Take Sixty Percent of Your Money First

The more shops you owned, the more income you had—and the more taxes you had to hand over.

This measure was aimed specifically at the rich.

After all, these clans didn't support Orochimaru. They thought he was hard to control, had a mind of his own, and didn't care about personal ties.

So they might as well make things difficult for them.

The people being taxed at sixty percent were all rich—among the wealthiest of the wealthy.

This had nothing to do with ordinary jōnin, who paid just fifteen percent income tax and could collect a pension when they got old. If anything, they'd be all for it. The wealthier the village, the better their benefits would be in old age.

"Sixty percent tax? If I make a million ryō, I have to give Konoha six hundred thousand?!"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"Third Hokage, if you agree to this fellow Zhengyi's proposal, it'll be no different from trea—"

"Shut up!!"

A jōnin with business interests had almost blurted out the word "defection," but Choza Akimichi punched him and sent him flying.

After he came to, he realized what he'd almost said.

"Sumimasen, I spoke without thinking, Third Hokage." He got up and hurriedly dropped into a full kowtow.

"Phew." Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long puff of smoke and waved for him to get up.

He was thinking about something.

Once Orochimaru became Hokage, what were the chances Zhengyi would take the Fifth Hokage's seat? If Zhengyi became Hokage and pulled something like this, would Konoha fall apart?

Was Minato the better choice after all?

This only strengthened his resolve not to let Orochimaru become Hokage. Konoha wasn't in a position to handle reforms.

"About this matter..." Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to reject the proposal and win back the people's support.

Danzo, who had been sitting at the head of the table, suddenly stood up. "Third Hokage, I support Jōnin Zhengyi's proposal."

Hiruzen Sarutobi: "?"

"Danzo, what are you messing around with now?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's head was about to split. They were in the middle of a war. Could he not make trouble?

Danzo had a simple reason for supporting Zhengyi: this order sounded so much like something their teacher would do!

Take sixty percent of your money!

Damn it! How had he never thought of that?!

Hadn't their teacher supported the clan businesses so vigorously back then for exactly this moment?

He'd wondered why their teacher had been so generous, handing the medical-animal industry to the Nara, medicinal herbs to the Yamanaka, the meat industry to the Akimichi, the fruit industry to the Sarutobi, and the pet industry to the Inuzuka...

He'd even supported the Uchiha in building an arms business.

So that was it!!

Over the years, the clans had flourished and accumulated no small amount of wealth.

Their teacher must have foreseen that the village would run short of money, so he'd arranged a moneybag the village could dip into whenever it needed.

Zhengyi's proposal had been hopeless to begin with, but once Danzo—the troublemaker, no, the standard-bearer—got involved, its chances had shot up.

Money! Could Danzo really turn down money that was so easy to get his hands on?!

When Zhengyi had been the one speaking, the jōnin of the village hadn't felt much pressure.

Now it was Danzo speaking. Pressure!!!

Whose clan here hadn't been shaken down by Danzo, forced to hand over one or two clan geniuses?

That piece of dog shit fancied himself a Second.

In truth, he didn't resemble the Second in either appearance or temperament. He was a complete misfit, a mad dog!

If Danzo went after them for money, could they really abandon Konoha, where their clans had put down roots for generations, just to keep their wealth?

The jōnin meeting room was full of faces wearing all kinds of expressions.

Everyone's eyes turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

In the end, it all came down to whether he supported the proposal.

"Meeting adjourned! We'll discuss this again later." Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't dare take on so many people at once. He hurriedly called the meeting off, deciding to discuss it with a few of the higher-ups first.

The jōnin breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the Third Hokage was on their side.

Seeing how timid Hiruzen Sarutobi was—he wouldn't even accept the generous gift their teacher had left him—

In the Hokage Office,

Danzo was furious enough to burst a lung. "Hiruzen, the village is already in this state. What are you still hesitating for?! You're always second-guessing everything. What did our teacher ever see in you?"

"Danzo! You're oversimplifying this. Do you think the Shimura Clan would agree to this?"

"Heh. What do you think? Whether it's my own people or anyone else in the village, it should be just as our teacher said: a shinobi's duty is to carry out orders. When a mission comes down, you carry it out. Don't think about anything else. Anyone who dares question the village should be arrested for treason."

"Danzo! This is different. The clans and ordinary people should be taxed equally."

The two of them were at each other's throats again today.

"All right, you two. Danzo, the Third has a point, too."

Mm.

You regret it, I'll take the Hokage's seat.

Bang~~~

Hiruzen Sarutobi had expected Minato to become the Fourth Hokage.

But to keep Orochimaru off guard, he'd still handed over some of the acting Hokage's authority.

What if the Third wouldn't agree?

Then they'd get the Third-and-a-Half to agree.

Inside Root Base, Danzo, Zhengyi, and Orochimaru were meeting in secret.

"Orochimaru, once this is done, I want thirty percent for Root's operating expenses."

"Is that so? But I need thirty percent for research expenses, too."

If they each took thirty percent, how would that work? They'd gone behind Monkey's back to get it done first and ask questions later. If they gave the village treasury just forty percent afterward, wouldn't Monkey summon Enma and have him beat them to death?

"Research expenses..." Danzo wanted to say they could take a little less for that.

"Hashirama Cells."

Researching Hashirama Cells cost a fortune. The cells were extremely sensitive.

Change the serum batch → the results changed.

A 0.5°C temperature fluctuation → the results changed.

A slightly lighter or heavier touch during the procedure → the results changed.

To ensure reliable results, they had to repeat the process dozens of times.

One failure, and all the money they'd spent before went down the drain.

They also had to maintain the equipment.

The moment he heard the words "Hashirama Cells," Danzo gave in—but he still couldn't spare any of Root's funding.

"Then I..." Zhengyi wanted ten percent, too. He needed it to build welfare facilities in Konoha and earn himself a reputation as a saint!

The fight with Minato for the Hokage seat would be a long one.

Politics was about gathering as many supporters as possible and leaving as few opponents as possible.

Since the clans opposed them, they'd have to strike first and nip those clans in the bud.

The common people were their base, so they'd have to win their support!

Zhengyi had already come up with a whole strategy for Orochimaru to become Hokage.

However...

"What do you need money for?" Danzo asked coldly, as if he were about to toss Zhengyi into a water prison to feed the Kikaichū.

"Are you dating that student of Minato's?" Orochimaru asked.

"No." It was ridiculous, but he hadn't managed to win her over when they were kids.

"Then what do you need money for?" Orochimaru had no intention of giving him any.

Between him and Danzo, both of them spent money like there was no tomorrow. Give Zhengyi a share, too? Heh.

"I..."

When adults were talking, kids shouldn't butt in.

They could concede on anything else, but not money.

Money really could ruin a relationship. Orochimaru and Danzo had nearly come to blows over how to split the spoils.

They hadn't even put the policy into effect yet, and the two of them were already acting like this.

Zhengyi had lost count of how many times he'd worried about the future.

He really wanted a cigarette, but smoking was bad for him.

Sigh.

This was enough to worry anyone to death.