Chapter 43: Hiruzen Sarutobi's Unspeakable Hardship
This caused even more people to follow behind the group of seven; by the time they reached the Hokage Building, at least a hundred people were trailing Naruto and the others.
The Anbu received word that villagers were gathering at the Hokage Building and immediately notified Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Upon receiving the news, Hiruzen Sarutobi used his crystal ball to check the situation. Seeing that Naruto was the one leading them, he couldn't help but frown slightly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know what Naruto and the others were up to, so he had no choice but to head down and wait in front of the Hokage Building's entrance.
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi already waiting and glancing at the villagers behind them, Naruto knew that Sasuke's living expenses were as good as secured.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest, asking, "Is there something you need?"
Naruto pulled Sasuke forward two steps, looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, and asked, "Is Sasuke a member of the Uchiha Clan?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, puzzled and frowning. "Naturally, he is a member of the Uchiha Clan. Is there a problem with that?"
"Since Hokage-sama admits Sasuke is a member of the Uchiha Clan, may I ask a question on his behalf?"
"What question? Ask away!"
"Although the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, their assets and property should still be there, right? How is it that I heard from Sasuke that he couldn't find a single cent in the Uchiha Clan's estate? For the past two years, he's been surviving by scavenging the leftover grain of the Uchiha Clan. I remember that two years ago, it was Konoha's Anbu who collected the bodies of the Uchiha Clan. Shouldn't Hokage-sama give us an explanation?"
Naruto's words were quite harsh. The Uchiha Clanhad been massacred, leaving behind a single orphan, yet Konoha had not only failed to take proper care of him but had instead plundered the Uchiha Clan's wealth.
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a headache coming on when Naruto mentioned the Uchiha Clan's money. To this day, Danzo hadn't handed over those two hundred million ryo, let alone the assets from Uchiha Fugaku's home.
Now that he was being confronted at his doorstep, if he didn't provide a reasonable explanation, who knows what kind of rumors would circulate in the Village tomorrow!
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to speak...
Shikamaru also stepped forward and said, "As far as I know, the Uchiha Clan should still own shops and such. The rent from those shops alone should be enough for Sasuke's expenses. Could it be that the shopkeepers are embezzling Sasuke's rent?"
Although Shikamaru's words were tactful, everyone present understood: the Hokage had failed to properly manage the Uchiha Clan's storefronts, allowing them to be seized by others. This was a dereliction of duty by the Hokage.
If it were just money, Hiruzen Sarutobi would only have a headache, but mentioning the shops put him in a difficult position.
Because after the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, Hiruzen Sarutobi only obtained forty Sharinganand received no financial benefits, he had used his authority as Hokage to distribute the Uchiha Clan's storefronts to the Sarutobi Clan.
Now that it had been brought up, he had no choice but to resolve it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment, knowing that the shop rent had to be paid out.
"The rent for the Uchiha Clan's shops has been handed over to the Hokage's financial department. It's just that Sasuke himself never came to collect it."
Just as Naruto was about to retort...
Shikamaru quickly used Secret Telepathic Communication on Naruto.
"Naruto, stay calm! We want the money, not to make things difficult for anyone."
Naruto also felt that Shikamaru had a point, so he looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and asked, "Then what about the Uchiha Clan's assets? It's impossible that Itachi Uchiha took it all, right? He had to kill people and plunder wealth; even if he had the ability to plunder it, he'd need the ability to carry it away! The Uchiha Clan was a Great Clan of Konoha. Putting aside items, just the money alone would require carts to haul!"
Naruto's words backed Hiruzen Sarutobi into a corner. It was impossible for Itachi Uchiha to have taken all the money away silently.
And since the ones who collected the Uchihabodies were the Konoha Anbu, this left a lot of room for imagination.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a dark expression, "When the Anbu collected the Uchiha bodies, the Uchiha Clan had already been looted. The Anbuindeed found no assets."
"Hokage-sama's words are a bit hard to accept. The Uchiha massacre was committed by Itachi Uchiha, which could be categorized as an internal Uchiha matter. However, the assets left after the massacre are a Village matter. Regardless of whether Itachi Uchiha took those assets, shouldn't the Village give Uchiha Sasuke an explanation?"
"Naruto! Itachi Uchiha taking the Uchiha Clan's assets is also an internal Uchiha matter."
"If Hokage-sama puts it that way, then shouldn't Itachi Uchiha no longer be classified as a Rogue Ninja? After all, it's just an internal Uchiha Clanmatter."
"This...!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly caught in Naruto's logic. If the Uchiha massacre was defined as an internal family matter, it would imply the Villagehas no right to manage a clan's internal affairs, let alone its Ninjas.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi dared to define the Uchihamassacre as an internal matter now, then tomorrow, the Ninjas of every Great Clan would prioritize their clans over all else, because Hiruzen Sarutobi would have effectively granted every clan the power of life and death over their own Ninjas.
In short, even if a Great Clan openly killed a Ninja, they could refuse the Hokage's management by claiming it was an internal matter and that the Village had no right to interfere.
While it did happen that clans killed their own Ninjas occasionally, they would usually cover it up and provide the Village with a reasonable explanation.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi dared to set this precedent with the Uchiha massacre, then from tomorrow onwards, no clan Ninja would ever follow a single order issued by the Village again.
By then, Hiruzen Sarutobi's position as Hokagewould be a mere decoration; no clan Ninja would obey him anymore.
But if Hiruzen Sarutobi defined the Uchihamassacre as a Village matter, then the Villagewould have to compensate for the Uchiha Clan's lost assets. After all, the Anbu were the last ones to handle the bodies! All the blame would fall on the Anbu, and whose subordinates were the Anbu? The Hokage's! In the end, these assets would still have to come from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The truth was that Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had guilty consciences, which was why they had hurriedly collected the Uchiha bodies. Otherwise, they would have certainly consulted Uchiha Sasukeand collected the bodies in his presence.
That way, even if problems arose, Sasuke would have nothing to say.
But because Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others were afraid of people seeing that the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan had been gouged out, they hurriedly collected the bodies, leaving themselves open to criticism.
Currently, Hiruzen Sarutobi was like A mute person swallowing bitter lotus—suffering in silence.