Chapter 197: 197. Chapter 194: New Points, Enhancement

197. Chapter 194: New Points, Enhancement

"Lord Hokage, here are the September expenses."

"Lord Hokage, here are the border developments."

"Lord Hokage, this is a letter from the XX noble, as well as a mission commission from the XX noble."

Sima Yi's return has little impact on Konoha as a whole; the villagers continue their lives, and the ninja wander daily between training, commissions, and daily life.

The past year of steady life has brought one newborn after another, and Shisui, looking at the statistics, manages a rare, satisfied smile.

"Finally managed to come back, and it doesn't let me relax at all."

On the street, Hui, who is standing in for Izayoi as ANBU captain, walks beside Shisui, speaking with obvious displeasure.

"Hahaha, sorry, who told you Brother Hui is someone I trust?"

"Ugh, really, there's nothing I can do about you."

The two laugh and chat as they leave the Hokage's building, wandering around Konoha to patrol—or rather, to unwind.

"Over there, you can't dump sewage here; true youth should grab a bucket and run around Konoha fifty times!"

A watermelon‑headed officer of the Police Department stops an old man dumping waste water on the street.

"That... could it be Mai Te Kai?"

Hui points at the Police Department ninja, his mouth twitching slightly, then turns his head toward Shisui.

"Yes, Kai joined the Police Department; he came in when it expanded last year," Shisui explains with a smile, then adds, "Look, so energetic—this is how the Police Department should be, full of enthusiasm."

The old man glances at the waste‑water bucket in his hand and hurriedly runs away.

Kai, seeing the situation, doesn't intervene, merely mutters beside him.

"Will you betray your youth? Will you abandon the Will of Fire? Will you let your hot blood cool? Grab your wooden bucket and run around Konoha fifty times with me; if you can't, we'll do a hundred thousand frog jumps!"

The old man's face turns deathly pale; Kai's teammate quickly grabs Kai and whispers, "He's just an ordinary person; doing that could kill him."

Afterward, he clears his throat, "Sir, dumping sewage outside the designated area incurs a fine of five hundred taels. Since you're a first‑time offender, clean this place up, or else... otherwise, go run with him!"

The old man can't endure such torment; after the intimidation, he quickly grabs tools and begins cleaning.

From afar, Hui watches the scene, inhales sharply, and sighs, "That guy doesn't belong in the Police Department; he'd be better suited for Root."

Shisui and Hui don't intervene; instead they continue strolling, from inside outward, wandering the streets at a leisurely pace.

"Is that the Anma family gallery? Has the shop become this big? Last time it was a tiny place; I thought they were going to close! Huh, I recall there was another shop next door—looks like it was acquired; the Anma family still has some clout."

On Ninja Tools Street, Hui spots a familiar shop and can't help but sigh.

"Anma family?"

Shisui also glances; the gallery is large, but it doesn't primarily sell paintings—instead, it focuses on the business of the shop next door.

As for the neighboring shop, Shisui recalls it used to be a Zhuangyin family store.

"Huh~ wasn't the shop across the street that sold explosive talismans owned by the Sarutobi Clan? How did it become another family's, and whose clan emblem is this?"

Facing Hui's confusion, Shisui smiles and recounts the earlier explosive talisman incident that led to the Sarutobi shop's closure; now the shop's ownership lies with the Uchiha, while the clan emblem belongs to a minor family. Yan Shifan granted the operating rights to that small family, taking only a monthly fee.

"Hehe, well done, it should have been like this from the start. That Sarutobi Clan dared to compete with us Uchiha for business—I've never liked them."

Hui gloatingly remarks, and Shisui doesn't object; the two head outward.

"That's the mutton soup place, right? It's almost noon; shall we go in for a bowl?"

As they reach the inner‑district edge street, Hui points at a storefront and suddenly says,

"Then let's go, just eat something casual."

Shisui agrees, and the two stride straight into the shop.

"Madam owner, is there still soup? Two bowls, please."

"Yes, please have a seat, both of you." It's been so long that the woman doesn't recognize Hui, and Shisui, wearing a mask, is even harder to identify.

Shisui sips his soup while observing the passing villagers.

A year after the war, the Village is rapidly regaining vitality; villagers and foreign merchants stream in and out, presenting a flourishing scene.

"It's hot, and after eating it feels much better," Hui exhales, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Life in the camp is indeed far poorer compared to the Village."

Although they have military ration pills to prevent starvation, the pills taste mediocre and can't be relied on continuously; the ninja army still needs regular food to sustain the body, yet conditions are often limited, making hot soup and rice hard to come by each meal.

"Let's go, and check out other places."

Seeing Shisui finish his meal, Hui immediately stands up to pay.

"Both of you, that's a total of 140 taels."

Shisui silently notes the price, and the two head toward the outskirts.

The outskirts of Konoha now host many more traveling merchants, and a surge of newly built houses has sprung up, making the previously remote southwestern area much livelier.

Some of these people are affected by the new ninja academy selection policy, hoping to stay here for three years to facilitate a generational shift within their families.

Another portion is influenced by tax‑reduction policies, planning long‑term development here.

Commercial tax makes up a small fraction of Konoha's revenue, and Shisui has long understood its intricacies, so he simply reduces it repeatedly, thinking it can be adjusted later after he deals with the ninja clan.

"Why are they all crowded over there?"

Pedestrians on the road seem to have been cut off, suddenly thinning out; the two look against the flow and see several carriages parked ahead, blocking the road.

Pa~ at that moment, a long whip cracks, and the sudden whoosh makes the passing townsfolk pause and stare.

Shisui and Hui also halt, turning toward a four‑horse carriage on Konoha's east side.

A lavishly dressed young man snatches the whip from the coachman's hand and then violently strikes a traveling merchant.

The merchant, though robust, dares not resist the young man and can only clutch his head and lie on the ground for protection.

The guards flanking the robust merchant attempt to intervene, but the young man's own guards instantly pin them to the ground.

"Ninja."

Hui frowned, and at a glance saw the condition of the two guards.

Shisui wore a mask that hid his expression, merely waved his hand, and the concealed guard ninja understood, immediately heading toward the Police Department.

"Damn lowborn, still dares to talk back!"

The youth beat and cursed at the same time, his expression snarling, and the onlookers immediately began to gossip.

"What happened here, why is this youth so angry?"

"Even if he's angry, this can't continue; lives are at stake!" "Shh, lower your voice; that man is obviously a noble lord, don't let him hear us."

The chatter was very noisy, but Shisui and the other still learned the general situation.

There was no doubt the youth was a noble, because recently many itinerant merchants had moved to Leaf Village, making the roads somewhat crowded, and carriages had to queue to enter and exit.

The noble youth seemed impatient, so he cut in line directly; the robust merchant complained twice about the youth's behavior, and was beaten up to this point.

The matter was already clear, with no twists or hidden facts, so there was nothing more to say.

The Police Department arrived in time; Shisui signaled with his eyes, and before the youth could identify himself, he was knocked unconscious and carried away.

"Police Department, stand down, put down your weapons immediately!"

The youth's guard consisted of two ninja and six samurai.

The two ninja, seeing the Police Department appear, instinctively stepped back, while the six samurai, seeing the Police Department knock their young master unconscious, instinctively drew swords, ready to act.

"Stop, put down your weapons!"

Sensing the spreading killing aura, the two ninja broke out in cold sweat on their foreheads, their breathing becoming rapid, and they hurriedly scolded the six.

Only then did the six feel fear and drop their weapons.

"Hmph, take them away!"

Including the robust merchant, all ten were taken away by the Police Department, and the blocked carriages were quickly cleared, restoring the road to normal.

Shisui, following the traffic, only then noticed that behind the four‑horse carriage were many more carriages of the same specification.

"Let's go back first."

Shisui realized something was wrong, hurried back to the Hokage Building and summoned Nara Suzaku.

"Are many nobles recently arriving at Leaf Village?"

Nara Suzaku was startled, then immediately brought over a stack of documents and said, "Many. Apart from Kyoto and the West River Route, nobles from every region have come to Leaf Village for refuge."

"Refuge?"

"Exactly. Right now, mountain bandits are raging everywhere. In some places, the great nobles are still fine; they fund and mobilize the lesser nobles to either clear or drive away the bandits."

"But in some rural areas, the local nobles are weak; even gathering guards cannot defeat the bandits, so they can only send people to commission tasks. However, we have always been…"

After Nara Suzaku's reminder, Shisui finally recalled the reason.

"But only a hundred chūnin, and the impact is this huge."

"Hokage, although a hundred chūnin aren't many, they target rural landlords. These local powers are modest, easy to deal with before moving to the next target, but their network is huge; if one family has trouble, nobles in surrounding towns learn quickly."

News spreads quickly, and the encirclement comes swiftly; our people can only retreat elsewhere to seek new targets. Thus, within a few months, reports of mountain bandits have emerged across the country.

Some nobles, upon hearing the news, voluntarily gathered ninja and samurai to encircle the bandits. However, the first batch of ninja we sent also acted covertly; after their encirclement failed and fearing retaliation, they sent part of their offspring to Leaf Village and part to Kyoto, mainly to preserve the family line.

Shisui, hearing this, glanced at the documents Nara Suzaku had organized, then asked, "What about the daimyo? Still no response?"

"No. I gathered some information: those nobles, seeing we delayed taking on the clearing missions, reported to the daimyo, but the daimyo has not responded yet."

"A blade that doesn't cut you doesn't hurt. However, the great nobles of each region are reacting fiercely."

Months passed, and the great nobles across the regions began to sense something amiss; reports of mountain bandits came too frequently, and the suppression was endless—no matter how many they killed, the bandits always resurfaced.

The most important thing is these people are too bold, daring to attack nobles; no matter what, they cannot be let off.

With them leading, the pressure on the ninja Shisui sent kept increasing.

"Reduce the pressure in each region and concentrate it on the capital region."

Nara Suzaku understood Shisui's meaning, immediately took on all the pending clearing missions, and promptly assigned teams to carry them out.

In a flash, half a month passed, and the once eager, death‑defying great nobles of each region suddenly discovered that Leaf Village had cleared the mountain bandits everywhere with lightning speed, and the cleanup was especially thorough.

"At last this money wasn't spent in vain!"

The mountain bandits were completely eradicated, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In secret, two batches of ninja, under cover, were converging toward the capital region.

To avoid drawing attention, Shisui followed Yan Shifan's suggestion and spread a rumor domestically.

"To aid the anti‑bandit efforts across the regions, Leaf Village deployed too many ninja, creating gaps in border defense; some enemy nation ninja slipped into the Fire Nation via border trade."

Shisui sent this rumor to Kyoto and asked the daimyo to order a cut off of border trade, especially toward the Rain Country and the Hot Country.

However, it was quickly rejected by some nobles and the daimyo.

Shisui was not surprised; seizing the opportunity, he again dispatched some ninja to infiltrate the various regions.

Time flew to the end of October; in Shisui's home, three people sat quietly in the study.

Yan Shifan said, "Border trade is a powerful tool to break free from the daimyo's economic control; we must keep it in our hands no matter what."

"It remains to see how the daimyo handles this issue, and whether the nobles are united with him."

"With grandpa and teacher here, I have no worries!"

Shisui sighed, then adjusted his expression and said earnestly, "With grandpa and teacher's help, everything is doable, so I don't intend to use this year's points to summon a strategist. Moreover, I already promised grandpa that these points will be used to help him strengthen himself, so I ask teacher for forgiveness."

Feeling the panel data shift, Shisui didn't hesitate and immediately explained the reason.

He would not let Sima Yi speak about this, lest it affect their relationship.

Yan Shifan had long known it would be like this; although still sour, it was not unacceptable.

"I'm not at that point yet, rest assured."

Shisui relaxed, but Sima Yi chuckled lightly and said to Shisui, "I have already discussed this with East Tower; your words make East Tower look narrow‑minded. A disciple who does not know the master should be punished, shouldn't he?"

Shisui's face flushed slightly as he quickly bowed and apologized, "It is the student's ignorance; I hope the teacher will punish me!"

"Alright, set the punishment aside for now; the points should have arrived, so let's enhance directly. Let me see what it'll be like."

Shisui's attitude still pleased Yan Shifan, who waved his hand and didn't bother to argue.

Shisui nodded and immediately summoned the panel.

Points: 1; Advisor: Sima Yi (enhancement count: 0), Yan Shifan (enhancement count: 0)

Shisui's mind shifted, and the points reset to zero again.

In an instant, a strange light burst outward from Sima Yi's body.

The light flared, impossible to stare at.

Shisui and Yan Shifan only felt a flash of white light, then lost their sight; when it returned, they saw black and white clusters of light swirling from below upward around Sima Yi, and after a moment they merged into his body and vanished.

"How does it feel?" (End of chapter)