"This road here, and that road over there—both need to be repaved. The surrounding residential buildings too."
Sarutobi Hiruzen took the pipe from his mouth, his tone serious as he addressed Konoha's upper council.
"They're getting old. This is a good chance to rebuild and rezone them properly."
"But…"
Mitokado Homura was visibly confused at why his old comrade was suddenly bringing up Konoha's infrastructure during a council meeting. After a moment of thought, he frowned.
"Konoha doesn't exactly have the spare funds right now."
Even the funds for the orphanage had been delayed several times already.
Though, oddly enough, the orphanage head hadn't been pestering them lately for the money.
Rumor had it… Danzō had arranged jobs for the orphans so they could support themselves.
That doesn't sound like Danzō at all…
When Homura first heard about it, he didn't believe it for a second.
Those orphans? Danzō was far more likely to use them for live experiments or weaponization projects. Provide actual jobs—with wages?
What a joke. The kind of joke he could laugh at for a whole year.
And yet—
It was true.
The changes were so dramatic that even now he felt like he was dreaming.
"The Nine-Tails incident was less than four years ago. And while we didn't exactly lose the Third Great Ninja War, we didn't really win it either. Our war reparations were pitiful," Homura said. "Which is why Konoha's top priority now should be training and strengthening our shinobi—to recover from the war's damage."
That's what the Fire Daimyō had been hoping for too. He'd immediately issued a generous budget after the war ended, specifically to help Konoha rebuild its military strength.
"I agree," chimed in Koharu Utatane, nodding firmly.
"Shinobi are our village's foundation. Everything else can wait. For now, every single coin needs to go toward necessities."
"I'm well aware," Hiruzen replied, rubbing his temple with a slight headache. Despite being shot down by his two closest allies, he maintained a calm smile.
"But you don't need to worry about the funds. I've already secured a development grant from Danzō. It'll be used strictly for Konoha's reconstruction and educational development—totaling one hundred million ryo, distributed in three phases."
The words dropped like a bomb.
"…W-What?"
Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded, before finally turning toward the Hokage with blank expressions.
"That's impossible!"
There's no way Danzō would do that!
...
Meanwhile.
In the Kage-Level Suite of the Grand Sail Hotel, Sunagakure.
Danzō sat elegantly on a plush sofa, draped in a white bathrobe provided by the hotel. In one hand, he held a glass of premium Scorpion Sake—complimentary, of course.
A slight smile curled his lips.
"Not bad."
The massage tub, in particular, was excellent. After a good soak, all the fatigue from the journey had melted away.
Maybe when I get back to the village, I should install one in my own home.
He wasn't sure what the full setup would cost, though.
He thought back to the plot of land he'd bought just outside the village for a mere thousand ryo. In the end, though… he had handed over a full hundred million to Hiruzen to fund Konoha's reconstruction and education.
The only condition: his merchant caravans be allowed unrestricted entry into the village to manage the land.
Sure, he could come and go "freely" in secret anyway…
But being able to operate openly would make things far more convenient.
As for the land outside the village—
He planned to develop it into a combined agricultural and livestock farming facility.
Especially now that his lab was working hard to reverse-engineer Suna's so-called "Sakra Fertilize"—a substance said to accelerate crop growth. If they could crack its secrets, his title as Konoha's Grain King would be even more secure.
Unfortunately, to this day, no one had figured out exactly what kind of soil that stuff was made from.
Stretching out with a yawn, he stood and glanced at the ticking clock on the wall.
"About time."
He had a meeting to attend—a summit between representatives from Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure to raise concerns with Sunagakure. They'd be discussing revisions to the Shinobi King competition and a few trade issues.
Ever since Suna's products had gained popularity, merchants from various countries had started inserting themselves into Suna's business. The scale was still small, and the impact on profits wasn't significant—but it was annoying.
Danzō snorted coldly.
"Suna had better give us an explanation."
...
"You've got to be kidding me."
Jiraiya blinked and stared blankly at Kakashi in disbelief.
"Your team's coach and leader is that old fossil?"
He wondered if he'd heard wrong.
Danzō?!
He rubbed his ear, completely baffled.
"I mean, I knew that old guy struck it rich, but… he's not causing any trouble? And the old man's not doing anything? He's just letting Danzō get rich in peace?"
This wasn't the Hiruzen and Danzō he knew.
"These days, Lord Danzō has been surprisingly quiet," Kakashi replied, his voice weary.
"Word is, he even withdrew some of the surveillance on the Uchiha, and he's funding the orphanage now. Oh—and all our team expenses for this tournament? Covered by him."
"…What's he up to?"
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, serious now. His mind flashed back to that hotel reservation incident earlier.
The guy was seriously throwing money around.
"What about the old man? He hasn't said anything?"
"Not that we've heard," said Asuma from the side, taking a drag from his cigarette.
"When I left the village, I heard Danzō had donated a hundred million ryo to the village. And…"
He sighed.
"For weeks, we were training at one of Danzō's personal training camps. We left just a few days ago to come to Suna. If anything has happened, we don't know. But if there were real problems, the old man wouldn't have accepted his money."
"…"
Konoha had changed so much, even Jiraiya felt like borrowing money now.
Controlling the entire Fire Country's market clearly had a bigger payoff than wandering around like a vagabond toad.
After all, the Fire Country was rich.
Jiraiya frowned in thought for a while. In the end, he decided not to worry too much about Konoha.
Besides… this might actually be a good thing.
Maybe if I really do try to borrow some cash… that old geezer Danzō might actually lend it to me.
Should I go ask later…?
Putting the thought aside, he looked at Konoha's tournament participants and grew serious again.
...
"Alright, enough talk. Take a look at this. I gathered it myself—info on all the participating teams."
"As long as they don't break Suna's regulations, we don't restrict trade with anyone," Rasa said with a warm smile, addressing the three great village representatives seated before him.
"And you don't need to worry. Compared to you, those scattered small-time merchants barely get any discount at all. They won't impact your market share."
"As for the changes to the Shinobi King competition…"
He paused, scanning the representatives' expressions.
"What are your thoughts?"
"Let's be realistic," the Fourth Raikage said bluntly. "I don't look that dark."
"Yeah, yeah! My old man isn't that short either," added Iwa's representative.
"According to the character design, he can barely punch someone's knees."
Both the Kumo and Iwa reps voiced their discontent.
Only Danzō… quietly pulled a photo from his robe and handed it to Rasa.
"Use this," he said flatly.
Rasa nodded slightly, then looked down at the photo.
White hair. Deep wrinkles. Wearing the Kage ceremonial robes, grinning in a lecherous and wrinkled sort of way—the Third Hokage.
Huh? He submitted an actual photo?
No filters? No glamor shots?
Wow. So honest?
For a moment, Rasa was overcome with respect for Hiruzen's integrity.