319. Thriving

"Oh?"

"It seems those guys are about to take the bait. This is a big fish..."

Danzo looked at the intelligence report sent back by En Oyashiro, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

After all, the master mentioned by Sakami Yuzuru was an important figure known as the purse of the Land of Fire.

If they could capture him, it would be of great significance to Danzo's upcoming reform plans.

Hearing Danzo's words, Shikaku took the report from his hands. After reading it for a while, he shook his head and laughed.

Because En Oyashiro mentioned in the report that after connecting with Sakami Yuzuru and expressing his willingness to serve that lord, he finally entered the core circle of those noble lords.

Immediately after, En Oyashiro spared no expense, using money to pave the way, quickly establishing good relations with the important power figures within.

As a result, he soon gained the appreciation of those noble lords, and his status skyrocketed!

At the same time, his Higanbana Association rapidly expanded across the Land of Fire, flourishing everywhere.

Shikaku felt that if En Oyashiro continued to develop like this, he might soon replace Sakami Yuzuru and become the confidant of the Daimyo's younger brother.

With the skills he had shown, it was even possible for him to directly become the new purse under the Daimyo.

Although Shikaku didn't know En Oyashiro's true identity, since he came from the Root, it was impossible for him not to have some ruthless methods.

Next, it would depend on how Danzo planned to handle it...

To be honest, even Shikaku, the top strategist of Konoha, sometimes felt that he couldn't fully understand Danzo's thoughts.

Those ingenious ideas sometimes made Shikaku wonder if he and Danzo were even from the same world.

Just as Shikaku was speculating about Danzo's next move, the latter slowly stood up.

He walked to the window of the office.

From here, he could see the entire scenery of Konoha, including the Hokage Rock behind.

Of course, now there was an additional head—his own...

It was already deep winter, and the falling snow piled up thickly on the newly built houses.

Several months had passed since the Nine-Tails incident. During these months, the reconstruction of Konoha had progressed very smoothly.

With the combined efforts of ninjas and workers, the housing sprouted up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Although it hadn't yet met Danzo's requirements, it was enough to accommodate the current residents of Konoha.

It would allow them to safely get through this harsh winter.

Additionally, the construction of the industrial zone was also on track.

Konoha's first steel factory was officially put into operation. Its main function was currently to produce the rails needed for laying railways, as well as standard trains.

Later, it would gradually expand its production scope, focusing on more infrastructure equipment manufacturing.

Moreover, the textile factory involving the Aburame clan, the pharmaceutical factory involving the Nara clan, and the insect-based pharmaceutical research center jointly established by the two clans had also been successfully launched.

There was also the Akimichi clan's food processing plant.

In short, the establishment of this large batch of light factories greatly alleviated the employment pressure on Konoha's villagers.

There was even a labor shortage...

Regardless, with the development of the residential and industrial zones.

The surrounding commercial streets also began to gradually prosper.

Seeing the lively scene of residents bustling back and forth on the commercial streets, Danzo felt a sense of relief in his heart.

After such a long period of effort, Konoha had finally completely shaken off the shadows of the Third Great Ninja War and the Nine-Tails incident, returning to the path of development.

Villagers were fulfilling their roles, ninjas were striving hard, and the entire village was thriving.

After a while, Danzo remembered something and turned to Shikaku behind him:

"How is the ninja school doing?"

"Have there been any promising talents recently?"

As the place Danzo had the highest hopes for, the reconstruction of the ninja school was given top priority.

It could even be said to be in the first batch of reconstruction.

Because of this, the ninja school had resumed normal classes very early, causing minimal disruption to the students.

Hearing Danzo's question, Shikaku quickly found a document and handed it to Danzo.

"This is the most recent assessment results from the ninja school."

"The most outstanding performer this term is Fugaku's son, Uchiha Itachi."

"He is only in his first year but has already mastered several basic ninjutsu, consistently ranking first in every assessment."

"If nothing unexpected happens, he will be the top student of this term." The top student is the strongest in their term at the ninja school.

For example, in the original story, Sasuke was the top student of his term.

And his brother Itachi, at this time, was showing a level of talent that was completely dominant.

Danzo was not at all surprised by this.

Given Itachi's performance in the original story, it would be more surprising if he didn't dominate the ninja school...

"As for your disciple, Shimura Kabuto, his results are also quite interesting."

Shikaku seemed to recall something, smiled lightly, and handed Kabuto's report card to Danzo. The latter immediately noticed something unusual because the kid's results were consistently around twentieth place.

This result was neither too bad nor too noticeable.

Just enough to maintain 'quiet' and avoid disturbance.

"This kid, really..."

Danzo smiled helplessly.

As his teacher, he of course knew Kabuto's current strength and talent.

Having successfully mastered medical ninjutsu, even if he couldn't match the explosive talent of Itachi for now, securing second place would be a breeze.

If he were in the previous or next term, he could easily take the top student position.

Unfortunately, these empty titles seemed of no use to Kabuto.

In his view, these results were meaningless.

What he cared about was only his experimental results!

Others needed to prove their worth through grades, but Shimura Kabuto had no such concerns.

Because he was the disciple of the Darkness of the Shinobi, resources were readily available to him, and he didn't need to prove himself through grades.

Of course, to avoid embarrassing his teacher too much, he kept his grades at a moderately high level. This way, he wouldn't attract too much attention and bring unnecessary trouble.

Nor would he embarrass his teacher, it was perfect!

Unfortunately, his little scheme couldn't escape the eyes of Danzo and Shikaku, these two old foxes.

Of course, Danzo wouldn't impose any restrictions on him.

Everyone has their own ninja way, Danzo would only guide, not interfere.