“During the war, the village never paid the conscripted shinobi any wages.
According to long standing custom, shinobi have always been required to hand over only half of the spoils they obtained on the battlefield.”
“I wonder which rule the advisor is referring to, and who exactly established that rule?”
Homura Mitokado’s face darkened.
“That was in the past!
This time, you allowed your subordinates to plunder the Land of Wind, severely damaging Konoha’s reputation!
All of those assets must be handed over to the village for unified distribution!”
Shinsuke let out a mocking laugh.
“The money has already been distributed.”
“If the advisor thinks that’s inappropriate, then you’re welcome to personally retrieve it from every participating clan.”
“I won’t stop you.”
Homura Mitokado’s face turned black with frustration.
Retrieve it personally?
That would mean offending every clan that had participated in the war.
He didn’t have the courage for that.
Ignoring him, Shinsuke continued his report.
“In addition, Sunagakure’s war reparations amount to fifty billion ryō.”
The moment those words fell, the entire office seemed to stop breathing.
Fifty billion!
That was nearly two years’ worth of Konoha’s total revenue!
“Together with the previous twenty eight billion, the total comes to seventy eight billion ryō.”
“Fifty five billion has already been spent on various war related expenses.”
“The remaining twenty three billion is here.”
Shinsuke pushed the three scrolls forward.
“Fifty five billion in expenses?”
Koharu Utatane couldn’t help questioning him.
“What kind of expenses could possibly cost that much?”
“The amount handed over isn’t even half!”
Even Hiruzen, who usually maintained a calm expression, frowned deeply.
Uchiha Shinsuke…
He had kept far too much.
Homura Mitokado slammed the table again as he stood.
“Without Konoha’s support, could you, Uchiha Shinsuke, have won this war?”
“You’ve filled your own pockets, yet you’re only giving the village this little.”
“I absolutely refuse to accept it!”
Shinsuke merely raised his eyes and asked calmly,
“Too little?”
Hiruzen slowly exhaled a puff of smoke before finally speaking.
“Shinsuke…
it really is rather little.”
“You know as well as I do that ever since the Third Shinobi World War began, the village has suffered tremendous losses.”
“The pensions for many fallen shinobi still haven’t been paid.”
Shinsuke’s gaze swept across the three of them before he suddenly asked,
“Then how much did the commanders of the other three battlefields hand over?”
“Orochimaru.”
“Minato Namikaze.”
“And the late Hyūga Hideshu.”
“I assume they all turned over even more than my twenty three billion?”
Koharu Utatane froze.
Shinsuke continued unhurriedly,
“Since my twenty three billion is considered too little, surely the other three commanders contributed even more?”
Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu all fell silent.
The other three battlefields had struggled just to avoid collapse.
There had been no war spoils to speak of.
Instead, the village had continuously poured supplies into them.
Calling them a net loss wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Shinsuke’s tone then turned colder.
“Besides, the pensions for fallen shinobi have nothing to do with me.”
“The shinobi under my command suffered virtually no casualties.”
Looking at Hiruzen, he added one final sentence.
“Lord Hokage, I assume you haven’t forgotten that the Sunagakure front was the only battlefield where Konoha achieved an overwhelming victory.”
“And perhaps…
your political career will continue because of it.”
With that, Shinsuke said nothing more.
Hiruzen remained silent for a long while as the tobacco inside his pipe glowed brightly before fading again.
Finally, he slowly nodded.
“Very well…”
“This was your first time commanding a major war.”
“It’s understandable if the expenses were somewhat higher.”
“But don’t let it happen again.”
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane both wanted to protest further, but Hiruzen silenced them with a glance.
Shinsuke bowed, took his leave, and turned to leave.
The moment he stepped out, Shimura Danzō pushed open the office door.
“Hiruzen.”
“Approve another ten billion in funding for Root.”
Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe.
“No.”
“How can there be no money?!”
Danzō’s voice suddenly rose.
“Didn’t Uchiha Shinsuke just hand over nearly one hundred billion?”
“I’ve already heard about it!”
“The Uchiha and the village split it…
thirty seventy.”
“Why did the village only get thirty percent?!”
“The seventy percent belongs to them.”
The expression on Danzō’s face instantly became colorful.
Confusion.
Shock.
Then uncontrollable fury.
“Hiruzen!”
“You’ve truly grown senile!”
He practically pointed at the Hokage’s nose.
“How could you let the Uchiha take away so much money?”
“Do they even know how to use it?”
“When the Uchiha grow too powerful in the future, what will the village use to keep them in check?”
“You’ll regret this!”
Hiruzen raised his eyes.
“Danzō.”
“I’m the Hokage.”
Bang!
Danzō slammed the door as he stormed away.
…
After walking out of the Hokage Building, Shinsuke was in an excellent mood.
The fifty five billion ryō was safely in his hands.
That amount of money would be more than enough for him to greatly expand the Uchiha Clan’s population after taking over as Clan Head.
While he was thinking about it, a pair of soft hands suddenly covered his eyes from behind.
“Guess who I am~?”
Without even thinking, Shinsuke reached back with one arm and pulled the person into his embrace.
“Ah!
Shinsuke, let me go~!”
Kurenai Yūhi protested coquettishly, though the smile in her voice was impossible to hide.
Shinsuke planted a firm kiss on her cheek before finally letting her go.
Today’s Kurenai looked especially beautiful.
She wore a short shinobi outfit.
The tight upper garment accentuated her full chest and slender waist.
Below, she wore shorts designed for mobility, revealing a pair of long, shapely legs.
Her entire body radiated youthful energy mixed with irresistible charm.
“How did you know I’d returned?”
“Hmph.”
“My father came back, so of course that means you came back too!”
Kurenai wrinkled her nose proudly.
Realization dawned on Shinsuke.
No wonder Hiruzen had specifically assigned Yūhi Shinku to his unit.
So it had been Kurenai’s doing.
“So it was your arrangement…”
“Your father really helped us a great deal this time.”
“So how are you going to thank me?”
Kurenai blinked mischievously as she leaned close to whisper into his ear.
Smiling, Shinsuke gently pinched her cheek.
“A new dango shop just opened.”
“How about I treat you?”
“Okay!”
Hand in hand, the two entered the shop.
Shinsuke had barely spoken.
“Boss, two servings of tricolor dango.”
The shopkeeper looked up before his face lit up with excitement.
“Isn’t this Lord Shinsuke, Konoha’s hero?”
“Your meal is free!”
“Completely free!”
Kurenai covered her mouth as she giggled.
“See?”
“The whole village knows you’re a hero now~”
Shinsuke smiled awkwardly, quickly accepted the dango, and hurried away while pulling her along.
As they strolled aimlessly through the village, the two enjoyed the sweet, chewy dango together.
Before they realized it, they had arrived downstairs at Shinsuke’s house.
After spending so many days traveling and fighting, Shinsuke had been holding himself back for far too long.
He stopped walking and looked at Kurenai, whose cheeks were already slightly flushed.
“Want to come upstairs for a while?”
Pretending not to understand, Kurenai asked,
“Go upstairs…”
“For what?”
A mischievous grin spread across Shinsuke’s face.
“To have an in depth discussion about genjutsu, of course.”
As he spoke, he scooped her up into a bridal carry.
Kurenai let out a soft cry, but naturally wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder.
“Then…”
“You’d better make this discussion…
really in depth…”
The front door closed behind them.
Before long, faint rustling sounds echoed throughout the house.
Both of them were young shinobi in the prime of their lives.
Having been separated for so long, this exchange left them completely satisfied.
Fortunately, Shinsuke lived in a detached house.
Otherwise, the neighbors would probably have filed complaints over all the commotion.
Only in the afternoon did the front door finally open again.
Supporting herself against the wall, Kurenai slowly walked outside, her legs weak and her cheeks still glowing crimson.
“No more…”
“I really can’t anymore…”
“I can’t go home too late.”
Although Shinsuke was still reluctant to part with her, he could only watch her leave.
Over the following several days, the two were almost inseparable.
Whenever Shinsuke invited Kurenai over, they would spend the entire time enjoying each other’s company.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, only two days remained before the Uchiha Clan meeting.
That day, an Uchiha clansman came to report.
“Lord Shinsuke.”
“The Scorch Release ninja you brought back wishes to see you.”
Shinsuke’s expression immediately changed.
“Oh?”
“Has Pakura finally made up her mind…”
“To become my woman?”
━━━━━━━━━━━━
❤️ Enjoying the Story?