The Third Hokage—or rather, the upper echelon of the Hidden Leaf—had allocated a total of twenty million ryo for the Valley of the End's tourism renovation plan. It must be said that this was undoubtedly a very generous sum.
In terms of currency conversion, twenty million ryo came out to about two million U.S. dollars. However, considering the era's productive capacity, purchasing power, and inflation levels—in short, money was extremely valuable. Therefore, Haseo had suddenly found himself extremely wealthy overnight.
With such a sum, carving two Statues of Liberty on a single cliff face would have been more than feasible.
Well, when public funds ended up in private hands, they might as well be considered personal property, and personal property was sacred and inviolable. After all, as long as the Third Hokage saw those statues finally standing tall in the Valley of the End, he'd think the money was well spent—especially if they looked magnificent and awe-inspiring.
The only potential issue? Whether or not the Hidden Leaf's asset management department would monitor these fund flows. If there was no oversight, everything would be negotiable. Haseo could pocket ten million first, then use the remaining ten million to subcontract the entire project to a second-tier contractor. That contractor could then spend eight million sculpting the First Hokage statue, and two million on Madara Uchiha's.
Applying the Pareto principle (the 80/20 rule), the construction quality of the First Hokage statue would still be acceptable. In the end, wouldn't that make everyone happy? As for Madara Uchiha—who really cared about him anyway?
But honestly? Pulling off something like that wouldn't be easy. First and foremost, don't forget that Haseo was already flagged in the village's asset management records—he had previous charges of misusing wartime resources. Embezzling funds might be simple or difficult depending on circumstances, but for Haseo, it was definitely hard, precisely because he was under surveillance.
Directly skimming money lacked sophistication—it was pretty lowbrow too. Maybe instead, he could treat the funds as startup capital for some simple, fast, high-return investments—for instance, following Tsunade into a casino and betting opposite her, with the old saying "bet the opposite of Tsunade, and you'll end up with a beachfront villa."
But even that idea wasn't workable. For one thing, Haseo was handling far too large a sum—most casinos couldn't handle that kind of volume. And secondly, profiting from Tsunade's presence wasn't so straightforward. Usually, once she spent just two minutes inside a casino, everyone else would start placing bets opposite hers. This drove the odds down to practically nothing.
Alright then, what exactly was a ninja supposed to do with so much money? All these ideas were just jokes anyway… When Haseo realized manipulating the finances would get complicated, he immediately took the noble high road and declared himself completely indifferent to money. He'd never dealt with money his whole life—the happiest moments he ever knew had been while roaming freely through the forests.
The procession for the Third Hokage had been fully prepared. Next, he would lead the group out of the village. The upcoming two peace agreement signing ceremonies would both take place within small countries. Before each village's high-ranking officials arrived at the ceremony venues, all parties had dispatched numerous ninja for reconnaissance and security. The protective force surrounding the Third Hokage was also extremely strong, ensuring everything went flawlessly. Everyone had suffered enough setbacks in this regard before, and no one wanted any unexpected incidents occurring during such diplomatic talks again.
By this time, Haseo should have already gone to work, yet he hadn't, because his request to meet with Mito Uzumaki received a response.
It was an affirmative reply.
"Haseo, you must watch your words when facing Grandmother. She is a very dignified and proper lady... but she can become terrifyingly angry. I still clearly remember her beating up Grandfather. So, I hope you understand what should be said and what shouldn't," Tsunade warned him repeatedly while leading the way.
"I definitely understand, and besides, I enjoy conversing with people who possess dignified personalities," Haseo replied.
Mito Uzumaki beating up Hashirama Senju? Haseo didn't believe it; Tsunade was just trying to scare him. He'd never heard anything about the First Hokage being controlled by his wife—only that he was strict with his younger brother.
Compared to those who rambled on without saying much, people with a dignified and experienced presence made for better conversation. Furthermore, Haseo's request to meet with Mito wasn't simply for bonding purposes—he actually had serious matters to discuss with her.
Before long, they arrived at the entrance of a traditional courtyard house featuring gray walls and green roof tiles. This location stood near the center of Konoha, not far from the former estate of the Senju clan where Haseo had previously been.
Tsunade knocked lightly on the door, causing Haseo to glance at her slightly. It was quite unusual to see her acting so gently. However, just a few breaths later, a young servant girl with red hair opened the door.
After confirming the visitors' identities, she spoke, "Tsunade-sama, Haseo-sama, please come in."
Clearly, she belonged to the Uzumaki clan. But then again, having Uzumaki clan members serve as attendants for Mito Uzumaki didn't seem particularly strange.
Haseo followed behind Tsunade and stepped into the courtyard. He glanced around at its layout—pine trees and cypresses, flowing pond, shishi-odoshi (deer-shaped water scoops), winding paths. Everything appeared elegant and traditional, making the personality of the homeowner easy to imagine.
Haseo was a disciple of Sansho, who herself was the daughter of Mito Uzumaki. Yet this meant nothing in itself. Given how detached relationships often were among ninja, Sansho's affection towards Haseo hardly extended upward toward Mito Uzumaki. Therefore, although Haseo and Mito weren't completely unrelated, his current opportunity to meet Mito likely owed much to Tsunade's influence.
They passed through the courtyard, along the corridors, and into the inner chamber, where Haseo finally laid eyes on Mito Uzumaki.
Tsunade resembled her father more in eye and hair color—she was one-fourth Senju and one-fourth Uzumaki.
Sansho was half Senju and half Uzumaki. Her appearance greatly resembled her mother's—in other words, aside from one having black hair and the other red hair, Mito Uzumaki in old age would look exactly like Sansho in her later years.
For a brief moment, Haseo found himself speechless.
"Little Tsunade," Mito Uzumaki then spoke, "I need to discuss something important with Haseo next. So why don't you and Shikou head down first and come back later?"
Tsunade pouted slightly, somewhat displeased. She had been the one who made this meeting possible in the first place, so why were they sending her away the moment they met? But in front of her grandmother, she ultimately chose not to say much.
"Milady..." The maid seemed wanting to speak but was stopped by a shake of Mito Uzumaki's head.
After all, Haseo had only recently caused a jinchuriki to lose control. And Mito Uzumaki herself was a jinchuriki. Normally speaking, these two shouldn't be left alone together.
But such concerns were unfounded. Although Mito Uzumaki had retired, the current Haseo wouldn't stand a chance against her—one versus ten, and she'd have no problem winning.
Thus, only Haseo and Mito Uzumaki remained within the room.
"Haseo," she spoke again afterward, "I heard that you've already become a Jonin."
Just like earlier, when she said Haseo's name, it sounded completely natural—like how a familiar elder would call someone.
Her attitude was proper yet not stern; her tone gentle yet not overly intimate. Mito Uzumaki's first impression was of a kind-hearted senior.
"Yes, Lady Mito. I received my promotion quite recently."
Haseo wasn't sure whether he should address Mito Uzumaki as "Mito Uzumaki" or "Senju," so he simply used "Lady Mito"—which didn't sound unusual. Many people in Konoha referred to her that way too.
Mito gestured for Haseo to sit down, but in the presence of such an important figure, Haseo decided to follow basic etiquette—he'd remain standing when appropriate.
"You're doing well. I've also heard about your recent achievements—you did very well, which means..." Here, Mito suddenly stopped mid-sentence and shook her head.
That Sansho hadn't misjudged him… Yet this sentence would remain unspoken. It was too cruel to ask an elderly woman to utter the name of a deceased daughter.
"You requested to meet me through Tsunade. Is there anything you wanted to talk about?"
Shaking off nearly slipping into melancholy, Mito returned to the main topic.
Collecting himself, Haseo spoke the words he had rehearsed: "Yes, Lady Mito. I wanted to speak with you about... the matter concerning the Nine-Tails."
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