BXBX NOVEL Chapter 76 - 76. Paint It!
*YAWN*
"Who knew running a village could be so boring?" Shiroken yawned in the office. It had been 5 days since he took over the village. And since then, he had stopped 5 riots and 15 attempts to kill him.
The people were not happy now that they didn\'t own their houses. They demanded that he leave them. So he asked them what would happen if he\'d take the food with him, so they started rioting to keep the food. He then asked them that it wouldn\'t last them much long. So they said they\'d buy more. For this, Shiroken just showed them the treasury directory. Only then had they gone silent.
Of course, the attempted murders were announced in the public and to people\'s shock, each time that happened a member of the Elder Council was executed for treason. They were trying to deal with him the whole time. Since Shiroken owned the country, he was like its king, in common sense, going against him would be going against the country. And for treason, death was the only punishment.
Yes, some villages had the habit of sending the big criminals into exile, but in Shiroken\'s mind, that was as good as telling the criminals to please come back later and mess us up in the future. So, a dead criminal was a good criminal.
*Knock Knock*
Shisui entered, Shiroken chuckled, "Haha, this is my first time seeing you in anything other than ninja gear."
"I had to wear something else to keep myself from being recognised. Anyway, I am here to tell you that the new caravan for the village has arrived. They are awaiting an escort at the gates, as they are afraid some people might get together and try to steal from them." Shisui notified him. He had become a true assistant of Shiroken at this point.
"Good, send 50 Shinobi to guard them, then lead the caravan to the new warehouse I made. That place will become a food bank for our village. People will get their weekly rations from there." Shiroken ordered, but then he remembered, "Also, tell whoever is leading the caravan to come to me. We need to start working on the land I bought."
Shisui nodded and left. Just as he left Chiyo entered, "Chief Executive, some nobles are not satisfied that they will be given the same amount of grains as commoners. I am not with them, but they might create trouble."
Shiroken\'s gaze turned cold, "Then tell them that they will be tagged as a traitor and dealt with. At this time of need, they still want better treatment? Tell them that if they want more then they will have to buy it at the current market price, which is 5 times inflated. Each person here is trying hard to survive, Lady Chiyo. I am not running a charity, I expect something in return, that should be common sense for you all."
~That is what I am afraid of.~ Chiyo thought. She was still unable to understand what Shiroken really wanted. Because until now, he had only helped them by providing food. She was also dissatisfied with the nobles, they were not making her work easier. Though she felt bad for the few council members who were executed.
"And.. What do you expect in return?" She finally asked.
"Work. I am not feeding them for free. If this village wants to get out of poverty, and from under my thumb and earn money, then they need to work for me. I will pay them." He disclosed. Though, she was in for a bigger shock as he continued.
"And, I have bought the land outside Sunagakure in 20-kilometre square radius. I will be turning that whole land into agricultural land with my advanced techniques. I want the people to work in the fields, get paid, save the money, then buy or rent the land to grow food themselves, out of their every harvest, 15 per cent will be taken as tax and the rest will be up to them. See, I am so nice, I am giving everyone the option to not only earn money but also to become independent." He boasted about himself.
Chiyo though was scared for another reason, ~If... If this happens, in the end, the people will never collect money to become free from Lord Nobunaga. They will forever be trapped in the cycle of making money, paying taxes and living for themselves.~
"Then... Then what will happen to the Kazekage position?" Chiyo asked.
"There will never be another Kazekage." With a big and simple smile, he replied. Chiyo felt horrified, realising that this was the death of her village, and she had a part in it.
Shiroken saw the fear on her old face and changed the topic, "Lady Chiyo, tell me about your grandson? How did he turn to the dark side? I expected a lady as wise as you would be good at cultivating your grandson to be better."
Chiyo\'s eyes became sad and long lost pain reappeared. The memories she had tried to suppress resurfaced. "It was because of that damn Konoha. It was because of that Sakumo Hatake. He killed my son and daughter, making Sasori an orphan."
Shiroken was surprised that this old woman had so much hatred in her mind. For Konoha that is. ~Konoha never seems to disappoint.~
"When were they killed?" He asked.
"The Second Shinobi War," she replied.
Shiroken shrugged at this, "Well, it was war, what did you expect? That flowers will rain and rainbows will bring down gold to your village? As I said to you in the Daimyo Palace, the problems of Sunagakure are all because of war."
She barked back. "YOU DON\'T KNOW ANYTHING! You weren\'t there. If we do not start wars, if we are all bark with no bite, then our enemies, Konoha, would get ambitious and start harming our interests. Peace can only work if everyone agrees to it, us becoming peaceful alone, will only make us weaker."
Shiroken wholeheartedly agreed with her. This was his own ideology, and that was why he was doing all this. Taking over the world was just the first step, beating them into submission and peace was the next.
"I understand you, Lady Chiyo. Peace can only be long-lived if everyone adheres to it. But, why did your grandson become so violent after that?" He asked.
"Love, or the lack of it. Sasori grew up in a sad and lonely environment due to the absence of parental love. So, I introduced him to the art of puppetry, and he loved it. I was happy to see him become a little happier. But, then he became so good at the art that one day he made puppets that looked like his parents.
"However, he soon realised that the puppets can\'t give him the actual love that he desired. Because of this, he became cold, aloof and started to disregard human life. He claimed that his heart had become like his puppet body: without any emotions. From then, Sasori didn\'t have any loyalty to his village, as he defected to pursue personal interests. This is his story, and I doubt he will ever return to me, as he has already told me he cares not about whether I live or die." She was on the verge of tears.
*Sigh* Shiroken passed her a glass of water. "Truly, nobody is born a monster, situations forces people to turn into such. Having those you love be taken away from you can be very painful, I understand that. His longing to feel loved, I can understand that. The best thing we can do for Sasori right now is to stop him, because the more he lives, the more he will drift away from his humanity, which will hurt him even more."
Chiyo felt a chill run down her body, "This... I know you are right."
"Okay, let\'s stop being gloomy. The food has arrived, the sacks will be handed over orderly to the people. The village is divided into 10 districts for that. Seriously, you have a population of 40,000 and still call this a village? I believe each Hidden Village should be called Hidden City at this point." He complained. He had to do so much work to create a better governance model because of this.
Chiyo found herself agreeing to his comment. Indeed, the village was more like a city.
*Knock Knock*
"Lord Chief Executive, the 5 administrators from the Dama Country have arrived." Shisui notified him.
"Good, send them in, Lady Chiyo, please go and tell the people that the food is here and they don\'t need to worry." he sent her away.
The 5 people entered and bowed to him. They were all from the Nidama clan. He knew two of them personally as they were very old people from the old Dama Village.
However, Shiroken was surprised to see Monari was there too. "What are you doing here?"
"I was bored in the village, and Jin has work every single day, so I decided to do something here. Here, Shirajin, say hello." She held her son in her arms.
Shirajin looked around at the muddy coloured office and it reminded him of something. Everything was new to him at this point. But, he was already 2-year-old so he could speak to some degree.
"POOPY!"
However, this word was PTSD inducing for Shiroken. The smile disappeared from his face and he asked, "What? I am Uncle Shiro."
Shirajin looked at Shiroken and blurted, "POOPY HOUSE!"
"KEKEKE..." All of a sudden a small monkey jumped into the bag Monari was carrying and jumped onto Shiroken\'s shoulder, then he hugged his face.
Shiroken chuckled, "Oh, aren\'t you the little monkey I mistakenly summoned? Why didn\'t you return?"
"He didn\'t know how to. So I kept him. His name is Momo." Monari explained.
"POOPY MOMO!" Shirajin all of a sudden pointed, probably because Momo also had muddy coloured fur.
Shiroken\'s eye twitched, "THAT\'S IT! I\'M GONNA PAINT THE WHOLE VILLAGE! Shisui, go and post the job notification."
"Pfft... hahaha..." Monari laughed holding her stomach.
_________________
[Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn]
PAINT ME WITH YOUR STONES!
__________________
(Advised you don\'t join right now as there are only 25 chapters. I Will be uploading more soon.) You can read 30 Advanced chapters at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.
Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*
Thank you for your support!