"More than twenty billion?! Are you sure?"
Inside the principal's office of the Ninja Academy, Hiruzen Sarutobi was so shocked by the figure Tsunade had quoted that he shot to his feet, nearly popping his eyes out of their sockets!
"I don't know the exact figure, but it should be about right—if anything, it's probably more, not less!"
Tsunade shrugged.
"Honestly, if Uchiha Ren hadn't eventually reached an agreement with Sunagakure's leadership, our gains this time would have been far greater."
After reaching an understanding with Sunagakure's leadership, Ren naturally couldn't push things too far.
Otherwise, how could they possibly negotiate cooperation afterward?
That was why the resources Ren ultimately brought back from Sunagakure were nowhere near as extensive as they could have been.
Hiruzen, however, was more interested in another piece of information revealed by Tsunade.
"Uchiha Ren reached an agreement with Sunagakure's leadership? What exactly is that about?"
Tsunade's eyes flickered slightly.
She didn't tell him the whole truth, instead giving him a half-truth.
"Uchiha Ren intends to work with Sunagakure and Amegakure to develop a major project. Konoha, Sunagakure, and Amegakure will jointly provide the manpower and funding to divert excess water resources from the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers into the Land of Wind, improving the environment there."
Hiruzen frowned.
"Wait. Let's put aside whether this plan is feasible for the moment. Even if it succeeds, the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers would suffer fewer floods, while the Land of Wind would have its drought problem alleviated. The benefits for them would indeed be enormous."
"But what about Konoha?"
"What benefit does Konoha get from this?"
"There doesn't seem to be any reason for Konoha to participate in this project, does there?"
Indeed, compared with the Land of Rain, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire could practically be described as blessed with favorable weather and abundant rainfall. There was nothing that urgently needed to be improved.
Moreover, the excess water was located within the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers. Diverting it into the Land of Wind didn't require passing through the Land of Fire.
No matter how one looked at it, this matter shouldn't have anything to do with Konoha.
Tsunade curled her lips.
Originally, that was indeed the case.
But Uchiha Ren's ambitions were enormous.
He wanted to eventually incorporate both Amegakure and Sunagakure into Konoha.
Once that happened, wouldn't Konoha have a reason to care?
One territory under Konoha would have abundant water resources while another would be desperately short of them. Naturally, Konoha would have a responsibility to balance the resources between the two!
Of course, she couldn't tell Hiruzen that yet.
After thinking for a moment, Tsunade said,
"If there were no benefits to be gained, Uchiha Ren naturally wouldn't participate in this project. The benefit Konoha can obtain this time is actually the mission fees."
"Mission fees?" Hiruzen asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Tsunade explained,
"A project of this magnitude would take ten or twenty years to complete if ordinary people were used exclusively. So Uchiha Ren intends to use shinobi as the main workforce to complete the various tasks."
"That will create a massive number of missions for shinobi to undertake, and Konoha will receive the largest share of those missions."
Hiruzen's brows furrowed deeply.
Although Tsunade's explanation was reasonable, and the project would indeed bring benefits to Konoha, he still felt that things couldn't possibly be that simple.
Hiruzen stared deeply at Tsunade.
Although some of the bond between master and disciple still remained between them, they were clearly drifting farther and farther apart.
Hiruzen's heart was filled with melancholy.
He reached for the pipe on his desk, lit it, and began smoking.
Seeing this, Tsunade sighed inwardly.
"Old man, the fact that you've managed to land safely already counts as extremely fortunate. You should let go while you still can."
Hiruzen exhaled a ring of smoke and shook his head.
"I've already told you. It isn't that I don't want to let go. It's that I can't!"
"Uchiha Ren and Minato's governing philosophy is fundamentally flawed!"
"As the old saying goes: 'Though a nation may be vast, a warlike people will bring about its downfall.'"
"If we continue letting them do whatever they want, Konoha will eventually become the enemy of the entire shinobi world!"
"And once that happens, Konoha's destruction won't be far behind!"
Tsunade thought of Uchiha Ren's ambitions and asked,
"Old man, how do you know that Konoha becoming the enemy of the shinobi world would mean its destruction is close at hand?"
"What if Uchiha Ren and Minato simply use the opportunity to unify the entire shinobi world?"
Hiruzen froze.
After recovering, he shook his head firmly.
"That's impossible!"
"Even the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the 'Shinobi God' Uchiha Madara couldn't accomplish such a thing. What makes Uchiha Ren and Minato think they can?"
"Even the Sage of Six Paths probably couldn't accomplish something like that!"
Tsunade's eyes flickered.
She neither agreed nor disagreed with Hiruzen.
Could the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, truly not have unified the shinobi world?
It was simply that he hadn't wanted to!
Not only had he himself refused to do so, he had even stopped Uchiha Madara from attempting it!
In the end, her grandfather, Hashirama Senju, had simply been too naïve...
Hmm?
Tsunade suddenly realized that something was wrong.
Her expression became somewhat unpleasant.
Why had she just thought that way?
Could the damn Izanami still be affecting her?
Tsunade had increasingly felt that something was wrong with her lately.
Her thoughts would unconsciously deviate from her usual personality and gradually lean toward Uchiha Ren's way of thinking!
She had no idea why this was happening.
She could only attribute everything to the effects of the Izanami Uchiha had used on her.
"Tsunade, are you all right?"
Hiruzen noticed her strange expression and asked.
"I'm fine."
Tsunade shook her head.
Then she looked directly at Hiruzen and asked,
"Old man, is there really no room for discussion on this matter?"
Tsunade had actually come to see Hiruzen because, after witnessing Uchiha Ren's determination, she wanted to see whether she could change Hiruzen's mind.
But now it seemed that Hiruzen had no intention of backing down either.
Hiruzen took a deep breath and shook his head firmly.
"Previously, I was deceived into allowing Minato and Uchiha Ren to take control. That was a mistake I made, and I must be the one to correct it!"
"If you are willing to become the Fifth Hokage when the time comes..."
"All right, enough."
Tsunade interrupted him.
"I have absolutely no interest in that position. You don't need to consider me."
After a pause, Tsunade added,
"I won't get involved in your affairs. I'm going to see Minato later and ask him to assign me a mission that will take me out of the village for a while."
Although Tsunade had already decided to help safeguard Konoha's development, she had no desire to become involved in the struggle between Hiruzen's faction and Minato's faction.
That was why she planned to find an excuse to leave the village for a while and remain neutral.
Hiruzen sighed helplessly when he saw this.
If Tsunade stood on his side, his chances of winning would increase considerably.
"All right, old man. You... take care of yourself."
Tsunade didn't want to stay any longer.
After leaving him with those final words, she rose and walked out of the office.
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