The Uchiha 's shortings are well-known in Konoha, and anyone who has had even a little iion with them could list a few.

  However, havi with this for decades, Hiruzen believed the Uchiha's fw boiled down to just ohing: They couldn't sell a dream.

  Or, put simply, their words were too grounded iy—fog solely on the present while ing the future.

  In the Hokage's building, being able to articute a vision for the future is a basic skill.

  Yet, when the Uchiha unicated, they teo be dired matter-of-fact. If you forced them to talk about the future, they would create an ho pn—no exaggerations. If something couldn't be achieved, they would tell you ht, refusing to deceive.

  But when someone spoke too realistically, it became hard to inspire hope in others.

  Today, however, Fugaku made Hiruzen reevaluate the .

  The Uchiha seem to have had an epiphany. In Fugaku's proposal, practicality and vision were seamlessly bined.

  As for the logic of drawiernal resources to be the vilge, Hiruzen had no objes.

  The Land of Fire itself relied on its national strength to extract resources from its surrounding nations. Not every allied natioed merely as a military buffer.

  In the end, the Great Ninja Wars would iably escate into state-driven flicts, with major nations peting over the valuable resources provided by their allies. The Five Great Nations not only fought on the nds of smaller tries but also depended on these satellite states for manpower, materials, ah.

  Fugaku's proposal would be immensely challenging to implement, requiring the full cooperation of both Konoha and the Fire Daimyō's gover. heless, it was feasible.

  And that was enough. In the Hokage's building, one had to have both practical skills and visionary thinking.

  Stroking his beard, Hiruzen chuckled softly and leisurely took a puff from his pipe.

  This year's Hokage Advisor ele was shaping up to be very iing. He hoped the Sarutobi would perform just as impressively.

  On stage, Fugaku's speech tinued. In the audience, listeners frequently asked questions, which he patiently answered.

  "But how would this affect existing businesses?" a mert called out.

  "Think of it as iment in your future ers," Fugaku replied smoothly.

  "What about those of us who 't afford to wait?" a civilian stood up.

  "That's exactly why we his system."

  This was turning out to be a very successful speech. The previous two didates had merely talked uninterrupted from start to finish.

  That was how it had always been.

  Fugaku's approach was entirely unpreted.

  Toward the end, some of the other didates couldn't hold bad started asking questions themselves.

  Shikaku asked the most questions. He no longer seemed to view this as a speech, unsciously adopting the role of a strategist.

  His questions were practical.

  Fugaku leased. From Shikaku's attitude, he serong approval. Shikaku wasn't nitpig—he was early discussing the feasibility of Fugaku's pn.

  "Fugaku, how do you pn to establish the standards for distributing welfare?"

  "It will be limited to produ behaviors that directly be the vilge and to encing public transport usage. For instaransportation subsidies could reduce ticket prices, and produ activities could be supported through i-free or low-i loans."

  "But merts aim to make a profit. How do you persuade them to lend moo vilgers without profit?"

  "That involves a more plex meism. Shikaku, you think of it as an embedded po of the long-term products they purchase. The funds would be locked in and not retrievable until the agreed term ends."

  "How would you ehe operator acts without self-i?"

  "First, this welfare is limited to eligible vilgers, so its scale is small. Sed, the vilge and operators ahe system, with the vilge overseeing operations. If someoempts to exploit it... well, we're not merts. We're ninja, and we have our owhods."

  "Iing way to phrase surveilnce," Shikaku noted with a slight smile.

  "Monit ensures pliance," Fugaku responded evenly.

  "Alright… I won't ask what methods those are. What are the eligibility criteria?"

  "First, you must hold Konoha citizenship. Then, you must be a producer. Eligible activities include agriculture and handicrafts. Subsidy rates will vary depending on specific products."

  "So only produ activities, not ercial ones?" Shikaku pointed out what he saw as a signifit fw in the pn.

  This essentially excluded the vilge's i groups.

  Though the idea had moral merit, ninja s rarely pursued ideas based solely oation. How did the Uchiha vihe Hyuga and Inuzuka? How did this proposal pass internal scrutiny within the Uchiha itself?

  "ercial activities yield stable profits. Sihe vilge imposes no taxes, how could we subsidize them?" Fugaku tered with a question before tinuing, "Agriculture is vulnerable to external factors leading to poor or failed harvests, while basidustrial workers often have limited earning potential. Without help, it's difficult for them to achieve true prosperity. The vilge must assist them."

  He hesitated here and pulled out a small notebook, flipping to the relevaion.

  "Moreover, increasing the wealth of this segment of vilgers ily supports ercial enterprises. The vilge should support erot through subsidies but by facilitating access to various forms of short-term funds for eligible business anizations and individuals. Of course, certain fees would apply, and fund usage must be monitored to ensure pliance."

  Closing the notebook, he summarized in a clear voice:

  "Rules are essential for stability. The vilge must not only protect its people but also pay attention to their ine levels. Reasonable regution of ine distribution is the path to shared prosperity."

  "You've prepared thhly."

  "Not at all. Most of it is Masashi's idea."

  "So modest," Shikaku chuckled. "I've finished my questions."

  "You're too kind," Fugaku replied with a slight smile, sing the room. "Does anyone else have questions?"

  "I do," Tazuna spoke up.

  He had remained silent throughout, listening ily.

  It wasn't that he cked material to discredit Fugaku; rather, he realized that Fugaku's speech had rendered his prepared criticisms obsolete.

  Some allegations were baseless to begin with—forced criticisms with no real foundation. After all, even if the Uchiha were known for lending at high i rates, they oended credit to those they deemed wealthy or iial.

  Exploiting ordinary families? Never.

  Preying on the poor? Impossible. If anyone dared to misuse the Uchiha name for such as…

  The Uchiha weren't good at pying the sympathetic friend, but they excelled at sending people "home for the holidays."

  Now, the Uchiha were even pnning to financially support ordinary vilgers.

  Calling this "lending" seemed a stretch—those i rates were purely symbolid couldn't even cover the costs of gathering the funds. They were losing mooodwill.

  By the time Fugaku finished speaking, Tazuna's script was effectively useless. He deeply regretted allowing Fugaku to go first.

  The Uchiha turned his head to look at Tazuna.

  "Tazuna, what is your question?"

  "To achieve what you are proposing, wouldn't it bring erouble to the vilge?" Tazuna asked.

  This question wasirely aimed at critig Fugaku; it was a genuine of his.

  "To implement these pns you've described would require a rge sum of mohe oies capable of providing such funding would be the nobles or major ninja s. If the costs 't be recouped, revoking the policy would be a minor issue pared to the tless ehe vilge might face."

  "We certainly have corresponding measures to prevent such problems. I think you've misuood. The core purpose of this pn isn't to simply amass funds but to el idle and dispersed resources to those who hem most to maximize efficy."

  He gazed at the Sarutobi leader, and an inexplicable sense of superiority emerged within him.

  This feeling was exhirating. Was this how Masashi had looked at him back then?

  However, his expression remained gentle and friendly. Years of leadership had taught him the value of a posed facade.

  "We ninja handle all sorts of tasks, and intelligehering is something we excel at. Historically, our retionship with the Land of Fire has been limited to a militaristic merary arra ierest of national defense. But ninjas aren't solely useful in times of war."

  "For example, enin don't just fight for the nation; they also take on issions from vilgers and citizens outside the vilge to solve everyday problems. This is no different."

  Tazuna frowned slightly. "I'm not sure I follow the e."

  "The me expin how our current system works," Fugaku said, shifting to address Tazuna's fusion directly. "The Five Great Nations already use paper currency issued by the daimyō's office. The system exists, but it's ineffit."

  "Ineffit how?" Tazuna asked, leaning forward slightly.

  "sider the grassroots level," Fugaku replied. "Private lending is the only option avaible to most people, and it has no official regution. Who do you think trols most of the wealth?"

  "The nobles and ninja s," Tazuna answered, his brow furrowing.

  "Exactly. And while lendiween ninja s is straightforward enough, what happens when nobles want to lend money?" Fugaku's eyes fixed on him. "They have to hire ninja to iigate potential borrowers. The costs bee astronomical."

  "But surely there must be some successful transas?"

  Fugaku shook his head. "The risks and costs are too high. Ordinary people 't afford to borrow, and nobles won't lend freely. Do you know what this means?" He paused. "Vast amounts of wealth sit idle, uhe daimyō's office is stantly troubled by this—they see these idle resources but 't forcibly pel o tribute their wealth."

  "And this affects everyoazuna said.

  "Precisely. Look at what's happening now—the daimyō's office is forced to allocate signifit funds annually just to maintain social stability. They're funding infrastructure projects to provide jobs for the starving lower csses. They've even implemented child-rearing allowao prevent impoverished families from abandoning their children."

  "That's where Konoha es in," Fugaku tinued. "With our military leverage and intelligeworks, we facilitate these transas safely."

  "And if some loans default?" someone asked.

  "Even in the worst case, any pensation would be negligible pared to our total reve's a guaranteed win."

  The more Fugaku eborated, the graver the expressions of the fh-ranking officials in the Hokage Office became. They uood the implications all too well.

  Having successfully transitioo aional model and built a solid reputation, the Uchiha would hold an absolutely dominant position uhis pn, ohat no other could repce.

  The reality was clear—if the Hokage Offiteo implement this pn, Fugaku would have to ehe Hokage Office. He would have to bee the Hokage Advisor.

  "But the current situation..." Tazuna begaantly.

  "Let me be frank about our currey," Fugaku cut in. "Repeated invasions have weakehe Land of Fire's ability to exploit neighb tries. Meanwhile, Kumo, after initiating twrows stronger."

  He stood, pag slowly as he tinued. "Local officials are overwhelmed with work. And while the Land of Fire remains the most powerful nation, its ability to fund our vilge has weakened signifitly."

  "And Kumo?" someone asked.

  "Their development follows a different path entirely. Their financial prows while ours diminishes." Fugaku's gaze swept the pce. "The choice is simple: either we work together for mutual be, or everyone suffers as we tihis internal petition."

  The Uchiha had id out the choices clearly: there were only two options. The Hokage Office couldn't reject this - to sustain a military anization of Konoha's scale, financial power aramount.

  "So you're saying..." Tazuna started.

  "I'm saying that without proper funding, we'll lose half our military strength within a decade. Is that what we want for Konoha?"

  In the inal timeline, Kumo became the wealthiest vilge in the ninja world within a decade or so. It boasted strong internal cohesion and military power, while Konoha's forces shrank to half their peak strength. The vilge's strategy grew servative, pgued by internal issues.

  The Uchiha massacre was one of the worst outes of Konoha's deing finances, reduced military power, and intensified internal petition.

  In this timeline, such a tragedy wouldn't occur, but if the Hokage Office still inteo exclude the Uchiha, the iable sequence would be a shrinking military.

  A weakened Konoha was uable to Minato.

  He had grown up during Konoha's golden era, a time of flourishing prosperity.

  It was also intolerable to the other ninja s. That would render all past sacrifices meaningless.

  Lives would have been lost in vain.

  When Fugaku id this grim reality before everyohe bance of opinions began to shift.

  No one remembered they were here to observe anymore.

  Tazuna, in particur, eechless.

  At this point, anything he said would be a joke.

  If the Sarutobi fell, Konoha might survive. But if Konoha fell, the Sarutobi would surely perish. There was no point in taking a desperate gamble now.

  Fugaku wasn't just presenting a choice to the Hokage Office; he was also presenting oo the Sarutobi .

  The solution was in front of them—would they keep peting?

  Tazuna was numb, feeliremely flicted.

  "Do you have any further questions?" Fugaku asked again.

  "I…" Tazuna opened his mouth but couldn't find the words.

  He looked around. Everyone was staring at him.

  In their eyes, he saw trapatience, as if they were silently asking, "Are you stupid or just malicious?"

  "Finally, he sees reason," a member whispered.

  What truly crushed him was that some of these gazes came from members of the Sarutobi itself.

  The Sarutobi cluded many ordinary individuals who fell into the category of "vilgers."

  "I have no further questions…" Tazuna lowered his head. "However, I support Shikaku's governan."

  What a troublesome position to put me in, Shikaku thought, barely suppressing a sigh.

  "Tazuna," Minato suddenly spoke. "You may prepare your speech."

  "No, Hokage-sama, I withdraw," Tazuna muttered.

  He felt Hiruzen's gaze upon him, filled with disappoi.

  But he owerless.

  The two sides weren't even in the same league; he didn't even qualify to fight anymore.

  "I see. Uood…" Minato turo Hiruzen. "Sandaime-sama, what do you think?"

  Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe and withdrew his gaze from Tazuna.

  Tazuna truly wasn't suited for this sort of thing… At least, in the end, he didn't go overboard.

  "I believe we should proceed with the voting."