Konoha Notes

Chapter 190 Same period
"It looks pretty good." Tsunade flipped through the plan in her hand. "Once the old man and the others have reviewed it, we can try to implement it."

Then she added, "Danzo has agreed to retire."

Shuji stood in front of his desk, seemingly unsurprised by the news, and asked, "How much did he hand over?"

Retirement is most likely just a pretext. Shuuji could figure this out, and Tsunade certainly understood it even better.

The goal is simply to escape the current situation of being constantly monitored by the secret agents.

But as long as he is willing to step down from his position as advisor and elder, and what he hands over is substantial enough, Tsunade really can't continue to make things difficult for him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two members of the advisory group will no longer stand idly by.

If we're really going to be strict about their contributions to Konoha over the decades, it's hard to say who deserves more credit than Danzo Shimura, given how long Tsunade had been neglecting the village.

“A list of Root spies planted outside,” Tsunade said calmly. “And the address of a secret warehouse containing intelligence files from over the years.”

"As for whether it's all of them..." She paused slightly, "it's impossible to confirm at the moment, but we can only stop here for now."

"Without his status as an advisor elder, he can no longer interfere in matters between the village and the Uchiha, at least on the surface."

"The other thing is the matter of Kirigakure."

Tsunade abruptly changed the subject, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. However, the information she received from Uchiha Enjin clearly indicated that Kirigakure was connected to 'Madara'.

But she was unsure how to deal with it.

Shuji looked at her, but instead of giving his opinion directly, he raised his hand and gently tapped his eyes with his finger.

Tsunade was taken aback for a moment: "Yagura Karatachi is a Jinchūriki who can use the power of a Tailed Beast..."

The reason for the speculation that the Mizukage was being controlled is precisely because the previous illogical harassment operations by Kirigakure could not have continued without the approval of the village's leader.

Then she muttered to herself, "But it's 'spotted' after all, so it's not impossible."

“Their willingness to make peace last year didn’t seem like a pretense,” Shuji finally spoke. “Their actions before and after were so contradictory that it’s possible that Kirigakure noticed the Mizukage’s abnormality and made adjustments accordingly.”

Obito's existence has been indirectly confirmed through Flame Blade's testimony, so Shuji no longer needs to hide his speculations about the whole matter.

"In that case, how to get along with them will be a troublesome matter."

"After all, the Mizukage is controlled by the Sharingan. Even if he chose peace out of a desire for recuperation, we don't know what will happen next."

The more she thought about it, the more troublesome it became, and she couldn't help but mutter a curse: "That wretched guy, he's always causing trouble for Konoha..."

Complaints aside, problems still need to be addressed.

"According to the interrogation results, Uchiha Fierce Fire and the others were unaware of Madara's affairs. All their actions, including using genjutsu on the daimyo, can be categorized as internal village matters."

“After a few years of detention, as long as no new problems arise, the village can consider transferring them to the police force’s prison.”

This can be considered a reward for Fugaku's proactive cooperation. With another Uchiha Mangekyou Sharingan existing outside the village, they cannot allow him to completely lose his popularity within the clan.

"You are to inform Fugaku about this matter."

“As for Uchiha Enjin,” her tone hardened, “his fate must be left to the Anbu; there is no room for negotiation.” Shuuji acknowledged and left the Hokage’s office, heading directly to the police force.

Fugaku Uchiha received Shuji in his office. For some reason, he felt a subtle sense of relief upon learning that Shuji had returned to the village.

At least, when this person was in the village, the reform of the police force did not seem to have experienced such a serious loss of internal control as this time.

After listening to Tsunade's suggestions on how to handle the aftermath of Uchiha Fierce Fire and the others, Fugaku's hands, which were resting on his knees, relaxed almost imperceptibly.

This outcome is much better than the bottom line Itachi had previously conveyed. At least, it preserves the possibility of these people returning to the clan in the future.

As for Uchiha Enjin… after being informed of Madara's situation, Fugaku had already given up on this clansman. After all, Uchiha Enjin was not only plotting a coup in the village, but also intended to overthrow Fugaku, the clan head, as well.
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Iwagakure Village, Tsuchikage Office.

"How many? Eight thousand people?"

Onoki, the Libra, looked at the intelligence in his hand, his voice tinged with barely concealed surprise.

"According to estimates, the average ticket price is around 20,000 taels. The revenue from tickets alone is extremely considerable, not including the additional income from selling tickets separately for team and individual competitions, as well as from the consumption of nearby inns and restaurants..." The Jonin in charge of intelligence analysis reported cautiously.

Onoki put down the scroll and said, "Eight thousand people, even if we calculate it at twenty thousand taels, that's still one hundred and sixty million taels... That Raikage kid made quite a bit of money this time."

Iwagakure Village's finances have never been very good, and the number of missions they can accept from outside is limited.

For a long time, they have relied heavily on direct financial allocations from the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, as well as on issuing war missions such as border skirmishes and small-scale conflicts to maintain the operation of their ninja forces.

Given his long-standing relationship with the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, maintaining the current scale of investment should not be a problem for the time being.

On the Sunagakure side, although they seem somewhat tempted by the provocations brought by Zanpakuto, they have not yet taken any concrete action.

Overall, the ninja world is highly likely to maintain a relatively peaceful state for some time to come.

At times like these, it is essential to plan ahead and find new and stable sources of income for Iwagakure.

There's no reason why Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) can't do what Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) can.

Building a dedicated competition venue? This is hardly a problem for the Iwagakure ninjas who are skilled in Earth Release ninjutsu.

As for the participants... Iwagakure also has influence in the surrounding area, and can even put pressure on Konoha's traditional allies such as Kusagakure and Takigakure, forcing them to send teams to participate.

They dared not refuse to come. Faced with the pressure from Iwagakure and the choice of sending several teams to participate, these small ninja villages knew how to choose.

"The Chunin Exams in Konoha are in September."

"Then, Iwagakure will also be held in September."

Onoki didn't expect to achieve the same scale as Kumogakure on his first attempt. After all, Kumogakure had been preparing for a long time, with Konoha's involvement and extensive publicity campaigns already underway.

But he was more interested in seeing how Konoha would react to this.

If Konoha gets restless and follows Kumogakure's lead in investing heavily in commercial operations, what will Kumogakure, which is also located in a remote area and hopes to profit from the same competition, think when it sees the difference in the number of people and attention generated by the competition held by Konoha and Iwagakure at the same time?
Even if Konoha remained unmoved and simply held the Chunin Exams for political purposes,

So, how should Konoha deal with the situation caused by Iwagakure's simultaneous joint exams, where allies are sending people to participate in both exams? Should they exert strong pressure or tacitly allow it?
Now, let's see how Tsunade handles these matters.

(End of this chapter)