"To address Konoha's current financial strain, I have a proposal!"
"The plan is a little complicated. This room is too small for me to write it all out..."
"So I can only explain the general idea!"
Haru laid out his idea, and the meeting room, which had been somewhat noisy a moment ago, instantly fell into dead silence.
What a shockingly outrageous idea.
Everyone present thought back to Haru's recent actions after becoming Hokage. First, he had cut into the ninja clans and pried a chunk of flesh out of their mouths to feed Konoha back with it, which had already made the clans deeply unhappy.
Rumor also said Haru had accepted a gift from the Daimyo, a pair of twin girls.
And now he had put forward another idea that sounded both childish and crazy.
Haru did not look like a ruler at all.
Futures?
Nobody had even heard of such a thing.
Was it reliable?
Of course not.
The clan heads and senior clan members present had all spent their entire lives as ninja. They were already used to the old way of living, taking missions and receiving payment. Their instincts naturally rejected anything this new.
Old people were conservative by nature. They leaned toward what they already understood. Not everyone was like Tobirama, with that kind of capacity to absorb new things.
Anyone with eyes could see that the price of pig iron was bound to shoot upward. If you bought in at the bottom and then planned to sell once the price rose, what happened if the war spiraled out of control again? Would you even be able to buy it back?
This concerned Konoha's survival. It was not a game.
The people present looked at each other, but no one spoke. No one wanted to be the first bird to stick its head out and challenge the Hokage's authority.
"Enough!"
Mito shouted sharply, cutting Haru off mid-speech.
"Konoha is not your toy!"
"No one has ever even heard of something like futures. Whether it can make money is secondary. What Konoha needs most right now is to prepare for war. A ninja's duty is to carry out missions perfectly. If you want to do business, then go become a merchant!"
"Your identity right now is Konoha's Third Hokage!"
"Understand your position. That entire plan of yours is nothing but imagination!"
..."
Mito gave Haru absolutely no face and scolded him head-on.
With her strength, status, and standing, she had no reason to fear retaliation from Haru.
Konoha was the life's work of her husband, Hashirama Senju. Mito would never allow Haru to do whatever he pleased with it.
Damn, not even a little face?
Haru's expression darkened, but inwardly he was not too angry.
Mito was acting entirely out of concern for Konoha. More importantly, she did not know how the future course of the war would go.
The current situation looked like it was heading toward a major war. Other than Haru, nobody knew that this war would end quickly, all thunder and no rain, wrapped up in a rushed anticlimax. Even if Haru said so, no one would believe him.
But he was Hokage.
He could not just let this go. Otherwise, what was the point of being the boss?
"Tomita, escort Mito out."
Haru barked the order, telling Tomita to throw Mito out of the meeting room at once.
Tomita, seated at one side, hesitated. He also had no confidence in Haru's proposal. Deep down, he hoped Mito could talk Haru out of it.
"Clan Head..."
Tomita started to speak, wanting to persuade him.
"Silence!"
"At work, use the title!"
"Call me Hokage-sama!"
"Execute the order!"
Haru's eyes turned icy as he stared at Tomita. At a moment like this, if even you won't support me, are you trying to rebel?
"Yes!"
"Hokage-sama!"
Tomita immediately snapped back to attention, waved his hand, and summoned several Anbu members. They stepped in front of Mito and said expressionlessly,
"Lady Mito, forgive us."
Then the Anbu lifted Mito up, preparing to escort her out of the room.
"Haru, you're driving Konoha toward a dead end!"
"Haru, you will regret this!"
Mito had already been seized, but she could not force a fight inside the meeting room. All she could do was shout at Haru.
"Shut up, Mito. I am the Hokage!"
The words came out of Haru's mouth instinctively, as if by some strange fate.
Damn it. I've turned into Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Haru sighed inwardly at how unpredictable life was. Even this cursed iconic scene had managed to repeat itself.
Was there some kind of fate-correction in the world of Naruto?
Haru rubbed his forehead and shoved the messy thought out of his mind.
Anyone who wanted to block his grand money-making scheme was his enemy.
He had no patience right now for all this talk about risk or whatever.
He wanted money.
What was the use of envying the Daimyo?
He wanted to act for himself and become richer than they were.
He could not endure even one more day of living like this, worrying over money.
Fortune came from danger.
More importantly, this one was practically a guaranteed win laid face-up on the table.
After Mito had been escorted out by the Anbu, Haru swept a dark gaze across the entire room and said slowly,
"Does anyone else have objections?"
No one answered.
They had all just seen what happened to Mito.
None of them had Mito's status. If they spoke up in opposition, they would probably be thrown straight into Anbu custody.
"Then it's decided!"
"Everything else in Konoha is to be temporarily set aside. We will focus entirely on the coming war, and also on the futures plan. Prepare for battle exactly as needed!"
"Tomita, war mobilization is your responsibility. Do not make it public yet. Carry it out in secret. I have a use for it."
"Shikaru, the futures plan will be yours to help me implement!"
"This meeting is top secret. No one is allowed to leak anything!"
Haru issued one command after another, exercising the authority of the Hokage.
In wartime, the Hokage's words were military orders. No one could defy them.
"Meeting adjourned!"
The meeting ended under a cloud of gloom.
Everyone who attended left in low spirits.
Because of the war that was coming.
Because of the money that was about to burn away.
And even more because of Haru's so-called futures plan, which sounded unreliable no matter how they thought about it.
Konoha was doomed sooner or later.
Senju Clan Grounds
After the meeting ended, Toma returned alone to his room and was even humming a little tune. His mood today was actually quite good.
Outwardly, he had looked furious when Haru had Mito escorted out of the meeting room, but inwardly he had practically been hoping for it.
Because he knew his mother Mito was right. Haru's so-called futures plan was garbage.
Was that really something a ninja should be doing?
As long as Haru's actions failed, Toma would immediately join forces with the ninja clans and impeach him, forcing him down from the Hokage's seat.
No matter how strong Haru was, could he really fight all of Konoha by himself?
Don't be ridiculous.
The Uchiha were still just a bunch of hot-blooded brutes in the end.
(End of Chapter)
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