Dawn's light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Hokage Office, where Konoha's core high-ranking officials sat around a long table.
Fugaku, Tsunade, Hiashi, Shikaku, Minato and Shun, who was sitting with his legs crossed.
Fugaku pressed his hands on the table, his gaze sweeping over everyone.
"Regarding the Land of Fire Daimyo's appointment of Shun as an advisor..."
Shun drummed his fingers on the table impatiently, directly interrupting, "I refuse, that's the Daimyo's scheme. The goal is to sow discord between me and the clan head."
His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the conference room.
Shikaku lightly rubbed his forehead, smiling wryly. "Shun, refusing the Daimyo's appointment is tantamount to slapping his face."
Shun sneered, "So what? Can he really send troops to attack Konoha? With just over 3,500 ninjas he's recruited, and a few hundred thousand samurai?"
The Daimyo was Tsunade's relative and had given her a lot of money in the past.
Considering her relative and the money, Tsunade narrowed her eyes and said, "Brat, don't be too arrogant. The Daimyo controls the financial lifeline of the Land of Fire."
Fugaku slowly spoke, his voice deep and authoritative. "Shun, this is not the time to be willful. You are well aware of Konoha's economic situation. We just ended the war not long ago, and reconstruction funds are tight. The Daimyo controls the Land of Fire's financial allocations. Tearing up relations now would not benefit the village."
Seeing that Shun still wanted to argue, Fugaku couldn't help but feel a little helpless.
He slowly let out a breath and said, "Shun, the monthly salary for an advisor is 10 million ryo, directly allocated by the Daimyo's treasury."
Upon hearing this number, Shun's eyes suddenly lit up. "If you had told me there was so much money to be made, I would have taken this job a long time ago."
Ryuka, sitting next to him, awkwardly rubbed his forehead and said, "Hey, Shun, your expression is too obvious."
Everyone in the conference room was speechless.
"Shun... this guy..."
Just then, Yashiro, the head of the finance department, walked in, carrying a stack of thick ledgers. He slammed the ledgers onto the table with a "thud," making the teacups jump.
"Everyone, the financial report for the Valley of the End competition is out."
He opened a ledger and cleared his throat. "First, ticket revenue, a total of 36.968 billion ryo."
Upon hearing such a large sum of money, a collective gasp could be heard.
"Of which noble tickets sold a total of 1,710, totaling 21.375 billion ryo."
"Merchant tickets sold a total of 4,152, totaling 8.304 billion ryo."
"Civilian tickets sold a total of 36,445, totaling 6.56 billion ryo."
Hiashi said incredulously, "36.968 billion ryo? Does the competition make that much money?"
Yashiro's face, however, showed an undisguised look of heartache. "According to the pre-match agreement, the winner Shun receives 10% of the total ticket revenue, which is 3.69 billion ryo. The loser Jiraiya receives 3%, about 1.1 billion ryo."
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya whistled, "1.1 billion ryo, that's enough for me to eat sea cucumber, abalone, every day, and even splurge at pleasure districts for several years, hahaha!"
Choza muttered, "He lost, and he still gets so much money, no wonder he's smiling so happily."
Yashiro raised his voice. "Quiet! The important part is next. Of the remaining 32.16 billion ryo, after deducting over 4 billion ryo for initial investments like venue construction and security, the net income is about 28 billion ryo."
Everyone's breathing simultaneously hitched.
But that wasn't all. Yashiro opened the second ledger, his voice slightly distorted with excitement. "Konoha's gambling den had a total betting amount of 77.63 billion ryo. According to the agreement, the village can take a 30% cut, which is 23.28 billion ryo."
"Pfft!"
Inoichi , who was drinking tea, spat it out, splashing Shikaku opposite him.
Yashiro opened the third ledger, looked around at everyone, and shouted, "Additionally, peripheral income from hotels, catering, entertainment, and so on during the competition was about 8.8 billion ryo. In summary, our village's total revenue from this event is 60.08 billion ryo."
The conference room suddenly fell silent. After several seconds of silence, it suddenly erupted.
Hiashi said in surprise, "Over sixty billion ryo! Even before the war, when the village had 24,157 ninjas, the annual income was only over 10 billion ryo. This one competition is equivalent to 6 years of the village's previous income."
Yashiro smiled and nodded. "Now the village only has 6,652 ninjas, so the village won't have to worry about funding for many years."
As the meeting concluded, the news spread like wildfire.
"Did you hear? Shun-sama earned sixty billion for the village in one competition." The vegetable seller gestured wildly to her customer.
"I heard that a few days before the competition, Shun-sama bet 200 million ryo on himself to win. The odds were 1 : 3.3, so 200 million ryo directly became 660 million ryo."
A Chunin who had just returned from a mission nearly bit his tongue. "Sixty billion?! How many S-rank mission rewards would that be?"
"So now everyone calls him Konoha's God of Wealth, Shun."
In taverns, in front of gambling dens, by the Ninja Academy's training grounds, throughout the streets and alleys of the entire Konoha, this astronomical figure was being frantically spread.
Children drew countless zeros on the ground with chalk.
Merchants calculated how much stock they should hoard for the next competition.
Even the usually serious Anbu, while patrolling on rooftops, couldn't help but discuss this windfall.
In the Konoha Hospital, several injured ninjas passed around a copy of the "Konoha Financial News," with the headline on the front page boldly proclaiming "The 60 Billion Miracle!"
"We work ourselves to death on S-rank missions for only a few million ryo in reward." A Chunin wrapped in bandages murmured.
"He gets 3.69 billion ryo just by fighting one battle and he's only 17 years old." A Jonin leaning on a crutch said with a wry smile.
"I suddenly feel like my kunai isn't so great anymore." A newly graduated Genin stared blankly at his weapon.
...
Soon, on Konoha's commercial street.
A prominent, giant billboard was erected, featuring a portrait of Shun giving a thumbs-up, next to a line of eye-catching red characters.
"Konoha's God of Wealth, bringing you prosperity! 598 Pleasure District!"