"I know we can't agree to it!"
The shrill voice made Sarutobi Hiruzen furrow his brow. He couldn't help raising his voice.
Irritably, he waved a hand as if to brush away the unpleasant tension in the air, then pointed to the seat opposite him, signaling Utatane Koharu to sit down and be quiet. He reached for his pipe again.
The brief flare of a match lit his tightly pressed lips. The tobacco caught, crackling softly.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep drag.
Gray-white smoke billowed upward, veiling the complicated expression on his face.
His deliberately lowered voice came from behind the smoke. "Don't tell Danzo about this. We don't need him making things more complicated."
Utatane Koharu knew Shimura Danzō's temperament well enough to know that if he found out, he'd raise a huge fuss.
She steadied herself, quickly sorting through the situation in her mind, then said in a measured voice, "Hiruzen, tell me what you're thinking."
After a brief pause, her tone grew more severe.
"The Uchiha's sudden demand for power must have a greater aim than simply taking command of an eastern shinobi army. We need to see what they're really after."
"Homura has already left for the Daimyo Palace. Right now, there's no one else to discuss this with but you and me."
Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his aching temples, trying to dispel the heavy fatigue of a sleepless night. His voice was faintly hoarse as he spoke slowly.
"The shinobi armies are the hands and feet that let Konohagakure take action. We absolutely can't let the Uchiha control them. Even if we placed our own people in their ranks, there'd be no way to predict what those unruly Uchiha might do, let alone keep them in check."
If the Uchiha gained the moral high ground, then with both legitimacy and strength on their side, it would be inevitable that they'd take control of the eastern shinobi army.
Losing a shinobi army was something Sarutobi Hiruzen absolutely couldn't accept.
But then he changed tack. "Still, after seeing the Uchiha's attitude today, they won't back down unless we give them a reasonable answer."
"We don't know when Kirigakure might cross the sea. We don't have much time to consider our options."
At this point, the Third Hokage, renowned as the "Professor of Ninjutsu" and the "Strongest Hokage,"
remembered the Uchiha Clan Head's calm, unyielding gaze. Anger at being openly challenged by those who had once been compliant, mixed with a sense of helplessness, finally broke through his self-control.
He gripped his pipe, his knuckles turning faintly white, and through clenched teeth, muttered, "We were all founders of the village. Why can't the Uchiha... burn themselves out for Konohagakure as willingly as the Senju Clan did for Teacher Tobirama?"
Utatane Koharu, whose worldview and way of thinking were much the same as his, nodded in deep agreement.
Then a glint flashed in her eyes as a "brilliant plan" came to mind—one that seemed like a concession but would actually throw the problem back at the Uchiha.
"Since we can't give them one of our standing shinobi armies," she said, leaning forward, her voice lowered but sharp with calculation, "why not let the Uchiha... raise an army of their own?"
Utatane Koharu's lips curled into a cold smile.
"They've always thought of themselves as the 'Shinobi World's foremost clan,' haven't they? Surely they have the strength to form an independent army?"
"Better yet, let the Uchiha cover all the army's expenses and supplies themselves."
"That would preserve their 'prestige,' ease the village's pressure on the other fronts, and weaken the Uchiha at the same time. Wouldn't that be the best of all worlds?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen set down his pipe. Gray-white smoke still swirled around his brow, like the thoughts turning over in his mind.
He carefully considered every word of Utatane Koharu's proposal, weighing its pros and cons and how feasible it was.
After a long while, Sarutobi finally spoke in a low voice.
"This... could be a way to resolve the problem."
He gave it a cautious endorsement, then immediately changed tack, fixing Utatane Koharu with a sharp gaze.
"But the Uchiha are hardly fools to be manipulated. How could they fail to see what we really mean?"
"And once a fully independent, self-sufficient Uchiha army takes shape, what reins will we have left to keep that tiger from escaping its cage?"
Worried that two Konohagakure villages might emerge, east and west, Sarutobi Hiruzen eventually shook his head.
He set aside the enticing but perilous proposal for the time being.
"This matter is too important. One small change could affect everything... We'll need to think it through carefully."
If they could quickly defeat any one of Sunagakure, Iwagakure, or Kumogakure, then the initiative in facing Kirigakure would no longer rest with the Uchiha. It would return to the Hokage.
Realizing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally remembered that Utatane Koharu must have had an important reason for coming. He asked, "By the way, Koharu, what did you come to see me about? Is it something to do with logistics?"
Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen had brought it up himself, Utatane Koharu laid out the argument she had prepared.
"It is about logistics and finances."
She folded her hands in her lap and spoke clearly and methodically. "Hiruzen, we're fighting on multiple fronts, and the costs are enormous."
"We can't keep relying on however much funding the Daimyo might send, whenever he decides to send it. We need to find a new, stable source of revenue."
"Within Konohagakure, the greatest concentration of wealth right now is the Uchiha's Ginza."
Utatane Koharu pointed it out without hesitation. "It brings in gold by the day. Its profits are staggering."
"But under the old system Second Hokage established, taxes on shinobi clan businesses are extremely low. That might have been acceptable in the past, but it's no longer appropriate."
Her eyes shone as she looked at the Hokage.
"I think it's time to push through tax reform. We shouldn't limit ourselves to fixed taxes. Instead, following the model of taking a cut from mission rewards, we should tax all businesses above a certain level of sales based on their profits."
"This isn't aimed at the Uchiha. It's for the good of Konohagakure as a whole."
"Tax reform... Easier said than done." Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression turned bitter. "That's the same as taking a knife to the purses of every shinobi clan, especially the Uchiha."
"At such a sensitive time, could it backfire and make the conflict even worse?"
"It's precisely because we're at war that we have more reason to do this!" Utatane Koharu insisted.
"To support the front lines and protect the village, everyone with the means should make a greater contribution."
"We can define it as a 'special wartime tax,' with a clear duration and purpose. Then we can gradually push further reforms afterward."
"Even the Uchiha would find it hard to openly oppose us under the banner of 'protecting Konohagakure'—unless they want to be condemned as people who don't care whether the village survives."
She paused, then continued.
"We can set a high threshold for taxation, focusing mainly on huge commercial enterprises like Ginza."
"Most small and medium-sized businesses and clan enterprises will be barely affected, so resistance will naturally be much weaker."
"We're not trying to make enemies of every shinobi clan. We're asking the greatest beneficiaries to take on their fair share of responsibility."
They both knew exactly what she meant.
Sarutobi Hiruzen said nothing. He simply looked out the window at the towering Ginza, the Uchiha clan crest gleaming in the sunlight.
"...Draw up a proposal, Koharu."
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