The Bright Hokage and the Dark Root

Hiruzen Sarutobi's words came to an abrupt halt, but the other three knew exactly what he meant.

The losses from the Nine-Tails incident were not merely human; there were also unimaginable financial damages.

What was lost could not be recovered, and the collapsed buildings needed to be rebuilt, the fallen ninja required pensions, and the disabled ninja needed retirement compensation—all in all, the total expenditure would exceed ten billion ryo.

Konoha had its own reserve fund of over a billion ryo, and while Hiruzen Sarutobi had written to the Daimyo for aid, the Daimyo's wealth was not infinite, and he could provide at most three billion ryo.

In other words, the funding gap in the short term exceeded five billion ryo, and this was the fundamental reason why Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others were forcing the Uchiha to relocate.

Konoha was wealthy, but the money was not in the hands of the Hokage; it was held by the various large and small ninja clans.

Take the Sarutobi Clan, for example; their ability to expand their population dozens of times over was supported by massive resources, so coming up with a mere five billion was not a problem at all.

The ninja clans had plenty of money, but Hiruzen Sarutobi lacked the prestige of the First Hokage and had no way to force the clans to cough it up.

Even when it came to the wealth of his own Sarutobi Clan, he could not force his clansmen to hand it over.

It was Shimura Danzō who proposed forcing the Uchiha to move away from the center of the village and selling the Uchiha clan lands to other ninja clans and the nobles of the Capital of Fire.

The proceeds from this land sale could reach 20 billion ryo, which would not only fill the funding gap but also support the consumption of a war.

At the time, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura immediately agreed, and after hesitating for a full minute, Hiruzen Sarutobi also nodded in agreement with Shimura Danzō's suggestion.

This was what he had said: "It is all my fault. It was my failure to protect Kushina that led to this disaster."

"Now, there is truly no other way. For the sake of Konoha, the Uchiha must suffer a little more. They have already borne enough infamy; adding a little more is not a major issue."

"I will certainly compensate them in the future."

Now that the Uchiha had caught them in their own wrongdoing, how could they still force the Uchiha to relocate, and how could they sell their property?

Hiruzen Sarutobi habitually wanted to say, "Danzō, you handle this problem."

Fortunately, he realized it in time and swallowed the words back.

The mistake caught this time was significant, and his own Sarutobi Clan was the primary culprit; he had absolutely no standing to shift the blame onto Shimura Danzō.

Shimura Danzō did not think that much; he spoke eloquently: "I have checked, and our clansmen acted quite cautiously. All procedures and documentation have been handled, leaving no obvious issues behind."

"Uchiha Fugaku cannot produce conclusive evidence. As long as we maintain a firm attitude, there will be no problems."

"We can even use the excuse that Fugaku slandered the Hokage to demand that the Uchiha relocate within seven days, or else we will declare the Uchiha Clan as rogue ninja!"

Mitokado Homura frowned and said, "Calling the Uchiha traitors to the village is too far-fetched..."

Danzō snorted coldly: "The inherently evil Uchiha are destined to betray Konoha; the only difference is whether it happens sooner or later!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said coldly: "Danzō, the Uchiha are members of Konoha. Do not speak such irresponsible words without evidence!"

"Hmph! I understand!"

Shimura Danzō said: "My Shimura Clan participated little in this matter, and I have already given instructions."

"Your clans are deeply involved; you must arrange for your people to clean up the loose ends."

"As long as we do it well, even if Uchiha Fugaku has evidence, I can push him back directly."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "Danzō is quite right; let us proceed in this manner."

"Additionally, I will say this: the clansmen have been too indulgent these years; we must properly rectify them."

"Koharu, Homura, we are all nearly sixty years old; we only have a few more years to work for Konoha before we retire."

"If we end up with our reputations ruined because of our clansmen, that would be a great pity."

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked at each other and nodded in unison: "We will go back and handle it; there will absolutely be no problems left behind."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Shimura Danzō again: "Danzō, the Shimura Clan has always been upright and self-disciplined; I am very reassured by you in this regard."

"I am also very satisfied with the work of Root in obtaining intelligence from within the Uchiha in a timely manner this time."

"However..."

"You and Root cannot stop here; you must find ways to obtain intelligence more deeply. I want to know what Uchiha Fugaku said during their meetings and what concrete plans they have made against us, rather than your guesses based on fragmented intelligence."

"Do you understand?"

Shimura Danzō's expression turned ugly: "Hiruzen, you must give me formal orders before I can persuade stronger Uchiha ninja."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled: "Danzō, the fact that you can make such a request shows that you do not understand the Hokage at all."

"The Hokage is the leader of Konoha and represents the image of the village. Many things can be done silently, but they cannot be spoken from the Hokage's mouth."

"It is enough that you know how things are; when can this mission be completed?"

Stung by the "you are not the Hokage" implication, Shimura Danzō felt a pain in his chest and said with an ugly expression: "I don't know."

"The Uchiha are inherently evil; even if they were inclined toward Konoha, they would still be deeply guarded against me. If you don't give me the authority, I can only rely on luck."

Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his pipe and took a few puffs, then said slowly: "What was the name of Kagami Uchiha's grandson?"

"Shisui, yes, Uchiha Shisui. He should be a suitable breakthrough point."

"And Uchiha Fugaku's son, Uchiha Itachi, should be entering the Ninja Academy next year. I will try to instill the 'Will of Fire' into him."

Shimura Danzō said with dissatisfaction: "Uchiha Shisui is nine, and Uchiha Itachi is only five. Isn't it too slow to start with them?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a cloud of smoke: "Danzō, you are too impatient."

"The Uchiha Clan has over three hundred ninja, including thirty-one jōnin, all of whom are elite jōnin."

"To deal with the strongest ninja clan in Konoha, we must have sufficient patience; as long as our work progresses steadily, it is a success."

"If we trigger a civil war in Konoha due to impatience, we will all become sinners against the village!"

Shimura Danzō's expression turned even uglier: "Hiruzen, is it that you do not wish to eliminate the evil Uchiha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said: "Regardless of anything else, Konoha was founded by the joint efforts of the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan. If it is possible, I would naturally not choose to eliminate the Uchiha."

"If one cannot understand this point, they are not fit to be the Hokage of Konoha!"

Shimura Danzō laughed in extreme anger: "Fine, fine, fine. You speak so righteously, yet aren't you still having me target the Uchiha with bribery?"

"Fine! You are the Hokage, so you should do good deeds in the light."

"I am the Root; I will be the one to do the dirty, unspeakable deeds!"

"Everything is for the sake of Konoha!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed a sincere smile: "Thank you for your hard work, Danzō."