308. Konoha's New Blueprint

After entrusting the affairs of the Land of Earth to Shisui and keeping Hyūga Hizashi in the Land of Earth under the pretext of monitoring Kumogakure's movements, Danzō immediately set off and returned to Konoha!

Following the harrowing war, Konoha, the largest shinobi village in the world, was now in a state of rebuilding.

Fortunately, Danzō's lightning strike against Kumogakure had been highly successful, greatly minimizing the waste of Konoha's resources.

As a result, with the help of numerous shinobi, Konoha's reconstruction was progressing rapidly.

The shinobi and villagers were helping each other, creating a harmonious and joyful atmosphere.

But Danzō wanted more than just this...

"Taking advantage of this opportunity, I hope to re-plan the village's layout," Danzō said, sitting in the Hokage's office with a cup of hot tea in hand, slowly outlining his ideas.

To be honest, Danzō had been considering this idea for a long time.

After all, if he wanted to become stronger, he needed more skill points. To get more skill points, he had to collect more gratitude.

To gain more gratitude, he needed a larger population.

Thus, the conclusion was clear:

More population = More gratitude = More skill points = Greater strength = Dominance!

In other words, for Danzō to become stronger, he needed to spread his influence to more people.

Therefore, he had to take more measures to increase Konoha's population!

Relying solely on the villagers to have more children was too slow, so he had to bring in people from outside.

While this sounded simple, it was actually quite challenging.

As the population grew, their needs would also increase.

Whether it was food, clothing, housing, transportation, or management, it would all pose significant challenges for Konoha's leadership.

Additionally, to accommodate a larger population, the most important thing Konoha needed to do was improve the village's spatial layout.

Previously, Konoha's construction planning was practically non-existent.

It was simply centered around the Hokage Rock and the Hokage Building, radiating outward in a haphazard manner, with various clan territories scattered around, creating a cluttered mess.

Under these circumstances, introducing too many outsiders at once would inevitably lead to chaos in the village.

So, while the destruction of the village couldn't be called a good thing, it did give Danzō the opportunity to re-plan the village's layout.


Since they had to rebuild anyway, why not plan it properly and prepare for the future?

Minato, of course, didn't reject this idea and immediately approved Danzō's proposal.

"This is the blueprint I had Shikaku design," Danzō said, handing over the prepared blueprint to Minato after receiving his approval.

Minato took the blueprint and was immediately stunned upon seeing it.

The plan was incredibly detailed and ambitious!

In Danzō's vision, Konoha would be divided into four main zones.

The first was the residential zone.

This would be the largest area in Konoha, encompassing the territories of the major shinobi clans as well as the villagers' living areas.

Within this zone, Danzō planned to build a large number of affordable housing units to accommodate both the current displaced villagers and future immigrants.

As for the villagers' original land, the village would provide adequate compensation or allow them to exchange it for other properties.

Danzō referred to this process as "relocation."

For the shinobi clans, they would be assigned new areas based on their characteristics.

For example, the Aburame and Inuzuka clans would be placed near the mountains, making it easier for them to raise insects and ninja dogs...

The second zone was the commercial district.

In addition to some large commercial centers, other commercial streets would be integrated into the residential areas, organically connecting the two zones.

In fact, these two zones could be combined and referred to as the living zone.

The third zone was the industrial district, which was the cornerstone of Danzō's plan for Konoha's industrialization.

Here, he would build numerous factories, absorb a large labor force, and drive the industrialization of the shinobi world.

This district would be divided into light and heavy industrial zones.

The former would mainly consist of small factories like textile mills, located within the village for the convenience of residents.

The latter would include iron smelting and large-scale equipment manufacturing, placed on the outskirts of the village to minimize pollution.

The fourth zone was the military district, reserved for the shinobi forces!


In the future, Danzō planned to transform the shinobi into a professional military force rather than the loose mercenary system currently in place.

Of course, the timing wasn't right yet.

Reforming the shinobi system established since the First Hokage's era was no small task and would require more preparation.

After all, the resources needed for a professional military were astronomical.

Until Danzō fully controlled the Land of Fire's finances, this idea was out of the question.

However, he could start with pilot projects...

Additionally, Danzō planned to build numerous parks, training grounds, and other facilities.

In short, the blueprint was incredibly detailed and well thought out, a product of Danzō and Shikaku's combined wisdom.

The only problem was... "Isn't this expansion a bit too large?" Minato asked weakly, holding the blueprint.

After all, Konoha's current financial situation wasn't great.

Expanding Konoha tenfold, as Danzō had planned, would require an amount of funding far beyond what Konoha could currently afford!

"Don't worry, we can start by building part of it, but the planning must be done properly," Danzō reassured.

He had seen too many examples of poor planning in his previous life and knew that as a leader, he had to think ahead and plan in advance.

Otherwise, the constant cycle of building and demolishing would only lead to greater losses and could severely limit the village's development, which would be counterproductive.

"As for funding, I'll explain the situation to the Daimyō. Besides, we have the war reparations from Kumogakure, which should be enough for the initial construction."

Hearing this, Minato silently mourned for the Daimyō for a second.

After all, Danzō's "negotiation" methods were well-known!

But with such assurances, Minato had no further concerns.

Thus, a new round of high-level meetings was convened.