The noble envoy, personally appointed by the Fire Daimyo, felt nothing but terror as he traveled through the southern five districts of the Land of Lightning.
Although he knew that due to the Hyuga Clan's good relations with the Courtiers, Hyuga Soushu would not dare harm him, what he witnessed along the way completely shattered his understanding.
Before departure, the envoy had already learned of Soushu's audacious actions. To aristocrats and nobles, those lowly and savage ninja were practically useless aside from their terrifying talent for massacre and plunder. Deep down, the envoy had braced himself for a scene straight out of hell.
In his mind, the occupied southern five districts of the Land of Lightning and the ten central districts marked as tax regions should be places rife with ninja tyranny and unbearable suffering for commoners. He had even quietly ordered his subordinates to document every crime committed by the ninja throughout the journey.
Yet upon reaching Hakone District in the south of the Land of Lightning, what he saw was shocking—a sight where ninja were actually distributing land to peasants!
Those who once stood at the top—local gentry, wealthy merchants, and village samurai—were now uniformly hanged from trees, gently swaying in the breeze. Their corpses baked under the sun, exuding an aroma akin to dried meat. In sharp contrast, farmers receiving red-sealed land deeds from the ninja wore radiant, genuine smiles, as though the grotesque corpses nearby simply didn't exist.
A chill ran down the noble envoy's spine.
This was a blatant subversion of the ruling order!
This world—the cursed Ninja World! Without noble guidance, it was surely going to fall into ruin at the hands of these crude, unrefined ninja!
Though waves of turbulent emotion surged within the envoy, and countless indescribable feelings welled up inside him, he ultimately held his tongue—because a group of Konoha ninja approached with friendly smiles, offering "protection" since the occupied area remained unstable.
After all, while these smiling faces appeared harmless enough, the bloodstained vests they wore constantly reminded him of their connection to the pitiful souls dangling from the trees.
"Then I'll trouble you fine gentlemen."
Though reluctant, the envoy still wisely accepted the "kindness" offered by the Konoha ninja.
After all, refusing their offer might provoke them into taking similar action against him.
And so, though his heart raced with terror, he forced himself to remain composed. After crossing through the territory of the southern five districts, the noble envoy finally entered the so-called tax region in the central part of the Land of Lightning.
Compared to the pastoral idyll seen in the southern districts, this tax district presented an entirely different picture. Under strict tax-farming management, few free-moving civilians were visible along the route. Formerly scattered villages and independent farms had vanished, replaced instead by vast fields and mines tightly controlled by ninja forces.
The authority of the ninjas here felt as scorching and inescapable as the midday sun, reaching every corner of the land. They tightly gripped their bloodstained, glistening blades, forming an invisible intimidation against any commoners who attempted to slack off or become lax.
Faced with such a scene, the Noble Envoy unexpectedly found himself feeling a rare sense of relief deep inside, as if this was exactly how ninjas should behave—in pursuit of short-term profit with narrow vision, clearly lacking long-term administrative capabilities. This only further convinced him that in this rotten world, only the naturally sacred noble class could be the ideal rulers of the Ninja World!
"Good, good."
The Noble Envoy couldn't help but relax his previously extremely gloomy mood.
Yet, when he recalled the five southern prefectures that Hyuga Soushu had personally forged into a unique entity, his headache returned once more.
What made things even more complicated was that a team of Konoha ninjas had been assigned to guard the area. Given this situation, he dared not risk sending any report on the current situation to the Fire Daimyo's court.
After all, those rogue shinobi wouldn't hesitate to slaughter nobles if needed; undoubtedly, making a helpless Noble Envoy's delegation disappear amidst a war-torn area wouldn't be a difficult task for them!
"Compared with the ten central districts, although the five southern prefectures are now far inferior in both population and wealth; judging from the recent official sale of farmland, those commoners still have quite a bit of money to spare!"
In the accounting office of the Ninja Force headquarters, Mahiru Uchiha cheerfully updated Hyuga Soushu on how smoothly the new land distribution and tax policies had been rolled out across the five districts: "Most of the farmland put up for official sale has already been taken up by buyers. Revenue projections show that by the end of the year, the first grain harvest will yield income nearly equal to the total collected from the tax region."
"What proportion of buyers chose installment plans?"
Hyuga Soushu casually asked.
At the same time, his pen never stopped moving, signing an endless flow of documents arriving from every direction.
"The figure we've gathered so far is almost seventy percent! That's definitely a promising start!" Mahiru Uchiha replied cheerfully.
After establishing the basic policies for the occupied territories in the Land of Lightning, Hyuga Soushu first ordered his direct subordinates among the ninja ranks to completely eliminate the remaining wealthy merchants in the five southern prefectures who maintained hidden connections with nobles. Then, following the clues left behind, he had all the surviving minor nobles and landowning elites rounded up, seizing whatever wealth remained from them. As a result, alongside significant temporary gains, Hyuga Soushu also gained control over more than seventy percent of farmland across the five prefectures.
For ninjas, farmland was practically useless—it wasn't even as valuable as mines which produced usable ores.
Therefore, to ensure poorer commoners wouldn't miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a piece of land of their own, besides offering outright purchase of land, Hyuga Soushu introduced an installment plan spanning 5 to 10 years. However, installment purchases limited the amount of land one could buy.
This measure was originally intended to squeeze every last bit of wealth from the people, but no one—including Hyuga Soushu—had anticipated that the commoners in the five southern prefectures would actually view the installment sale of farmland as an act of compassion toward farmers. They believed this demonstrated His Lordship Soushu's benevolence and his intention to establish long-term, stable rule over the Land of Lightning.
The reason why the peasants from the Southern Five Prefectures of the Land of Lightning developed such an absurd perception was quite straightforward—the ninja could have simply seized land directly by force, yet they insisted on offering valuable farmland for public sale at reasonable prices!
It clearly revealed the ninja's true intent to establish permanent, institutionalized control over the region.
Upon learning of the surprisingly naive mindset among the common folk, Soushu couldn't help but feel both amused and exasperated.
However, he also noticed something significant—that these commoners, though once part of an enemy nation, showed little to no sense of national loyalty or fierce resistance. Instead, they behaved like compliant beasts of burden, silently accepting any changes imposed from above.
In fact, after the old aristocrats were completely wiped out, these civilians became even more compliant, voluntarily paying the taxes due for that season according to the rates set by their former lords while the ninja were busy tallying up assets seized from the nobility.
Such high-quality human assets truly deserved better treatment!
Therefore, based on his analysis of the current political situation and conditions within the Land of Lightning, Soushu introduced a series of policies including immunization programs and tax reductions. Having barely stabilized the region in two days, he quickly rolled out another initiative: putting all previously confiscated farmland up for sale at affordable prices across the five southern prefectures—this relatively "gentle" method of draining every last drop of wealth proved much more effective than direct looting carried out personally by ninja forces!
Especially those peasants purchasing land through installments had become ideal future revenue generators for the ninja regime!
With nobles and wealthy merchants eliminated, direct governance over commoners promised to generate the most stable returns.
"The revenue generated from these five prefectures nearly equals that of ten—it's already quite impressive," Soushu remarked with obvious satisfaction.
This outcome matched his original plan perfectly.
It also achieved exactly what he had intended from the beginning.
Unlike traditional ninja ideology, Soushu had a deep emotional connection to "land" and longed passionately to control vast territories. Thus, immediately after defeating Kumo's armies, he began planning how to establish lasting administrative control over the occupied territories.
However, due to limited numbers and differing loyalties among his ninja forces—which prevented them from uniting fully into a cohesive force—he could not effectively govern such expansive lands. Therefore, Soushu divided the occupied territory into two parts, retaining only control over the relatively barren Southern Five Prefectures while outsourcing governance of the ten central districts to become something akin to colonies.
"We are no longer facing food shortages, and minerals can be sourced from the tax regions. Our greatest shortage now is ninja personnel."
Uchiha Mahiru handed him a report while saying, "Even the weakest genin would be better than having absolutely no one available!"
"The village probably won't send us additional troops."
Hyuga Soushu shrugged, flipping through a report before tossing it aside. He pulled Mahiru Uchiha into his arms as she sat next to him. "In fact, they might even start withdrawing combat units from our command!"
"They **dare**?!"
Mahiru Uchiha immediately flared up.
"There's not much they wouldn't dare," Hyuga Soushu kissed his lover's forehead, maintaining a calm tone. "Sakumo returning to the village unexpectedly could lead to trouble."
"Cheh."
Mahiru Uchiha arched an eyebrow, finding her lover's assessment somewhat unbelievable.
After all, whether considering strength or status, Hatake Sakumo was one of Konoha's most important figures today — and one of only two war heroes credited with defeating Kumo. Though the village didn't promote this publicly, and actively downplayed Soushu's existence, none of that affected Mahiru Uchiha's admiration for Hyuga Soushu.
So how could someone like Hatake Sakumo, an elite jonin already considered a ridiculous candidate for future Hokage, now actually be targeted?
Even the most reckless radicals among Uchiha ninja wouldn't commit such a foolish act!
Therefore, instead of continuing the discussion further, Mahiru Uchiha decided with Soushu to leave their official duties behind and retreat to the bedroom to 'discuss' things more thoroughly.
Meanwhile, the jonin officers who were busily overseeing the five major tax regions alongside their respective ninja clans were feeling highly satisfied.
Once they took direct control over civilian labor production, they realized managing it wasn't all that hard.
It boiled down to assigning tasks, setting clear rewards and penalties, and enforcing them consistently. The only difference was that miners in high-risk mines, where deaths and injuries were common, received full meals and a small wage — far less than deserved — from their ninja overseers.
Yet despite everything, civilians still flocked to the rebuilt mines — not for any grand reason, but simply because they could finally eat their fill and earn a wage!
In contrast, establishing centralized farms faced more resistance from farmers, even cases of fleeing — especially among independent farmers unwilling to give up private land ownership for collective farming. This eventually forced the ninjas to brandish their blades.
As for the bad habits of small-scale independent farmers and landlords, these quickly vanished in the face of bloody reality. Those who survived begrudgingly accepted the so-called 'great reforms' pushed by the ninja. Those lucky few who escaped into remote mountainous areas became perfect hunting targets during the ninja's leisure time.
While squeezing every last drop of blood out of the tax regions, the ninja and their clans came to one shocking realization:
"Nobles really can be this wealthy?"
Inside the Hyuga district, Hiashi Hyuga couldn't believe his eyes as he repeatedly flipped through dozens of operational reports from the branch house ninja managing the tax region!
"Seizing assets from the remaining nobles in two prefectures yields only three hundred million."
Hizashi Hyuga pointed out gently, "These profits are just a drain on existing resources—and it's not even sustainable."
"This already covers most of the cost for leasing the tax region," Hiashi countered. "Which means every single day afterward will be pure profit!"
"And besides," he continued, "Soushu set only the annual leasing fee for the tax region, without specifying any fixed duration!"
"Huh..."
Caught off guard, Hizashi momentarily lost his words.
Could it be that his dear older brother also planned to follow suit, attempting to establish a separate power base exclusively for the Hyuga Clan in the Land of Lightning?
For the Hyuga Clan, which had always maintained relatively peaceful relations with the noble courtiers of the Land of Fire, this might not necessarily be a good move!
The reason nobles treated the Hyuga differently was mainly because the Hyuga themselves were part of the nobility; now belonging to the Hidden Leaf Village and no longer interfering in secular affairs, they occasionally helped the nobles deal with matters that could not be handled directly by the aristocrats themselves. Yet this certainly didn't mean the courtiers would welcome the day their ally—or convenient proxy—became independent!
"Not so fast," the Hyuga Clan Leader spoke slowly. "The clan has its own plan. We simply need to wait for Danzo's negotiation outcome."
"As for Soushu, do not have unnecessary contact with him for now."
"But—" Hiashi hesitated slightly.
Ever since seeing the report on tax regions, his first thought had been to leverage family connections and get involved in the five southern districts of the Land of Lightning, currently monopolized by Hyuga Soushu, in order to gain greater benefits.
Yet his father's words stopped those thoughts before they could fully develop.
"It's exactly our caution that kept the Hyuga strong through a thousand years of chaos."
Taking a sip of tea, the Clan Leader added calmly, "And whatever he can obtain, the clan will eventually claim."
As he said this, he pointed deliberately at his second son Hizashi's forehead.
[Caged Bird]
Instantly, both Hiashi and Hizashi understood their father's meaning.
For any Hyuga ninja from the Branch House—no matter how much trouble they caused—the Main House always held final authority. Regardless of any strength disparity, they could effortlessly activate the cursed seal and kill them at will.
That's how the Hyuga Clan Leader stayed completely composed even after Soushu betrayed them like that.
"You may leave now," the Clan Leader waved dismissively.
"Yes sir," the two brothers bowed respectfully and slowly backed away.
Similar discussions were simultaneously taking place across all ninja clans—and even individual ninja families—connected to the five major tax regions of the Land of Lightning. Suddenly, the status and abilities of ninja replaced previous hot topics like the dual-village system or whether ninja should intervene in worldly affairs. Advocates who previously supported Hyuga Soushu's bold reforms now pushed hard for ninja to directly govern the ninja world as rightful rulers.
The breath of Konoha stirred once more, setting motion to the windmill that had rested in silence for years.
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