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Hearing they had to contribute a portion of the compensation, these fellows genuinely didn't want to bleed. One by one, they sat in their seats, eyes looking at their noses, noses looking at their mouths, mouths looking at their hearts, remaining completely silent with tacit understanding.
Sitting in the head seat, sizing up these few bastards, Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered. You won't speak? Fine, not speaking means you're unwilling to bleed!
Since it has come to this, Hiruzen Sarutobi won't bother anymore. I'll resign! I won't be this Hokage! I'll just pack up my family and leave. Anyway, my family isn't a clan; leaving will be easy.
However, don't you forget, Uchiha Madara is still up on the Hokage Monument! If he doesn't get the compensation materials he wants, I don't know what he'll do in a fit of rage. If he wants to slaughter a few clans "Three-Six-Seven" to vent his anger, I can only stand by and watch!
Hiruzen Sarutobi just directly expressed his stance like this. The few clan heads and the two elders looked at each other... Uchiha Madara probably wouldn't go that far... These people looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with suspicion and fear, hoping Hiruzen Sarutobi could give an answer.
Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent, merely pointing at the Chibaku Tensei still floating above Konoha. This wasn't Chibaku Tensei; this was clearly the Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone in Konoha!
These elders and clan heads understood. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi could be muddled through, this great demon Uchiha Madara could not. This was a terrifying fellow capable of doing anything, completely lawless! These people began to seethe inwardly. On one side was the safety of their families; on the other was the need for a huge contribution. Weighing the two, it was very difficult.
Actually, by this point, having been pushed this far, everyone knew how to choose. The only blame lay with that sliver of wishful thinking, hoping to get lucky. However, these bastards who valued their own lives and their families above all else still relented one after another, agreeing to contribute a portion of the materials.
Hiruzen Sarutobi indicated, If you had been this sensible earlier, it would have saved me so much breath!
"Alright, the compensation materials Uchiha Madara demands are: two billion Ryo, six hundred thousand tons of grain, and two hundred thousand tons of copper, iron, and precious metals."
"How about this: I'll make the decision. Let the Daimyo of the Land of Fire contribute half. The remaining half, you all scrape together here."
"Come! Report one by one. Say how much your family is willing to contribute, how much you can contribute. I don't care how you distribute it among yourselves, as long as you gather all these materials in the end."
The two elders and the few clan heads looked at each other, then their gazes began to turn unfriendly. No one wanted to bleed much; everyone wanted others to bleed more. Thus, a new round of buck-passing began...
The two elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, naturally formed an offensive and defensive alliance. They stated with smiles that they were just elders, not families, unlike those with large estates and businesses. So, please be considerate of them; they would contribute a little less, and the others could contribute a little more!
The Inuzuka, Aburame, and a few other clan heads quickly stated that their families were all small, and their financial resources were truly not abundant. Now that the Uchiha clan wasn't present, the Hyuga clan was Konoha's largest family. The Hyuga clan should contribute the largest share, and these small families could contribute a small share!
The Hyuga clan head immediately became anxious. "Although our family has many members, our family's financial resources are not substantial! If you don't believe me, you can come to our house and see. We usually eat wild vegetables and congee! Even I, the clan head, live so frugally, let alone the entire family! So, we can't contribute the largest share!"
"Instead, the two elders, being elders, must have embezzled a lot of money from this position over the years. So, at this critical time for Konoha, the two elders absolutely cannot refuse!"
A bitter war of words began among the clan heads and elders. All sorts of shameless tactics, such as flattery, framing, shaming, ridiculing, and feigning misery, emerged endlessly.
Finally, it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's turn to be amused. He held a cup of tea, sat in the head seat like an old man peacefully living out his twilight years, and watched this play with interest. The war of words lasted for about a whole morning. By noon, the various families and the two elders had finally allocated the contributions....
Regardless, this much material compensation was finally scraped together.
Well then, there was still a rather important issue: land cession compensation. Uchiha Madara wanted all the land west of the Green Cascade Mountain Range. This area was fertile with a suitable climate, and its area accounted for a full half of the Land of Fire's territory! However, the treaty agreement had already been signed; ceding it was inevitable.
The problem was, the agreement to cede was Konoha's unilateral agreement. The Daimyo of the Land of Fire still knew nothing about this! So, would he agree to cede the land? Obviously not! How could they make the Daimyo of the Land of Fire agree?
The conference room once again fell into a heavy silence. Everyone was in a bind. To say Konoha had already rotted – at this time, not only did they not feel heartbroken about ceding land for compensation, but they were instead racking their brains about how to make the Daimyo cede the land!? If this were reality, these people would be proper traitors!
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, continuously exhaling smoke, and after a long while, expressed his opinion. Hiruzen felt it was better for him to personally go see the Daimyo, to personally explain the stakes to him. If the Daimyo still didn't 0.0 agree, then he would resort to intimidation. If he still didn't agree, then he would need to consider whether to use genjutsu...
The elders and clan heads all agreed. Anyway, it wasn't their business. The spectating elite Jonin, including the Sannin, all felt sorrowful, sorrowful for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Fortunately, Sakumo Hatake didn't attend this meeting. If he had attended and seen this situation, he would definitely have stormed out in anger!
In short, regarding the compensation issue demanded by Uchiha Madara, Konoha had finally settled it. As for some subsequent issues of rebuilding Konoha, they didn't discuss them. Before Uchiha Madara left Konoha, rebuilding Konoha was just a joke!
What, you ask what to do about the more than three hundred thousand civilians? For safety, before Uchiha Madara left Konoha, it was best to let them hide in the air-raid shelters! .