Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 271 The Grand Commander Only Collects 9% of the Tax
These merchants, being ordinary citizens, would only undergo a simple chakra check upon entry and be allowed to pass after confirming they were not ninjas. However, the merchants from the Land of Fire, who had received advance notice, did not seem particularly welcoming to these outsiders.

Merchants led by Gato who invested in Konoha back when the Land of Fire moved its capital have reaped the benefits of the new capital's development in recent years. Although 7% of their earnings are subject to taxes or require them to use the money to support the Land of Fire's economy, the increased profits have made them earn far more than before. The major merchants from the Land of Lightning, who previously had reservations about Uchiha Touko due to taxation issues, have also shifted their business focus to the Land of Fire after tasting success in the past two years.

Moreover, after Uchiha Touko led Konoha to a great victory in a special military operation against the Land of Lightning, these merchants who were among the first to come to Konoha felt a strong sense of security.

After all, doing business in the ninja world is quite dangerous. The ninjas of the great ninja villages will abide by the rules, but rogue ninjas and wandering ninjas will often rob their businesses. However, ever since Uchiha Tokō severely injured the Hidden Cloud Village in the battle, when they hire Konoha ninjas to protect their caravans, they don't even need to lift a finger. The Konoha headbands are enough to deter many petty villains in the ninja world.

Now, faced with the merchants from the Land of Lightning who are transferring cash over, they have spontaneously banded together to try to stop the influx of this capital.

After all, although the Land of Fire has a huge cake to offer, who would want someone else to take a slice of the cake that's already in their mouth?

However, they also knew that their opinions were worthless in front of Uchiha Toko, the Hokage and Minister of State whose power was almost limitless. Therefore, they could only send representatives to request Uchiha Toko not to let these people in.

Soon, Gato was chosen by this group and brought to Uchiha Touko's office.

"Lord Hokage, this is a Snow Mountain Rock Tea from the Land of Snow, sent to you by Koji Kinoshita, the president of the Kinoshita Group. Since the geothermal facilities in the Land of Snow started operating these past two years, the production of this tea has been decreasing. This year, only this much was produced. That guy spent a fortune at the auction and asked me to bring it to you." As soon as Gato entered the office, he placed the various bags at the door and took out several exquisite gifts. "And this is this. This is a new type of tea that I've had cultivated on an island I leased near the Land of Water. However, I'll need your feedback after you've tasted it and can offer some guidance on how to improve it."

“Keep the new tea leaves you cultivated, and take the rest back later. The price of that Snow Mountain Rock Tea is almost 350 million per tael, right? It wouldn’t look good if others knew I was drinking this kind of tea,” Uchiha Touko said, gesturing for Kado to sit down on the sofa.

After Kado sat down on the sofa, he conscientiously lit the stove and boiled water for Uchiha Touko before speaking, "What are you saying, Hokage? Do you think I don't know what kind of person Kinoshita Koji is? He's just a nouveau riche who got rich thanks to the reforms of our Land of Fire. In your hands, this tea is something to appreciate, but in his hands, it's a complete waste. As a master of tea ceremony in our Land of Fire, you certainly wouldn't want such good things to be wasted, so please accept it."

"I really can't do anything with you. This is the last time." Uchiha Touko shook his head helplessly and said.

To be honest, although Uchiha Touko loved drinking tea, he only learned a little about tea ceremony when he first started out, and then he figured it out on his own. But even so, the higher-ups in the Land of Fire are now saying that Uchiha Touko is the tea master with the highest tea ceremony skills in the Land of Fire.

Uchiha Touko picked out the tea leaves that Gado had brought, brewed them, and took a sip.

"How is it, Hokage? Does the tea I had cultivated suit your taste?" Kado asked expectantly.

You should know that this tea was specially selected and cultivated by him. This tea requires a lot of sunshine and rain, so Gato spent a lot of money to buy an isolated island in the southern part of the Land of Water and then had someone take care of it. Wasn't he doing all this to satisfy Uchiha Touko?

"Hmm, not bad, you've put in the effort." Uchiha Touko nodded at the other party.

"Hehe, I'm glad you're satisfied." Kado smiled when he saw that Uchiha Touko was pleased.

"Speak, what brings you here in such a grand manner?" Uchiha Touko put down his teacup and asked.

"Well, thanks to the Hokage's guidance, aren't I now the president of the Fire Country's Business Association?" Having worked under Uchiha Touko for years, Gato knew that Uchiha Touko wasn't the type to waste time on trivial matters, so he got down to business. "We've heard that recently, due to the oppressive policies of the Lightning Country, many businessmen have brought capital into the Fire Country. I wonder how Your Hokage plans to deal with them?"

“I’ve heard about this too,” Uchiha Touko said. “However, as you probably know, I’m not very knowledgeable about business. I’d like to hear your opinion on this matter.”

"Your Excellency Hokage, you are sometimes too modest. With your understanding of business acumen, if you hadn't become a ninja, you would undoubtedly be the richest person in the ninja world." Kado first flattered Uchiha Touko before continuing, "However, according to the Fire Country Business Association, no one really wants these people to join. They nominated me to come to your office to express their wishes to you. But personally, I still think that this kind of thing can only be decided by Your Excellency Hokage."

"Is that so?" Uchiha Touko said with a half-smile. "Then what if I said I planned to let this group of merchants from the Land of Lightning in?"

“Of course, we will follow your wishes and the opinions of the Chamber of Commerce. I will appease them for you. If there are any individuals who react strongly, I will also help you deal with them,” Kado hurriedly said.

"Can you tell me why you don't want them to enter our Land of Fire?" After hearing Gato's declaration of loyalty, Uchiha Touko nodded in satisfaction before asking the question.

“It’s like this, Hokage. As you know, although the development of Konoha and the Land of Fire in recent years has relied heavily on your leadership, the members of the Business Federation also believe they have contributed to the construction of the Land of Fire. Now, these people, who previously disliked the Land of Fire’s high taxes and were unwilling to enter before Konoha’s development, want to come in and share the pie because of some external reasons. Naturally, everyone is dissatisfied,” Gato said. “Don’t worry, they won’t be able to get a share of your pie anytime soon,” Uchiha Touko stood up and patted Gato on the shoulder. “I have seen the contributions your Business Federation has made to the Land of Fire in the past two years, so I will not forget your contributions to the country.”

"However, the Land of Lightning has now forced these people to abandon their established businesses and come here with only cash to invest. Out of humanitarian considerations, we cannot turn them away. Therefore, in order to protect your interests, I have decided that if they want to do business in my Land of Fire, their business will be subject to a 9% tax rate for the first 10 years," Uchiha Touko said with a smile. "With such a tax rate, if they want to make money, they can only try to find new avenues to operate, rather than trying to squeeze into the industries you have been cultivating for years and compete with you for a share of the profits."

"Huh? Ninety percent? Will they come?" Kado was startled when he heard Uchiha Toko's words. They currently pay 70% tax, which can guarantee that their industry will grow at a rate of about 30% per year. Uchiha Toko has raised the tax rate to 90%. Won't that scare them away?
"Who knows? The policy is right there. Whether they come or not is their own decision. Besides, if they are scared off by this tax rate, wouldn't that be exactly what you wanted?" Uchiha Touko said with a smile.

“Okay, so I’ll just go back and tell the people at the Business Federation like this?” Kado asked.

"Go!" Uchiha Touko waved his hand, indicating that Gato could leave.

When Uchiha Touko's policy was announced, the members of the Business Federation breathed a sigh of relief. In their opinion, the 90% tax was just an excuse to keep this group of people out. The Hokage still remembered their contributions!
However, to their surprise, 80% of these merchants who had fled the Land of Lightning gritted their teeth and accepted the 90% tax rate, and began to set up businesses in the Land of Fire.

This was not unexpected by Uchiha Tokō. After all, the businessmen of the Business Federation were unaware of the specific information within the Land of Lightning, and they did not know why this group of people were so desperately trying to escape.

The Land of Lightning, which has been rushing headlong down the path of militarism, simply robbed these people of their industries. After taking their property, they forcibly converted their factories into military factories to produce ninja tools and other war equipment.

At first, they naturally wouldn't sit idly by and wait for their doom. They had cultivated deep roots in the Land of Lightning for many years and naturally had some official support. However, after waiting for two days, they discovered that the Land of Lightning was now ruled by the Raikage, who was also the Grand Minister of State.

Those who took the lead in using official power to try to stop the Raikage from seizing their property were killed along with their entire families. The Cloud Village ninjas even hung the corpses of these people's entire families at the entrance of the Land of Lightning's Commercial Association, which terrified the group of merchants. Otherwise, they would not have fled overnight with their cash.

You should know that before this, these merchants from the Land of Lightning had mocked the Land of Fire for being such easy targets, actually paying 7% of their taxes.

But now it seems that compared to the Raikage, Uchiha Tokō is much better. Although he pays high taxes, at least he is reasonable.

So, at this moment, faced with the Land of Fire's offer of 90% tax revenue, everyone gritted their teeth and accepted it. After all, Commander-in-Chief Uchiha Tokō only wanted to collect 90% of the tax, but the Raikage behind him wanted to kill the whole family!
As for other countries, the Land of Water is not a suitable place to invest right now. The market in the south is already almost completely divided up by merchants from the Konoha faction. As for the north, who in the entire ninja world doesn't know that General Mei Terumi in the north is the Land of Lightning's most steadfast partner? Going to the north is simply suicide!
As for the Land of Earth, let's put it this way: if the ninja world had a credit system, Onoki and A's creditworthiness would be about the same. They were the kind of people who, in Uchiha Touko's previous life, would have to pay a 99-dollar deposit to borrow a lighter from someone at the village entrance. Having just escaped from the jaws of death, how could they dare to gamble that the Land of Earth might be the next den of wolves?
Therefore, Konoha is actually their only option right now. At least Uchiha Tokō's attitude towards merchants who are willing to make money under his rules is the most generous among all the major countries in the ninja world. Moreover, the tax only needs to be paid for ten years, right? After ten years, they may still have a chance to make a comeback.

After these merchants entered Konoha, they took their funds and began investing in the Land of Fire, which led to the development of some of the poorer areas in the Land of Fire.

After dealing with these matters, news came from Jiraiya that Naruto had resumed his journey after visiting the Tailed Beast Protection Area, and Sasuke had learned Snake Sage Mode and returned to Konoha in the past few days.

Meanwhile, Neji took advantage of being alone to complete the test specially set for him by Uchiha Touko and became a Jonin in the village.

The day after Neji became a Jonin, Uchiha Touko summoned Hyuga Hiashi to the Hokage's office.

"Lord Hokage, what are your orders?" After entering the office, Hiashi Hyuga greeted Touko Uchiha and then asked.

“It’s like this. The Land of Lightning has been making a lot of moves lately. To guard against them, I plan to send another force between the border garrisons of the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields to connect the border garrisons of the two countries,” said Uchiha Tokō. “And after thinking it over, it seems that the only person in the village who is capable and qualified to lead this force is you, the clan chief of Hiashi.”

"Since it is the Hokage's order, then I will certainly live up to the Hokage's trust," said Hiashi Hyuga.

"It's good that Clan Chief Hiashi has this awareness," Uchiha Touko said with a smile. "However, once Clan Chief Hiashi goes to the border, what will happen to the clan's affairs? The Hyuga clan is different from Inuzuka and Aburame. It is the second largest clan in the village after our Uchiha clan. There are many daily affairs, which is why I hesitated. After all, we can't let national affairs interfere with your Hyuga clan's family affairs."

Upon hearing this, Hiashi Hyuga understood why Touko Uchiha had come to him today. Now that Neji had grown up, it was time for this old man to step down.

(End of this chapter)