Naruto wasn't lying.
He had just returned from a trip to the Land of Lightning. The Cloud Village's Raikage, A, was gone, and both the Two-Tails, Matatabi, and the Eight-Tails, Gyūki, had been "reclaimed." And he had done it all with his own two hands.
So, he could be magnanimous and temporarily forgive the Cloud Village for this small grudge. As for the future? He would at least have to ask the people it truly concerned. He would wait until he saw his biological parents.
Besides, this whole spiel was meant to be a threat to Konoha. Naruto's gaze fell on the three Konoha elders across from him, all of whom now had completely white hair.
Konoha! The great number one ninja village, and this is all the money they can give to the village's top talent? Are they trying to fool a ghost?
The moment Naruto spoke, even Hiruzen, with his decades of cultivated composure, couldn't help but change his expression. The faces of the two other advisors immediately turned grim enough to drip water.
A low-pressure atmosphere suddenly filled the small, dimly lit room. Naruto didn't care about the emotions of the three people opposite him. Seeing that they were stunned by his words, he immediately dropped another bombshell.
"Regarding my mother's matter, the Cloud Village has already compensated me with 100 million ryo and promised me an additional 2 billion ryo if I accept their invitation."
Observing the three's expressions as they changed, Naruto said in a helpless tone, "So, old man Hokage, this amount of money... it makes things difficult for me."
Naruto left that sentence hanging in the air. The three elders were skeptical about the numbers and the truthfulness of his words, but they had no way to verify them. Moreover, they were more aware than anyone of the current precarious situation in the Land of Lightning. If they were the elders of the Cloud Village, they would do anything to buy Naruto.
Seeing this, the three exchanged glances, finding the answer in each other's eyes. They didn't dare to gamble.
The Land of Lightning was rich! While the Land of Fire and Konoha had a larger population, they still lagged behind the Land of Lightning in terms of economy. Two billion ryo... and that was just the compensation? They were afraid to even imagine how much Naruto's appetite had grown.
"Sigh!" Hiruzen let out a deep sigh. In the two days they had been preparing, they had made a mistake! They had bet on the wrong thing! They had assumed Naruto's recent antics were because of the Hokage election. Hiruzen thought Naruto cared about power and resources, which was why they had offered him nearly every privilege, ensuring he had all the resources of a Hokage without actually being one. But they hadn't expected that what Naruto was truly interested in was money.
It was completely unexpected! They had thought fifteen billion ryo was just a bonus, a sufficient amount, but in Naruto's eyes, this was the main course! Two billion ryo! Although the amount was far less than the five hundred billion ryo Danzo had extorted, the nature of the situation was different. Konoha could probably afford it.
But, judging from Naruto's attitude, he wanted much more than that!
"Ahem..." After the three murmured among themselves, Hiruzen cleared his throat, taking the pipe out of his mouth to interrupt the other two. "Naruto, how much do you want? Give us a number! The village will do its best to provide it."
Tsk... Naruto didn't want to answer, but seeing Hiruzen's old face, his heart softened. It was as if time had returned to that year by the bonfire on the mountain when he was three. Almost ten years had passed, and the old man seemed to have aged even more.
"Hmm," Naruto pondered, his mind made up. "At least three digits," he said.
Naruto already had a plan for this money. Regardless of how much he got, it was all to be used to openly buy land in the Land of Wind. So, he wasn't trying to exploit Konoha; he was trying to estimate the value of that desert land, which was about 5,000 square kilometers and held an estimated 100+ billion barrels of oil. He had never bought land before and didn't know the price. In short, the more money, the better!
"Three digits? In billions?" The two advisors couldn't help but gasp! That amount of money was enough to fund two wars!
Seeing that the three were having a hard time accepting the amount, Naruto decided to give them time to think.
"You can take your time to consider it. I need to give the Land of Lightning a reply within five days, so just give me an answer before then."
"Well then," Naruto smiled faintly, "I'll be on my way!"
The moment he finished speaking, a golden flash of light appeared. Naruto, who had been sitting lazily on the couch, instantly vanished without a trace.
"The Flying Raijin!"
Hiruzen remained unfazed, but the other two advisors, even though they already knew Naruto had learned the jutsu, were seeing it for the first time and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. This ability to appear and disappear without a trace was extremely rare and was the signature technique of the Fourth Hokage.
Naruto's display as he left served as a reminder and further emphasized his importance.
"Hiruzen!" The bespectacled elder, Homura Mitokado, looked at Hiruzen urgently, as if seeking confirmation. "About the Land of Lightning..."
"It's true." Hiruzen let out a heavy breath, his mind far from calm.
He knew better than anyone what such an event meant for the ninja world. He was an old veteran who had lived through three great wars. Had Konoha prepared? His gaze fell on the empty sofa across from him, and the image of Naruto, with his yellow hair and blue eyes, flashed in his mind.
Konoha was probably ready. He put the pipe back in his mouth, took a puff, and slowly blew a smoke ring that blurred his tired eyes. "The Fourth Raikage, A, is dead, and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki is dead. The Two-Tails, Matatabi, was taken away by Uchiha Obito. This is all verified information. As for..."
He didn't need to finish his sentence; the three of them understood.
As for whether Naruto's words were true, they had no way to verify it! However, the three of them didn't dare to gamble, and neither did Konoha. The consequences of losing a genius like Naruto were unimaginable. Although all three of them knew that Naruto was likely acting out because of the Fourth Hokage's death, none of them were foolish enough to dismiss his attitude because of his young age.
All because of his immense strength and talent! The twelve-year-old Naruto was incredibly difficult to handle.
At this moment, Koharu Utatane, another of the elders, came up with an idea. "How about we use Edo Tensei to resurrect Minato once? We could have Naruto's own father persuade him."
Homura was quite tempted by this idea. Compared to the unknown amount of effort they would have to put in, this method seemed the most straightforward. He looked to Hiruzen, waiting for the Hokage's answer.
Hiruzen paused for a moment at her suggestion. He took a deep puff from his pipe, and the smoke blurred his vision. If they were to do that, what would be the difference between them and the villain Orochimaru? Orochimaru had disturbed the peaceful rest of the First and Second Hokage. Should they do the same to the Fourth?
"Let the dead rest in peace," Hiruzen said, dismissing the proposal with a single sentence.
"Then, Hiruzen, this money..."
"The village's reserves should be enough to cover a portion of it. As for the rest..." Hiruzen fell into thought. Before he could finish, Homura interrupted him.
"Hiruzen, that money is meant for emergencies! The Fourth Great Shinobi War is imminent. Can we really use it?"
"Naruto is more important than the war!" Hiruzen's tone was unwavering. He looked at his two old friends with a determined gaze and continued, "As for the rest, the matter of the Sand Village's prisoners is only an initial agreement and has not yet been signed. We'll just have to make the Sand Village suffer for a while longer!"
"Hiruzen... the Sand Village is our ally! And they were only deceived by Orochimaru and Obito; they weren't the masterminds of the attack."
Homura wasn't defending the Sand Village. He was concerned about one thing only. "And with a war about to begin, if we pressure them like this, a war between Konoha and the Sand Village might be unavoidable! Will Konoha have to face a four-front war again?"
Hiruzen turned his head in surprise, looking at his old friend. The young and strong Homura he remembered was now old with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles. He was indeed old; his mind was even getting a bit muddled.
"Homura, times have changed!"