Chapter 97: Upheaval in the Land of Fire

Chapter 97: Upheaval in the Land of Fire

After careful consideration, Konoha's top strategist finally voiced his thoughts to Uchiha Dali.

The moment he heard this, Uchiha Dali's face instantly turned cold.

"You're trying to negotiate with me?"

"Lord Fourth Hokage, we're only thinking about the future of the village. We have to act with absolute responsibility, not out of impulse."

Sweat rolled down Nara Shikaku's cheeks. Despite his fear, he still spoke out bravely, expressing what was truly on his mind.

The other clan leaders remained silent, but their eyes were firm.

Konoha's two advisors, along with Hiruzen Sarutobi, also showed agreement.

"Fine. Let's hear your condition."

Uchiha Dali's expression eased a little. He decided to listen to what the man had to say.

Shikaku breathed a silent sigh of relief, took a deep breath, and replied evenly, "We hope that you, Lord Fourth Hokage, will wait until the village's economy recovers before making a move against the Land of Water."

"Military talent can't be cultivated overnight. With Konoha's current reserves, we're in no position to wage a full-scale war against the entire shinobi world. We need to find a way to revitalize the economy first—doing so may at least help mitigate the risks that come with taking bold action…"

Shikaku laid out his entire condition in one breath.

His words were quickly met with support from the other clan heads. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and the others also voiced agreement.

Hearing this, a slow smile crept up on Uchiha Dali's face.

So that was it? That was all they wanted?

Too easy.

Konoha's economy? It was basically nonexistent. Aside from some basic economic activity, they had nothing worth mentioning.

The village's main source of funding had always been the stipends issued by the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

What Shikaku was implying, then, was that the village needed to gather enough funding to restart development and reconstruction.

On top of that, the fallen and injured shinobi from the recent war would all need proper compensation.

Such an enormous sum—there was no way Konoha could afford it on its own.

And under normal circumstances, the daimyo's office wouldn't necessarily allocate such a large budget to them—not because they couldn't, but because they needed to keep Konoha, as a military force, under tight control. Withholding funds was an effective way to maintain that leverage.

That was why Shikaku insisted on restoring the village's economic vitality.

He might've been thinking that Konoha needed to save itself.

But what Uchiha Dali thought in that moment was something else entirely—"rob from the rich to help the poor."

"That's your only condition?"

Uchiha Dali stared at Shikaku.

The latter nodded solemnly. "Yes, Lord Fourth Hokage."

"This is the one and only request we have. As long as this problem is solved, we will support your decisions unconditionally…"

"Then wait here for me."

With that, Uchiha Dali vanished.

Seeing his seat suddenly empty, the room of gathered shinobi looked at each other in confusion.

"He's gone…"

"Where did the Fourth go?"

"What's he planning?"

"…Wait—don't tell me, is he actually going to…"

While everyone was busy speculating about where Uchiha Dali had gone and what he intended to do, Shikaku suddenly had a realization.

His expression changed slightly.

…

Not long after, Uchiha Dali returned to the Hokage's office.

Despite his sudden and shocking disappearance, what drew even more curiosity from those waiting was where he'd been during the past thirty minutes.

Returning to his seat, Uchiha Dali casually flicked his hand and laid a scroll down in front of everyone.

"Come take a look."

"This is the commitment the daimyo of the Land of Fire just fulfilled. Our village now has ample funds for reconstruction, development, and compensation for our fallen and injured shinobi."

His words triggered a wave of commotion throughout the room.

Minato Namikaze was the first to step forward and inspect the scroll.

He was followed closely by Nara Shikaku, Uchiha Fugaku, Hiashi Hyuga, and the others.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane were more composed, but they too came forward to verify.

After everyone checked it, they confirmed that Uchiha Dali was telling the truth.

The scroll was a certified grant authorization from the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

The amount listed was astronomical—far beyond anything they'd imagined.

All they had to do was take that certificate to the treasury and withdraw the funds.

"Lord Fourth Hokage, you…"

Shikaku realized he had guessed correctly.

Uchiha Dali had, in fact, used overwhelming force to coerce the daimyo into allocating funds to Konoha.

This meant that, as long as the national treasury of the Land of Fire could support it, Konoha could have as much money as it needed.

Uchiha Dali didn't bother hiding anything either.

He smiled faintly. "That's right. The Land of Fire no longer belongs to the daimyo—it now belongs to Konoha."

"Just now, the daimyo of the Land of Fire officially abdicated his position to me."

"If you don't believe me, take another look."

He pointed to the scroll on the table.

Following his words, everyone looked again—this time, noticing the signature in the daimyo's section.

It was Dali's own name!

Everyone was thunderstruck.

They had never imagined that such a thing could actually happen. Never imagined that Konoha would replace the daimyo's office as the ruling power over the entire country.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane hadn't seen this coming.

At that moment, the entire room was struck speechless.

But Uchiha Dali remained calm and confident. He continued, "The strength of Konoha's shinobi exists to benefit and protect our own people."

"We are under no obligation to rely on anyone else for survival."

"All of you remember this—this is one of the core principles of the Hidden Leaf Village."

His words left everyone feeling disoriented.

In just two days, the entire structure of Konoha had been turned upside down.

Not only had some of the village's top leadership been purged, even the daimyo of the Land of Fire had been replaced.

No one had ever dared to do something like this.

No one had even dared think about it.

For a long moment, no one knew whether to feel exhilarated or alarmed.

Eventually, Nara Shikaku finally recovered and spoke to Uchiha Dali.

"Since you've kept your word and fulfilled our only condition, what more can we say?"

"From this day forward, we will follow your commands unconditionally, Lord Fourth Hokage."

As the smartest man in both Konoha and the entire Land of Fire, Shikaku quickly understood the situation.

He knew that from this day onward, under Uchiha Dali's leadership, both Konoha and the Land of Fire would be completely reborn—and that this sweeping transformation would shake the entire shinobi world.

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