Early morning
Uchiha Nan supported his aching lower back as he climbed out of bed. He walked to the window and pulled open the curtains. Sunlight streamed in and fell across the bed, making the snow-white nude bodies look especially beautiful under the golden glow.
I got hard!
However, the mirror directly facing Uchiha Nan in the room made him forcefully suppress the urge.
His hair was a mess, his eyes were deeply sunken, dark circles hung heavily beneath them, and somehow his beard had grown so long overnight.
I've been ruined by wine and women. I actually look this haggard!
From today onward, I'm abstaining from women!
Uchiha Nan silently made up his mind. The feeling of indulging in sensual pleasures was simply too addictive. He couldn't play himself into kidney deficiency.
"Master, you're awake?"
Kaede rubbed her eyes. She had apparently been awakened by the noise Uchiha Nan made. When she saw his naked body, she instinctively covered her eyes. Then she suddenly realized that she was naked too, hurriedly grabbed the bedsheet to cover herself, and blushed brightly.
So cute.
Watching Kaede fluster about, Uchiha Nan sighed inwardly.
"Master, I'll go make you breakfast right away."
Kaede tugged at Suzu, trying to wake her so they could help Uchiha Nan get dressed and wash up.
"Forget it. Don't make such a fuss. I'll eat out myself. You two keep sleeping."
Uchiha Nan waved his hand. Experiencing a life where someone served him while he dressed and washed up once was enough. There was no need to make the two sisters work so hard.
Without giving Kaede a chance to argue, he grabbed a change of clothes and walked out. After washing up and shaving, he casually found a breakfast shop and ate.
After breakfast, Uchiha Nan arrived at the meeting room.
There was still an hour until the meeting began, so Uchiha Nan had expected there to be few people inside.
Instead, the meeting room was packed. Nearly every senior member of Konoha's clans, large and small, had arrived.
But thinking about it, that made sense. The higher-ups were handing out money. Anyone who wasn't eager to collect their salary had to have something wrong with their brain.
Thinking that, Uchiha Nan walked through the crowd and took his seat.
When everyone saw Uchiha Nan enter, they tactfully fell silent and returned to their seats.
Sitting at the central head seat, Uchiha Nan swept his gaze over the room. Seeing that Mito Uzumaki had not arrived today, he casually asked Senju Touma.
"Why hasn't Mito-sama come today?"
Senju Touma's fists clenched at once. It was hard not to suspect that Uchiha Nan had deliberately brought it up.
His mother's face had been beaten into a pig's head by that evil Uchiha Nan. If the Uzumaki clan's vitality and recovery abilities had not been so strong, she might have been disfigured.
In any world, a woman's face came first. Mito Uzumaki had only endured it because she considered the bigger picture. Otherwise, she would probably have fought Uchiha Nan to the death.
"Mother isn't feeling well, so she didn't come today."
Senju Touma answered expressionlessly, unwilling to bicker with Uchiha Nan.
"Oh! Looks like her injuries from last time still haven't healed."
"You!!!"
Senju Touma snapped. He was now certain Uchiha Nan had said it on purpose.
Don't get angry. I'm not angry.
Senju Touma decided to endure it again. Falling out with Uchiha Nan now would bring him no benefits. For all he knew, Uchiha Nan was waiting for him to lose his temper.
It was time for funds to be distributed. He couldn't fall for it!
Senju Touma turned his face away, pretending not to hear Uchiha Nan.
"Lord Hokage is already here, and everyone is more or less present. Let's begin the meeting."
Hyuga Takuma stepped forward to smooth things over. He did not want Konoha's two great clans to become too hostile.
"Then let's begin!"
Uchiha Nan nodded and kicked off today's money-distribution meeting.
"The Land of Fire has allocated funds to Konoha."
Uchiha Nan deliberately paused. The Clan Heads of the various clans eagerly watched him, wanting to know the amount.
"30 billion!"
The figure shattered the meeting room's previous silence, and everyone began chattering among themselves.
Was 30 billion a lot?
Given to a single clan, it would naturally have been an astronomical amount. But this sum was for all of Konoha.
After deducting the more than 10 billion owed to the various clans, less than 20 billion remained.
And that only accounted for Konoha's ninja clans. There were also countless civilian ninja. There might not be many chunin and jonin, but there were plenty of genin, which added up to another large expense.
There were also all kinds of other places that needed money. The expenses were endless.
"Today, we'll discuss how to allocate these funds."
Uchiha Nan had only recently taken office. He could not yet make final decisions and freely use the allocated funds as he pleased.
The ninja of the entire village were staring at this money like hungry wolves.
As soon as Uchiha Nan finished speaking, everyone began voicing their opinions freely instead of merely whispering among themselves.
These ninja clans first believed that the previous debts should be repaid before discussing how the remaining money should be used.
A long list of budget items was compiled: Konoha's daily operating expenses.
The Ninja Academy needed to continue recruiting students, which cost money.
There were also all kinds of ninja tools, Soldier Pills, and Explosive Tags.
Konoha's hospital needed to expand, and medical ninja needed to be trained. That was another huge expense.
Then there was the funding for the defensive lines against Kirigakure and Iwagakure, which was no small amount. Merely keeping the standing forces stationed there cost 500 million ryo every month. If local friction escalated into war, that expense would triple or quadruple.
There was also Kumogakure. Although they had signed a peace treaty, that was no guarantee of complete safety. Necessary precautions still had to be made.
The staff recording everything kept calculating the projected future expenses.
Once Uchiha Nan saw that the discussion had more or less concluded, he asked about Konoha's future budget requirements.
"Reporting to Lord Hokage, if no large-scale war breaks out in the future, carrying out all these budgets will require more than 50 billion."
"Hiss."
Just as expected!
Uchiha Nan held his head. Budgets were never enough.
Every ninja village had its shortcomings. Either there was not enough funding to train students at the Ninja Academy, or medical care was lacking, or their defensive strength was insufficient.
The people present had practically listed everything Konoha needed to develop as a ninja village. This amount of funding was definitely not enough.
"What if war breaks out?"
Hyuga Takuma asked. The recorder gave a bitter smile. Once they were at war, how could any budget possibly be sufficient?
You'd be burning money. How could there ever be enough money to burn?
"The situation isn't looking good!"
"Comrades."
Uchiha Nan faced everyone with a solemn expression. They were still short on money!
"Konoha is our shared home. We must weather this together and carry forward the spirit of the Will of Fire."
"..."
Uchiha Nan first delivered a lengthy speech, conveying the spirit of the meeting.
Since Konoha did not have enough money for development, someone had to contribute. Who else could provide transfer payments besides these well-funded ninja clans?
Rely on civilian ninja?
How much could they possibly squeeze out?
Even a starving ninja clan was still richer than a camel!
What Konoha owed was the ninja clans' money. This was an internal entanglement—an internal debt!
Internal debt wasn't debt!
Let the ninja clans suffer a little. He would bear the infamy!
Before you continue