Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 91
🕑 Added 2024-12-21 18:54:22 +0000 UTCWatching Fugaku interact with the crowd from the stage, Tazuna couldn't help but feel envious. The easy rapport, the natural charisma—even when flustered, Fugaku commanded attention.
The Uchiha—after all, they were the Uchiha.
In the minds of Konoha's ninja, they always held a special place. Their very name carried weight that the Sarutobi, for all their achievements, couldn't match.
Before the clan meeting, he had indeed thought about vying for the position of Hokage Advisor, but as soon as the meeting started, he gave up.
The current Sarutobi clan was in a very precarious situation.
The danger they faced wasn't one of declining strength but of mindset.
The decline in the Sarutobi clan's strength was only evident at the highest level. In terms of overall strength, they were still among the top in Konoha, which wasn't an issue given the current circumstances.
But the mindset—that was fatal.
Ninja clans were not all the same. While strength could be nurtured and gradually cultivated, the ability of a clan to sustain itself was difficult to improve after the fact.
An organization like a ninja village was a natural predator for most ninja clans.
Putting aside the mythical stories about the Sage of Six Paths, all the current ninja clans were born during the Warring States Period. They emerged within the framework of traditional clans, spurred by the need to preserve and pass on ninjutsu.
However, there was an inherent difference between clans with bloodline limit and those without, particularly in terms of sustainability.
Without a bloodline limit—or at least a sufficiently powerful one—the foundation of a ninja clan lay solely in the inheritance of ninjutsu.
The ninja village model created by Hashirama inherently provided a better platform for individual ninjas without bloodline limits—offering the most comprehensive ninjutsu library and a relatively fair mechanism for accessing ninjutsu.
This meant that talented individuals no longer needed clan support to access powerful techniques.
But for a clan without a bloodline limit or a unique secret technique, this same advantage became their greatest weakness.
When individual ninja could learn techniques directly from the village, the clan's role as a repository of jutsu became redundant. The impact on such clans was devastating; they could lose their purpose and collapse in no time.
Ninjas were pragmatic.
For ninja clans without bloodline limit, their original purpose as guardians and teachers of ninjutsu was undermined by the village system.
With their techniques now accessible through village institutions, clan bonds weakened, with members placing little emphasis on distant blood relations. Their priorities focused solely on their immediate families.
After all, this was a group fundamentally driven by the pursuit of power.
The First Great Ninja War accelerated this evolution.
By the Second Great Ninja War, many of the civilian ninjas who had swelled in number were originally members of ninja clans.
These individuals chose the ninja village over their clans, transitioning into small, family-based units of ninjas—during that era, it wasn't uncommon for an entire family of three to be ninjas.
The Sarutobi clan's survival to this point was largely due to their relatively independent ninjutsu system and Hiruzen's influential role as Hokage.
However, the independence of the Sarutobi clan's ninjutsu system was limited. Compared to this, the secret technique clans like the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi, as well as the Aburame and Inuzuka clans, possessed techniques that were on par with bloodline limit in terms of uniqueness and independence.
And of course, clans like the Uchiha and Hyūga, which relied on pure bloodline limit, didn't even need to be mentioned. Their dōjutsu necessitated a bloodline, granting them unmatched cohesion.
The ninja village system had little impact on such clans.
Even though they were all called ninja clans, fundamentally, they weren't the same. However, such ninja clans were rare, and the Sarutobi clan was not among them.
The behavior of the clan members at the meeting made Tazuna realize that the Sarutobi clan's members were utterly unaware of this reality.
The Third Hokage had protected them too well.
As the clan leader, he bore some responsibility too.
On a personal level, he didn't need to compete for the Hokage Advisor position. If he had been a bit more selfish, he could have lived out the rest of his days comfortably.
But having grown up in this clan, he couldn't bear to see such a bleak future. Just thinking about it made his heart ache.
People eventually would die, no matter how strong they were—even someone like Sasuke. After death, they were remembered by only one identity: a powerful member of the Sarutobi clan.
He didn't want the Sarutobi clan's ninjas to one day vanish from the world.
This solution might be clumsy, but for the Sarutobi clan now, there was no better option...
Tazuna collected his thoughts and looked toward the stage. He wanted to hear what Fugaku had to say.
At that moment, on stage, he began his presentation.
After recovering from the initial interruption, Fugaku straightened his posture and met the crowd's gaze directly.
"Let me tell you about strength," Fugaku began. "Not just the strength of jutsu or combat, but the kind of strength that builds villages and secures futures. We talk about protecting Konoha, but what exactly are we protecting?"
He gestured to the marketplace visible in the distance. "We protect the merchant setting up his stall before dawn. The craftsman perfecting her tools late into the night. The farmer tending crops that feed our children. These people—our people, are Konoha's true strength."
His eyes swept across the crowd. "But protection isn't just about keeping enemies at bay. It's about ensuring our people can thrive. To make the village truly strong, we need financial power. And for our financial resources to grow, we need to make everyone—not just the wealthy few—more prosperous."
Masashi was right—they're listening now.
This topic wasn't novel; it was rather old-fashioned and had been brought up before.
Everyone could practically recite it from memory, as it had essentially been the guiding policy during the Third Hokage's tenure.
Initiatives to attract investment had started during the Third's era.
However, as a rising star, Fugaku garnered more patience and attention from his audience. In the crowd, whispers began to circulate.
"Is he suggesting the village become a bank?" one merchant muttered.
"Look at what we've achieved in the Uchiha district," Fugaku continued, warming to his subject. "Three years ago, we started small. A shopkeeper needed funds to expand. A young ninja needed equipment. We pooled our resources, created a system of fair lending."
"Today? That shop employs six people. That ninja leads missions that bring income to the village." He turned slightly to include both civilians and ninja in his address.
"Now imagine this on a village-wide scale. Working with the daimyō's government, we can create a system that makes funds available to those who need them most. Not just handouts—but real opportunities."
"When a talented craftsman needs a workshop, when a promising merchant needs inventory, when a ninja clan needs to develop new training facilities—the village can help."
His voice grew more passionate. "But this isn't just about money. It's about building a stronger Konoha from the ground up. When we centralize these resources effectively, everyone benefits. The civilian gets their business. The ninja gets their equipment. The village gets increased revenue. The cycle feeds itself."
In truth, Fugaku didn't fully understand all of the ideas that Masashi had proposed, but it didn't stop him from explaining them to the best of his ability.
The success of the Uchiha clan wasn't a fluke. Even if his explanation wasn't comprehensive, he was confident it wouldn't be wrong.
And besides, some of Masashi's original phrasing couldn't be repeated verbatim.
Could he really say something like "robbing the rich to give to the poor" in front of everyone?
That would undoubtedly cause an uproar among the ninja clans present.
Even though Masashi's interpretation of "robbing the rich to give to the poor" didn't carry that literal meaning, a slight misstep in phrasing could spell trouble with so many ears listening.
The audience leaned forward, caught up in his vision. Even those who didn't grasp all the economic details could feel the weight of possibility in his words. Throughout the crowd, people began nodding, seeing their own hopes reflected in his plans.
"But let's be specific," Fugaku continued, sensing their engagement. "What does this mean for you? For the merchant working to expand their business, it means fair loans with reasonable terms. For the ninja clan developing new training methods, it means access to resources without compromising their independence. For the craftsman with a new idea, it means the chance to turn that idea into reality."
He paused.
In the crowd, people were nudging each other, whispering excitedly. This wasn't just talk about abstract prosperity—these were real possibilities they could grasp.
"Now, some might ask—why not leave this to private lenders?" Fugaku's tone shifted, becoming more focused. "Because private lenders serve themselves first. The village serves its people first. When we establish this system, every ryō of profit goes back into making Konoha stronger."
He began laying out the specifics, his words carefully chosen to reach different segments of his audience. The merchants in the crowd perked up at mentions of trade incentives. Clan heads nodded at references to resource allocation. Ordinary villagers smiled at the promise of practical support.
"Think of it as building a network of support," he explained, making complex ideas accessible. "Just as our ninja teams support each other in battle, our economic system should support every villager trying to build a better life."
Fugaku was describing a system where the village would pool idle resources to lend to organizations or individuals in need, help them resolve their issues, and later recover the resources in monetary or material form. Most of the time, the village would act as a guarantor and supervisor.
It was just a form of lending—not exactly revolutionary. What gave the audience a fresh perspective was his detailed institutional design to prevent lenders from exploiting borrowers or borrowers from maliciously defaulting.
But he wasn't just talking about loans. He also discussed various subsidies. Although the process wasn't entirely clear to everyone, the outcome was: as a special privilege of Konoha, many expenses—like public transportation and production tools—would be subsidized by the village.
On stage, Minato and Hiruzen listened intently, particularly Hiruzen.
He understood the concept. If Fugaku's design could be implemented, both the village and its citizens would indeed benefit.
To be fair, Fugaku's plan, while involving many loan-based measures, was genuinely about contributing to the village. It was a solid and practical approach that addressed both fiscal needs and the wealth-building aspirations of the villagers, without prioritizing profit-making.
The main issue was: where would Fugaku find the resources to fill the gaps?
There weren't many philanthropists capable of funding such efforts.
As Fugaku delved deeper into his plan, Hiruzen's eyes began to light up with understanding.
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