Chapter 8: The Ripple Effect of a Bridge
But these grand problems had little to do with Shenjin Youya. He wasn't the Hokage, so why should he rack his brains over them? Working tirelessly to help the First and Second Hokages develop Konoha without getting any tangible benefits for himself? Yuya would never accept that. He had a simple principle: no benefit, no early action.
Just like this time. Even though he knew the ten-plus kilograms of gold had to be handed over to avoid future complications, Youya still intended to extract some personal gain from the situation. The fact that the Second Hokage had taught him the Flying Thunder God Technique was unexpected. It was an incredibly difficult, yet immensely powerful jutsu. Still, after some thought, Youya felt he deserved a little something extra.
So, he approached Tobirama and expressed his desire to learn a taijutsu style. His target was naturally the Second Hokage's signature technique, the Shadow Clone. But you can't get fat with just one bite; he had to take it slow.
That is… time might be running out.
Speaking of which, there was one thing Shenjin Youya had never been able to figure out: How did Senju Hashirama die? Of an illness? Looking at the guy who happily trotted off to the gambling dens to toss away coins every day, he didn't seem like someone who was sick and on death's doorstep. If Youya hadn't been a transmigrator, and you told him the vibrant, energetic Senju Hashirama was destined for a short life, he would have sprayed you with a mouthful of salt soda in disbelief.
But to be honest, that was just a manga. Kishimoto was just a manga artist; what did he know about the real Naruto world? This was the real Naruto world. Because he was here now.
Puffing his chest out with that proud thought, Shenjin Youya then lowered his head and continued writing his next set of suggestions for Uchiha Kagami on the messenger hawk scroll.
Gathering the workforce was only the first step. The second step was the actual commencement of work. There was no need for a grand groundbreaking ceremony. When most people didn't have enough to eat, spending money on firecrackers for a bowl of bone soup wasn't realistic. What Youya cared about most was the work efficiency of these ordinary people once construction began.
Therefore, he instructed Uchiha Kagami to divide the workers into ten teams. The work completed by each team would be tallied by the team leader, who would then report the figures to Uchiha Kagami. Wages would be paid daily, based on the quality and quantity of work completed. This was a system Youya had learned from his past life, working on construction sites.
Hiring separate supervisors? That would likely only reduce efficiency further. So, it was better to be transparent: tell them the daily wage is fixed, but if the quality of your work isn't up to standard, money will be deducted. Of course, the deductions wouldn't be excessive. But given the current economic reality, where one hundred ryo could buy a pound of rice, these ordinary people would definitely be unwilling to lose even ten ryo a day.
Youya didn't believe in the inherent goodness of people's hearts, but he firmly believed in the power of self-interest. As long as these ordinary people could see and touch the immediate benefits in front of them, their motivation would persist until the day the bridge was completed. This was the second step: using profit to drive these people to work hard.
With these two steps, the bridge's construction was basically guaranteed. The rest concerned the broader impact of this collective action. For instance, maintaining village stability: Youya genuinely believed that distributing tens of millions of ryo in banknotes to a few Jonin was far less beneficial than providing several months' wages to hundreds of ordinary people.
Forget the high-minded theories; just in terms of value creation, when ordinary people get paid, they spend. They spend on daily necessities. Grain stores, vegetable vendors, clothing shops for new clothes, some might even splurge at a restaurant… the ripple effect involved far more than just the few hundred workers. Thousands of people could benefit indirectly.
Yes, it was the same money circulating, but how much collective happiness increased with each cycle? Not to mention, the village could collect taxes as this money flowed through Konoha's economy. After a few cycles, a portion of the funds would effectively return to the village.
But what about a few Jonin? What could they do? Eat at a barbecue restaurant? Buy more kunai and shuriken? While these were significant purchases, the crucial point was that they didn't create widespread happiness. The ninja tool shops existed to serve ninjas; they were never short of money (as Tenten's family business in the anime constantly reminded everyone). Barbecue restaurants were also luxury establishments, at least at this stage. Compared to enriching a few Jonin, Yuya felt it was far more meaningful to improve the lives of these ordinary people.
Although he had no interest in becoming Hokage and no grand ambitions of working himself to the bone for Konoha, if he could help these ordinary people, Yuya wouldn't refuse. It wasn't easy for ordinary people with no future to speak of in the world of Naruto. The entire Naruto manga focused on Naruto himself; the hundreds of thousands of ordinary residents of Konoha were barely mentioned. Yet, whether it was the Nine-Tails' attack or the later Chunin Exam invasion, the ones who suffered the most were always the ordinary people.
Youya stopped writing and sighed. It was so difficult for ordinary people to survive, and they were still exploited by Konoha Village. Every year, at least half of the food these ordinary people worked so hard to grow had to be handed over to Konoha as "reserve grain" for the ninjas. Even so, it was already considered a kindness to them. Because if they were allowed to keep it all, they might not starve, but they certainly wouldn't thrive. It was a pity that Konoha Village wasn't actually all that safe either…
Yuya lay back on the tatami, hands behind his head, and shook it. Why am I thinking about all this? I'm not the Hokage. Why bother?
…
What Shenjin Youya didn't know was that the suggestions he communicated to Uchiha Kagami via scroll were being implemented to the letter, without any compromise. Youya was acutely aware of his own situation: he was just a kid. It was impossible for anyone in Konoha to take a child's opinions seriously. Whether his suggestions were even adopted was one thing; their implementation was another matter entirely.
However, Uchiha Kagami, the sixth child in his family, lacked the arrogance typical of many Uchiha who believed they were the best in the world and everyone else was trash. He had no intention of making unilateral decisions. Coupled with the Second Hokage Tobirama deliberately concealing the true identity of the "advisor," Uchiha Kagami carried out every suggestion from his mysterious consultant without any deviation.
He even participated personally during the bridge's construction. Sometimes he would help with the labor, refusing any payment, and he acted as a peacemaker when disputes arose among the workers. As a ninja, the others naturally showed him respect.
The result of this was… astonishing progress.
Things proceeded so smoothly that both Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama were drawn to the site a week later. There was no other reason. The living conditions of the construction workers—who worked hard every day moving bricks, cutting stone, and assembling the bridge—were visibly improving at a remarkable pace.