Uchiha's personal opinion

"Yes."

Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded very firmly.

"To be honest, it was a ninja clan member from my subordinate ninja army who approached me, hoping to urge the Hokage to lift the state of war with Kirigakure as soon as possible and fulfill the promised IOU. I only learned about this after inquiring about the reason..."

Sakumo Hatake said with some worry, "The ninja clans are very concerned about the village's IOU repayment issues..."

"Indeed, and it seems there's no way we can get compensation from Kirigakure."

Uchiha Tokumitsu also spoke very frankly.

Kirigakure and Konoha are separated by the sea. Even if Kirigakure is defeated on the ninja continent, it can simply leave. However, Konoha would find it difficult to organize a ninja army to attack the Land of Water and threaten Kirigakure into signing a humiliating treaty.

"But the ninja clans are demanding that the village deliver on its promises of supplies or funds as soon as possible..." Sakumo Hatake picked up his teacup and took another sip. "However, the village's financial situation has never been very good..."

"Sakumo-kun, as the leader of the Jonin team, have you ever reviewed the village's financial statements...?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu casually toyed with his teacup. "Have you looked into the specific amounts of the daimyo's funding and the village's commission from missions, and where they are used?"

“I didn’t know…” Hatake Sakumo was somewhat taken aback upon hearing this. “Could it be… that Tokumitsu-kun knows the inside story?”

“I don’t know either. The village’s financial expenditures are not publicly disclosed.” Uchiha Tokumitsu put down his teacup and looked directly at Hatake Sakumo, saying, “Then why do you think the village is short of funds? Is it just based on a few words from those insects in the Hokage Building?”

Sakumo Hatake was even more surprised, yet at the same time felt as if a new world had opened up for him.

"You mean..."

Sakumo Hatake had some ideas, but he wasn't sure.

"As representatives of the collective will of the Jonin of Konoha, the Jonin team should have the right to know and deliberate on the village's financial situation."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said seriously, "Otherwise, we wouldn't know whether the village's development funds are being used reasonably, so how can we be sure whether the village's funds are really tight?"

Sakumo Hatake also fell silent.

Uchiha Tokumitsu wasn't in a hurry. He leisurely poured himself a cup of tea and then casually refilled Hatake Sakumo's cup.

What he needed to do was to have Sakumo Hatake, this public-spirited and outspoken leader, constantly use the name of the Jonin to restrain the power of the Hokage Building.

Moreover, all of this was initiated by Sakumo Hatake, who approached Uchiha Tokumitsu, who simply offered his opinion.

It's so convenient that I don't even need to say "no comment" because I have a conflict of interest.

Uchiha Tokumitsu took another sip of tea with a satisfied smile.

In any world, financial power is of paramount importance.

Even in this ninja world where productivity has gone astray and the economic structure is extremely distorted.

The Hokage's power comes from three sources: first, his own strength; second, the legitimacy of the Hokage position; and third, his control over the village's finances and personnel.

What Uchiha Tokumitsu needed to do was to weaken the Hokage's power through various means while simultaneously reaping excessive benefits for the Uchiha clan.

"If the village's funds can cover the ninja clan's IOUs, then how should the ninja clan's bond problem be resolved?"

After thinking for a while, Hatake Sakumo finally connected the village's finances with the ninja clan's bonds.

"The village's IOU redemption is the village's problem, and the ninja clan's bonds are the ninja clan's problem. The two should not be confused," Uchiha Tokumitsu said calmly. "Public authority and clan authority still need to be separated."

"That's true..."

Sakumo Hatake sighed with regret.

"A person's ambition can expand infinitely. If the ninja clan doesn't suffer some losses, they will never learn their lesson."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said sanctimoniously, "Even the Inuzuka clan dared to over-issue bonds with an amount five times greater than the IOUs, which shows how crazy ninja clans can be when they are blinded by profit!"

"What if bonds are banned..."

Sakumo Hatake's first reaction was to nip this in the bud.

“The village has no right to interfere with the ninja clan’s funding sources,” Uchiha Tokumitsu quickly said. “Besides, even if bonds are banned, they can simply change the name and continue to sell similar notes privately, which would be even more harmful!”

"So, how should we resolve the risks associated with this ninja clan bond?"

Sakumo Hatake readily accepted good advice and actively sought suggestions.

"The village's IOUs were redeemed ahead of schedule, and the ninja clan's bonds were repurchased ahead of schedule."

Uchiha Tokumitsu reiterated the solution he had given the Inuzuka clan yesterday: "Furthermore, the Uchiha clan can act as guarantor for some reputable ninja clans and provide advance payment and buyback services."

"Of course, a small, negligible service fee is still required for the advance payment."

Uchiha Tokumitsu made a 'little bit' gesture.

"In this way, the ninja clan's immediate crisis has been alleviated..."

Sakumo Hatake made a mental estimate and slowly nodded.

"Of course, it can only alleviate the situation. The ninja clan's affairs should be resolved by the ninja clan themselves. The village should not interfere, and it is even more unacceptable for them to interfere. Otherwise, the village's civilian ninjas will have a lot of complaints."

Uchiha Tokumitsu lowered his head and pretended to be making tea, trying to hide his barely contained laughter.

"That's true..."

Sakumo Hatake deeply agreed.

"However, how can future bonds avoid repeating the same mistakes?"

Sakumo Hatake humbly sought advice.

"The Uchiha clan can assess the creditworthiness of ninja clan bonds and issue and sell them on their behalf based on their fair value. If any risks arise, the Uchiha clan will promise to repurchase them. In this way, the problem of excessive issuance and abuse can be avoided."

Uchiha Tokumitsu also offered a very serious suggestion: "Of course, other ninja clans can also endorse other people's bonds, as long as everyone is willing to believe in their credibility."

However, credibility is a very vague and ethereal thing, far less useful than the police force controlled by the Uchiha clan and the clan's military support.

However, in order to conceal his true purpose, Uchiha Tokumitsu still had to use rhetoric to cover it up against his will.

"Thank you for your support, Mr. Deguang!"

Sakumo Hatake said sincerely, "This matter has indeed put you in a difficult position..."

"It's alright, after all, it's all for the new Konoha we envision, isn't it?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu smiled broadly.

Sakumo Hatake nodded solemnly.

After Hatake Sakumo left, Uchiha Tokumitsu began to laugh wildly.

We've won so much!

This time we've really won big!

If all goes well, Sakumo Hatake's Jonin team will gain another power: the authority to review Konoha's finances. Meanwhile, his own Uchiha Foundation will monopolize the evaluation and issuance rights of Konoha's bonds and other financial derivatives... This scenario is simply too wonderful!

Moreover, as the number one bloodline clan in the ninja world, the Uchiha clan has the largest number of Jonin. They just haven't spoken out proactively in order to cooperate with Hatake Sakumo in seizing power. If someone else takes over as the leader of the Jonin team in the future and wants to use the Jonin team's power to harm the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Tokumitsu can openly mobilize the Uchiha Jonin to let him understand what the Jonin's right to speak is.

"The Federal Reserve's path to dominance begins today!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu happily poured himself another cup of tea.

Chapter 152 Cognitive Differences

Although the Hokage faction has maintained a professional attitude towards the forces of Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo since the start of the Hidden Mist War, and has tried its best to meet their needs in the war, this does not mean that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and his two advisors have given up their obsession with the Uchiha clan.

In particular, the death of his best friend Danzo Shimura at the hands of Tokumitsu Uchiha made the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi unable to forget him and his resentment grew stronger day by day.

However, as the village's leader, he could still distinguish between good and bad.

Danzo was, after all, a powerful ninja clan who secretly led his troops to attempt to kill the village. According to the rules, he had absolutely violated the taboo. Even the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had to grit his teeth and say that he deserved his death. Otherwise, not only the Uchiha clan, but other ninja clans in Konoha would not have let it go.

As for war, that is of paramount importance. If Konoha were to lose to Kirigakure in the wars in the eastern and southern parts of the Land of Fire, even if Sakumo Hatake and the Uchiha clan did not fare well, his tenure as Hokage would be over.

The ninjas of Konoha, who consider themselves the number one ninja village, will not tolerate a leader who has brought defeat to the village sitting in the Hokage position.

However, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Anbu and the last remaining Root members who had been incorporated, all sorts of intelligence about the front lines continued to flow into the hands of the three decision-makers at the Hokage Building.

This includes information on Uchiha Tokumitsu's Mangekyou Sharingan, Yagura's Jinchuriki, Hatake Sakumo's command habits, and Orochimaru's changing stance.

And details of the battle against the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist during the Battle of Tsugaru Gorge.

There are also the aid conditions proposed by Uchiha Tokumitsu after the war regarding the ninja clan bond crisis.

Regarding the Mangekyou Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, the Hokage lineage has secretly collected a great deal of information since Tobirama Senju took office. There are also many related analysis reports and countermeasures, and they are also aware of the drawbacks of overuse of the Mangekyou Sharingan, which can cause blindness.

So, aside from marveling at the emergence of another terrifying anomaly in the Uchiha clan, they simply raised their intelligence gathering requirements for Uchiha Tokumitsu to another level, without paying much attention to his combat strength. At the same time, they began to think about how to deplete Uchiha Tokumitsu's eye power as quickly as possible.

After all, while Uchiha Tokumitsu has always demonstrated outstanding individual combat strength, what deserves more attention from the Hokage lineage is the special status of the young Uchiha Tokumitsu within the clan.

However, the three of them were somewhat puzzled by Uchiha Tokumitsu's gesture of representing his clan to provide assistance to other ninja clans in order to resolve the debt crisis.

If it were merely to win people's hearts, it seems unnecessary for the Uchiha clan to pay such a high price.

However, they don't believe it if you say that the Uchiha clan is simply public-spirited and willing to help the Konoha ninja clan.

Therefore, the Uchiha clan must have other plans!

But what kind of scheme lies behind Uchiha Tokumitsu's actions? Konoha F3 couldn't figure it out for the time being.

"How about... the village gives in to the ninja clan's request and pays the promised supplies and funds ahead of schedule..."

Mitokado Homura couldn't think of any good solutions, nor could he fathom Uchiha Tokumitsu's intentions. So, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and propose a radical plan that was actually impossible to implement.

"The village's financial situation is extremely dire. It is currently relying entirely on special appropriations from the magistrate to stay afloat. Where would we find the money to make early payments?"

Upon hearing this, Koharu immediately objected, and Mitokado Emishi retorted as soon as he finished speaking.

Actually, Konoha's finances weren't completely depleted; it's just that the war budget had been exhausted.

Due to the peculiar system of "one village, one country," the main sources of income for the ninja village are the portion of the commissions received from accepting missions and the annual allocation from the daimyo, while tax revenue from trade is very low.

Therefore, the fiscal policies adopted by Konoha and even the major ninja villages in the ninja world are basically in line with the "living within one's means" policy established during Tobirama's era. That is, fiscal expenditures for the current year are arranged according to the scale of fiscal revenue in the previous year, and appropriate surpluses are achieved as much as possible while maintaining a balance between income and expenditure.

The surplus fiscal revenue was retained as war funds.

However, since the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Konoha's accumulated financial reserves over the years have been exhausted. Now, it relies entirely on special appropriations from the Daimyo to maintain its operations. But the war has lasted for so long that the Daimyo has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction in a subtle way.

The only funds currently available in Konoha's accounts are those that have been allocated to various departments in the budget but have not yet been withdrawn.

However, since this portion of the funds is Konoha's public funds, misappropriation would inevitably affect the civilian ninjas in various departments, who are essential tentacles for maintaining the Hokage's rule.

Furthermore, using public funds to pay off the IOUs owed by ninja clans in advance would cause dissatisfaction among ordinary ninjas towards the ruling Hokage lineage, who would believe that this was a case of powerful clans colluding to seize illicit gains.

"Whether or not we aid the ninja clan, we will offend the other side..."