Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 104: Tsunade: You're All So Ruthless!

"And if this has nothing to do with the daimyo, Minato still needs to show his stance," Hyuga Fuji said, his words cutting through the tension like a knife.

Tsunade's thoughts became clearer. "Because it means there's an external party deliberately trying to disrupt the relationship between the Land of Fire and Konoha!"

The daimyo raises the bounties, and just a few days later, the underground exchange points are destroyed by supposed Konoha ninja. What would the daimyo think?

The Hokage is overstepping his bounds. I need to prepare for contingencies!

From there, the relationship between the Hokage and the daimyo would only worsen.

If they didn't want that to happen, they had to quickly identify the real culprit and offer the daimyo a clear explanation.

Thinking about it, Tsunade frowned. "How did Minato figure this out? It doesn't seem like something even Shikaku had fully considered."

"Shikaku already came up with a solution. How could he not have thought of it?" Fuji said as they walked forward. In a low voice, he added, "Besides catching the real culprit, there's another option—find a scapegoat. Isn't Shikaku doing a great job of that?"

"!!!"

Tsunade suddenly recalled Shikaku's earlier behavior. Despite having only partial evidence—evidence that could have even been planted by the true culprit—he had completely disregarded that possibility. Instead, he seemed ready to pin everything on the underground black market.

Her eyes widened in realization.

So that's how it is, Shikaku. You seem so righteous, but you're secretly playing dirty…

Why bother finding the real perpetrator?

The underground black market was a massive target, and there was even a hint of "solid" evidence against them. Why not just direct suspicion toward them?

Tsunade's mind raced. She already had a justification ready:

"It must be other nations, taking advantage of the daimyo's attempts to test Minato, who orchestrated this attack. They likely used their assets in the underground black market to damage the relationship between the daimyo and the Hokage!"

Fuji added, "By the way, we should thank you for your contribution, Tsunade. That comment you made earlier about taking the money probably helped Minato finalize his decision. For something like this, not that many people are needed for the 'investigation.'"

"… So in the end, I was the one at the lowest level, huh?"

Tsunade realized that sending both the Anbu and Root Division wasn't really about investigating—it was an excuse to clean out the underground black market's resources and, in the process, collect money.

"You're actually taking my advice, and I didn't even know it…"

Her mouth twitched. After a pause, she muttered, "You're all so ruthless. Minato never used to be like this. He's learned all these bad habits from you."

"You're just not as politically attuned, Tsunade-senpai. You don't like dealing with these matters, so your reactions are slower," Fuji said plainly.

"Hmph. It's not that. You all just never say everything outright."

She grumbled, crossing her arms. Then she froze mid-thought. Wait… I'm the oldest one in this group.

Tsunade suddenly felt deflated. Fuji, noticing her abrupt mood change, asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Suppressing her thoughts about her age, Tsunade's trademark smile returned. She leaned closer to Fuji. "As an advisor, I have a duty to lighten Minato's workload. Shouldn't I be allowed to join this mission?"

Free money—who wouldn't want that?

Even though it was said the ninja world was officially ruled by the five great nations, there was a rumor that it was actually the underground black market that wielded the most power. But when it came down to it, a shadowy organization could never stand on equal footing with the nations.

As long as the black market didn't summon its top bounty hunters for revenge, they couldn't pose much of a threat to Konoha.

"Related missions will be issued soon. Keep an eye out, Tsunade-senpai."

Fuji explained, "The underground black market's network is deeply entangled with governments and gray zones across various nations. Some even fund and support it from behind the scenes. It's impossible to fully eliminate them with brute force.

"If we strike, it'll only be at the smaller black market hubs in the smaller nations bordering the Land of Fire."

"In smaller countries, the black market is likely even more rampant, potentially involving their government officials. The Anbu and Root might find it difficult to navigate. We'll need someone with the right status to oversee the situation."

"Like me," Tsunade concluded, nodding in satisfaction. "This will get me some extra gambling money. Speaking of which… I feel like my gambling funds have been unusually low this month."

"It's probably because you've been spending so much lately, and at the start of the month, you only withdrew part of your allocated funds to gamble. That gave you the wrong impression," Fuji replied, his face unreadable.

Looks like the person managing Tsunade's gambling funds needs to be replaced, Fuji thought.

Last month, Tsunade had spent less due to work, which meant less was allocated to her. But Fuji had left a reserve fund for her gambling needs. The manager had likely pocketed it, thinking it would go unused.

Fuji had specifically assigned a greedy person to manage these funds, knowing they'd make for an easy scapegoat when needed. But they'd gotten greedy far too quickly—it was time for a replacement.

"That makes sense," Tsunade mused.

She had only ever withdrawn partial amounts, preferring to grab what she needed when she needed it. After all, she didn't have anywhere to store large sums of cash.

She concluded that her recent lower withdrawals and increased spending must have caused the discrepancy.

After all, the money was always there. Every time she lost it all, it was replenished the next day. Clearly, Konoha still had plenty to fund her gambling habits.

"Let me know when the mission starts."

"Of course."

…

The peaceful days passed in the blink of an eye.

After celebrating a new year without any wars, Konoha's ninja returned to their busy lives.

Suddenly, a new batch of unusual missions appeared at the mission desk, accompanied by a formal notice:

*The underground black market maliciously raised the bounties on the Hokage and Konoha's senior officials. Their intent was to target and disrupt the peace and prosperity of the Land of Fire.

To protect this peace, we must decisively crack down on the underground black market!

This operation aims to eliminate various illegal black market activities, including but not limited to money laundering, counterfeit goods, and human trafficking.*

The notice didn't mention the daimyo at all, instead focusing entirely on the crimes of the black market.

But Tsunade could only see three words: grab the money, grab the money, grab the money!

"I'm off!"

With a cheerful goodbye to her send-off party at the village gates, Tsunade led her team of ninja toward one of the smaller nations.

"Underground exchange points, here I come!"

Watching her from the shadows, Tobirama frowned. After the send-off, he approached Fuji, who was on his way back to the Hokage office.

"Why is Tsunade leaving the village? Doesn't she already have enough money as an advisor?"

"Tsunade-senpai wants more gambling funds. She felt like we weren't giving her enough, so she went to earn some on the side," Fuji replied nonchalantly.

"Gambling funds? You're actually giving her gambling funds?"

What Tobirama thought was a small issue turned out to be a much bigger one. His face darkened.

"When did Konoha's finances become so abundant that we can afford to fund an advisor's gambling?"

"You could look at it this way," Fuji said calmly. "It's the gambling funds that keep Tsunade in Konoha. A little money in exchange for retaining a top-tier combatant and medical ninja—don't you think that's worth it?"

"…"

Tobirama couldn't argue against the logic, but his frustration grew.

"Hmph! I warned my brother not to spoil her! She used to gamble a little, but now she's gotten this bad? Good thing she never became Hokage!"

We have to bribe her to stay? She might as well wear a headband with 'Gambling Ninja' written on it!

(End of Chapter)