Chapter 2 Cheap Ninjas
The secret agents withdrew without further questions, and the tense atmosphere around them eased, though they remained vigilant.
Meanwhile, the person known as the Hokage, who had failed to achieve his ultimate cultivation and was reborn through a borrowed body, sat down again, seemingly staring blankly at what was in front of him, but in reality, he was contemplating the most important information he had just received.
Hokage-sama.
Naruto.
Naruto?
This seems to be an anime? Because it's so famous, even though he's a sincere martial arts practitioner who doesn't watch anime, he couldn't help but have heard of it.
It seems to be some kind of legendary eye phenomenon?
There was also a clan feud between the five villages?
Even a company that started with chat services seems to be ridiculed, with people saying things like "tx eye"?
He was a little confused, but he still knew that this world seemed to be themed around ninjas. More accurately, it was about 'superpowered ninjas,' the kind who knew magic.
He had also vaguely heard about chakra and such.
So, is that terrifying power within the body, so closely connected to the essence, energy, and spirit of this body, and seemingly capable of bringing about endless changes, chakra?
However, he remembered that chakra was a concept from Indian yoga.
As a martial artist of profound skill, a true master, he naturally drew upon a wide range of knowledge and had come into contact with this concept.
Chakra refers to a 'circle' or a 'chakra', but the chakra energy in his body seems to circulate more like 'meridians' or 'acupoints'?
What kind of 'four unlikes' is this?
However, precisely because it operates according to meridians and acupoints, he is better able to understand and master the operation of this powerful ability.
After all, he is a martial arts master and a part-time Chinese medicine practitioner, how could he not know these things?
Chakra, and ninjutsu?
He was somewhat tempted and wanted to try out the so-called 'ninjutsu' of these so-called ninjas who knew magic.
But before falling in love.
He lowered his head and looked at the files in front of him. He picked them up and looked at the files written in Japanese. He could read Japanese, and this body seemed to have an instinct that made the Japanese text feel very familiar to him. He could understand it at a glance, and even the handwriting felt very familiar.
These files consist of various reports and applications from the village.
The village is called Konoha Village, and the reports are all damage reports, including personal injury, property damage, various losses in the village, how to repair it, how to arrange it, and what funds need to be applied for.
The person who read these reports, the current Hokage, also signed his name on them—Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In addition, all of these reports mentioned the turmoil last month, the Nine-Tailed Fox's rampage!
It seems that this turmoil caused great losses to the village and left the current Hokage in a state of utter distress.
It was also mentioned that this turmoil resulted in the death of another Hokage in the village—Minato Namikaze.
There is also a report on Naruto Uzumaki, the newborn infant who was the orphan of Minato Namikaze, and who was identified as a 'Jinchūriki' and whose Nine-Tails was sealed inside.
There are also reports of surveillance on the Uchiha clan.
A report on surveillance of the major ninja clans of Konoha—but the Uchiha clan is the absolute focus of surveillance!
Another point highlighted was the report on the movements of the other four great nations and four great ninja villages after the Nine-Tails' attack.
It seems that the weakening of Konoha after the Nine-Tails' attack has made the other four great ninja villages somewhat restless. If the Fourth Shinobi World War hadn't ended so recently, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold back.
According to intelligence analysts, the other four major ninja villages can at most intimidate and blackmail Konoha. Konoha doesn't need to be too nervous; everyone is licking their wounds and recovering.
After all, it had only been a year since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, and wars are never started lightly.
Of course, after the Nine-Tails' rampage, Konoha's strength had to be somewhat reduced, which involved the competition for mission quotas and other important economic pillars of the ninja village.
Task share?
The Hokage frowned as he carefully reviewed the files on the table. Inevitably, the files mentioned the village's economic resources. He then discovered that the village's economic support came from grants from the highest ruler of the country, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, and from ninjas earning money by completing mercenary missions, with Konoha acting as a platform and taking a cut.
This platform is for internal use only, not for external use. It's not something any ninja can access; it's limited to Konoha ninjas.
Of course, it's understandable to prioritize one's own interests to some extent, since the quota for tasks is limited.
However, in the eyes of a certain Hokage, this was somewhat incongruous.
After all, this mercenary nature has a strong resemblance to a civilian mercenary organization. However, Konoha Village seems to be the highest military and defense institution in this country, and the Land of Fire is a large country with hundreds of millions of people!
How could the highest military and defense institution of a major power be making a living by employing mercenaries?
Is it because of the ninjas' superpowers that the government's control is insufficient? But the funding allocated for this is far too simplistic.
The Hokage frowned as he looked at the file containing the amount of funds allocated by the Daimyo.
Then he pulled out the report on Konoha's prices, which made his eyebrows twitch.
The big name is giving away beggars!
Are ninjas really that cheap?
That's right, ninjas are cheap, extremely cheap. Their weapons are kunai and shuriken, basically none of the high-tech, expensive weapons they use. And the cost of training a ninja is actually not much.
Although ninjas need qualifications, these qualifications are not too rare. Otherwise, how would the five great nations replenish the ninja population lost in large-scale wars?
What could be the cost of raising a ninja?
Are kunai shuriken valuable? No, they are not.
Do ninjas need any special resources? No, ninjutsu is similar to knowledge that can be reused. The biggest expense is food, but while ninjas eat more than normal people, it's not exaggeratedly large.
Even if the average ninja consumes ten times more food than a normal person, how many registered ninjas are there in Konoha? Let's say ten thousand.
Ten thousand people, ten times that is the amount of food consumed by ten thousand people.
The Land of Fire is a large country with hundreds of millions of people that has entered the industrial and electrical age!
Can't we even support such a small military population?
This was under the circumstances where military equipment was so inferior and rudimentary that even shuriken were unavailable.
What kind of cheap, super-powerful military force is this?
Are you willing to risk your life for such a small amount of money?
Do superpowered ninjas in this world get used to being dogs?
Instinctively, he picked up the pipe on the table, took out his lighter, lit the tobacco that had been placed inside, and took a puff.
Then he was taken aback.
After thinking about it, he still started puffing away.
He has to resolve these troubling issues.
After all, this is in line with his current identity, making it impossible for anyone to see any flaws.
End of this chapter..