Chapter 322: A Few Meals, That's All. Konoha Can Afford to Feed Them!

After quite some time, the emotions in the room gradually settled down under the efforts of Namikaze Minato, Shikaku Nara, and the others.

Uchiha Ren then continued, "Everyone, rest assured. Since we've brought the problem up, naturally, we're going to solve it!"

After a brief pause, his tone became somewhat solemn.

"Before that, however, I'd like to ask everyone a question. You all know that the Konoha Orphanage exists, right?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback. Some were puzzled as to why Uchiha Ren had suddenly brought up the orphanage.

However, quite a few people who knew about the Konoha Orphanage and understood what it did showed looks of admiration.

Uchiha Ren continued, "Although the Konoha Orphanage bears the name 'Konoha,' it is actually a privately operated organization."

"Unlike the Orphan Support Program, which takes in the orphans of fallen heroes, most of the children housed in the Konoha Orphanage come from ordinary civilian families!"

"Some of these children are from Konoha, some are from various parts of the Land of Fire, and some don't even have a known place of origin."

After a pause, Uchiha Ren glanced at the people below, whose expressions had become complicated, and continued:

"I know that some of you may not feel particularly strongly about this. After all, these children's parents never made any contribution to the village, and these children may not make any significant contribution to the village in the future either."

"But you must understand that the very people responsible for leaving these children homeless and forcing them to wander from place to place are the great villages like ours that have spent all these years fighting one another!"

Uchiha Ren's words were not pleasant to hear, and quite a few people present frowned.

Uchiha Ren shook his head slightly and continued:

"I know some of you may want to say that it was never Konoha that started these wars. Konoha itself has suffered tremendously because of them!"

As he said this, Uchiha Ren gave Tsunade a meaningful glance, leaving her completely bewildered.

However, Uchiha Ren had no intention of explaining himself, nor could he possibly explain.

After all, he couldn't exactly tell Tsunade that one of her actions had directly destroyed an entire village because of a statement like this.

Uchiha Ren continued:

"In the vast majority of wars in the past, Konoha indeed entered the fighting defensively. But in order to avoid suffering greater losses ourselves, we often pushed the battlefront elsewhere and shifted the damage onto other regions. Konoha has done plenty of that as well!"

"So, in the eyes of those small countries, the great nations that started wars are certainly hateful. But the great nations that shifted the devastation onto them are just as hateful!"

After a pause, Uchiha Ren sighed.

"I'm not saying this to assign blame. After all, from Konoha's own standpoint, there was nothing inherently wrong with doing what was necessary to protect ourselves."

"What I'm saying is this: Since there are people willing to step forward and try to repair this broken world, can't we lend them a helping hand as long as doing so doesn't harm the village's interests?"

Uchiha Ren's words left many people in the conference room with complicated expressions.

To be honest, their different positions allowed them to act without feeling guilty about many things. But it was impossible for them to have absolutely no feelings or remorse about the suffering their actions had caused.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people in this world pursuing "peace" in one form or another, nor would so many people yearn for "peace."

Therefore, if they could help others without harming their own interests—or even their fundamental interests—then perhaps lending a hand was not unacceptable.

Namikaze Minato also took the opportunity to ask, "Then, Elder Uchiha, may I ask what you have in mind?"

Uchiha Ren had already prepared his proposal and answered immediately:

"First, the Konoha Orphanage already has a mature system for caring for children who have lost their parents. What it lacks now is simply manpower and funding."

"The Orphan Support Program, on the other hand, lacks neither manpower nor money. What it lacks is a mechanism for caring for the 'older' children between four and six years old."

"So my proposal is to merge the Konoha Orphanage with the Orphan Support Program and officially bring the Konoha Orphanage under the village's system!"

Uchiha Ren's words immediately plunged the entire conference room into silence.

Most people frowned and remained silent.

Although Uchiha Ren had made the proposal sound simple, everyone keenly noticed that the matter was far from that straightforward.

The most immediate question was whether, after the Konoha Orphanage and the Orphan Support Program were merged, the orphans from the orphanage would receive the same treatment as the orphans of fallen heroes.

That would not be a small expense!

More importantly, the orphans in the Konoha Orphanage had brought no benefits to Konoha Village. In the eyes of many people, they naturally had no right to enjoy such benefits.

On a subconscious level, the people present had never truly regarded those orphans as "one of their own."

Uchiha Ren had naturally taken this into consideration, so he immediately explained:

"Of course, even after merging the Konoha Orphanage with the Orphan Support Program, the orphans of fallen heroes and other orphans will still receive different levels of support!"

"After the merger, the Konoha Orphanage will only be responsible for providing these children with food, clothing, housing, daily necessities, and preschool education. It will not be responsible for anything beyond that!"

"Orphans of fallen heroes will begin receiving their allowances at the age of six. Their parents paid for that privilege with their lives, so there is nothing more to discuss."

"While they continue receiving their monthly allowances, the Konoha Orphanage will also provide them with meals until they graduate from the Ninja Academy!"

"Of course, these children can choose to leave the orphanage and live independently, or arrange their own meals elsewhere."

"The Konoha Orphanage merely exists to provide them with a safety net, ensuring that they don't have to worry about basic survival."

"As for the other orphans, all they will receive is a full meal!"

"Likewise, the Konoha Orphanage will not care for them forever. At the latest, they will be required to leave the Konoha Orphanage when they turn twelve!"

"This way, the village won't have to spend too much on the program."

In other places, twelve-year-olds would still be children in need of care.

But in this world, twelve was the age at which students graduated from the Ninja Academy and officially became shinobi. Even children from ordinary civilian families generally began becoming independent around that age.

Uchiha Ren had therefore chosen this age based on the realities of the shinobi world.

After hearing Uchiha Ren's explanation, the expressions of everyone in the conference room gradually relaxed.

If all it meant was providing a few children with a full meal, they could accept that.

Besides, how much could a few children possibly eat?

Namikaze Minato also noticed the change in everyone's expressions. Knowing that the timing was right, he spoke up:

"Everyone, I think Elder Uchiha's proposal is quite good. It would accomplish two things at once."

"Besides, even if the orphans from the Konoha Orphanage don't become shinobi when they grow up, they can still contribute to the village in other ways."

"Konoha is the foremost great village in the shinobi world. We should have the magnanimity expected of a great village. It's only a few children. Konoha can certainly afford to raise them!"

"Then it's settled!"

"Effective immediately, the Konoha Orphanage will officially become part of Konoha Village and will be placed under the administration of the Administrative Department!"

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