Chapter 184: Respect Yourself While Raising the Bandit

Hokage, the official duties of the past few days have already been handled; please have a look, Hokage.

In the Hokage Building, Nara Suzaku, holding a stack of documents half a person tall, entered the office and said through clenched teeth.

Shisui, seeing this, couldn't help but smile, and with a grateful expression said, "Thanks for your hard work, Jonin Suzaku. It's a good thing I have you helping me; otherwise I truly couldn't adapt to the Hokage's duties."

After Yan Shifan's advice, Shisui has now placed his focus on education, military affairs, and finance, delegating other trivial matters to others, though he checks the results from time to time to prevent trouble.

Nara Suzaku, helplessly, thought that although Shisui's trust is a good thing, the workload piled on him is truly troublesome; he even wants to resign.

The Hokage's words are heavy, but handling these affairs continuously inevitably draws criticism.

Shisui, of course aware of Nara Suzaku's thoughts, waved his hand and said sincerely, "Jonin Suzaku, no need to worry; I trust both your character and your ability. The orderly state of Konoha now proves my decision was correct."

Snort— Nara Suzaku was startled, his gaze fixed on Shisui's sincere expression, then helplessly said, "Fine, but if the Village's citizens are dissatisfied, I warned you in advance."

"I trust my own judgment."

The two exchanged a glance, then began the routine inspection; after half an hour, Shisui had skimmed all the documents, and finding no issues, summoned a clone to stamp them beside him.

"Jonin Suzaku, is there anything else?"

Shisui, looking at the still‑present Nara Suzaku, asked puzzledly.

"There are some matters that have been backlogged for a long time; I only discovered them this morning while sorting the files."

"Oh?"

Shisui smiled, then noticed that Nara Suzaku's gaze was off; this matter was certainly not simple.

Taking the documents, Shisui felt calm inside, but a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"So it was a Jonin review, messed up—I actually forgot about this!"

In Konoha, or any ninja Village, Jonin hold a certain status, able to partake in village decisions and even influence them.

Unlike Chunin and Genin, Jonin have no formal examinations.

The promotion of Jonin is decided by Konoha's higher‑ups, either by reviewing résumés and advancing promising ninja, or by directly assigning ninja to complete an S‑rank mission; outstanding performance can then secure their promotion.

Nevertheless, to become a genuine Konoha‑approved Jonin, one must have the Hokage's signature, the Hokage's most special authority.

Moreover, the Hokage also possesses the power to promote exceptionally.

With these powers, the Third Hokage could continuously support civilian ninja, which meant that although the ninja clan's strength far exceeds that of civilians, the apparent number of Jonin on each side remained similar.

Looking at the document, Shisui placed a hand on his forehead, yet remained very calm inside.

He discussed with Yan Shifan for three days and ultimately chose Yan Shifan's suggestion: courting the Bloodline families, winning over civilian ninja, and suppressing the secret‑technique ninja clan.

This document comprises all Jonin review applications accumulated since the Third Hokage fell seriously ill—sixty in total; of course, most were submitted after Shisui became Hokage, and many were from members of the ninja clan.

Shisui naturally understood what these people wanted, so he pretended ignorance; now that it was exposed, he wasn't angry, only somewhat curious toward Nara Suzaku.

This matter had passed through Nara Suzaku several times, so he naturally knew Shisui was deliberately feigning ignorance, but with so many people urging him from behind, he had to mention it; seeing Shisui's look, he could only force himself to say awkwardly, "Hokage, your affairs are hectic, the Third Hokage fell ill suddenly, and the few advisors had rarely inquired before; a momentary oversight is understandable."

However, since the Third Hokage's severe illness, this has been delayed for over half a year, and the Chunin exams have not been held; continuing like this could threaten Village stability.

"Jonin Suzaku's point is valid; then bring me the intel on those people, I will consider it carefully. As for the Chunin exams, let's conduct them according to the usual rules."

Shisui nodded, and his approving demeanor let Nara Suzaku breathe a sigh of relief.

"Understood."

After he left, Shisui stared thoughtfully at the list; that evening he returned to the clan and found Yan Shifan.

"Hahaha, you've been dragging this on; they just can't hold back any longer," Yan Shifan chuckled at the remark, looking rather disdainful of those people.

"The Third Hokage didn't want to give them many slots, how could I agree?"

Shisui sighed, suddenly beginning to understand the Third Hokage; the Uchiha and these ninja clans truly are troublesome.

Yan Shifan took the list, skimmed it, then let out a light laugh, "Sixty people— they are indeed greedy."

Jonin promotions are difficult; the higher‑ups intentionally control the numbers, and unless there is an extraordinary loss, few will be promoted to Jonin in a year.

"I've already reviewed these people's data; thirty‑nine have completed S‑rank missions. Though these ninja are a bit greedy, the listed ninja still have ability."

"Conveniently, I recall the matter in Rain Country hasn't been dealt with yet, so send these people to investigate; those who perform outstandingly I plan to promote on the spot, and for the others, teacher, please arrange them for me."

The assigned mission counts as a Jonin assessment; if the mission is completed excellently, Shisui naturally cannot refuse.

Yet Yan Shifan nodded satisfactorily, because Shisui had already been maneuvering behind the scenes.

The Rain Country issue had shown signs long before Shisui became clan head.

In the past, Shisui prepared a military admonition; the Third Hokage, fearing that Uchiha members of the ANBU might notice something, sent them to Rain Country on a mission. After Shisui became clan head, he learned that eight Uchiha not only failed the mission but nearly died in Rain Country.

Shisui also used this to form a selection team, controlling the elders.

"Don't worry, I will select carefully."

This trivial matter, Yan Shifan handled with a pinch; the next day he gathered these people together, then used certain methods to assign most ninja to relatively difficult missions, drawing lots on the spot, leaving everyone with no objections.

If they can complete the missions under these conditions, Shisui would have no objections and would naturally approve the Jonin applications.

After the mission assignments, all parties were noticeably more compliant, but the Chunin exams were still being prepared and required some real time.

During this period, Shisui received two pieces of good news: one was the Northern Raikage, who after more than half a month of hardship still found no opportunity, lost a lot of money, and with logistics failing could only lead the main army to withdraw first.

A small contingent remained at the entrance of Lightning Country to monitor the situation inside Hot Springs Country.

Later, Jiraiya wrote to Shisui, planning to return ahead and hand over the main army to Sima Yi.

Jiraiya acted swiftly; after receiving Shisui's reply, he returned to Konoha within a few days.

"Senior Jiraiya, thank you for your effort; it's fortunate the Hot Springs Country's front line is under your command, otherwise Konoha's situation would truly be unpredictable."

In the Hokage's office, Jiraiya laughed heartily, scrutinizing Shisui; even after all this time he still could hardly believe that this young Uchiha could become Hokage.

"Repelling the Cloud‑Hidden army was largely thanks to your grandfather, Mr. Yi; I, on the other hand, contributed little."

"Senior Jiraiya, as commander, naturally earned the primary credit—that's indisputable. Now that I've just become Hokage, I lack confidence; since you're returning to the village, why not come to the Hokage Building to assist me? It would make things easier for me."

Jiraiya was taken aback, then waved his hands repeatedly.

"No, no, no—I'm only back to see Naruto; in a few days I'll leave Konoha again to go out gathering material for my manuscript," Shisui rose immediately, pleading, "Senior Jiraiya, you just arrived and want to leave? Konoha still can't do without you; I would like you to stay on as an advisor!"

"Hahaha, then never mind, I can't stay. But if Konoha ever faces danger, you can contact me. That's all; I'm leaving now."

Ziraiye naturally didn't want to stay, just laughed and ran away.

Shisui saw the situation, his eyes flickered, and he relaxed.

Ziraiye staying would naturally benefit Konoha, but for Shisui it wasn't necessarily so; he was only being polite, because there were some people he had to deal with.

"Ziraiye senpai has returned, the army has fallen into Grandfather's hands; we need to ask Grandfather's thoughts."

Yun Yin withdrew his troops, so the Tang Country's defensive line naturally couldn't keep so many soldiers; otherwise the military expenses would be a huge cost. But Sima Yi is preparing to train troops, so he must discuss with Sima Yi how many to leave behind.

After a moment of thought, Shisui wrote a letter himself, then summoned the ANBU to deliver it.

Then news arrived from the ninja school in Gourd Valley to the west.

Originally, of the 272 full‑month students, 182 succeeded in extracting chakra within a month and stayed at the academy, while of the 804 half‑month students, 241 succeeded in extracting chakra within half a month.

These were the nobles' recruits, and the testing fees for both totaled 67,400,000 taels.

Afterwards, 423 trainees will be the first batch in the West River Route, and the nobles must pay an annual training fee of 1,015,200,000 taels, to be paid in a lump sum.

This money is not only for training the nobles' recruits, but also for training the trainees adopted by the Uchiha themselves.

The rear courtyard's adopted trainees total 300, of whom 221 succeeded in extracting chakra within a month.

The rest had their memories erased and were sent back.

"One billion taels!"

Shisui stared at the figure, stunned, while Yan Shifan remained very calm.

Because the letter was delivered through him, internal clan matters are basically handled through him.

"Just a mere one billion taels, averaging to less than a hundred million taels per month; what are you surprised about?"

"..."

Shisui was taken aback, then gave a wry smile; by that calculation it really wasn't much.

"At present, the nobles of the West River Route don't fully trust us; this money is merely a test. If our training results satisfy them, the next batch of trainees will certainly not be fewer. Once our people are familiar with the process, we can carry it out together in other remote regions."

"However, we must implement preventive measures before these trainees graduate, lest those guys turn hostile and deny us."

Yan Shifan knows these people too well; the world never lacks envious nobles or ambitious schemers.

"Don't worry, teacher. Whoever dares to act, I will not hold back; kill the chicken to warn the monkey, deter all four directions!"

Shisui's eyes narrowed slightly, his murderous intent unmasked.

Yan Shifan shook his head, the corner of his mouth tilted.

"No, I mean to tamper with the trainees, but the nobles must not know. Moreover, we need to get some people to take the initiative against the academy."

Shisui, after a brief thought, said, "So you mean lure the snake out of its hole, then suppress it?"

"Only half right. Actually I have a good idea to help Konoha make money; I'll tell you about it now."

"Oh? Please, teacher, speak!" Shisui stood up, instantly interested.

Yan Shifan chuckled, then asked, "Tell me, if they attack the Gourd Mountain Academy, can you win?"

"Impossible, of course. Though there aren't many ninja at the academy, we can pull personnel from Konoha, even send Uncle Fugaku to garrison there; he could arrive within days. The locals holding the Barrier for a few days is no problem, and only Shanqi Zhuoda knows the ninja school's location; he would never dare tell those people."

At present, Shisui has become Hokage, and Shanqi Zhuoda knows the academy's nature has changed; even without a guardian ninja beside him, he wouldn't dare speak up.

"Exactly. They can't win, but they don't know the academy is backed by us. Tell me, when faced with such ninja problems, who should they turn to for help?"

"Turn to us?"

Shisui finished speaking and suddenly understood.

"They can only ask Konoha for help against the academy; we can exploit this to extract massive funds from them!"

"Heh, look at you, so impatient!"

Yan Shifan shook his head, somewhat resentful of his lack of contention.

Shisui was stunned, not knowing where he went wrong.

"What you said isn't wrong, but your vision is still too shallow. The West River Route is just a poor, remote region; how much money can those nobles really have? Moreover, that place is a mix of all kinds of people, inevitably producing a few ruthless characters or some outlaws who might attack the academy. The teachers in the academy are all clan members; losing even one is a loss."

"Then what do you mean, teacher?"

"Heh, the Fire Country lies in the center, and there are countless fertile lands; there are more than a thousand wealthy nobles, and Kyoto has been comfortable for too long."

"Just so, isn't the Village lacking missions? Let's launch an all‑sides operation and see whether those nobles can handle it."

Yan Shifan showed a wicked smile; Shisui's face was shocked as an unforeseen path unfolded before him.

"If the daimyo discovers this, the Fire Country isn't just home to the Konoha ninja organization."

Within the Fire Country, besides Konoha, there are also a few small villages.

However, these small villages generally can only look after a few neighboring hamlets or towns.

Bigger matters are always referred to Konoha; they lack the standing to compete with Konoha, so Konoha never pays them any heed.

Yet those nobles can still reach large organizations like the Fire Temple; their strength is comparable and can solve many problems.

"Hmph, then hire people to clear those places, leaving them no choice! As for the daimyo, we'll start finding him some work as well."

Shisui heard this, hesitated briefly, then nodded in agreement; after all, nine out of ten of those nobles are worthless, and the remaining one isn't even human.

"No delay; start preparations immediately!"

They actually said I was drunk—laughable. I'm wide awake; I can start an electric car without even using my hands. The one who vomited was the real drunk one.

Look, I got back at twelve, it's only one now; I haven't even taken a nap and I've already written over two thousand words. I'm flying fast; they're just little Karami. But this alcohol is really terrible—I'd rather have cola. Everyone should drink in moderation; if not, just have Sprite.

(End of chapter)