Chapter 330: Long-Awaited Overtime
In the Raikage's Office, Dana didn't take his Old Man's seat. Instead, he had someone bring in another desk. The Raikage Building had plenty of these high-quality consumables in stock.
The kind that even Yotsuki Dana couldn't crush.
Under Dana's helpless gaze, Yotsuki Arashi happily took half of the document mountain from his own desk and piled it in front of Dana.
Instantly, Dana's vision was obstructed, and he rolled his eyes.
After the Cloud swallowed the Land of Lightning, the daily workload had exploded. When the Third Raikage was in Asuka Castle, his butt was practically glued to the chair for three days and nights.
Later, as they gained experience, some trivial matters were intercepted and handled in various cities.
For example:
In the traditional ninja village model, even if a house collapsed in the village, it would be reported to the Kage.
Why did it collapse? Was there a fight? Did a village ninja step on it? Should the village compensate?
There were too many trivial matters of this level. Enrollment in the Ninja Academy, graduation assignments, which ninja was injured and hospitalized, whose child had good talent, and so on.
Previously, Dana himself often handled such trivialities.
In a sense, the "high loyalty," "high centralization," and "high unity" of a ninja village were built on the meticulous crafting of power structures and a very streamlined upper hierarchy.
There weren't many levels or officials. Any matter reported up more than two levels would inevitably land on the Kage's desk. Thus, ninja didn't feel the Kage was distant from them.
Even slightly important missions required a briefing in the Kage's office before departure.
Note: slightly important. Basically, Kages had to oversee missions of B-rank and above. For A-rank and S-rank missions, the Kage would even strategize and monitor the whole process.
So every Kage had endless work because they truly managed every detail personally, acting like Zhuge Liang.
The benefits were obvious: extremely high loyalty, extremely high execution efficiency, and comprehensive control by the Kage.
But once the Cloud annexed the Land of Lightning, this model broke down.
There were eight major cities alone. Although their importance couldn't compare to Kumogakure itself, even if eight cities counted as one village, doubling the workload would cause problems for the Raikage Building.
Let alone now. The Cloud-Thunder Federation included the territories of the Lands of Lightning, Fire, Hot Water, and Rice Fields, with over 20 major cities.
And that didn't count the vast rural areas.
The administrative system had to be reformed in the future; otherwise, it would drag down the Federation.
But it had to be combined with the characteristics of the ninja world. Dana couldn't simply copy everything from his memories. This was, after all, a world where ninja were supreme, and the new Federation was a power led by a ninja village.
"Land of Rice Fields Capital, heavy snow. Princess Yunohime invites Young Master Arashi to enjoy the snow together... What is this?! How did this even get into the Raikage's Office?!"
Arashi rushed over, snatched the document, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it away.
Dana teased in a weird voice, "Ah... Princess Yunohime's feelings, wasted just like that?"
Ignoring Arashi's gnashing teeth, Dana pulled out another report.
Coincidentally, it was also about the Land of Rice Fields.
But the content wasn't so lighthearted.
"A patrol squad on the border of the Land of Rice Fields was attacked. The enemy struck from underground. Suspected Iwa ninja, possibility of Zetsu Organization not ruled out. One dead, two injured. The infiltrator has not been found."
Dana frowned. Sporadic low-intensity skirmishes at the border had always existed, and casualties were inevitable.
But if Black/White Zetsu infiltrated, that was a different matter. Although major cities were equipped with Yoshitoki's White Zetsu detection devices, the vast rural areas and wilderness were hard to defend.
So Dana annotated the report, demanding continued follow-up. Find the infiltrator—alive or dead.
Any subsequent reports were to be sent to the Raikage's Office immediately.
Next came some miscellaneous matters. Several talented students were reported among the new enrollees in the Cloud's Ninja Academy. Coincidentally, all were female.
Yugito Nii, Mabui, Samui.
Among these three, Dana only recognized the first two from his memories, who seemed to have good achievements in the future.
Additionally, a small group of the most talented students—over 40 in total—had been selected from the more than 20 Ninja Academies across the regions. These outstanding students would transfer from local schools to the Cloud for unified training.
Although no decisive geniuses like those capable of "kicking out the grand finale" had appeared yet, the overall level was high. They were little geniuses picked from local schools.
From Dana's perspective, most of these talents could become Jonin in the future. This was already very good considering the schools in the Land of Lightning had only been established for over a year, and those in the Land of Fire had just opened.
He believed that under the massive selection base, more and more outstanding talents would emerge. In a few years, the number of talents in the Cloud might explode.
Then came more miscellaneous matters.
Which city noble refused to obey and got wrecked; which village had a bad harvest this year and needed relief.
Suddenly, a report caught Dana's attention.
It was a spy report.
Spies in the Land of Wind reported that the Third Kazekage, in order to confront the Cloud-Thunder Federation, had become unscrupulous, bordering on madness.
Ignoring casualties, ignoring the exhaustion of Sunagakure, ignoring whether it was worth it—he adopted a "trade lives for injuries" strategy, causing complaints from below.
To prevent a repeat of the tragedy of Konoha being besieged, Suna's main forces and command center had moved out of the village, scattering across the vast territory of the Land of Wind, looking like Afghan guerrillas.
Speaking of which, the style of dress was quite similar too.
The Daimyo was also afraid of being caught, so the Daimyo Courts of several countries had relocated.
To be fair, this wide-area guerrilla infiltration tactic did cause considerable trouble for the Cloud-Thunder Federation.
But if it were for a decisive battle, Suna people could endure for a month or two. However, the current situation was that Suna seemed intent on normalizing this state for years.
The key was that Suna ninja couldn't see any hope of victory.
So internal opposition grew louder.
actually, Iwagakure was in a similar state, but Onoki's prestige was far greater than the Third Kazekage's, and the Earth Daimyo's support was sufficient, so it was still suppressible for now.
Dana drummed his fingers on the desk.
Previously, Blue Bee went berserk inexplicably in Sunagakure, causing Suna significant losses. Dana thought it was weird back then but attributed it to Suna's terrible sealing jutsu skills—thinking Blue Bee lost control because their level was too low.
After all, that was a village that couldn't even seal the weak One-Tail properly and often had accidents.
But reviewing it in light of the current situation yielded different insights.
"A familiar feeling... It's understandable for the steadfast Iwa, but Suna isn't exactly a village known for its integrity, and their relationship with the Wind Daimyo isn't good... Fighting the Cloud to the death at all costs is strange."
Thinking about it, Dana summoned several Special Strategy Division members via Communication Snail.
A moment later, two Special Strategy Division ninja walked in. Arashi, busy with other things nearby, glanced up but didn't pay much attention.
"Dana-sama."
Dana turned his chair around.
"Regarding the Land of Wind... Have Kitanouji contact them again in the name of the guild. He doesn't have to go personally. Just mention purchasing mineral sand again. But remember: only Iron Sand. The price can be higher."
"Also, find a way to contact... Sasori of the Red Sand."
"Yes, sir!"