Chapter 19 Preface Mission 1: What You Grow

"Uncle, do you know a craftsman who can make bicycles?" Zhenyan asked, "I want to make a few bicycles."

Shingon thought that Black Zetsu had been in the ninja world for thousands of years and must have seen a lot. He might know one or two craftsmen. As for the idiot brother he had asked for help, he probably couldn't count on him. Now he just hoped that the idiot brother didn't encounter any accidents during the mission and could return to the village safely...

"Bicycle?" Hei Zetsu was fully focused on saving Otsutsuki Kaguya and had never heard of such a thing as a bicycle.

"It's a car with two wheels, powered by feet..." As he said this, Zhenyan picked up a branch and drew a simple shape on the ground for Hei Zetsu to see.

Hei Zetsu took a look, memorized the appearance of the bicycle, and then said to Zhenyan: "Leave this matter to me."

The Akatsuki organization has a member named Scorpion from the Sand Village. Scorpion is best at puppetry, and making puppets requires proficiency in various mechanisms and tricks, so making a bicycle should not be a problem.

Hei Zetsu took this to heart, thinking that this was the first time a younger generation had asked him for a favor, and as an elder, he had to show some appreciation...

"That's great. I've been looking for a craftsman for a long time and finally he can make a bicycle." Shingen was very happy. He could finally improve Konoha's poor travel conditions.

Seeing Zhenyan's appearance, Hei Jue couldn't help but think of Zhenyan's situation. After thinking for a while, he broke away from Bai Jue and said to Zhenyan: "I'll let Bai Jue stay and help you."

Zhenyan opened his mouth in surprise. He watched the Yin-Yang Man's Hei Jue split into a black man and a white man. The white one looked exactly like the carrot spirit...

"Uncle, how come you became two?" Zhenyan asked in surprise.

"Well... Bai Jue and I are originally two individuals." Hei Jue, who was completely black with two yellow eyes, explained.

Zhenyan was still confused. He looked around and asked, "Why does Uncle Bai Jue look like the radish spirit I planted?"

Bai Jue: "...You just happened to see us before. We have nothing to do with Radish..."

"There are a lot of Bai Jue. If you need help, you can ask Bai Jue to do it." Hei Jue added.

"So that's how it is..." Zhenyan suddenly realized. Looking at Bai Jue's appearance that was different from that of an ordinary person, he asked again, "Is Uncle Bai Jue also an alien?"

"Most of the White Zetsu are cultivated using the Outer Path Demon Statue and the cells of the First Hokage." Black Zetsu explained briefly.

This cloning technology sounds very advanced. Is the Outer Path Golem a cloning machine? More and more questions arise in Zhenyan's mind.

"The Outer Path Demon Statue is the Ten-Tails, and it is also the empty shell left after the Divine Tree stripped away its chakra." Hei Zetsu said, and explained the origin of the nine-tailed beasts.

"So the giant fox can be considered an alien fox." Shingon thought of the method that Hei Zetsu had mentioned before about resurrecting Kaguya Otsutsuki, and asked again, "Uncle, where is the Outer Path Demon Statue you mentioned? I have met the giant fox several times. If I just store the giant fox's chakra in the Outer Path Demon Statue, can I resurrect my grandmother?"

"You can get in touch with the Nine-Tailed Fox?" Hei Zetsu was a little surprised.

"I've seen him twice before, but it's hard to see him now..." Zhenyan said. Since the last time they parted, the big fox refused his visit...

Hei Zetsu nodded in understanding, guessing that it was caused by Konoha's prejudice against Uchiha. Seeing Shingon's depressed look, he said to comfort her: "There is no rush for the Nine-Tails. We can start with the other eight tailed beasts first."

"I understand." Shingon thought to himself. According to what Black Zetsu said, the other eight tailed beasts are in other ninja villages. Due to the previous ninja war, the ninja villages are still on guard against each other. It seems that if they want to contact other tailed beasts, they still have to promote the development of Konoha's agricultural and sideline industries as soon as possible, and use commercial trade to open up exchanges between villages...

Shingon wanted to develop quickly, but the "Muye Village Agricultural and Sideline Industry Development and Income Generation Plan" he submitted was very complex and could not be promoted immediately.

Since receiving the plan, the Third Hokage has carefully studied it several times. Finally, based on Konoha's current situation, he made some simple modifications, and then convened the Konoha Elders and family heads for discussion.

The war-torn environment has led to the current situation where each ninja village emphasizes military power over agriculture, and the ninjas tend to make a living by hiring mercenaries. So when the Third Hokage proposed mobilizing Konoha ninjas to develop Konoha's agricultural and sideline industries, the first reaction of both the elders and the clan leaders was absurd.

Especially the martial arts-oriented Danzo Shimura, he thought that the Third Hokage made such a decision, which only showed that the Third Hokage was too old and was no longer suitable to be the Hokage. It was just that his last conversation with the Third Hokage ended in a bad mood, so this time he did not speak rashly, but waited for others to step forward. He believed that other senior leaders of Konoha would never let the Third Hokage do whatever he wanted.

Sure enough, Mito Kado En frowned in confusion and stood up: "Third generation, why did you make this suggestion?"

The Third Hokage was quite calm. He took out his improved plan and passed it to everyone to read: "Take a look at this first."

"A Plan for the Development and Income Generation of Agricultural and Sideline Industries in Konoha Village", after seeing the title, Uchiha Fugaku felt that the language style was somewhat familiar, and after reading a few more lines, the sense of familiarity became even stronger...

Uchiha Fugaku remained calm, but he became more and more serious in his heart, because the formal and incongruous language in the plan was exactly the style of Shingon's usual speech...

Uchiha Fugaku glanced at the Third Hokage and wanted to ask where this plan came from, but considering the many people present, he held back. If this plan was really written by Mangon, then such a drastic reform would definitely involve many interests, and Mangon might even become a target of attack. He also thought of the fact that Mangon inexplicably awakened the Wood Release, and his worries grew even greater. He decided to go back and have a good talk with Mangon.

But he didn't ask. Others had the same doubts. The head of the Hyuga family, Hyuga Hiashi, suddenly asked, "Who wrote this plan?"

This plan is very complete and does not seem to be something that could be thought up in a short time. The Third Hokage had never had such an inclination before, so Hinata Hiashi guessed that the person who wrote this plan was not the Third Hokage, but someone else.

The Third Hokage's gaze swept over Uchiha Fugaku without trace, then he twirled his beard and said, "We'll talk about this later. I want to know what everyone thinks of this plan?"

Everyone present looked at each other, and no one spoke for a while. The Third Hokage finally looked at Konoha's think tank representative and the patriarch of the Nara family, Nara Shikaku.

Nara Shikaku stood up at this time and said noncommittally: "There are pros and cons."

According to the plan, if it is done well, then Konoha is likely to become an existence far superior to other ninja villages. However, if something goes wrong and other ninja villages take advantage of the situation, then Konoha will also suffer a major blow. After all, this is an unprecedented change and no one knows what will happen in the future.

If it were a peaceful time, Nara Shikaku would choose to support it, but now that the war has just ended and the Nine-Tails incident has happened again, he thinks that the village should focus on recuperation at this stage, and it is not appropriate to carry out large-scale reforms at this time. The patriarchs of other families also considered Nara Shikaku's idea. The bigger the change, the more profound and far-reaching it is, and the more they need to think carefully before making a decision, it is difficult to make a choice in a short time.

The Third Hokage has always been conservative. He knows very well that if the village wants to develop steadily, it cannot take too big a step at a time. He also understands everyone's concerns. When he takes out the plan at this time, he does not want to execute it immediately according to the contents above. It is just to give everyone a mental preparation and make preparations for the future. After all, this matter is no trivial matter and cannot be achieved in a short period of time.

"The most important thing for Konoha at this stage is to recuperate. It is indeed not advisable to make major changes." Just as everyone was weighing the pros and cons, the Third Hokage spoke again, "So I would like to conduct a small-scale test in the village first. What do you think?"

In fact, the Third Hokage really wanted to hand the experiment over to Mangon. Firstly, it was Mangon who proposed the plan, and secondly, Mangon had grown radishes before, so he had some experience. However, he and Uchiha Fugaku had the same concerns and felt that the matter was complicated and it was not appropriate to push a child like Mangon in front of everyone.

"I don't think it's feasible." Shimura Danzo stood up and objected, "Ninjas are the foundation of the village, how can they be easily shaken?"

The Third Hokage looked at Danzo Shimura and said, "I am just making a suggestion. It depends on everyone's decision on how to do it." After saying that, he turned to the patriarchs of the families.

The matter was of great importance, and the clan leaders were unable to give an answer in a short period of time. They only said that they would go back and consider it.

This was also the result that the Third Hokage had expected. He ended the meeting, but when everyone was leaving, he called out to Uchiha Fugaku alone.

Seeing this situation, the first thing that came to everyone's mind was the recent relocation of the Uchiha clan. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Uchiha were being targeted, and the Uchiha clan had always been proud and arrogant. Being targeted like this would probably cause great dissatisfaction. However, what no one expected was that the Uchiha clan seemed to be calmer than they had imagined. At least during the relocation process, no trouble was reported.

In this regard, people who did not know the true theory of "moving to a corner is to gain an advantage" only thought that the control power of the clan leader Uchiha Fugaku was extraordinary.

Since the Uchiha were so cooperative, the Third Hokage might want to give some compensation, and the test proposed this time might be an opportunity.

The clan leaders had no objection to this trial opportunity. After all, it was just a trial and the result was unknown...

Similar to what everyone guessed, the Third Hokage did mention this matter, but he talked more about Managakure, and his implicit meaning was that Managakure was a good child worthy of cultivation.

The Third Hokage actually had some selfish motives. Ever since Uchiha Madara left the village, the seeds of the rift between the Uchiha clan and the village had been sown. Over the years, not only had it not subsided, but it had intensified. Now that an Uchiha like Shingon had appeared, if Shingon could become the clan leader of the Uchiha clan in the future, then perhaps the situation would be rewritten...

Uchiha Fugaku did not express any opinion on the Third Hokage's hint, but he went to see Shingen as soon as he returned.

"Did you give that plan to the Third Hokage?" Uchiha Fugaku asked directly.

"Ah... yes." Shinon paused for a moment before realizing what Uchiha Fugaku was asking, "But the Third Master forbade me to spread rumors."

Seeing that Shingon still didn't realize the seriousness of the problem, Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath and asked in confusion: "How did you come up with those contents?"

Zhenyan thought this question was too complicated to explain, so he simplified it and answered, "It comes from farming."

Uchiha Fugaku: “…………”

It's fine that you can develop Wood Release by growing crops, but now there's another plan for developing agricultural and sideline businesses?

Uchiha Fugaku suddenly had a feeling that if one day he saw Shingon holding the tailed beast as a pet, he might not be surprised...!