After a friendly exchange with Yahiko and the others in Amegakure, Kazashiro hurriedly left after leaving behind a Flying Thunder God Kunai, carrying with him a handwritten letter from Yahiko and the others to Jiraiya.
"Dad, I traded 100 million taels for a huge Silver Mine!"
Upon returning to Danzo's Danzo, Kazashiro eagerly shared the good news, declaring that he, on behalf of Konoha, had successfully established friendly relations with the Akatsuki Organization.
"Silver Mine?"
Danzo didn't even look up, but instead stretched out his hand, gesturing for his son to take out the signed treaty for a look.
"Wait a mininute."
Seeing Danzo reach out, Kazashiro realized that he had casually tossed the treaty to Kakashi. He hurriedly ran out of the cave, retrieved the treaty from Kakashi, and immediately handed it to Danzo.
"Um..."
Danzo leaned back in his chair, sitting casually like an old man reading a newspaper at a crossroads, and remained silent for a long time.
"One hundred million taels in exchange for a five-year mining license for Silver Mine certainly doesn't seem like a loss. However, do you know that ninjas are not allowed to mine privately?"
Danzo put the treaty away and poured cold water on Kazashiro's enthusiasm.
"Ah?"
Kazashiro was somewhat bewildered upon hearing Danzo's words.
Are ninjas forbidden from mining Silver Mine?
Which bastard made this rule?
"According to regulations, ninjas, as a military organization employed by the daimyo, are completely independent. Even if they want to do business, they can only do so on Konoha's land and must never own their own assets on the daimyo's land."
Danzo straightened his posture and began explaining things to his simple- Danzo son with a blank expression.
If that's the case...
Did I really exchange 100 million taels for completely unusable minerals?
Teacher Sarutobi found out, wouldn't he use Enma to kill himself?
After all, he signed the treaty with his own name on it. As Hiruzen's disciple, he was a natural member of Hiruzen's faction, and only the other party could take responsibility for this.
So, what are you planning to do now?
Looking at his son, Danzo's eyes gleamed with a strange light, hoping to get the answer he wanted from the other man.
Daimyo, Daimyo, if it's true that the Daimyo forbids mining, then Hiruzen, being a conservative, would certainly not allow himself to do what he did today.
After all, no matter how wealthy Konoha is, it won't give away real money to Amegakure for nothing, even if the loan can only be used to purchase necessary supplies from Konoha.
What if we skip Hiruzen and the Daimyo?
Kazashiro suddenly thought of a possibility.
What is a daimyo anyway? They just sit high above others and use their meager power to make ninjas bow down in submission.
Even if I were to lead a group to mine that Silver Mine, what could the Daimyo dare to do?
Send someone to eliminate yourself?
With just that group of warriors under his command?
But what happens to the loan if we skip Daiming?
Although the money doesn't actually need to be given to the other party, the supplies are something they are genuinely required to purchase.
Who should we ask for these supplies?
In an instant, the flood of information in his mind caused Kazashiro to flush red once again.
[Sigh, his IQ is really...]
Seeing Kazashiro's face turn red again, Danzo helplessly closed his eyes, finally believing that his son had nothing to praise except for his fighting skills.
No, even their combat thinking is far too simplistic.
"Skip the daimyo's influence and forcibly mine the Silver Mine."
Just as Danzo was about to speak up to protect his foolish son, Kazashiro finally made his decision.
Let's mine the Silver Mine first; we can deal with the supplies later!
Hearing his son finally arrive at the answer, and the answer he wanted to hear, Danzo up. He then skillfully concealed his excitement, pretending to be nonchalant as he asked, "What will Amegakure do about procuring supplies after the mine is extracted?"
"That's where we'll have to rely on you, Dad!"
Kazashiro drawled out his words and, with a fawning expression, leaned forward to Danzo's shoulders.
Hiruzen cared about his daimyo, but Danzo didn't.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that Danzo always had an indifferent attitude towards the daimyo.
Danzo, quite pleased with his son's massage, nodded. "Not too stupid, he knows to come to this old man."
After letting Kazashiro massage him for a while, Danzo waved his hand, signaling the other person to stand back where they were, and then got up to tell his son about the history of ninjas.
"During the Warring States period, daimyo relied on hiring various clans to fight each other to suppress the number of ninjas. At that time, daimyo with large samurai armies did indeed have the upper hand in terms of combat power."
With his hands behind his back, Danzo recalled what his father and grandfather had told him, "But ever since the First Hokage implemented the ninja village system, the ninjas of various clans have gathered together, and the combined power is enough to challenge the army of the daimyo. Therefore, they have to suppress the strength of the ninjas by restricting production and other measures."
"Even so, the samurai under the daimyo's command could no longer stop the ninja's advance. Therefore, the Shinobi World War became a perfect arena for attrition."
"In the commission environment deliberately created by the Daimyo and other high-ranking nobles, the ninjas of the various hidden villages fought each other for commissions, and conflicts between the various forces were constant, all wanting to obtain those meager commission fees to improve the living conditions of their own villages."
"Hmph, do you know why the Root are not included in the village's budget, yet they can still maintain such a huge scale?"
When he got to the point, Danzo turned around and looked directly into Kazashiro's eyes.
"You mean..." Kazashiro vaguely understood.
"On the surface, I used the Shimura Clan's assets to subsidize Root, but secretly, I used my power to control some impoverished nobles and use their identities to do business that the daimyo strictly forbade ninjas to engage in."
Holy crap, that's just like Old Deng!
No wonder that in the original work, when Hiruzen was still worrying about the village's requests, Danzo not only supported the Anbu, but also provided Orochimaru with a continuous stream of research funds.
When it comes to not treating one's name like a human being, it has to be one's own father!
A look of admiration appeared on Kazashiro's face.
Seeing Kazashiro's expression, Danzo nodded in satisfaction.
If a follower of Hiruzen's will, or even Hiruzen himself, heard what he said, they would surely shout that it was treason and throw him into prison.
But his son wasn't nervous at all; on the contrary, he was quite excited.
This child is like me.
Kazashiro's performance further solidified Danzo's determination to place him in the Hokage position.
If my previous self was trying to make up for the regrets in my heart, then my current self is trying to realize the ninja world I envision.
"So..."
Danzo deliberately paused for a moment.
"So?"
Kazashiro awaited Danzo's answer.
"I can afford a mere 100 million taels of supplies. As for Silver Mine mining, you don't need to worry about that."