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When Hiruzen Sarutobi heard Tsunade’s accusation, his brows furrowed slightly.
He had not made any decision to cut the orphanage’s funding.
Just yesterday, he had handed management of the orphanage over to Danzo.
Danzo had recently asked him for that authority.
Because of the war, Hiruzen did not have the energy to manage too many affairs, so he had placed the orphanage under Danzo’s control.
If the orphanage’s funding had truly been cut today, then it had to be Danzo’s decision.
Hiruzen sighed and explained,
“Tsunade, the village’s resources are strained during wartime, but I never ordered the orphanage’s funding reduced.
Those affairs have already been handed over to Danzo.”
Tsunade snorted coldly.
“That shady bastard again.”
She was still dissatisfied, but she also understood that the Third Hokage might have been kept in the dark.
After all, she knew exactly what kind of person Danzo was.
If it was something a decent human being would do, Danzo absolutely would not do it.
“The orphanage’s funding is barely enough to keep them fed.
It has to be restored, and increased by another twenty percent.”
Tsunade’s attitude was firm.
Hiruzen pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“I will personally look into this and ensure the funds arrive.”
If nothing else, he had to agree for the sake of his office door.
Otherwise, next time, the door would not simply be kicked open.
It would be kicked clean off.
After watching Tsunade leave, the Anbu outside the door came into the Hokage’s office with an awkward smile.
Hiruzen shook his head helplessly.
“All right.
I won’t blame you for failing to stop Tsunade.
Go call Danzo here.”
“Yes, Lord Hokage.”
Before long, the Anbu brought Danzo over.
He slowly walked into the Hokage’s office, his voice low.
“Hiruzen, why did you call me?”
Hiruzen did not bring up the orphanage right away.
Instead, he asked,
“Danzo, is Root short on funding lately?”
A trace of surprise flashed in Danzo’s eye.
Hiruzen had always been stingy with Root.
Why was he suddenly asking about funding today?
Danzo seized the opening and said,
“It is indeed insufficient.
Root needs more money to train Anbu and prepare for the war.”
Hiruzen’s face darkened, and he finally questioned him coldly.
“Then why did you cut seventy percent of the orphanage’s funding without authorization?
The children can barely afford food.”
Danzo’s expression did not change.
“The orphanage’s expenses are too high.
Those children have no value to Konoha.
It would be better to save those resources and invest them in combat strength.”
In his heart, he thought that cutting the funding was only meant to force Nono, the Walking Shrine Maiden, into a corner.
Once she had no other choice, she would naturally return to Root’s service.
“Bastard!”
Hiruzen slammed the desk and stood, anger erupting.
“Restore the orphanage’s allocation immediately.
Otherwise, I will cut Root’s funding in half.”
Danzo’s pupil contracted, and his voice turned gloomy.
“Hiruzen, you are obstructing Root’s operations.”
“That is an order.”
Hiruzen refused to yield an inch.
“No matter how urgent the war becomes, we should not sacrifice innocent children.”
Danzo fell silent for a moment, then gave a cold snort.
“Hiruzen, you will regret this.”
“Enough.
I am the Hokage.”
Danzo slammed the door and left.
Looking at the door that was now barely hanging on, Hiruzen winced.
At the same time, in Yuto’s house, that brat was writing furiously.
His research had already been completed.
He did not know that the orphanage’s funding had been restored, so he was still continuing with his writing plan.
Yuto’s pen flew across the paper, and the images from the bathhouse refused to leave his mind.
“In the mist, her hair spilled down like a waterfall.
Water traced the long line of her neck and gathered in a glittering hollow at her collarbone.
The curves wrapped beneath the towel appeared and disappeared, rising faintly with each breath…”
…
“Misaki was forced into the corner, damp hair clinging to her pale cheeks.
‘Failure on a mission means punishment…’ Jonin Matsumoto tore open his collar and approached with a savage grin, his fingers roughly gripping her chin.
Water slid down her trembling shoulders and splashed in tiny droplets across the tile.
‘No…
at least let me put on…’ Her desperate plea was drowned beneath the rush of water…”
Yuto rubbed his aching wrist, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“Brutal superior, complete.
Next…”
Day after day passed.
In the blink of an eye, only one day remained before they were to leave for the battlefield.
Yuto walked out of his room with dark circles under his eyes and messy hair.
He had written until his mind was almost drifting, and he shuffled toward the Konoha bookstore like a walking corpse.
Yuto dragged his exhausted body into the bookstore, still smelling sour enough to draw the shop owner’s eye at once.
The owner looked up, frowned, and waved him away.
“Shoo, shoo.
Beggars aren’t allowed in here.”
Without saying a word, Yuto pulled a wrinkled manuscript from his clothes and slapped it on the counter.
“Read this.”
The owner glanced at the title, Make-Out Paradise, and impatiently opened to the first page, already preparing to mock it.
Then his eyes locked onto the paper.
The more he read, the wider his eyes grew.
His fingers began trembling without him realizing it.
“Th-This is…”
“Sir, I didn’t know who I was dealing with.”
The owner suddenly dropped to his knees, grabbed Yuto’s hand, and spoke in a shaking voice.
“I’ll buy this manuscript outright for three million ryo.
No, five million.”
Yuto’s mouth curled.
What was this owner thinking, trying to buy it outright?
Books like this basically did not exist in the Naruto world.
Even if someone had a flash of inspiration and thought of a similar idea, there was absolutely no way they could match Yuto’s experience.
After all, the internet environment back on Earth had been an ocean of pornographic sludge.
Every second, someone was taking things into the gutter.
Yuto pulled his hand back and shook his head.
“I want royalties.
For every copy sold, I get seventy percent.”
The owner anxiously rubbed his hands together.
“That doesn’t follow the rules.
How about sixty-forty?
You take sixty, I take forty.”
“Seventy-thirty.”
Yuto turned as if to leave.
“If you don’t want it, I’ll find another shop.
Konoha has more than one bookstore.”
Seeing Yuto about to leave, the owner panicked.
Watching a competitor make money would hurt more than losing money himself.
“Deal.”
The owner grabbed Yuto’s sleeve and smiled so hard his face wrinkled.
“You really are a genius.
This book will sell like crazy.”
Yuto pushed the manuscript toward him and said seriously,
“Please give all of my royalties to Director Nono at the orphanage.”
The owner looked up in surprise.
“Why not keep it for yourself?
You worked hard to write this.”
Yuto scratched his head, his voice low.
“War is coming.
The orphanage’s funding was cut, and those children can barely afford food.”
He shrugged.
“I might not come back.
At least let them eat a few more full meals.”
There was one thing Yuto did not say.
He was planning to go to the battlefield to die, so of course he would not be coming back.
The owner’s hand trembled slightly, and his eyes behind the lenses grew wet.
“So that’s how it is…”
He suddenly gripped Yuto’s hand.
“I swear on this bookstore’s hundred-year reputation.
For every copy this book sells, seventy percent of the royalties will be delivered to the orphanage on time.”
Yuto nodded, but inside, he thought,
Konoha had only been founded forty-seven years ago.
Where did this bookstore get a hundred-year reputation?
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