Naruto: Traveling Through Time Starting with Seizing the Dragon Vein

"Shut up."

Upon hearing Danzo speak, the Third Hokage turned his gaze to Danzo, wanting to hear his opinion.

"This money must be paid, and the person must be redeemed."

Danzo coldly glanced at the two advisors: "Although Fugaku was captured and even lost his eyesight, becoming a cripple, he still possesses the secrets of the Konoha Police Force's deployment in his mind, and he represents the Uchiha clan's nominal supreme leader! If he were to die outside or be sold to an enemy country, the Uchiha clan would absolutely riot on the spot!"

"Furthermore, if they can return alive, perhaps we will be able to know just how strong Uchiha Tsuki is. We still know too little about Uchiha Tsuki."

Hiruzen exhaled a smoke ring and nodded heavily: "Danzo is right. With a formidable enemy at hand, if the Uchiha clan becomes completely disunited because of the capture of their clan leader, what will the other ninja clans think? In this turbulent time, if we don't unite, Konoha will truly be finished. But... the village really can't come up with those two hundred million ryo."

Perhaps the various clans could pool their resources to raise enough money, but that would be their own clan's foundation, and no one would be willing to sacrifice their clan's interests for the sake of one Uchiha.

The meeting room fell silent once again.

In the midst of this despairing silence, Nono, who had been kneeling on the ground, raised her head at just the right moment.

"Lord Third Hokage, Lord Danzo... I may have a way to solve Konoha's lack of funds."

"Hmm?" Danzo stared at her intently.

Nonou continued:

"Do you remember... the batch of outdated industrial blueprints that I risked my life to bring back from Loulan last time?"

"During my investigation in the Land of Wind, I discovered that the reason why Kumogakure and Iwagakure were able to advance so rapidly on the front lines was because they purchased new weapons called 'exoskeleton armor' and 'explosive shuriken' from Loulan at a high price."

"The reason Loulan dared to set such an exorbitant price was because of its technological monopoly, but we have the design blueprints of their previous generation product!"

"You mean..." Hiruzen paused slightly, his hand holding the pipe.

"Konoha has the best craftsmen in the entire ninja world, as well as well-equipped logistics workshops of clans such as Nara and Yama."

Nonou smiled and said, "We can simply follow suit and use those blueprints to start our own military production line directly inside Konoha!"

"Even if what we build can't compare to Loulan's latest models, as long as it can arm our lower-ranking ninja and chunin, the pressure on the front lines will be relieved instantly!"

"Moreover..." Nonoyu threw out the most tempting bait with extreme precision, "Once we achieve mass production, we can not only be self-sufficient, but also resell the surplus low-end weapons at high prices to those small countries and wandering ninja clans affected by the war! This will not only quickly recover funds to replenish the treasury, but also completely cut off Loulan's monopoly and exorbitant profits!"

Upon hearing these words, the air in the conference room became scorching.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance, their worries vanishing instantly.

Danzo suddenly stood up and sent word to the Root sect, who then delivered the technical scrolls.

Although Hiruzen felt that this behavior was not so honorable, this "politician" once again chose to acquiesce in the face of Konoha's interests.

"But that's a matter for later. Setting up production lines and purchasing raw ore will require an extremely large initial investment. We can discuss that with the Daming Prefecture."

Hiruzen frowned and said, "However, how exactly are we going to raise the ransom of 200 million taels? The village can raise 100 million... no, 50 million taels, so there's still a shortfall of 150 million taels."

"Is there even a question, Hiruzen?"

Danzo, leaning on his cane, said, "This mess was caused by that idiot Fugaku Uchiha, who acted on his own initiative, defied orders from higher-ups, and went to the Land of Wind! Since it was the Uchiha who caused this trouble, the two hundred million ryo to redeem their clan leader should naturally be paid by the Uchiha clan themselves! The village shouldn't pay any money."

"Ultimately, it's a matter for the village... Danzo."

"You shouldn't have spent this money! You'll regret it! Hiruzen!"

Danzo stood up, ready to slam the door and leave.

"I am the Hokage!"

The third generation also stood up.

Kneeling in the shadows, Nonou lowered her head deeply.

Moments later, a heated argument erupted at the Uchiha clan's Naka Shrine, nearly lifting the roof off.

"Elder, this won't do, this is already..." The voice was gradually drowned out by the reprimand.

"Bang!"

A heavy iron box filled with gold bars and land deeds was carried out of the shrine by Konoha's Anbu without any expression.

"This is the final stroke, then the elite of my Uchiha clan..."

The ANBU captain coldly looked at the Uchiha clan elder, whose eyes were bloodshot. "The Third Hokage is merciful and has already sent the ANBU with the ransom to the Land of Wind to negotiate. The person will be returned soon."

"Be thankful, the village has already paid you fifty million taels."

Chapter 103 Religion Uchiha

With the departure of the secret agents, the entire Nanga Shrine fell into a suffocating silence and despair.

To raise this astronomical ransom, the Uchiha clan practically sold everything they owned!

They not only emptied the clan's savings of more than ten years, but also forced the common people in the clan to sell their ancestral shops and land!

All of this was done to redeem the elite of the Uchiha clan.

The Uchiha clan is still nominally a powerful clan in Konoha, but in reality, their clan coffers are almost empty.

"What are we even after...?"

A young Uchiha Chunin slumped on the tatami mat, roaring.

"Nine-Tails Night was suspected and driven to the edge of the village... The clan leader went to fight the rogue ninja in order to clear his name, but the village leaders not only did not send troops to support him, but also took advantage of the situation and plundered all the hard-earned money of our entire clan!"

"Chief Fugaku, why do you insist on going to Loulan?"

"Stop talking..."

Mikoto Uchiha, holding the toddler Sasuke who had just learned to crawl, knelt in a corner of the shrine, her face as pale as paper.

With Fugaku absent, she, as the clan head's wife, had to step forward.

Mikoto lit up her three-tomoe Sharingan, and a surge of chakra belonging to a veteran Jonin erupted from the clan leader's wife without reservation.

The young Chunin who had just been roaring and complaining suddenly felt a sudden heaviness in his brain, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

Mikoto held Sasuke in one arm, and the usually gentle woman was now displaying an air of authority.

"The reason Fugaku went to Loulan was to prove the Uchiha clan's innocence to the higher-ups! He took away the clan's elite, and the blood of the Uchiha clan flowed from their veins! Now their fates are unknown, and the village's higher-ups are hiding in the shadows, waiting to see our Uchiha clan fall apart and turn on each other!"

Mikoto looked around, and wherever her three-tomoe Sharingan passed, the clansmen who were originally full of anger all lowered their heads.

"Money is gone, we can earn it back; assets are gone, we can rebuild. The Uchiha clan should not, and will not, be defeated by these setbacks!"

Mikoto's voice was firm and resolute: "Before Fugaku returns, anyone who dares to undermine morale or spread rumors will face my wrath according to clan rules! The Uchiha will never bow down to outsiders!"

Under Mikoto's intimidation, the emotions that were on the verge of spiraling out of control within the Nanga Shrine were temporarily suppressed.

Three days later, at the gates of Konoha.

In the chilly early spring wind, a battered and tattered group, supporting each other, entered the village.

This was Danzo's decree, tacitly approved by the Third Hokage, who may also have harbored the intention of striking a blow against the Uchiha's pride.

Leading the way was Fugaku Uchiha, the once spirited and arrogant captain of the Konoha Police Force.

At this moment, however, his eyes were wrapped in thick white bandages.

He leaned on a cane handed to him by his attendant, and his body trembled slightly with every step he took.

Following behind him were dozens of once-arrogant clan elites, including Uchiha Yatsuho and Uchiha Inahi.

Next came Shisui and Itachi, their eyes lifeless.

They are not dead, but in the eyes of the villagers of Konoha and the ninjas of various clans, their current appearance is even more unsightly than death.

"Look... aren't those people from the Uchiha clan?"

On both sides of the street, villagers who usually held the police force in high esteem were now pointing and whispering without restraint.

Troublemakers are the defining characteristic of Konoha Village; they don't care who their opponents are.

"Have you heard? They went to attack a rogue ninja, but they were all wiped out by one person, and even the clan leader's eyes were gouged out!"

"Not only that, I heard that in order to redeem them, the Uchiha clan sold all their underwear and now they are so poor that they can't even afford food next month."

"Bah! They swagger around the village all the time, but when they encounter a real enemy, they show their true colors—all bark and no bite, just a bunch of useless trash..."

"People like that are definitely too guilty to go to the battlefield during the Nine-Tailed Night!"

Those disdainful gazes were like countless sharp, poisoned daggers, piercing the barely maintained self-esteem of these Uchiha elites.

They are Uchiha... proud Uchiha, the honor of the Uchiha clan...

Fugaku listened to the undisguised whispers around him.

Extreme shame, regret, and humiliation gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.

His political schemes, which he had tried to play both sides, now seem so ridiculous and laughable!

Not only did he fail to preserve the glory of the Uchiha clan, but he also personally pushed the entire clan into an abyss of no return, making them a laughingstock of the whole village and even the entire ninja world!

When the team finally dragged their weary steps back to the remote Uchiha clan's new territory, they were not greeted with heroic cheers.

The tribespeople stood on both sides of the street, watching them.

His gaze was extremely complex.

There was relief at seeing loved ones alive, but more than that, there was an unconcealable sense of disappointment, disdain, and even resentment.

The Uchiha clan revered the strong, and for them to return in such a humiliating manner was worse than dying on the battlefield.

But that's impossible; this elite force is already the backbone of the Uchiha clan.

"To redeem you... I sold the ancestral house. That's enough, that's enough, it's good that you're back." An old man looked at the blind Fugaku and murmured in a trembling voice.

Fugaku's knuckles turned white from gripping the cane so tightly. He was too ashamed to face his clansmen and could only retreat into his dark mansion with Mikoto's help.

The backbone of the Uchiha clan... the pride of the Uchiha clan, seemed to have been completely crushed on this day.

However, while the Konoha leadership watched the Uchiha clan make a fool of themselves and the Uchiha clan members were immersed in despair after losing everything, no one noticed that among the elites who had been "redeemed" from Loulan, the eyes of a few people had undergone a strange transformation.

late at night.

In a secluded basement in the new Uchiha clan compound.

Several young Uchiha ninjas, utterly despairing of their clan's current state, are drowning their sorrows in alcohol.

“The clan leader is blind, the clan is ruined, I have no money left, and the higher-ups still want to suppress us…” A young man took a big gulp of cheap sake, his eyes red.

This inferior sake was his most treasured possession; what he drank back then, and what he drinks now.