The contents of the Marshall Plan were announced alongside Mei Terumī's oath as the First Mizukage of New Kirigakure. Loudspeakers again blasted it across the village.
Two more announcements went out at the same time:
[The engagement of Konoha Anbu Commander Uchiha Yorin and Mizukage Mei.]
This era straddles the line between old and new. Sometimes marriage alliances work, sometimes they don't. But everyone agreed: a union between Commander Yorin and Mizukage Mei would definitely work.
After all, Konoha was putting up hard cash.
True, not a single coin had changed hands yet. But they said it on TV—how could it be false?
People these days really lack internet skepticism. A 21st-century netizen would doubt even a red-stamped directive for days; never mind a TV spot.
Yorin shook his head, sighing: "They're ridiculously easy to fool."
He figured that once this news reached Konoha, if the Hokage's office approved even a third of it, he'd call it a blessing.
Never mind the Third: upon hearing it he'd probably dog-paddle across the ocean just to slap Yorin in person. Even Yorin's blood-brother Minato, seeing it, would struggle not to wonder if Yorin, in the throes of seducing Mei, had also shot out his brain cells.
After all, they were men of a traditional age. Forget political economy; they hadn't even seen many films. They didn't grasp the principle that "the more you spend, the more you earn."
Konoha's shinobi—battered by decades of bungled wars—had been poor so long the treasury grew rats; they split every coin in half.
Even with recent profits—trucking, newspapers, textiles, "tonics"—the old guard's instinct remained: save, save, save. Pile up four trillion and roll it on the evening news.
If Yorin weren't on their side, he'd already have played FX wizard, letting the Konoha ryo crash from 1:8 to 1:6 against other powers—and made their tears fill the ocean.
…
Uchiha Yorin: "If it really won't fly, I'll just reach out to Fire Country banks and form a consortium."
He thought it through.
The Land of Fire, at bottom, is an industrial country—the strongest among them, even if factories are tiny, workshop-like, staffed by dad, mom, the son, and two helpers. They're still factories.
An industrial base implies finance; finance implies banks.
Whether running newspapers, mills, or pharma, Yorin couldn't avoid the great capital crocodiles.
Out of respect for the Uchiha reputation—'we say we'll slaughter your family, and then we do'—relations stayed "harmonious." If he asked, they'd offer low interest… Actually, thinking harder, that's not even a favor. If they knew they could lend to a great nation's shinobi village, they'd be begging him to let them in.
But once you add more mouths to the trough, the picture changes.
Capital—that gold-eating beast—can be scarier than the Ten-Tails.
If the British Industrial Revolution's playbook replayed in Land of Water, Mei & Tsunade & Pakura's kids would be in a bad way.
Uchiha Yorin: "Still need to keep a lid on it… I wonder if enslaving clones counts as violating public decency. Seriously…"
Reform is like that: unpleasant and headache-inducing. Sometimes he even thought, "The Infinite Tsukuyomi world wouldn't be so bad."
Of course, only a thought.
Dreams are lovely; mortals must stand on solid ground—build a world where as many as possible can feel happy.
Uchiha Yorin: "That's the point of Akatsuki."
Things Yorin shouldn't do—or can't—Akatsuki will.
He decided to write his other good buddy, Nagato, asking him to burn the midnight oil—hammer the inhuman profiteers.
Yorin prepared a list—starting with several bankers he'd recently been out drinking with. He'd pass their worst sins to Nagato. Knowing Nagato's temperament, he'd act without hesitation, lamenting, "The world, once again foul," while one Shinra Tensei at a time sent them packing.
Selling out "partners"? Yorin felt no guilt at all.
Partly because bankers are only nominally "people"; partly because, if the chance arose, they'd show him no mercy—probably more ruthless than he'd be.
Yorin: "Mm. Done and done."
"With Akatsuki's pressure, those bankers should behave."
He knew it was symptom, not cure.
Getting capitalists to forgo superprofits is harder than getting dogs to stop eating dung… but he still had to work with them.
Before you topple Louis XVI, Girondins and Montagnards can still share a front.
For now, the true rulers of this world are still the feudal daimyō and nobles. To overthrow them, Yorin would strengthen capitalism—finance the shinobi army with capital operations.
And after the nobles fall—when tycoons want a loaf of bread to cost 500,000,000 marks… when shinobi want clans to replace nobles as the new "benevolent lords"…
He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
Perhaps by then Orochimaru will have cracked cloning, Yorin will have popularized chakra refinement—and risen to Six Paths level.
Then the invincible Emperor Yorin would return to his loyal shinobi world. Bonapartism might be a bit makeshift—but it will do.
Uchiha Yorin: "Oh, right—Iburi—Kagerō no Jutsu! Combine that with cloning and every person in the world becomes Senju-Uchiha!"
"To hell with a million clan members—I'll make the entire shinobi world my New Senju!"
"Hahahaha!!"
Pleased with the thought, Yorin couldn't help bursting into gleeful laughter, making those approaching to consult him once again confirm: he was getting closer and closer to those legendary eyes.
~~~
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