Wielding the Daimyo's Authority Against His Defiant Vassals

Word of Tsunade's trip to Hozuki Castle naturally reached Xuanye.

But Xuanye had a far more pressing problem on his mind.

Konoha was running out of money again.

Even with Kakuzu, an expert at both saving and making money, Konoha's rapid development had driven up costs across the board.

The Research Department, Konoha's expansion, reforms at the Ninja Academy, the planned relocation of ninja clans from Konoha Center, and even the funds they would need to reform the Medical Department once Tsunade arrived...

All of it cost money, and none of it would pay off overnight. Nearly every project was a bottomless pit.

Kakuzu was complaining to him about it now.

"Lord Hokage, Konoha really is broke. Why don't you raid a small country, take its money, and use it to build up Konoha?"

Xuanye gave Kakuzu a strange look and said with a headache coming on, "We're not bandits. How could we do that?"

Kakuzu fell silent.

What Xuanye had done before was hardly different from banditry, was it?

He had threatened other villages and lured away their bloodline clans, Tailed Beasts, and Jinchuriki. If anything, that was worse than outright robbery.

They had already gone that far. They might as well see it through.

One look at Kakuzu's expression told Xuanye what he was thinking. Exasperated, Xuanye said, "I told you to spend more slowly. How did you burn through it all so fast?"

Kakuzu opened his mouth, looking rather aggrieved.

You're the one who took such enormous strides. Now Konoha's paying for it.

How is that my fault?

Xuanye could only think through his options.

Halting any department's research was out of the question. They had already sunk money into the early stages; stopping now would mean throwing it all away.

That was especially true of the