Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 113: Minato's Hesitation

In the meeting room, Shikaku stared at the report detailing the massive quantities of gold and silver treasures, rubbed his temples, and sighed helplessly.

"Is this amount still not the full total?"

"There's much more," Hyuga Fuji said, taking a sip of tea. "Just the people alone add up to about twenty thousand."

Excluding wealthy merchants, nobles, and ninjas, the remainder were servants and slaves, primarily used by the aristocrats and merchants for their enjoyment.

"Twenty thousand?"

This number made Shikaku furrow his brows deeply. With a heavy sigh, he muttered,

"While the major nations officially prohibit human trafficking, in practice…"

They barely enforce it.

The underground black market employed a considerable number of ninja. Apart from the Five Great Nations, any smaller country attempting to intervene would be courting death.

But would the Five Great Nations bother to manage this? Of course not.

Shikaku shook his head in dismay and continued,

"With such a large number, Konoha won't be able to take them all in. Besides, we also need to consider how the Fire Daimyo feels about this."

Minato, who had been silent until now, nodded in agreement.

"The personnel should be dispersed and settled in various locations across the Land of Fire. I'll discuss it with the Daimyo."

"Why not take advantage of this and swallow it all?" Hyuga Fuji suddenly asked, his question freezing both men in place.

"If we directly take over this part of the underground black market, we could completely free ourselves from the control of the Land of Fire."

Shikaku abruptly stood up, his brows furrowed tightly as he stared at Hyuga Fuji.

"Fuji, what are you implying? If we do this, then we're…"

Hyuga Fuji glanced at him. The oppressive aura emanating from his gaze made Shikaku's body stiffen, cutting his words short.

Once Hyuga Fuji looked away, Shikaku sat back down, shaken and drenched in cold sweat.

He finally understood what the Fourth Kazekage must have felt when facing Fuji.

The pressure was immense… just how strong had Fuji become now?

Ignoring Shikaku, Hyuga Fuji turned to Minato.

"Are you hesitating?"

"…Yes," Minato admitted after a moment of silence. "The one-nation, one-village system was created by the First Hokage as a way to end the Warring States Era. I'm not sure if dismantling it is the right choice."

Minato didn't hide his thoughts, directly addressing the core issue at hand.

Hyuga Fuji locked eyes with him.

"But if we don't capitalize on this opportunity, we'll be left at a disadvantage later."

Their actions had already disrupted the underground black market by destroying its exchange points in smaller nations and seizing the wealth on the island. Retaliation from the black market was inevitable.

Moreover, other countries wouldn't just stand by and watch. Even though Konoha had made it clear they didn't want the spoils, the other nations would view handing them over to the Fire Daimyo as essentially the same as giving them to Konoha.

But for Konoha, it wasn't the same.

If the Fire Daimyo gained the underground black market's resources, his power would strengthen, reestablishing the balance between the Daimyo and Konoha.

At that point, Konoha and the Land of Fire's relationship would revert to its previous state.

Minato understood this, and so did Shikaku.

When Minato remained silent, Shikaku took a moment to compose himself before saying,

"Why not wait a bit longer? Konoha is currently in a strong position. If we keep developing, even that person won't be able to hold us back."

"Development takes time. The Daimyo can't instantly create a powerful ninja force, but Konoha's talented younger generation continues to emerge."

"When we reach a point where abolishing the current system won't leave us vulnerable to enemy attacks, wouldn't that be a better time to act?"

As he spoke, Shikaku sighed inwardly.

He had misunderstood Fuji from the start. Fuji was a staunch reformist, yet Shikaku had thought he shared his own cautious approach.

Reform… he wasn't opposed to it, but Konoha simply wasn't ready yet.

Hyuga Fuji narrowed his eyes.

"Minato, is that your answer as well?"

"We are ninjas. If we govern a nation based solely on our way of thinking, all kinds of problems will arise. Let's wait a bit longer," Minato replied, following the reasoning Shikaku had provided.

Minato knew it was an excuse, but he genuinely wasn't ready to make the leap.

As the Fourth Hokage, should he uphold the systems and principles established by his predecessors or forge ahead based on his own judgment? He couldn't decide which path was better.

If ninja villages became fully integrated with their nations, ceasing to be mere hired forces and transforming into true military institutions, what changes would that bring? How many new rules would need to be established?

Would ninjas still be able to accept missions from foreign nations? Would their activities become restricted as part of the national military, unable to enjoy the same freedom they currently had in Konoha?

Could the ninjas even accept such drastic changes?

Everything was uncertain. These countless questions loomed over Minato, paralyzing him with doubt.

Unlike his earlier dreams of becoming Hokage, dismantling the one-nation, one-village system was an entirely different challenge—a journey filled with uncertainties. The unknowns ahead translated into pressure, making him hesitant to take that step.

Yet many things also told him that without taking this step, the shinobi world would never truly change.

Hyuga Fuji sighed.

"Stagnation leads to regression. If we don't act, someone else might make the first move."

Minato's expression shifted slightly, but he remained silent.

The room fell into an uneasy quiet.

After a long pause, Minato finally spoke, awkwardly steering the conversation to another topic.

"We can still take in a portion of the personnel. I heard some children are interested in staying under your guidance. Should we send them to the academy first?"

"Chino is already twelve. She probably wouldn't want to attend the academy. I'll make arrangements for her," Fuji replied.

"True, that makes sense."

The tension between them eased, and Shikaku visibly relaxed.

He had been worried the two would end up like the Third Hokage and Danzo, throwing barbs like, "You'll regret this," or, "I'm the Hokage!"

Fortunately, both were rational enough to avoid such a scene.

---

Later, as Hyuga Fuji walked through Konoha's streets with Chino, she looked around with curiosity.

"So, this is Konoha? Not bad. It's better than most places I've seen in the shinobi world, though it still doesn't compare to that gold-drenched island," Chino remarked, her tone filled with exaggerated maturity.

Beside her, young Itachi Uchiha frowned slightly.

"You don't look that old. Have you really been to so many places?"

Chino shot him a sideways glance and smirked proudly.

"I'm much older than you, little boy."

"…"

Itachi gave her a surprised look, then silently compared their heights. Finding little difference, he nodded thoughtfully.

"I see. My apologies for being disrespectful earlier."

"Apology accepted," Chino replied with a dismissive wave. Then, with a glint of curiosity, she asked,

"You're a member of the Uchiha clan. Do you have the Sharingan?"

"I haven't awakened it yet. And I'm not a ninja right now. According to my school teachers, we're not allowed to call ourselves ninjas before graduating."

"Ninja school?" Chino found this rule peculiar. A school that didn't let students identify as ninjas?

"No, it's a different school," Itachi clarified.

"It's a new institution founded under Hyuga Fuji's guidance. The curriculum is different from that of the academy."

Chino's expression shifted subtly at the mention of Fuji.Feigning confusion, she asked,

"If you're not supposed to call yourselves ninjas, then what do you learn there? And why aren't you in class today?"

Itachi explained,

"Today, the students were given a special assignment: to help newcomers to Konoha get familiar with the village while completing a series of tasks."

He pulled out a stack of papers from somewhere, showing them to Chino before tucking them away.

"So, don't worry. Helping you get to know Konoha is part of my practical training."

"As for the curriculum…"

(Chapter End)

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