The Chunin Ninja Exams were drawing closer.
As a result, the village began making preparations, and the atmosphere grew considerably tenser.
To ensure the successful hosting of this Chunin Ninja Exam, Hiruzen Sarutobi had specifically convened a small meeting beforehand.
At this moment—
Hiruzen Sarutobi's group had gathered in a small conference room.
Of course, for various reasons... their close friend—Shimura Danzō—had not attended this meeting.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed wistfully. Looking at the new bounty notice beside him, which listed 400 million, he felt somewhat melancholy as he removed his pipe from his mouth. "That Danzo... does he not trust this old man?"
He did not even attend a meeting called by him. It truly hurt his feelings!
"..."
Stop it!
If I saw you keeping my bounty notice on your desk every day, I wouldn't trust you either~
Of course, as Hiruzen Sarutobi's close friend—Mitokado Homura—he certainly could not say that.
He also sighed wistfully. "After all, the increase has been rather outrageous."
How long had it even been? It had already reached 400 million Ryo~!
And it was still rising. Inevitably, rogue ninja or assassination ninja would be tempted.
Although the village was fairly safe, generally speaking... who knew when an accident might happen?
Perhaps some fearless fool might sneak in and set his sights on Danzo's head.
Mitokado Homura pondered for a moment. "I heard the bounty wasn't issued by just one place. What did Danzo do to make so many people place bounties on him at once?"
"Enough." Utatane Koharu shook her head helplessly. "No matter what, this bounty has already affected our work. Find out exactly which ninja village or individual is willing to spend such a great price to place a bounty on Danzo!"
Even when the First Hokage sold the tailed beasts, it had not been this outrageous. Who knew how high it would rise?
As she said this, she looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "But right now, we should deal with the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams first."
"Hahaha, that's true!" Hiruzen Sarutobi put away the bounty notice again. Frowning slightly, he looked at his old friends. "As you can see, every ninja village has been making some strange moves in secret recently. Therefore, we must ensure the village's security during these Chunin Ninja Exams!"
"Have the Military Police Force cooperate with the Anbu." Utatane Koharu seemed to have already considered this and spoke calmly. "The Sharingan is quite useful in this regard."
"In that case, we'll follow Utatane's suggestion and gather the other clan heads for a meeting later." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with a smile. "At the same time, the village's reception arrangements..."
Before he could finish—
"I've already made arrangements for that." The refined Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses and said with a serious expression, "Uchiha Fuyou is an Uchiha with a strong Will of Fire. No, he has now been expelled from the Uchiha clan. Although he is no longer a ninja, the fact that he expanded his milk tea shops across the entire Land of Fire in such a short time undoubtedly proves that he is a merchant with vision far beyond that of ordinary people." He paused. "And judging from these past few years, he loves Konoha, is charitable, and is willing to contribute. He is an outstanding citizen of Konoha. Some time ago, he came to me, hoping to share the village's burdens by helping receive some ninja from other villages and assisting with the Chunin Ninja Exams. I think highly of him."
"A mere merchant involving himself in ninja affairs..." Utatane Koharu frowned slightly and pondered for a moment. "That is truly inappropriate!"
"It is indeed inappropriate." Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe and nodded as well. "He has not been a ninja for many years! And these are important Chunin..."
Before he could finish—
"He agreed to provide free meals, drinking water, and parasols for every ninja village during the Chunin Ninja Exams. He will also handle village entry guidance. In addition, he hopes these Chunin Ninja Exams can be successfully held and is prepared to privately donate... 50 million Ryo. As long as we agree, he will transfer the money tonight!"
After Mitokado Homura finished speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent. Even Utatane Koharu beside him sank into thought.
No ninja would ever complain about having too much money. After all, every additional 10 million taels meant the village could accomplish more.
Besides... he was not trying to interfere with the Chunin Ninja Exams. He merely wanted to do his part.
"What an outstanding citizen of Konoha!" Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long, gratified sigh. "From Fuyou, this old man can feel the powerful spirit of the Will of Fire—a love for Konoha, a love for the Hokage, and a love for the villagers."
"Then Hiruzen's meaning is...?"
"Since he has put it this way, how could this old man chill his sincere heart? Of course, we still need to assign ninja to keep watch." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with a smile, the gratification in his eyes still undiminished. He seemed extremely pleased by Fuyou's love for the village. "Then we'll end our discussion here. Next... have the clan heads and the jonin remaining in Konoha come over!" He paused. "Also, send someone to inform Danzo." Glancing at the 400 million bounty, he still wore a kind and benevolent smile. "He is an important companion of ours~"
"Understood." Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu nodded and stood up directly. "Then we'll go make the arrangements."
After the two left and closed the door behind them—
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the intelligence on the table and fell silent. Finally, he used his pipe to burn the slip of paper, then sighed wistfully. "A painting left behind by the First Hokage? Five million Ryo?"
After saying that—
He raised his head sadly and gazed at the white light on the ceiling. "En~, you must not make a mistake involving principles!"
Do not forget our original aspirations. Remember the dreams we had back then!
As the messenger ninja delivered the orders, the heads of the major clans received the Third Hokage's command. None of them dared delay in the slightest and hurried to the Hokage Building for the meeting.
Of course, it was basically the Hokage's advisory group assigning tasks while the clan heads nodded. Only when they did not understand something would they raise their hands to ask questions.
As the head of the Uchiha clan and the captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, Uchiha Fugaku naturally attended as well. Thus, it was only after night had fallen and the meeting had ended that he returned home.
"I'm back." His tone was flat.
"Fugaku, you're back?" Uchiha Mikoto smiled when she saw Fugaku return. "Dinner is ready. I'll heat it up first, so please wait a moment."
"Mm." Fugaku nodded and handed the ninja flak jacket he had taken off to Mikoto. He sat down with an inward sigh of relief.
It was still more comfortable being home~
Then he looked at Itachi, who was quietly drinking milk tea beside him, and the corner of his mouth twitched again.
That Fuyou truly was... Fugaku did not even know what to say about him. He really did what he said he would~
Not long ago, he had said he would send milk tea and snacks. Sure enough, starting the very next day, he had kept sending them, and in huge quantities. It would be a waste to throw them away, but they were junk snacks, and eating too much was not good either.
Fugaku sighed inwardly, but he still kept a stern face as he looked at Itachi and said calmly, "Don't eat too much of these things."
"Understood, Father!" Itachi nodded obediently. "Because I was worried about wasting them, Itachi asked Mother before eating them. Tomorrow, Itachi will give them to the other..."
Before he could finish—
Fugaku's eyes seemed to sense something. He immediately frowned, looked at Itachi, and said in a somewhat grave tone, "Come here!"
"Father..." Itachi walked over in confusion.
Then—
Fugaku picked up his child. His expression remained extremely solemn as he weighed him in his hands. After a moment, he said gravely again, "Itachi, have you... put on a little weight?"
"???"
The two-year-old child immediately looked at his father with utter confusion.
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