"The Uchiha clan has been far too active lately. They should be restrained."
Koharu Utatane spoke up as well. Homura Mitokado had suffered heavy losses, and the losses on her side were naturally no less.
Out of the three billion ryō the Fire Daimyō had granted this time, after paying pensions and disability compensation, there would still be nearly two billion ryō left to rebuild Konohagakure, develop the village, and allow it to recover.
But how Konoha would be rebuilt and developed ultimately depended on a single word from the village's ruling leadership.
During the recent incident, the Kumogakure delegation had destroyed quite a number of houses in the village. As long as the Konoha Administrative Department issued an order and designated certain construction teams to take on the rebuilding projects, a large portion of the funds could easily and legitimately be transferred into the accounts of the Mitokado clan, Utatane clan, and Sarutobi clan.
There were also numerous wounded from the war. Large quantities of medical supplies would inevitably be required. As long as the Medical Department submitted the request and the Administrative Department signed off on it, another substantial sum of money could legitimately flow into the accounts of those same clans.
There were countless excuses like this, and they had used similar methods many times before.
From top to bottom, most of the system was staffed by their own people. The risk was practically nonexistent.
But now the money was in the hands of the Uchiha clan.
And once that happened, deciding who received it was no longer up to them.
"The Uchiha clan does need to be restrained," Hiruzen Sarutobi said slowly as he exhaled a ring of smoke, "but not now."
"Don't forget—the Battle of Kikyō Mountain Fortress has left Konoha with another five thousand casualties. If the compensation payments aren't delivered, it could cause serious trouble."
"So even if we plan to move against the Uchiha clan, we must wait until they release the eight hundred million ryō currently in their hands."
"Otherwise, Konoha will become a complete laughingstock."
"I've already sent Minato Namikaze to speak with Uchiha Ren, and we've reached a preliminary agreement."
At those words, the three others in the Hokage's office all looked toward Danzō Shimura in surprise.
Because although Danzō's earlier statement sounded reasonable, hearing such words from his mouth felt strangely out of place.
Among them, Danzō had always been the most aggressive opponent of the Uchiha clan.
Yet today, aside from a few remarks aimed at the Fire Daimyō, he had remained mostly silent.
That was extremely unusual.
Moreover, Minato Namikaze and Danzō Shimura were rivals in the upcoming competition for the Fourth Hokage.
Hiruzen frowned slightly and said,
"You two should calm down. The Uchiha are no longer the same clan they used to be. These underhanded tricks could easily be turned against us if they catch even the slightest evidence."
"Don't forget the consequences the last time we tried to use rumors to target them."
Compared to Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, Hiruzen had to consider far more.
He understood clearly that the Uchiha clan of today was no longer what it once was. If they couldn't eliminate the clan in a single decisive strike, it was best not to act rashly.
Take this situation for example.
If they had obtained the information earlier, they could have applied pressure on the Fire Daimyō or the Uchiha clan through various channels and killed the plan before it even began.
Stopping something before it starts is always the easiest.
The second-best time is when it has just begun.
But now, the Uchiha clan had already taken control of the funds.
The news simply hadn't spread yet.
In other words, the matter was already half completed.
Once the Uchiha clan began distributing the funds and formed a network of beneficiaries tied to those interests, the resistance they would face in trying to stop it would become far greater than simply opposing the Uchiha clan alone.
Homura Mitokado said unwillingly,
"But if they distribute the compensation this time and solidify their authority over it, reclaiming the right to allocate those funds in the future will become extremely difficult."
Koharu Utatane added coldly,
"We could simply spread the news that the Fire Daimyō entrusted the compensation funds to the Uchiha clan for distribution."
"We don't even need to reveal the exact amount. In the rumors we can exaggerate the numbers and inflate the expenses."
"Then we present the bill in front of everyone and slam it down in front of Uchiha Ren, the Uchiha clan head."
"I refuse to believe the Uchiha would dare to swallow all three billion ryō for themselves and provoke the entire village."
Because their personal interests were involved, both Koharu and Homura were unusually aggressive this time.
Hiruzen fell silent for a long moment before finally speaking.
"For now, we should first determine the Uchiha clan's true intentions."
"The war on the front lines isn't over yet. There's no need to rush."
Then he turned toward Danzō.
"Danzō, dealing with the Uchiha clan is your specialty."
"What do you think?"
Hiruzen asked partly because he was genuinely uncertain—and partly to test what Danzō was thinking.
Danzō slowly relaxed his tightly furrowed brows and said calmly,
"In my opinion, discussing whether to deal with the Uchiha clan—and how to deal with them—is still premature."
"The village has just gone through a major war. Both internal and external situations are unstable."
"Now is absolutely not the best time to move against the Uchiha clan."
"The most important thing right now is to understand what the Uchiha clan truly intends to do."
"If their demands are not excessive, then there's no need to escalate matters unnecessarily."
Hiruzen glanced deeply at Danzō.
He faintly suspected that Danzō might have secretly reached some kind of agreement with Uchiha Ren, which made Hiruzen himself begin to waver slightly.
But Danzō's own thoughts were much simpler.
What he wanted to confirm most right now was whether the agreement he had reached with Uchiha Ren still held.
If it did, then allowing the Uchiha clan to control that massive sum of money might not be a bad thing.
But if it didn't…
Then he certainly couldn't sit back and watch the Uchiha clan control such an enormous amount of wealth.
After all—
The Uchiha clan had already prepared a way out.
If the situation escalated and the negotiations collapsed, they could very well move the entire clan to the Fire Daimyō's capital.
And that would truly overturn the balance of power within Konoha.
So…
What exactly were the Uchiha trying to do?
Were they betting on both sides?
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