Fugaku Borrowing 5,000 Ryo Was an Insult

"Hokage-sama spoke up for us and rejected the merchant's 20,000 Ryo compensation claim on the spot!"

As the Dark Circles ninja said this, Uchiha Fugaku visibly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the Third Hokage still favored the Uchiha Clan and understood their current difficulties.

But Dark Circles's next words made him feel as though he had fallen into an icy abyss. "But... he ordered us to pay 10,000 Ryo in compensation!"

10,000 Ryo?

Uchiha Fugaku, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. The Third Hokage really had his interests at heart. Heh, he really had the Uchiha Clan's interests at heart.

Heh.

Uchiha Fugaku felt that ever since they had given up half of the Military Police Force, life for the clan within the village had become even harder.

What was the reason?

It was all because of Uchiha Hanjō. Otherwise, the Military Police Force would not have fallen into such decline.

"Clan Head, Hokage-sama said it will be deducted from our wages!" Dark Circles looked at his Clan Head's half-smiling expression. Though nervous, he still reminded him, "For various reasons, 380,000 Ryo has been deducted from us over the past ten days. We only have 120,000 Ryo left from this month's wages, and we still owe those thugs 650,000 Ryo!"

Things were far too difficult for the Military Police Force now. Their workload had increased who knew how many times over, yet their wages were actually lower than before.

How pathetic!

If deductions continued like this, they might not receive any wages at all this month. They might even have to pay out of pocket.

"Only this much is left?" Uchiha Fugaku frowned. If this continued, there would not be enough money to pay everyone this time. Moreover, the money that remained might have to be used to compensate those thugs from earlier.

The people in their Military Police Force would have worked for nothing this month!

If this continued, the remaining clansmen in the Military Police Force might truly refuse to keep working.

"Clan Head, if this continues, the Military Police Force may lose its morale!" Dark Circles looked at Uchiha Fugaku, hoping Fugaku could come up with an idea to stabilize the force's morale.

"This..." Uchiha Fugaku frowned in thought for a moment, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. "Go find Uchiha Hanjō. The clan is short of money right now. Tell him to donate one million Ryo for the clan's emergency needs... No, two million Ryo!"

Hmph!

Uchiha Fugaku had already decided to make an example of Uchiha Hanjō. If Uchiha Hanjō had not interfered in clan affairs, those members of the Uchiha Police Force would not have left.

"Uchiha Hanjō, right, right! Clan Head, I'll go find him now!" Dark Circles blinked, a trace of hope flashing in his eyes.

Uchiha Hanjō had given the clan plenty of financial support in the past. Especially during holidays, he would give the clan one million Ryo to improve the clansmen's quality of life. Now that the clan was in trouble, he would definitely help.

With that in mind, Dark Circles hurried out.

Watching Dark Circles leave, Uchiha Fugaku's tense mood gradually eased. With those two million Ryo, the Military Police Force could catch its breath. They could even settle the money they owed those thugs.

But—

An hour later, Dark Circles returned with his head lowered, looking dejected, as though he had hit a wall.

"What happened? Did you get the money?" Uchiha Fugaku asked Dark Circles in confusion.

In his heart!

He had a faintly bad feeling.

Sure enough, Dark Circles raised his dejected face and said helplessly, "Uchiha Hanjō said that he is also short on funds right now and cannot support the clan for the time being. It was Uchiha Hanjō's son who gave us some money instead!"

"How much did he give?" Uchiha Fugaku asked Dark Circles anxiously.

Dark Circles slowly raised five fingers and stammered, "F-five..."

The rest seemed too difficult to say, and he could not bring himself to speak.

"500,000 Ryo? Fine, 500,000 Ryo it is!" Before Dark Circles could finish, Uchiha Fugaku sat back down and continued, "Uchiha Hanjō understands the bigger picture even less than his son. At least his son gave us 500,000 Ryo!"

"Clan Head, it's not 500,000 Ryo, it's f-five..." Dark Circles tried to say.

"Could it be 50,000 Ryo?" Seeing Dark Circles deny it, Uchiha Fugaku raised his brows. "Hmph, they actually dared to offer just 50,000 Ryo. We'll go ask him again in a few days. He is also an Uchiha clansman, and he must contribute to the clan as well!"

"Clan Head, it's not 50,000 Ryo. It's 5,000 Ryo!" Seeing Fugaku repeatedly interrupt him, Dark Circles took a deep breath and quickly blurted out what he had been trying to say.

"What? 5,000 Ryo?" Upon hearing this, Uchiha Fugaku slammed his palm against the table, his eyes wide with fury. "He dares give the clan only 5,000 Ryo? Is he humiliating us? Humiliating me, the Clan Head?"

He was the dignified head of a clan. He had sent someone to borrow money, yet Uchiha Hanjō had tried to brush him off with a mere 5,000 Ryo?

This was an insult to him as Clan Head.

"Clan Head, it wasn't given by Uchiha Hanjō. It was Uchiha Xuan Yu's Pocket Money!" Dark Circles reminded him from the side.

Pocket money? Pocket money?

Uchiha Fugaku's head buzzed. Uchiha Hanjō had actually used Uchiha Xuan Yu's pocket money to brush him off?

The blood in his body surged and churned.

After calming down for quite a while, he finally looked at Dark Circles. "You accepted it?"

"I did!" Dark Circles nodded.

"Hmph, you accepted even 5,000 Ryo? Where is your dignity? Where is the Uchiha Clan's dignity?" Uchiha Fugaku stared at Dark Circles and spoke word by word.

At this moment!

Quite a few Military Police Force personnel had already returned. They leaned wearily against their chairs, watching Uchiha Fugaku and Dark Circles talk, too exhausted to interrupt.

"5,000 Ryo? That's enough to cover a family's living expenses. Why shouldn't I take it?" Seeing Fugaku glare at him furiously and blame him for accepting the money, Dark Circles exploded as well. "Are we supposed to wait for Konoha to pay our wages? Or can the clan help shoulder some of our burden?"

Some people in the Military Police Force had already run out of money. Those 5,000 Ryo could keep them going for a while!

Besides, they had completely lost hope in Konoha.

"You..." Uchiha Fugaku had nothing to say. He knew perfectly well that they might not receive Konoha's wages this time.

Looking again at the exhausted clansmen around him, he seemed to make up his mind. "I'll personally take you to Uchiha Hanjō's Merchant Guild. I refuse to believe he will not show me, the Clan Head, some respect. The clan has reached a critical moment, so I want to see whether he will give me, the Clan Head, only 5,000 Ryo as well!"

After saying that,

he stood up, preparing to find Uchiha Hanjō.

"Dad, where are you going?" Just then, Itachi walked in from outside. He had gotten off work early from the Hokage's side today and wanted to visit his father at the Military Police Force. His father had not gone home these past few days.

But as soon as he arrived at the Military Police Force, he saw his father preparing to leave with its personnel.

He frowned, not knowing where they were going.

"Uchiha Hanjō's Merchant Guild!"

The next chapter will be tonight.