Uchiha's personal opinion

The clan chief of Kurama jumped up again and shouted, "Tokuko-kun is right! We can't let the Konoha ninja shed blood, sweat, and tears!"

"But 10 billion is too outrageous..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had to step in to control the situation: "How could a Daimyo possibly agree to such an absurd reason..."

"Iwagakure and Kirigakure haven't announced their bond issuance plans yet... To guard against their provocations, 10 billion isn't excessive."

The Hyuga clan leader also spoke up.

"Our purpose in issuing bonds is not only to raise military funds, but also to deter other ninja villages from engaging in military adventures through strategic intimidation."

Uchiha Tokumitsu added, "As the Hyuga clan head said, considering that war may break out again in all four ninja villages, the publicity of 10 billion yen is not excessive, and the actual bond issuance scale of 5 billion yen is actually reasonable!"

"Lord Deguang is right, stopping the war before it even starts is a good strategy!"

After a long silence, Hatake Sakumo chimed in, "We need to show other ninja villages that intend to harm Konoha our stance, so that we can curb their impulse for military adventures!"

"The Nanga River Bond Exchange can handle the domestic issuance portion of this bond!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu immediately chimed in, "At the same time, we will introduce a credit rating system and use public opinion to interfere with the bond financing of Sunagakure and Kirigakure."

What is a credit rating system?

Autumn Road was in high spirits when he tried to get some wind.

The third generation leader and his two advisors were somewhat helpless.

With so many attendees and conflicting instructions, it was really difficult to keep the meeting in check.

"The so-called credit rating system is a comprehensive assessment based on safety, profitability, growth potential, liquidity, and productivity. We can use this rating system to issue warning announcements about the bonds of Kumogakure and Sunagakure, disseminating the actual default risks and deterring wealthy merchants outside of the daimyo and noble families from investing in them!"

Immediately afterwards, Uchiha Tokumitsu ordered his men to distribute detailed credit rating rules to all the high-ranking officials present.

"This rating system has already been put into use at the Nanga River Stock Exchange, and rating reports will also be released for the three bonds issued earlier."

"I agree!"

Uzumaki Ashina immediately chimed in, "If the bonds are issued by the Nakagawa Stock Exchange, the Uzumaki clan will commit to subscribing for 100 million ryo!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu bowed deeply in gratitude.

"It's not right for the Uchiha clan to issue the village's bonds!"

Koharu, frowning, retorted, "The village will handle this matter!"

"Advisor, you are mistaken! The Nakagawa Stock Exchange is not the private property of the Uchiha clan. It is the first rational, neutral, and objective securities institution in the ninja world, and enjoys a very high reputation internationally. It is more suitable for the Nakagawa Stock Exchange to issue bonds!"

"If... I mean if..."

Mitokado Yan paused for a moment, then slowly said, "The actual bond issuance size is 5 billion, right? But what if the amount raised exceeds that?"

"That's easy..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu looked around.

"Foreign investment funds will be used normally, funds from daimyo and noble families will be split 30/70, and funds from the Konoha ninja clans will be returned in full!"

These words caused an uproar in the meeting room.

"Why is the village only getting 70%? That's far too little!"

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

She felt that the village was being taken advantage of.

"What 70%! That 70% is for the participating ninjas!" Uchiha Tokumitsu retorted mercilessly, "The 30% left for the village is just enough to cover interest expenses later! If we're frugal, we might even have some financial reserves!"

By now, the civilian ninja force has been completely depleted through the Fourth Shinobi World War. Those who are no longer in service and are being called up to fight are primarily from various ninja clans.

The ninja leaders immediately realized this crucial point and expressed their agreement.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and his two advisors were immediately overwhelmed with problems.

The meeting hadn't been going on for long, yet the amount of information was already so overwhelming that Konoha F3 was already feeling their brains struggling to process it all.

Chapter 157 Finance and War

In Uchiha Tokukō's previous life, there were four indispensable elements in his teachings on the essentials of spiritual practice, namely the so-called "wealth, companions, Dharma, and environment".

This principle also applies to the ninja world.

Basically, as long as there are enough resources and you're willing to spend a lot of money, it's not a problem to use money and resources to force a dull person to the level of a Chunin.

Furthermore, the bizarre symbiotic relationship between the ninja village and the daimyo further binds the ninja's pursuits into a vicious cycle of completing missions to earn money and spending money to buy resources for training.

However, the creation of bonds allowed the ninja village to discover a way to make money besides the daimyo's grants and mission commissions.

Although bonds are essentially another form of borrowing, they are at least more acceptable to people, and the added interest and liquidity make it easier for the wealthy to open their wallets.

However, compared to Konoha's 10 billion yen bond plan, the bond issuance plans previously announced by Kumogakure and Sunagakure immediately paled in comparison.

What does 10 billion mean?

Even at an annual interest rate of 10%, one would have to pay one billion in interest annually.

How many billions of yen could the Daimyo of the Ninja Village possibly allocate?

Therefore, the once ambitious and high-profile Cloud Village and Sand Village immediately lowered their tone. The higher-ups of the ninja villages began to openly proclaim the dangers of war and the preciousness of peace, while privately repeatedly advocating the Konoha threat theory to the daimyo and nobles of various countries.

The core message is simple: Name! Send money!!

Meanwhile, Kirigakure, which is currently in a temporary truce with Konoha, has also taken the initiative to send a messenger ninja to Konoha discreetly to request that peace talks be initiated.

Unlike the major powers of the ninja world, the daimyo of the Land of Water clearly had a stronger influence and interference over Kirigakure; and the daimyo had long been tired of wars that yielded no benefit.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was also very pleased with the arrival of the Kirigakure messenger ninja.

Although they were merely messenger ninjas representing a formal delegation to probe whether Konoha was willing to negotiate peace, in the eyes of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, this already signified that Kirigakure had officially submitted to Konoha.

Feeling deeply uneasy, Hatake Sakumo sneaked out of Konoha that very night and headed straight for the eastern border defense forces' base to discuss countermeasures with Uchiha Tokumitsu.

It was already late at night when they arrived at the eastern border defense force's base. Uchiha Tokumitsu, who had just finished his daily training and gone to sleep, had no choice but to brace himself to receive his allies.

"People from Kirigakure have arrived!"

Having just settled into his central command tent, Hatake Sakumo hurriedly announced, "Kirigakure has arrived at the village!"

"How is this possible... The border troops' Uzumaki ninja didn't report back!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was taken aback at first, then immediately stood up: "They actually dare to start a war! It seems we have no choice but to fight all the way to the Land of Water!"

"It's not about starting a war!"

Hatake Sakumo immediately realized the ambiguity in his words and quickly explained, "It's a peace envoy from Kirigakure... no, not an envoy, to be precise, a messenger to discuss peace matters has arrived in the village!"

"I do know that..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu was stunned again: "But what does it matter? Isn't it good to restore peace?"

In Uchiha Tokumitsu's memory, Hatake Sakumo was not a person with a militant mentality. Although he was ruthless and merciless on the battlefield, Hatake Sakumo was essentially a person who believed in love and peace.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have revered the Will of Fire as their guiding principle.

"The ninja clan is rallying against peace talks!"

Sakumo Hatake said.

"I didn't! I didn't! Don't talk nonsense!"

As soon as Hatake Sakumo finished speaking, Uchiha Tokumitsu immediately retorted.

"...It has nothing to do with the Uchiha clan; it's other ninja clans that are still facing a debt crisis who are opposing it."

Sakumo Hatake explained.

Why?

Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat curious.

The Third Hokage has ruled Konoha for so many years, and apart from the Uchiha clan, how could there be any other ninja clans in Konoha who dare to conspire against the Hokage? It's truly unbelievable!

"According to reliable sources, Kirigakure's proposal is to restore peace without compensation, and the Hokage is preparing to agree..."

Sakumo Hatake lowered his voice and said.

"So what?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was still baffled: "We don't have enough ships to defeat Kirigakure at sea and invade the Land of Water... Isn't this a normal situation?"

"Everyone is worried that the village won't be able to pay the IOUs, and then the bonds issued by the ninja clan will be..."

Sakumo Hatake sighed.

He realized that the recent chaos in the village was all related to this seemingly convenient and useful bond...

"Isn't there a 10 billion yen bond plan? And didn't the Daimyo allocate 30% of its funding to the villages? Isn't that enough?"

At the Konoha meeting, the tone of the publicly announced 10 billion yen bond issuance plan remained unchanged. The final bond issuance amount was 6 billion yen, of which 4 billion yen was to be drawn from the Daimyo's national treasury, and the remaining 2 billion yen was to be publicly issued to the ninja world.

The Nanga River Bond Exchange is responsible for the issuance of 2 billion yuan in public bonds.

If 4 billion ryo is taken from the daimyo's treasury as scheduled, then the remaining 30% for the village would be as much as 1.2 billion ryo, which would be enough to cover the quota needs of the ninja clans that were not repurchased by the Uchiha clan.

Moreover, judging from the current situation in the ninja world, after Konoha announced its 10 billion yen bond plan, Kumogakure and Sunagakure immediately ceased their efforts, and a new war is unlikely to break out anytime soon. The funds raised from the bonds could also be used to fill the village's financial hole.

"...You mean, misappropriate the funds raised from newly issued bonds to pay off the IOUs owed by the ninja clan?"

Sakumo Hatake asked cautiously.

Yes! Is there a problem?

Uchiha Tokumitsu agreed, expressing surprise.

Isn't this standard procedure? Is there anything to be surprised about?

"Isn't the purpose of issuing bonds to raise war funds to deal with the threat from other ninja villages?"

Sakumo Hatake was very puzzled.

"But the war hasn't even started yet, has it?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu shrugged and asked in return.

"This……"

Sakumo Hatake felt like his brain was about to stop working.