Uchiha's personal opinion

“I already said it last night…we are allies, and the Uchiha clan will fully support our allies’ actions.”

Uchiha Tokumitsu also clearly stated his attitude, reassuring Hatake Sakumo.

"In addition, a ninja clan liaison meeting will be held soon to discuss the recruitment of clan ninjas for battle..."

Hatake Sakumo lowered his profile and revealed the information to Uchiha Tokumitsu.

"That's actually a good thing!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was pleased with the outcome.

"Furthermore, the Hokage has also agreed to provide corresponding financial and material support to the ninja clans that are willing to fight after the war..."

Although he didn't understand why Uchiha Tokumitsu had privately and solemnly asked him to make this suggestion, which was clearly detrimental to the ninja clan, Hatake Sakumo still told Uchiha Tokumitsu the news.

"very good!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu snapped his fingers happily.

Using war reparations as the object of payment, while the supplies and funds that were originally to be allocated to the various ninja clans would be paid separately after the war, is advantageous from the village's perspective no matter what. Moreover, the prices of various supplies rise sharply during the war, and the prices of war supplies will inevitably fall after the war ends. With such a rise and fall, the funds that the village needs to spend will naturally be reduced a lot.

If Sakumo Hatake hadn't been so familiar with Uchiha Tokumitsu's past behavior, he would have almost thought that Uchiha Tokumitsu was a noble and pure embodiment of Konoha's Will of Fire, detached from base desires.

But Uchiha Tokumitsu believed that the IOU from the village, combined with his financial knowledge from his previous life, might allow him to come up with quite a few creative ways to use it.

"And what about Kirigakure?"

"...Not killing envoys is a rule that has been passed down since the time of Lord Hashirama. Even if we disagree with Kirigakure's demands, there's no need to persecute them directly; simply expelling them all from the country will suffice..."

"They got off easy."

Uchiha Tokumitsu clicked his tongue and summoned a police ninja. "Go and inform Deputy Chief Kang Zhi of the Eastern Police Headquarters that the Hokage has decided to cease all talks with Kirigakure and intends to deport them all. Please have Deputy Chief Kang Zhi arrange for personnel to carry out this order immediately!"

"As ordered!"

The police department ninjas were ordered to leave.

Sakumo Hatake wore a wry smile.

The fact that the Uzumaki clan, who have a blood feud with the Hidden Mist Village, expelled the Hidden Mist delegation suggests they were afraid a war wouldn't break out.

Chapter 130 needs extra money!

Konoha is less a regime and more accurately described as a hodgepodge of military contracting groups and their supporting service systems.

There are no factions in the village; everyone is strange and eccentric.

Every ninja clan is a shareholder of the Konoha Group and holds a corresponding position in this military group, while ordinary ninjas are just indentured laborers. Although the Will of Fire claims that "everyone has the opportunity to become Hokage," any ordinary ninja with a bit of experience no longer takes the propaganda from the Ninja Academy seriously.

A brutal ninja career can accelerate one's growth, especially during times of war. Those who fail to grow at their own pace are already lying in the Konoha cemetery, receiving the homage of future generations.

The ninja clan members, due to their different upbringing, tend to be more precocious and sophisticated in their thinking.

Therefore, compared with ordinary ninjas, clan ninjas, especially their leaders, are relatively more rebellious.

The news that the Hokage planned to convene a ninja clan meeting quickly reached the leaders of each ninja clan.

The purpose of the ninja clan meeting was clear to the ninja clan leaders, even if the Hokage didn't explicitly state it.

They're just after the power of the clan's ninjas.

Of course, ninja clans are not opposed to handing over clan ninjas to register them as Konoha ninjas who are subject to the village's command, but the premise is that there are enough resources to exchange.

It could be funds, or resources, but ideally it would be a systematic set of ninjutsu.

For ninjas, especially ordinary ninja clans, it is not difficult to collect a ninjutsu that matches their chakra attribute. The most difficult thing is to collect and form a complete system of ninjutsu with moderate difficulty, ranging from low to high levels.

A complete system of ninjutsu represents a direction for the development of ninja clans.

After all, even among the secret ninja clans like Ino-Shika-Cho, not every ninja is suited to practicing their family's secret techniques. If their ninja aptitude is decent, practicing a ninjutsu system that matches their own attributes and thus becoming a regular five-element ninja is a good option.

When the ninja clan meeting officially convened, the leaders of each clan, after several rounds of private negotiations, reached a consensus on their demands and were all eager to make a fortune from the village.

However, the conditions offered by the Hokage at this ninja clan meeting were somewhat unusual.

"What! A blank check?!"

"You think you can take away our people with just a piece of paper? Dream on!"

As soon as the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, proposed the compensation terms for the village to conscript clan ninja, the leaders of the various ninja clans present immediately jumped up in a fit of rage.

Especially the leaders of the smaller ninja clans.

As ordinary ninja clans bound together by ninjutsu inheritance and blood ties, they were barely maintaining their clan structure under the impact of the Will of Fire, and were only one step away from disintegrating into individual ninja families. Therefore, they valued the clan ninjas they could control very much, and hoped to obtain a batch of resources to cultivate the next generation of clan members by handing over the clan ninjas.

"If it's just a blank check... that's absolutely impossible!"

The venue immediately descended into chaos.

Even the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was somewhat helpless.

After losing Danzo, the "Dark One of the Ninjas" who always played the villain, his prestige as Hokage seems to have diminished.

In the past, the ninja leaders would never have dared to bargain with him like this. Danzo, sitting in the corner, snorted coldly with a dark face, and the venue immediately became completely silent and obedient.

Another day of missing Danzo...

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, glanced discreetly at Uchiha Tokumitsu, who was seated in the first row on the left.

"Since the village may be fighting on multiple fronts simultaneously, it is indeed difficult for the village to raise so many resources to distribute compensation to each family in a short time. Therefore, we have resorted to this measure. But please rest assured that all the vouchers will be redeemed in an orderly manner after the war ends, so everyone doesn't need to worry..."

After the venue quieted down a bit, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, managed a weak smile as he explained to the ninja leaders.

but!

As the leader of a ninja clan, even if your strength isn't great, you must be smart!

The third generation leader's words contained several key phrases: simultaneous warfare, difficulty in raising funds, and orderly fulfillment!

What on earth is all this?!

We're all seasoned sly foxes, why bother with word games and cunning tricks?

After another round of noise and commotion, a ninja clan leader was chosen by the public to stand up and speak for everyone.

"Hokage-sama, as you say, the village's economic situation is indeed not optimistic. As members of Konoha, we understand this very well, and we also want to help the village overcome its difficulties and weather these tough times together, but..."

Get to the point!

As the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, listened, he impatiently interrupted the ninja clan leader's platitudes.

How is the end of the war defined? And how long is the time limit for fulfilling this commitment?

The ninja clan leader didn't waste any words and immediately dropped the preamble, saying directly, "Besides, it's been dragging on for too long, so we need to add more money!"

The other ninja leaders behind them immediately nodded in unison.

Only the major clans such as the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Ino-Shika-Cho remained unmoved.

How much more money do you want?

Koharu, who was turning over a new room, said with a frown.

The leaders of the small ninja clan banded together and collectively bargained with the village, which greatly displeased her.

They all completely disregarded the Will of Fire; their dark hearts were filled only with money!

"Add another 30%!"

"impossible!"

As soon as the ninja clan leader finished speaking, Koharu Utatane immediately slammed her hand on the table in protest, "Greedy! You've gone too far!"

"The Hyuga family's financial group is already borrowing at an annual interest rate of 20%, so asking for 30% is not unreasonable at all!"

"And once the war starts, we don't know when it will end!"

"Besides, we don't even know if the village will have enough money to pay out the compensation! We're also at risk!"

The leaders of each faction began to argue amongst themselves.

"quiet!"

Mitomon Homura realized something was wrong and immediately pulled out a small hammer and banged it on the table.

After the room quieted down again, Mitokado Homura once again gestured with his eyes for the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, to answer everyone's questions.

"As you all know, the main reason for conscripting ninjas from various clans this time is to prepare for a possible war launched by Kirigakure..."

"Of course, Kirigakure may not have the courage to launch a war against our powerful Konoha. The reason for drawing away clan ninja is simply to avoid being caught off guard and unable to react in time if something unexpected happens..."

"I was also moved by the dedication of each family, and the village will not let anyone suffer..."

"As for the village's finances, please rest assured. Currently, the village's funds are only tight due to the state of war, but the fundamental financial situation is still quite good; after the war ends, there will definitely be a large amount of funds to fully repay everyone... Moreover, as long as we defeat Kirigakure, we can also receive war reparations from Kirigakure..."

Suppressing his anger, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, patiently explained.

But the anger in my heart only grew stronger.

As the Hokage, when has he ever been so humble?

The Uzumaki clan is an ally of Konoha, and their failure to provide adequate assistance led to the destruction of their country and the death of their families, so it's understandable that they have some temper. After all, Konoha did not do very well in the war to rescue the Land of Whirlpools.

Although the Uchiha clan is traditionally considered troublesome, their clan strength is formidable, and their ninja army is the largest among all Konoha clans, giving them the potential to overthrow Konoha. Therefore, a conciliatory approach is reasonable.

Sakumo Hatake is incredibly powerful and has the Uchiha clan as his ally, so he has to be polite. He's never really taken the leaders of the smaller ninja clans seriously.

But there's no way around it; the village's financial difficulties are a fact, and it also faces challenges on multiple fronts.

Their delaying tactic with Kirigakure was thwarted by a combined effort from Hatake Sakumo, Uchiha Tokumitsu, and the Uzumaki clan, and failed before it even began.

If we want to retain a standing ninja force to support Sarutobi Shinnosuke in defending the Cloud Village in the north, while also deploying personnel to defend the eastern region, we will have to take people from the pockets of these ninja clans again.

"Then, Lord Hokage, is it alright to add another 30% to the conscription quota?"

The ninja clan leader, who had been chosen to speak on behalf of the clan, spoke again.

"...Add another 20% at most!"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, said fiercely.

He was on the verge of breaking down!

He had said so many lofty words with the aim of influencing these people whose hearts were corrupted by profit, but when he got to the ninja clan, they still wanted more money?

This is not just a matter of being blinded by profit; it's practically blatant disregard for the Hokage and lawlessness!