Konoha Notes

Chapter 391 Chips
After giving them the latest updates, Wenya and Maki left.

"Do you think it was Onoki who took the initiative, or Chiyo?" Tsunade turned her chair around.

“Onoki,” Shuji replied, “Sunagakure has a lot to do right now, and they don’t have the extra energy to proactively plan diplomatic negotiations of this level.”

“First it was Kumogakure and Kirigakure, then Iwagakure and Sunagakure,” Tsunade said. “Suddenly, we’re no longer involved.”

Shuji said, "As things stand, this situation isn't exactly a bad development."

"As for what chain reaction it will trigger in the future, let's trust Kakashi's wisdom."

He closed his eyes again.

"Now, all we need to do is get the Han reception in order."

The matter ultimately fell to Jiraiya, who happened to be coordinating things on the front lines in the Land of Rain. As reinforcements, Uchiha Shisui was dispatched, along with Uchiha Fugaku, who was also leading elite police forces to defend the area.

The following day, the five Kage held a formal communication conversation.

All the prerequisites that needed to be discussed had been taken care of, so the details of the proposal regarding the joint rapid reaction force were quickly finalized.

The atmosphere was very friendly.

The resolution to officially rename the Joint Military Exercise Affairs Bureau to the Joint Affairs Bureau was also successfully passed.

The martial arts competition was divided into subordinate departments.

After completing these procedures, Ai praised Onoki's decisiveness and was about to cut off the communication.

After talking to him for a while, Onoki said before he disconnected, "There's one more thing."

"Regarding the proposal to reorganize the Daimyo's aid funds that Konoha mentioned before."

Ai stopped cutting off the communication.

"Now? There are many things to deal with right now: the safety of the tailed beasts, the wandering ninjas, and joint defense. Talking about this now will only cause unnecessary chaos."

Onoki continued, "The martial arts competition is open to all ninja villages, and a minimum participation subsidy has been set. With more participants, the funding gap will naturally increase."

"No, the expected revenue from martial arts demonstrations will increase, and the audience will grow, but these are just expectations."

"What if the actual revenue from the event can't cover these additional expenses? Does that mean we have to stop?"

As he spoke, Onoki looked at Tsunade.

"Even without considering the secondary impact of the damage to the Joint Affairs Bureau's credibility, where will the increased number of rogue ninja go?"

“West of the Land of Earth, those regions will probably be even more lively.”

"The manpower and resources that Iwagakure and Sunagakure need to invest to stabilize the border and prevent these people from running around will probably require some compensation."

As soon as she finished speaking, Chiyo took over the conversation on another screen.

"According to the reconnaissance of Sunagakure along the nearby shipping routes, some of the Nami ninja have recently disappeared by sea and have not re-landed."

"Where will these people end up, Raikage? If your brain isn't completely filled with muscles yet, you should be able to figure it out."

Ai, who was being attacked by two people at the same time, was immediately taken aback.

Ohnoki and Chiyo?

What combination is this?
He first looked at Tsunade, who was clearly surprised by the new proposal. But expecting Tsunade to oppose a proposal that originally belonged to Konoha was impossible.

So Ai turned to Yagura.

Shuiying's doll-like face remained expressionless, but a hint of hesitation flashed in her eyes.

There aren't many small countries affected by the Fog Shadow's radiation, but considering the long-term effects, there is indeed an increase in its influence. Master Yuan has reservations about this matter; as Fog Shadow's current representative, he can only proceed with caution.

“This matter,” he finally said, “requires a more detailed assessment.”

Ai received support that wasn't exactly support, which gave her more confidence.

"The Secretariat has already conducted a financial calculation for the joint military exercises! It's more than enough to cover the new participants! There's absolutely no need to touch any of the daimyo's funds!" "That was just a calculation based on an ideal scenario," Onoki said.

"Furthermore, the Joint Affairs Bureau has now shed its martial arts name and become a department that faces the entire ninja world. However, the salaries of the members working in the Affairs Bureau are still paid by the individual ninja villages themselves."

"The cost of the operation is borne by whoever applies for the mobilization. Only the part involving martial arts exercises can be subsidized from the event revenue."

His gaze swept across each screen.

"Such an organization, which needs to maintain cooperation among ninja villages, handle sudden crises, and coordinate the interests of all parties, has to rely on each village to temporarily contribute funds for every action."

"This is not good for Iwagakure and Sunagakure, which are both poorly funded, Raikage."

"That's why we haven't applied to transfer any of the Joint Affairs Bureau's teams until now."

The communications room fell silent.

The only sounds were the hum of the equipment running and the faint noise of the static flickering on the screen.

The Fifth Hokage, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up: "The original intention of Konoha in proposing the overall planning of funds was to deal with new problems that would arise under the joint situation."

“Those parts that affect the public affairs of the five great ninja villages, but cannot be clearly attributed to any one village.”

“We need a stable outlet for funds to handle them.”

"The purpose of this proposal is not to create conflict, but to resolve conflict."

Tsunade concluded.

"Since everyone has different opinions on this, why don't we submit the specific proposal to the secretariat for discussion?"

"Whether the funding should come from the five great ninja villages in proportion to their contributions, or whether the daimyo should be invited to participate, can be discussed in detail at a subsequent meeting."

Ai wanted to say something more.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. His brows furrowed, and a vein throbbed twice on his forehead.

"Then let's do this for now."

The screen went dark one after another.

Communication ended.
-
In Raikage's office, Ai stared at the still-black screen, remaining silent for a long time.

Darui stood beside him, hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice, "The Tsuchikage suddenly changed his attitude... Did Mr. Shuji persuade him? Otherwise, there's no way to explain his synchronization with the Kazekage."

Ai shook her head.

“No.” His voice was low. “Konoha’s proposal is to use public funds to appease the smaller ninja villages.”

"What Onoki and Chiyo want is to dig out a new pool of funds from this plan."

Raikage leaned back on the sofa.

"No wonder Onoki was able to give up the Land of Stone... If the fund pooling is really implemented, the way each village gets its mission quota will change."

"Given Akatsuki's current course of action, Iwagakure and Sunagakure are no longer burdened by the defensive burden of the Tailed Beasts. As for us and Kirigakure..."

Ai didn't continue.

Darui understood.

The Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village each possess two Jinchuriki. They need the soon-to-be-established Joint Mobile Force—the powerful force capable of rapid deployment.

Originally, due to its geographical location, Iwagakure, which was the weakest point in terms of defense, began to stand aside, just like Sunagakure.

You can focus on acquiring other things.

After all, the stakes have changed.

(End of this chapter)