Naruto: The Uchiha They Should Have Killed

Chapter 319: The Financial Department’s Funding Situation!

As Shikaku Nara announced one figure after another, everyone present wore solemn expressions.

The entire Konoha shinobi population numbered only a little over ten thousand. Losing nearly half of them in a single war was an unimaginably devastating loss.

Fortunately, the war had lasted for nearly ten years, allowing new recruits to replenish the ranks every year. Otherwise, Konoha would probably have collapsed long ago.

As for the amount of compensation being paid, however, no one felt that there was anything excessive about it.

In the shinobi world, missions were divided into five ranks according to difficulty: S, A, B, C, and D.

D-rank missions paid between 500 and 50,000 ryō.

C-rank missions paid between 10,000 and 100,000 ryō.

B-rank missions paid between 80,000 and 200,000 ryō.

A-rank missions paid between 150,000 and 1,000,000 ryō.

S-rank missions paid 1,000,000 ryō or more.

These mission rewards might appear substantial at first glance, but in reality, things were not quite so generous.

Leaving aside trivial assignments such as catching cats or walking dogs, which were primarily used to give newly graduated students from the Ninja Academy some practical experience, the main source of income for lower-ranking shinobi came from ordinary D-rank and C-rank missions.

Take C-rank missions as an example.

Most C-rank missions involved escorting people, conducting background investigations, and similar assignments. They generally required a team of shinobi to carry them out.

They were also extremely time-consuming.

Take the first C-rank mission undertaken by Team 7 in the original storyline—the mission to escort Tazuna back to the Land of Waves to build a bridge.

Leaving aside the danger involved, that mission alone took Team 7 nearly a month to complete.

Even assuming the maximum C-rank reward of 100,000 ryō, the four members of Team 7 would have earned only 100,000 ryō collectively over an entire month, and a portion of that would still have been taken by the village.

If the team carrying out the mission had not been led by a jōnin but had instead been an ordinary shinobi squad, each member would have received at most around 15,000 to 20,000 ryō for the entire month.

By that standard, a genin's monthly income would only amount to roughly 20,000 to 30,000 ryō.

Konoha's compensation standard was therefore equivalent to paying a shinobi more than a year's worth of salary in a single lump sum.

That was already an extremely generous benefit.

Shikaku Nara continued, "Aside from compensation for the fallen, there are also disability allowances."

"According to the village's subsidy standards, the village will cover all medical expenses. In addition, disabled shinobi will receive a one-time payment equivalent to the minimum remuneration for six C-rank missions."

"Furthermore, those who suffer permanent disabilities will receive a monthly allowance of 5,000 ryō from then on."

"The total amount of allowances that need to be paid this time comes to 98,550,000 ryō."

Namikaze Minato nodded.

"So, including compensation for the fallen and disability allowances, the village needs to pay approximately 1.19 billion ryō in total, correct?"

"That's correct," Shikaku Nara replied.

Minato raised his head and looked toward the crowd.

"Who is currently in charge of the Financial Department?"

The two heads of Konoha's Financial Department, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, were both still lying in the hospital.

Consequently, Minato genuinely did not know who was currently responsible for the department.

"Hokage-sama, I'm here!"

The Financial Department's Director, Tōmaki Masao, hurriedly stood up, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Minato tapped the documents on the table with his finger and asked solemnly, "What is the current financial situation of the Financial Department?"

"The funds Elder Uchiha currently holds were originally subsidies provided by the Daimyō's Court. They never went through the village's accounts."

"Surely the Financial Department can still come up with 1.19 billion ryō, can't it?"

"And if the Daimyō's Court hadn't provided that subsidy, what would we have done?"

Sweat gathered even more heavily on Tōmaki Masao's forehead. He wore a troubled expression as he replied, "The Financial Department is in a difficult position as well!"

"As you know, this war has already lasted for ten years. Throughout those ten years, the Financial Department's expenditures have consistently exceeded its revenues."

Minato's expression remained unchanged.

"Tell me the details."

Tōmaki Masao relaxed slightly and began explaining.

"Hokage-sama, the village's sources of income can broadly be divided into three categories."

"First, the various taxes collected within the village."

"Second, the village's share of mission remuneration."

"Third, financial subsidies from the Daimyō's Court."

"Ten years ago, the village collected approximately 1 billion ryō in taxes each year."

"Since the war began, Konoha has remained one of the safest places in the world, so the local consumption environment hasn't been affected too severely."

"As a result, tax revenue has actually increased somewhat due to rising prices."

"This year, the village's tax revenue is approximately 1.5 billion ryō."

"But because prices have risen as well, that 1.5 billion ryō does not go nearly as far as it once did!"

"More importantly, because of the war, the village's largest source of revenue in previous years—the percentage it received from mission remuneration—has been virtually zero!"

"As for the financial subsidies provided by the Daimyō's Court, they are not fixed, but on average, they amount to roughly 3 billion ryō per year."

"In other words, over these ten years, the village's annual revenue has generally been around 4.5 billion ryō."

"But the village's annual expenditures have been far more than 4.5 billion ryō!"

"Take the recent Battle of Kikyō Mountain, for example. The total value of the supplies consumed by the Logistics Department exceeded 500 million ryō."

"The medical supplies consumed by the Medical Department to treat the wounded also exceeded 800 million ryō!"

"That alone comes to 1.3 billion ryō!"

"And that was merely a single battle that lasted no more than a few days!"

Minato frowned slightly.

"1.3 billion ryō... The consumption of supplies was really that severe?"

Tōmaki Masao immediately explained, "The main reason is that we're currently in wartime!"

"During wartime, the prices of strategic supplies such as food, steel, and explosive tags rise continuously. They can cost several times more than they do during peacetime!"

"Medical supplies are especially problematic. The prices of certain specialized medicinal materials can increase tenfold or even several dozen times over!"

"If Konoha didn't have such deep reserves and foundations, the village would have collapsed long ago!"

Minato asked again, "Then what exactly is the current situation of the Financial Department? How much money do we have left?"

At this question, sweat once again appeared on Tōmaki Masao's forehead.

"The village currently has approximately 2 billion ryō in available funds."

"This is only because the mineral resources provided as compensation by Kumogakure some time ago gave the village enough breathing room."

After a pause, Tōmaki Masao added, "Hokage-sama, although the village currently has enough funds to pay the compensation and allowances, that's not how the accounts work!"

"You heard what I said earlier. The Logistics Department is running dangerously low on supplies."

"My Financial Department will need to allocate at least 500 million ryō to purchase various supplies and replenish our reserves for emergencies!"

"At the same time, during wartime, the village has been paying shinobi almost entirely according to mission rank, without taking its usual share!"

"Every shinobi who survived the Battle of Kikyō Mountain alone is entitled to the equivalent of one B-rank mission."

"That expenditure alone comes to roughly 500 million ryō!"

"The remuneration for all the other missions carried out this month will also amount to approximately 300 to 400 million ryō."

"That's another 800 to 900 million ryō gone!"

"Not to mention all the other expenses, large and small."

"So the Financial Department really has no money left to spare."

"We can only ask Elder Uchiha for more funds!"