RADG: Chapter 261/262

Chapter 261: One Is More Ruthless Than the Other

As a defeated nation or even an annexed village, everything within these villages should belong to Konoha.

But after all, they had existed for so many years, so it was normal that they still had some hidden foundations.

If they voluntarily handed them over, Yami could slightly reduce the punishment as a reward for their honesty.

However, Sunagakure was a model of returning to the right path after straying. Later, they had even helped Yami destroy the headquarters of the Allied Shinobi Forces, so Yami's punishment actually had little effect on them.

Even so, Gaara still stood up first.

This was not him trying to please Yami and Konoha. He was simply showing his attitude that in the future, there would no longer be a distinction between Suna shinobi and Konoha shinobi, but that they would be fully integrated.

"Chiyo's Living Corpse Reincarnation Technique, the secret manual for making human puppets, as well as all poison formulas and the locations of Sunagakure's gold mines."

Mei and Kitsuchi looked at Gaara as if they had seen a ghost.

Puppets and poison were Suna's absolute advantages, the foundation that allowed them to be one of the Five Great Nations. If he handed them all over at once… what would be left?!

This was gouging their own flesh.

Kitsuchi panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down.

He had met with Kurotsuchi yesterday and they had discussed this extensively. Kurotsuchi gave her father a thorough analysis of Yami's personality, so he was well-prepared.

But now, looking at the situation, it still wasn't enough. He could only continue to raise the stakes.

"Iwagakure… no, the Earth Country Branch of Konoha, is willing to hand over all special minerals, as well as our most core nutritional formula that can effectively increase the activity and quantity of ninja chakra."

This was truly the foundation of Iwagakure, even more ruthless than Sunagakure's offering.

Why were there so many shinobi in the Land of Earth?

It was because they had a special food formula that could make weak chakra users become genin, and genin become chunin.

Although chunin could not directly advance further, they still benefited from it.

Most importantly, the cost was low. Otherwise, it would not have spread so quickly.

Crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Mei opened her alluring red lips in shock. These two villages were more ruthless than each other, and their actions were simply pushing her into a dead end.

What about Kumo?

Oh right, they were forgotten.

As Kitsuchi sat down, everyone's eyes turned to Mei.

"I…"

Mei took a deep breath, biting her red lips so hard that blood appeared. But because she was so beautiful, it was nearly impossible to notice.

Kirigakure will hand over all research and training methods related to bloodline limits, including the secrets of the Hozuki clan and other families. We will also give up our shares in major ports around the world, as well as our entire fleet.

Yami frowned unconsciously.

As the only major naval power, aside from their shinobi, Kirigakure's caravans were extremely powerful and had earned enormous wealth for the village.

But was Konoha short of money?

As for bloodline limit research, he alone surpassed the entire shinobi world. Mei's offer was not enough to impress him.

Seeing Yami's expression, Mei's heart trembled. She then threw all hesitation aside, closed her eyes, and shouted, "I am willing to marry into the Shimura family. Kirigakure will be my dowry, you may take whatever you wish."

Suddenly, everyone's expressions turned strange. Old father-in-laws like Kitsuchi and Hyūga Hiashi were even a little displeased.

This woman, why does she want to eat and take at the same time?

"Ahem, I have seen your sincerity."

Yami awkwardly put his fist to his mouth and pretended to cough twice. "I am also satisfied with your compensation."

When he said this, he secretly gave Mei a glance, then spoke seriously. "But to completely calm Konoha's anger, an appropriate punishment is still required."

Fortunately, he had not been slacking these days. He had already thought through these matters and had a plan in mind.

Sunagakure was simple. They were already good citizens. All they needed to do was dissolve their previous organizations, and all chunin-level combat power had to move into Konoha.

All prisoners from Iwagakure would become miners. Once they had mined 10,000 tons of high-quality ore, all grudges would be written off.

This demand was not high. Given the number and physical fitness of Iwa shinobi, it could be completed within a year as long as they did not slack off.

The original order had been 20,000 tons, but considering Kurotsuchi's desperate pleading, Yami had secretly cut it in half.

Alas… beauty can ruin a country.

Kirigakure would be sent to the Land of Wind to cooperate with Senju Hashirama and Yamato in a greening project. Half of the desert had to be turned into forest suitable for human habitation.

Mei's face paled when she heard this demand.

The project was massive, involving hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. If it were fully completed, countless shinobi would be worked to exhaustion, and their lifespans might even be shortened.

But she had no choice. She could only accept it.

As for Kumogakure, they would be assigned to plantations to grow cotton and watermelon, with no time limit.

This was not Yami's discrimination. It was simply because most of Kumo's shinobi were militant, preferring death over surrender.

The only option was to squeeze every last drop of value from them until they perished.

After announcing the general results of the settlement, Yami handed the remaining details to Shikaku and the others, then began the second agenda item.

"How to deal with the remaining daimyo and old nobles… You still have to ask me such a simple question?"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 262: Related? Then Open a Separate Family Tree!

Classes cannot be eliminated. Only the vested interests of the existing class can be eliminated and then replaced by a new group of people.

Judging from the social structure of the previous ninja world, although shinobi possessed powerful military force, their status was not actually high. They were just a group of high-level mercenaries.

Not to mention the daimyo, even many nobles were arrogant when facing shinobi.

Of course, old-line high-ranking clans like the Hyūga clan and the Nara clan were actually part of the nobility themselves. Tsunade could even be given the title of Tsunade-hime, which did not mean she was the princess of Konoha, but the princess of the Land of Fire.

The nobles discussed at this meeting were the landlords and small warlords.

After killing so many people along the way, Yami was not going to be merciful at this point. To avoid complications, he just wanted these people dead.

If they were all killed, some innocents might be implicated. But if every other one was spared, there would definitely be many who slipped through the net.

Hearing his words, Hyūga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, and the others broke into a cold sweat, and even Danzō felt numb.

He had thought himself radical enough, but compared to this grandson, he was still far too conservative.

"That… Fifth Hokage."

When Yami had dealt with the major countries earlier, Hashirama had sympathized, but he had not spoken up. It was punishment for defeat, and as long as there was no large-scale slaughter, he could accept it.

But now he could not stay silent. "Fifth Hokage, your mother is the daughter of the Senju branch family in the capital. The entire Senju clan is tied to the upper class there.

"Isn't it too heartless to act this way?"

"Heartless? Hashirama, I think he is absolutely right. Those pieces of trash in high positions should have been swept into the dustbin of history long ago."

Madara, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up for Yami. Though his missing eyes hid it, admiration flickered in them.

If Yami and he had been born in the same era, they would have either been close friends with shared ideals or mortal enemies.

What a pity. What a pity.

"I think what the First Hokage said makes sense."

Amid everyone's astonished gazes, Yami nodded and actually agreed with Hashirama.

But they immediately understood why in the next moment.

Yami turned to Tsunade and asked, "I remember the Senju family tree is with you. Move my mother's branch out and open a separate page so they're no longer relatives."

Pfft!

Tsunade couldn't help but laugh, but quickly suppressed it and nodded.

She had no fondness for nobles who exploited commoners, even if they were her relatives. However, to avoid harming innocent people, Tsunade suggested conducting investigations first and keeping the rare good ones.

After all, there were still many elites among the nobility who excelled in government affairs and business.

Of course, Yami would give Tsunade face and agreed to her proposal. He then passed the responsibility to his father-in-law, Yamanaka Inoichi, ordering him to directly use his clan's mental techniques to investigate.

Haiichi agreed bitterly.

There were five great countries and dozens of smaller ones. The total number of nobles across them was not small at all.

The meeting lasted an entire day, with decisions requiring Yami's approval being passed one after another.

Each decision represented a massive investment of manpower and resources, making someone as lazy as Kakashi turn pale.

He felt it might have been better to die during the Fourth Shinobi World War. Now he would be worked to death as a slave anyway.

Many of these projects concerned the development direction of the shinobi world in the coming years and could not be completed overnight.

"Shisui."

After all the topics were finished, Yami suddenly called out a name.

Uchiha Shisui, who had remained silent the entire meeting like a transparent person, looked up blankly, not knowing why Yami had called him.

Yami pointed at him and said to everyone, "Starting tomorrow, Izumi will hand her work over to Shisui. If you have questions in the future, go to him."

Everyone stared at Yami in shock, and Shisui immediately stood up.

"Yami-sama, I…"

"Don't refuse, don't be modest." Yami waved his hand to cut him off. "Don't you want to contribute to the village? You're the successor of the Will of Fire. You cannot refuse to burn yourself for the village."

Tobirama's eyelids twitched violently. Yami had learned all of Hiruzen's tricks and mastered them even better.

Sarutobi Hiruzen only gave empty promises without real benefit. But Yami gave both empty promises and chicken soup, and you had to swallow it even if you didn't want to.

Everyone understood what those words meant, especially in this high-level meeting.

This was Yami grooming Shisui as the next Hokage.

Never mind that the Uchiha clan was finally about to see one of their own become Hokage. Yami himself was still so young…

He could hold the position for another thirty or forty years. Why was he already choosing a successor right after unifying the world?

"Yami-sama."

Shisui smiled bitterly. "I have no complaints about serving Konoha, but… I don't need such a position. Just let me be Lady Izumi's subordinate."

"What nonsense are you saying?" Yami looked at him with disdain and slammed the table heavily.

"I've already laid the foundation, and you still want to drag my whole family to work for the village? Do you think we're donkeys?

"I've worked hard for so many years, it's time for me to enjoy life.

"This is an order, not a discussion. Meeting adjourned!"

(To be continued.)