Are There Any Widows in the Clan?

What a dilemma!

Uchiha Nan's desire for strength was beyond doubt. The missions with Gold rewards were currently impossible to complete due to all sorts of restrictions.

But the missions that rewarded ten Lottery chances only required him to sacrifice his dignity.

Uchiha Nan fell into thought. That was ten Lottery chances—he would need to save up for nearly a year to get that many. Maybe he could draw something good.

Someone had to get ridiculously lucky. Why couldn't that lucky bastard be him?

Uchiha Tomita, outside the door, heard the table-slamming in the room stop. He crept inside on tiptoe and saw Uchiha Nan sitting there with his eyes tightly shut, clutching his head in thought.

"Lord Uchiha Nan, the luggage has been packed."

"Ah, Tomita! Everything's packed, then?"

"Well, um..."

"Are the widows in the clan doing all right?"

Uchiha Nan coughed once or twice and asked in a low voice, his sense of shame practically exploding inside him.

"Widows?"

"Don't worry, Lord Uchiha Nan. The Uchiha warriors made sacrifices, and the clan will naturally take care of their wives. Though the clan isn't wealthy, we can at least ensure they have meat with all three meals."

Although Uchiha Tomita had no idea why Uchiha Nan had suddenly asked such a question, he answered honestly.

"That's good, that's good!"

"We absolutely can't let Konoha's heroes bleed and shed tears!"

Uchiha Nan wanted to slap himself. How could he possibly say something like that?

His clansmen had sacrificed themselves for Konoha, and he was thinking about their wives. He was truly a beast!

Uchiha Nan decided to put those missions rewarding ten Lottery chances aside for now.

To break the damn awkwardness, Uchiha Nan changed the subject and planned to search the room with Uchiha Tomita for important materials left behind by Tobirama Senju.

After rummaging through everything, Uchiha Nan successfully found the Forbidden Scroll.

He also found a large stack of correspondence between Tobirama Senju and the Land of Fire's Daimyo, clearly documenting the funds Tobirama Senju had negotiated with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

It totaled a full 31 billion ryo, yet only 30 billion ryo had been reported to Konoha's treasury.

That bastard Tobirama Senju really had been lining his own pockets!

The only question was whether the extra billion ryo had been handed over to the Senju Clan, or whether that old bastard had pocketed it himself to fund his experiments.

Experiments were not cheap, especially high-end ones. In later years, Orochimaru had even directly run his own ninja village just to earn money for his experiments.

"Lord Uchiha Nan, this billion...?"

Uchiha Tomita's eyes had already turned red. If they swallowed this massive sum, wouldn't all the clan's debts be paid off?

There would even be some left over!

This was the benefit of having a Hokage in the clan!

"Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know!"

Uchiha Nan smiled. This money should stay with the Uchiha. Who knew how much funding Tobirama Senju had embezzled during his years as Hokage to conduct experiments?

"Got it!"

After giving Uchiha Tomita all the necessary instructions, Uchiha Nan planned to set out the next day for the Land of Fire's capital to demand money from the Daimyo!

The next day.

Uchiha Nan set out alone, traveling light without bringing a single guard. He planned to make the trip as quickly as possible and return just as fast.

With Uchiha Nan's strength, any enemy he could not handle would make those guards nothing more than dead weight. He had no intention of copying Tobirama Senju by bringing a bunch of Hokage guards, only to end up dead himself.

After traveling tirelessly, Uchiha Nan arrived at the capital of the Land of Fire.

A long and protracted war had dealt the Land of Fire a devastating blow. Along the way, Uchiha Nan saw masses of refugees struggling to survive. There were also bandits and Missing-nin blocking the roads to rob travelers, but Uchiha Nan dealt with them in passing.

The Land of Fire was still essentially an agrarian nation. There were signs of technological development, but who knew how far it had progressed? It was surely a complete mess.

People still relied on manual labor and livestock to plow fields, and traveled by horse-drawn or ox-drawn carts. It was no different from an ancient feudal society. Its productive capacity was probably around the Ming and Qing eras—perhaps even worse.

Yet some technologies were bizarrely ahead of their time. Konoha actually had electric lights, with a few scattered utility poles planted around the village, utterly out of place with Konoha's overall atmosphere.

By Naruto's era, refrigerators, televisions, electric lights, and all kinds of modern appliances had appeared. That was only a few decades from now. Such technological progress was truly outrageous.

Once he reached the capital of the Land of Fire, Uchiha Nan barely saw any refugees. The noble officials probably couldn't bear to see refugees all over the streets and had dealt with them all.

But Uchiha Nan had no time to concern himself with that. That was simply how the world worked: when poor, one cared for oneself; when prosperous, one helped the world. Uchiha Nan did not yet have the ability to help the world.

Uchiha Nan arrived at the imperial palace and presented his calling card. Upon seeing the Hokage's Divine Robe he wore, they knew that Uchiha Nan was the newly appointed Third Hokage.

No one questioned his identity. After all, impersonating Konoha's Hokage in the capital of the Land of Fire to swindle the Daimyo was a crime that would ensure one never saw the next day's sun.

Uchiha Nan was then led straight into the palace. He met a broad, fat attendant, who arranged for him to wait in a side hall, saying the Daimyo would arrive shortly.

Extravagant!

Too luxurious!

Uchiha Nan considered himself well-traveled, yet even he was stunned by the grandeur of the imperial palace.

The palace grounds were nearly half the size of Konoha. The halls and courtyards formed by tall railings and walls were so labyrinthine that Uchiha Nan had nearly gotten lost upon entering; he had only found this side hall with someone leading the way.

The side hall was decorated so extravagantly that any random beam could be sold for over a hundred thousand ryo, not to mention all kinds of jewels Uchiha Nan did not recognize.

As expected of the bizarre offspring of a feudal society and a world of superhuman powers. They had become this corrupt and decadent, yet could still sit securely atop their ruling position.

Kishimoto, you have no conscience!

A rebellion made up of refugees was simply no match for ninja. Any elite jonin leading a team could slaughter them all.

What? I'm one of the beneficiaries too?

Then never mind!

As Uchiha Nan's thoughts wandered, he soon saw a strangely dressed middle-aged man approaching him, surrounded by a crowd of guards.

"Youth truly produces heroes. The Uchiha clan has produced a Hokage as well!"

"Truly, congratulations!"

With an eager smile on his face, the Daimyo began flattering Uchiha Nan.

Uchiha Nan skillfully exchanged pleasantries with the Daimyo, neither servile nor overbearing in tone.

There was still a relationship between sovereign and subject between him and the Daimyo. Once Konoha elected a Hokage, the Land of Fire's Daimyo had to certify the appointment before the process could be considered complete.

However, the Land of Fire's Daimyo knew his place and had no intention of interfering with Konoha's Hokage election. Whoever was chosen as Hokage only needed his nod of approval.

After all, they were all thugs his household kept. As long as they were useful, that was enough.

"Hokage, you've come from far away. You must attend tonight's banquet."

"I'll host a feast to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey!"

I fell asleep halfway through, hahaha. Please vote with your monthly tickets!