpass the other.
"By the way, what have you all been doing lately?" Hiruzen Sarutobi broke the silence and asked.
"I have been leading the Anbu to search for potential spies within the country and gathering intelligence. Uchiha Kagami is managing the affairs of the Police Force. Koharu is trying to establish the Medical Department—ah, that is the place where Medical Ninja work. As for Homura Mitokado and Fūmori Masaki, those two are writing the textbooks for the Ninja Academy."
"What?" Hiruzen Sarutobi doubted his ears. "Fūmori Masaki went to write textbooks?"
Danzo Shimura nodded slightly and said, "I was the same as you at first. This guy clearly has that kind of strength, why is he doing something like writing textbooks? It should have been left to Homura Mitokado alone. Sigh." As he said this, he shook his head, seeming to think it was very unworthy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered. In his eyes, Fūmori Masaki had always been a very strange person. Sometimes he would say astonishing things. Moreover, Fūmori Masaki, who was born a Ninja, had improved by leaps and bounds after that accident, his strength completely approaching his own. Although he wasn't as rich in Ninjutsu as himself, the power of his Wind Release was almost enough to break through all techniques with one force, especially his Taijutsu, which could almost be said to be invincible in close combat.
Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that he was also a person who could possibly inherit the Hokage position. It was just because Hiruzen Sarutobi cared more about Danzo Shimura, so he didn't feel as much competitive pressure from Fūmori Masaki, but he cared about it all the same.
"Why did he choose this?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.
"I don't know. He said he wanted to rest for a while. Well, Satomi is already pregnant, so it's nothing if he wants to accompany his wife..." Danzo Shimura hadn't finished speaking before he was interrupted by Hiruzen Sarutobi's scream.
"What! Satomi is pregnant?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked incredulous.
"Make a fuss about nothing." Danzo Shimura rolled his eyes. "It's probably because of the pressure the war put on people. After everyone returned, they were a bit immersed in the comfort zone. There are more and more pregnant people these days, it's practically catching up to a baby boom."
"Damn it! It's all because I stayed on the battlefield." Hiruzen Sarutobi grabbed his hair hard. "Hmm? Let me ask first, you wouldn't also..."
"What are you thinking? Do I look like the kind of person who would linger in the rear?"
"I suppose so." Hiruzen Sarutobi silently felt sorry for Danzo Shimura's wife, then sighed, "It looks like I have to work hard too. I want to have children!"