One "Punch" and the Clans Would Feel It

Over the past few days, Orochimaru had been busy falsifying the books, siphoning funds from Konoha's accounts into his own laboratory.

How pitiful.

To avoid getting caught, he limited each transfer to 300,000 ryo—the pay for just one B-Rank Mission.

If he were Hokage, that'd be great. He could transfer five million ryo at a time and no one would investigate.

Orochimaru had been poor for too long. His dream was to have ten million ryo a month to fund his experiments.

Everyone in the office was a military man, not a civil official.

After payments from the Feudal Lord were excluded, most of Konoha's income still came from businesses Tobirama had set up while he was alive.

It wasn't that Konoha's economy hadn't improved over the years. It was just that there hadn't been much progress compared to Tobirama's time.

"If war breaks out again, Konoha may well..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was pessimistic about how the war would go. Konoha's accounts were nearly empty, and the village had even taken out a loan.

"You should've demanded compensation from Sunagakure when they surrendered." Danzo made his usual jab at Hiruzen. That damn Monkey hadn't asked for a single ryo in compensation, only demanded that Sunagakure ally with Konoha. He'd made it look as if they'd lost the war.

Hiruzen shot him an annoyed look. "You've got some nerve bringing that up. If you hadn't been beaten back to Kikyo Pass by the enemy and displeased the Feudal Lord—if you hadn't thrown away lives to hold them off and squandered supplies—how would Konoha have ended up this short of money?"

"Tch." Danzo knew he was in the wrong, so he settled for a small jab at Hiruzen.

It was just a minor interruption.

The important question was how to make money.

If they'd had any good ideas for making money, they would've discussed them already. The problem was that they didn't.

The only thing they could think of was taking a larger cut of the mission commissions earned by the village's ninja.

But they'd already raised the usual 12 percent commission to 53 percent for wartime.

The remaining 47 percent, split between the jōnin team leader and the three squad members, was already barely enough to get by.

If they took any more... they'd probably...

For a while, the jōnin meeting room was filled with the smell of Hiruzen Sarutobi's tobacco.

Zhengyi actually had an idea, but he didn't really want to bring it up.

Encouraging production and urging villagers to go into business were both out of the question; there wasn't enough time.

So...

"Do you have an idea?" Orochimaru had noticed his student's hesitation.

"Mm... yeah." Zhengyi was still wavering as he gave an uncertain reply.

"Heh. Sensei, looks like Zhengyi has an idea." Orochimaru felt that this was what it meant to pass something down.

Just as his teacher had once believed in him, now he believed in Zhengyi.

And just like that, Orochimaru pushed Zhengyi into the spotlight.

The senior ninja in the meeting room looked at him curiously, eager to hear what idea he might propose.

Zhengyi felt as if this idea could make him a saint or a devil.

Either his coffin would be dug up and whipped a hundred years from now, or people would worship him as the "Sun."

"Go ahead. If you really have an idea, you might be able to save the village from this crisis." Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a bitter smile. He didn't think Zhengyi would have anything worth saying.

The village was already running a deficit. He had no choice but to bring it up.

"Third Hokage, I propose that every ninja pay an additional 15 percent of their individual mission earnings after the mission commission is split."

The jōnin present: "?"

"Ahem! That's nonsense." Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly choked on his smoke.

They were already taking 53 percent. Now they wanted another 15 percent of each ninja's personal share? Hiruzen Sarutobi thought he had some dignity to preserve.

If looks could kill, the jōnin in the room would've reduced Zhengyi to a cloud of blood.

"Just hear me out."

As everyone ground their teeth, Zhengyi proposed a pension system.

Ninja didn't receive pensions in their old age. If they had no money, they could only starve or struggle to take missions even in their sixties.

Zhengyi's idea was for everyone to contribute 15 percent of their personal income while they were young. After they grew old, the village would provide them with retirement benefits based on the amount they had contributed. For example, it could help cover medical expenses or their children's schooling, and provide a regular monthly pension.

Why did Zhengyi say people might whip him a hundred years later?

Because Konoha also had civilian staff who worked in offices and didn't take missions. They lived off the village, so they received salaries from it every month and didn't have to pay taxes. That meant they would receive pensions when they grew old, too.

The Anbu were much the same.

Civilian staff and the Anbu ranked higher than ordinary ninja, so naturally they would receive the largest pensions.

The money in the pool had been earned through the hard work of Konoha's ninja when they were young. But when they grew old, civilian staff and the Anbu would get a larger share.

A hundred years later, Zhengyi would be lucky if the entire village of Konoha ninja didn't dig up his grave.

"Hmm..." None of the jōnin had thought as far ahead as a hundred years. They were thinking about how their old age would be taken care of.

Who would want to take missions at seventy or eighty if they could help it?

Wouldn't it be better to work hard and take a couple of extra missions while they were young, so they could enjoy their retirement later?

"Good!" Orochimaru was the first to applaud. The more money Konoha had, the more funding he'd get for his experiments. He had no reason to object.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi and the advisers gave it some thought, they realized... huh? It really could work. Ninja retired at sixty. And, to put it bluntly, given the average lifespan in the Shinobi World, how many years would Konoha's ninja even collect a pension?

The village would lose nothing from this arrangement.

"Excellent." Hiruzen Sarutobi clapped a couple of times to show his support.

But...

It wasn't enough.

There still wouldn't be enough money.

A 15 percent personal income tax would make a noticeable difference under normal conditions, when the commission was 12 percent. Accumulated over time, it would add up to an enormous amount. But now that the village was already taking 53 percent during wartime, the tax wouldn't amount to much.

"Sarutobi, I think this policy could be extended to the whole village, not just the ninja profession," Utatane Koharu suggested.

Hashirama had been so kind back then. He firmly believed that the tall should shelter the short from the wind and rain. The taxes paid by Konoha's villagers were practically nonexistent—at most, they paid rent and utility bills. That was why prices in Konoha were so low.

After hearing Koharu's suggestion, Zhengyi quickly withdrew his proposal. She had suggested it, so it had nothing to do with him. He'd been talking about ninja; she was the one talking about everyone.

The ninja clans were devastated.

The Nara Clan controlled the raw materials used for medicines at Konoha Hospital. They could imagine how much profit they'd made that year. And now they had to pay a 15 percent personal income tax?!

How was that any different from having their flesh carved off?

But after a few members of the Nara Clan quietly discussed it, they quickly came up with a way to handle it.

Easy! No trouble at all.

They just had to raise their prices a little when selling materials to make up for the loss. And when they got old, they could enjoy a free pension.

While the other clans were fretting, the Nara Clan was already happily imagining their retirement.

But Zhengyi spoke up again, and his next words nearly killed them with shock.

One punch and the clans would feel it:

"Konoha is at war. This period should be treated as a special case. Lord Third, you should send the Anbu to investigate the shops registered under each person's name and audit their income. Then redefine their tax rates based on what they earn—the more they earn, the more tax they pay."