"Lord Clan Leader, please judge this fairly." An Uzu-nin walked away angrily, his face filled with rage as he spoke.
"Lord Hibiki is not assigning any personnel to us at all. All the other squads have them, so why is our Coal Burning Squad the only one without any?"
"Don't you know we are severely understaffed?"
The Clan Leader put down the documents in his hands, looked up, and said, "I remember a batch of people was already assigned to you last time during the glass production. How can you still be short on manpower?"
"It's because the clan elders successfully developed the furnace and asked us to test its effectiveness." The Uzu-nin said. "So we've already started working on the cement and brick production methods left by Lord Jun."
"Oh? Is that so?" The Clan Elder rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking troubled as he asked, "Didn't Jun suggest having ninjas directly create the bricks?"
He also remembered Jun mentioning this before. It seemed that once everything stabilized, the nation's construction would begin.
"There are too few earth-nature ninjas." The Uzu-nin sighed and said.
"Earth-nature ninjas are needed almost everywhere, so Lord Jun suggested producing some bricks first and having them start building houses during the winter."
Hearing the Uzu-nin's explanation, the Clan Leader also felt helpless.
The Uzumaki Clan's primary affinities are water and wind natures, so earth-nature ninjas…
For such a large-scale project, their numbers are practically a drop in the bucket!
"What did Hibiki say?" The Clan Elder asked.
"Lord Hibiki said to let them first get accustomed to the lifestyle in Uzushiogakure." The Uzu-nin said indignantly.
"After they've adapted, another batch will be assigned to us. But…"
"Can't they just adapt while working in the coal-burning area?"
"..."
The Clan Leader looked at the Uzu-nin speechlessly, sighed, and said helplessly, "If Hibiki arranged it this way, there must be a reason for it."
"Don't worry, there will be more people later. Your department will definitely get its share."
"Then…" The Uzu-nin's face broke into a cheerful smile. "What about now?"
"Follow Hibiki's arrangements!"
"Yes!" Hearing the Clan Leader's stern tone, the Uzu-nin could only respond helplessly. It seemed there was no way to get more people this time. What a shame. The subordinates were all complaining—too much work, too few people, and they simply couldn't keep up!
Watching the Uzu-nin leave, the Clan Leader smiled and shook his head, then…
"It's going to be a busy time ahead." Looking at the pile of documents on his desk, he sighed helplessly.
...
"Take this." Yasunaka Yosh took out a stack of cards and said.
"Each of you, take the one with your name on it. This is your temporary residence permit. If you want to stay in Uzushiogakure later, you can apply for a Uzushiogakure ID card."
Temporary residence permit? ID card?
After washing up, all the refugees looked somewhat more spirited. They took the small cards handed to them by their squad leader in confusion. They remembered being arranged to apply for temporary residence permits earlier—was this the small card?
They also recalled that they seemed to have dripped a drop of blood onto it…
Yasunaka Yosh looked at the group of refugees cheerfully, a sense of pride welling up in his heart. After all, they were people who ate three meals a day!
They even had benefits on holidays!!
But what about these refugees?
"Don't worry. Coming to Uzushiogakure means your good days are here." Yasunaka Yosh sighed and said. "We in Uzushiogakure won't deceive you poor folks!"
"Besides, becoming a citizen of Uzushiogakure isn't that easy."
"Then…" The refugees pointed at themselves, confused. "What do you need us to do?"
"Our squad's tasks won't be too heavy." Yasunaka Yosh said. "We just need to move trees. But everyone must be diligent…"
"If the weekly evaluation shows insufficient progress…" Yasunaka Yosh narrowed his eyes at them and didn't finish his sentence.
"Will we be beaten?" A refugee timidly raised his hand and asked. "Will we be killed?"
"Haha!" Yasunaka Yosh laughed and said. "Of course not. You'll just be criticized. Don't worry. Ever since Lord Jun established the laws, Uzushiogakure has been governed by them. Whether civilians or ninjas, everyone must abide by the law."
"As long as you don't commit serious offenses, there won't be any problems."
"Of course, the supervisors and managers will give you dirty looks. Also, this will affect your contribution rating to Uzushiogakure. If you want to join Uzushiogakure later, your contributions will be taken into account."
"Then…" Another refugee raised his hand and asked. "Are you a ninja, sir?"
"Ninja sir?" Yasunaka Yosh froze for a moment, pointed at himself, and said. "Are you talking about me?"
"Yes!" The refugee nodded.
"Haha, of course not!" Yasunaka Yosh laughed, a nostalgic look on his face. "If Lord Jun hadn't appeared, we'd probably be just like you."
The refugees looked at him in confusion.
However…
"Never mind, never mind." Yasunaka Yosh said cheerfully. "You must all be hungry now. Let's go eat first. In the afternoon, I'll take you to familiarize yourselves with the work process."
"And remember, you must eat your fill. Eat as much as you can, because the work will be exhausting. But…"
"You absolutely must not waste food."
...
"Lady Consort." An Uzu-nin led a group of children and said respectfully to the red-haired woman before him. "These are the orphans from this batch, thirteen in total."
"Mm." Uzumaki Meirin glanced at the children and smiled. Then, looking at the Uzu-nin, she asked. "How is Jun? Is he eating enough? Is he warm? Is anyone bullying him?"
"..." Cold sweat broke out on the Uzu-nin's forehead. How could someone as powerful as Lord Jun possibly be bullied? Seeing the Consort's anxious expression, he hurriedly said.
"No, Lord Jun is doing perfectly fine."
"That's good, that's good!" Uzumaki Meirin's heart finally relaxed. Her child was only seven years old, yet he had to travel so far away. She said angrily.
"It's all his father's fault. Useless. Wandering around all day with the blueprints Jun left behind, saying he'll build the most beautiful house in the world."
"Doesn't he realize whose blueprints they are? Of course they're beautiful!"
The Uzu-nin quickly pretended not to hear and lowered his head. After the Consort finished venting, he hurriedly said.
"There's also this little girl. Lord Jun said to arrange for her to receive medical-nin training."
"..." Uzumaki Meirin looked at the skinny, malnourished blonde girl and asked in confusion.
"Did Jun specifically request this?"
The Uzu-nin felt an uneasy premonition as two red-haired girls behind the Consort stared at him sharply. But he still steeled himself and said. "Yes!"
"If that's the case." Uzumaki Meirin nodded. "I'll arrange it properly."
Though she didn't fully understand what her child intended, she trusted Jun deeply. After all, he had been very sensible since childhood and never gave her any reason to worry.
"Then I shall take my leave." The Uzu-nin quickly said, preparing to slip away. The atmosphere…
Was far too strange!!
"Fine, fine." Uzumaki Meirin waved her hand impatiently. "Go ahead! We have other matters to attend to!"
"Yes!!"
...
Land of Fire…
Uzumaki Jun was unaware of the events unfolding in Uzushiogakure. At the moment, he was traveling with Kai and a Konoha-nin on the road to Konoha.
Since the refugee recruitment was proceeding smoothly and his presence wasn't strictly necessary, he decided to visit Konoha before returning to focus on nation-building.
"We'll arrive in half a day." The Konoha-nin scanned the surroundings and said. "We're about to enter Konoha's…"
However, before the Konoha chunin could finish speaking…
"Boom!!!"