Chapter 472: The Spoils of War
After returning from Obito Uchiha's base, Ishiro convened a high-level meeting in the village.
This was a post-war summary meeting, and also one to define the village's future strategic direction.
Not a single member of Iwagakure's high command was absent; even Ōnoki, who was overseeing the construction of the Land of Bears branch, was recalled by Ishiro.
Ishiro smiled. "Everyone, relax. Let's start with the gains from this war."
"We won't go over the casualties and spoils of battle; you all know those already. Senior Bella, please report on the fulfillment status of our treaties with Konoha, Suna, and Kumo."
Bella nodded, took out a document, and began her analysis. "In this war, we defeated Suna and Kumo."
"Although we didn't gain an advantage in our fight with Konoha, as the victorious side, we still reaped huge benefits from all three of them."
First was territory: "The Land of Earth has successfully taken control of the two regions in the southwest and northwest of the Land of Fire."
"The Daimyo has already sent officials to these areas. This territorial expansion is different from the token transport corridor we carved out in the north of the Land of Fire last time."
"These two pieces of land are truly inhabited, productive, and fertile lands."
"The Daimyo is very pleased. He has promised that as long as we can maintain control of these two territories, he will increase the village's funding by fifty percent in the future."
Hiss~ Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air. There was only one thought in their minds: That much?
Ishiro smiled. "It seems the wealth of the Land of Fire still far exceeds our imagination."
Bella nodded and continued, "The war reparations from Konoha, Suna, and Kumo have all been received."
"The sum is enormous. The village will not be short of funds for a very long time."
She glanced at Ishiro. "Especially the Kazekage's pile of Gold Dust. We received several times more than we did last time."
Everyone knew about this and gave Ishiro a strange look. Only their Tsuchikage would sign a treaty that directly confiscated an opponent's primary combat weapon. And not only did he confiscate it, he used it as currency.
Bella said, "We need to think about how to spend this money and convert it into strength."
Ishiro smiled. "Simple. Continue to expand the army. As we saw in this war, we are still short on manpower."
"Our territory will be even larger in the future, and we will need more ninja. Don't worry about not having enough missions to support them."
"With the Land of Bears branch established, we have four branches in total. The funding from those four medium-sized countries can also support many ninja."
Megumi asked, "Teacher Ishiro, if we expand the army again, will we really have enough missions for them to perform?"
"The students from the last expansion are still in the Academy and haven't graduated yet. I believe they're the next graduating class."
"Every graduating class from now on will be double the size of previous years. Can we really absorb that many ninja?" Megumi expressed her concern.
Ishiro smiled. "Don't worry. With the end of this war, we have many new territories that require ninja garrisons."
"Now that we have money, we'll build two new branches in the former Land of Fire territories."
"The southwest one can be simpler, built to the standards of a temporary camp. It will have a permanent garrison of five hundred ninja to maintain order."
"The northwest one is not far from us. We'll build a full branch there, just like the ones in the Lands of Snow, Demons, Waterfalls, and Bears."
"These branches, like the others, will each have a garrison of one thousand five hundred ninja to maintain control of their regions."
"Just these five branches and one temporary base will require eight thousand ninja."
"So don't worry about having too many ninja with no missions."
Megumi nodded. "I understand. For the next Academy recruitment, I will enroll more students than the current number."
Ishiro thought for a moment. "Expand the recruitment range. Don't we have ninja stationed all over the Land of Earth, checking the talent of children?"
"Before, everyone was afraid of recruiting too many, fearing we couldn't answer to the Daimyo or that the village couldn't support them."
"We don't have to worry about that anymore. Tell our scouts to bring in all the talented children they previously passed over. It doesn't matter if they're a few years older."
"As for the Daimyo, just tell him we need to garrison the occupied territories in the Land of Fire and don't have enough ninja. He will agree."
"Also, bring their families to the village. If the village is too small, we'll expand it. With money, what is there to fear?"
Megumi and the others looked at Ishiro, who spoke with the tone of a man who'd just struck it rich, and nodded woodenly.
When Ishiro finished, Bella continued to read through the list of gains.
Finally, Ishiro added, "There's one more piece of good news. Shinya Matsutani has become a Quasi-Kage."
"What?" Ōnoki shot to his feet.
Ishiro smiled. "That's why he returned ahead of the others."
Shinya might be lazy, but he was very sharp. He knew that if he remained in Kirigakure after becoming a Quasi-Kage, it might give the Kiri ninja some ideas they shouldn't have. So, despite being the commander, he had abandoned his troops and returned alone.
Ōnoki nodded excitedly. He tried to suppress his excitement but couldn't, and finally burst out laughing.
Everyone else was also thrilled. Other nations' Kage-level fighters were dwindling in number, but theirs were increasing. This was a joyous occasion.
Saka asked, "Should we have Shinya join the advisory council?"
Ishiro rubbed his head. "Let's hold off for now. Like me, he's not cut out for that kind of thing."
"Once he officially becomes Kage-level, we'll bring him in as an honorary advisor."
The council: ...
Ignoring their expressions, Ishiro added, "Bring Han in as well. Everyone has seen Han's contributions to the village over the years."
"His strength has increased, yet he remains hardworking and uncomplaining. The village can't pretend not to see that. I think 'honorary advisor' is a good fit."
Everyone thought about Han's performance over the years and agreed he deserved such treatment and status.
"What authority does an honorary advisor have?" Ōnoki asked.
Ishiro said, "I've thought about this before. They won't be in charge of a specific department, but they can attend high-level meetings and participate in voting."
"Given the village's current situation, it's necessary to create such an honorary position. In the future, if a simple-minded ninja like Sōkai becomes Kage-level, we can make the same arrangement."
The council members looked at each other and nodded. They all knew Sōkai's situation. With his Mangekyo Sharingan, it would be relatively easy for him to become Kage-level. But his intellect was really not suited for holding real power.
Ōnoki asked, "Where is Shinya now?"
Ishiro said, "Still in the hospital. He was really badly injured this time. Even with Sage Mode, he still hasn't recovered."
"But it was a blessing in disguise. Without this serious injury, he wouldn't have become a Quasi-Kage."
Ōnoki said quickly, "Have you arranged protection for him?"
Ishiro smiled. "Don't worry. Three Anbu squads are protecting him in rotation. The room next to his has been cleared out, and Han is staying there."
Hearing that Han was next door, Ōnoki relaxed. He then began to silently calculate the number of high-end fighters in Iwagakure.
After counting, Ōnoki asked, "What is Sōkai's specific situation?"
Ishiro smiled. "Fugaku Uchiha has already told me how to train ninja like Sōkai. His strength is progressing very rapidly now."
"Without using his Mangekyo, just his three-tomoe Sharingan, he's already at Jonin level. And he's still in his rapid growth phase."
Everyone nodded, looking forward to it.
Speaking of Sōkai, Megumi said, "That girl Riori has also become a Quasi-Jonin. She nearly died when the Takigakure branch was besieged by Konoha."
Ishiro nodded. "Yes, she performed well. I'll teach her a few ninjutsu as a reward later."
Megumi: ...
Why do I feel like I've just doomed Riori?
Kitsuchi said, "There's more good news. When Obito Uchiha invaded the village, Akino Atsumi tested the effectiveness of the space-time barrier many times."
"She collected a lot of data, and after organizing it these past few days, she has finally had a breakthrough."
Kitsuchi had been on-site at the time, so he was very interested in this matter.
He took out a test report. "Akino has found a way to stabilize space-time."
"Through experiments, she can now teleport small objects long distances without any damage."
Ishiro was stunned. "Doesn't that mean she's learned the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Previously, Akino had achieved spatial teleportation of objects with her Heavenly Transfer Technique. But she couldn't transport ninja, because a normal shinobi couldn't withstand the pressure of teleportation. But now, if she had found a way to solve the pressure problem, it meant she could transport ninja. Which meant she could transport herself.
Teleporting oneself via coordinates—isn't that the Flying Thunder God Technique?
Kitsuchi said, "That's what Akino said. It's just that the spatial reinforcement isn't perfect yet; it's still a ways off from being able to transport ninja."
"Once it can transport ninja, she can try transporting herself. At that point, she will have truly mastered the Flying Thunder God."
"However, Akino said that even if she learns it, she'll be nowhere near the level of Minato Namikaze. She can only achieve teleportation; she can't use it for combat."
Ishiro nodded. This was expected. He never counted on Akino to become a major combat force.
Ishiro took out the "rent" he'd just collected from Obito. "Obito Uchiha came to our village to cause trouble. Although he didn't succeed, I still extorted a few things from him."
Seeing the scrolls of Madara Uchiha's notes that Ishiro produced, everyone's eyes lit up.
Saka said emotionally, "Good stuff. Our ability to defeat Kumo so quickly this time was largely thanks to those five-element notes you brought back last time."
"The jonin and some of the talented chunin and genin have all studied them. In two months, everyone's ninjutsu has improved significantly."
"That's why we were able to handle Kumo with such ease."
Ishiro smiled. "Then I'll leave these scrolls to you again, Senior Saka. But this batch is all Kekkei Genkai notes, so they won't be applicable to many ninja."
After looking them over, everyone nodded.
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