Chapter 50: Praying for the Players

The relationship between the Hokage and the ninja clans is very subtle.

If there were a Hokage with terrifying strength like the Shodai, capable of suppressing the various clans into silence, then he would possess immense authority.

By the time of the Second Hokage, relying on his outstanding political acumen, he founded the Ninja Academy to continuously select civilian ninja and established the Anbu, all to weaken the influence of the ninja clans.

Until the Third Hokage,

Hiruzen Sarutobi in his youth was likewise able to maintain a tough stance toward these ninja clans; at that time, Konohagakure was thriving, and he himself was a Ninja Hero who had mastered the Five Nature Transformation.

But now, the two powerhouses of the Hokage faction have left the village, Orochimaru has defected, Sakumo Hatake, who was close to the Hokage, committed suicide, Namikaze Minato died in battle, and the Nine-Tails is merely a brat who hasn't grown up yet.

Among the ninja clans, only the Ino-Shika-Cho are loyal to the Hokage; the remaining families all have their own little agendas.

Who doesn't want to keep funds to buy equipment and upgrade skills for their clansmen?

Hiruzen Sarutobi said calmly: "Since no one is willing, then we shall discuss it further."

"Lord Hokage!"

Asuma's expression was ugly as he said: "Konoha has already fallen far behind the other Ninja Villages; must we really continue like this?"

Although the ninja clans were evasive, as long as the Hokage made a firm decision, they would have no choice but to grit their teeth and accept it; even the Uchiha, who were at the height of their power back then, dared not openly oppose the Hokage.

The premise is that Hiruzen Sarutobi is willing to offend these ninja clans for the sake of this matter.

"Falling behind?"

Danzou sneered: "Konoha's strength is obvious to all; even the militant Kumogakure has been beaten to the point of having no power to fight back. Who could be stronger than Konoha?"

This is a fact.

With the solid foundation of the Shodai and Second Hokage, Konoha's combat power and economy have far outstripped the other Ninja Villages.

To say nothing else, the various industries of the Hyuga family alone could equal half a year's worth of financial revenue for Sunagakure.

Asuma said anxiously: "The Five Nations Joint Chunin Exams might be an opportunity for them to probe Konoha's bottom line, and it could be the fuse that triggers a war."

As a player, he is very clear about the gradually changing atmosphere in the Samsara Game.

Not to mention the Four Great Ninja Villages, even the merchant factions and the suddenly appearing Nobles of various countries have begun to stop being confined to the game world and are gradually turning their hands to reality.

The Nobles who have been continuously pouring into the village during this period are proof of this.

In the past,

Even the most spectacular ninja duels could not have attracted such a massive group of Nobles.

Danzou said contemptuously: "Then let them come. When has Konoha ever feared war? It is they who should be afraid!"

"Stupid!"

"Sarutobi Jonin, do you dare to speak insolently to an advisor?"

Hearing Asuma's broken-down, angry shout, the corners of Danzou's mouth curled up, carrying a hint of inexplicable pleasure.

It was as if he had regained some ground through Asuma for the countless decisions of his own that had been rejected by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Shut up, Asuma!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and said: "This is a meeting hall, not a place for you to cause trouble."

"As far as I know, there are already Ninja Villages that have cultivated Life Players capable of Forging equipment in reality. Once a war breaks out, we will fall into a disadvantage."

Asuma left his seat, knelt on one knee, and said solemnly in the posture of a ninja.

"Is that true?"

Hearing this news, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face showed shock.

The Reinforcement effects brought by equipment are obvious; if such a situation were truly happening, he really could not continue to muddle through.

"Alarmist."

Danzou raised his cane and poked the ground, sneering: "My Shimura clan also has players. Cultivating Life Players is extremely costly, and even if they can Forge equipment in reality, it is only low-level white or green equipment; the gap in strength it can make up for is negligible."

After careful consideration, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and said: "Asuma Jonin, I agree to your proposal, but regarding the funds, I can only give you two billion."

"Clan Heads, each of you contribute one hundred million, and the remaining funds will be covered by the Finance Department. What do you all think?"

This is the limit of what he can do.

It can demonstrate his decision-making power as Hokage, preventing the Konoha Troops in the game from feeling disheartened, without touching the bottom line of the major ninja clans.

The best of both worlds.

"Yes."

Hearing that his father had already made a decision, Asuma bowed slightly, unable to hide the disappointment in his eyes.

Clearly backed by the Land of Fire and possessing the most massive financial strength, yet he only pursues stability, blindly playing political games to balance the ninja clans, while failing to see the coming revolution.

Is this the father I once admired?

Slowly exiting the meeting hall, Asuma suddenly turned around and glanced at his father, who was maneuvering among the ninja clans.

His figure had hunched over, age spots were beginning to appear on his dark cheeks, and even his eyes were somewhat murky, lacking the high spirits of years past.

Too old.

The fire should not be extinguished; a new Hokage is needed to illuminate the village.

Inside the carriage,

The white-haired loli was full of astonishment; the cream all over her face no longer felt sweet.

She exclaimed: "Master, the authority over the Death Soul Mountain Range is extremely precious; even if placed in the Polluted World, it would be worth a fortune. You actually want to distribute the authority?"

Fang Yi corrected her: "It is to lease it out."

The focus of the Samsara Game update is to increase the options for map resources.

Players can purchase the usage duration of various resource points through auctions; within the usage duration, all profits produced by the resource points will belong to the player.

A Fu objected: "Master, those resource points were not easily obtained; shouldn't we keep them for ourselves to mine?"

Fang Yi asked in return: "What we need is the Origin, right?"

"That's right."

"If we mine it ourselves, we have to manipulate the mountains and forests; not only does it consume Reward Points, but we also have to list the mined materials on the Mall to sell to the players."

"Exactly."

"Then wouldn't it be better to just rent it out to the players, take the high rent, and let the players mine the resources for us?"

The White-haired Loli scratched her head and said, "But in that case, wouldn't the materials become the players'?"

Fang Yi smiled quite sinisterly and asked, "What do the players do with the materials after they mine them?"

The White-haired Loli thought about the various uses for materials and said, "To make equipment, upgrade skills, craft potions..."

"Exactly!"

Fang Yi explained, "When they put materials into Life Skills, the failure rate alone is extremely high; that portion of the loss will all be recovered by me as origin essence, and combined with the rent from the resource points, the Reward Points we can get are far more than if we mined them ourselves."

"The players go to great lengths to mine materials and forge more equipment, but don't forget, once equipment durability is depleted, it needs to be repaired; not only do they have to pay with materials, but they also have to pay with Reward Points."

"When they upgrade, the old equipment can only be sold to the Mall at a low price."

Speaking of this, Fang Yi couldn't help but sneer, "In other words, they spend money to mine resources and craft equipment, spend money to carefully maintain it, and in the end, I use the money they spent maintaining the equipment to buy back their obsolete gear."

"Without lifting a finger, we can get the players to willingly mine resources and finally send the origin essence back to us; why should we bother doing it ourselves?"

After clearing up the key points, A Fu's mouth hung wide open.

She prayed piously for the players; these players who resisted the Pollution Source day and night, only to be exploited by their own master, were truly pitiful.

(End of this chapter)