Asking for Money

The Third Hokage asked in a grave voice, "How severe were the clan's losses? Does the village need to provide assistance?"

Shien sighed, his expression growing even more despondent. "To be honest, Lord Hokage, more than half of our clan's combat strength has been lost, and we are on the brink of economic collapse..."

"Now, we cannot even afford to pay death benefits to the families of our fallen clansmen."

"Though we are ashamed to ask, for the sake of comforting the bereaved families and stabilizing the clan, we can only swallow our pride and ask the Third Hokage for some support."

Asking for money!?

The Third Hokage had not expected this angle at all.

"How much do you need?"

He could not tell whether the Uchiha truly wanted money or had some other motive, so he probed again.

Shien held up five fingers.

The Third Hokage pondered slightly. Five hundred million was not much, considering even the Uchiha clan head had run away.

"Five hundred million?"

"Lord Hokage, you misunderstand. It is five billion."

With an apologetic look, Shien corrected him.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

The Third Hokage inhaled a mouthful of smoke and nearly choked himself to death.

He stared coldly at Shien. "Do you know how much five billion is?"

The apology vanished from Shien's face, leaving only calm.

"Of course. Our clan lost 337 people, including elders such as the First Elder and Second Elder."

"Does Lord Hokage think that is too much money?"

"Mm..."

The Third Hokage pondered as he took a drag from his pipe. His features blurred behind the swirling smoke. That death toll really was beyond his expectations.

But Konoha simply could not produce that much money.

He spoke slowly. "Shien, I fully understand your feelings and the difficulties facing your clan. The village certainly will not stand by and ignore the Uchiha's plight. However..."

His tone shifted, and he revealed a troubled expression. "As you know, the village has had enormous expenses in recent years."

"Border defense construction, ninja pensions, infrastructure projects—funds are needed everywhere. The finances have always been rather tight."

"Such a large compensation payment will likely require time to raise, and it must also be discussed by the Jōnin Council... After all, this concerns the distribution of resources across the entire village. It is not something I can decide on my own immediately."

He spoke slowly and earnestly, full of sympathy and difficulty, but his central meaning was simple—stall.

Stall and refuse to pay.

Yet Shien did not seem surprised. He did not even dwell on the matter.

"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Hokage. In addition, after this disaster, the Uchiha Police Force can no longer sustain itself."

"After discussion, we are willing to formally transfer the duties and authority of the police force to one of Konoha's prestigious clans—the Hyuga Clan."

"With the Hyuga Clan's abilities and prestige, I believe they will better fulfill the duty of maintaining public order within the village."

At those words, the Third Hokage's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.

Transfer the police force? This was another unexpected move.

He looked toward Hiashi. Hiashi's expression was calm; clearly, they had discussed this beforehand.

"The police force was established by the Second Hokage. This is a matter of great importance." The Third Hokage once again adopted an official tone, his manner even more cautious.

"The Hyuga Clan is naturally highly capable, and their loyalty is beyond question."

"However, this matter has wide-ranging implications. It concerns not only the smooth transition of departmental duties, but also the balance of Konoha's internal power structure."

"A hasty decision would be inappropriate. It must be considered over the long term, with opinions gathered from all sides, to ensure it causes no impact whatsoever on the village's stability."

"Shien, the village will seriously consider your proposal, but the details of its implementation will require careful discussion."

Shien's gaze did not change as he grumbled inwardly.

This old bastard's official jargon is like a sow in a bra—one layer after another.

He cannot get anything done, but he is number one at talking nonsense. In the end, he is just stalling so he does not have to pay.

He always uses the same excuse whenever anyone asks for money.

Good thing I never expected to get the money on this trip.

Hiashi frowned. He had not expected the Third Hokage to want to interfere even with the appointment and dismissal matters of the police force. Was he testing the Uchiha politically now that they had no clan elders?

"Lord Hokage..." Hiashi had just opened his mouth when Shien reached out and stopped him.

Though the gesture was somewhat rude, Shien gave Hiashi a look telling him to remain calm.

Hiashi had already begun to sense that this Shien was not so simple.

So he closed his mouth and watched to see what Shien would do.

But Shien merely bowed to the Third Hokage. "In that case, clan affairs are keeping me busy, so I shall take my leave."

As he spoke, he gave Hiashi a meaningful look.

Naturally, Hiashi understood and bade farewell as well.

The Third Hokage exchanged a few pleasantries. As he watched the two men leave, he frowned.

Shien had come in aggressively, only to raise the matter high and let it drop so easily.

"Someone!"

An ANBU appeared instantly before the Third Hokage.

"Send more people to monitor the Uchiha. Report to me immediately if anything happens."

After leaving the Hokage Building.

Hiashi stared at Shien, waiting for an explanation.

Shien looked around before speaking in a low voice.

"Do not worry, Lord Hiashi. You only need to prepare the police force personnel and send over those responsible for patrols and night watch first."

"The Third Hokage will agree to my terms within three days."

Hiashi looked Shien over and found that he seemed completely confident.

"Then I shall await your good news."

Shien smiled faintly and took his leave of Hiashi. "Then I will return and make preparations."

Hiashi nodded. Whatever Shien intended to prepare, he would wait and see first.

If the deal fell through, the Hyuga Clan could simply withdraw their people. Either way, the Hyuga would lose nothing.

Shien quickly returned to the clan grounds. Nearly every household was draped in white mourning cloth.

Everyone was preparing coffins. Konoha did not have that many ready-made coffins available.

Fortunately, the Uchiha were not particularly demanding about coffins. As long as they could hold a body, that was enough.

They could simply gather some wood and nail them together.

Another group was gathering the corpses of Root members beneath the walls.

The weather was getting warmer, and untreated corpses could easily breed disease.

The bodies either had to be buried in pits or burned directly.

How to deal with them was something he, as acting clan head, had to decide.

The person in charge of gathering the bodies was Uchiha Aokawa, Uchiha Akabane's older brother.

Aokawa was refined, courteous, mature, and steady—the complete opposite of Akabane.

"Clan Head." Seeing Shien approach, Aokawa bowed.

Shien waved a hand, unconcerned with such formalities.

"I plan to hang up all these Root members. See whether the clan has enough materials."

A look of astonishment immediately appeared on Aokawa's face. "Hang... hang them up!?"

Shien confirmed it. "Yes. Hang them all up. Just make sure they do not rot for the time being."

Aokawa quickly recovered his composure. Though he did not know what Shien intended to do, he considered the matter seriously.

"Normally, preserving corpses requires a large amount of quicklime. But according to your requirements, Acting Clan Head, we can smoke-dry the bodies and turn them into mummies."

"If they only need to avoid rotting for a few days, we do not even need to remove the organs."

Shien's eyes lit up.

"How long will it take?"

Aokawa thought briefly. "By tomorrow morning."

"Fine. You handle it. Build the platform larger."