Chapter 1

Hiruzen Sarutobi sank into a comfortable, soft armchair in the clan estate's living room with satisfaction and allowed himself to relax a bit, almost immediately reaching for the pipe hidden in his pocket and a small pouch of herbal blend from Kusagakure. The five months since the end of the war had proven to be almost more exhausting than the last year of direct combat.

Stuffing the pipe with the mixture, the leader of Konoha lit it with a small burst of katon chakra from his fingertip and took a deep drag, feeling his nerves gradually calm and his fatigue recede. Although the recent desperate attacks by Onoki had inflicted significant damage on the remaining few forces in the rear, Iwagakure would take decades to recover from the defeat in the war, while the large war indemnities would allow Konoha to get back on its feet much faster.

Recalling the three months of negotiations and what followed, Sarutobi grimaced and suppressed the urge to spit—though the indemnities were large, very little had actually reached the village's treasury. A very hefty portion had to be allocated to the clans, which were highly dissatisfied with the large losses incurred during the war and had already begun eyeing other candidates for the leadership of Konoha.

For now, this would suffice, but in the near future, it would be necessary to trim down the list of competitors by some means or another. The most dangerous contender had already been eliminated thanks to Orochimaru, and the new suitor Tsunade had managed to kill himself in Ame without any outside help, depriving the Senju of those wanting to wear the leader's hat.

The Sannin were still too young and not powerful enough, not to mention that none of the three would go against their master, and of the others, only Sakumo Hatake seemed somewhat suitable, with whom Danzo promised to deal.

The old friend also received, along with the councilors, a decent share of the indemnities, intended in part for the restoration of the "Root" ANBU to its former size. Not that Hiruzen had forgotten about his own clan, which had received a sum with many zeros, several trade agreements and privileges, as well as the rights to a small iron ore mine near the boundary shifted by the contract, but if the other clans had less influence and power, the final amount that reached the village's budget would have been significantly larger.

Considering the inevitable expenses for restoring ANBU to its previous number of a thousand (mostly non-clan members, which increases training costs by about one and a half times) and other equally important tasks to restore the severely diminished combat potential, the treasury would hit rock bottom before a steady influx of funds from completed missions began.

Not to mention the need to allocate something for the hospital, as the one-eyed Hyuga had repeatedly raised the issue of the catastrophic shortage of qualified iryo-nins even for servicing shinobi, let alone ordinary residents.

Exhaling several smoke rings, Hiruzen grimaced at this thought—part of the village council, consisting precisely of non-shinobi, had begun to get too bold, trying to gain more power and meddling in matters that did not concern them. The Uchiha had already hinted that during the hostilities and the absence of direct village leadership, some shops and establishments had changed their owners in rather dubious ways, including profitable places whose owners had died in the war.

The Torture and Interrogation Department would have its hands full in the near future, but at the same time, one should not go too far—some of the council's merchants had very good connections among the aristocrats, including the bureaucratic apparatus of the Land of Fire and even had access to the Daimyo's palace. Therefore, before making radical decisions, it was essential to think everything through carefully.

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