Her obsession with plants only took off from there, especially considering everyone knew you could start planting even in February. Seina pulled out a planting calendar from one of the many books she had bought in Konoha. Everyone crowded around it to study it.
"Wow. There are dozens of crops," said Naruto.
"Obviously. What we need to do is think about what's most consumed. We're talking wheat, corn, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, soybeans..."
"We can rule out rice," Sasuke cut in. "Konoha already has large rice fields on the outskirts, so we wouldn't sell much."
"Not to mention it requires special conditions to grow. I'd focus on everything else and add some fruits, which always sell at higher prices. Bananas, oranges, watermelons, melons..."
"Are you going to remove the island's current protections?" asked Itachi, sitting beside her.
"I should. Otherwise, few people would be able to settle there without my explicit permission each time. To make up for it, I'll set up all kinds of magical protections and also use fuinjutsu to mislead attackers. Once I'm done, no one will be able to attack the island or start a conflict from within."
That meant, however, they'd need to make the rules very clear to their villagers, or they'd be punished by the magical barriers even if they'd been living in Uzushiogakure for ten years. They'd need to post an unbreakable sign at the port warning of the consequences of attacking the island. The last thing she wanted was for people to complain later because some "allied" ninja had been reduced to ashes. In fact, she would create a magical census and have everyone who agreed to move to Uzushiogakure sign a magical contract. That way, no one could infiltrate and attack from within. Oh, she was going to have so much fun fucking with anyone who tried to mess with them.
"You're kind of scaring me," Naruto whispered. Seina stopped laughing like a maniac immediately.
A few days later, Jiraiya returned, and they explained their plan to him, since they needed to buy things like seeds, fertilizer, and more. Seina could handle the tools easily by transfiguring or conjuring whatever they needed.
"Let me get this straight… You plan to turn Uzushiogakure into an agricultural and livestock island."
"And fishing."
"You're going to need a ton of help. You don't even know what you're getting into," Jiraiya shook his head, but didn't try to discourage them. "To begin with, you'll have to change the island's protections."
"I've already thought about that. I need to go back and start placing them, but it won't take me long," she informed him.
"You'll need supplies for planting and caring for the animals."
"I can handle that, at least at the beginning, with my powers."
"You'll need manpower to manage everything when you're not there."
"We'll offer cheap rent in exchange for labour. We'll also rent out shops and other businesses to encourage people to move there. And we've got our clones."
"Plus, we'll hire genin teams to handle transportation of goods to Konoha and wherever else they're needed."
"And what happens if they're attacked along the way? There are always bandits and rogue ninjas waiting to disrupt trade routes."
"Easy," she cut in. "I just need to create a platform near the island, outside the protections, where they can use a private portkey, and another platform in or near Konoha, close to the gates. That way, no attacks, no losses."
"...I see you've thought this through."
They talked a while longer with Jiraiya. Thanks to his experience, they realized things they had overlooked. First, they needed ships for people to reach the island, something they currently didn't have. They needed to pay salaries and set up shops so people could buy essentials and live normal lives. For all of that, obviously, they needed people to move there. On top of that, they also needed a hospital, police, schools, a government, and more.
Seina, Naruto, and Sasuke groaned in unison when they realized the massive project they had agreed to start, much to Itachi's amusement, who was clearly suppressing a laugh.
"The beginning is always the hardest," he consoled them with a small smile. "But once everything is running smoothly, it won't need so much attention, and the profits will be substantial."
"Do you know what that means?" Jiraiya said with a teasing grin. "You have to return to Uzushiogakure permanently. You need to change the protections, prepare the land for farming, buy supplies for schools, hospitals, and whatever else you need… You need a constitution and laws for your country."
Just thinking about how much money they'd need to spend if they didn't have their powers… In fact, without their powers, it would have taken them years to save up for everything they wanted to do. Realizing they had a lot to take care of, they started drafting a plan to buy seeds and, over the next few days, made their first joint investment.
"We've got potatoes, tomatoes, wheat, corn, melons, watermelons…" Naruto listed. "We can start planting a few of these."
"Great. Next step is buying a boat."
"For that, we'll have to go to the Land of the Sea. There are plenty of shipyards there so we'll find something fast," said Itachi.
They set out the next day. It only took them a day to reach the port and a few hours to find a medium-sized ship that needed some repairs but was for sale. Seina bought it, shrinking it to transport it instantly without having to sail.
"I can't believe we just bought a ship," Naruto said for the umpteenth time, grinning with excitement.
"One ship isn't going to cut it, dobe."
"No problem. I just have to replicate it with my powers once it's repaired."
"You can do that?"
"Of course."
She thought of several ways to do it. She could use her magic to replicate the effects of the Gemino spell. It wasn't meant to duplicate ships, but that didn't mean it wouldn't work. Besides, with how easily she used her magic now, after training in power visualization, she knew she'd pull it off in a couple of tries. In fact, she could duplicate the ship in its shrunken state and then enlarge it, which would be much easier.
They returned to Uzushiogakure just a few minutes later. The port, like everything else, had been rebuilt, so she set the ship on the stone dock, repaired it with a touch of magic, and then enlarged it in the water. The ship was a frigate, meaning it was a fast vessel with square sails on three large masts and a high waterline that hid cannons and spacious cabins.
Naturally, the first thing she did was make it indestructible. A ship that could be sunk or burned was useless. She added every kind of protection to keep anyone from boarding the deck. Any pirate or ninja would get a very nasty surprise if they tried to enter the ship with bad intentions.
"Are you satisfied now?" said Sasuke a couple of hours later when he returned to the port to check on her. "We've found a large area perfect for planting."
"I've finished with this one. I think I'll make four more for now," she nodded. "Have you started preparing the land?"
"Yeah. With clones and a few earth jutsu, it didn't take long."
She spent the entire day replicating ships and reapplying protections. She anchored them at several black-painted metal docking stations. When she finally stood up, her back aching, she realized it was nearly nightfall. She went to find the others, wondering why they hadn't called her for dinner, or lunch, only to find them with their sleeves rolled up, wearing old clothes, planting seeds and following some botany manuals she had.
"Wow. You've made a lot of progress."
"Nee-chan! At this rate, we'll have five zones planted in a couple of days!"
"Then I better start working on the protections."
The following days, as March rolled in, were chaos. First, she left her brothers prepping fields in different areas of the island, planting seeds, and so on. At Naruto's request, she created metallic tanks inscribed with runes to provide unlimited water in case of drought, and she conjured tools and anything else they asked for.
She, on the other hand, began placing all kinds of magical barriers around the island. It wasn't easy, considering the large size of the Land of Whirlpools, and the long list of things she had to account for so the protections wouldn't turn against their future citizens. She left her clones to draft a magical contract that every citizen would have to sign to live in Uzushiogakure, along with the constitution and laws. Fortunately, her experience as an Auror, and her friendship with Hermione, was a clear advantage, as she barely had to strain her brain to come up with something coherent.
"I'd like you to read this when you get the chance," she told the others, handing them the first draft several dozen handwritten pages from her clone.
"What is this?"
"Laws?" said Itachi, flipping through the pages. "I see you've drawn from your past experience."
"That's what it's for."
Saying the project cut into their training time would be an understatement. They now trained only four hours a day, much less than before, and spent the rest of their time fixing everything needed to ensure their venture didn't become a total failure. It took her a bit longer than expected to place the magical protections and fuinjutsu around the island. It wasn't exactly a small territory, and part of the country was submerged, making it seem like Uzushiogakure consisted of two islands connected by an underwater landmass. It was Itachi who reminded her to place protections underwater as well, just in case.
By the time April arrived, Jiraiya had agreed to start spreading the word that they were looking for people to work in Uzushiogakure.
"I can't believe it," said Naruto when the pervert sent word just days later that he already had fifteen people ready to move immediately. "He didn't even have time!"
"Honestly, I'm not surprised," said Sasuke, shaking his head. "There are always people in need who would welcome cheap rent and guaranteed work. It's a great opportunity for many."
"Once we have around a hundred people, we'll go with one of our ships."
Not even a week had passed before they had filled one ship's capacity. Seina undid the Fidelius Charm protecting the island, trusting the countless protections she'd installed in the past few weeks. With a few shrunken ships, they travelled to a location in the Land of Fire, east of the island, as close to Uzushiogakure as possible. When they arrived, the scene was utter chaos.
"Damn, that's a lot of people," complained Sasuke.
Thankfully, they'd had the foresight to disguise themselves. Rumours about the "owners" of the island were sure to spread like wildfire. The last thing they needed was for people to find out Itachi was with them or that their team was the one occupying Uzushiogakure.
"Naruto, have them form three single-file lines," she instructed. "I'll conjure some tables and chairs, and we'll have them sign the contracts before boarding."
"Great!" Naruto grinned, then whistled loudly to get everyone's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen! Over here!"
She spent nearly two hours seated in her chair, thankfully a very comfortable one. The contract was straightforward. They simply had to agree to a few summarized points:
Follow the laws and constitution (which they were expected to have read beforehand). By accepting this, they implicitly agreed to:
Provide full name and fingerprint for the census.
Work in the position they were hired for without sabotaging the business in any way.
Report any family additions (births, adoptions from outside the Land of Whirlpools) and deaths to the census.
Pay taxes, except for certain exceptions outlined in the laws and regulations.
Etc., etc. Essentially, the purpose of making them sign this document was to keep everything under control and ensure she could detect infiltrators, saboteurs, or anyone attempting to break the law within the island. Still, the island's citizens would have access to free healthcare, education, and social/legal services. In exchange, they would pay a small percentage of their gross monthly salary, proportional to their income, so everyone paid fairly, and no one could complain.
Besides signing the magical contract, she also began assigning jobs. By the time she finished the line, she had preschool teachers, various shopkeepers, seamstresses, fishermen… She also had to show them photos of available apartments for rent. Some wanted to sign another magical rental contract right there, preferring to secure a good home early. Others chose to wait and explore the housing market first. That morning, Seina and the others collected a significant amount of money, money that would go straight into the national treasury they were funding from their personal savings.
"I'm exhausted," Naruto muttered as he watched dozens of people boarding their frigates docked at Yuko Port.
"And this is just the beginning," she said, patting his shoulder.
The people were cheerful and excited to begin their journey. Each carried a lot of luggage and items, which she shrank so everything could fit in the cargo hold. She handed out numbered tags to keep track of their belongings before boarding last. They had filled not just one ship but two so Naruto and she boarded one, while Sasuke and Itachi boarded the other. The ships were enchanted to remain unnoticed, so she knew no one would bother them. The most exhausting part was manoeuvring the ship, the sails, and the ropes. She silently thanked the clones once again.
"I had a feeling you were shinobi," said an adult woman's voice behind her.
She turned to see a woman in her 40s, accompanied by her husband and teenage children. She was smiling like the rest, clearly having just lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.
"I thought Uzushiogakure was destroyed."
"It was," she nodded. "We rebuilt it. You'll see."
"I thought Uzushiogakure belonged to the Uzumaki," said a curious 13-year-old. His father tried to hush him.
"You're right. I'm Seina Uzumaki, leader of the Uzumaki clan, and the one at the helm is my younger brother, Naruto."
Several people turned to look at her, surprised. A small crowd gathered around her to hear what she had to say.
"I thought there were no Uzumaki left."
"There are a few of us. Naruto and I live in Konoha."
"It's true! I heard the clan's heir was sent to Konoha. I heard she died," someone said, then got elbowed for their lack of tact. "No offense."
"That woman was my mother. She died during the Nine-Tails attack," she nodded. "It's no secret."
"And how do you know the Land of Whirlpools won't be attacked again?" someone asked loudly from further away.
Seina smiled instantly, practically thirsting for blood in case Kumo dared try again. She only needed an excuse to annihilate them and bathe her village's coast in the blood of her enemies. More than one person, seeing her malicious expression and barely contained killing intent, stepped back with a shiver. She composed herself, reining in her presence to avoid giving anyone a heart attack, and watched as they slowly regained their normal skin tone.
"We've made sure to place every kind of protection imaginable. Don't worry. Uzushiogakure won't fall again."
She chatted a bit more with the new villagers. All of them had a secured job contract, but they would first have some time to get their businesses up and running. Much of the raw material was purchased in the Land of Fire, so they would need sailors to travel back and forth between the two countries to retrieve the materials and tools needed to keep their businesses going, at least until a business was opened in the Land of Whirlpools that could supply them locally, if that proved feasible.
Out of everyone who had boarded the ships, only about five people had ever held a public administration job, and three of them were retired. Even so, they agreed to train some young people for a few months so they could handle administrative and governmental tasks. In exchange, they would receive extra pay in addition to their pensions. She knew it would take a few months to find people to cover every role, but everything was sailing smoothly, pun intended.
About half an hour later, when everyone had grown bored of chatting among themselves, they spoke to her.
"I realized we don't have any doctors. Just a couple of nurses and herbalists."
"I'm a doctor," she said calmly, before they started to get nervous. "I had thought about teaching the profession to anyone interested. Obviously, it'll take many months before we have competent staff, but we're not that many people yet to need a whole hospital's worth of doctors."
All those concerns and questions had already been addressed, thanks to Jiraiya. They had filled part of the library with hundreds of copied books. They had also bought second-hand books to restore and expand the library at a minimal cost. She had transformed all kinds of hospital supplies except for some specific equipment used by shinobi and civilians. The staff was still lacking, but everything else was in place, and the machines had been ordered from the same manufacturers Konoha used. The same applied to the empty prison, the school, the government building, and the shops. A few electronic devices and raw materials were still missing, but those were easy to obtain.
That night, exhausted, they went to their new home. It was the Uzumaki mansion, which they had not used even though it had been renovated and furnished. It was located a short distance from the bustling centre, in a forested area. They hadn't wanted to use it for training, preferring the convenience of camping in a magical tent near a clearing and close to the beach. Now that people had started living in the buildings again—buildings that used turbines and the island's incredible currents to generate electricity, along with wind and solar power—it made no sense to live so far away.
All the buildings, of course, had multiple protections to prevent them from collapsing, catching fire, or being infested with pests. The water came from the mountains and the ocean thanks to several old, now-modernized desalination plants scattered throughout the island. The only thing that was entirely magical, unlike before, was the sewage system. There was no way she was going to let the country's waters become polluted when she could fix that easily with runes. In fact, that had been one of the main reasons it had taken so long to rebuild, or rather renovate, everything.
She felt satisfied because much of the island and all its infrastructure had been transformed by her magic. She knew that even after her death, those advantages would remain in place forever unless the island was somehow completely destroyed.
She had dinner, showered, and collapsed onto her new bed in one of the mansion's master bedrooms.
"Dear Kakashi,
You can't imagine how exhausted I've been lately. I've already told you in previous letters about our project, but that doesn't change the fact that it's so much more work than I expected.
There's always something to do, someone to talk to, something to solve... it never ends. Fortunately, I'm quite happy with the people in charge of the government and administration. They're all very competent and responsible, and they learn fast. I think in a few months I won't have to keep checking on them so often.
There were 163 people who moved in on the first trip. Can you believe that? And Jiraiya has already told us he's found plenty more willing to move. We're talking about hundreds. Honestly, I never thought the reconstruction of Uzushiogakure would be so successful. Maybe it's because we offer so many things that people have to pay for elsewhere, like healthcare and education. But the truth is we have a lot of space, and the sooner people move in, the sooner the country's treasury fills up and we can do more business.
The various crops have started to grow, thanks to a little magical help from me. Quite a few of the settlers in Uzu will take care of them when we're away, although I'll find a way to observe the country from a distance. I wouldn't want to be unaware of what's happening with my investment. I also planted the cuttings I had in my suitcase for personal use. After all, I can't sell them since they were a gift from the Nara. Still, I'll be able to make far more remedies than I used to.
On another note, a couple of men plan to join us and bring quite a bit of livestock. I didn't even have to buy the animals so that's one expense saved. Though Itachi had to negotiate the terms of profit since the livestock officially belongs to them. I'm honestly glad I didn't have to sit through that meeting. What a drag.
I also recently found a giant oyster bed in the submerged area. Can you believe it? I took a few to eat and was surprised to find several pearls inside. Apparently, it's a very rich area, perfect for oysters. The funny thing is that the current is so strong only a ninja could survive diving there to retrieve them. I found them while training with my summons, imagine that. We've decided to harvest a few more and see if we can sell the pearls. Surely someone would be interested in that kind of material for jewellery. That would help fill the country's treasury alongside the rental income and taxes.
You know what's funny? We started thinking just about crops and livestock, and now people want to open all kinds of businesses: from clothing design, furniture making, and medicine production… They even want us to build a shipyard to construct new vessels other than our current frigates. I knew that anonymous suggestion box would be a pain in the ass, both in good ways and bad."
She finished her letter with a pleased yet exasperated smile. Yes, Uzushiogakure was evolving far beyond what they had imagined but she loved it, because it was starting to feel full of life. The main village could house 100,000 people, slightly more than Konoha, but it wasn't the only one. There were five more villages: three on the larger portion of the country and two on the smaller one. That equated to a potential population of half a million across the entire country. And that was nothing, considering the villages didn't even cover 5% of the island. Her ancestors had been very wise to build upwards instead of outwards, preserving as much land as possible for agriculture, livestock, and nature.
Uzushiogakure was, in fact, the first country in the world with a modern urban plan. There were parks and forests within the village, of course, but it was laid out like a city of the future. The existing houses, though in the minority, were spacious and had some land. They were located in the wealthier areas of the city or in the surrounding outskirts. The Uzumaki mansion, of course, was in the wealthy area, perched on a cliff on the island's southern edge. That meant Kirigakure was farther south, not the mainland. From the Uzumaki mansion, one could see the city below, the harbour, the ocean, the mountains, and the forest behind Uzu, the nation's capital.
Naruto came to stand beside her as they gazed at the breath-taking view through the tall glass windows.
"Incredible, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"I wonder what Mom would think of all this."
"So do I, Naru. So do I…" she said, hugging her brother tightly.