Those words stunned the entire room.
Even Nara Shikaku, who had been clamoring for forceful action, instantly cooled down; he honestly hadn't known this.
He wasn't some idle Nara, and Shikaku had never brought it up before. Hearing it for the first time, he couldn't help but curse the shamelessness of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other top brass.
"Damn it!"
"I knew the Konoha High Command was greedy, but I never thought they'd be this blatant!"
"No wonder Konoha hasn't changed after all these years."
"..."
Everyone present spoke up one after another.
Every face looked grim. If the money embezzled by the high command had actually been used to build the Village, none of them would be living like this.
Then—
After venting, the group turned back to Uchiha Jin.
He was the one in charge!
What to do next depended entirely on his thoughts.
As for that—
Jin felt a pang of admiration; Nara Shikaku really was no ordinary man. Even though he'd never been one of Hiruzen's inner circle, by combining the authority he did hold with what he saw on a daily basis, he'd been able to piece together nearly the whole picture.
Impressive indeed!
Yet while both Shikaku and Shikaku were equally sharp, their personalities were poles apart.
Shikaku was steadier; the other Shikaku was a risk-taker!
After a long silence, Uchiha Jin finally spoke.
"The world runs on cause and effect. The Sarutobi clique looks powerful, but I don't take them seriously at all."
"A bunch who've never seen blood or real battle—even if they possess Jonin-level Chakra, we can cut them down in an instant."
"Combat experience, ways to handle enemies—those are things you can't cultivate in a greenhouse."
"Any elite Chunin could one-shot their so-called Jonin!"
"So keep those numbers Shikaku mentioned in mind, but don't let paper figures scare you."
Those words
calmed everyone considerably.
Right.
People like the Sarutobi group, who'd been hiding in safety, had at best gone out to cull a few bandits or escorted some clan caravans—slaughter of that level offered zero real training.
The killing techniques of everyone here had been forged on the battlefield; resource-fed Jonin were nothing more than free meals to them.
Even Nara Shikaku slowly nodded.
Indeed!
Jin was spot-on. What shocked him more, though, was Jin's ability to adapt on the fly.
While everyone else was slipping into panic, he had instantly spotted the flaw and cooled their fears.
That alone proved Jin was a leader worth following!
Next—
once the crowd had settled, Jin spoke again.
"First, I believe we must prioritize stability right now."
"This isn't yet the time to tear off all masks and fight to the death; my reasoning is simple."
"Put plainly, the cost-benefit ratio is too low!"
"Those Sarutobi Ninja were built with the Village's resources—letting them die in civil war is a waste."
"And those civilian-born Ninja—though they're not yet our people—I won't throw their lives away."
"Sending them to the border as expendables is still better than having them pointlessly consumed in internal strife."
"Therefore—"
"here's my deployment regarding the Village situation!"
"First, the Police Force keeps up its deliberate incompetence while we spread rumors everywhere, stoking villagers' distrust of the Hokage, even quietly organizing mobs to smash the Hokage Building, the hospital, and shops along the streets."
"Goal: throw the Village into chaos!"
"Second—Shikaku!"
"In your capacity as Konoha Advisor, draft a document. Base it on the Administration Bureau's official figures and list all revenue and expenditure from the start of the Third Great Ninja War to the present."
"How much the Daimyo allocated, how much the Village earned, how much came from mission fees."
"How much was spent these years, on what, and how much simply vanished."
"Submit this inquiry to the Hokage Office; every clan present will co-sign it, demanding a full audit of war-time finances."
"If Hiruzen agrees, we proceed openly."
"If not, we leak it to the public."
"I believe survivor pensions, war-time equipment costs, mission payments and so on from the war are still unpaid, right? And food, supplies—there's supposedly no money for those either?"
"Let every villager know Konoha isn't poor at all; the funds were just embezzled."
"Civilian Ninja who haven't received pensions or mission pay will riot—then we give them a quiet boost from behind."
"..."
Uchiha Jin laid it all out in detail.
He had no wish to inherit a ruined Konoha. Though he could easily wipe out the high command, to limit losses from infighting he chose to slowly grind Hiruzen and company down.
The logic was simple!
Human resources were vital; anyone who could become a Ninja, even a civilian-born one, was a valuable asset.
Once Jin became Hokage, those people would be working for him.
Every one he killed today meant one less workhorse tomorrow!
That wasn't acceptable.
Many Ninja World leaders didn't care about population, sometimes even using war to cull excess mouths, but Jin understood that development required people.
Those predisposed to be Ninja were practically born workhorses; even if they hadn't joined him yet, he wanted to keep them alive and out of civil strife.
His next objective was to rip off Hiruzen's mask and smash the man's civilian support base!
Like frogs in warming water, he would hollow them out bit by bit, never provoking them into desperate action, until Hiruzen stood utterly alone.
By now Jin's thinking had long since changed.
In his eyes Konoha already belonged to him, and he would not allow Hiruzen to run amok.
Exactly!
Once Hiruzen had treated Konoha as private property and sought to remove the Uchiha without damage; now Jin viewed Konoha the same way—his private property—and he wouldn't let Hiruzen wreck his Village!