Naruto: The Information Broker from the Uchiha Clan.

When the Daimyo's mansion was still in existence, the Hokage only needed to consider the expenses of one village.

If you don't have enough money, ask the lord for it.

As the only military organization in the Land of Fire, the Daimyo's Mansion may have lived a life of decadence and debauchery, but it has never been stingy with Konoha.

Now that the Daimyo's residence is gone, the entire budget of the Land of Fire will need to be decided by Konoha.

Furthermore, due to undisclosed reasons, the budgets of the five great nations require the Hokage's approval to a certain extent.

Originally, Shikaku intended to postpone it. After all, these businessmen who relied on Konoha's research department had made a fortune in recent years, and they had to be skinned alive at least three times over.

As a result, the Second Research Department was established, and the first project was the tram project proposed by Raimon Koreki and Katasuke. Although the presence of ninjas would make the project easier to carry out.

Even so, the cost of building interconnected trams in the other four major countries besides Amegakure (the Land of Water) was so high that even the Konoha leadership, who had just begun to broaden their horizons, found it outrageous.

However, when Shikaku presented the money he had collected each year over the past few years, as well as the money earned by the large merchant caravans under the covert investigation, in numbers, the group felt that the numbers didn't seem so large after all.

At this moment, in the Hokage's office in the Hokage Building, the heads of eight large merchant caravans were crying and complaining, saying that they had only earned a few hard-earned coins.

With their vivid and emotional delivery, Minato might have actually believed them had he not already seen the intelligence in his hand.

Shikaku stepped forward and said directly, "Matsumoto-i uses the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Frost, and the Land of Lightning as his trade routes, making sixteen import and export trips. Each export is worth about 135 million taels, and the average profit is about 89 million taels. Let's round it up to 100 million."

"According to the original contract, the penalty for 'slipping through the net' is the total value of all exported goods, which is 1.35 billion taels. Any objections?"

1.35 billion taels?

This number stunned Obito, who was standing next to him.

What an astronomical figure!

They're talking about billions of dollars right off the bat—that's faster than robbing someone!

and many more!

Damn it! These bastards made a hundred million in one go, but only gave him a measly eight million taels?!

"Bang!"

Just as he was about to unleash a torrent of curses, the businessman Matsumoto, who had just been named, knelt down on the ground.

The rabbit mourns the fox's death; the other seven people simultaneously foresaw their own punishment, and for a moment they all knelt down even lower.

"Sir! We...we simply don't have that much money!"

"Hiring ninjas, dealing with bandits along the way, paying bribes, and covering the caravan's food, drink, and other necessities... Lord Hokage, we haven't made much money at all!"

"In that case, it would be better to be dead..."

"1.3 billion taels of silver? Even if you killed your whole family and sold them, you still wouldn't have that much..."

"Lord Hokage... I'm innocent!"

……

Amidst the wailing, Shikaku, who had already anticipated this scene, sneered.

He then ignored them completely and read out the fines for the next seven people.

The amounts were originally listed from smallest to largest, with the most impressive one being the one that included the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, as well as a series of desert greening supplies for export. Therefore, the total export value reached over four billion.

This scene left Obito dumbfounded. Looking at his former partners with whom he had worked so well, he felt that these people were simply insane.

All I wanted to do was buy a big villa in Konoha, but did these guys want to buy the whole village?

Do you think you can use all that money?

After reading what he had in his hand, Lu Jiu looked at the group and said, "You all know how much wealth you have, and you are also very clear about the profits from exporting to surrounding areas."

"Within half a day, whether it's money, real estate, luxury goods, or supplies, if you can't pay in full, the secret service will make you pay it in full, and after that, your family and your descendants for five generations will be barred from engaging in commerce."

"Think it through. Money can be earned back, but once Konoha blacklists you and the Anbu seizes it, you won't even have a chance to rise again."

As soon as he finished speaking, the eight merchants who had been wailing fell silent.

It was only then that they realized they had no chance to resist the violent institutions that operated from top to bottom in Konoha.

It was fine before the investigation was thorough, but now that the secret service has figured out everything about their assets, even if they've already committed crimes and are completely exploited and killed, it's just a warning to others.

Acting according to the contract means that even if the chicken dies, the monkeys won't disperse; they have no room for bargaining.

"Take him away."

Minato waved his hand, and three ANBU appeared, subduing all eight people.

At this point, none of the eight people stepped forward to complain about being poor.

They are all intelligent people who walk the ninja world. Several years ago, when the ninja world was in chaos, they were able to survive in the cracks. In this peaceful era, they are smarter than anyone else.

Konoha calls the shots in the Five Great Nations, and Konoha calls the shots in the entire ninja world.

Compared to the other four great ninja villages, what are they? They're nothing!

In fact, it could be said that... if it weren't for the concern that their greed might frighten other caravans, they could have simply slaughtered them all and seized their property without any problem.

After the others left, Minato's gaze finally fell on his disciple.

"How much did you take?"

Obito lowered his head, hesitating slightly: "Three...four...five..."

"Snapped!"

"How much exactly?"

Minato slammed his hand on the table, and Obito couldn't help but shudder.

"Eight! Eighty million taels!"

These words prompted Lu Jiu to sneer: "That group of guys just now spent over 18 billion in total, and after more than a hundred 'slips,' they only got 80 million taels?"

Lu Jiu said, and handed out a flyer.

It reads:

Adjacent to the commercial street, luxurious villas overlook Fire Shadow Rock, the latest scientific research achievement, the Cold and Hot Barrier, makes it possible to enjoy spring-like weather all year round, and even see snow in summer.

What are you waiting for? Uchiha Loans, you can have them.

"The Uchiha clan's latest project... I heard you just received clan membership from Shisui. With a discount, you should still have some left, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Obito waved his hands repeatedly.

"No, no! There really aren't any more!"

Obito panicked: "The rest is all money I've saved up over the years, it has nothing to do with those bastards!"

"I was originally prepared to take out a loan, but I still have a debt with Xiao Jiuwei that I haven't settled yet, and with that, I was still a little short."

Shikaku pressed on: "So even if Shisui hadn't given you a discount, you'd have almost enough, right? And besides what you made from S, you still had some left. Adding that to what you got from Kurama, even with the discount, you still had some left?"

Obito froze, his Sharingan staring intently at Shikaku from under his straw hat, his Mangekyou Sharingan forced out.

Is this person... a devil?

Kakashi, who was standing nearby, slapped his forehead.

After returning to the village, Obito's IQ dropped to negative numbers.

"By the way, Little Nine-Tailed Fox also got into trouble. It reported you too, so the fines for your joint fraud will be split in half."

(D)

Unfortunate news followed one after another, leaving Obito stunned.

After years of hard work, this is a recipe for complete financial ruin!

If this hasn't been unlocked yet, it'll probably be unlocked from a single tomoe to the full kaleidoscope in no time.

"Bang!"

Obito plopped down on the ground, head down, trembling all over.

This worried Minato; could it be that the shock was too much and he had gone insane again?

"I... will hand it over."

Obito's voice rang out, and when he looked up, he saw tears streaming down his face. His heart ached terribly; he was crying from the pain.

What if I don't pay?

Why not hand it over and keep following Nagato?

In the past, Nagato might have tied himself up first, hung him up and beaten him for three days and three nights, and then been handed back to Konoha by Uzumaki Sora.

He, like those businessmen, finally understood that if you commit a crime, you can't get caught; if you do, you can forget about escaping.

When facing a behemoth like Konoha, the best approach is to reason with them. If you don't reason with them in the first place, then there's no reasoning to be had.

Then Shikaku gave him a number, and Kakashi immediately retrieved Obito's "very" secret stash of money from the alternate dimension.

This scene caused Obito's eyes to twitch uncontrollably.

"How did you find out?"

Kakashi casually replied, "A bunch of Rin's photos and other random stuff, and a cubic stone on top of that in a vacant lot—any idiot would know there's something wrong with what's underneath, right?"

Obito remained silent, but his hands clenched tightly.

Be patient! You must be patient!

After a while, Minato stepped forward and patted Obito on the shoulder earnestly: "Although you are a bit old, Rin is still young. Making money and getting married is a good thing, but you have to walk the right path."

Unbeknownst to him, several short swords pierced Obito's chest, nearly causing him to suffer internal injuries.

He looked up at his teacher: If you can't speak properly, can you at least speak less?

……

With the matter resolved, Kakashi led Obito out of the Hokage Building.

Kakashi, a passerby, continued to ramble on, trying to persuade Obito.

"Such a big house is useless; it's only good for keeping the house warm in winter and cool in summer, and for swimming around inside. Do ninjas need to swim?"

"Although the workload has decreased now, and you can't openly leave the village, the jobs in the village like garbage disposal, childcare, and steel forging still pay..."

"Earn a little bit more, and in ten years you'll be able to afford a house, right?"

"Lin will be in her twenties by then, which will be just right."

"Obito... come to think of it, aren't you getting a bit old?"

Seeing that his friend didn't reply, Kakashi looked over in confusion: "Obito?"

He slightly raised his head, and Obito's kaleidoscope came into view.

"Kakashi...you ****"

After uttering a string of words, Obito grabbed Kakashi and headed straight for the other dimension.

An hour later, the two emerged from the alternate dimension.

At this moment, Kakashi's headband was gone, one of his eyes was bruised and the other swollen, blood was spilling from the corner of his mouth, and there were large bumps on his head.

Obito wasn't much better off; his face was also swollen like a pig's head, and his straw hat had long since been reduced to dust.

Just then, Rin Nohara also arrived at the Hokage Building and paused for a moment when she saw the two of them.

"You guys...fought? I heard Obito that Kakashi took you to the Hokage Building, so I rushed over, only to find you fighting right here in front of the Hokage?"

Obito and Kakashi exchanged a glance.

←_←Lin→_→

After letting out a breath, Lin placed her hands on their shoulders: "It's good to see you're both alright. After all these years, how come you're still the same?"

Obito glanced at his best friend: "That bastard, he made me prepare... uh... anyway, that bastard swindled my money, the money I worked so hard to earn..."

Kakashi was about to speak when he tugged at the wound on his lip and grimaced, "Heh... Others earn a hundred million in one go, and you think you're making a profit running errands for eight million? Foolish Obito, can't you be a little smarter?"

"ah!!"

This only made Obito even more furious.

Back then, he was one of the masterminds behind the scenes, and he could easily fool Nagato. But now he's been fooled by an ordinary person.

Simply unbearable!

Obito, furious, was about to cause trouble when Kakashi stopped him.

"What do you want to do?"

"It's none of your business!"

→_→←_←

Staring at each other, Nohara Rin used a lot of strength to separate the two.

Finally, through Kakashi's explanation, Rin learned what had happened.

then……

"You want to go to them and ask for your money back?"

"Mmm." Submissive, aggrieved.

"They definitely won't pay the fines you already paid, and they might not even have any more. So what do you want to do? Beat them up to vent your anger?"

As soon as Lin finished speaking, Kakashi chimed in, "And then they get caught by the security forces, and then either they have to get their forgiveness, or they get locked up for fifteen days?"

Obito glared at Kakashi: "Shut up, you bastard! If it weren't for you, would I have been arrested?"

Rin Nohara quickly blocked their view, then looked at Obito and said, "Kakashi's words have certain consequences. Even if you escape using another dimension, how will you come back?"

"Moreover, given the current situation, the village, teachers, and high-ranking officials all need caravans to transport the research department's outputs to various parts of the ninja world."

"If a ninja can attack a caravan at will without being punished, it will affect the opinions of other caravans."

After he finished speaking, Obito fell silent.

World peace, no war, Rin, and Kakashi, that bastard.

Why would I go out into a world like this?

But what about the money next?

Looking at Rin who was so close, Obito really couldn't figure out how to make money to buy a big house.

Kakashi was silent for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "I can't use the Mangekyou Sharingan's abilities without limit, but you can use it frequently because you had Hashirama's cells transplanted into you. In this case, you can actually do transportation work, as long as you don't escape death."

"However, you can't openly appear in other ninja villages, since those events happened not long ago. So..."

There was silence for a while.

After waiting for a long time without any follow-up, Obito grew impatient: "So what? Tell me!"

Kakashi shrugged: "So there's nothing we can do for now. You'll only be able to freely appear in other places once those memories fade."

"In fact, even now, if it weren't for Yun's presence, there would be quite a few people who want to assassinate you."

Nohara Rin was a little worried and looked at Obito to comfort him, saying, "It's okay if we don't have money. We're still alive now, which is very lucky compared to so many of our contemporaries back then."

...(End of this chapter)