Uchiha Ren showed no sign of panic. He had long anticipated this situation and had already prepared his response. In fact, he had been waiting for Homura Mitokado and the others to bring it up.
"Ahem!"
Ren cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention in the conference room. Only after the room quieted did he begin to speak.
"Regarding this matter, Elder Koharu, I'd ask that you choose your words carefully."
"This subsidy fund was personally entrusted to the Uchiha clan by the Fire Daimyō for safekeeping. How can you call that 'snatching it'?"
"If the Uchiha clan had truly seized this subsidy fund by force, I doubt the few of you would still be sitting here speaking to me like this."
Ren's words were blunt, but extremely effective. The people in the conference room quickly realized that there must be more to the story.
At the very least, there was no way the subsidy funds allocated to Konohagakure by the Daimyō had been "stolen" by the Uchiha clan.
The tension in the room gradually eased as everyone waited for Ren's explanation.
Ren didn't keep them waiting.
"First, let me clarify something to everyone present."
"The subsidy recently allocated to the village by the Fire Daimyō's court, totaling three billion ryō, is indeed currently in the possession of the Uchiha clan."
"But the Uchiha clan is only temporarily safeguarding this money. We have no intention of monopolizing it."
"And not just this subsidy."
"The Daimyō has already decided that all future subsidy funds allocated to Konoha will also be entrusted to the Uchiha clan for safekeeping."
The moment these words fell, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and several others in the room could no longer remain seated.
They immediately stood up and surrounded Homura Mitokado.
After all, Danzō Shimura had clearly already reached some form of cooperation with the Uchiha clan. It was understandable that Danzō would support the matter.
But Ren had just said that two of the three Konoha elders had already acknowledged this decision.
If that were true, then the remaining elder must be—
After all, Koharu Utatane was currently attacking the Uchiha clan over this issue. No matter how one looked at it, she clearly had not acknowledged such an arrangement.
"Homura!"
Facing the questioning gazes of the crowd, Homura Mitokado's expression stiffened.
Seeing the situation, Danzō Shimura stepped forward at the right moment.
He knew that Ren had deliberately spoken up to divert attention and share the pressure with him. Naturally, he returned the favor.
"That's correct," Danzō said calmly.
"Yesterday, Elder Homura and I went to the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters precisely because of this matter."
"I can testify that Elder Homura personally agreed that the Uchiha clan would safeguard the subsidy funds."
"And I have no objections to this arrangement."
Ren then turned his gaze toward Koharu Utatane.
"Elder Koharu, you asked what qualifications the Uchiha clan has to safeguard this subsidy."
"Well then, let's discuss that properly."
He gave a cold snort before continuing.
"But before that, I'd like to ask you a question."
"Do you know who originally owned the land you are currently standing on?"
Koharu frowned, not understanding why Ren would ask such a question. Still, she answered matter-of-factly:
"This is the Hokage Tower. The land beneath our feet naturally belongs to the village."
Ren let out another cold chuckle.
"Since you don't want to say it, I'll say it for you."
"The land beneath your feet originally belonged to the Uchiha clan."
"And not just this piece of land."
"The entire village of Konoha—along with dozens of the surrounding mountains—originally belonged to the Uchiha clan."
The room fell silent.
Many people exchanged stunned looks.
After all, the history textbooks taught in Konoha mostly praised the achievements of the so-called 'strongest Hokage' while only briefly mentioning the Senju clan, mainly in relation to Hashirama Senju's power as the God of Shinobi.
As for the clan's broader contributions, they had been heavily downplayed.
And the contributions of the Uchiha clan were mentioned even less.
Most of the civilian shinobi present genuinely had no idea that Konoha had originally been founded jointly by the Senju and Uchiha clans, nor that the Uchiha had sacrificed so much for the village.
Ren's voice echoed through the room.
"When Konoha was first established, it was jointly founded by the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan."
"The land used to build the village was freely contributed by the Uchiha clan."
"Even the name 'Konoha' was proposed by the Uchiha."
"And the title 'Hokage' was chosen by the First Hokage to acknowledge the importance of the Uchiha clan to the village."
"For this village, the Uchiha clan has spent countless amounts of wealth, and countless clansmen have given their lives."
Ren then shifted topics.
"Now let's talk about the responsibilities of the Konoha Military Police Force."
"The primary duty of the Military Police is to maintain stability within the village and protect the lives and property of the villagers."
"The subsidy funds allocated by the Daimyō are meant to serve the internal development of the village. They belong to all of Konoha's residents."
"So tell me—what problem is there with the Konoha Military Police safeguarding those funds?"
Koharu Utatane's face flushed red at Ren's words.
The expressions of everyone in the room also grew complicated.
But Ren wasn't finished.
He looked directly at Koharu and spoke coldly:
"You ask what qualifications the Uchiha clan has to safeguard this money?"
"Heh."
"To put it bluntly…"
"Even the sweat shed by the Uchiha is redder than your blood."
"And yet you still think you're qualified to question the Uchiha clan?"
Before anyone could respond—
Homura Mitokado, who had been standing beside them while Ren and Danzō sang in unison, suddenly clutched his chest.
His eyes rolled back.
He collapsed on the spot.
"Medical ninja!"
"Where are the medical ninja from the Medical Department?!"
The room immediately descended into chaos.
Everyone stared at the unconscious Homura Mitokado in disbelief.
After all—
Never in Konoha's history had a village council meeting ended with an elder being angered into fainting.
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