While Fumori Masaki was striving for the alliance between the two nations in the Land of Iron, the Ninja Academy held an early exam for its graduating students. Those who passed and met the qualifications would be granted genin status. After the exam, the school leaders held a graduation ceremony in the main hall, both to congratulate them on becoming true genin and to explain their impending deployment to the secondary battlefield.
Normally, the Ninja Academy had no dress code for students, but for the graduation ceremony, every student was required to wear the school's uniform. This was said to be for the solemnity and sanctity of the ceremony. The school's uniform was designed to express the inner spirit of the name Konoha, combining traditional attire with modern fashion, making it look closer to the modern clothing of Fumori Masaki's previous life.
The person giving the speech at the graduation ceremony was Mitokado Homura. Originally, Fumori Masaki was supposed to take on this role, but since he was not in the village, Mitokado Homura had to step in. Following the prescribed steps of the graduation ceremony, Mitokado Homura meticulously carried out each one. These procedures had been established by Fumori Masaki himself, but compared to him, Mitokado Homura executed them with noticeably less enthusiasm.
Despite this, when the graduating genin sang the Ninja Academy's school anthem, "Newborn Leaf," everyone still felt a surge of emotion. This anthem was commissioned by Fumori Masaki from the highest-level music master he could find, incorporating the spiritual essence he wished to convey, and was finalized after numerous revisions. From its subsequent impact, it proved to be a great source of inspiration for these future pillars of the village.
Similarly, there was also the song "Voice of Fire," a symbol of the ninja village, based on the Will of Fire represented by Senju Hashirama, with the spiritual core added by Fumori Masaki. In the ongoing Second Great Ninja War, it became the inner pillar for those Konoha ninja fighting valiantly, preventing them from losing themselves in the conflict.
After the graduation ceremony, the young genin would be assigned to the corresponding departments based on their chosen specializations, rather than being grouped for graduation as in the original story. All of this was due to the Konoha Ninja Village's reform of traditional ninja income and the needs of its affiliated enterprises.
Currently, the Konoha Ninja Village no longer employs the traditional mission-based hiring system. Although traces of it still remain due to the unique nature of the ninja profession, it has become very close to the status of professional soldiers, rather than mere mercenaries. The salaries of Konoha ninja are no longer primarily determined by mission rank, but by their own ninja rank and the merits gained from executing missions. With Konoha Ninja Village's business operations, abundant financial income has made such a system feasible.
Originally, the reason why ninja income was determined by missions was, firstly, an old custom of the traditional ninja profession, and secondly, the ninja village's own finances were heavily dependent on the Daimyo. Although they possessed vast lands, many of these lands belonged to powerful ninja clans. To win over these clans, various economic rights were promised, preventing the Konoha Ninja Village from gaining much tax revenue from them.
As the ninja village expanded and the number of ninja increased, this level of economic burden was simply unbearable for Konoha Ninja Village. Even relying on the Daimyo's finances, after various expenses, directly providing salaries would still be a heavy burden on the village's finances.
Therefore, the Konoha Ninja Village in the original story retained the salary system primarily based on mission rank. However, the current salary system adopted by Konoha ninja better ensures their living needs to some extent. After all, the reason the original salary system could function well was due to individuals commissioning missions and providing rewards. Low-level missions were fine, but once high-level missions were involved, they basically concerned disputes between nations, with no clear individual commissioner, and the mission executor was no longer an individual but the ninja village itself. The funds that could be allocated to individual ninja were very small, and to some extent, it could be said to be unpaid dedication.
At most, there was a basic guarantee.
For example, Sarutobi Asuma, who was both the head of the Sarutobi clan and a jonin with an important position in the ninja village, felt a pang of heartache after treating his three students to a barbecue, simply because they ate a little too much. This was actually the drawback of this mission-rank system. High-level ninja had very few opportunities to undertake individual commissioned missions. Apart from leading genin on missions as a teacher, most of their time was spent executing missions required by the ninja village. The funds they received from such missions could not possibly follow normal regulations.
However, being a ninja is inherently a demanding profession, and one of the so-called 'Three Ninja Prohibitions' is money. Coupled with the traditional ninja custom of the higher-ranking organization restricting the personal freedom of individual ninja, as long as basic living needs were met, along with some supplementary benefits, the Konoha ninja in the original story managed to get by, albeit with some struggles.
Under the current salary system of Konoha Ninja Village, as long as they meet the mission targets set by the village, anyone can receive a moderate standard of living, not to mention the benefits gained from mission merits. No matter how humble their origins, once they become a ninja, their lives will improve significantly. The difference from the unstable salaries in the original story is It can be said thatis very large.
And precisely because of this salary system, Konoha Ninja Village naturally could not maintain the traditional mission-employment system. Konoha ninjas generally began to participate in the internal management and external operations of the ninja village, with the main external aspect being the merchant enterprises supported by Konoha Ninja Village.
After all, the pillar supporting Konoha Ninja Village's salary system is the financial income from merchant enterprises. The methods of supporting these merchants primarily involve safeguarding their trade routes—typically handled by combat-oriented ninja—or collecting intelligence on competitors, formulating business plans, and ensuring operations—typically handled by intelligence-oriented ninja—or providing commercial goods, such as medicines sold by external hospitals—typically handled by ninja from the Medical Department, Research Department, and Production Department.
Because the ninja village participates in commercial operations, it ensures that merchants operate under the village's control and cannot escape, thereby allowing the village to collect taxes with peace of mind. Ninjas can also play their part; new products developed through unique ninja techniques and directions provided by Fumori Masaki hold great appeal for outsiders, ensuring high profits, providing employment opportunities, and generating massive financial income. This interdependent relationship establishes a guarantee for Konoha Ninja Village's commercial operations and ninja work.
Moreover, under this relationship, ninjas do not fully participate in the production process. Fumori Masaki believes that it is fine for ninjas to be involved in production relations, but they should not be fully immersed in it. Otherwise, given the rigorous training of ninjas, the scarce number of ninjas could easily be tied down. How would they fight against ninjas from other countries in the future?
Furthermore, if ninjas occupied most of the production space, it would lead to a large number of ordinary people losing their jobs. Given the rigorous training methods for ninjas, it would also be impossible to easily convert these people into usable forces, which would become an economic burden. The current method, which utilizes both ninjas and allows ordinary people to contribute, is the best approach for now. Once a method for rapid chakra mastery emerges, then it might be possible to consider allowing ninjas to enter the full scope of production.
Therefore, Konoha Ninja Village also established numerous branch enterprises in other areas, providing employment opportunities for local commoners, promoting local development, and collaborating with local lords to share a certain amount of profit. This not only resolved obstacles to establishing their own enterprises but also strengthened their relationship with Konoha Ninja Village.
It was through these methods that the Konoha Ninja Village rapidly developed over more than twenty years, breaking free from its reliance on the Daimyo, increasing its own influence, and also promoting the development of the entire country. Aside from those distant local lords who had not yet established cooperative relationships with Konoha Ninja Village and felt a bit disheartened, all those within the sphere of influence radiating from Konoha Ninja Village wore joyful expressions.
Of course, these people did not include the Daimyo. Although he was the ruler of the country, the Konoha Ninja Village's earliest relationship was established with the Daimyo. However, to prevent the Daimyo from excessively absorbing the Konoha Ninja Village's own interests, Fumori Masaki did not allow the Daimyo to participate in commercial operations, only to enjoy dividend profits. The fact that this could be easily accomplished was thanks to the mercenary nature of the Konoha Ninja Village.
Because Konoha Ninja Village was merely a local organization employed by the national Daimyo, and not a member of the Land of Fire system, the Daimyo's internal interference was very limited. And precisely, the merchants supported by Konoha Ninja Village were deeply cooperative with the village itself, also considered part of its internal management, so the Daimyo naturally had no room to intervene.
Even so, being able to receive dividends without any responsibility should have made the Daimyo content. In reality, while the Daimyo himself was very happy with these dividends and would be angry when enterprises encountered setbacks elsewhere—for example, the Land of Wind waging war causing business stagnation and loss of profits, making the Daimyo wish to immediately punish the Land of Wind—he was also terrified by the increasingly uncontrollable Konoha Ninja Village.
However, Konoha Ninja Village's strength was immense, already the strongest among the local lords. To deal with them, the Daimyo would have to rally most of the local lords, but doing so would easily trigger a large-scale civil war. Moreover, many local lords had good relations with Konoha Ninja Village, and Konoha Ninja Village had committed no unforgivable betrayals, making the possibility of rallying them very low.
The result was that for years, the Daimyo could only swallow his anger and watch Konoha Ninja Village grow stronger and further escape his control. Because he couldn't intervene in internal management, his only apparent recourse seemed to be to modify commercial laws. However, doing so would also harm the interests of other nobles, and the Daimyo had been hesitant to act.
After receiving information about the department he would report to, Namikaze Minato decided to go back and get some good rest, following the crowd out of the great hall. At the entrance of the hall, many lower-grade students gathered, eagerly anticipating the opportunity to contribute to the village. However, being too young, they hadn't received permission from the village, so they could only place their hopes on these graduating seniors.
Namikaze Minato had a very good temper, was happy to communicate with people, and was skilled at mediating conflicts among classmates. He had excellent popularity in school; not only did boys sometimes ask him to be a referee, but even girls would ask Namikaze Minato to help mediate when they had disagreements. Because his appearance was somewhat gentle, Namikaze Minato even earned the nickname "Confidante Sister" among the girls, which left him feeling a bit amused and exasperated.
This time, many girls also came to send off their "Confidante Sister." After finally getting them all to go home, Namikaze Minato couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Just then, he heard a familiar voice behind him: "Oh, I didn't expect our 'Confidante Sister' to get tired too."
"Kushina, don't tease me with that," Namikaze Minato said helplessly, turning around. Seeing Kushina in front of him, the light in his eyes grew brighter.
Kushina was wearing a jade green top embroidered with the Konoha school emblem, a blue knee-length skirt, black long socks, and black high-heeled ankle boots. Although she was only a twelve-year-old girl, her height already exceeded that of her average peers, making her look graceful and elegant.
However, in Namikaze Minato's eyes, no matter how Kushina looked, she was always the most dazzling one. From the first time he saw her, she was the most beautiful person Namikaze Minato had ever seen.
"Never mind. Where are you going after this, and what will you be responsible for?" Kushina put her hands in her jacket pockets, walked up to Namikaze Minato, and asked.
"For now, I'll be responsible for transporting supplies to the battlefield and ensuring their safety, which is basically general logistical support," Namikaze Minato said.
"It seems our work will overlap," Kushina said. "My job is to count the number and types of supplies, and arrange their delivery to the transport points. It seems female ninja in the logistics department are generally responsible for this kind of calculation work, probably because they think we are more meticulous."
"Is that so? Then we might have a chance to meet at work," Namikaze Minato said with a smile.
"Yeah, well, let's just work hard from now on. Although it's not frontline work, we're still providing support for the ninja on the front lines," Kushina said, taking her hands out of her pockets.
"Mhm," Namikaze Minato reached out and grasped her hand, looking into her eyes.
Kushina withdrew her hand, glanced back at the great hall, and said, "I can't believe the day of my graduation came so fast. I don't know whether to be happy or sad."
"You seem a little unhappy, Kushina," Namikaze Minato said.
"A little, maybe." Kushina's eyes dimmed slightly, but quickly recovered. She didn't notice that this fleeting moment was also caught by Namikaze Minato. "It's my own business. Let's leave it at that. Goodbye, Minato."