This "Punch" Would Hurt the Ninja Clans

Orochimaru had been cooking the books these past few days, diverting funds from Konoha's accounts into his own laboratory.

Pitiful, really.

To avoid detection, he could only divert a maximum of 300,000 ryo at a time—about the reward for a B-rank mission.

If he were Hokage, he could divert five million ryo at once and no one would investigate.

Orochimaru had been scared poor. His dream was to have ten million ryo a month to support his experiments.

Everyone in the office was a military man, not a civil official.

Setting aside the daimyo's grants, Konoha's main sources of income were surprisingly still the assets Tobirama had acquired while he was alive.

Konoha's economy had not exactly failed to improve over the years, but compared to Tobirama's era, the progress was hardly noticeable.

"If war breaks out again, Konoha will very likely..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was pessimistic about the course of the war. Konoha's accounts had already run dry, and they had even taken out a loan elsewhere.

"When Sand Village surrendered, you should have demanded reparations from them." Danzo took his usual shot at Hiruzen Sarutobi. That damn monkey had not asked for a single ryo in compensation, only demanded that Sand Village ally with Konoha, making it look as though they were the ones who had lost.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shot him an irritated look. You still dared bring that up? If the enemy had not beaten you all the way back to Kikyo Mountain, the daimyo would not have been dissatisfied. If you had not thrown lives into the meat grinder and dragged things out by burning supplies, how could Konoha have become this short on money?

"Tch." Danzo knew he was in the wrong, so he only gave Hiruzen a small jab.

That was just a minor interruption.

The real issue was how to make money.

If they had any profitable ideas, they would have discussed them long ago. But they did not.

The only thing they could think of was taking a larger cut from the mission commissions of the village's ninja.

But not long ago, they had already raised the usual 12% commission cut to 53% in wartime.

The remaining 47%, divided between the Jonin leading the team and the three squad members, was already barely enough.

If they took even more... they feared...

For a time, the Jonin conference room was thick with Hiruzen Sarutobi's smoke.

Masaichi actually had an idea, but he was a little reluctant to bring it out.

Encouraging production and encouraging villagers to go into business would take too long to bear fruit.

So...

"Do you have an idea?" Orochimaru noticed his student's hesitation.

"Mm... mm." Masaichi was still wavering as he answered without much confidence.

"Hehe, Sensei, it seems Masaichi has an idea." Orochimaru felt that this was inheritance.

Just as his teacher had once believed in him, he now believed in Masaichi.

And just like that, Orochimaru pushed Masaichi out into the spotlight.

The high-ranking officials and Jonin in the meeting room looked at him with probing eyes, curious what sort of proposal Masaichi could make.

Masaichi felt that this idea could make him either a saint or a demon.

Either people would dig up his coffin a hundred years from now and whip his corpse, or they would worship him as the "sun."

"Go ahead. If you truly have an idea, you may be able to save the village from danger." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled bitterly. He did not believe Masaichi could come up with anything.

The village's finances were already in deficit, so Masaichi could only put it forward.

"Third Hokage, I propose that after mission earnings are distributed, every ninja contribute an additional fifteen percent of their share."

The Jonin present: "?"

"Ahem, nonsense." Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly choked to death on his smoke.

They were already taking 53%, and now Masaichi wanted to take another 15% from each person's share? Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that he still had some shame left.

If looks could kill, Masaichi would already have been reduced to a bloody mist by the Jonin present.

"Listen to me first."

Amid everyone's gritted teeth, Masaichi proposed a pension system.

Ninja had no pensions in their old age. If they had no money, they could only starve to death or struggle to accept missions in their sixties.

Masaichi's idea was that everyone would pay 15% of their personal income while young. Once they grew old, the village would provide retirement subsidies based on how much they had contributed. For example, the village could cover part of their medical expenses or their children's schooling, and would also issue a fixed amount of pension money every month.

Why did Masaichi say that people might whip his corpse in the future?

Because Konoha also had civilian staff. Civilian staff worked in offices and did not take missions. They lived off the village, receiving monthly salaries issued by it, so they did not need to pay taxes. In other words, these people would also receive pensions when they grew old.

And then there was the ANBU, who had a similar arrangement.

The civilian staff and ANBU held higher status than ordinary ninja, so naturally they would receive the largest pensions.

The money in the pool was earned through the hardships Konoha ninja endured in their youth, yet when they grew old, the civilian staff and ANBU would receive the largest shares.

A hundred years later, if all Konoha ninja did not dig up his grave, it would be a miracle.

"This..." None of the Jonin were thinking a hundred years ahead. They were thinking about having security in their old age.

If they had a choice, who would want to keep accepting missions at seventy or eighty?

Better to suffer more while young and take on a few extra missions. Then they could enjoy life when they grew old, right?!

"Good!" Orochimaru was the first to clap in approval. The more money Konoha had on its books, the more funding he would have for his experiments. He had no reason to object.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi and several advisors considered it carefully, they realized... hm? It really was feasible. Ninja would retire at sixty. To put it bluntly, given the average lifespan in the Ninja World, how many years of pension could Konoha ninja even collect?

There was no way this deal would lose money.

"Very good." Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Masaichi face and clapped twice.

But...

It was not enough.

This money was still not enough.

A 15% personal income tax would have brought in a significant sum when the normal commission cut was 12%, and over time it would have been frightening. But in wartime, the village had already taken 53%, so in reality, they would not be paying much.

"Hiruzen, I think this policy can be expanded to the entire village, rather than applying only to ninja." Koharu Utatane suggested.

Hashirama had been too kind back then. He believed that the tall should shield the short from wind and rain. Konoha villagers paid practically no taxes, at most covering rent, water, and electricity, which was why prices in Konoha were so low.

After hearing Koharu, Masaichi hurriedly distanced himself. This was her proposal; it had nothing to do with him. He had only said ninja, while she had said everyone.

The ninja clans present looked as though their parents had died.

The Nara Clan controlled the raw materials for medicines at Konoha Hospital. Their yearly profits were easy to imagine, yet now they had to hand over 15% of their personal income?!

How was that any different from cutting flesh off their bodies?

But after several members of the Nara Clan whispered among themselves, they found a solution.

This was easy! It was no trouble at all.

They only needed to raise the prices slightly when selling materials to make up for their losses, and they could freeload off pensions when they grew old.

While the other ninja clans were still panicking, the Nara Clan was already happily imagining their retirement lives.

However, Masaichi stepped forward again, and what he said next nearly scared them to death.

This punch would hurt the ninja clans:

"Konoha is currently at war, so this period should be treated specially. Third Hokage, you should dispatch the ANBU to inspect privately owned shops, audit their income, and redefine these people's taxes based on that income. The higher the income, the higher the tax."