To everyone else, it was undoubtedly an atomic bomb, its impact immense. Ronglin smiled, raised a hand, held up one finger, and said:
"To put it bluntly, Konoha's development cannot do without the Daimyo. More precisely, it cannot do without the money in the Daimyo's hands. Am I right?"
"Cough, cough!!"
The moment those words came out, quite a few people flushed with embarrassment. No matter who raised such a subject, they would normally phrase it tactfully, but Ronglin had put it so nakedly that everyone present felt somewhat awkward.
Ronglin paid them no mind and continued, "To be blunt, without the Daimyo's massive financial support, Konoha will end up stuck in an awkward rut two or three years from now, unable to sustain its development. Its strength will gradually weaken step by step. This shows just how important money is—and how important the Daimyo is."
"But what I want to ask is this: if there were no Daimyo, and Konoha had sufficient funds to operate, would we still need the Daimyo?"
"This..."
Everyone froze, then instinctively shook their heads. The village's development required huge sums of money. If they had enough money, why the hell would they need the Daimyo?
That was merely a little appetizer before the meal. The main course was about to be served—though calling it an atomic bomb would probably be more fitting.
A cold smile crept across Ronglin's increasingly mature face.
"What if—what if the Land of Fire had no Daimyo? What if all the nation's tax revenue went into Konoha's treasury? How far would Konoha's strength soar?"
"..."
The anger and worry on everyone's faces froze. No family, nor anyone capable of entering this place through their own strength, was a fool. In an instant, they understood that all Lord Hokage's words and