The more Hyuga Hiashi thought about it, the more excited he became…
The Fifth Hokage had given the order, his nephew Hyuga Neji was a member of the Hokage's Guard, and their ancestor Hyuga Tennin seemed to support the idea too!
With this, he didn't even need to worry about the dissenting voices within the clan!
Abolishing the Caged Bird system was now inevitable!!
Hiashi's heart raced with excitement at the thought…
"Lord Hokage…"
"Uncle Hiashi, I told you, just call me Hirofumi!"
"Hirofumi… thank you!!"
…
The Hyuga clan's issue was resolved smoothly, without a hitch. Hiashi himself had always wanted to abolish the Caged Bird system, but he'd lacked the opportunity.
Now, that opportunity had arrived…
The Fifth Hokage had spoken. Did those stubborn old-timers in the clan really dare to object?!
Sure, the Fifth Hokage was young, but his strength was undeniable!
And let's not forget—he had two teachers: the God of Shinobi and the Demon of the Shinobi World!
After a hearty meal, everyone was in high spirits. Hiashi even got drunk, which was a rare sight…
Ito Hirofumi and the Konoha 12 returned to the Hokage Tower.
The Uchiha clan's old grounds used to be the Konoha 12's hangout, but now the Hokage Tower had become their new base.
They spent most of their time training there…
Hirofumi looked at Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi handling paperwork in the Hokage's assistant office, nodding in satisfaction. He'd chosen the perfect assistants!
One was Konoha's sharpest mind, and the other was his future father-in-law. With them, he could be a hands-off leader with ease!
The two were so busy they barely had time to breathe, yet they were still thrilled!
Especially Inoichi, who thought his future son-in-law was pretty great!
Right after becoming Hokage, Hirofumi had promoted him to Hokage's assistant. What a guy! Inoichi was determined to work his butt off handling those documents for his son-in-law…
Gehgehgehgehgeh!
Nara Shikaku, standing nearby, let out a helpless sigh.
"Inoichi… we're about done for today, right? The paperwork's mostly handled. Can we call it a day? I'm exhausted and just wanna go home and crash…"
"Shikaku! I'm telling you, you've gotta change that attitude of yours. Look at what you've turned Shikamaru into!
Luckily, Shikamaru's joined the Hokage's Guard and has been training hard lately. Otherwise, if he kept acting like you, I'd be worried for his future!!
And it's still early! The sun hasn't even set yet, so what's the rush to rest? Why sleep so much when you're alive? You'll have plenty of time to rest when you're dead!!
Have we really finished these documents?!
We've only gone through them three times! As Hokage's assistants, we need to be more thorough!
Let's pull an all-nighter tonight!
Three more rounds!!"
Shikaku looked at his overly enthusiastic friend, feeling a bit helpless. Ever since Hirofumi became Hokage, Inoichi had been hyped up every single day, like he was on some kind of energy potion!
Shikaku's future was looking grim…
My dear son, Shikamaru… hurry up and grow up!
Your old man can't wait to retire!!
If this keeps up, I'm gonna die young…
The Hokage's assistants didn't work in the Hokage's office—they had their own office.
The Konoha 12 got to training. Some were refining chakra, others were studying clan secret techniques, and a few were practicing forbidden jutsu taught by the Second Hokage…
Meanwhile, Hirofumi pulled out a piece of paper and started scribbling.
Naruto Uzumaki, curious as ever, leaned over.
"Hey, Hirofumi… what're you writing?"
"Oh… nothing much, just some rough plans for Konoha's future.
Unifying the shinobi world isn't as simple as it sounds. If we were just going for brute force, Konoha's current strength could flatten the entire shinobi world!
But war is the easy part. The hard part is governing!
The hard part is uniting all these fractured nations into one!
After all, shinobi are a minority in the world. Even if you add up all the shinobi in the world, there's what, a few hundred thousand?
The civilians, though… there are millions, tens of millions of them!
So, achieving lasting peace in the shinobi world is no easy feat!
If we don't get it right, the moment our generation passes, the world will fall back into chaos…"
Naruto didn't really get what Hirofumi was talking about. It was all too complicated, and his brain felt like it was running out of storage space.
He squinted at the paper Hirofumi was writing on…
He recognized every word, but put together, it was like a foreign language.
Something about establishing an East Konoha Company…
Something about land and tax reforms…
Something about commercial tax reforms…
And waging war on other nations!
A ton of complicated points, but Naruto only understood the last one—waging war on other nations!
At that, Naruto's inner saintly side, influenced by Asura's chakra, kicked in.
"Hirofumi… do we really have to start a war? Can't we solve this peacefully?
If we go to war, a lot of people are gonna die…"
Hirofumi knew Naruto was having one of his saintly moments, just like Hashirama Senju when Konoha was first founded.
"Naruto, you've gotta understand something! Peace only comes when you have absolute strength. In this world, strength is truth! And truth has to be in our hands!
Back then, the First Hokage believed love and compassion could bring peace. But if that really worked, why did the shinobi world go through three great wars?!
Dignity lies only on the edge of a blade! Truth exists only within the range of a jutsu!!
What's ninjutsu for? I'll tell you! Ninjutsu is for measuring the size of our territory!!"
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American TV Series: Young Sheldon mike edition