Chapter 288: 288. Chapter 286: A Village Doesn't Necessarily Have Only One Boss

288. Chapter 286: A Village Doesn't Necessarily Have Only One Boss

Although Senju Tobirama really didn't want to admit it, the fact that Uchiha Madara was one of Konoha's top-tier combatants was still laid out right before his eyes.

Especially for a mission like capturing Tailed Beasts, aside from Senju Hashirama who possessed Wood Release, only Uchiha Madara could complete it solo.

In the current situation, the Hokage himself definitely couldn't go out personally. The incident where his own big brother was assassinated upon returning from the Land of Wind last time was still fresh in his memory; every time he thought of it, Senju Tobirama would break out in a cold sweat.

Therefore, he now had to think of a reason to trick Uchiha Madara into leaving the village to find the Nine-Tails and drag it back to guard the house.

Thinking of this, a red glint flashed in Senju Tobirama's eyes. He spoke up, seemingly unintentionally but actually with intent:

"I didn't expect the Nine-Tails' power to be so terrifying. Big Brother, you must never do such a dangerous thing again in the future!"

Senju Hashirama, who had just finished lying, was stunned upon hearing this. He didn't know why his younger brother kept bringing this up, but he didn't want to dampen Uchiha Madara's confidence, so he nodded hurriedly:

"That goes without saying, the Nine-Tails is too dangerous!"

Uchiha Madara, who was pricking up his ears to the side, felt the look of contemplation in his eyes grow even more intense. As someone who had been suppressed by Senju Hashirama his entire life, he felt as if he had found a breakthrough point.

The moment he imagined himself controlling the Nine-Tails to beat up Hashirama's wooden man, Uchiha Madara couldn't hold back and laughed out loud:

"Hehe~"

"Madara, what are you laughing at? Is there some good news?"

"Uh..."

Uchiha Madara's expression tightened upon being discovered, fearing his little thoughts would be exposed. At this critical moment, he suddenly caught sight of Senju Tobirama, who was smiling mockingly to the side. His eyes lit up, and he immediately straightened his back, saying with a look of sorrow but a smile on his lips:

"Sigh~ It's nothing good, it's just that kid Izuna..."

"Hmph! Caused trouble again? I've said it before, that guy has never been a good egg since he was small~"

Senju Tobirama only heard half of it before speaking up to mock him. His relationship with Uchiha Izuna could be described as natural-born rivals; as long as they met, there would definitely be a round of verbal sparring.

"Madara, don't be angry. If your younger brother has gone down the wrong path, just correct him in time; there's no need to resort to beating or scolding."

Once the topic of younger brothers came up, Senju Hashirama became spirited. Many years ago, he and Uchiha Madara had even compared the length of their respective brothers by a small river.

The unit of measurement was neither roots nor strips.

Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna, who had been competing for years, were both as sinister as stagnant water, and both possessed full-body Vajra-like bodies; their battle records could be described as evenly matched.

However, after the founding of Konoha, Uchiha Izuna clearly shifted his focus to clan affairs, while Senju Tobirama took the opportunity to mix into Konoha's political circles, which could be considered a slight edge.

Therefore, Senju Hashirama's expression carried a hint of smugness; after all, his younger brother was more outstanding.

"Sigh~ Actually, it's not a big deal, it's just that Izuna has started dating recently. I reckon it won't be long before I can be an uncle~"

Uchiha Madara deliberately made his voice very loud, while his eyes remained fixed on Senju Tobirama, who was snickering to the side.

"Nani?"

Senju Tobirama was shocked upon hearing this. They were clearly of similar age, yet that hedgehog-head had secretly gotten off the singles market. Wouldn't that make him very awkward?

"Ah! This..."

Senju Hashirama, who had been smug just a moment ago, was immediately rendered speechless. His proud expression froze on his face. He had originally thought he could properly tease Madara and step on his younger brother, but he hadn't expected himself to become the clown.

After a long while, he stiffly squeezed out a sentence:

"That's truly great, congratulations."

"Can't help it, my younger brother isn't very good at anything, his only merit is that he puts my mind at ease. Unlike some people, who are old and still single, without considering the continuation of the clan at all."

Uh... why does it feel like he AOE'd himself too? Dealing a thousand damage to the enemy while taking eighty thousand himself.

Senju Tobirama, feeling bitter inside, put on his usual "dead-face" and said coldly:

"Do not discuss matters unrelated to work during office hours."

Senju Hashirama nodded hurriedly, fearing his own brother would bite his teeth to pieces out of jealousy.

Seeing Senju Tobirama with a stinking face, Uchiha Madara knew when to stop. After all, he was a straightforward ninja who held the fort; he didn't continue the sarcasm and turned his head back down to process the mountain of documents.

For a time, in the quiet office, there was only the rustling sound of flipping pages.

After a long time, Uchiha Madara suddenly raised his head, looked at Senju Hashirama on the Hokage throne, frowned, and asked:

"Hashirama, if we didn't help you, when would you finish a day's work?"

Just now, while Uchiha Madara was processing documents, he discovered that these submitted government affairs were so messy they gave him a headache. The previous one was a report on mission completion rates, and the next one became an application for the village to distribute stud pigs. The overly erratic content almost caused his brain to crash.

This situation was common, which was why Uchiha Madara asked this question.

The classification of government affairs was unclear, and the primary and secondary were not distinguished, which clearly reduced the efficiency of the Hokage's work.

"Without your help, I could probably only complete less than a third."

Senju Hashirama, who was asked, scratched his head. He actually discovered this problem too, but the number of documents submitted every day was truly too many to classify in time. Moreover, as Hokage, he inevitably had to be meticulous; even if they were repairing a toilet at the entrance of the village, he had to think it over repeatedly before making a decision.

"If you have time to discuss such problems here, you might as well hurry up and work."

Senju Tobirama, who had long been accustomed to this rhythm, raised his head with an unhappy expression. As Konoha's number one speedster on the surface, his speed in processing government affairs was faster than Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara combined.

And regarding this problem, he had a solution, it just wasn't perfected yet.

"I don't think this can go on. For example, this plan regarding border defense deployment is definitely one of Konoha's most confidential pieces of intelligence. To mix it so brazenly with the Genin mission list—if a leak occurs, wouldn't that cause a catastrophe?"

Uchiha Madara had always cared about Konoha; he didn't want this village, which he and Senju Hashirama had founded together, to suffer any harm.

"Where would there be so many leaks?"

Even though what Uchiha Madara said was reasonable, Senju Tobirama still retorted with a cold face. The other party had previously mocked him for being a single dog; he would remember this grudge for a lifetime.

"You!"

He hadn't expected that his good intentions would not only be unappreciated by Senju Tobirama, but that he would also be met with a "you have too much to say" expression, which made Uchiha Madara's fists itch.

"Alright, Tobirama, Madara makes sense!"

It was another daily mediation. Senju Hashirama stood up helplessly to smooth things over, then looked at the angry Uchiha Madara and said with some difficulty:

"Madara, I understand what you mean, but now all kinds of affairs, whether it's people's livelihood or military, require me to look over them. This is the duty of the Hokage~"

Senju Hashirama knew Uchiha Madara was worried that he was overworking himself and was very moved, but he hadn't thought of a better solution for the time being.

"Sigh~ Hashirama, you just have too much sense of responsibility, it will be very tiring this way."

Regarding Senju Hashirama's explanation, Uchiha Madara could only shake his head and sigh.

"Big Brother, I have already thought of a solution, it just hasn't been refined yet. I'll present it to you after it's perfected in a while."

Seeing his big brother and Uchiha Madara exchanging glances, Senju Tobirama was suddenly filled with anger. He stood up and said:

"Bang bang bang~"

Just at this moment, a familiar knocking sound rang out. The brows of the three people present twitched; they felt the visitor was not coming with good intentions.

"Please come in~"

Senju Hashirama said in a loud voice.

"Creak~"

Only to see a curly-haired person emerging from the door crack—the very unhappy Uchiha Gin had arrived~

"Isn't this Brother Gin? What wind blew you here~"

Seeing that the visitor was Uchiha Gin, Senju Hashirama hurried down and greeted him very enthusiastically.

"Hmph~"

Uchiha Gin was very angry. Konoha's development had clearly entered the right track, and the news of the completion of the Konoha prison a few days ago had also reached his ears. The ecstatic curly-head had waited at home for several days, but hadn't seen the shadow of an appointment letter, not even a job entry text message.

At first, he thought Hashirama had just forgotten, but as many old colleagues returned to their posts one after another, his heart sank day by day. Finally, upon hearing that the Konoha prison had already admitted its first batch of criminals, Uchiha Gin went completely crazy.

Early this morning, Uchiha Gin rushed to the Hokage building in a huff, swearing to get an explanation for himself. He had clearly done quite a few things for Konoha before, so how could he not even land a position as a jailer?

Today, he was going to find Senju Hashirama and question him face-to-face whether it was intentional or accidental.

Along the way, the guards of the Hokage building, seeing Uchiha Gin's incredibly foul expression, hid far away, not daring to come up and chat like they usually did, fearing they would bring trouble upon themselves.

"Cousin, I've already rested enough, I can go to work!"

Thinking that the unhappy Uchiha Gin was here to drag him home to rest, Uchiha Madara hurriedly stood up to explain.

"It has nothing to do with you, if you love working, you can work for a lifetime."

Uchiha Gin didn't pay attention to his anxious cousin, but instead fixed his gaze on the innocent-looking Senju brothers, gritting his teeth as he accused them:

"The Konoha prison is finished!"

"Uh... yeah, I even went to cut the ribbon a few days ago."

Not understanding what Uchiha Gin meant, Senju Hashirama nodded subconsciously and replied.

"Good, good, good, I thought you didn't know about this."

Uchiha Gin laughed out of anger, his black dead-fish eyes staring at Senju Hashirama, with flames faintly spraying out from within.

"Ha?"

"What about your promise?"

"Ah!"

Reminded by Uchiha Gin, Senju Hashirama finally woke up as if from a dream. He had indeed promised Uchiha Gin before that he would arrange for him to work in the prison.

It was just that because Uchiha Gin had made extremely outstanding contributions regarding the Tailed Beast issue, Senju Hashirama hadn't thought of how to reward this great hero for a while. If he rashly arranged for him to be a jailer in the prison, wouldn't it make people who didn't know the truth think that he, the Hokage, was greedy for merit and harming loyal subjects?

"Brother Gin, don't be anxious yet."

Thinking of this, Senju Hashirama hurriedly tried to appease him.

"Anxious, anxious, anxious, can I not be anxious!"

It had been too peaceful recently, and he couldn't find anyone to "grind steel" (Heart of Steel). Those guys in the Ninja Clan Alliance all had a friendly appearance when they saw him, and he couldn't activate his Heart of Steel at all. Moreover, Uchiha Gin was currently carrying a Konoha forehead protector in his pocket, he couldn't just go bully civilians, right?

Missing one day of work meant missing one chance to grind steel. Uchiha Gin felt he was losing so much he was almost down to his underwear.

"You curly-head, we've been too busy recently, where would we have time to manage your sesame-sized trifles."

Seeing Uchiha Gin being so disrespectful to his big brother, Senju Tobirama spoke up, which could be considered giving him an explanation.

"Busy? With you guys working like this, can you not be busy!"

Sure enough, these guys had forgotten what they promised him completely. Uchiha Gin was so angry he almost opened his eyes, ready to teach the white-hair a lesson with a Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion. Looking at the mountain of documents on the three people's table, he mocked with great disdain:

"Oh? You mean there's a problem with the way we work?"

Hearing Uchiha Gin's words, Senju Tobirama rarely didn't retort, but instead asked with great interest:

"Isn't that obvious?"

Uchiha Gin didn't play coy either. He walked up, picked up a document from the table, and after seeing the file name on it, immediately rolled his eyes, then waved the document in his hand and said with a strange tone:

"You say you're a Hokage, why are you managing someone else's sow breeding matters?"

"Uh... this is also a people's livelihood issue, isn't it?"

Senju Hashirama scratched his head in some embarrassment. He had already approved many documents like this, and in terms of the importance of the event, it indeed didn't need him, the Hokage, to handle it.

"He's not very smart, why are you following a madman?"

Skipping over the embarrassed Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Gin fixed his gaze on Senju Tobirama, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed. This white-hair was usually full of schemes, so why was he becoming increasingly dull in handling things?

"I already have a solution."

Being ridden and attacked by Uchiha Gin, Senju Tobirama immediately retorted.

"Oh? Then tell me your solution."

Give this white-hair a chance, and let's hear what high opinions he has.

"Sigh~ I plan to establish an Elder Council under the Hokage, and after refining the responsibilities, divide the power to manage various types of affairs..."

Good fellow, so the Elder Council was created by you, kid? Just to distribute work to your own wicked disciples, right?

Upon hearing the word "Elder," Uchiha Gin's head buzzed. The prestige of the Konoha F4 was truly terrifying.

"Stop! I'll just ask, does your Senju clan have elders?"

Uchiha Gin started at zero frames and interrupted Senju Tobirama's words.

"Uh... that naturally exists."

As long as it was a slightly larger clan, there would more or less be a few elders. Senju Tobirama answered without knowing why.

"Then what kind of existence do you think an elder is?"

This question left Senju Tobirama somewhat speechless. He subconsciously recalled the elders of his own clan and discovered that those guys would pop out to find a sense of presence whenever there was or wasn't something happening. Usually, relying on their seniority and prestige, they would point fingers at the clan head.

When Senju Hashirama had just succeeded to the position of clan head, he hadn't suffered less from the elders' harshness. It was only because they were old that the two brothers endured it. Now that he recalled it, the joints of Senju Tobirama's fingers were itching.

"Hmph~ Isn't it very annoying? Not only can they not help with anything, but they add to the chaos from time to time. When it's time to act, they say you're too reckless; when you're ready to stop, they say you're too cautious. Anyway, they just want to go against you in everything, right?"

Uchiha Gin's words could be said to have touched Senju Tobirama's heart. The elders he encountered were all like this, and they were two-faced, acting in defiance while pretending to comply, making it impossible to accomplish big things.

"That's still an elder in a clan of the same bloodline. If you replace them with unrelated people to serve as elders, you wouldn't even know if the Hokage position was sold."

"Indeed, it was my oversight."

After Uchiha Gin's words, Senju Tobirama rarely didn't argue, but instead lowered his head to think about the possibility of the matter.

This curly-head had a point. Although the elder system could share the Hokage's work, in the long run, it would inevitably breed dissent. Once it accumulated to a certain degree, the elders would very likely break away from the Hokage's control and, instead of being the guest, take over and hollow out the Hokage's power.

"Since that's the case, what good ideas do you have?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin speaking with such logic, Senju Tobirama decided to ask without shame and consult this curly-head.

"Ha?"

Uchiha Gin, who had originally just been talking big, looked at Senju Tobirama, whose expression carried a hint of respect, and couldn't help but scratch his curly hair. He was just a "King of Mouth-Strength"~

"Cousin, if you really have any good methods, just share them!"

Uchiha Madara, who was to the side, saw Uchiha Gin's strange expression and thought his cousin was unwilling to answer because he didn't like Senju Tobirama. Caring about Konoha, he hurriedly persuaded him:

"Yeah, Brother Gin, help us out~"

Senju Hashirama also joined in, wanting Uchiha Gin to solve his problems. After all, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang; perhaps his method could help him solve the current dilemma.

"Uh..."

Stared at by three pairs of eyes full of anticipation, Uchiha Gin was in a difficult position. Just as he was hesitating, Senju Tobirama said slowly:

"If your method is helpful, the appointment letter for the Konoha prison can be issued today."

"It's a deal!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Gin was like he had been injected with chicken blood. His brain operated at high speed; even for the sake of the jailer position, he had to squeeze out a plan for these guys.

"..."

Thus, Uchiha Gin began to pace back and forth in the office, his gaze darting between the faces of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck, and he stopped his steps.

"I have a plan, I don't know if I should say it or not."

Uchiha Gin, who already had a draft in his heart, looked at the three people in front of him and said slowly:

"Brother Gin, don't have any burden, just speak freely."

Senju Hashirama nodded, letting Uchiha Gin speak with peace of mind.

"Then I'll say it~"

"Don't dawdle, are you still a man!"

Senju Tobirama, who had been waiting impatiently, couldn't help but curse.

"Hmph! Whether I'm a man or not, naturally someone knows~"

"You!" The white-hair exploded.

"Alright, Cousin, don't play coy."

"Cough cough... Currently, the high-level of Konoha is only the Hokage, and below that are you two, the 'unjustified and unofficial' Hokage candidates?"

Temporarily not bothering with the white-hair, Uchiha Gin looked at the three and asked after coughing twice.

"Indeed." Senju Hashirama nodded.

Tobirama and Madara were both helping out of obligation, and the so-called Hokage candidates were just verbal titles among them; they had no real power in Konoha, just to make it convenient to help the Hokage work.

"Actually, there's no rule that a village can only have one leader, right?"

"Hehe."

He had thought Uchiha Gin would have some high opinion, but he hadn't expected him to squeeze out a big pile of nonsense. Senju Tobirama was full of disappointment.

"Tobirama, let Brother Gin finish first. Brother Gin, continue."

"As the leader of Konoha, the Hokage should be considered the village chief, right?"

"That's right." The three nodded in unison.

"Although the village's affairs are complicated, if divided by type, there are actually only two points."

Looking at the documents piled up in the office, Uchiha Gin held up two fingers.

"People's livelihood and military."

The three of Senju Hashirama looked at each other, thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Among them, people's livelihood is mainly about issues regarding Konoha's development and ninja ideological education, while military is responsible for internal security stability and external war games."

"No matter how much energy the Hokage has, he cannot take full responsibility for all problems. So my idea is that we only need to establish another position outside the Hokage to take charge of either people's livelihood or military."

"Dividing power like this will cause party strife, and it will only be more chaotic then."

Senju Tobirama saw the drawbacks at a glance and immediately shook his head to deny it.

"If according to what you said, one side is in charge of people's livelihood development and the other is in charge of military security, then the side in charge of the military will definitely have stronger strength. At that time, as long as he gives an order, wouldn't Konoha be in his pocket?"

"Don't be so pessimistic. The people's livelihood side holds the financial power and the material basis for ninja life. As long as the business of mission entrustment is still on the people's livelihood side, the military side will never have any second thoughts, unless everyone becomes a rogue ninja."

Indeed, obtaining remuneration through mission entrustment was the main way ninjas had relied on for survival since ancient times. As long as the people's livelihood side held the channels and rights to issue missions, the ninjas on the military side would not have second thoughts.

Unless they possessed endless wealth and strength that looked down on the heroes, being a rogue ninja wasn't that easy~

"Moreover, as the side in charge of people's livelihood, one can implement an elite selection system and form a unit of one's own—let's call it the Anbu—to deal with certain emergencies."

With the Imperial Guard here, who would dare to act presumptuously~

"Although there is a guarantee this way, if the two sides always have a rift, it is not conducive to the development of the village!"

Senju Tobirama, who was faintly moved, still felt there was a slight impropriety.

"We just need to optimize resource allocation, reasonably distribute resources to people's livelihood and military to achieve the best utility for both, and we can promote the relationship between military and people's livelihood from a zero-sum game to harmonious coexistence."

Uchiha Gin nodded upon hearing this, then brought his two fingers together; the meaning expressed was obvious.

"Uh... it seems there is some truth to it. Then who do you think the Hokage should control, military or people's livelihood?"

After listening to Uchiha Gin's explanation, Senju Tobirama, after thinking, threw out his own question.

"That depends on the Hokage's own personality and wrist. If the Hokage is a kind and benevolent person, then he is naturally better at managing people's livelihood. But if the Hokage is a decisive person, then the military is his happy home."

"I think I can manage people's livelihood~"

Senju Hashirama, who had been listening for half a day, hurriedly stood up with a smile and recommended himself. After all, he didn't like war.

"Shut up! You sit down first, wait until I finish asking before you speak!"

Senju Tobirama was so angry he patted his big brother's head, teaching him a lesson with a "hate that iron doesn't become steel" attitude, then turned to look at Uchiha Gin and asked:

"Then, besides the Hokage, what should the other position be called?"

"Uh... how about Village Party Secretary?" (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 289 =====