Naruto: Yes, Uchiha-sama.

Chapter 142 Love for Gold, or Love for the Ninja Village? (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
After going around in circles for a while...

Tobirama Senju returned to his Hokage office.

Another row of gold imperial edicts from the daimyo of the Land of Fire appeared on the office desk.

This instantly increased the pressure on Tobirama Senju's shoulders, and his head began to ache again.

Obviously.

The important figures of the Land of Fire are already eager for Konoha to make a choice.

This isn't actually about investigating a case; it's about taking sides.

As long as Konoha shows its attitude.

Evidence is not the issue at all.

Moreover, it was clearly the work of Akatsuki ninjas, but Akatsuki was very well prepared, and Konoha couldn't find any evidence against them for the time being.

No matter how outrageous the evidence submitted by Konoha was, the bigwigs were willing to accept it and were fully capable of turning falsehoods into truth!

All it takes is for Konoha to take the lead in firing at Akatsuki to put pressure on them!
The nobles would certainly not let Konoha fight alone; they would swarm in and join Konoha in putting pressure on Akatsuki. They have cultivated relationships with the ninja clans of the ninja world for so many years. As long as they are willing to spend money, Akatsuki is not a monolithic entity.

Under internal and external troubles.

He always manages to force Uchiha Makoto to make concessions.

Once you make concessions, you save face; once you save face, the rest of the problems cease to be problems.

This is the approach.
Tobirama Senju had actually considered this possibility, and he had even prepared himself mentally before meeting Makoto Uchiha. If Makoto Uchiha refused to admit it, then so be it!

Anyway, Akatsuki Village can't cause any trouble in front of Big Brother.

This time, the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire also supported him. It might just cause a bit of a mess, but even in the worst-case scenario, there's always Takigakure to fall back on and salvage the situation.

However, after tasting the empty promises made by Makoto Uchiha and witnessing the changes in that village, Tobirama Senju's thoughts have begun to shift slightly.

Without realizing it, he began to resemble a modern ninja.

"You bastard, Uchiha Makoto, you born evil Uchiha brat."

"You've tricked me so many times, and now that I've caught you red-handed, it's such a shame I'm letting you off so easily."

"."

"But war will always come."

I have to face this problem head-on.

Tobirama Senju muttered to himself, still not fully convinced.

He hates Uchiha Makoto.

But he loathed war even more.

War is a monster that can destroy everything.

Aside from a few ninjas with unique personalities like Madara Uchiha.

Nobody likes a life of constant fighting.

In order to end the constant fighting of the Warring States period, Tobirama Senju even accepted the idea of ​​building a village together with the Uchiha clan and living together. The Uchiha clan did the same. Konoha had only been established for a few years, and the people of both clans had not forgotten their hatred for each other, but they had been trying to forget it.

Time heals all wounds.

However, Tobirama Senju was well aware of this as well.

War will always come again.

Although the large-scale hot war in the ninja world has ended and peace has been restored overall, this is only temporary. The Hidden Cloud Village has signed a lot of unequal agreements, forcing itself to endure and lick its wounds. When the Hidden Cloud Village recovers, that will be the time when war restarts again.

Even without the Hidden Cloud Village
Another ninja village will also step forward.

The very nature of ninjas dictates that wars are inevitable between ninja villages.

Well known.

Ninjas rely on carrying out missions to make a living. Chaotic situations create a constant stream of ninja missions, while the longer the peace lasts, the fewer missions ninjas can carry out. However, the number of ninjas increases during peacetime.

So sooner or later at some point in time.

Ninjas who have taken leave from their jobs in various ninja villages may find themselves unemployed and unable to take on missions.

Even with national-level funding, it would be difficult for the Great Ninja Village to sustain itself indefinitely.

It's unlikely that ninja villages would choose to pay ninjas directly; instead, they would usually provide subsidies during missions to reduce the village's cut and increase the ninjas' income.

The overall trend is a decrease in the total number of tasks.

Jonin are supposed to be carrying out S-rank or A-rank missions, but in peacetime, there aren't always missions of that level.

To make a living, they have no choice but to take on B-level or even C-level missions.

Chunin can only participate in C-rank and D-rank missions.

But what about being a submissive?

Then the only option is to lower the price and start reducing it.

This vicious cycle will eventually break the genin, yet genin are still the most numerous.

The most direct way to resolve internal conflicts is to shift the conflict to external sources and create demand. War is inevitable.

The pathetic ninja yearned for peace, yet could not survive in peacetime indefinitely.

After several years of recuperation and development in Konoha, the total number of missions has indeed decreased significantly.

As a traditional ninja, Tobirama Senju didn't understand advanced economics, but his years of experience managing the village made him keenly aware of the dangers. As the total number of missions gradually decreased, the village was bound to run into trouble.

Therefore, regarding the grand promises made by Uchiha Makoto...

Although Tobirama Senju vehemently denied it and denigrated it.

This is utterly heretical and a foolish act that completely violates the rules of the ninja world.

But I was indeed a little tempted.

The hope of changing the ninja world and avoiding war may lie within this.

"Let that evil brat Uchiha Makoto go and wade through the water first. Konoha can watch from the sidelines and feel their way across the river first. There's no way things will go wrong."

"We must both guard against the Akatsuki and utilize them."

"For the sake of a longer-term future, this is the only option."

Tobirama Senju sat in his office chair, trying to convince himself with mixed feelings.

In the end, he chose to give up the little he held dear.

"You bastard, Uchiha Makoto, you born evil Uchiha brat."

"I'm not helping you this time. I'm doing this for Konoha, for those poor ordinary people, for that little bit of hope for change."

"Just this once, don't do anything else outrageous."

"Konoha won't go crazy with you."

Fire Nation.

The servant looked tense, barely daring to breathe, and carefully carried a bowl of steaming bird's nest soup toward the daimyo's bedroom.

The servants guarding outside the door looked at him with barely suppressed relief and sympathy in their eyes.

Being a close attendant to a daimyo was originally a coveted position. The closer one was to power, the greater one's own power became. Attendants who gained the daimyo's favor could rise rapidly to become the daimyo's most trusted confidants, with a constant stream of tributes from their subordinates.

However, the daimyo of the Land of Fire has been in a bad mood lately and has a terrible temper. Serving a daimyo is like serving a tiger, and that is absolutely true. The daimyo's attendants have been replaced one after another in just a few days.

During peak periods, they changed three times a day.

The servant carrying the bird's nest soup was very unlucky; he was chosen by lot to serve the daimyo.

I just pushed open the door to Daming's dormitory.

The attendant then heard the roar of the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

"Alright, it seems that ninjas are now in charge of my Land of Fire."

"The memorial also said that in order to relieve the emperor's worries, he dared to shirk his duties, and that he had discussed with Akatsuki Village that he would send a special ninja army to Takigakure Village to hold them accountable."

"."

"Who!!!" The sound of the door being pushed open startled the furious daimyo of the Land of Fire, and the servants quickly lowered their heads.

"Your Highness, your bird's nest soup is ready."

"Who let you in!"

"Get out of here!!"

"Summon the Grand Secretary!!!"

The servant broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly went out, closing the door with trembling hands.

He jogged through the heavy guards and left the daimyo's quarters, then sent someone to invite the Grand Secretary.

Soon.
The Grand Secretary then went to the Emperor's bedroom.

The daimyo's eyes were bloodshot, his clothes were disheveled, his crown was thrown on the ground, and he was waving a sword around, hacking the room into a mess.

The valuable vase was smashed to pieces on the ground.

"Your Highness, please calm down."

The Grand Secretary, seeing the daimyo's red eyes and extremely agitated state, quickly tried to comfort him.

However, the fire daimyo's anger did not subside; his eyes seemed to spit fire as he waved the results of Konoha's investigation in his hand.

"Rebellion! Everyone is rebelling!"

"You ninja, you've only gained power for a short time, yet you dare to treat me so disrespectfully! Have I ever wronged Akatsuki in the slightest? I was the one who funded the establishment of Akatsuki!"

"It's my money!!!"

"Haven't I been friendly enough to Konoha? I've done right by Konoha!"

"The facts are already so obvious; I just want them to give me face and resolve this matter gracefully."

"But what about them?"

The daimyo of the Land of Fire was truly on the verge of collapse.

Times are changing too fast.

The ninjas, who were originally respectful during the Warring States period, became arrogant and overbearing in just a few years.

The nobles, because of the trouble caused by Akatsuki, formed a group to put pressure on him.

Increase the intensity for him.

However, the daimyo of the Land of Fire still did not want to fall out with the ninja village.

In order to calm things down.

The plan was simply to have Konoha investigate, put pressure on Akatsuki, and symbolically hand over a few ninjas to close the case. The nobles neither agreed nor disagreed, essentially acquiescing.

But the result?

First, Akatsuki slapped him in the face, and now Konoha has slapped him in the face again, blatantly shifting all the blame onto Takigakure.

Neither side takes his name seriously.

What the hell!
He's become a clown!

He had previously assured the nobles that Konoha would give the Land of Fire a satisfactory explanation. How could such an investigation result possibly shut up those nobles?
Who knows?
What will they say about me behind my back!

Seeing the Fire Country Daimyo looking like he was about to kill someone, the Grand Secretary immediately knelt down and gently soothed the Fire Country Daimyo's emotions, fearing that the Daimyo might make some irrational decision at this moment.

"Your Highness, calm down. We need to stay calm, especially now. We can't act impulsively."

"Your Excellency, what are you afraid of!"

"You're worried about driving Konoha and Akatsuki to rebellion, aren't you?"

The daimyo of the Land of Fire has laid his cards on the table; he is anxious day and night because of the situation in the ninja village.

In order to suppress Konoha.

He spent a lot of money to cultivate the Akatsuki, hoping to use it to counterbalance Konoha. But he didn't expect the Akatsuki to be such an ungrateful wolf cub; it hasn't been long before it's already showing its claws.

Konoha, on the other hand, is still behaving itself and keeping to its own rules.

The Land of Fire hoped to coexist peacefully with the ninja villages.

But the facts prove it.

The ninja villages are all the same, and not a single ninja in them is any good!

"Your Highness, I dare not!"

"Your Highness, please calm down."

"The Akatsuki village is easy to deal with, but as you know, Konoha has Hashirama Senju."

The elder mentioned the name of Hashirama Senju, a terrifying ninja who was difficult to surpass and challenge in this era.

The other daimyo and ninja villages were unaware of Hashirama Senju's terrifying strength.

However, as the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the elder statesman, they were well aware of Hashirama Senju's strength.

Although Hashirama Senju chose to cooperate with the Land of Fire, willing to protect it and maintain the rule of the daimyo and nobles, he didn't even want an official job.

However, the higher-ups in the Land of Fire still don't trust Hashirama Senju. Whether he has ulterior motives or not is not important; the key is that he has the ability!

As long as Hashirama Senju is alive.

The Land of Fire will always have to worry about this problem—if they really push the ninja villages too far, will it force Konoha to rebel?

"But this matter absolutely cannot end like this!"

The daimyo of the Land of Fire calmed down a bit, and his eyes were full of apprehension when he mentioned Hashirama Senju.

How could such a powerful ninja appear in the ninja world?
That's truly shocking.

However, the daimyo of the Land of Fire still has no intention of letting this go.

Once the bottom line is breached, there will be a second time; zero times and one time are two completely different states.

Akatsuki Village's strength has expanded too quickly, and after winning another war, they are now far too arrogant.

There's absolutely no need for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to personally intervene and suppress them.

After this incident, even a fool could tell how many people in the Land of Fire would try to sabotage the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki was no match for the entire Land of Fire!
The most important thing is Konoha!

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire should focus his efforts on sowing discord between Konoha and Akatsuki.

The fact that Konoha and Akatsuki have joined forces this time is dangerous. This is also what keeps the Daimyo up at night.

We must sow discord between them.

Also, the work of planting spies inside the ninja village needs to be accelerated.

It's not like he can't afford the price!
"Remember to maintain a balance."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire expressed his thoughts and added a sentence at the end.

The relationship between the nation and the ninja village is essentially like dancing with wolves, especially since the nation doesn't yet have the weapons to control the wolves. It can only be about luring them with benefits and appealing to their emotions.

Money can pave the way, and if you don't want it, plenty of ninjas will—do you love gold, or do you love the ninja village?
It's still the same old ninja balance system.

They're really good at this.

"Your Highness is right."

I will take care of it.

The Fire Country Elder nodded; this was the only way to handle the current situation.

We must neither break ties with the ninja villages nor let them have it too easy. We must always let the ninja villages know that without the support of these nobles, the ninjas cannot live a comfortable life.

However, it's important to strike the right balance.

Takigakure Village.

"What? When did we send ninjas to assassinate a noble family from the Land of Fire?!"

"This is a blatant frame-up!"

"Where's Kakuzu? Tell him to come here. Did he act without authorization?"

(End of this chapter)