"Ninja conscripted by the village during wartime aren't paid in the first place. By longstanding custom, they only hand over half the spoils they seize on the battlefield."
"May I ask what rules you're referring to, Advisor? And who made them?"
Mitokado Homura's expression darkened.
"That was before! This time, you allowed your subordinates to plunder the Land of Wind, seriously damaging Konoha's reputation! All those assets must be handed over to the village for distribution!"
Gentō scoffed.
"The money has already been distributed. If you object, Advisor, you're welcome to go recover it from the ninja of each clan yourself. I'm staying out of it."
Mitokado Homura's face turned dark with anger, but he had no retort.
Recover it himself?
That would mean offending every ninja clan that had participated in the war. He didn't have the nerve.
Gentō ignored him and continued his report.
"In addition, Sunagakure's war reparations amount to five billion ryō."
As his words fell, even the breathing in the office seemed to stop.
Five billion!
That was almost two years of Konoha's revenue!
"Combined with the previous 2.8 billion, the total comes to 7.8 billion ryō. Of that, 5.5 billion went toward various wartime expenses. The remaining 2.3 billion is here."
Gentō pushed three scrolls forward.
"5.5 billion in expenses?"
Utatane Koharu couldn't hold back her displeasure.
"What expenses could possibly cost that much? You're handing over less than half!"
Even Hiruzen, who was usually calm, furrowed his brow.
Uchiha Gentō... had taken far too much.
Mitokado Homura slammed the desk and rose again.
"Could you have won this war without Konoha's support, Uchiha Gentō? Now you've lined your own pockets and given the village this pittance? I will never agree to this!"
Gentō merely looked up and asked calmly:
"Not enough?"
Hiruzen slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke and finally spoke.
"Gentō, it really is... too little. You know how heavily the village has suffered since the Third Shinobi World War began. We still haven't secured the funds for many of our fallen ninja's death benefits..."
Gentō swept his gaze over the three of them, then suddenly asked:
"Then how much did the commanders of the other three fronts-Orochimaru, Namikaze Minato, and the late Hyuga Hideshu-each hand over?"
Utatane Koharu froze.
Gentō continued at an unhurried pace.
"Since my 2.3 billion is too little, I assume the other three all handed over more?"
Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu were momentarily speechless.
Keeping the other three fronts from collapsing had been difficult enough. What spoils could they possibly have gained? The village had even needed to keep supplying them with resources. Calling them a "net loss" wouldn't have been an exaggeration.
Then Gentō's tone turned hostile.
"Besides, paying death benefits is hardly my responsibility. The ninja under my command suffered almost no casualties."
He looked at Hiruzen and added one final remark.
"I'm sure Lord Hokage hasn't forgotten that the Sunagakure front was the only one where Konoha won a resounding victory and could hold its head high."
He paused, lowering his voice a little.
"Perhaps even your political career... will be prolonged because of it."
With that, Gentō fell silent.
Hiruzen remained quiet for a long time, the glow in his pipe flickering.
At last, he slowly nodded.
"Then... we'll leave it at that. This was Gentō's first time commanding a major war. Some extra expenditure is understandable. But there will be no next time."
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu wanted to say more, but Hiruzen silenced them with a look.
Gentō bowed in farewell, turned, and left.
He had barely gone when Shimura Danzō pushed the door open and entered.
"Hiruzen, approve another billion in funding for my Root."
Hiruzen took a deep drag on his pipe.
"We don't have it."
"How could we not?!"
Danzo's voice suddenly rose.
"Didn't Uchiha Gentō just hand over nearly ten billion? I've already heard about it!"
"The Uchiha and the village... split it thirty-seventy."
"Why only seventy percent?"
"The seventy percent is theirs!"
Danzo's expression shifted dramatically, from bewilderment to shock, then to barely contained fury.
"Hiruzen! You've truly gone senile!"
He all but jabbed a finger in the Hokage's face.
"How could you let the Uchiha take so much money? Do they even know how to use it?"
"When the Uchiha's power swells, what will the village use to keep them in check?"
"You'll regret this!"
Hiruzen raised his eyes.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
Bam!
Danzo slammed the door on his way out.
Gentō left the Hokage's building in excellent spirits.
He had safely retained 5.5 billion ryō. Once he took over the Uchiha Clan, those funds would be enough to vigorously expand its population.
As he was thinking about that, a pair of soft hands suddenly covered his eyes from behind.
"Guess who~?"
Without a second thought, Gentō reached back and swept her into his arms.
"Ah! Gentō, let me go~!"
Kurenai Yuhi's teasing protest rang out, though she couldn't hide the laughter in her voice.
Gentō planted a firm kiss on her cheek before letting go with a smile.
Kurenai looked especially radiant today.
She wore a cropped ninja outfit, its slightly snug top tracing her full bust and slender waist.
Her shorts allowed easy movement and exposed a pair of long, straight legs.
She radiated youthful, sensual charm.
"How did you know I was back?"
"Hmph, my father came back, so of course you were back too!"
Kurenai wrinkled her nose smugly.
"I was the one who got Father to volunteer to join your unit!"
Understanding dawned on Gentō. No wonder Hiruzen had specifically assigned Shinku Yuhi to him. Kurenai had persuaded her father.
"So you arranged it... Your father was a huge help this time."
"Then how are you going to thank me?"
Kurenai blinked and leaned close to his ear.
Gentō smiled and pinched her cheek.
"A new dango shop opened. Want me to take you there?"
"Sure!"
They walked to the shop hand in hand.
Gentō had just said:
"Two servings of tricolor dango, please."
The shopkeeper looked up and exclaimed in delighted surprise:
"Isn't this Lord Gentō, Konoha's hero? For you, it's free! Free!"
Kurenai covered her mouth and giggled beside him.
"See? The whole village knows you're a hero now~"
A little embarrassed, Gentō quickly accepted the dango and led Kurenai away at a brisk pace.
They wandered aimlessly, eating the sweet, chewy dango.
Before they knew it, they had reached the foot of Gentō's house.
After so many days of travel and fighting, Gentō was already pent up beyond endurance.
He stopped and looked at Kurenai beside him, her cheeks faintly flushed, then asked softly:
"Want to come upstairs for a bit?"
Kurenai pretended not to understand.
"Upstairs... for what?"
Gentō gave her a wicked grin.
"To have an 'in-depth' exchange on genjutsu, of course."
As he spoke, he swept Kurenai up into his arms.
Kurenai let out a soft cry, but her arms naturally slipped around his neck. Burying her face against his shoulder, she murmured in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz:
"Then... you'd better make it properly 'in-depth'..."
The door closed, and soft rustling soon came from within.
They were both young, hot-blooded ninja who hadn't seen each other in a long time, and their "exchange" was thoroughly satisfying.
Fortunately, Gentō lived in a detached house. Otherwise, with all that noise, the neighbors would have complained long ago.
It wasn't until the afternoon that the door opened again.
Kurenai Yuhi emerged on shaky legs, bracing herself against the wall, her cheeks still flushed.
"No more... I really can't anymore... I can't get home too late."
Gentō still hadn't had his fill, but he could only let her leave.
Over the next few days, the two were practically inseparable, utterly wrapped up in each other.
Every time Gentō invited Kurenai over, they went at it fiercely.
Time flew, and before long, only two days remained until the Uchiha clan meeting.
That day, a member of the Uchiha Clan came to report:
"Lord Gentō, the Scorch Release ninja you brought back says she wants to see you."
Gentō's expression immediately shifted at the news.
Oh? Had Pakura finally come around and decided to become his woman?
Before you continue