In the main hall, gold and jade clashed, wine and meat were fragrant, and it was like a fairyland on earth.
However, outside the Daimyō Mansion's ten-foot high vermilion wall, there is another world entirely.
The first heavy snowfall since the beginning of winter is ruthlessly sweeping across the vast land of Land of Fire.
Following Daimyō Mansion's order, in order to fill the gap in the "trade tax" and "ceded mineral veins" promised to Four Great Ninja Villages, Land of Fire's taxes in various places skyrocketed by 30% in just a few days.
The door of the government granary was tightly closed, and the aged grain inside was piled up like a mountain, even giving off a faint sour smell of decay.
But not a single grain of rice was allowed to be allocated to the disaster-stricken Refugees.
Capital City In the slums of the outer city, the cold wind cut through the long night like a knife.
A half-clothed woman huddled in a corner of a drafty ruined temple, holding a skinny little child tightly in her arms.
She tried to warm the child with her own cold body temperature, but the little body was already as stiff as an ice brick.
"My son..."
The woman's chapped lips wriggled, and she didn't even have the strength to cry. Only the muddy tears flowing from the corners of her eyes quickly formed frost on her cheeks.
On the street less than ten steps away from her, several corpses of Refugees, who had died of cold and starvation, had been frozen together with the white snow.
Two skinny wild dogs were biting at the corpse with red eyes, fighting for a piece of human flesh covered in ice.
The wind howled and the heavy snow covered the frozen skeletons one after another on the roadside, but it could not hide the despair spreading in this land.
The wine and meat in Zhumen stink, and there are frozen bones on the road.
The camera pulls back to the Daimyō Mansion main hall, which is as warm as spring.
"Daimyō Your Excellency, this wine is a treasure of Xingong, would you like to try it?"
The most favored concubine snuggled into Daimyō's arms like a water snake, held the wine cup with her slender fingers, and handed it to his mouth with a sweet smile.
Daimyō drank the wine in one gulp with the beauty's hand, and pinched the soft flesh around her waist.
Amidst the cooing sounds, he looked at the wind and snow outside the hall with drunken eyes.
"It's snowing really well."
Daimyō burped, and the corners of his mouth curved into a cruel and proud smile.
"Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest... After this winter, those crazy dogs from Konoha will know how to wag their tails at me."
The sky was full of wind and snow, and the laughter in the palace became louder and louder, completely drowning the insignificant whines outside the wall in this extremely extravagant and extravagant sound.
At the same time.
Konoha, Hokage Building.
The afternoon sun penetrates the blinds and cuts clear stripes of light and dark on the floor.
In the center of the table was an edict stamped with the gold seal of Daimyō of the Land of Fire.
Minato stood in front of the window, with his back to the desk.
His golden hair glowed softly in the backlight, and he didn't even look back.
"Read."
Behind him, ANBU knelt on one knee and kept his voice low.
"... From now on, all military allocations for Konoha Hidden Village for this quarter will be suspended, and the Chamber of Commerce will be completely prohibited from selling food and ninja tool materials to Konoha."
"It will be restored after it submits detailed accounts and passes Daimyō Mansion review..."
The office was so quiet that you could hear the dust falling to the ground.
Fugaku stared at the edict, his brows furrowed.
"Daimyō is taking action. This is to strangle our logistics artery."
"We need to immediately send people to negotiate with Capital City to at least stabilize those neutral chambers of commerce, while reducing expenses in the village to survive this winter..."
"There is no need to negotiate, and there is no need to cut back on spending."
Minato interrupted him directly.
He turned around, walked to the table, picked up the edict with the gold seal, glanced at it casually, and crumpled it into a ball in front of Fugaku.
"This paper is so old that it takes up too much space to throw in a wastebasket."
Minato threw the paper ball into the trash can at his feet, his smile still as gentle as water.
"Since he wants to choke us, there is no need to keep this last bit of dignity from the Daimyō Mansion."
Minato opened the drawer, took out a heavy document prepared overnight, and pushed it in front of Fugaku.
"Konoha Complete Fiscal Independence Act".
Fugaku turned to the first page, and Sharingan's pupils suddenly contracted.
"The amount of cash looted by Kakashi and Obito from Wind and Earth and Black Market is huge. Allocate all this money to the Strategic Investment Department."
"Minato's slender fingers pointed at the header of the document and issued the cruelest instructions."
"Daimyō cuts off the supply to us, then we will be completely independent."
Minato crossed his hands on his chin, and there was no warmth in his blue eyes.
"He thinks he can strangle us by cutting off military expenditures? I want the civilians and nobles of the Daimyō Mansion to know who has the food and money now."
Fugaku I just felt that my throat was dry and my voice was a little hoarse.
"This is tantamount to a direct rift."
"Tear it up, tear it up, notify all senior management to hold a meeting, and implement it immediately."
Minato's tone was relaxed, and he felt that Daimyō's threat was not a problem.
After a while, Hokage Building underground conference room.
Minato laid the bill flat in the middle of the long table, signed his name, and Hokage Seal dropped it heavily.
"Konoha, starting from today, we will be completely financially independent."
Hokage Building Five hundred meters underground, top secret base.
The blue fluorescence flickered in the empty metal hall.
Ye sunk comfortably into the leather chair, with his legs crossed on the console and a cup of hot tea in his hand.
On the giant holographic map that occupied the entire wall in front of him, hundreds of split screens lit up at the same time.
Iwagakure's Tsuchikage office, Hidden Cloud's Raikage Tower, and even Daimyō Mansion's secret room are all closely watched by the lurking White Zetsu.
Daimyō's arrogance and Four Kage's sneer were played on the screen simultaneously and intact.
The ground squirmed, and Tobi leaned half out of the shadows, shaking the information sheet in his hand.
"Sir, Obito sent back the message."
Land of Lightning The largest Underground Money House has been evacuated.
Land of Water's three major Chakra Metal mines have been trapped by Gold Source Trading Company's empty shells."
"In addition, the joint spies from the four villages have arrived."
Tobi points to the twelve red dots moving on the screen.
"There are three people each from Yan, Yun, Sha, and Wu, all wearing the skins of the Daimyō Mansion royal caravan. They are expected to arrive at the outskirts of Konoha in three days."
Ye blew the foam on the tea noodles and took a sip.
Daimyō thought he was sure to win, Four Kage thought he was here to share the fat.
This group of politicians, who are still in the primitive stage of conspiracy, have no idea that they have long been exposed under the microscope.
"The stage is set."
Ye put down the tea cup and said, "Let them come in. These days, it's rare to see someone rush to kill someone."
Three days later, Land of Fire Northwest border, remote station.
It was windy and snowy.
Twelve figures in heavy cloaks gathered around the charcoal fire, all Jonin and ANBU elite.
The side door opened, and a richly dressed envoy walked in quickly and pushed a rosewood box onto the table.
Inside is a stack of "Royal Caravan Route Guides" with the gold seal of Daimyō of the Land of Fire.
"Take this, the checkpoints in Land of Fire will be clear."
The special envoy lowered his voice and said, "Konoha's Security Force is not even qualified for inspection. You can just swagger in and figure out the barrier and set up defenses."
The leader Iwagakure Jonin picked up the hot stamping road and flicked it, and sneered.
"With Daimyō at the bottom, Konoha's current defense line is like a sieve leaking air from all sides to us."
Hidden Cloud Jonin grinned.
"Minato Namikaze I'm afraid he's still worried about military expenses and can't sleep at the moment. How could he have thought that we have already put a knife on his neck."