A few days later...
"Hokage-sama, bad news, those debt collectors are at the village's gates!"
"Hokage-sama, the villagers are protesting downstairs again!"
"Hokage-sama, about those documents the acting Hokage signed... When can the work actually start?"
…
In the Hokage's Office, Shizune and a group of assistants continuously reported to the Godaime Hokage.
Tsunade, who is currently gripping Konoha's financial report in her hand, had veins bulging on her forehead, forming a visible '#' mark.
Bang…
Tsunade smashed the desk with a single punch, and everyone immediately fell silent when they saw the Hokage so furious.
"Bastard!"
"Damn you, Jiraiya!!"
Seeing the staggering deficit of over 100 million ryo on Konoha's financial records, Tsunade suddenly realized that this Hokage's position...
Was a complete scam!!
Adding to the debts she had accumulated personally, Tsunade felt like her head was about to explode.
Tsunade was so angry that she threw the Hokage Hat to the ground and cursed.
"I quit!"
"Whoever wants this damn Hokage position can have it!!"
"You expect me to clean up this mess of debts? Do you all take me for some kind of sucker?!"
When everyone saw that Tsunade was about to give up, they quickly stepped forward to placate her.
"Hokage-sama, don't be rash! Let's discuss this properly."
"That's right, it's just... 100 million ryo... We'll find a way."
"Hokage-sama, please calm down. Everything will work out!"
"Besides... Danzo-sama has already paid off a significant portion of the previous debts."
When Tsunade heard that Danzo paid for it out of his own pocket, she was suddenly in a trance.
'What?'
'Since when would that bastard Danzo do something like this??'
However, Tsunade didn't know that Danzo had nearly emptied all of the Root's treasury, leading to the current situation.
After sacrificing so much, he was already in agony.
Afterwards, he humbly went to several Shinobi Clans to raise money, but he couldn't raise even one million ryo. This made Danzo furious, which led to the Hashirama's cells in his body running out of control.
Tsunade pulled a chair and sat down, rubbing her temples.
If this kept up, she was sure she'd develop wrinkles.
Especially the debt collectors at the gate of the village, which is just adding insult to injury for the already struggling village.
After a long pause, Tsunade let out a deep sigh and said to Shizune beside her, "About those debt collectors..."
"Send Naruto to deal with them."
"He should be able to figure something out."
Everyone present gasped when they heard this.
'Hokage-sama's plan was really diabolical!'
To send Naruto out there...
These people couldn't imagine what kind of torment those debt collectors would suffer at the hands of that yellow-haired delinquent.
Shizune nodded and turned to leave the office.
At this time, Koharu suddenly stood up and said, "Yesterday, Asama-san approached us..."
"He said that if we help their princess reclaim her country, they'll reward us handsomely."
Halfway through her sentence, she hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "However... he specifically requested Hatake Kakashi..."
When Tsunade heard the news, her grin nearly reached her ears, but when she heard that Kakashi was the requested person, her smile vanished instantly.
After returning to the village for a few days, she already had a rough understanding of the situation in Konoha.
Naturally, she knew that Kakashi's team, Team 7, was the most troublesome team in the entire village, and they're despised by all.
There is no need to say much about Naruto. After spending time with him, she knew he was the type who couldn't go a single day without causing trouble.
As for Sasuke… Most of the village's financial deficit is due to him.
Meanwhile, Sakura is okay, and as long as she doesn't hang out with these two guys, she's pretty reliable.
If this Team 7 went to the Land of Snow...
Tsunade was genuinely worried they'd destroy the entire country, and by then Konoha Village's debt might just multiply several times over.
'No!'
'There's absolutely no way I would let them go together!'
After thinking it over, Tsunade decided to accept the mission, but she won't let Sasuke and Naruto go.
"Accept the mission. Have Kakashi take Haruno Sakura with him, and find two more people to go with them."
"And also..."
"The task of rebuilding the villagers' houses will be given to that Wood Release Release."
"As for their compensation..."
"We'll talk about it when we have the money."
Tsunade rubbed her temples and quickly handled the mess.
Once everything was settled, she stretched, stood up and was about to go out.
"Hokage-sama, where are you going?"
When the two Hokage's Advisors saw her leaving, their hearts tightened at the same time, as they're afraid that Tsunade would run away.
"Enough already!!"
"I'm going out for a drink to relax now!!"
Tsunade shouted angrily.
She has been busy all morning, so now, she just wanted to unwind with some alcohol. If these people still had complaints, then she truly didn't want this job anymore.
Everyone in the office shrank back, and no one dared to speak.
In the end, they could only watch helplessly as their newly appointed Hokage go out to drink in the middle of the day.
…
Meanwhile, Naruto has transformed into Kakuzu and collecting protection fees from all the gambling dens in the Land of Hot Water.
He said he would deal with them before, so he will deal with them.
As soon as Naruto returned to the village, he asked Uzumaki Naruko to make an Akatsuki cloak for him. Then, posing as Kakuzu, he teleported straight to the very same gambling den where he'd first encountered Tsunade.
"Is all the money here?"
"Y-Yes, sir… P-Please, count it yourself…"
"J-Just spare my life…"
The gambling den's manager knelt on the ground and spoke tremblingly.
He was really afraid that the other party would stab him to death if he was dissatisfied.
After all, the bodies of the gambling den's thugs were still warm with wet blood lying on the ground.
Naruto saw the box filled with money, then took out a few sealing scrolls he'd 'borrowed' from Sasuke, sealed the money, and then he patted the old man's face.
"Good…"
"Now remember this well..."
"Your robber today was Kakuzu, the S-Rank Missing-nin from Takigakure, and the top earner of the Bounty Exchange!"
Naruto was afraid that the other party would not be able to remember what he looked like, so he took out a Polaroid camera.
Striking a pose reminiscent of Einstein's famous tongue-out photo, except instead of a peace sign, he gave the middle finger, he captured the moment with maximum disrespect.
After leaving the photo behind, the fake Kakuzu proceeded to rob every gambling den in the Land of Hot Springs.
But just as he was about to leave, Naruto suddenly felt that keeping these gambling dens was harming people.
So, he simply used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and looted all the places he had been to before.
That day, the gambling underworld in the Shinobi World was plunged into an ice-cold winter.
Starting from the Land of Hot Springs and radiating outward into the Land of Fire, Naruto had single-handedly robbed two-thirds of the gambling establishments across the Shinobi World.
The amount of money involved in the crime was as high as 50 billion ryo.
However, those bosses who went to Konoha Village to collect the debt from the Hokage have not yet realized the seriousness of the problem.
…
"What?"
"You want me to deal with Granny Tsunade's debt collectors?"
Jiraiya laughed awkwardly, not daring to look at his student.
"Come on, Naruto… Just see if you can send them away..."
"If that doesn't work, well… I've got a bit of money saved up..."
Naruto was slightly stunned. He estimated that those creditors were most likely already robbed by him.
Then, a wicked grin spread across his face.
After looking at Jiraiya, he clutched his chest and said with deep sorrow, "Jiraiya-sensei... I'll cover the debt."
"But you have to ask Granny Tsunade to pay me back!"
"This is my… life savings… my wedding fund."
Naruto really wanted to laugh when he thought about becoming the Hokage's biggest creditor.
Anyway, he was not short of money. He had a lot of gold bars from the system, and also 'some' money he looted from the gambling dens. Tsunade's debt was pocket change in comparison.
The most important thing is...
It doesn't matter whether there is money or not, the main thing is to disgust the other party.
No matter what, he can still say something like this to the Hokage: Hokage-sama... You wouldn't want to...
"Don't worry, my precious student!"
"I'll make sure Tsunade pays you back."
Jiraiya was so moved that he almost cried.
'Naruto... He must have done this for my sake!'
'Well... from now on, I will never call you a damn brat again.'