According to Shinichi Hyuga's deduction, even if the Kage weren't the ones in control, they were still involved!
The shinobi villages were, after all, the most powerful military organizations in the world.
Otherwise, these underground organizations could never have operated so openly.
A flicker of doubt crossed Hyuga Hiashi's mind. He didn't understand why Shinichi was asking about the two men's bounties, but his body answered without hesitation.
"Shinnosuke Sarutobi has a bounty of thirty million ryo. I haven't checked on Kakashi Hatake."
Shinichi Hyuga furrowed his brow. It wasn't because the bounty was too high, but because it was too low!
The price also confirmed his suspicions from another angle.
A bowl of ordinary ramen cost sixty ryo, without even adding pork. That meant Shinnosuke Sarutobi was worth only six hundred thousand bowls of ramen?
That price would have been understandable for an ordinary elite jōnin.
But Shinnosuke Sarutobi was an elite jōnin of Konoha, the son of the Third, and the head of Konoha Anbu. Was he worth only that much?
It seemed the Kage of the various villages were also involved in managing the Exchange Office.
That was why they interfered with the bounty amounts for certain important figures, as well as people close to the Bounty Office.
There was plenty of shady business going on with this middleman!
It still served the nobles and those who controlled them, and the Third's influence was likely involved.
In his memories, Asuma Sarutobi had been worth thirty-five million ryo.
While the Third was alive, no one would risk provoking a Kage's son for that amount.
After the Third died, Asuma Sarutobi was just an elite jōnin.
Before long, someone took him in and exchanged him for money.
Because his powerful patron, the Third, was dead! The Bounty Office's leadership