Because of the relationship between Uchiha Kagami and Fumori Masaki, his wife, Uchiha Maki, would visit once a month and maintain a friendly relationship with Satomi. Usually, she would come alone, but when Fumori Masaki was present, she would bring Uchiha Kagami along to strengthen the bond between the two families.
This time, Uchiha Maki had given birth to a daughter, and after her recovery, she and Uchiha Kagami brought their daughter to visit Fumori Masaki and his wife.
"Oh, what a lovely child. What's her name?" Satomi asked Uchiha Maki while holding the baby in her arms.
Uchiha Maki smiled and replied, "Her name is Mizuki. Isn't it a beautiful name?"
"Hmm," Satomi nodded, looking at the newborn Mizuki, and said, "It's a bit of a shame, Maki, that you had a girl, and I don't have a boy either. Otherwise, we could have arranged a child marriage."
"Before we were married, Kagami seemed to have mentioned this to Masaki. Honestly, it's a real pity, but being sisters is good too," Maki said, smiling at the two young children nearby. "Don't you agree, Akemi, Akina?"
Satomi had given birth to two daughters. The elder daughter was named Akemi, and the younger was named Akina. Among their peers, these two children were born first, about a month older than the other children. Perhaps because they received sufficient nutrition in their mother's womb, both children were very healthy, and due to the Senju clan's bloodline, they had excellent physiques.
Akemi and Akina, being less than a year old, couldn't fully understand Uchiha Maki's meaning, but they could vaguely sense that this elder sister's attitude was friendly, so they babbled in response.
While the two women discussed their children, Fumori Masaki was busy in the kitchen, with Uchiha Kagami helping him. Most of the time, Satomi cooked, but sometimes Fumori Masaki would take over.
He wanted to try dishes from another world, which Satomi couldn't make. After trying it once, the other three were surprised by this novel cooking method, so whenever Satomi wanted to have a heart-to-heart with Maki, Fumori Masaki would take over the cooking.
They overheard their wives' conversation. Fumori Masaki whispered to Uchiha Kagami, "Before, she was a bit resistant to the idea of a child marriage—though it might have been superficial dissatisfaction, she used to say the children should decide for themselves. Now she's actively suggesting it. She's changed so quickly."
"Girls are all like that. There's nothing to be surprised about," Uchiha Kagami said, understandingly. "At home, Maki and I would argue, and not long after, it would be as if nothing had happened. Sometimes it really leaves me a bit overwhelmed."
"Haha, that's true," Fumori Masaki chuckled softly, then turned his head and said, "Satomi, bring out that thing for Maki to see. Maybe she'll find it very useful."
"That thing? Are you talking about those fantastical stories you wrote?" Satomi asked.
"Exactly," Fumori Masaki nodded.
"What fantastical stories?" Uchiha Maki looked at the two of them curiously.
Satomi got up and said, "They are books Masaki wrote, which he calls fairy tales. They seem to be some imagined, wondrous stories. He said he would read them to Akemi and Akina when they get a bit older."
"That sounds interesting. Let me see them," Uchiha Maki's curiosity was piqued.
"I'll go get them now," Satomi said, then turned and went into the inner room.
While waiting, Uchiha Kagami said, "You even wrote things like that."
"Yes," Fumori Masaki said, "Children's education should start early. For me, waiting until they enter the Ninja Academy is a bit late."
"But what kind of stories are they, for Satomi to call them so whimsical?" Uchiha Kagami asked.
"You'll know when you read them later, but first, you have to help me finish the meal," Fumori Masaki teased, glancing back. "Let Maki read them first."
"Exactly, exactly," Uchiha Maki said with a smile.
After a while, Satomi came back with a stack of papers and handed them to Uchiha Maki, saying, "This is it."
Uchiha Maki eagerly took the papers and began to read them page by page. While helping, Uchiha Kagami secretly observed his wife's expression, seeing her look happy one moment, surprised the next, and then troubled. He himself grew increasingly curious about what those fairy tales contained.
However, Uchiha Maki hadn't finished reading before the meal was ready, so the dinner began directly.
Once all four were seated, Uchiha Kagami playfully poked his daughter and couldn't help but ask, "Maki, this… uh, fairy tale, what exactly does it say?"
"Simply put, they are all short stories, and behind the stories, some principles are reflected," Uchiha Maki mused, then said, "The stories are very interesting, not obscure like the classics in noble families. I think children will like them, and the principles are explained very clearly, which children should also understand."
"I see. So, children's education can indeed start early," Uchiha Kagami said thoughtfully.
"However, what I'm more interested in are some of the things mentioned inside," Uchiha Maki continued. "Satomi's 'whimsical' must be referring to this."
"You also think it's whimsical, don't you?" Satomi quickly said.
"What is it?" Uchiha Kagami, hearing the two speaking in riddles, suppressed his curiosity and quickly asked.
"It's this," Uchiha Maki finally didn't make Uchiha Kagami wait any longer and handed over the manuscript. "It talks about some tools, like steel carriages that can run by themselves, small gadgets for long-distance communication, iron boxes that let you see what's happening in other places from your own home, and so on."
"Really?" Uchiha Kagami took it and read it carefully. As he read, his expression gradually became serious.
The story's setting was similar to their current era, but it featured "humans" from underground, outer space, or secret realms who would bestow special ninja tools upon protagonists they encountered by chance, exactly as his wife had described.
The story didn't revolve around these items, but they played a role in the protagonist's adventures. Even without explicit descriptions, Uchiha Kagami could sense a peculiar ingenuity. If these things were real… "Masaki, these are…" Uchiha Kagami began.
Without even hearing the rest of his words, Fumori Masaki knew what he was going to ask and said, "These are my fantasies, but I hope they can truly come into existence."
"That's impossible, such incredible things," Uchiha Maki shook her head.
"Yes, it's too fantastical," Satomi nodded in agreement.
"It's not entirely impossible, though," Fumori Masaki smiled. "Look, for that long-distance communication method, doesn't the village have a similar secret technique?"
"Are you talking about the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Transmission Technique? But that can only be achieved within the caster's perceived range, right? The device in your story can allow conversation even a thousand miles away. No one in the Yamanaka clan could possibly do that," Satomi said.
"That's just because the sensory range isn't enough. If there was something that could connect the chakra quality necessary for transmission ninjutsu and propagate it, transmitting it from one place to a location a thousand miles away, then theoretically, the Mind Body Transmission Technique or other communication ninjutsu could achieve long-distance communication," Fumori Masaki explained.
"Propagation… Is that why you need those chakra metals?" Uchiha Kagami seemed to realize something and asked.
When the chakra metal mines of the Land of Wind were transferred to Konoha Village, Konoha discussed many times how to use these metals. Some thought they should imitate the puppet production of Sunagakure, while others believed they shouldn't just copy but have other ideas. Fumori Masaki held this latter opinion, but when asked how to do it, he couldn't articulate anything, resulting in repeated delays.
Now seeing the items appearing in the fairy tales, Uchiha Kagami finally understood what Fumori Masaki hoped to create. The reason he couldn't speak clearly during the meetings was probably because he only had a general outline but no concrete execution method. Simply stating it would only lead people to dismiss it as fantasy.
And Fumori Masaki then admitted this point. Although he knew what effects chakra technology should exhibit, he didn't know how to achieve them. If it were simply about producing technology from another world, he could explain the principles and direction, but adding chakra into the mix made it different.
For example, taking long-distance communication, since it relies on communication ninjutsu, the "lines" for chakra output must have the characteristics of stable and long-distance transmission, including efficiency and ease of use for ordinary people. The technical challenges to overcome were all new, with no specific examples to draw upon.
He initially considered directly proposing these research methods in high-level meetings, but from another perspective, this would involve a large amount of funding and manpower, and it was something he himself wasn't entirely confident about. Directly proposing it would likely not be approved, as Konoha Village's funds and manpower were limited and couldn't be invested in unpromising areas.
So far, Fumori Masaki had only mentioned these to Tobirama. Even someone like Tobirama found Fumori Masaki's ideas a bit outlandish, as he had never witnessed such things before. However, Tobirama felt there was a certain feasibility. Although Konoha Village couldn't conduct these studies now, he suggested that Fumori Masaki could do some preparatory work first, and once Konoha had surplus manpower and funds, the research could begin.
Fumori Masaki understood this point. Although he could bring in funds, relying solely on himself would inevitably take a lot of time. It would require many people to research together to potentially shorten the development time. Therefore, it was essential to instill this awareness in the new generation of Konoha shinobi.
So, Fumori Masaki wrote these fairy tales, incorporating his fantasies about chakra technology. For this, he replaced the terms from another world with shinobi world vocabulary, and the energy, of course, was chakra. His goal was to expose the new generation of shinobi to these ideas from a young age, planting the seeds of future technology in their minds and guiding those with scientific talent to explore. This was one of his purposes, and the other was—
"Kagami, I hope to publish these books. Your Security Force should have some understanding of the merchants within the village, right? I wonder if you could find some merchants to help," Fumori Masaki said.
"I can," Uchiha Kagami paused slightly and said, "But why?"
"If these things are sent to the Ninja Academy, there will probably be even more controversy. Other literary books are fine, but these fantasy novels don't seem suitable as official educational material. Letting the villagers buy and read them themselves is a compromise, but it needs someone to help promote it. So I hope you can find capable merchants," Fumori Masaki explained.
Because of the Uchiha clan's performance in the First Great Ninja War, Tobirama had given them a very high evaluation. The Uchiha clan's situation was no longer like in the past, and the structure of the Security Force had also been reorganized, bringing in people from other clans, so power was not entirely held by the Uchiha clan. On the surface, it seemed like a decline in status, but from another perspective, the independent factor of complete control disappeared, allowing them to integrate better into Konoha Village's internal organizations, no longer having barriers with other clans as in the past.
Some people in the Uchiha clan were happy, others dissatisfied. However, because of Uchiha Kagami's guidance of internal discourse and ideological education over the years, the majority of people agreed, so the Uchiha clan made no unusual moves. After the reorganization, communication with other departments became more frequent, a situation that even Uchiha Kagami himself was pleased to see.
Although the Security Force was no longer solely dominated by the Uchiha clan, it still held a significant proportion, and the Security Force members were primarily from the Uchiha clan. At this time, Konoha's organizational structure was relatively simple, so the Security Force was responsible for many areas. Merchants entering Konoha Village to engage in trade also had to undergo inspection and management by the Security Force.
Because Uchiha Kagami emphasized the Security Force's external image, under his supervision, the relationship between Security Force members and the villagers was quite good. Uchiha Kagami himself knew many people, so finding some reliable individuals to help publish the readings posed no problem for him.
"That's great, I still have some things to say." Fumori Masaki was about to say more, but Satomi gently tapped his bowl with her chopsticks.
"Leave important matters until after dinner. By the time you finish, the food will be cold," Satomi said.
"You're right," Fumori Masaki said, taking back his words. Everyone temporarily forgot their previous topic and began to eat. After dinner, Fumori Masaki and Uchiha Kagami continued their discussion.
On one hand, Fumori Masaki needed to publish readings to lay an ideological foundation. On the other hand, he needed to generate funds for the ninja village. Because most of Konoha Village's land was controlled by ninja clans, and those major clans had been granted special privileges, the agricultural taxes that could be collected were limited. Therefore, Fumori Masaki focused on commercial taxes.
To ensure a large amount of commercial tax revenue, it was necessary to ensure a flourishing commercial market. At the same time, Fumori Masaki believed that the ninja village should intervene to reasonably collect commercial taxes and prevent uncontrolled trade. As for how to guarantee the rights of merchants, the Security Force, currently responsible for management, had the most say. Therefore, he hoped Uchiha Kagami would help him compile the necessary information so he could present it at the high-level meeting.
They discussed until nightfall, when Uchiha Kagami and his wife finally left with their sleeping daughter. While Satomi went to put Akemi and Akina to bed, Fumori Masaki sat alone, contemplating the future direction.