Shinju met the gazes of the two legendary Hokage without the slightest change in expression.
His stance looked casual, almost relaxed—but those two men who had once stood at the very summit of the ninja world could both feel something from the young shinobi before them.
A kind of confidence that had nothing to do with brute strength. Pure, unshakable conviction.
"My name is Namikaze Shinju."
He took a few steps forward, closing the distance between himself and the two Hokage.
"As for who I am… you can think of me as someone who is trying to protect this village in a different way."
Hashirama's already-dim eyes, dulled by Edo Tensei, shifted from Shinju to the barrier.
Even with the golden wall in the way, he could still sense the injuries the village was suffering—the explosions in the distance, the cries of the people.
Deep sorrow slowly surfaced on his face.
"Protect it…?" he murmured. "And yet the village is being destroyed. I can feel so many lives disappearing."
"Destruction is for the sake of rebirth," Shinju replied. "If you don't completely cut away the rotten flesh, new muscle can never grow in healthy. After today, the Leaf will have no internal troubles—and no external enemies."
Tobirama scrutinized Shinju in silence, the sharp gaze of both researcher and statesman seeming as if it wanted to peel the boy open and see straight through him.
"Quite the tone," he said at last. "On what basis can you make such a guarantee?"
"On the basis that I've already done something you two never managed in your time."
Shinju's words left both Hokage stunned.
The sadness on Hashirama's face froze. Tobirama's brows drew together in a tight frown.
What he'd just said sounded like arrogance beyond belief.
"First Hokage," Shinju began, turning to Hashirama first, "you founded the village. You proposed the Will of Fire—its core being 'love,' protecting the comrades you see as family."
"That ideal is great. It united people and brought an end to the Warring States Era."
"But it didn't stop your best friend, Uchiha Madara, from leaving. It didn't truly resolve the deep-rooted conflict between the Senju and the Uchiha. Your love was too personal. It couldn't become a universal, long-lasting system that everyone could rely on."
At those words, the expression on Hashirama's face collapsed into deep dejection.
He lowered his head, unable to argue.
Madara's departure was the greatest regret—and failure—of his life.
Shinju shifted his gaze to Tobirama.
"Second Hokage, you established the ninja academy, created the Anbu, and organized the police force. You tried to use 'rules' and 'order' to consolidate the foundation the First Hokage built."
"That system was very efficient. Even after the First passed, it allowed the Leaf to maintain its status as the strongest village."
"But the rules you set also made the Uchiha clan even more isolated. Giving them the police force put them on the opposite side of the village in the eyes of the people. It planted the seeds for future disaster."
Tobirama's face darkened.
He didn't refute it, because what Shinju said was true. His design back then did contain hidden dangers.
Shinju looked at the two of them and continued.
"Your ideas—'love' and 'rules'—only solved the problems of your own era. They didn't solve what would come after."
"You both overlooked the most fundamental factor—"
"Economy."
"Economy?"
Hashirama and Tobirama spoke almost in unison, both wearing the same puzzled expression.
In their time, that word had rarely, if ever, been used as a measure of a village's strength.
"The stability of a village doesn't rely only on military might," Shinju explained. "It needs a prosperous economy. Military power can intimidate enemies. Only the economy can bind people's hearts together and dissolve internal conflict."
"I abolished the old, single-track mission payment system. In the past, a shinobi completed a mission, received the reward, and that was the end of it. They were tools of the village, not owners of the village."
"I created the Mission Points Bank. Every mission a shinobi completes is converted into points and deposited into a personal account. Those points can be exchanged for money and supplies."
"More importantly, they represent 'credit.' A shinobi with good credit can obtain low-interest loans from the bank to start their own business."
Hashirama listened intently, clearly having to work hard to digest all these completely new concepts.
"Start… their own business?" he repeated.
"That's right."
"A shinobi skilled in forging can take a loan and open a ninja tool shop. A shinobi proficient in medical ninjutsu can open a pharmacy. They're no longer relying solely on missions assigned by the village to survive. They become builders and stakeholders of the village itself."
"When their personal wealth is tied directly to the village's prosperity, their will to protect the village becomes firmer than ever."
"I reorganized the commercial districts as well, breaking the monopolies the big clans held over certain industries and introducing competition. Ordinary villagers no longer live only off the income of shinobi. They can grow wealthy through commerce too."
"Right now, the Leaf's annual tax revenue is more than ten times what it was in your era. Those taxes are reinvested into education, healthcare, and public infrastructure, creating a positive cycle."
As Tobirama listened, he cut in with a question.
"What about the Uchiha? How did you handle the contradiction between the police force and the village? By your logic, if the Uchiha clan is kept outside the economic system, the conflict would only deepen."
"I didn't weaken them," Shinju replied. "I strengthened them."
That answer made Tobirama frown even harder.
"I reformed the Uchiha Police Force into a commercial entity," Shinju said. "They established an independent organization—the 'Uchiha Elite Security Division.' A professional security company that takes on top-level protection contracts from the Land of Fire and even the entire world."
"Escort for international trade caravans. Private bodyguard work for daimyo and nobles. Security for critical facilities."
"I made use of the things they're most proud of—their Sharingan and their strength—to help them earn wealth and respect from the outside world."
Shinju looked straight at Tobirama and asked,
"Second Hokage, imagine this. An Uchiha operative protects a merchant convoy and ensures it reaches its destination safely. For that one job, he earns more pay than he would from doing ten A-rank missions for the village—and he also receives sincere gratitude and respect from those wealthy traders."
"Do you think he'd still be interested in petty power struggles inside the village?"
"I redirected the Uchiha's pride away from internal power grabs and toward earning wealth and prestige from the outside world."
"As their security business grows, they need to hire other shinobi from the village. They need the village to provide intelligence and logistics."
"When their profits become deeply bound to the Leaf's prosperity, they turn into the village's most steadfast guardians—not a potential threat, but a shield against it."
Tobirama fell into a long silence.
Back then, creating the police force had been his way of isolating and monitoring the Uchiha.
This boy hadn't abolished it.
He'd given the Uchiha wealth and honor from that position.
Tobirama's design had been to block and contain.
Shinju's approach was to guide and redirect.
"First Hokage, your Will of Fire—the 'love' that protects family—is not enough," Shinju concluded softly. "It's too vague."
"The Will of Fire in the new era is, on the foundation of protection, to create wealth, to expand education, to let everyone—shinobi or civilian—find their own value and realize their dreams through their own effort."
"To make the name 'Leaf' no longer just a home for shinobi, but an ideal nation for everyone."
"That is the order I intend to build."
The gloom on Hashirama's face faded away.
"So the village… can become like that…" he murmured.
"I really… thought too simply back then."
He seemed to be speaking to himself.
Tobirama let out a long breath as well, his gaze on Shinju complicated.
"If there had been an administrator like you back then," he said quietly, "perhaps the tragedy between me and Madara would never have come to pass."
In that moment, the two legendary Hokage were completely convinced by the ideals of a younger generation.
Their gazes shifted together toward Orochimaru—still pinned under Minato's foot.
Having heard all of this, Orochimaru's spirit had completely collapsed. All willpower was gone from his eyes.
What remained in the two Hokage's eyes was disappointment toward their once-genius disciple—and fury toward this kind of ambitious schemer.
Hashirama raised his hand, pointing it toward Orochimaru lying on the ground.
"Mokuton: Jubaku Eisou (Wood Style: Tree-Binding Eternal Burial)!"
Thick wooden branches surged up from the ruined rooftop around Orochimaru, writhing like living things as they wrapped around his body and limbs.
Layer upon layer of wood coiled tighter and tighter until they formed a sealed, airtight wooden prison.
Once he finished, Hashirama turned back to Shinju and spoke in an incomparably solemn tone.
"Young man, we'll leave this village to you."
"Please carry on the dream that we weren't able to fulfill."
Tobirama gave a small nod as well.
He didn't add anything, but that nod alone represented his highest recognition.
Shinju bowed slightly to the two founders of the Leaf.
"I will. And someday in the future, we might meet again. When that time comes, I hope you'll lend us your strength."
"There's no such easy thing, you know," Hashirama laughed. "Once a person dies, they should return to the Pure Land. Coming back again isn't possible. Farewell, little ones."
Minato formed a series of seals, lifting the restraints placed on them.
The Edo Tensei bodies of the First and Second Hokage began to crumble into dust and motes of light, scattering into the air within the barrier.
Their souls, full of relief and satisfaction, returned to the Pure Land where they belonged.
On the rooftop, only the completely bound Orochimaru remained—along with the wreckage of the battlefield.
The so-called "Leaf Collapse Plan" had ended in the most ironic way possible—
With a total, crushing failure.
(End of Chapter)
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