No Choice / Whether You Can Count on It Depends on Your Preparation

Uchiha Shingen mainly focused on the beginning.

The Cloud Village faction, on the other hand, skipped over the earlier parts and focused mainly on the later ones.

You can't watch it too fast, or you won't even know what you're watching.

The large conference room was quiet; the only sound was the rustling of documents being turned over.

Occasionally, the sound of tea being drunk could be heard.

After a long while, the non-main players gradually raised their heads, leaving only a group of main players still watching.

Uchiha Shingen, not considering himself a key player, had already finished watching.

Namikaze Minato and the others also felt that they weren't the main players, so they finished watching even faster.

Those who were still watching intently were soon reduced to only a few high-ranking members of the Cloud Village, led by Dodai.

They would occasionally discuss it in hushed tones.

Finally, even they finished watching it.

"We've finished reviewing it." Dodai closed the agreement, utterly exhausted.

"Is there a problem?" Namikaze Minato asked.

He only intended to say that one sentence.

After saying that, he patted Uchiha Shingen on the shoulder and then leaned back strategically.

Uchiha Shingen thought that if Namikaze Minato had been so adept at tactical backbends during his regular work, he wouldn't be working overtime Tenten.

"Why are so many money houses involved?" Dodai said. "The agreement should only be a matter between Leaf Village and Cloud Village. Kumogakure can compensate Leaf Village, but there's no reason for them to pay money houses."

"You've misunderstood. Let me explain," Uchiha Shingen said helplessly. "Considering the payment pressure on Kumogakure, and also to demonstrate that the relationship between the two sides is primarily peaceful, and we don't want the compensation to affect the normal development of Kumogakure, we had the money exchange advance most of the compensation for Kumogakure, while Kumogakure reimbursed the money exchange for the remainder. So this agreement involves multiple parties."

What is the group tour fee?

"After all, these are money exchanges from different countries, and organizing them requires costs, but the group fee is not collected in one lump sum; it can be spread over the years."

Dodai's complexion improved slightly, but only by a tiny bit.

"Then why not let the money houses of the Land of Lightning join in?"

"The association has no cooperative relationship with the money shops in the Land of Lightning."

"Then we, the Kumogakure, will act as guarantor; we'll pay the remaining four billion ourselves."

"That's even more unacceptable. You are the debtors; what kind of debtor vouches for themselves?"

"The Land of Lightning is a great power."

"The Land of Earth, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Water are all major powers, Lord Dodai. This is the rule, so please don't question it."

Dodai felt very careless.

He had considered that Leaf Village would allow Cloud Village to pay in installments.

But he really didn't expect there to be a final payment option.

A full four billion taels.

If anything goes wrong, Cloud Village will have to contend with the combined forces of Leaf Village, Iwagakure, and Hidden Mist Village —oh wait, not just any three daimyo's Daimyo's Court —all with the strength of a single village.

The three ninja villages didn't contribute a single copper coin; the money all came from the nobles.

In order to collect debts, the nobles of the three countries would certainly entrust their respective countries' three ninja villages to cause trouble.

The White Ghost of Leaf Village really had a good plan; it's truly Cloud Village falling down while Leaf Village feasts!

"Isn't the interest rate too high? And can't it be fixed?"

"We adopt a floating interest rate for loans. Of course, the Kumogakure can choose the floating period itself, but it must be adjusted once every calendar year."

"Your side... has gone too far in forcing us."

"No." Uchiha Shingen magically produced a booklet.

It looks brand new.

"This is the estimated revenue based on the size of the Cloud Ninja Army and its activity level on the mainland. Of course, the Daimyo's Court is also very concerned about the peace between the two countries. Out of personal relationships, they also have a rough estimate of the annual funding that the Lightning Daimyo's Court will give to the Kumogakure."

Uchiha Shingen placed the booklet on the table and pushed it towards the Dodai.

"Therefore, according to this plan, you are fully capable of making the payment, and it will not affect the normal development of the village."

Dodai reached out and pressed down on the booklet, but didn't look at it. Instead, he looked at the head ANBU the Kumogakure who had come to negotiate with him.

This is what you call the weaklings of Leaf Village's ANBU?

But even the head of the Cloud Village ANBU was bewildered.

Because what Uchiha Shingen said was indeed correct. According to this plan, Kumogakure could indeed afford it. Although it would have an impact on the village, it wouldn't be nearly as significant.

Has Leaf Village's ANBU been replaced?

"You should take a look first. These estimates are certainly not accurate enough, but they are close to your ability to pay," said Uchiha Shingen. "The Lord Third has already reduced the amount by 5 billion, and our sincerity is very clear. It's time for Cloud Village to show its sincerity."

Chapter Thirty-Three: No Choice

Dodai did not continue arguing with Uchiha Shingen.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what Uchiha Shingen said literally.

Most importantly...

Kumogakure lost, and lost badly. They've never lost so badly since the village was founded.

Uchiha Shingen was being considerate of him, the acting Raikage, by only mentioning business rules and not the rules of ninja.

"I understand..." Dodai said softly, "Then I'll take another look."

I buried myself in the documents again.

"Of course, that's your right," Uchiha Shingen politely.

He is always polite when negotiating.

The only time he wasn't so polite was when negotiating with the Fourth Raikage.

After all, he never expected to be able to negotiate that time. The Fourth Raikage followed the policies of the Third Raikage and couldn't shake off his old mindset.

That's the downside of the Hawks; they have to cultivate an image of fearlessness in battle, and with such a heavy idol image, it's not easy to switch between real and imagined states.

There's a reason why only the Kumogakure's Hawks has made a name for itself among the five great ninja villages.

The ecosystems of other villages meant that the Hawks couldn't shoulder the main responsibility.

The Cloud Ninja lowered their heads again, Leaf Village ninja, looking at these people racking their brains to find a breakthrough in the agreement, felt a sense of satisfaction.

Leaf Village has long Cloud Village by Kumogakure!

Unlike the others, Uchiha Shingen didn't feel like he had vented his anger.

He vents his anger with his fists.

We're all military contractors; ultimately, it's not a matter of life and death for each other.

To put it bluntly, ninja villages and similar organizations have no sense of belonging to the country; in their eyes, the country and individuals are both customers, of the same nature.

Just like how Leaf Village doesn't have any opinion about the Kaze Daimyo just because they fought a war with Sand Village.

They only have a strong interest in developing Feng Daming into their own high-quality clients.

The ninjas had absolutely no interest in conquering the world or unifying it.

Uchiha Madara's criticism of the ninja system stemmed from this very reason; as a veteran ninja, he understood the true nature of these people all too well.

Uchiha Madara, who desired absolute peace, was an unconventional figure among the ninjas of this world.

Even Senju Hashirama, who seemed like a saint at the end of the Warring States period, only sought orderly warfare and a basic living allowance.

The Kunimura system is something that only someone who deeply understands the nature of ninjas and is not a pure idealist could conceive of.

This world has now truly become the age of ninjas.

The Warring States period did not belong to ninjas, but to nobles; ninjas were merely swordsmen.

During the Kunimura era, the Five Great Militia were nominally the most powerful, but in reality, the Five Great Kage were the ones in control. Everyone else was working for the Five Great Militia. Whether it was peace or war, everyone's efforts directly or indirectly contributed to supplying the Five Great Militia with resources.

Although the Five Great Shinobi Villages are enemies of each other, they are also on the same side at the same time, which is the basis of the Allied Shinobi Forces in the original timeline.

This is not the kind of environment where there is a clear distinction between friend and foe, or black and white, like in the Warring States period.

The Dodai has raised its head again.

"Since the final payment is three years from now, why can't our Kumogakure pay Leaf Village directly? Why is the interest calculated based on the total amount of seven billion?"

"In fact, we are considering the interests of Kumogakure in this regard." Uchiha Shingen was a little tired, knowing that the other party would ask this question. "The final four billion will only be paid by Cloud Village three years later, taking into Kumogakure their payment burden. You are aware of this."

Dodai nodded, wanting to see what kind of twisted logic Uchiha Shingen would come up with this time.

"But can 4 billion three years ago be the same as 4 billion three years later?" Uchiha Shingen asked. "The final payment is 3 years late, which means that Leaf Village's operations will also be affected. Many engineering plans will have to be adjusted, and the currency itself has also depreciated. So for Leaf Village, we receive the full amount directly. You actually owe the money shop 7 billion, but 4 billion is a separate fixed interest rate."

"But if we continue with the current practice, we'll have to pay over 400 million taels in interest alone every year! That's completely different from the interest rate."

"I'm afraid you've misunderstood. What you're looking at is the annualized interest rate, but the interest is calculated every three months. In addition, this is a comprehensive interest rate, which includes not only the interest itself, but also the group fee and compensation for the reasonable costs and losses incurred by the agent bank in carrying out its agency activities. It's all written in the agreement, Dodai."

"What losses did it suffer?" Dodai couldn't quite control his expression. "How do we determine whether it's reasonable or not?"

"This refers to potential losses. For example, if the Kumogakure defaults on payments due to natural disasters or man-made calamities, the money exchange will certainly suffer losses because it cannot default on payments to other money exchanges. Therefore, the Kumogakure needs to prepay a portion of the deposit. If there is no default upon maturity, it will be refunded. However, I advise against defaulting because once a default occurs, the deposit will not be sufficient to cover the losses; it only reduces the overall loss. The penalty interest is compound interest, and the interest rate will be double the comprehensive interest rate."

"Can't we just pay the remaining balance ourselves?"

"Under the current method, the final expenditure for Kumogakure will be 11.26 billion taels. However, if your side wants to pay the final payment directly to Leaf Village three years later, the interest rate on the 3 billion tael loan will have to change."

What is the interest rate?

"The first option has an annualized interest rate of 6%. If we use the second option, it will double. However, the annual payment pressure will indeed be less, since the principal is not as much. But the final payment of 4 billion will be a bigger burden. Moreover, the compensation will be paid in a lump sum at a fixed interest rate of 6%. In this way, the total amount you actually pay will be 60 million more."

Seeing that Dodai seemed to be really losing control, Uchiha Shingen offered an additional explanation.

"This is already the lowest expected value. We have indeed made the biggest concession. If you don't believe me, I would suggest that the Lord Hokage agree to allow the Cloud Village to send a special investigation team to investigate the current capital costs in the Land of Fire's market. However, this team needs to be supervised by the Leaf Village to ensure that you do not engage in any unrelated espionage activities."

Dodai exerted a great deal of effort to control his emotions.

He did not mention sending out an investigation team.

Because he knew that Uchiha Shingen wouldn't lie to him about this matter.

No need.

Even saying that he would pay in one lump sum was just an angry outburst.

Three billion is Kumogakure can come up with, but four billion is something they really can't. If they did, the village would rebel.

Uchiha Shingen truly understood Kumogakure.

It's called a choice, but there really isn't one.

"Shingen, when did you begin collecting this information?" Dodai asked, picking up the booklet.

He glanced at it and then stopped looking.

Shocking.

"It's not difficult," Uchiha Shingen said, "But it involves the secrets of our business partners, so I cannot reveal them." At this moment, apart from him and Dodai, no one else in the conference room uttered a sound.

They were mostly shocked.

Everyone could see that the final payment of 4 billion was not set arbitrarily; it was determined to be within the limits set by the Kumogakure.

Especially the Leaf Five, they really didn't know that Uchiha Shingen had made such a booklet. It was definitely not something he had put together in a rush, and nobody had been looking at it.

They were particularly curious about how Uchiha Shingen knew so much money in the Kumogakure Village's treasury!

Such an amazing business partner, shouldn't we introduce them to him?

Chapter Thirty-Four: Reliability Depends on Preparation

Negotiations are something that can't be resolved in one go, of course.

As they say, I think I can still be saved.

Leaf Village and Cloud Village were no exception, although it was Uchiha Shingen who was dominating Cloud Village the entire time.