383. The Great Reform of the Land of Fire 2

In addition to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, ANBU and Root, two of Konoha's most powerful departments, also underwent significant reforms.

Before this reform, the functions of ANBU and Root were quite ambiguous. Initially, Root was just a small department within ANBU responsible for recruiting and training new members.

However, under Hiruzen Sarutobi's leniency and Danzo's continuous maneuvering, Root gradually grew into its current state, with power almost equivalent to ANBU and overall strength far surpassing it.

For example, just the members of the Earth Branch Squad alone were enough to rival some major nations.

Against weaker nations like the Land of Wind, it could even be described as a complete domination...

However, now that the Land of Fire had achieved integration, Danzo naturally wouldn't allow Root to continue expanding unchecked.

To address this issue, Danzo decided to completely separate ANBU and Root.

From now on, ANBU would be responsible for domestic and foreign intelligence work, such as building intelligence networks, monitoring enemy movements, and conducting special operations.

Root, on the other hand, would officially transition to overseeing the supervision and inspection of domestic officials, with the authority to investigate and apprehend officials.

Its primary mission would be to maintain the purity and order of the nation's power structures.

In this way, ANBU and Root formed two lines of defense, one internal and one external, successfully resolving the issues of unclear responsibilities and conflicts between the two departments.

After discussing these two departments, the final topic is a new department that has never been heard of before but is of critical importance—the Ministry of Military Affairs.

Although the name "Ministry of Military Affairs" might not be familiar, its predecessor certainly is.

That is... the Shinobi Forces! Since the founding of Konoha, the Shinobi Forces had always existed as an organization that only operated during wartime.

But now, Danzo planned to make it a permanent institution, formally establishing a department specifically to manage shinobi, who wield immense destructive power.

The primary purpose of this move was to address the increasingly complex situation.

After all, Konoha's population of outsiders was growing, and the vast majority of them were ordinary people without any combat abilities.

In the face of shinobi who had mastered ninjutsu, they were as vulnerable as children.

Even the weakest genin could easily harm or kill them using ninjutsu.

Therefore, Konoha's leadership had to implement a series of measures to restrict shinobi, particularly the circulation of chakra extraction techniques and various ninjutsu.

Otherwise, if these techniques were to spread widely, they would pose a significant threat to national security.

This threat wasn't so much about the possibility of being overthrown...

After all, the strength of Konoha's leadership was undeniable, and a few rogue shinobi wouldn't be enough to cause a major upheaval.

What Danzo was truly concerned about was the safety and property of ordinary citizens.

While the higher-ups were all incredibly powerful, the average citizen didn't possess such strength.

If certain criminals were to master ninjutsu, they could cause significant harm and create numerous challenges for national security.

Therefore, the construction of shinobi in the new era had to abandon the mercenary mindset inherited from the Warring States Period and shift toward professionalism and specialization.

For example, by adopting the management style of wartime forces, shinobi could be concentrated in specific areas for living and regular training.

This would not only effectively prevent the misuse of ninjutsu but also greatly enhance the overall strength of the shinobi forces.

After all, during regular missions, most of their time was wasted on travel.

To improve their personal strength, they could only rely on breakthroughs in combat or special training during mission breaks.

However, due to the high demand for missions, these shinobi rarely had much free time.

Often, they would move from one mission to the next.

Generally, they wouldn't refuse missions assigned by the village, as refusing missions had always been seen as a disgrace for shinobi.

As for breakthroughs in combat? Such opportunities were even rarer.

During peacetime, most of the missions these shinobi undertook involved clearing out bandits or escorting nobles and officials.


These tasks were not only time-consuming due to the long distances and mission durations but also offered few opportunities for meaningful combat or growth, as the enemies were often too weak to provide any real challenge.

In contrast, professionalized shinobi would only need to focus on three things during peacetime: eating, sleeping, and training.

Under such conditions, their strength would naturally far surpass that of ordinary people.

So why didn't Konoha adopt this professionalized model from the beginning?

The simplest and most direct reason was... lack of funds!

That's right, lack of funds.

During the tenures of the first three Hokage, Konoha and other shinobi villages relied on mission rewards as their primary source of income.

This made the village's finances heavily dependent on the mission market.

If the village were to professionalize its shinobi, where would the money come from?

During peacetime, the Daimyo wouldn't provide funding!

Therefore, under the previous system of one nation, one village, the path to shinobi professionalization was completely unfeasible.

But now... with Konoha successfully controlling the economic lifeline of the entire Land of Fire, supporting a professional shinobi force was more than feasible.

Moreover, this force wouldn't be maintained for free.

During training breaks, Danzo could send them out in batches to suppress bandits or similar tasks.

This would not only generate additional income for the nation but also provide training opportunities and tactical exercises.

Additionally, clearing out domestic security threats and creating a safe and stable environment would also benefit the Land of Fire's commercial development, wouldn't it?

Once commerce flourished, national tax revenues would increase, and the funds to maintain the military would naturally follow.

Then, when there's time, they could even form teams to visit other nations, such as the Land of Wind or the Land of Water, to engage in more free trade.

The money would just keep pouring in!

In short, this was a massive virtuous cycle.

Over time, Konoha's military strength would only grow stronger and stronger, like a snowball, until it formed an overwhelming advantage over other nations!

Most importantly, the major shinobi villages that currently had the potential to compete with Konoha were still stuck in place.

Until they resolved their own domestic aristocratic classes, they would never be able to enter a rapid development mode like Konoha.

They could only watch helplessly as Konoha left them far behind, until even its shadow was out of sight...