A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Black Zetsu couldn't wait any longer. It decided to help Madara develop his village, defeat Aoba, and then get back to the real plan.

In Black Zetsu's mind: I've roamed the ninja world for over a thousand years, witnessing the rise and fall of countless kingdoms. How could I possibly be worse at governance than Aoba?

But as soon as it got involved, something felt off. Konoha's development was happening at a pace it couldn't comprehend.

The rapid progress defied all of Black Zetsu's centuries of experience, it simply couldn't explain the explosive growth of Konoha.

However, from Aoba's perspective, this was perfectly natural.

To him, the ninja world had been stuck in a perpetual cycle of internal conflict for millennia. Human resources, productivity, and resource utilization were at appallingly low levels.

Was Aoba an expert at governance? Absolutely not. But even with his amateur skills, the few strategies he had picked up from online forums in his past life were more than enough to outperform this backward ninja world.

In the ninja world, both ninja and chakra were primarily used for violence. All Aoba had done was attempt to repurpose them as resources and tools for productivity.

The power of chakra was unparalleled. People in the ninja world were so accustomed to it that they didn't realize its true potential. But as an outsider, Aoba had studied it deeply and found that chakra was nothing short of miraculous.

Calling it an all-purpose energy source wouldn't be an exaggeration. Chakra could outclass 99% of energy conversion methods in the real world.

In fact, unless humanity in the real world achieved controllable nuclear fusion, chakra would remain unmatched.

And chakra wasn't just an energy source, it was also a miracle cure. It enabled advanced medical jutsu, sealing techniques, physical enhancements, healing of injuries, and even life extension.

By the standards of Aoba's past life, such a perfect energy source shouldn't exist. Its very existence underscored how unique the ninja world was.

Madara, on the other hand, was still stuck in the traditional ninja mindset. After annexing Kumogakure, he hoarded all its secret techniques and recruited large numbers of talented children.

He thought these were the resources that would make Kirigakure powerful.

Meanwhile, Konoha, aside from the case of Kusagakure, had never resorted to direct military aggression against smaller villages.

Instead, Konoha used various strategies to seize resources, not in a predatory way like Kirigakure, but by claiming ownership while engaging in cooperative development.

In the real world, this concept was simple. Overexploitation destroys neighboring markets. Monopolies might seem appealing at first, but over time, they inevitably lead to decline.

Aoba's approach was to nurture the market. Konoha, or rather the new Land of Fire, served as the core, with neighboring regions as its economic sphere.

Resources were extracted from these regions, turned into products, and then sold back to create a simple economic cycle.

This ensured a steady influx of cash while allowing the surrounding smaller nations to maintain a decent quality of life.

More importantly, it made people from those nations aspire to the lifestyle in the Land of Fire. Talented individuals would strive to enter Konoha, effectively creating a talent filtration system.

This model was so simple that Aoba wouldn't have dared mention it in an online forum in his past life. Yet in the ninja world, it was a game-changer, a complete paradigm shift.

The key was that Konoha had enough military power to enforce its free trade policies. This made it impossible for other nations in the ninja world to replicate its success.

After observing this for a while, Black Zetsu came to a disheartening conclusion:

At the current rate of development, in just two years, Madara might as well admit defeat. The gap between Kirigakure and Konoha in resources, talent, research capabilities, and military readiness was becoming insurmountable.

Black Zetsu even suspected that Konoha, without Aoba's direct involvement, might already be capable of handling Madara.

For the first time in its thousand-year existence, Black Zetsu felt genuinely cornered. It realized it was up against a foe unlike any it had faced before.

This left Black Zetsu with a desperate, insane thought:

Aoba Kamikawa must be eliminated at all costs.

Check out the patreon and get 50 chapters in advance -> SaintXI

Currently on Chapter 314: An Interesting Proposal...