"Hah!!"
The old Third geezer and that old bastard Danzo are tearing into each other again.
Apparently.
It started because that old bastard Danzo accused the old geezer of being lazy, dragging his feet, and ignoring all the major factions.
Of course the Third wasn't about to let the old bastard smear him like that.
So he openly stated that Konoha's administrative core was flat broke—and sitting on massive debt.
That was all the opening Danzo needed.
Since you, Third, are so overwhelmed by debt, how about you hand ANBU over to him, Danzo, as your "assistant" to manage.
That way he could "help" the Third ease his administrative fatigue.
Tch.
The people down below clicked their tongues and held their breath.
Here we go again.
Back to acting.
Like anyone down here is stupid.
Every time you get up there and make a scene, you run the same little performance—aren't you sick of it yet?
If you've got that kind of free time, how about you pay us already?
As the brain of Ino–Shika–Cho, Shikaku Nara was getting more and more disappointed in this generation's Hokage.
To be honest.
The Third geezer and that old bastard Danzo were the "complementary" type.
Leave either one alone, and they'd blow up the backyard sooner or later.
But together, they could keep limping along like they used to—something happens, and they could slap a lid on it.
"Shikaku, the slots are divided up. When are the boys from our clan heading out?"
Inoichi Yamanaka grinned as he rubbed his hands together.
He'd put in the most work, so he'd gotten the most slots.
Who told him he had such a good daughter?
"What're you in a rush for? Have you checked the pharmacies over there yet?"
The moment he said it, Inoichi and Choza Akimichi both smacked their lips, looking a little awkward.
As Konoha's backbone, as families that had produced Hokage "wives" for generations—
of course the Ino–Shika–Cho clans had businesses under their names.
Of course.
Their business model wasn't any different from the other clans and factions.
Ino–Shika–Cho provided the land and storefronts, let others run the business, and the three clans collected a cut.
What?
Why didn't they run things themselves?
Konoha had too many cautionary tales—do it yourself and boom, rebellion.
That was the "foundation" of the major powers.
Don't be fooled by how broke they looked—no, they really were broke.
But if you squeezed hard enough, you could still scrape together a little money.
Just like the first time the Third geezer supported Mr. Komori to do business.
But a villain's credit was basically the old geezer's "direct credit line," because he couldn't afford to pay up.
If that God of Wealth hadn't pulled the Uchiha up by the collar, they'd still be selling off ancestral property right now.
"We checked. Five shops—at least four are running a deficit."
Hiss…
The moment Shikaku heard that, he felt like the sky was flipping over.
How the hell were they supposed to do this?
They let others run the business and took a cut because Konoha people didn't have that kind of brain.
But now you're all losing money, which means I'm supposed to take my cut—and still throw money in?
How is that remotely reasonable?
"You can't really blame them. We're losing money—everyone else isn't exactly eating well either."
Inoichi gradually explained the dividend situation in other Konoha factions' businesses.
They were all losing money, damn it.
Nothing to be done.
The war hadn't been over long. They were still in the postwar trauma period.
Everyone was dirt poor.
So the God of Wealth's value was still climbing higher and higher.
Shikaku finally clenched his teeth.
"Fine. Listen to me.
Those five pharmacies shut down first. We stop taking their cut.
Medicinal materials will be supplied to the hospital and the medical corps—and we stop selling to outsiders."
"Hiss… is that really okay?"
"What's not okay about it?"
Inoichi shot back at Choza—
and somehow looked righteously confident while doing it.
The benefits our prospective son-in-law is handing us, we've finally got a clear path up. I mean, it's open now.
We can't be making money on the God of Wealth's side while bleeding money at the pharmacies, can we?
What would that make Ino–Shika–Cho?
At best, we'd be doing a round of 'money shuffling,' letting someone else take all the profit! ?
"Exactly… we're not playing the sucker!"
Choza heard that and couldn't hold it anymore.
With those pharmacies open, they were losing money every single minute!
With a leech like that stuck on your back, you'd be a miracle if you got rich.
Watching the two of them look physically pained from losing money, Shikaku didn't feel good about it either.
There was one thing he hadn't told his two old buddies.
Actually, before the war, the medicinal shops… they'd collapsed, then gotten back up, then collapsed again—over and over.
Why?
Shikaku's expression turned complicated as he looked toward the Hokage Building.
Old geezer… you tell me.
"If you ask me, having Mr. Komori at our Ninja Academy is a blessing!"
Konoha, Ninja Academy, teachers' office.
Mizuki—this new teacher—had been riding a high ever since a few days ago.
Luck.
It was all damn luck!
Back then, when he heard the upper ranks were assigning him to be a teacher at the academy, he almost burst into tears of gratitude.
In his mind—
was the Ninja Academy a place a human being should go?
It was poor, and you were constantly paying out of pocket!
Not only out of pocket, you had to keep butting heads with the jōnin instructors!
Even if you didn't mind arguing with the jōnin instructors—
you still had to deal with all kinds of expenses you couldn't get reimbursed for!
If Mizuki said it seriously, he was actually a small-but-not-terrible talent.
Along with Iruka Umino, he was known as one of the Twin Stars.
Mizuki's theoretical knowledge was outstanding; Iruka Umino, meanwhile, ranked top-tier on the "Unexpectedness Top" list.
The two of them stood out like cranes among chickens at the academy—how could they really rot in a place like this?
…0
Mizuki absolutely refused to accept that fate.
Who knew the wheel would turn?
Damn it—the God of Wealth had actually parachuted in and become the principal of their academy!
Faced with Mizuki's endless flattery, the other teachers didn't get annoyed.
Instead, every day felt like lanterns hung and fireworks in the air.
"Yeah, yeah—if Mr. Komori's here, how could our academy starve?"
"Starve? That's small thinking. Small-minded. The God of Wealth is called that for a reason. Look at those hospital guys—bunch of nouveau riche!"
"Hiss… so that means our salaries…"
That one half-spoken line set the whole office's excitement on fire.
At this point, it was basically the end of the argument about whether academy teachers were ninjas or not—there was no doubt about it anymore.
The two of them had been at the academy a long time—true old-timers.
But even so, poor was still poor.
Facing the hopeful, shining eyes of the students under them, all they could do was turn away in shame.
Sorry, kids.
Lunch today is still thin rice porridge and a little salted pickle.
Make do with it.
Sure, sometimes they'd dig into their own pockets to buy something better.
But only sometimes.
Any more than that—
and their own wallets wouldn't survive.
They'd gone to the Hokage Building to make a fuss again and again, but every time the Third's response got more perfunctory.
It was disappointing.
And the Third was shameless as hell, too!
Those lines in the textbooks praising the old geezer to the skies—how the hell did you have the nerve to make us write that crap in there!?
(End of Chapter)
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