Chapter 225: Without Destroying Several Clans, Where Will the Funding Come From?
After their figures disappeared into the distance, two shadows emerged from the nearby forest—precisely Uchiha Yasushi and Zetsu.
"Tsk tsk, what a shame. I originally thought I'd get to see internal conflict in the village, blood flowing like rivers!" Yasushi scratched his chin boredly.
"Looks like your plan backfired!" Zetsu said with a grin. "It seems after this incident, Jiraiya's prestige as Hokage will definitely surge, and his control over Konoha Village will strengthen considerably."
"No external enemies, no internal chaos—Konoha Village seems about to embark on the road to revival!"
"So, aren't you planning to personally take action yet?"
"No need." Yasushi stretched lazily, turning to walk in another direction.
"You don't actually think those clans will just let this go, do you?"
"Eh, didn't they already surrender?"
"What use is verbal surrender!" Yasushi sighed, his face full of disappointment. "Jiraiya is still too soft-hearted!"
"Didn't you notice?"
"In this entire internal conflict, not a single person died!"
"How can that work?"
"These clans—if you don't give them a bloody lesson, they won't learn."
"They'll even take advantage of your mercy to push their luck further."
"After all, you don't dare kill anyone. What harm is there in causing a little trouble?"
"If they fail, there's no real loss—at worst, they grovel and apologize."
"But what if they succeed?"
"Wouldn't that be a huge windfall?"
"So you're saying these clans will still cause trouble for Jiraiya?"
"Absolutely certain."
Yasushi suddenly let out a sinister laugh.
"Hehehe... I have great confidence in these greedy bastards!"
"I believe they definitely won't disappoint me. They'll definitely put on a good show for us."
Jiraiya led the defeated jonin back to the village. From afar, he saw Shikaku Nara and another group of jonin waiting there to greet them.
Having been used first and then sold out left these clan jonin burning with rage.
Enemies meeting face to face brought especially fierce glares. If not for Jiraiya's presence, these two groups would probably have started fighting each other first.
Shikaku Nara treated their stares as if they didn't exist, reverting to his original obedient Hokage advisor persona as he came forward to greet them.
"Lord Hokage, welcome back triumphant."
"Hmph!" Jiraiya snorted coldly, his face dark with displeasure as he glared at Shikaku Nara. "You owe me an explanation!"
"I will provide one, Lord Hokage." Shikaku Nara seemed completely unsurprised by this, not the slightest bit angry, remaining respectful as he said:
"Please rest assured, Lord Hokage. The Ino-Shika-Cho families will always be your steadfast supporters."
Jiraiya waved his hand, signaling everyone to disperse, then returned to the Hokage's office.
Shikaku Nara followed in after him, closing the door. Now only the two of them remained in the room.
Jiraiya dropped into his office chair and raised his chin. "Alright, talk. What's really going on here?"
Shikaku Nara explained earnestly:
"Lord Jiraiya, the village belongs to everyone—and that naturally includes the shinobi clans."
"I've reminded you many times before that when the village formulates policies, you must consider the clans' interests."
Jiraiya's face remained sour, snapping impatiently: "The village's interests and everyone's interests are one and the same!"
"Once the village develops, everyone will naturally benefit—and the clans will definitely gain the most."
"I just don't understand why you can't grasp such a simple concept!"
Today, Shikaku Nara was exceptionally patient.
"Lord Jiraiya, some clans truly don't understand this principle. But how could the Nara clan not understand?"
"And under our Nara clan's explanations, the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans can both accept these policies."
"However, not all clans trust the Nara clan the way the Yamanaka and Akimichi do."
"There are still many families that cannot accept all this."
"Moreover, Lord Jiraiya's previous methods were indeed somewhat excessive."
"At the end of the day, the clans naturally hope the village will develop well. But the village's development cannot come at the cost of harming clan interests."
"Ridiculous!" Jiraiya slammed the table, roaring: "Right now the village is in such shambles—aside from the clans, where else is there gold and resources to invest?"
"If I don't force the clans to provide funding, should I squeeze those lower-level shinobi who can barely survive?"
"We're finding funding sources for Lord Hokage right now!" Shikaku Nara said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Jiraiya didn't understand at all.
"Actually..." Shikaku Nara hesitated, but ultimately decided to speak the truth.
"Originally, I had set my sights on the Hyuga Main House."
"Their Main House assassinated the Third Hokage—thinking they could atone by donating three hundred million ryo is far too naive!"
"If Lord Hokage had entrusted me with negotiations back then, I wouldn't have been worthy of my position if I couldn't squeeze at least three to five billion ryo out of that Hyuga Main House."
"Wait!" Jiraiya held up his hand, frowning. "We all know that Hyuga Main House member was an imposter. Teacher Hiruzen's assassination can't be blamed on the Hyuga family."
"That's not how it works!" Shikaku Nara shook his head. "If not for the Hyuga family's internal chaos, why would the Third Hokage have rushed over to suppress the rebellion?"
"If the Third Hokage hadn't gone to suppress the rebellion, how would he have been assassinated?"
"And why did the Hyuga family have internal chaos?"
"Wasn't it because the Hyuga Main House oppressed the Branch House too severely?"
"How can you say the Hyuga family has nothing to do with the Third Hokage's death?"
"This..." Now Jiraiya had nothing to say.
He scratched his head, feeling like Shikaku Nara's words seemed somewhat reasonable, yet also feeling something wasn't quite right—though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
But Shikaku Nara didn't give him time to think, continuing:
"But after several attempts at persuasion, Lord Hokage never agreed to move against the Hyuga clan. So I had no choice but to seek other sources of reconstruction funding for the village."
"The village cannot force clans to donate wealth without cause. But if a clan commits crimes first, that's another matter entirely."
"Thus we have today's events."
"The families who took the lead this time all have considerable wealth and yet opposed Lord Hokage's policies."
"In the past, even when they undermined the village from the shadows, there was nothing we could do about them."
"But now with this incident, Lord Hokage can take the opportunity to bring them to justice."
"Today's events, broadly speaking, constitute a conspiracy to overthrow Lord Hokage's rule—an extremely grave crime."
"Not to mention confiscating their entire estates—at minimum, making them cough up half their wealth should be completely unproblematic."