After an in-depth discussion with Danzo, the newly appointed Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, felt that this matter was worth pursuing.
Not only should it be pursued, but it should be done seriously and well.
Because this might be a crucial step in determining whether Konoha could break free from the financial constraints imposed by the Daimyo's office.
Senior Danzo must have already considered this point.
As the Hokage, the issues Minato now pondered were undoubtedly more numerous and comprehensive.
Although he could currently rely on Danzo's 'prestige' to make the Daimyo 'willingly' triple the military funds, what about the future?
After this incident, the Daimyo's perception of Konoha had clearly undergone a significant shift.
If given the chance, those arrogant nobles would undoubtedly launch a counterattack against Konoha without hesitation.
If they were to join forces with other ninja villages, Konoha would find itself in a very unfavorable situation.
Therefore, financial independence was of utmost importance.
Without an independent purse, all other forms of independence were mere nonsense.
Watching Danzo's retreating figure, Minato, who had figured everything out, felt that Danzo senior truly had far-sighted vision!
Although the Third Hokage and the other two senior figures were also dedicated to the village, compared to Danzo, their perspectives seemed somewhat narrow.
They were always confined to the village itself, without casting their gaze across the entire world.
On the other hand, Danzo?
Whether it was establishing a newspaper, setting up ports in the Land of Wind and the Land of Water, or the current commercial plan, every step was aimed at the entire ninja world.
The difference in scope was self-evident.
To become a good Hokage, one must learn well from Danzo, Minato thought to himself.
—————
After leaving the Hokage's office, Danzo went straight back to Root.
Although his commercial plan had been approved by Minato, it was still just an idea and a rudimentary form.
To implement it specifically, he needed to find someone proficient in business or with excellent talent in this area...
The problem was that there were simply no formidable merchants in Konoha at present.
Only the ninja clans had experience in managing family assets.
"Indeed, it seems I must turn to those ninja clans after all..."
Danzo tapped on the table.
Clearly dissatisfied with Konoha's current 'lopsided' phenomenon.
If he wanted to address this 'lopsided' situation, it was undoubtedly necessary to reform the current education system.
For example, separating ninjas from ordinary people.
Setting up a school or profession where ordinary people could also receive education.
Allowing ordinary people who could not become ninjas to learn a variety of knowledge and become various types of engineers, contributing to the construction of Konoha.
The problem was that this kind of popular education was extremely costly to the finances.
Even with the current tripled military funds, Konoha could not afford to roll it out on a large scale.
Not to mention the compilation of various textbooks and the training of teachers and other matters.
Therefore, Danzo could only temporarily postpone this plan.
To start implementing it after the commercial reform showed initial results.
Just as Danzo was troubled by the execution of this commercial plan, Shisui arrived.
He brought some good news.
"Teacher, the Hell Valley you mentioned, I found it in the Uchiha clan's records."
As a transmigrator, Danzo was well-versed in the various bloodlines of the ninja world.
Among them, the Blood Dragon Eye (Ketsuryugan) was one of the bloodlines he paid particular attention to.
Although it does not belong to the three great dojutsu of the ninja world, its talent in genjutsu is by no means inferior to the Sharingan.
Moreover, the way to activate it is similar to the Sharingan, both through strong emotional stimulation.
In addition, the Blood Dragon Eye also has the ability to manipulate blood and use blood to launch various attacks.
It is definitely an impressive bloodline.
With such a powerful bloodline, the Blood Pool clan (Chinoike) should have become a powerful family.
It should at least remain in the Land of Lightning as another Yotsuki clan.
Unfortunately, in order to gain the support of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, the Blood Pool clan married the daughter of the clan head to the Daimyo as a concubine.
Coincidentally, after marrying this woman from the Blood Pool clan, the Daimyo died soon after.
This aroused the anger of the Daimyo's formal wife, who believed that the Daimyo's death was related to the Blood Pool clan.
Therefore, she hired the Uchiha clan, who were still mercenaries at the time, to exile the Blood Pool clan to Hell Valley.
And set up a dojutsu barrier to strictly guard them!
However, later on, the contradictions between the Uchiha and Senju clans intensified, even to the point of being irreconcilable.
Naturally, they abandoned the supervision of Hell Valley, only leaving a few brief notes in the clan records.
After the Uchiha and Senju created Konoha, no one paid attention to the fallen Blood Pool clan anymore.
Of course, these are all old stories.
For Danzo.
The most important thing now is that the last member of the Blood Pool clan—En Oyashiro seems to be a merchant with considerable talent.
This piqued Danzo's interest immediately.
"Rabbit, you and Rooster take a trip."
"Go to Hell Valley and investigate the true situation of the Blood Pool clan."
As soon as the words were spoken, Pakura, who had been hiding in the shadows, immediately flashed out and knelt down on one knee, saying:
"Yes."
If Danzo remembered correctly, the Blood Pool clan currently seemed to have only En Oyashiro as a capable fighter.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been almost wiped out by the other party.
However, to be on the safe side, Danzo still sent two members of the Earthly Branch to carry out this mission.
With Pakura and Shisui looking out for each other, even in front of a Kage-level strong opponent, they should be able to handle it with ease.
—————
Under Danzo's orders, Shisui and Pakura set off quickly.
"According to the records of the Uchiha clan, Hell Valley was a prison guarded by the Uchiha clan before the village was established."
"Therefore, the Uchiha clan set up a barrier in Hell Valley, which can only be opened with a sufficiently powerful dojutsu."
Shisui introduced some basic information to Pakura while they were on the move.
"During the Warring States period, the Blood Dragon Eye of the Blood Pool clan was once a name that was as famous as the Sharingan."
"It has various unpredictable genjutsu and can also perform a variety of bloodline jutsu through blood manipulation."
"We must be cautious in dealing with it," Shisui warned.
Obviously, he had a certain kind of awe for this genjutsu family that was once as famous as the Uchiha.
In response, Pakura did not take it lightly and nodded calmly:
"I understand."
As someone who had been betrayed once, she knew better than anyone what it meant to be cautious.
At the extremely fast speed of the two, everything in front of them was stretched into thin lines.
Without the drag of any team or supplies, the two of them only took three days to successfully arrive at the location recorded in the Uchiha clan's records.
"Is this Hell Valley...?"
Pakura gazed at the valley in front of her. Even though she had experienced various fierce wars and missions, her face still turned pale involuntarily the moment she saw this scene.
Shisui's face was also very ugly.
The valley in front of them was completely shrouded in crimson fog, with blood-red rivers winding and coiling through the valley.
The most terrifying thing was that in this blood-like river, countless bones and corpses were floating on it.
Some were animals, some were human...
For example, human skulls!
These skulls had hollow eyes, and the dark eye sockets seemed to burn with ghostly fire, full of resentment and unwillingness.
"Was this just a massacre? Or has it always been like this?"
Pakura made a sharp guess and looked at Shisui.
Because all their understanding of Hell Valley came from the records of the Uchiha clan.
Before Shisui could answer, a figure burst out from the fog.
It was a middle-aged woman!
She rushed out of the fog, holding a kitchen knife in her hand, and slashed at Shisui's head without hesitation.
The latter was a ninja with the reputation of 'Body Flicker,' and his speed was unimaginable.
The moment the woman launched her attack, he pulled out the short sword on his back with a backhand.
A snow-white blade of light exploded like lightning in the blood fog, and the middle-aged woman in front of him was immediately beheaded!
Unexpectedly, the beheaded woman did not show the expected look of terror on her face, but instead gave a strange smile.
"Are you... Uchiha?"
The head on the ground, after seeing Shisui's Sharingan, seemed to confirm something, and the smile on her face became even more eerie.
Before Shisui could ask, her eyes revealed a strange "one" shape, like those toads from Mount Myoboku.
The next second, her face turned bright red in an instant, and all the blood vessels on her body bulged at the same time, with veins bursting out in an explosive manner.
Eventually, her entire body swelled up!
Shisui, who observed the change in her chakra through the Sharingan, immediately made a judgment:
"Her chakra is going haywire, she's going to explode, retreat quickly!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman in front of him exploded with a loud bang.
Accompanying the terrifying explosion, the woman's chakra suddenly went haywire.
Driven by chakra, all her blood turned into the sharpest bullets, scattering in all directions.
The powerful shock wave generated by the explosion even shattered the surrounding mountains, causing the blood river underfoot to rise in waves.
Bones, corpses, scattered everywhere.
Accompanied by the blood rain falling from the sky, the surrounding blood fog looked like the end of the world.