"Good luck, Lady Hokage." Shizune revealed a sweet smile.
Tsunade also wore a spirited and valiant expression, which practically said, "This old lady has finally finished her prison sentence!"
She waved her hand: "Seventh, do your best!"
Tsunade left with a swaggering stride that seemed to disown her own relatives. Shizune bowed apologetically and backed out of the office, closing the door behind her.
A new emperor brings a new court. It wasn't that Ino didn't trust Shizune, but rather that the person assigned to the role of Hokage's assistant was waiting in the wings. There was only one pit for one radish; if Shizune didn't step down, the people below couldn't move up.
After seeing off Tsunade and Shizune, Ino called for Shikamaru to handle the backlog of documents together.
Shikamaru sported a goatee and looked much more mature and steady. With Shikaku's teachings, the Nara clan could be said to have a deep heritage in such matters. He was an expert at handling official business, and Ino was decisive: Fine, since you're good at it, I'll leave it all to you!
"I'm going to check on Choji's side!" She found an excuse for herself and then ran off.
When Naruto was Hokage, he didn't possess enough political wrist to balance the relationships between various parties. He could only work himself like a dog, handling every single major and minor affair of the village alone. Former partners like Choji, Kiba, and Sakura were essentially left idle, with only Shikamaru gaining a staff officer position. With Ino taking the stage, it was impossible to operate that way.
The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance was unbreakable.
After she took office, all three families obtained a large amount of substantial benefits.
Distinction between close and distant relationships was necessary. If you didn't even take care of your ironclad allies, who would come to join you?
Choji's wife was Karui. Relying on this marriage relationship, they could rope in Kumogakure, whose military strength among the Five Great Shinobi Villages was second only to Konoha. Whether for public or private reasons, this person could not be left idle.
Previously, Kakashi had stepped down from the position of Captain of the Konoha Military Police Force. Ino and Shikamaru had each concurrently held this post for a period, but now the work of being responsible for the entire village's security was handed over to Choji.
The fat man didn't need to be overly vigilant; as long as he managed the general direction well, there would naturally be people responsible for the specific work.
Ino's first order after assuming the role of Hokage was to send Naruto to sweep the streets!
The current Konoha Village was called a village, but in reality, it was more like a city. Aside from their original villages, the other four great shinobi villages had each established a new area in Konoha that integrated living, activities, and training. In addition to the original administrative, commercial, and residential districts, Konoha now had four extra districts, and its territory had instantly multiplied several times over.
Since the village's name was Konoha (Tree Leaf), the streets within the village were naturally full of fallen leaves. Ino implemented a 'responsibility for the area in front of one's door' policy, but ninja were often unwilling to do such trivial matters. Even if issued as D-rank missions, they were unwilling to do them. What to do? Hand it all over to the Genin Naruto Uzumaki!
Naruto had a specialty in this area.
Tasks like sweeping streets were relatively simple and didn't require a complex mind. The effect was completely different depending on whether he swept or not, and it could, to a certain extent, satisfy Naruto's sense of pride in participating in the village's construction.
"Alright, Lord Hokage, please rest assured, leave this mission to me!" Naruto said, full of heroic spirit.
He did exactly as he said.
With 2,000 Narutos conducting a major cleanup on the streets and alleys, Ino counted one street as one D-rank mission for him. The number of completed missions skyrocketed; he was truly worthy of the name 'strongest Genin'.
The Seventh Hokage's second order was to add a new position, which was the "Hokage Half-Sleeve" that had appeared in early fan fiction. Ino appointed Gaara to this position. When she wasn't in the village, Gaara could exercise the Hokage's authority; if she was present, he would be the Vice-Hokage.
Gaara's abilities in all aspects were not poor. He was incredibly extreme when he was young, but now, having suffered many beatings from society, his personality had become cautious and prudent. Coupled with Sunagakure having the weakest strength, his ascension would not arouse the fear of the various factions.
Since the "Merger of the Five Sacred Mountains" was successful, it was natural to distribute some benefits.
What ninja hoped for and craved the most was still ninjutsu.
Ino took out many of the "lost" ninjutsu of the other four great shinobi villages and returned them. This included Sasori's "Puppet Performance: Skillful Achievement with a Human Body" and "Puppet Technique", the Second Mizukage's "Steam Imp Explosion", the Fourth Mizukage's "Water Mirror Technique", the Fourth Raikage's "Lightning Release Chakra Mode", and Killer B's sword techniques.
Iwagakure did not have any lost ninjutsu, but Ino had previously used the Namekian Shenron to resurrect Kitsuchi. This counted as the Third Tsuchikage owing her a super large favor. Although the Iwagakure ninja occasionally had some complaints, they were forcefully suppressed by the old man.
The device exchanged from the Grand Kai had already begun installation. Orochimaru and Amado worked overtime and completed the installation of the Animus prototype, which was currently in the debugging phase.
Ino would leave more ninjutsu inside the Animus. Even if she was gone one day, future generations could rely on this machine to learn her ninjutsu.
The energy of the shinobi world's general environment was constantly rising. The bodies of ordinary people became very healthy, diseases decreased, and lifespans extended. The ninja benefited the most.
Not discussing someone like Naruto, the combat power of a Chunin in the village now was comparable to a Jonin from before, and a Jonin could wrestle with the previous Kage-level figures. This was thanks to the change in the general environment; the physical fitness of ninja had been improved, and the chakra they could extract per unit of time had also increased.
They couldn't reach 10 points of "Spirit" yet, but generally, they could reach a level of 8 or 9 points. This chakra amount was already comparable to the previous Asuma.
...
"Seventh, recently the Daimyo of the Land of Water has been constantly dispatching fleets to explore the outer seas. The overseas produce is rich, and the resources of the Land of Water are improving rapidly. It has already seriously threatened the Land of Fire's status as the number one powerful nation."
Koharu Utatane spoke impassioned words at the meeting, recounting the information gathered by her subordinate ninja.
Ino covered her mouth and let out a yawn.
The old lady pretended not to see it. It was normal; Tsunade also had this virtue of being energetic at night and listless during the day. I, the elder, am already used to it.
Shikamaru looked at Ino and Gaara, realizing they had no intention of speaking, so he could only take over the conversation.
He said, "I believe that at the current stage, we should just maintain attention. If necessary, we can intervene moderately, but it is not suitable to go too deep. I think dispatching two squads to enter the Land of Water for investigation will suffice."
Gaara waited for several seconds before speaking in support of his brother-in-law: "I also agree with Shikamaru's words. With the five great shinobi villages united, we possess absolute military force. We can accept missions from the various great nations under the premise that it won't cause confrontation among the ninja within the village, but we should not interfere with their choices."
Several people finally looked at Ino; in the end, she had to make the final decision.
She thought for a moment. The Five Great Nations were actually in a state of tossing and turning with unease right now. The unification of the shinobi villages was truly too great a threat. Unfortunately for them, even if the Five Great Nations united, they did not have enough military strength to destroy Konoha. They could only make various probes, some real and some fake.
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