Only I can make Konoha Village great again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped abruptly, but the other three understood what he meant.

The losses during the Nine-Tailed Night were not only human, but also unimaginable property damage.

The losses are irreversible, the collapsed buildings need to be rebuilt, the sacrificed ninjas need compensation, and the injured ninjas need retirement compensation. All of this adds up to more than 10 billion ryo.

Konoha Village has over a billion ryo in its own reserves. Hiruzen Sarutobi wrote to the daimyo for help, but the daimyo's money is not unlimited; he can only come up with a maximum of three billion ryo.

In other words, the funding gap in the short term exceeded 5 billion ryo, which was the fundamental reason why Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group forced the Uchiha to move.

Konoha Village is very wealthy, but the money is not in the hands of the Hokage, but in the hands of various ninja clans, large and small.

For example, the Sarutobi clan was able to expand its population dozens of times because of massive resources, so coming up with a mere 5 billion was not a problem at all.

The ninja clans had plenty of money, but Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't have the prestige of the First Hokage and couldn't force them to hand over their money.

Even if it's the Sarutobi clan's money, he can't force his clansmen to hand it over.

It was Shimura Danzo who suggested forcing the Uchiha to move away from the village center and selling the Uchiha clan's land to ninja clans and nobles of the Land of Fire.

The proceeds from this land sale could reach 200 billion taels, which would not only fill the funding gap but also support the expenses of waging a war.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado immediately agreed, while Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for a full minute before nodding in agreement with Danzo Shimura's suggestion.

He said, "It's all my fault. I failed to protect Kushina, which led to this disaster."

"There's really no other way now. For the sake of Konoha, we can only make things harder for the Uchiha. They already have a lot of bad reputation to bear, so adding a little more won't be a big problem."

"I will definitely make it up to them in the future."

Now that the Uchiha have seized on your mistake, how can you force them to relocate, and how can you sell them off?

Hiruzen Sarutobi instinctively wanted to say, "Danzo, you solve this problem."

Fortunately, he realized his mistake in time and swallowed his words.

This time, being caught was a huge mistake, and since his own Sarutobi clan was the culprit, he had no confidence to shift the blame to Shimura Danzo.

Shimura Danzo didn't think too much about it. He said casually, "I checked. Our clansmen are very careful in their work. All the procedures and documents have been handled properly, and there are no obvious problems."

"Fugaku Uchiha can't produce any solid evidence. As long as we take a tough stance, there won't be any problems."

"They can also use the pretext of Fugaku framing the Hokage to demand that the Uchiha clan move out within seven days, or else they'll declare the Uchiha clan rogue ninja!"

Mitokado Homura frowned and said, "Saying that the Uchiha clan betrayed the village is too far-fetched..."

Danzo scoffed, "The inherently evil Uchiha clan is destined to betray Konoha; the only difference is when!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi coldly said, "Danzo, the Uchiha are members of Konoha Village. Don't make such irresponsible statements without evidence!"

"Hmph! I know!"

Danzo Shimura said, "My Shimura clan was not involved much in this matter, and I have already explained everything."

"Your family is deeply involved; you need to arrange for family members to handle the aftermath properly."

"As long as we do a good job, even if Fugaku Uchiha has evidence, I can directly refute him."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "Danzo is right, let's do it that way."

"Also, I'd like to add that the clansmen have become too indulgent in recent years and need to be properly disciplined."

"Xiaochun, Yan, we're almost sixty years old. We'll have to retire after working for Konoha for a few more years."

"It would be such a pity if I ended up being disgraced by my clan."

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado exchanged a glance and nodded together, saying, "We'll go back and handle it right away. We definitely won't leave any problems behind."

Hiruzen Sarutobi then looked at Danzo Shimura: "Danzo, the Shimura clan has always been known for its integrity and self-discipline, and I trust you completely in this regard."

"I am very satisfied with Root's work in obtaining timely intelligence from within the Uchiha clan."

"but……"

"You and Root can't stop here. You need to find a way to get more information. I want to know what Fugaku Uchiha said in the meeting and what specific plans he made against us, not your guesses based on fragmented information."

"Do you understand?"

Danzo Shimura's expression darkened: "Hiruzen needs to give me formal orders before I can persuade a stronger Uchiha ninja."

Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed: "Danzo, the fact that you can make such a request shows that you don't understand Hokage at all."

"The Hokage is the leader of Konoha Village and represents the image of Konoha Village. Many things can be done quietly, but cannot be spoken of by the Hokage."

"Just know what's going on. When will this task be completed?"

Danzo Shimura felt a pang of pain in his heart at being told "You're not the Hokage," and said with a grim expression, "I don't know."

"The Uchiha are inherently evil. Even those who are loyal to Konoha are extremely wary of me. If you don't give me a title, I can only rely on luck."

Hiruzen Sarutobi lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and slowly said, "What was Uchiha Kagami's grandson's name again?"

"Shisui, yes, it's Uchiha Shisui. He should be a suitable breakthrough point."

"And there's Fugaku Uchiha's son, Itachi Uchiha, who should be entering the Ninja Academy next year. I'll try to instill the 'Will of Fire' into him."

Danzo Shimura said with dissatisfaction, "Shisui Uchiha is nine years old, and Itachi Uchiha is only five. Starting with them is too slow, isn't it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke: "Danzo, you're too hasty."

"The Uchiha clan has more than 300 ninjas, including 31 Jonin, all of whom are elite Jonin."

"To deal with the strongest ninja clan in Konoha, we must have enough patience. As long as the work can proceed steadily, it will be a success."

"If our impatience leads to a civil war in Konoha, we will all become sinners against Konoha!"

Danzo Shimura's expression darkened further: "Hiruzen, do you not want to eliminate the evil Uchiha clan?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "No matter what, Konoha was founded by the Senju and Uchiha clans working together. If possible, I certainly wouldn't choose to eliminate the Uchiha."

"If you can't understand this, you don't deserve to be the Hokage of Konoha!"

Danzo Shimura laughed angrily: "Fine, fine, you put it so openly, but you still want me to bribe the Uchiha, don't you?"

"Fine! You're the Hokage, so you should do good deeds openly and honestly."

"I am Root, and I'm here to do shameful and evil deeds!"

"Everything is for Konoha!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled sincerely: "Thank you for your hard work, Danzo."