In terms of politics, Witch Mire is in charge, with important powers such as appointing and removing officials, including diplomacy, policy implementation, personnel shifts, all requiring her approval.
Finally, the military is currently headed by the newly appointed Minister of Military Affairs, Hakushi, responsible for warfare. However, since the Land of Demons is a Neutral Country, the so-called military operations only involve clearing nearby bandits and protecting internal stability, with no need for external expansion for now.
The reorganized army of the Land of Demons currently consists of over sixteen hundred ninjas, with five hundred scattered across various countries of the Ninja Realm, engaged in intelligence gathering, debt collection, guarding, bounty hunting, and other occupations.
Additionally, the army includes over sixty thousand ordinary people, originally the country's troops.
They're trained ordinary individuals, relatively strong among ordinary people, but significantly outclassed compared to ninjas.
"Let's set that aside for now, the most important thing is to reorganize the army and adjust the positions."
Road construction just requires specialized personnel to handle the process step by step.
Hakushi doesn't need to worry about that aspect; the forthcoming changes in the military system are of utmost importance.
"Training those tens of thousands of soldiers to become ninjas?"
"Yes, it's a task for long-term development."
"With these soldiers as reserve forces, it seems unnecessary to recruit wanderers from across the world."
Ruri remarked.
"Hmm... not quite, increasing the population is always good. Plus, it's not possible to inject all those soldiers with Enhancing Potion at once; the production of such potion is quite low, less than five thousand doses a year. I plan to increase the number of enhanced ninjas to between twenty and thirty thousand in five years."
Although in terms of quality, they can't compare to the ninjas of the Five Great Nations, in ten years, sheer numbers can be a winning factor.
Moreover, the benefit of Enhancing Potion is that it works as a one-time permanent effect. Enhanced individuals, who don't understand the method of cultivating Natural Energy, experience a comprehensive physical enhancement, making it impossible to discern the potion's ingredients.
Considering those members like the Insect Man who understand how to utilize Natural Energy in combat, they are ultimately the minority elite and key figures.
Yet, even so, enhanced ordinary individuals can fight against ninjas of average Genin level.
Relying on sheer numbers and equipped weaponry, defeating Chunin is not an issue, as for Jonin, that depends more on luck.
"Ah, by the way, how is your recent training going? Any new developments?"
Hakushi casually switched topics.
Hakushi isn't worried about the training of mid- to lower-tier combatants, because producing enough Enhancing Potion means conservatively, over ten thousand 'Rapidly Trained Ninjas' can be created in five years.
However, high-end combat power requires a significant investment of time, effort, and top-notch educational resources to develop.
"No major breakthroughs for now."
"So you mean, nothing new regarding the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Hakushi probed.
Recently, he has secretly been researching the pair of Mangekyo Sharingan given to him by Miyako behind Ruri's back, discovering many secrets.
"No."
Ruri's expression became complex.
In truth, she knows the method to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, but she refuses to do so.
This is precisely why she clashed with Elder Uchiha Shikora and led some of her clan to develop in the Land of Demons.
"Actually, I have some ideas."
Hakushi coughed and spoke.
"What ideas?"
"The evolution of the Sharingan should be related to the Yin Style, essentially a more mental-oriented power, leaning towards emotions."
"That's correct."
"Stimulating the evolution through emotions is a relatively orthodox approach. But with emotions being varied, using hatred and pain for evolution can greatly impact a person's personality. Will it be better to substitute with other emotions?"
Hakushi suggested.
"Other emotions?"
"For example, when I get intimate with Ayane, you—"
Bang!
Something exploded.
It was Hakushi's desk.
"Sorry, I slipped. What did you say earlier? I didn't catch it, could you repeat?"
Ruri's gaze suddenly became frightening, her eyes darkened, void of emotion.
"What I was saying is, for instance... ahem, anyways, anger is also one of them. But what I'm suggesting isn't that kind of emotion."
"What kind of emotion then?"
"Calmness."
After thoughtful consideration, Hakushi uttered the two words.
"Calmness?"
Ruri contemplated thoughtfully.
"It's like having a heart as serene as Shisui's. Similar to Natural Energy practices, the calmer one's heart is, the easier it is to sense Natural Energy. Calmness is also a type of emotion. You have some insights into this, trying to develop in this direction might be feasible."
Ruri nodded slightly, her Sharingan already deviates somewhat from the conventional Uchiha Sharingan. Since she currently has no ideas, she might as well practice using Hakushi's method.
Emotional calmness.
A heart as serene as Shisui's.
Seeing Ruri leave, Hakushi quietly breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the shattered desk, a helpless expression appeared as he instructed the staff to bring a new one.
◎
A few days later, it was early July.
The weather had become scorching, in the center of the training ground, Ruri wore a tight black ninja suit, sitting cross-legged under the blazing sun, practicing the so-called 'heart as serene as Shisui's,' not wavering in the least because of the heat.