Naruto-Start by eating the golden fruit

Yuya wasn't Hokage, so why did he care so much?

He had worked tirelessly to help the First and Second Hokage build Konoha, but it seemed like, in the end, he wouldn't get anything out of it. That didn't sit right with him.

Yuya was the type of person who wouldn't do anything unless he saw some kind of personal gain. Like this time, he knew he'd have to hand over more than ten kilograms of gold to avoid future problems, but Yuya still wanted something in return.

It was the Second Hokage who had taught him the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, something Yuya had never expected. The technique was powerful but also extremely difficult to master. Despite this, after some thought, Yuya felt he deserved more benefits. So, he approached Tobirama and expressed his desire to learn taijutsu—specifically, the Second Hokage's Shadow Clone techniques.

But, he knew success wouldn't come overnight. He had to take things slow, step by step.

The problem was... time might be running out.

There was also one thing that Yuya had never been able to figure out: How exactly did Senju Hashirama die? Was it an illness? Watching Hashirama gamble cheerfully every day, he didn't look like someone about to die.

If Yuya hadn't been a time-traveler, and someone told him that Hashirama—who seemed full of life—had a short lifespan, Yuya would've laughed in their face. He would've sprayed them with salt soda just to prove how absurd it was.

But to be honest, this was no longer just a manga. Kishimoto was a manga artist—what did he know about the real Naruto world?

Because this was the real world. Yuya was here now.

Feeling proud, Yuya lowered his head and continued writing his next set of suggestions for Uchiha Kagami.

Gathering people to complete the first step of the work wasn't the hardest part. The second step was to get the actual construction started. There was no need for a big ceremony, especially when most people didn't even have enough to eat. There was no point in wasting money on firecrackers when a bowl of bone soup was more valuable.

What mattered most to Yuya was efficiency. Once work began, he told Uchiha Kagami to divide the workers into ten groups, each led by a team leader who would track the team's output. After work was completed each day, the results would be tallied and handed to Uchiha Kagami. Wages would be paid based on both quality and efficiency, with a daily settlement.

This was something Yuya had learned in his previous life while working at construction sites—supervising would only slow things down. Instead, he decided to be upfront about wages. Everyone would know exactly how much they could earn daily, but if their work wasn't up to standard, they would lose a portion of their pay. Not much, but enough that they'd feel the loss.

Given that one hundred taels could buy just one pound of rice, Yuya was confident the workers wouldn't want to lose even ten taels. He didn't believe in human goodness, but he did believe in self-interest.

As long as these people could see tangible benefits, they would remain motivated until the bridge was finished.

These two steps—gathering the workers and motivating them through wages—would ensure the bridge's completion. The rest was about managing the effects of such a large-scale project.

Yuya didn't see the point in giving tens of millions of taels to a few jounin when he could pay hundreds of ordinary people, ensuring a longer-lasting economic impact.

When the workers got paid, they would spend their earnings on necessities like food and clothing. Some might even splurge a little, visiting restaurants. And in a village like Konoha, every transaction created a ripple effect, benefiting thousands.

Konoha could also collect taxes from these exchanges, ensuring the village's economy would keep turning.

As for the jounin? What could they possibly do? Buy ninja tools? Eat at fancy restaurants? Sure, those were big purchases, but they didn't create widespread happiness. The ninja tool shop catered to ninjas and would always be in business, while the restaurants were luxury options that few could afford at this point.

In Yuya's eyes, improving the lives of ordinary people was more important.

Even though he had no desire to become Hokage and didn't really care about Konoha's future, he couldn't stand by while ordinary people struggled.

It wasn't easy being a civilian in the world of Naruto. The manga focused on the adventures of Naruto and the other ninjas, but the hundreds of thousands of ordinary villagers were often overlooked. During events like the Kyuubi's attack or the Chunin Exams, it was the ordinary citizens who suffered the most.

Yuya paused his writing and sighed. Life was tough for these people. They were exploited by the village, forced to hand over half of their harvest as "reserves" for the ninja forces. Even then, they were lucky to keep enough to survive.

And Konoha wasn't even a truly safe place.

Yuya leaned back on the tatami, resting his head on his hands. "Why do I care so much? I'm not the Hokage, so why bother?"

...

What Yuya didn't know was that Uchiha Kagami had taken his suggestions seriously and implemented them without hesitation.

Yuya knew his place as a child in the village. He doubted anyone would take his ideas seriously, let alone put them into practice. But Uchiha Kagami wasn't like other Uchiha, who carried themselves with arrogance. He wasn't trying to act superior.

And on top of that, Tobirama had intentionally kept Yuya's true identity hidden.

Yuya thought his suggestions were just ideas on paper, never expecting Uchiha Kagami to follow them so thoroughly. Kagami even helped with the bridge construction himself, working alongside the laborers and acting as a mediator when conflicts arose. Being a ninja, he naturally commanded respect.

The result was that things went much more smoothly than anyone anticipated. So smoothly, in fact, that Senju Hashirama and Tobirama took notice a week later.

Why? Because the families of the workers had visibly improved their lives in a very short time.

It was astonishing to see the transformation.

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