Konoha: Uchiha Shisui's Strategist Alliance

Chapter 50: Maybe he burned his hand.

On the streets of Konoha, Hui, dressed in his guard uniform, strolled through the crowd. Despite the strange looks and whispers, he suppressed his anger and walked expressionlessly toward a salt shop.

It's really impressive that Uncle Yashiro can ignore these guys' comments.

He sighed inwardly and then entered the salt shop.

Upon seeing the familiar face, everyone in the shop's expression changed, and some immediately walked to the back.

Hui casually glanced around without stopping him. Before long, the owner of the salt shop rushed over; it was none other than Uemura Takeshi.

"Lord Hui, may I ask what brings you to my humble shop today? I will certainly be happy to assist you."

Takeshi Uemura wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a low voice.

Hui glanced at him strangely, remembering that he hadn't mentioned his name yesterday.

"Don't be nervous. The spy hasn't been caught yet. We're just here for a routine check. Oh, and here's your ledger."

"Thank you for bringing it in person, sir. Hehe, hurry, sir, please make way, don't block your inspection."

Although Uemura Takeshi was already in his thirties, he still dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction when facing a ninja who was ten years younger than him.

Hui glanced around casually and said, "There are indeed no traces of spies in the shop."

Uemura Takeshi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and was about to express his gratitude when the other party continued, "Although the people in your shop are not spies, who can guarantee that spies won't be mixed in with the villagers buying salt?"

If the people here have been in contact with spies, then I have no choice but to…

Before he could finish speaking, Takeshi Uemura's face had already turned ashen. Wasn't this clearly targeting him?

However, having been in business for many years, he had his own insights and did not speak out of argument. Instead, he smiled apologetically and said, "What Lord Hui says is true. May I speak to you in private?"

Uemura Takeshi raised his hand to signal to walk back. Teru nodded and stepped forward, only to see him take out a wooden box and say, "I left in a hurry yesterday and accidentally took this. Please help me take it back."

Hui raised an eyebrow. He had brought the other party back under his control yesterday, so how could he have taken the wrong thing?

He took the box, his expression changed, and he looked out of the store with an unnatural look.

"Um, yes, I'll take it back with me. You need to keep an eye on the villagers coming and going, and make sure no spies get in."

After he finished speaking, he put his things away, and feeling a bit awkward about what to do with his hands, he simply put his hands behind his back and left the salt shop.

Takeshi Uemura smiled apologetically until Teru left, then returned to the shop with mixed feelings.

As Hui walked down the street, he felt that the gazes of the crowd were even more piercing, making him feel uncomfortable all over. He had no choice but to hurry to the next shop.

He spent the entire day wandering among the salt shops, and then, to avoid causing a riot, he took away the grain merchants from the outskirts in batches.

"No, Uncle Yi, this feels weird. This doesn't feel like the reward I usually receive for completing tasks!"

Those villagers were looking at me, weren't they? I didn't seem to be behaving strangely, did I?

They gave it to me willingly; I didn't force them!

With a thud, Hui placed the eight boxes on the table. He watched as Sima Yi became somewhat incoherent, pacing back and forth in the study, muttering to himself.

Sima Yi sipped his tea, somewhat exasperated as Hui paced back and forth without stopping. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Take a long-term view. This is just protection money they're paying to the security department. Only when Konoha is stable can they do business with peace of mind. This is all for Konoha, for their sake."

"what?"

Hui stopped what he was doing, looked at Sima Yi with a surprised expression, and couldn't help but sigh, "Master Yi, it seems that I still haven't learned what you taught me properly."

"Haha, just take that as a compliment. Open it and see what you've got today."

Sima Yi chuckled lightly, not minding at all, and pointed to the box.

Hui hesitated for a moment, rubbed his hands together, and couldn't help but step forward to open them one by one.

"Three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand, three hundred and fifty thousand."

The eight boxes, totaling three million taels, were roughly half a month's income for each of them.

Looking at the thick stack of banknotes, Hui couldn't help but gasp. "These people are really generous. They gave me three million taels in one day. If I went there every day, I would have ninety million taels in a month!"

This is much more than the funds allocated to the Security Department last year!

"Hehehe, with this money, why would we need to put up with those high-ups' wrath? Let's train more ninjas and just rebel!"

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi laughed and said, "Ninety million taels? You certainly dare to dream of that. If we confiscated them all, we could probably make that amount."

Hui chuckled, touched the banknotes, and said, "I understand. We need stability and longevity. If you can't give me 90 million, 9 million will do."

Sima Yi nodded, "Three times should be the limit. After that, let's wait for them to speak."

Such wealth is ultimately fleeting, and Sima Yi didn't care about the nine million taels. He pushed the box to Hui, saying, "Take this money."

"Give me?"

Hui was stunned. As a Jonin of the Uchiha clan and a true Konoha elite, if he were to go on a mission, three million ryo would be no problem for him at all.

But the money was different; one was the reward for fighting to the death, and the other was given to him by someone while patrolling the streets.

"It's not for you, it's for the security department."

"Observe carefully within the security department and see who is experiencing financial difficulties. Even if they aren't, you can invite them out for drinks to make more friends."

Before he could finish speaking, Hui already understood Sima Yi's meaning. He happily pocketed the money and said, "That's right, it's all for the Uchiha, for Konoha!"

dong dong dong~

"Grandpa, I'm back."

scare!

Hui Gang had just stacked the money in a pile and was about to put it away when Zhi Shui knocked on the door.

Sima Yi watched with a smile as Hui frantically tried to do something, and said softly, "Come in, Zhishui, Hui is here too."

Zhi Shui pushed open the door and entered, only to see Hui rubbing his chest with one hand and groping on the table with the other, as if looking for something.

"Brother Hui, what's wrong with you?"

"Huh? Me? No, I just came to ask Uncle Yi if he wanted to go out for drinks. If he doesn't want to, that's fine. I'll just go to the security department to find everyone to have barbecue."

As Hui spoke, he seemed to have just remembered Shisui and asked again, "Shisui, would you like to go eat barbecue together?"

"No, thank you, Brother Hui, I just ate grilled fish."

"Okay, then I'll be going now."

Shisui looked at the disheveled Hui with suspicion and couldn't help but ask, "What happened to him?"

Sima Yi smiled, picked up his teacup, and replied, "Perhaps I burned my hand."

Shisui nodded, unsuspecting, and didn't delve into it further. He then closed the door and said with a serious expression, "Grandpa, the higher-ups have made their move again. I inquired about it when I came back today, and news of the drunken ninja conflict that day has spread throughout Konoha. The villagers are all criticizing the Guard Department for its inaction!"

Sima Yi remained calm and asked without showing any emotion, "What's your opinion on this matter?"

"Grandpa, you taught me to analyze cause and effect through self-interest. This despicable act, just like the old story of White Teeth, must be the work of three generations!"

(End of this chapter)