Chapter 178: The Factional Polarization of the Ninja Villages

Onoki was truly afraid.

Moreover, his fear of Konohagakure had long since shifted from the endless stream of geniuses emerging there to that specific drive of "all things competing and thriving with vitality."

This drive made him feel as if he were seeing Konohagakure from fifty years ago.

At that time, Konohagakure was under the reign of the First Hokage, who smiled at the entire Ninja World, while Madara Uchiha traveled abroad, breathing down the necks of the four great ninja villages.

No matter what idea the First Hokage came up with on a whim, as long as he convinced Madara Uchiha, the entire Ninja World had to bow its head.

Yes, I am talking about Senju Hashirama distributing the Tailed Beasts!

You don't think getting Tailed Beasts for free is a good thing, do you?

No!

For a ninja village, Tailed Beasts were never a good thing from the very beginning!

Never!

In the hands of Senju Hashirama and Madara Uchiha, those Tailed Beasts were just kittens to be petted or beaten at will, but in the hands of the other four ninja villages, they were absolute disasters!

Including Sunagakure, which captured the One-Tail Shukaku itself—which ninja village hasn't had over a dozen or twenty Jonin die during experiments while trying to seal a Tailed Beast?

And which ninja village hasn't had hundreds or thousands of ninja and thousands of villagers die due to a Tailed Beast breaking loose after a failed sealing?

Even for Konohagakure, after the First Hokage passed away, didn't a single Nine-Tails breakout leave the whole village in mourning, with every household holding funerals?

But the first-generation leaders of the four great nations at that time had a consensus: Madara Uchiha was terrifying, and Senju Hashirama was even more frightening, but neither was as threatening as the vibrant Konohagakure they protected.

Konohagakure was built very crudely back then, but it possessed a drive that kept everyone's hearts together, twisting everyone into a single rope, as if they were a single giant living organism.

If that drive continued, one day it could raise that giant living organism into a monster that would devour the Ninja World.

Fortunately, Madara Uchiha and Senju Hashirama had a falling out, and the two engaged in a duel that resulted in one death and one injury.

Even more fortunately, Senju Tobirama, who could maintain that drive, was tricked to death by Kumogakure; this was the only time Onoki felt Kumogakure had done a good deed.

When the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, took office, that drive in Konohagakure disappeared; in the following decade, even the trend of upward momentum collapsed, and it went downhill for another ten years after that.

The genius ninja who emerged in Konohagakure, including Minato Namikaze, whom Onoki dared not face, all died inexplicably within Konohagakure.

But after Orochimaru overthrew Sarutobi Hiruzen through civil war and took power forcefully, Konohagakure recovered as if it had hit rock bottom and rebounded.

Today, after the baptism of the second civil war, it has erupted with that very drive that makes Onoki shudder.

The Third Tsuchikage could no longer sit still; he was determined to take action to stop Konohagakure's expansion.

Just as Onoki was racking his brains on how to carry out his plan, distressed over not knowing how to eliminate the grudge with Kumogakure, Yamanaka Chujiu did not stop his pace.

After the road network construction began to show results, livelihood projects started to be implemented.

Konoha Ninja were hired to dismantle the fortresses of samurai and nobles, and to build mills, canteens, granaries, schools, hospitals, and other public buildings on a large scale.

They also recruited local children, replicated the Konohagakure medical system through education, and popularized knowledge of herbs and Medical Ninjutsu.

At the same time, Yamanaka Chujiu brought out standard village models to renovate villages in three countries, building standardized housing and markets, and constructing water conservancy and irrigation systems to thoroughly solve problems like flooding and drought, ensuring stable grain production.

Meanwhile, Yamanaka Chujiu built fortresses in strategic locations, with the architectural style, markings, and functions kept completely uniform with Konohagakure, serving as symbols of the radiation of Konoha's power.

They abolished old currencies, implemented standardized weights and measures, unified the planning of trade transactions, tax payments, and material transportation, and built a unified market for the three countries.

The construction of the unified market required huge investment, especially in terms of manpower.

Not only was the Rising Sun Organization fully committed, but Konohagakure's new administrative system was fully mobilized, and even the well-trained Konoha Ninja Army was drawn upon on a large scale and invested in various aspects of construction.

But huge investments poured into the right direction naturally brought huge returns.

Konohagakure's tax revenue began to grow, and after the initial construction was completed, it saw an abnormal surge.

The total tax collected that month reached ten billion ryo!

Not to mention that Konohagakure had never seen so much money, even the Fire Daimyo had never witnessed it.

The total tax revenue of the Fire Country for the entire past year was indeed more than this amount, several times over, in fact.

The problem was that the Fire Country's taxes were collected by nobles on behalf of the state, the nobles then subcontracted them to tax officials, and the tax officials hired armed tax soldiers to ensure the safety of the collection.

From the tax soldiers to the tax officials, and then to the nobles, everyone had to withhold a portion of the tax as expenses for their own survival or even enjoyment.

Half of the Fire Country's tax revenue was not even seen by the Daimyo, and what could be allocated to Konohagakure was even less.

The annual allocation of 5 billion ryo was simply not enough for Konohagakure to use.

Therefore, Konoha Ninja had to perform a large number of missions, and half of the bonuses earned had to be given to the village to maintain its normal operation.

Now, Konohagakure could collect 10 billion ryo in a single month, and no longer needed to covet the mission bonuses of the ninja.

The result was that the income of mission-performing ninja nearly doubled, morale soared instantly, service attitudes improved, and the reputation of Konoha Ninja became increasingly prominent, severely squeezing the income of ninja from other villages.

Even in Kirigakure, which was under the control of Konohagakure, because the economic model had not yet changed, they were squeezed until they could barely breathe.

The most miserable one, Sunagakure, had even reached the point where its financial resources were exhausted, and the entire village relied on the Fourth Kazekage panning for gold for relief.

They were truly just one breath away from dying!

The essence of war is the continuation of politics; it is the most intense way to resolve political issues.

And all political problems, in the final analysis, are economic problems.

Konohagakure's massive economic expansion severely squeezed the four great ninja villages, rapidly transforming into political trends, and the four great ninja villages were forced to choose between war and surrender.

The Fourth Raikage, who had previously ignored Onoki completely, had his attitude change 180 degrees, taking the initiative to strengthen the process of reconciliation with Iwagakure.

The Fourth Kazekage even squeezed out time between panning for gold to run personally to the Land of Bears, meet secretly with Onoki, and discuss the feasibility of besieging Konohagakure.

And Kirigakure decided to head in another direction.

The Living Puppet Genji, after repeated persuasion, finally convinced the Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei, to accept Konohagakure's economic integration system and fully integrate into the unified market centered on the Fire Country.

The Demon Zabuza vehemently opposed this, even threatening to overthrow the Fifth Mizukage's rule and change Kirigakure's weak diplomacy.

Yamanaka Chujiu understood everything clearly through the puppet Genji.

He quite casually ordered the General Staff to plan an exercise between Konohagakure and Kirigakure, located on the East Sea, with the subject of the exercise being crossing the sea to attack an island.

After three days of exercises, Zabuza's attitude changed.

He said: "The Fifth Mizukage's decision is very wise."