Chapter 573: Senju Toka: I Don't Dare Spend a Single Cent of This Money

*Ding-a-ling—*

Juggling the three slightly worn 100-yen coins in his hand, Uchiha Gin sighed with annoyance after being shown the door by Senju Toka.

"Sigh... what a huge loss."

As he spoke, his dull, dead-fish eyes held a hint of inexplicable regret, and it was clear there was another layer of meaning to his words.

The reason Senju Toka had kept him behind just now wasn't merely to ask about the debt he was collecting;

it was more to probe the Uchiha clan's stance on the next leader of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Although Uchiha Madara was only tentatively listed as missing, a village cannot go a day without a leader.

The current situation in the ninja world is intricate and complex, full of variables and uncertainties. While the five great ninja villages maintain peace on the surface, the underhanded dealings in the shadows are as numerous as hairs on an ox; petty actions and conflicts of interest have never ceased, not to mention that mysterious organization dedicated to hunting down Tailed Beast jinchuriki, which makes the entire situation even more inscrutable.

The Hidden Leaf Village suffered the heaviest losses in this incident, with two leaders—one dead and one missing—making it the most vulnerable moment since the village's founding.

At a time like this, someone who possesses both strength and prestige must step forward to take charge of the big picture.

And Uchiha Izuna, who was promoted to Shadow Assistant by the Second Hokage Uchiha Madara not long ago, is the most popular candidate with the highest support.

If nothing unexpected happens, the position of Hokage is basically within his grasp.

However, letting another Uchiha succeed as Hokage is the last thing the Senju clan wants to see.

During Uchiha Madara's tenure, there was Senju Tobirama acting as a check and balance, which prevented the Uchiha from dominating alone to the greatest extent possible, and the Senju and the Ninja Clan Alliance could barely accept it.

But now, the Senju clan has no successors, no powerhouse capable of contending with Uchiha Izuna; without the shackles, if the Uchiha clan were to do anything extreme, it would bring irreparable losses to the village.

Senju Toka is anxious!

She absolutely cannot stand by and watch the village that her eldest brother and she worked so hard to build be ruined by that pig, Uchiha Izuna.

You tell me, where did the money to build the village come from?

She specifically made an excuse to keep Uchiha Gin behind, wanting to extract some useful information from the mouth of this Uchiha "Retired Emperor" to gain leverage for the upcoming leader election.

What kind of person is Uchiha Gin? An old man who refuses to die is a thief; he saw through the white-haired woman's clumsy trick on the spot.

If this were before he knew about the thirty-billion loan, he would certainly have told this temporary ally the truth, letting her rest easy that his little cousin no longer had any interest in Hidden Leaf politics.

But now, with the day of recovering the thirty-billion loan nowhere in sight, he naturally wouldn't let this white-haired woman off easily, directly stating that the Uchiha clan was determined to win this election, aiming for the S3 double crown.

"Hmph! To think you'd dare try to mine gold coins from me."

Uchiha Gin caught the three coins he had tossed into the air, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

I must make her toss and turn, unable to sleep at night, suffering from menstrual irregularities...

One week later,

The seventh day after Senju Tobirama's death had passed, and the gloom hanging over the hearts of the Hidden Leaf residents had dissipated quite a bit, returning to their orderly daily lives.

However, the atmosphere within the various ninja clans grew increasingly tense.

The older generation of leaders from the Ninja Clan Alliance gathered once again, initiating a secret meeting themed around "Rise."

Over a dozen people sat around a table, and at the head was the nearly sixty-year-old Sarutobi Sasuke.

"This is our best opportunity right now; if we miss it, who knows how many more years we'll have to wait."

As he aged, Sarutobi Sasuke's figure became increasingly short and hunched, but no one present dared to look down on this gaunt old man.

"Everyone here is one of our own, so feel free to speak your mind."

"Sasuke, let's not mince words. My son Danzo has the makings of a Hokage. I hope everyone can help him out a bit. Once it's done, I will never treat you all unfairly."

Just as Sarutobi Sasuke finished speaking, a large figure stood up with a thud, his entire body of fat trembling as he spoke.

"Kenichi, have you eaten too much pig's head meat?"

Looking at the impassioned expression of Shimura Kenji, Yamanaka Minako, wearing her reading glasses, couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Does everyone not know how much your kid is worth?"

"My son's buttocks are so huge, they could hold up half the sky of the Hidden Leaf."

"While Danzo is certainly excellent, his personality is a bit indecisive. Why not consider my Torifu? He's efficient and doesn't drag his feet."

The chubby Akimichi Shinji raised his hand, recommending his own child without hesitation.

"I recommend my..."

"I..."

"..."

Since they were told they could speak freely, the ninja clan leaders upheld the principle of "recommending the worthy without avoiding relatives," vigorously promoting their own children and listing their merits one by one, providing fodder for everyone else to roast.

"Slap!"

Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted the noisy crowd. Sarutobi Sasuke, who had a pipe in his hand at some point, said coldly,

"Enough! Be quiet! At your age, what kind of behavior is this?"

"Didn't you tell us to speak our minds?"

Shimura Kenji blinked his small, bean-like eyes and asked in confusion.

"If we keep going like this, there's no point in holding this meeting; everyone might as well take a little red flower home."

"Then what is your intention, Sasuke?"

"I already have a suitable candidate in mind."

"Who is it?"

The crowd was stunned upon hearing this. You already have a suitable candidate, so why the hell did you call us to this meeting?

"My son Hiruzen, who carries the verbal appointment of the previous Secretary, is destined by heaven to succeed as Hokage."

"Sasuke, you..."

The crowd secretly compared their own strength and means with Sarutobi Sasuke's, and ultimately chose to give up with regret.

"Hiruzen is indeed excellent in both strength and character, but Sasuke, have you thought about whether the Uchiha will agree?"

As one of the few people at the meeting who remained calm, the leader of the Nara clan frowned and pondered for a moment, raising a reality that everyone had to face.

"That's right, that's right. Those red-eyed people are getting more and more irritable lately."

"Uchiha Izuna has eyes and ears everywhere; I'm afraid we don't have a chance."

At the mention of the Uchiha, the expressions of everyone present turned a bit uglier. In recent years, the overall quality of the Uchiha clan members had declined significantly, and all the members of the ninja clans felt it deeply.

"The Uchiha is indeed a mountain difficult to overcome, but this time we are not fighting alone."

As if he had anticipated this, Sarutobi Sasuke shook his head gently.

"What do you mean by that?"

Shimura Kenji, acting as an excellent straight man, dutifully played his part.

*Creak—*

As soon as the words fell, the door to the conference room was opened, and a cold, elegant figure slowly walked in.

Her ruby-like eyes swept over the crowd with their varied expressions, and her rosy lips parted slightly.

"Am I late?"

Sarutobi Sasuke immediately stood up to welcome her, his old face wrinkled into a chrysanthemum, looking just like a large macaque.

"Let me introduce everyone. This is Miss Senju Toka. She has come here to represent the Senju clan in cooperating with us."

"The Senju clan! Sasuke, are you telling the truth?"

"It's settled! This is a sure win!"

"Sasuke, can the carving project for the Hokage Rock be contracted to me in advance? You're talking about kickbacks? I have them! I'll definitely satisfy you!"

"..."

Senju Toka watched the ninja clan members who had already started popping champagne in advance, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

To think she had fallen to the point of associating with this group of bumpkins; it truly tarnished the name of her ancestors.

But in order to stop Uchiha Izuna from taking power, she had no choice but to do this.

"I would like to ask Miss Toka, why would the Senju clan condescend to collude with us?"

It was the Nara leader again; as the brain of the Ninja Clan Alliance, he had to get to the bottom of things and clear up all the questions.

"Although I haven't been in the Hidden Leaf for long, I have often heard your names from my father."

"Hiss..."

Hearing this, everyone in the Ninja Clan Alliance gasped.

Those who were often nagged about by Senju Tobirama never ended up well.

"Now that my father has sacrificed himself and my uncle is missing, if the Senju clan wants to continue to contend with the Uchiha, we must find a solid and reliable ally."

A flash of sadness crossed Senju Toka's face.

"Then why not go to the Hyuga clan instead of cooperating with us?"

As the third largest clan in the Hidden Leaf, the Hyuga's comprehensive strength is fully comparable to the Uchiha. Why would the Senju clan ignore such an excellent ally?

"The Hyuga, huh..."

It wasn't that she hadn't considered the Hyuga clan, but due to the particularity of this family, their popularity among the common people was not high, and rumors of them peeping often circulated.

"Not familiar."

Of course, the main reason was that she wasn't very familiar with them; Senju Toka hadn't dealt with the Hyuga clan many times.

And for some reason, the current head of the Hyuga, Hyuga Tianyao, looked at her as if he had seen a plague god every time he saw her, turning his head and running away. Even if she had wanted to make friends in the past, it was to no avail.

"Moreover, my father often said that his disciples were all very excellent ninjas and could be put to great use."

Upon hearing this, the members of the Ninja Clan Alliance immediately showed proud expressions on their faces.

Especially Sarutobi Sasuke and the others, who were all rejoicing at the decision they made back then to hand their children over to Senju Tobirama as hostages.

"Miss Toka, I'll leave Hiruzen's matter to you."

Sarutobi Sasuke rubbed his hands like a fly; whether he could become the father of the village head depended on this move.

"Rest assured, the Senju clan will absolutely not treat our allies unfairly."

"Then I can rest easy."

"However..."

"However what? Please speak your mind, Miss Hizhen."

Seeing Senju Hizhen suddenly look troubled, Sasuke Sarutobi felt his heart skip a beat and hurriedly asked,

"It's just that for this election, he needs a little bit of... this."

Senju Hizhen raised her hand with an expressionless face and made a gesture that everyone understood.

"Operations, it requires operations."

"Phew..."

Sasuke Sarutobi, who understood in a second, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared me; so it's money you need!"

"Funds! These are called campaign funds."

"I understand, I understand. Miss Hizhen, please name your price."

After so many years of management, the Sarutobi clan had accumulated quite a few assets in the Hidden Leaf Village, and they had finally found a use for them.

"Not much, not much. Just transfer ten billion as starting capital first."

"Ah!"

Ten billion?

And that's just the starting capital?

If you don't risk the child, you won't catch the wolf. Sasuke Sarutobi gritted his teeth.

"Fine! The starting capital will be delivered to your residence tonight."

"Straightforward! Clan Leader Sarutobi is truly a man who does big things. Whether your son can sit firmly in the position of Hokage depends on your performance."

She had only asked tentatively, and as a result, ten billion was credited just by moving her lips.

A spur-of-the-moment idea could bring such a generous return; Senju Hizhen finally experienced what it meant for money to be blown in by a strong wind.

"Since that is the case, I won't disturb everyone's gathering any longer. Farewell."

Having gained a rich harvest, Senju Hizhen suppressed the curve of her mouth and left after greeting the group of ninja clans.

After she left, a few people in the ninja clan alliance exchanged glances and stood up one after another to leave under various pretexts.

"Sasuke, I suddenly remembered that I have a pork knuckle stewing on the stove at home, so I'll be going first."

"Clan Leader Sarutobi, my grandmother is currently in her postpartum confinement..."

"My mother is giving birth..."

"I have to take my grandfather to the Ninja Academy..."

"..."

Listening to excuses that were more outrageous than the last, Sasuke Sarutobi rolled his eyes so hard they almost reached the sky.

"These guys..."

Watching the backs of the crowd as they walked away, he curled his lips imperceptibly. How could he not know the little schemes of these guys?

As for why he didn't stop them?

This was a good opportunity to consolidate the relationship between allies!

Once they took the money, they were on our pirate ship. Even for the Senju clan, if they wanted to get off the ship, they would have to pay a price.

"Money comes, money comes, money comes..."

When no one was around, Senju Hizhen immediately let her true feelings show, humming a little tune with a face full of smiles as she walked home.

"Miss Hizhen, please stay!"

Suddenly, a somewhat familiar voice came from behind. Senju Hizhen immediately returned to her previous cold and aloof demeanor.

Turning her head, what came into view was a mountain of flesh moving at high speed, which reached her in the blink of an eye.

"I wonder what advice the Clan Leader of the Shimura has?"

"That... Miss Hizhen, my son Danzo is also a beloved student of your late father. I wonder if you could arrange..."

"Ah... this..."

Looking at the sweating Kenichi Shimura, Senju Hizhen skillfully put on a troubled expression.

"Twenty billion! I am willing to contribute twenty billion in campaign funds!"

Wiping the greasy sweat from his forehead, Kenichi Shimura was truly going all out for his son.

"Twenty billion!"

A golden light instantly burst forth in Senju Hizhen's eyes. There was still such a good thing in this day and age—people lining up to send her money.

"But the position of Hokage has already..."

Although she was very tempted by the green banknotes, she had long ago chosen the more reliable Sarutobi Hiruzen for the position of Hokage. Danzo could only be said to have been born at the wrong time.

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter! As long as he can enter the high-level management of the Hidden Leaf Village, that will suffice."

Kenichi Shimura was not stupid. If he really wanted to fight for the position of Hokage, he was afraid he would be hung up by Sasuke Sarutobi and whipped like a TES.

"Oh~ then leave it to me. I heard that the Hidden Leaf Village is preparing to establish a council of advisors..."

"I'm counting on you!"

Having received the promise, Kenichi Shimura scurried home to scrape together the money.

The moment he left, another figure who had been waiting for a long time approached.

"Miss Hizhen, please stay!"

Night fell, but the entrance to Senju Tobirama's house was bustling with activity. People came in an endless stream, and everyone who left had a face full of expectant smiles.

Senju Hizhen stood in front of the storage scrolls piled up like a mountain, sniffing the fragrance of money emanating from them, her scarlet eyes filled with a dazed look.

"So... money is this easy to earn." (End of chapter)