The commercial reforms led by BETA poured a steady stream of vitality and wealth into Konoha. But as anyone could predict, any reform will inevitably shake the old order. Where there is sunlight, there will be shadow.
Like a new king's ascension: the old one rarely steps down willingly—there is always a period of pain.
First to clash were the long-established merchants who relied on traditional models, especially those monopolizing certain supply channels. For them, reform did not spell opportunity but real, tangible loss. As the saying goes, cut off a person's source of income and it's like killing their parents.
The "Mission Points Bank" credit system gave many young people the confidence to bypass those monopolies and attempt what they'd never dared before.
Konoha, inside an old, well-known ninja tools shop.
The owner, a heavyset middle-aged man, was secretly meeting several peers with equally dark expressions.
"We can't go on like this!" The rice-shop owner slammed the table. "Those new stores on the commercial street, backed by the Namikaze household, are getting wholesale prices a full thirty percent lower than ours! Keep this up and we'll all be out of business. If we're going to do nothing, we might as well shut our doors early."
"Exactly! And that so-called 'Points Bank' is nonsense! Handing money to paupers—how will they pay it back? It's market sabotage!" the clothier chimed in.
Cold light flashed in the ninja-tools owner's eyes. "That brat from the Namikaze family knows nothing about business. Commerce isn't child's play. He thinks a few flashy tricks can run the village? We ought to teach him a lesson."
"If we're agreeing in principle, what's the plan? Without something thorough, we won't stick our necks out. The risk has to be worth the reward."
"Simple," the tools owner sneered. "Starting tomorrow we pool funds and hoard—keep buying and stockpiling. Grain, cloth, basic ninja tools—we buy out nearly everything village-wide. Then we raise prices. When villagers can't find rice anywhere and shinobi can't buy kunai, they'll have to pay our price. The black market will be worse—ours will still be the 'cheaper' option."
"I want to see how that so-called commercial street operates when people can't afford food and ninja can't afford tools!"
"And for a second safety net, one link after another: we spread rumors. Say the Namikaze family is hollowing out the village to line their own pockets! Let's see if public opinion doesn't shift."
"But once we do this, there's no turning back. What if we're found out?" a gaunt merchant asked, uneasy.
"A man isn't ruthless, he won't stand firm! Even if we hold back, what other road is left? We're at the cliff's edge—what's there to hesitate about?!" the tools owner shot back, flushed with agitation.
Thus, a vicious plan took shape in a dark corner.
Outside the merchant circle, some conservative-minded shinobi also had plenty to say. They couldn't stand that formerly lofty clans now "lowered themselves" into commerce.
There wasn't even direct conflict of interest—just pure disdain.
"Look at Uchiha and Hyuga—where's the dignity of great houses? One's acting as caravan guards, the other as appraisers. It's degeneracy!"
"Shinobi should focus on training and battle! Now they're all chasing money. Keep this up and Konoha's fighting strength will collapse!"
These conservatives did not dare oppose openly, but they fanned flames in private, waving the banners of "tradition" and "honor" to resist reform.
All of these undercurrents were gathered by Shintei's intelligence network and delivered straight to the Namikaze study.
Minato frowned as he scanned the reports. "Shinju, it seems we've hit resistance," he said gravely. "They may not cause tidal waves, but their actions can undermine the village's stability. How do you think we should handle this? Talk to them? I doubt it will work."
Shinju, leafing through next month's promotional plan for the commercial street, replied calmly, "It doesn't surprise me that people will stand in the way of something new. And reasoning with leeches is useless. They know even if they don't make a move, we'll keep squeezing their space."
"As for the traditional merchants, we were leaving them room to live. But they've gone too far—not just wanting, but wanting more. Desire and greed are human nature; they've simply magnified it."
"When a great tree grows, vines will coil up its trunk to drink its sap. Pruning away excess branches lets the tree grow stronger."
Minato understood.
Shinju set the papers down and looked up. "Only when they truly feel fear—when they know any attempt to stir up trouble will be crushed, and the price will be more than they can bear—will they become compliant. Mercy is for those who support us."
Minato nodded. No more words were needed. It was time for thunder.
That night.
Konoha slept. Only patrol shinobi moved through the streets.
Shadows, like ghosts, slipped soundlessly into the ringleaders' homes.
In the ninja-tools owner's bedroom, he dreamed of easy wealth. He didn't notice the hound-masked figure standing by his bed. Kakashi didn't touch him. He simply placed a kraft-paper dossier on the pillow and melted back into the dark.
At the rice-shop owner's house, Itachi drifted through every ward like smoke and set the same dossier upon the man's desk.
The clothier. The conservative shinobi who'd fanned the flames from behind…
Led by Shisui and Itachi, Shintei's core moved through the village, visiting everyone on the resistance list in a single night.
No killings. No arson. No alarms.
Only a dossier, left behind.
Morning.
The tools merchant woke, reached for his pillow—and touched something out of place.
Puzzled, he sat up and picked up the kraft envelope.
He opened it and drew out the documents.
One glance turned his face corpse-white.
Inside lay a ledger of his entire career's sins: tax evasion, smuggling prohibited ninja tools, colluding with out-of-village traders to crush competitors—every item recorded in meticulous detail. Dates, places, handlers—even facsimile pages from his own signed account books.
Secrets he thought buried in the deepest vault, known only to himself, were laid out in the light.
"N-no… impossible…"
His legs gave out. Papers fluttered across the floor from his shaking hands.
Similar scenes unfolded across Konoha.
The rice-shop owner stared at proof of embezzlement and loansharking and wet himself on the spot.
The conservative shinobi stared at mission records of dereliction and malfeasance—souls nearly fleeing their bodies.
Unseen eyes watched from the dark. Before those eyes, none of their secrets could hide.
Before they could recover from that suffocating terror—
Knock, knock, knock!
Urgent pounding shook the doors.
"Konoha Police Force! By order of the Fourth—open up and cooperate with the investigation!"
The tools merchant's psyche cracked.
By late morning, a village announcement—personally signed by Minato—hung upon the public board.
It listed in detail the crimes of the merchants led by the tools owner and several conservative shinobi. It announced that, on the strength of "anonymous reports" and solid evidence, they had all been arrested.
All illegal gains and assets were to be seized and injected into the "Konoha Public Works Fund," earmarked to build a new ninja academy and hospital.
The news caused a storm among the villagers.
Seeing the shocking evidence with their own eyes, any lingering sympathy flipped to rage. Even those who had pitied the merchants switched sides. Case after case, each more appalling than the last.
"So those rats were doing all that behind our backs!"
"Serves them right! Root out every pest in the village!"
"The Namikaze family did the right thing! Support the Fourth!"
Every potential dissenter fell silent at the fates spelled out on that notice.
In the new Konoha, only by moving with the current can you gain wealth and respect.
Swim against it, and there is only one end:
Disgrace—and nothing left.
A covert wave large enough to shake the foundations of reform was smashed to foam by Shinju's thunderbolt methods.
With the coldest, most efficient approach, he cut away the vines choking Konoha's growth—
—and established an authority that would not be challenged.
(End of Chapter)
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