The Uchiha clan, which was wiped out entirely, lacked vision.

Chapter 231 This is my ninja way

Chapter 231 This is my ninja way

The next day, Jiraiya led his men to pay their respects to Lord Uroku, expressing his willingness to remove the title of Hokage and for all ninjas in the village to swear allegiance to the daimyo and obey his orders.

"That's more like it!"

Master Xugu shook his folding fan and nodded in satisfaction.

"Under the leadership of the Daimyo, Konoha and the Land of Fire will only grow stronger and stronger, instead of declining to this state."

"Don't worry, I'll send a letter to the capital right away, and there will be a steady stream of resources coming your way."

"Oh, that's great!" Jiraiya immediately forgot his previous frustration when he heard that resources were being delivered.

Once the agreement was reached, a ceremony was immediately held to hand over the ninja village and the surrounding countries.

After all the formalities were completed, the Jonin who was transferred to the next room quickly came up to fawn over him.

"Lord Xugu, there are also many beautiful sights and delicious foods in Konoha Village. Please take the time to visit and give your comments."

Lord Xugu smiled and agreed, then casually pointed to Kazuma behind him and said to Jiraiya, "If you need anything while I'm not around, just look for Kazuma."

"From today onwards, all affairs of Konoha Village will be handled by Kazuma."

"Okay, I understand." Jiraiya agreed, respectfully saw Lord Utani off, and then handed over the reins to Kazuma.

Jiraiya first took out all the plans for the village's reconstruction and showed them to Kazuma.

Kazuma was initially worried that Jiraiya was secretly plotting something, but when he asked some questions, Jiraiya answered them all in detail. For the more complicated questions, he had Nara Shikasuke answer them, without hiding anything from him.

After reviewing the information, Kazuma felt relieved and began working with Jiraiya to arrange the village reconstruction plan.

Previously, Jiraiya had "raised" 10 billion ryo, and with the various supplies sent by the daimyo, Konoha Village was suddenly not lacking in supplies.

With a large influx of resources, Konoha Village quickly entered a period of rapid recovery.

Houses rose up one after another, and shops opened one after another.

The scene in Konoha Village changed daily, and it quickly regained its vitality and vibrancy, showing some resemblance to its former prosperity.

However, the good times didn't last long. Soon after the supplies were exhausted, the village's recovery speed immediately slowed down.

Jiraiya then resorted to his old tricks again, convening a Jonin conference.

At the start of the meeting, Jiraiya excitedly gave a report to everyone.

"Everyone, the recovery of Konoha Village is now evident to all and very clear."

"This is all thanks to everyone's support!"

"But now there's a problem: we've run out of money again."

"The reason I gathered everyone here this time is that we can, like before, pool our wisdom and efforts, and donate generously to use the money raised to build up our Konoha Village."

Jiraiya had been thinking that the village hadn't seen any results yet, but there were already so many donations.

Now that the recovery is showing results, most families are starting to see a return on their investment, so the donations should definitely be even greater!

But as soon as he started talking, everyone immediately began to complain about being poor.

"Lord Jiraiya, you are unaware of this!"

"Our family has been taking Lord Xugu on trips around for a while now, enjoying delicious food and wine, and preparing all sorts of gifts. It's really cost a lot of money, and we really don't have much money left."

"Yes, yes, our Mito clan has spent a lot of money on Lord Xugu, so we really don't have much money left."

Jiraiya stared in astonishment at the group of people who had once "enthusiastically donated" but were now making excuses and refusing to donate. He couldn't understand how things had turned out this way.

Is this still the village companion I remember, the one I trusted?

Why does it suddenly feel so unfamiliar?

Seeing Jiraiya's grim expression, the Jonin Mito quickly changed his tune, saying, "But since Lord Jiraiya has spoken up, and it's all for the sake of the village, even if we have no money in our pockets, we must still donate to the village."

Jiraiya's expression softened slightly, but before he could even feel happy, he heard the Jonin Mito say, "Then let's donate—100,000 ryo!"

"What?!" Jiraiya's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Only 100,000 taels?"

"Lord Jiraiya, is there a minimum requirement for this donation?" Jonin Mito asked with a puzzled expression.

"Uh—" Jiraiya was speechless for a moment, but he could only shake his head and say, "No, there is no minimum standard limit. It is entirely voluntary."

"Then there's no problem."

With the "exemplary" role set by the Jonin Mito, other ninja clans also started donating 100,000 here and 80,000 there.

After everyone had donated, the total amount was less than 30 million taels.

Jiraiya's face was expressionless, his heart heavy with sorrow, but he could only swallow his anger and watch helplessly as the ninja clans donated their money and left.

"Damn it!" Jiraiya smashed the table to pieces with his fist. "How could it be like this?"

Nara Shikasuke sighed, squatted down, and carefully cleaned up the table scraps, explaining, "Hokage-sama, as I said before, these guys are afraid of power but not of kindness, and they won't appreciate your mercy."

"We must teach these guys a lesson when necessary, and we must be ruthless when it's time to be firm."

"You're the Hokage. As long as you find a reasonable excuse, you can do whatever you want with these guys, just don't kill them."

Jiraiya paced anxiously in place for a long time, ultimately unwilling to accept this approach.

"No, I can't become a politician like Sarutobi-sensei. I want to solve problems in my own way."

"This is my ninja way!"

"Shikasuke, draft a document for me. Since none of them are willing to donate money, I will do what I always do and have all the ninja clans share the cost."

"Sigh, alright!" Nara Shikasuke sighed again, no longer offering any further advice, but instead obediently produced a document.

Jiraiya immediately took the document to Kazuma, had it stamped, and then issued it.

But this time, something unexpected happened again.

What does it mean to be sick?

Jiraiya stared at the Anbu member in front of him, his face full of surprise and uncertainty.

"Has some kind of epidemic broken out in the village?"

"Why are so many people sick?"

"Could it be that the enemy has secretly poisoned us?"

"Lord Hokage, please rest assured, there are no enemies."

Nara Shikasuke waved for the ANBU to leave before explaining, "They were just slacking off."

"They rush to implement policies that are beneficial to them."

"But when it comes to things that are not in their favor, they use such excuses to shirk responsibility and delay."