Morning.
"Mmm…"
After a long moment, their lips finally parted. Feng's cheeks were flushed, a faint pink spreading down her neck—whether from shyness or from being kissed too long and running out of breath, it was hard to say.
A good-morning kiss.
For such a tiny, harmless request from Uchiha Nan, Feng and Ling naturally agreed without hesitation.
Next is Ling.
Looking at Ling's rosy lips, Nan leaned down again—
Their lips parted once more.
"Come back early," Ling said softly.
"Mm."
Nan nodded, stepped out the door, and headed straight for the Hokage Tower to begin another day of work.
Hokage Office
"Now that the funds have arrived, the Ninja Academy needs to resume full-scale enrollment. How are this year's recruitment plans coming along?"
Uchiha Nan looked at Nara Shikato, asking about this year's academy intake.
Continuous wars had nearly wiped out an entire generation of shinobi from the major clans. Relying on clans alone was never a long-term solution.
The original purpose of the Ninja Academy was to train civilian ninja on a large scale.
In Konoha's future, civilian ninja would become the mainstream. While their average quality might not match clan shinobi, they made up for it in numbers. With a large enough base, exceptional talents would inevitably emerge—people like Orochimaru and Jiraiya, both civilians by origin.
They hadn't made names for themselves yet, but their future achievements would be extraordinary, eventually overshadowing many clan shinobi of the same generation.
By the Third Shinobi World War, there would even be monsters like Minato Namikaze.
Civilian ninja were absolutely worth investing in—heavily.
Moreover, the Hokage was traditionally the head of the Ninja Academy. Every graduate could technically call themselves the Hokage's student, though most people had enough shame not to do so.
Unless, of course, the Hokage personally took them in as disciples.
As Hokage, these academy-trained civilian ninja were naturally part of Nan's own faction.
No wonder he cared so deeply.
"Fire Shadow, in previous years the academy enrolled around eight hundred students," Shikato explained. "Due to funding shortages, that was reduced to five hundred."
"Given the rapid loss of manpower from the war, I believe we should expand enrollment. I propose increasing it to fourteen hundred."
Nan listened carefully.
Resources, supplies, allocations—none of that was a real problem. It was all solvable with money. Just throw money at it.
"But there's one major issue," Shikato continued with a helpless expression.
"The teachers."
A school's most valuable asset was its faculty.
The current teaching quality at the Ninja Academy was… hard to describe. Anyone truly capable had been thrown onto the battlefield. Those left behind were mostly old, injured, or exhausted.
At best, they had a few crippled chūnin.
A new batch of strong instructors had to be reassigned—but that was easier said than done.
Ideally, they would be drawn from the clans: reliable quality, veteran experience, real combat knowledge.
But the clans weren't exactly wealthy either. Their numbers had been depleted, and they were already urging their people to have more children. Clan-born children were naturally trained internally.
Asking them to send elite members to teach at the academy would require serious negotiation.
Especially after Nan had already skimmed a large portion of their funds for Konoha's development—asking for even more would definitely earn him some colorful curses.
"I'll have the Uchiha send a batch of ninja to the academy," Nan said calmly.
"As for the remaining vacancies…"
He paused, then continued:
"Send word to Hyūga Takuma. I'll be appointing four Hokage Assistants. One of the slots is his—he'll understand what needs to be done."
Nan planned to delegate some authority to Takuma as compensation for their alliance. There was simply too much to handle alone. He still needed time to train, and many affairs had to be managed by assistants.
Task distribution, personnel transfers, military command, budget oversight—the power involved was obvious. Takuma wouldn't refuse.
"Also inform Senju Momoma. One Hokage Assistant position will be his as well. Have him send some people from the Senju."
The Senju still needed to be used. Nan also wanted to ease tensions with Momoma.
"Notify Uchiha Fūta. One assistant slot is his—have him reorganize ANBU and completely restructure its groupings."
ANBU, as the Hokage's direct force, had to be firmly under Nan's control. Intelligence was everything; there could be no room for error.
In the past, ANBU had effectively been controlled by the Senju. Even after Tobirama's death, Uzumaki Mito could still issue orders using written commands—authority that should belong to the Hokage alone.
That situation could not be allowed to continue.
Nan had no intention of letting the Senju monitor his every move.
"As for the final Hokage Assistant…"
Nan looked directly at Shikato.
"I've decided it will be you, Nara Shikato."
Shikato, who had been recording Nan's orders, froze—completely stunned by the sudden promotion.
"Me?!"
"Fire Shadow… are you serious?"
His eyes widened. For years, the Ino–Shika–Chō clans had developed steadily but never touched Konoha's core power structure. Tobirama Senju had been a political workhorse who handled everything himself.
Nan had no intention of becoming that kind of overworked tyrant.
"I'm completely serious," Nan said with a smile.
"I have high expectations for you. I know your clan's talents well. Konoha's daily administration will require help from your three clans."
Shikato's face flushed, deeply moved by the sudden trust.
"Fire Shadow, rest assured—the Ino–Shika–Chō clans will devote themselves fully to Konoha!"
"Actions speak louder than words," Nan replied warmly.
"Prove it to me. I don't believe I've misjudged you."
"We'll assign elite clan members as academy instructors," Shikato said immediately.
"And we'll also enroll core clan heirs into the Ninja Academy."
Efficient. Perceptive.
"Then I'll be counting on you."
After a long day of work, Nan finally wrapped up all the paperwork.
As evening approached, he finished dinner outside and headed to a secret chamber within the Uchiha compound.
Only the Uchiha clan head knew of this core chamber. It stored the clan's most confidential records—including techniques like Izanagi and Izanami.
But Nan wasn't here to learn jutsu today.
Inside the chamber, two death-row prisoners lay bound tightly on the floor. Strange seals were drawn across the ground.
Nan knocked one unconscious and dragged him into a side room.
Then he turned to the remaining prisoner and formed hand seals.
"Edo Tensei."
With a loud shout, Uchiha Nan declared:
"Rise again—my Hashirama!"
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