Natsuro had expected the meeting to be troublesome. He had prepared to argue with the advisors for a long time and, if necessary, rely on his strength to force decisions through.
However, to his surprise, the meeting proceeded unexpectedly smoothly!
In fact, the only issues raised were from Tsunade, and they were ones that Natsuro and Shikaku Nara had already anticipated beforehand.
Shikaku quickly and flawlessly addressed her concerns.
As a result, most of the proposals were passed, and the few that weren't were ones they had already predicted would face resistance.
Natsuro couldn't help but glance at Shikaku and noticed he didn't seem surprised at all, as if he had foreseen this outcome.
Leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples, Natsuro sighed, realizing once again that he was still too young and inexperienced.
"I didn't expect it to go so smoothly," Natsuro said with a hint of amazement.
"Most of the proposals are in their favor, after all," Shikaku replied calmly.
"I know." Natsuro nodded. But even if the proposals benefited everyone involved, in his past life, he suspected such a meeting would still drag on for half a day, and some proposals might even fail.
"Well, let's call it a day. You've worked hard today, Shikaku," Natsuro said, expressing his gratitude.
Since he had just taken office, there was a lot to handle all at once.
Without Shikaku's assistance, Natsuro figured he'd be working late into the night to finish everything.
"It's my duty," Shikaku replied with a smile, stretching lazily.
Compared to his son, Shikamaru, Shikaku was more mature, but he shared the same aversion to trouble.
These past few days had been exhausting for him, so finally getting off work on time felt like a small victory. He planned to grab a drink with his two old friends to celebrate.
With these proposals passed, not only would Natsuro's workload lighten considerably, but Shikaku's duties as his secretary would also become much more manageable.
After Shikaku left, Natsuro headed to the warehouse. Greeting the ninja on guard, he walked inside.
"So, these are the legendary Hashirama Cells," Natsuro murmured, looking at the container before him with a sense of awe.
Even though they were just cells, Natsuro could still sense the extraordinary vitality within them. The First Hokage might be long dead, but his cells were very much alive.
With sufficient nutrients, these cells could theoretically survive indefinitely.
Natsuro couldn't help but think that in this regard, the First Hokage was inferior to Orochimaru. If it were Orochimaru, he would have likely planted contingency measures in all of his cells.
Cells like these could withstand such measures, meaning Orochimaru could potentially resurrect himself as long as his cells remained intact, a truly absurd ability.
Natsuro was reminded of a certain character from another story, a magician who could transfer his consciousness into spare puppets upon death, achieving a similar effect.
It seemed appropriate to crown such individuals as "Masters of Survival."
Shaking off his musings, Natsuro took out a portion of the Hashirama Cells, carefully packed them, and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to deliver them to his original self.
That's right, Natsuro wasn't the original. He was merely a shadow clone, albeit a very powerful one.
To be precise, he was a Sage Spirit Shadow Clone.
Natsuro didn't feel much different from his original self. The presence of Sage Chakra allowed this shadow clone to be both durable and formidable. The Spirit Transformation Technique kept his consciousness constantly connected with the original.
This was why Natsuro felt confident leaving the administrative tasks to his shadow clone. A regular shadow clone might dissipate when its chakra ran out, which could be awkward if subordinates witnessed it, giving the impression that the Hokage was slacking off.
Although they wouldn't say anything outright, they might start using shadow clones for their own tasks.
But could their clones compare to Natsuro's?
His Sage Spirit Shadow Clone could persist indefinitely unless subjected to serious injury. Could they achieve that?
After all, Natsuro had long since mastered freely converting natural energy and chakra. The cost of maintaining a shadow clone was negligible for him.
A bit of natural energy was all it took to replenish the chakra consumed. For Natsuro, the only limitation on his shadow clone was mental energy.
The Spirit Transformation Technique perfectly solved this issue, and Sage Chakra enhanced the clone's durability.
Apart from lacking real flesh and blood, Natsuro's Sage Spirit Shadow Clone was nearly indistinguishable from the original.
Most importantly, their consciousness was synchronized in real-time, eliminating any risk of betrayal. Could he betray himself? The thought was absurd.
Of course, the clone wasn't without its flaws. Since their consciousness was linked, any mental fatigue was shared between them.
If Natsuro's soul weren't strong enough, he wouldn't be able to sustain this kind of setup. This meant that he was probably the only person capable of using shadow clones in this way, even Naruto, who mastered the use of shadow clones, couldn't replicate it.
After registering the items he took with the guard ninja, Natsuro left the warehouse.
This was one of the privileges of being Hokage: access to Konoha's resources.
Of course, even the Hokage couldn't take too much at once.
For example, the Third Hokage couldn't have embezzled Konoha's resources to raise an army of 3,000 Sarutobi soldiers. That was simply impossible.
Naruto's ninja registration number barely exceeded 10,000. Considering the high mortality rate of ninja, how many active and combat-ready ninja could Konoha have by Naruto's generation? Half would already be a generous estimate.
From the manga, we know all these ninja wore Konoha headbands, indicating they were officially registered.
So, among a few thousand ninja, was it plausible that 3,000 of them belonged to the Sarutobi clan? Obviously not.
In fact, it was doubtful whether the entire Sarutobi clan even had 3,000 members to begin with.
...
"Natsuro, you're back."
As Natsuro walked into his house, he saw Tsunade sitting there, sipping tea. She greeted him as soon as she saw him.
Of course, Shizune was by her side, as usual.
Natsuro paused at the sight of Tsunade and asked, "Why is Tsunade-sensei here?"
"Of course, I'm here to demand an explanation!" Tsunade's expression turned serious.
"Huh?" Natsuro was even more puzzled and sat down across from her at the table.
"You brat! If you had proposals like these, why didn't you bring them up when I was still Hokage?!" Tsunade slammed the table, her voice loud.
"If you'd proposed them earlier, I wouldn't have had such a hard time when I was Hokage!"
Natsuro froze for a moment.
"Sorry, Lord Natsuro, I couldn't stop Lady Tsunade..." Shizune apologized from the side.
"Why are you apologizing? Speak up!" Tsunade said, pointing her finger at him.
Natsuro noticed the blush on Tsunade's face and glanced at her cup. It was then he realized, it probably wasn't tea she was drinking but... sake?
"Tsunade-sensei, you're drunk," Natsuro said.
"I'm not drunk!" Tsunade's face flushed slightly as she glared at Natsuro with a look that was far from intimidating. "Hurry up and tell me why!"
"It's simple, because you weren't strong enough," Natsuro replied directly after thinking for a moment.
"What? I'm one of the Legendary Sannin!" Tsunade said, clearly not buying it.
"But even within Konoha, there are still those who could rival or even defeat you," Natsuro said.
"And what does that have to do with the proposal?" Tsunade, feeling a bit muddled, asked again.
"It has everything to do with it. Only sufficient strength can support the decentralization of power," Natsuro said, looking out the window as he continued.
"In this world, the fundamental rule is still the supremacy of strength. I have the strength to ensure that even if others have power, they wouldn't dare defy me."
He then looked back at Tsunade, who was slightly tipsy.
"But if Tsunade-sensei had implemented this 'proposal,' your orders could have been obstructed at every turn. That's why I didn't bring it up back then. And it's also the main reason I didn't want to take the Hokage position at the time."
Back then, Natsuro didn't have the strength to make the people of Konoha obey him without question.
"So, if you're strong, you don't need to centralize power. But if you're weak, you have no choice but to centralize power to keep things running smoothly," Tsunade said, finally understanding.
"That's about right," Natsuro nodded. When he took the Hokage position, he had displayed immense strength. Otherwise, why would he have gone to such lengths to kill Danzo?
Why else would he have used Sage Art: Kirin multiple times, even though it wasn't strictly necessary?
It was all to show the clans of Konoha his overwhelming power. At the same time, he had to ensure Danzo didn't resort to the Reverse Four Symbols Seal, which had made the situation more exhausting.
"I see," Tsunade said, looking at Natsuro with a complicated expression. She felt his path was very similar to her grandfather's.
No wonder she had found his approach familiar. However, unlike her grandfather, who delegated most tasks to her granduncle, Natsuro chose to decentralize power instead.
"But doesn't this leave a mess for future Hokage to deal with?" Tsunade suddenly realized. If future Hokage lacked extraordinary strength, they would struggle with the decentralized power structure.
"Don't worry, it won't be a problem. The future Hokage won't be weak, and the essential powers will still remain centralized. It won't be a big issue," Natsuro said, thinking of Naruto and possibly Sasuke as future Hokage.
"Besides, if a future Hokage can't handle even this level of difficulty, then they don't deserve to be Hokage."
"Let's hope so," Tsunade said, sobering up a bit and nodding in agreement with Natsuro's reasoning.
Suddenly, Tsunade sniffed the air, her eyes lighting up. It was as if she had completely forgotten the previous topic. "Shizune, bring the food!"
"Yes!"
Natsuro was stunned for a moment. So this wasn't really about demanding answers, it was just an excuse to mooch a meal!
Check out the patreon and get 55 chapters in advance -> SaintXI
Currently on Chapter 302 - The Cruel Price That One Must Pay