"What?! No way!" Taro yelled.
Housen's demands were too much, especially for Taro. The entirety of the Hosai clan only has a little over 15 million ryo after the war with the Hebidoku clan, where they took nearly half of the Hebidoku's treasury.
50 million ryo would be enough to feed the entirety of the Hosai clan for months, even years if used correctly.
Not only that, the importance of money is now showing more and more as the guild was being built. Not as a building, but as an organization.
Currently, the Merchant Guild has 20 ninjas, consisting of 10 jonins, 3 elite jonins, and 7 chunins. All of them are currently being taught by the fiance elders about basic knowledge, knowledge they needed to survive the outside world while thriving as merchants.
As to where the money is going, it's being used to buy necessary information in the capital of the Land of Wind. Because in the desert, if you do not have a specific route, it would be harder and more costly to go from village to village.
The same goes for outside of the Land of Wind, as the Hosai clan has little to no knowledge of the outside world, with only a certain few ever going outside of the Land of Wind.
Housen scoffed, "Then get the hell out of here you brat!"
Feinting defeat, Taro sighed, "Come on… The clan doesn't even have that kind of money. Can't I do something else?"
The existence of Ki in the Naruto world shook Taro, not because of Dragon ball and other forms of Ki that existed in fiction in his previous life, but because of how useful Ki would be in combat. And not only in combat, but it would also be useful in the sensor type field.
Housen scratched his beard, "Hmm… Say kid, aren't you that brat's Mashiro's kid?"
Although Taro didn't understand why he would ask him that, he nodded, "Yeah, he's my father."
"Then if you can get him to hand over the Last Will Scroll, then I'll teach you." Housen said solemnly.
Taro tensed up, not because he knew what the Last Will Scroll was, in fact he never even heard of such a scroll. What made him tensed was the solemn look Housen suddenly showed, as his expression changed way too fast.
From the looks of it, the scroll isn't something significant, in contrast, it might even be an important scroll that was kept by my father for a reason.
"Ah… I don't know what that is, but I'll talk to my father about it…"
Housen nodded, "Good, good, good! Bring me the scroll in three months' time, as I'll be heading to the capital to meet with old friends." Housen stood up and began leaving, "Also, once you get that scroll, do not open it."
As Taro watched the back of Housen, he narrowed his brows and thought, "Why would he want something from dad? Is he some kind of Danzo in the Hosai clan?"
A hint of killing intent leaked out from Taro, as he believed that people like those are the worst kind, especially inside a developing clan. If Housen truly hindered the development of the clan, Taro would not hesitate to use all his power to kill Housen.
Taro turned around and dashed towards a designated area where all the "Merchants" are being trained.
The area was an underground cave, smaller than the Hosai cave and was located near the river where the Hosai clans get their main source of water.
Looking at the rushing water, Taro began to think, "Hmm… With the relocation of the three other clans here, I don't think this water is enough to accommodate everyone." He paused and looked at the distance where the water was flowing, "And if a massive dry season were to strike, the entire clan would be doomed."
The water in the river was long, but it wasn't deep nor was it wide. It was just enough for drinking water and weekly baths. What's more, every summer, the river would almost dry up, causing many to be killed by thirst.
"I wonder if an infinite water source can be formed in the ninja world…" Taro murmured, "It won't hurt to try. I'll experiment once everything is stabilized in the clan."
Making his way to the cave, he began to hear the clinking sound of metal as he went deeper.
The Merchants that's being trained by the elders aren't just being trained in becoming a merchant, but they are also being trained to become stronger, as the merchant guild needs to be powerful enough to monopolize something huge like food.
This is also where some of the budget are going, from buying equipment, ninjutsu, and stocking up on shurikens and kunais.
When Taro made it to where the ninjas were training, a person who was doing handstand walking noticed him enter and stopped his training.
"Ah, Taro. What are you doing here?" Asked Toji.
Taro smiled, "Nothing, I just wanted to check up on everyone."
Toji sighed, "Everyone is doing great…" He looked around and said, "It's just that training in this cave is a hassle. I understand that we have to be secretive, but dang it's bad here. The cave just smells of sweat and metal, it's not really that great."
The training of the merchants needed to be a secret for two things, the main reason being that the clan doesn't want to be known as the owner of the merchant guild.
After all, once all the clans in the Land of Wind were to figure out that the Hosai clan had a guild that has near infinite amount of food, everyone and their mother would come barging in the clan asking for help, or worst, go to war with the Hosai clan for the food.
The second reason they had to train here correlates with the first one, as training merchants doesn't really sound like something a poor Hosai clan should be doing.
And once everything is finished, the merchant guild would be sent down secretly while wearing cloaks and masks to hide their identity as Hosai clan members.
Taro laughed, "I wouldn't want to be here too." Looking at the ninja training, Taro asked, "Anyway, how's your progress with the Eight Inner Gates?"
Toji couldn't help but sigh, "this…"