Yesterday's wedding had ended.
The next morning, Rinjin woke up in his own bed and shook the sprawled-out Tsunade beside him.
"Get up, time for work!"
"You... go ahead. I need... more sleep~" Tsunade mumbled drowsily, waving him off without any sense of being a proper wife.
Seeing this, Rinjin smiled fondly, got up, and went to wash.
After breakfast, dressed in his pristine white robe, Rinjin strolled leisurely onto the street.
This was how life should be lived.
Nine-to-five every day, sipping tea in the office, taking leave to slack off whenever he felt like it. When something came up, he'd just have his subordinates handle it.
Only an idiot like Tsunade would want to gamble all day, rack up massive debts, then spend her time dodging creditors everywhere.
Arriving at the municipal office building adjacent to the Kazekage tower, Rinjin politely greeted his colleagues and made his way to his office.
Inside, his young male assistant Taida had already brewed tea and stood waiting respectfully at the side.
Settling comfortably into his office chair, Rinjin picked up his teacup and spoke leisurely:
"Taida, today's schedule."
Hearing this, Taida immediately opened his folder and began reading earnestly:
"Yes, Minister.
Ten AM: Eighteen-Seat Meeting.
Three PM: Fishing appointment with Lord Kubo.
Also, Yura, the Fourth Kazekage's confidant, wants to schedule lunch with you."
"Move the Eighteen-Seat Meeting to three PM—you need a full belly to have energy for fighting.
Tell Kubo we'll reschedule fishing for tomorrow.
As for the Fourth Kazekage's confidant... heh... I won't be seeing him."
After speaking, Rinjin blew on his teacup, took a light sip, and couldn't help but praise:
"Taida, your tea-brewing technique keeps getting better.
Oh, and there might be changes to the Eighteen Seats soon—keep an eye out for me."
Hearing this, Taida's eyes immediately lit up, and he nodded frantically.
Changes to the Eighteen Seats?!
Such crucial information was being shared with him?!
Excellent! Even setting aside any bold ideas he might have, just selling this information alone would be worth a fortune!
That afternoon, in the municipal department's lavish conference hall, nineteen heavy high-backed chairs stood imposingly around a massive circular conference table.
At this moment, eighteen of those chairs were occupied.
Men and women, tall and stout, shrewd and fierce, young and old—the only thing they had in common was their expensive clothing and the wariness with which they regarded everyone around them.
Creak~
The double doors of the meeting room opened. Rinjin strode in with a squinting smile and took his rightful place in the head seat—the nineteenth chair.
"Let's skip the pleasantries and begin today's meeting.
I, Kaza, as Minister of Municipal Affairs, am proposing a new agenda item!"
Hearing this, all eighteen members straightened up, their eyes gleaming as they focused on Rinjin.
Lord Kaza's opening like this meant the legendary minister was about to "bake another cake"!
His deep, commanding voice continued:
"Given that the Fourth Kazekage has taken office, and his unique ability is Magnet Release: Gold Dust,
I propose establishing a metallurgy plant in the name of the Municipal Ministry, purchasing gold dust from the Fourth Kazekage at ten percent above market price, then refining it into pure gold.
Site selection, factory construction, worker recruitment—you'll handle all of that.
I'll provide the metallurgy technology.
Same old rules: I take ten percent.
The remaining nine shares—you all work that out among yourselves."
With that, Rinjin slapped the table and stood up authoritatively:
"I have other matters to attend to. Report your negotiation results at three-thirty."
Rinjin left his seat and strode toward the door.
Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire meeting room became ominous.
Everyone's muscles tensed as they warily scanned the people around them.
When the heavy doors closed with a resounding thud, the conflict began.
There were eighteen seats here, but only nine shares of profit.
While getting a share meant upfront expenses for things like factory construction, Lord Kaza had proven his "cooking skills" countless times.
So this share represented pure profit.
Eighteen people present, only nine shares of profit—meaning roughly half of the eighteen people today would go home empty-handed.
Most crucially, among these eighteen people were countless small factions.
Every faction was trying to strengthen itself while simultaneously and tacitly targeting the strongest faction.
Unity and betrayal played out bloodily in the meeting room at this very moment.
"Kubo, your three-person group already holds thirty percent of the date processing plant's shares. You want to grab three more shares now?"
"Screw off! The date processing plant barely makes money—your single wind power plant share brings in more profit than all three of us combined!"
"Bullshit! I'll trade you one wind power share for three date shares—you dare?"
"Get lost! I don't want to talk to you!"
"Old Sandworm, you're definitely not getting a single penny this time!"
"What? I haven't offended any of you—get out of my way!"
...
The entire meeting room erupted into chaos. Even through the thick wooden doors, assistant Taida could hear the endless stream of profanity from inside.
From experience, he knew that soon there would be the sounds of fists meeting flesh.
Then at 3:20, he'd need to open the doors and let in the medical-nin each faction employed to treat their respective bosses' injuries.
He was an ambitious and proud young man.
At his age, climbing to the position of ministerial assistant purely through personal ability without relying on any external help—he indeed had reason to be proud.
Even so, Taida still worshipped the legendary minister.
Not just admiring his "cooking skills," but even more his methods of managing subordinates.
The Eighteen Seats had seen countless new faces come and go, members fighting each other bloody internally, yet standing united externally in a terrifying way.
People who only care about money are usually ungrateful wolves.
But Lord Kaza had somehow turned this pack of wolves into huskies, pulling the Municipal Ministry's sled forward with unstoppable momentum.
Soon, the meeting concluded.
Led by Kubo, the Grain Party allied with the Mineral Party to defeat the Electricity Party headed by Old Sandworm, successfully devouring seven of the nine shares.
This meant Kubo's Grain Party had become the faction with the largest slice of the cake.
Gains and losses—next time they ate cake, if he didn't know when to stop, he'd inevitably face a coordinated attack from everyone.
For the Eighteen Seats, the surface rules were all fake—the unspoken rules buried deep beneath the sand were their true conventions.
The meeting room doors opened again. Rinjin returned to his seat with a serious expression.
Not far from him, Kubo—his clothes torn to shreds and his fat face swollen—stood up proudly and reported the distribution results to Rinjin.
Seeing this, Rinjin nodded with satisfaction.
Today was another day with no deaths. How wonderful.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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