Chapter 2

Another major and very delicate issue was the Daimyo himself, or rather, his dissatisfaction with the increased level of crime in the country during the war, and as a result—the refusal to allocate funds for the post-war reconstruction of Konoha in addition to the usual financial support. But this was not a matter of one or even several months.

The teams of genin available during the war, led by chunin or tokubetsu jonin, were unable to effectively counter the gangs, which often included several missing-nin, even if they were of low rank. Reports of casualties clearly showed this—over a hundred killed and the same number seriously wounded just this year, and one and a half hundred killed last year.

Considering that the academy's annual graduation numbers rarely exceeded two hundred in the best of times, and the influx from outside had ceased for now, it would be necessary to conduct campaigns among the civilian population and make do with a lower quality of graduates. Of course, with the return of the main forces from the front, the crime problem would resolve itself with an increase in clean-up missions, but this would take time, and money was needed now.

So, it meant personally traveling to the capital and persuading the Daimyo until he agreed to support Konoha with additional funds. A couple of charming and well-endowed kunoichi in the security detail for a few nights might help.

Puffing on his pipe, Sarutobi wearily rubbed his forehead and was distracted from heavy thoughts by the lightest of footsteps behind him. An ordinary person, or even a trained chunin, would not have noticed them, but he was not known for nothing as the strongest fighter in the village, not to mention that he had lived with the owner of those footsteps for decades.

"Something wrong?" he turned to Biwako.

Usually, his wife allowed him to rest a bit and calmly smoke a few pipes after a hard day's work in solitude before involving him in family matters. Given their eldest son's youth, he had to combine the roles of Hokage and clan head, shifting most of the daily concerns onto his wife's shoulders.

"A messenger brought you some documents," Biwako said, sympathetically smiling at her husband's resigned expression.

"Oh Kami, I can't escape this paperwork even at home!" the shinobi exclaimed irritably, taking the scroll with the office seal from her.

Breaking the seal, Sarutobi quickly skimmed the text and frowned.

"Something important?"

"Notification about the chunin exam date in Sunagakure," the Hokage replied, setting the scroll aside, "as if there weren't already enough problems!"

"Hmm, I see," Biwako wisely chose not to continue the topic, "dinner will be in half an hour, so I won't bother you."

"Thank you," Hiruzen nodded, watching her leave.

The upcoming first chunin exam was quite a problem. Although the recent meeting of the Five Kage had decided to use such a substitute for military actions between villages, it was easier said than done.

Now, with the green teams still lacking sufficient experience to adequately represent their village to potential clients and rivals, the selection from the list of experienced genin was very small not only due to numerous losses but also because all worthy chunin candidates had been promoted almost immediately after or during the war, leaving mostly incomplete teams where one or two genin had sustained serious injuries or joined the ranks of the deceased.

And as if that weren't enough, it was also crucial not to send too many valuable clan children—there were no guarantees that the Sunagakure would play fair and not seize the chance to eliminate promising genin. Considering that there were currently around sixty genin from twenty-three teams in circulation, each with at least a year of mission experience, the selection was very limited.

However, as one of the leading forces among the Great Five, Konoha had to send at least five teams to avoid losing face in front of the others. And this was where the real headache for the Hokage began—he needed to preserve the children with the greatest potential while also sending those who could adequately represent their village and make it to at least the finals.

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