Learning to Be a Clan Head from Scratch

"Tomita, what do these people do?"

Having been promoted, Uchiha Nan naturally moved into Uchiha Tomita's former room and officially began his life as Clan Head.

"Clan Head, these are Uchiha's accountants."

Uchiha Tomita pointed at the row of accountants. They were all professional accountants hired by the Uchiha, and all of them were Konoha civilians.

As for why there was not a single Uchiha among them, the reason was simple: the Uchiha were only good at cutting people down. The sight of those dull, complicated ledgers gave them headaches.

Uchiha Tomita gave them a look, and the accountants began reporting on the clan's current situation.

"Clan Head, as of now, the clan's Weapon Industry has remained in deficit. In order to cope with the war, Konoha owes us more than 530 million Ryo for purchasing shuriken, kunai, Explosive Tags, and so on produced by the clan."

"Clan Head, the clan's shops are also performing poorly. More than thirty percent of tenants have been overdue on payments for over half a year, totaling 130 million Ryo. The specific details are as follows."

"Clan Head, compensation for fallen clan members has remained unpaid. Quite a few people are making a fuss about it now."

"..."

The four or five accountants in front of him rattled off the figures in their ledgers without stopping.

Their words all boiled down to one thing: pay up!

Pay up quickly—the more, the better!

Uchiha Nan's expression turned ugly. I just took office, and this is what I get? Don't tell me the clan is going to go bankrupt under my watch.

"Stop. Just tell me this: how much Cash Flow does the clan have left, and how long can it last?"

Uchiha Nan could no longer stand the chant-like financial reports. He just wanted the answer.

"About 150 million Ryo. Without factoring in compensation for the clan's fallen, it can probably last around one more month."

Hiss!

So little? It could only last a month?

"Tomita, has the clan's finances really gotten this bad?"

Uchiha Nan looked at Uchiha Tomita. He had barely taken office, and the finances had already exploded. How was he supposed to play this?

"Clan Head, you know this war has been going on for too long. It isn't just the Uchiha—every clan in Konoha is in the same situation."

What was more, Konoha's ninja had not taken missions for a long time. They had all been sent to fight on the front lines, cutting off a major source of Konoha's income.

Konoha was being sustained by the constant bleeding of its ninja clans—their money and their people.

Damn it!

"What about the Daimyo? The Daimyo of the Land of Fire!"

"Hasn't he paid?"

Uchiha Nan was a little beside himself. The ninja were risking their lives outside, yet the Daimyo was unwilling to put up even a bit of money.

"The Daimyo gives Konoha 20 Billion Ryo every year. Over the past three years, that was increased to 25 billion Ryo."

"However..."

Uchiha Tomita did not finish, but the meaning was obvious. It had already all been spent. The production cost of a single Explosive Tag was no less than 3,000 Ryo. In even a small battle, no one knew how many Explosive Tags were used on the battlefield each day.

Not to mention the countless kunai and shuriken flying everywhere across the battlefield.

And that did not even include Soldier Pills, food, Medical Supplies...

That was not warfare. That was burning money.

Even burning money could not spend it as quickly as a war did.

It seemed Konoha truly could not keep fighting. If this went on, it would collapse from within. With money being burned like this, what clan could endure it?

And that was without even mentioning the clan's casualties. Nearly an entire generation had died.

"Don't worry, Clan Head. The Daimyo and Tobirama Senju have reached an agreement. A huge sum will be allocated for rebuilding Konoha."

He had no choice but to pay. If he did not bleed a little more, Konoha might start considering whether to replace him with a Daimyo willing to provide money.

Over nearly a thousand years of Ninja World history, quite a few Daimyo who had not been quite right in the head and had failed to provide enough funding had been killed by the ninja beneath them.

After all, they were all serving the Land of Fire. If the Daimyo died, he still had sons and brothers. They could always find someone to inherit the position.

Seeing Uchiha Nan's deathly expression, Uchiha Tomita still gave him a bit of encouragement.

A newly appointed Clan Head could not quit just because there was no money. That would be utterly humiliating for the Uchiha.

"How much exactly?"

"Lord Tobirama didn't say. It's confidential."

Damn it!

Pulling this trick? That bastard Tobirama was not planning to line his own pockets, was he?

This huge sum was now waiting for the next Hokage to distribute. Who got more and who got less would be decided with a single word from the Hokage.

This time, the Senju Clan could not be allowed to seize the advantage first.

"Lord Uchiha Nan, you must become Hokage."

Uchiha Tomita stared at Uchiha Nan with blazing eyes, his gaze practically molten. Becoming Hokage meant gaining the authority to allocate funds for Konoha's reconstruction.

Wasn't that what ninja clans sought when they vied for the Hokage Position?

They could rightfully demand money from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, then distribute it downward. The clan could skim a portion from it to train its ninja and strengthen its power.

Of course, that was only part of it. There were also all kinds of hidden sources of income.

For example, the allocation of Konoha's missions, land transactions, and commercial secrets.

Those were all powers that only the upper ranks could control.

Every clan did its utmost to rake in and occupy as much as possible within Konoha's framework, then use it to train clan ninja and bolster the clan's strength. The cycle repeated itself, passed down from generation to generation.

Whichever clan produced a Hokage would naturally get to feast on the biggest share.

This was the Uchiha Clan's closest chance yet to the Hokage Position. They could not miss this opportunity.

The clan desperately needed to recover!

"I will become Hokage."

Uchiha Nan made that promise not only for himself, but also for the clan—and, of course, for Konoha.

In the original story, Hiruzen Sarutobi became Hokage, the Senju Clan disappeared, and the Uchiha Clan disappeared. At the Whale Fall feast of those two great clans, the only one left greedily stuffing itself in the end was the Sarutobi Family.

Damn it, his own family had been fed full, while Konoha gradually weakened instead.

"Of course I believe in Lord Uchiha Nan."

Uchiha Tomita had great confidence in Uchiha Nan. With his Mangekyō Sharingan awakened, who in Konoha could possibly stop him?

"Lord Uchiha Nan, these are the documents the Clan Head needs to handle."

Uchiha Tomita brought over another stack of papers—the documents he normally had to deal with.

They covered everything: promotions within the Uchiha Security Force, patrols on Konoha's streets, the capture of spies—

—as well as the clan's businesses and important guests the clan head had to receive. Naturally, such guests were either wealthy or influential, all major merchants and nobles from the Land of Fire.

The next appointment was the day after tomorrow. It was with a major merchant who had long cooperated with the Uchiha, supplying the iron used as raw material for their weapons. He was probably coming to collect a debt.

The Uchiha had failed to settle their payments for nearly half a year. The last time the man came, Uchiha Tomita had drunk with him until the middle of the night before finally smoothing things over. He had exhausted every flattering word he knew and barely managed to delay it a while longer.

Of course, this mess was now Uchiha Nan's headache to deal with.