"That's only natural—because there are fewer and fewer evil people in the Land of Water now!"
Hearing Mei Terumi's question, Kitsujiro gave her a look like she was being stupid, while Mei and Biwa Jūzō both fell into thoughtful silence.
"For merchants, most places in the shinobi world are extremely unsafe.
If a caravan wants to move goods from one place to another, it doesn't just need to hire ninja—it also has to pay a huge sum to the local nobles to make sure business goes smoothly.
Lord Chizumi purged the evildoers within the Land of Water, which means those merchants no longer need to hire ninja. That alone saves them a huge expense.
And now the nobles of the Land of Water don't dare go too far either, which saves them another huge expense.
If they can save that much money, of course merchants will keep flooding into the Land of Water."
Kitsujiro didn't drag it out. He directly explained why trade in the Land of Water was becoming more prosperous.
"But the number of missions entrusted to Kirigakure's ninja hasn't gone down…"
Before Mei could finish, she realized it herself.
"That's it. Because Lord Chizumi swept through the Land of Water, people crave justice even more now. And the cities of the Land of Water know that the ninja Kirigakure has left aren't evildoers, so their trust in Kirigakure has gone up!"
"Not only have the number of missions leaving the Land of Water not decreased, they've actually increased. Some commissions are even being issued directly by the cities themselves."
As Mei looked at Uchiha Chizumi, her eyes began to fill with awe.
If all of this had truly been within Chizumi's calculations, then that meant he didn't just possess overwhelming power—he also had extraordinary vision.
"There's no need for Kirigakure's ninja to separate themselves from the nation as a whole.
Kirigakure's Ninja Academy can recruit students from across the entire Land of Water. During their time in school, they should be taught to understand and internalize Absolute Justice. And when they graduate, their sense of justice should be a major part of the selection process.
Recruiting from the whole Land of Water ensures the country preserves enough fresh strength. Testing for justice ensures those students develop sound values and understand what is right and what is wrong."
Uchiha Chizumi spoke slowly. If he wanted Absolute Justice to truly take root, killing alone was nowhere near enough. What came afterward mattered just as much.
"Once the academy students graduate, they can be sent into all kinds of professions. At the same time, those with especially strong convictions in justice can be selected and brought into the Police Force.
In the future, the Land of Water's Police Force will maintain justice in every city while also serving as the country's own reserve of strength."
Chizumi continued speaking. He had never intended to unify the Five Great Nations, even though it wouldn't actually be difficult for him.
Power itself meant nothing to Uchiha Chizumi. All he wanted was to carry out his Absolute Justice.
"To weave justice directly into the Ninja Academy…"
Hearing his words, Mei sank into thought again.
If someone else had said this to her, she probably wouldn't have listened. But the Land of Water—and Kirigakure itself—had already been defeated by Uchiha Chizumi. At this point, the Land of Water had no bargaining power at all.
Forget simply weaving his ideals into the Land of Water—even if Chizumi wanted something far more excessive, the Land of Water and Kirigakure could only accept it.
…
And just as Uchiha Chizumi and Mei were discussing the future of the Land of Water, trouble broke out again in Konoha.
"Why?"
"Why are the Uchiha the only ones not allowed to leave Konoha?"
"We're Konoha ninja too, aren't we? Why can every other ninja leave the village, but Uchiha ninja alone are forbidden from leaving?!"
Below the Hokage building, members of the Uchiha clan shouted angrily under the lead of several elite jōnin.
And with their hereditary Sharingan all open at once, the sea of red eyes made the scene look so intense that anyone who didn't know better might think the Uchiha were launching another coup.
"Sasuke, your clan really isn't being allowed to leave the village?"
Not far from the Hokage building, Naruto Uzumaki stood beside Uchiha Sasuke. The two of them were helping maintain order, worried that curious villagers might get hurt in the chaos.
"Yeah, that's what's happening. Lord Chizumi wants to establish a Police Force in the Land of Water and select some people from the clan."
"But the Hokage doesn't seem to agree with Lord Chizumi's plan."
As a member of the Uchiha, Sasuke naturally knew the root of this latest uproar.
After Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Fugaku died one after another, neither Uchiha Mikoto nor Sasuke had been implicated. In fact, in the eyes of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke had begun putting Absolute Justice into practice even earlier than most of them.
"A Police Force in the Land of Water?"
"Has Lord Chizumi already spread Absolute Justice there?"
"I really want to go see it—to see what the Land of Water looks like under Absolute Justice."
Hearing Sasuke's explanation, Naruto's eyes filled with longing. He had never even seen the ocean before. The Land of Water was out on the sea—people there must get to see it every day.
"You'll get the chance."
"Once we graduate from the academy, maybe we'll be able to join the Police Force in the Land of Water."
"Even if the Third Hokage doesn't agree with Lord Chizumi's proposal, once Lady Tsunade takes over, she'll definitely support him."
Sasuke was curious too—curious what a place fully governed by Absolute Justice would really look like.
"This is bad. More and more people are protesting!"
"It's not just the Uchiha who aren't allowed to leave. Every ninja who's had contact with Uchiha Chizumi is being forbidden from leaving the village!"
On the other side of the Hokage building, Kakashi spotted even more ninja heading toward the building from farther away, and his face changed instantly.
"Yamato, go get Lady Tsunade. She's the only one who can stop this now!"
Kakashi gave the order to Yamato. As for himself, he headed straight for the entrance of the Hokage building to maintain order.
"How did the reaction get this intense…"
Inside the Hokage building, both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Homura Mitokado looked awful.
They had gone through with the order forbidding Konoha's ninja from leaving the village freely—but neither of them had expected things to spiral this badly.
"This is a direct challenge to our authority!"
"The ninja who've already decided to support Tsunade can't wait to make her Hokage!"
Homura's face was grim.
She knew perfectly well that all of her authority came from Hiruzen Sarutobi. If Hiruzen stopped being Hokage, then all the power she currently held would vanish with him.