"Lord Makoto, Lady Tsubaki has arrived."
At the announcement, Uchiha Makoto looked up and immediately saw Uzumaki Tsubaki carrying a lunch box. Ever since their engagement, his daily meals had been entirely taken over by her.
Makoto actually had a dedicated team of personal chefs—there was no need for her to do this herself. But as she put it
"A wife preparing her husband's meals is a duty decreed by the Sage of Six Paths."
Once she said that, there was nothing more to argue.
Thus, the chef team that once served Makoto alone was reassigned to the Amegakure staff cafeteria. Every day, ANBU operatives delivered baskets of ingredients—thoroughly inspected for safety—to Tsubaki, who would then prepare fragrant, well-presented meals and personally deliver them to Makoto's office.
Because of his workload, Makoto rarely had the chance to eat at home.
"Tsubaki, you've worked hard," Makoto said warmly.
"The Light Shadow is such a busy man," she replied, half-complaining, half-teasing.
"If I didn't bring you meals, I'd hardly ever get to see you."
They were growing more familiar by the day. Tsubaki could now joke with him in a tone that mixed mild reproach with affection.
Though spoken lightly, it was also true.
The more funding poured in, the more affairs the village had to handle.
And the more affairs there were, the longer Makoto stayed in his office.
A perfect closed loop.
Of course, this was a happy problem.
If Senju Tobirama had access to this level of funding, he would probably be working two full-time jobs—one nonstop in the laboratory, the other nonstop at the desk.
After all, he was single.
Makoto did have some free time in the evenings, but Tsubaki was still only his fiancée. She couldn't move directly into his villa yet.
If she did
Well, the place would probably turn into a battlefield of artillery fire.
A prospect Makoto found… rather appealing.
The two chatted casually over lunch, using the time to deepen their bond.
"Oh? Having a meal together, are we?"
An uninvited guest suddenly appeared.
Uzumaki Shinji greeted them cheerfully, but inwardly he sighed. Young people today were far too slow. They were practically husband and wife already—why weren't they living together? Why not just get things done and have a child already?
Only then could he truly relax.
This old man is definitely thinking something inappropriate, Makoto thought with a single glance at Shinji's expression.
Still, he didn't bother to dwell on it.
What mattered far more was the progress of Amegakure's sealing barrier project.
Shinji had devoted most of his energy to it these past few days.
"Don't worry," Shinji said.
"Konoha's barrier was jointly designed by the Uzumaki clan and the Senju. The techniques are similar. The real issue is materials—covering an entire village costs a staggering amount."
"That's fine," Makoto replied without hesitation.
"There's no upper limit on funding. Make it big. Make it good. Anything that can be solved with money isn't really a problem."
The sheer extravagance of his tone stunned Shinji.
Just how much money does Amegakure actually have to burn?
The longer Shinji stayed in Amegakure, the more confidence he gained in its future.
Merchants came and went in endless streams. Construction expanded daily. Building crews were booked solid, and Earth Release specialists had practically abandoned C-rank and B-rank missions altogether—
Instead, they threw themselves enthusiastically into D-rank construction work.
Even Konoha didn't look this exaggerated.
No—
On this front, Konoha couldn't compare at all.
Behind everything was money being burned nonstop: promotion, investment attraction, industrial expansion. All of it cost enormous sums.
Konoha, by contrast, concentrated most of its funding on military power. Its commerce was largely spontaneous civilian activity—disorganized, fragile, and easily paralyzed during wartime.
Those merchants would absolutely jack up prices the moment trouble appeared.
Makoto, meanwhile, was pushing hard to establish factories, seizing the first wave of industrialization and ultimately building an economic core centered on Amegakure within the Land of Fire.
Lunch soon ended.
That afternoon, Makoto brought Tsubaki and Shinji to the Ninja Academy—not for inspection, but to watch a performance.
News of the Light Shadow's impending marriage had already spread throughout Amegakure.
To celebrate, the students had rehearsed a series of performances and invited Makoto to attend.
He didn't refuse.
The moment Makoto entered the grand hall, the children leapt to their feet, cheering wildly, arms raised high.
Music burst forth.
The students waved and shouted, some even tearing up with emotion.
The thunderous cheers shook Shinji to his core.
He suppressed his emotions and carefully observed the students' expressions—
Fervor.
Devotion.
Faces flushed with excitement.
He had never witnessed such a scene in his entire life.
The academy already had three thousand students—and this was only the first cohort. There would be second, third, fourth classes after them.
If these children were this loyal now…
Then in a few years—ten years
Just how terrifying would Amegakure's strength become?
Senju Hashirama was indeed overwhelmingly powerful.
But Shinji knew that such a monster was a rare anomaly—one that might appear only once in centuries.
A strange, almost absurd thought suddenly crossed his mind:
Perhaps one day… Konoha would have to rely on Amegakure.
"Begin," Makoto said softly.
A smile tugged at his lips, and he even hummed along faintly.
The performances began.
"The Light Shadow is our sun—"
A group of young "veteran actors" poured their hearts into the performance, shouting themselves hoarse.
Makoto was impressed.
Even Tsubaki, at his side, was visibly shaken.
She had tried her best to imagine Makoto's prestige and influence within Amegakure—
But she had still underestimated it.
Makoto himself found the performances somewhat dull—endless praise and adoration—but deep down, he was genuinely pleased.
His efforts hadn't been wasted.
His money hadn't been spent in vain.
The goodwill he had earned hadn't been for nothing.
The people's hearts were ready to be used.
At this moment
He truly was the one chosen by all.
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