Last time, Shikaru was sent to investigate the Fire Trade Company, and he uncovered quite a bit of information.
There was an issue with the company's connection to the police department. Normally, the process worked like this: The Fire Trade Company would distribute a cargo list to each caravan, and the security department would assign escort missions. The assigned team would verify the cargo details, travel route, starting point, and destination. After that, they would determine the necessary checkpoints and finalize the paperwork before departure. Ninjas were responsible for coordinating patrols and inspections along the route.
Since the security department charged a daily fee for these missions, long-distance trips became expensive for caravans. Some mission teams even stretched out their trips on purpose to increase the cost.
To counter this, the caravans devised a simple trick. After obtaining the official travel permit, they would cancel the escort mission a few days later and pay the ninjas double compensation. The ninja teams didn't mind at all—getting paid twice as much without traveling far was a great deal. Plus, it allowed them to take on new missions faster.
Now, some might wonder: wouldn't this leave the caravans vulnerable to bandits?
Not really. Back when Sarutobi Hiruzen established the patrol brigade, he effectively wiped out bandit groups across the Land of Fire. With ninja patrols constantly moving around, no bandit would dare risk an attack.
The same situation likely existed in other nations, leading to a golden era for caravans. But for Konoha, this presented a financial problem. The Fire Trade Company realized they could reach their destinations safely without hiring Konoha's escorts. Why pay for protection they didn't need? As long as they had the proper paperwork, they could pass through customs without issue. If not for Konoha's checkpoint system requiring documentation, the Fire Trade Company might have disbanded the security department altogether.
The customs brigade's biggest flaw was simple: "As long as the paperwork is in order, they're allowed through—whether the documents come from customs or the Fire Trade Company itself."
Hiruzen sighed. It was yet another reminder that ninjas weren't suited for administrative work. Reforming the system wouldn't be easy.
His plan for the Fire Trade Company had failed again, and it frustrated him. As someone with knowledge beyond this era, he had always dreamed of changing the world and implementing reforms. But some ideas just didn't fit the current reality, and the others failed for reasons he couldn't even pinpoint.
One of Konoha's biggest issues was the overwhelming influence of the ninja clans. They drained the village's resources while focusing only on their own interests. Before Konoha was established, these clans operated independently, constantly warring with each other. When Hashirama and Madara united them under one village, the structure changed, but the mindset didn't. The clans remained closed-off, prioritizing their own education and traditions.
Hashirama recognized this problem and tried to address it by setting an example by disbanding the Senju clan entirely. Even his own granddaughter, Tsunade, was no longer carried the Senju surname. Yet, that wasn't enough to fully integrate the ninja clans.
Tobirama took a different approach by focusing on the next generation. He founded the Konoha Academy, the predecessor to the Ninja Academy, to educate those young ninjas together. His belief was that by shaping young minds, the village could gradually change the way the clans operated. Within two generations, they would have enough influence to shift the entire system.
Unfortunately, Tobirama's death left that plan unfinished. Without his leadership, there was no telling whether his reforms would have a lasting impact.
Now, Konoha was in Hiruzen's hands but to the village elders and powerful clan leaders, the Third Hokage was just a 'kid'. They let him do whatever he wanted by treating his efforts like nothing more than a child's game. No matter how much he pushed for reforms, they saw it as a joke.
Thinking about it made Hiruzen's face burn with embarrassment. It was frustrating—especially for someone who had the knowledge itself beyond this era.
But how did his original self in the original anime handle ninja integration?
Suppression and Danzo.
Yes, by using Danzo to keep those rebellious ninjas in check, smaller clans struggled to survive. The method was simple where Danzo would caused trouble, and Hiruzen played the "reasonable" leader card who made the final call and, surprisingly, it worked.
By the end, only a handful of clans remained in Konoha. The Uchiha were wiped out, and the remaining ninja clans were so afraid that they existed in name only while their former influence gone.
But this time, Hiruzen was in control of his own choices and he didn't want things to end that way.
He decided to analyze how other villages handled the same problem.
Kirigakure took the most brutal approach, targeting bloodline clans in a "Blood Mist" purge. The result? The village lost too many skilled ninjas, and many survivors defected.
Iwagakure dealt with dissent by sending rebellious ninjas to the battlefield, forcing them to "sacrifice" themselves in war. In the end, they suffered from a lack of strong successors.
Sunagakure, the weakest of the Five Great Villages, had a weak clan structure to begin with. Their method was selling off those who opposed their politics, like the infamous Scorch Release user, Pakura. However, in the long run this only made the village even weaker.
Kumogakure, on the other hand, took a high-pressure approach. They forced absolute obedience, which resulted in their Third Raikage fighting alone for three days and nights against the 10 000 Iwagakure ninjas and in the end he died because of exhaustion since no one dared to disobey his orders.
Despite its flaws, Kumogakure ended up as the strongest of the five great villages. If it weren't for two monstrous Genin in Konoha, they might have been unbeatable.
So, should he follow Kumogakure's method?
There is an old saying: "A stick in one hand and a carrot in the other." It is a strategy that has stood the test of time, for in a world where strength dictates respect, power is often the foundation of influence. For example, the First Hokage, Hashirama. He is remembered as a great ninja, praised for his ideals—but was it truly his vision alone that earned him reverence? Or was it the sheer force of his power that ensured none would dare oppose him?
Back when Hiruzen attended the Five Kage Summit, he thought his charisma had helped things go smoothly. Now, looking back, he realized it had nothing to do with charisma. The moment he overpowered the Raikage in front of the Tsuchikage, everyone fell in line. Not because they admired him—but because they feared him.
But in Konoha, Hiruzen had made a mistake. He had never truly displayed his strength. Only a handful of people had seen what he was capable of. Instead, he had introduced sweeping reforms, offering benefits and expecting a change to follow suit. Naturally, the reforms failed.
As the old saying went, "Barbarians fear power, not virtue."
If he truly wanted change, he had to take a different path. First, he would make them fear him, for fear commands obedience. Then, he would reward those who followed. A few minor punishments would not be enough—only a true display of strength would make them take him seriously.
After all if he didn't strike first, they would never submit.