"I choose five hundred thousand!"
"Haru, this time I did my homework. I'm not letting you take advantage of me again. The highest box office in the Land of Fire was only a little over fifty million, and I heard that was made by one of the daimyo's relatives..."
"Then let's sign the contract."
Haru and Mito signed a confidentiality agreement. The matter of Tsunade receiving a five-hundred-thousand-ryo acting fee could not be leaked.
If that got out, the impact would not be good.
Mito had gotten a number that left her completely satisfied. She felt that this time, that profiteer Haru definitely would not get even the slightest advantage over her.
Five hundred thousand ryo was nothing to her. Well, actually, it was quite a lot. Even she had not expected to squeeze out that much money. That was the reward for an A-rank mission. Originally, Mito had only wanted to ask for another hundred thousand or so. She had not expected Haru to be this generous.
As for the extra four hundred and fifty thousand, that was basically Haru giving Mito some face.
After cheating her out of so much money last time, if he did not let her find some excuse to vent and regain a bit of emotional balance, then next time it came to drawing the Nine-Tails' chakra, she would probably start dragging her feet.
And that would not be something a mere five hundred thousand could settle so easily.
This was one of those cases where small money handled big business.
Besides, the money was not being wasted.
Spending five hundred thousand to improve his relationship with Tsunade was a very worthwhile deal in itself. Haru was also quite interested in Tsunade. Not physically. He meant her talent.
In the future, Tsunade would become one of the absolute top medical ninja in the ninja world.
No matter how he looked at it, this five hundred thousand was a profit.
Haru watched Mito leave his office, looking as if she had just won some enormous battle.
Tch. No vision.
Haru felt a bit resentful. Mito actually had so little faith in his directing ability. He had practically handed her a chance to profit off him, and she still passed it up. If it were him, he definitely would have chosen one percent of total revenue.
Mito had no idea how many connections Haru had pulled just to make sure his first movie would be strong enough to establish his reputation.
The Land of Fire's daimyo was taking care of the domestic channels. When it came to influence between countries, Haru as Hokage still could not compare to the daimyo.
But within the ninja world itself, that was Haru's home turf.
Other than the Cloud, because they were the villains of the movie, Haru had sent letters to the leaders of the other three great villages and to all sorts of smaller ninja villages across the world, promoting his movie and asking them to show support.
He had also sent people to notify the ninja world's bounty offices, gambling dens, and criminal syndicates.
After all, none of that cost money. It spent only Haru's and the Leaf's reputation. Not using it would have been a waste.
A great film, if not promoted well enough, could still sink without a trace.
It was like a piece of gold covered by a filthy rag. If nobody came to remove the rag, then that gold would never shine in its entire life.
Haru's first work, before it had even officially released, had already climbed onto the hottest discussion lists in the ninja world. The scale of its promotion was ridiculous.
The next day, at the filming site,
"Get lost. I'm playing one of our own Leaf ninja. Stop trying to steal my forehead protector. With how dark you look, one glance says you belong on the Cloud side!"
"You little bastard, are you looking for a fight?!"
"..."
Before Haru had even arrived, the extras were already close to fighting over who got to play Leaf ninja.
As the villains of the film, the Cloud had chased the Leaf relentlessly in the recent war, so naturally they were hated all across the village.
Only after Haru arrived did they finally stop.
In the end, Haru made the call himself and had everyone draw lots to determine their roles. The scene looked like some massive role-assignment game.
Since this was his first time directing a movie, Haru was still not very familiar with the workflow. To avoid accidents during filming, he had hired two directors who had previously made high-grossing films to act as assistant directors.
Only then did things proceed in an orderly way.
Scene Five, Shot Six.
This section of the story showed a three-man team encountering enemy forces for the first time on the battlefield. The trio had just graduated from the ninja academy and lacked experience. They almost got wiped out, and only survived because supporting jonin arrived in time.
"Whew, that scared me to death. I really thought I was going to die..."
Jiraiya shouted and flailed noisily, covered in dust and grime, his clothes torn in several places, with wounds on his arm and back.
The people acting opposite Jiraiya's team were all chunin who had returned from the battlefield. Haru had specifically ordered them to pursue realism and to fight exactly the way the script described. There was no need to worry about hurting the kids, because the crew had the best medical ninja in the ninja world on hand. Injuries at this level would only need half a day of rest.
"Jiraiya, your pants are wet. Don't tell me you peed yourself..."
Tsunade mocked him mercilessly from the side.
To be fair, her own performance had not been much better.
To make the trio forget they were acting, Haru had even used a little genjutsu on them.
All three were still students who had not yet graduated or even seen blood before. A moment ago, they had all been teetering on the edge of wetting themselves.
Of course, Jiraiya might actually have crossed that line.
"H-how is that possible? That's just water from the Water Release in the scene!"
Jiraiya refused to admit it.
If he acknowledged peeing himself in front of Tsunade, the girl he liked, then he felt he could forget about ever winning her over in this lifetime.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, was helping Tsunade roast him.
When something amusing was happening, there was no way he would miss it.
"Director, isn't this a bit too much?"
As Haru admired the scene they had just filmed, one of the assistant directors spoke with a worried expression. He had also shot fight scenes before, and in his productions the movements and action were all carefully controlled. The blood in the script was usually just props.
What Haru was doing was on an entirely different level.
The combat scenes were massive. The destructive force of the ninjutsu had left the directors dumbfounded. It was the first time he had seen something this real in filming.
The sight of skin being cut open and blood spraying had made his heart pound.
After all, he was just an ordinary person making a living through film. Even when he hired ninja to perform techniques, he had always done so very carefully. If someone died during filming, that would be more trouble than it was worth.
"They're students from the ninja academy. In the future, they'll all become real ninja. For them, scenes like this will eventually become part of daily life."
Haru spoke calmly.
The assistant director looked stunned. As an ordinary civilian, he was simply too far removed from the ninja world and had naively assumed that war was something only adults dealt with.
"They're still children. They're really going to go onto the battlefield this early?"
The assistant director was clearly troubled. He also had children, around the same age as Jiraiya and the others, and at home they still complained every day about studying.
"Is that strange?"
"In ninja wars, children this age going to the battlefield is something completely normal."
Haru's tone became heavier.
He could not help but think of the future from the original story. By the end of the Second Great Ninja War and into the Third, children this young going to war really would become a reality in the Leaf.
Kakashi had gone to war at six. Shisui, if he remembered right, was around seven. Itachi had gone onto the battlefield and killed people at four.
For now, the Leaf had not fallen to that point yet. It still had enough family wealth and foundations.
On this matter, Tobirama had actually done pretty well. Even when the situation became truly desperate, he had never gone so insane as to throw children straight onto the front lines to fill gaps.
Even after graduation, they were given some time to adapt through ordinary missions, experience blood on a smaller scale, and then take support or rear-line tasks away from the battlefield where the risks were lower.
The other four great villages, the smaller ninja villages, and the countless other ninja forces scattered around the world did not care about that, nor did they really have the ability to care.
"It really is cruel..."
The assistant director smacked his lips and sighed.
Haru patted him on the shoulder and said, "The Leaf doesn't like war. As Hokage, the reason I'm personally making this movie is to let the future warmongers of the ninja world see the cruelty of war, in the hope that they'll restrain their desire to fight."
"Hokage-sama truly has noble intentions..."
The assistant director was genuinely moved by Haru's words.
In the Land of Fire, he knew at least a little about the Leaf's reputation. It had always been known for benevolence and righteousness.
The other four great villages really were damned.
Filming continued day after day.
Scene Sixty-Eight, Shot Seven.
This scene was about Cloud Anbu carrying out a secret mission in the Land of Fire. Their trail was accidentally discovered by civilians, and to guarantee the mission's success, the Cloud ninja decided to wipe out the entire family, including the children.
A Leaf reconnaissance team arrived in time, protected the family, and drove off the Cloud ninja who wanted to silence them.
This, naturally, was Haru sneaking his own message into the story.
Things like this did occasionally happen in war. The Five Great Ninja Villages were not fundamentally different on this point. Hurting innocents in order to complete missions was not uncommon.
But this was a movie directed by Haru as Hokage.
The Leaf should naturally be portrayed as the savior descending from heaven, defeating the murderous Cloud ninja and rescuing the people of the Land of Fire.
Wasn't that only right?
"Don't be afraid, child. You're safe now!"
"Cut!"
"Again!"
Haru walked over to Uchiha Inabi and looked at him with utter disappointment before cursing him out.
"Inabi, do you even know what a warm smile looks like?"
"Why is your damn smile so cold?"
For a scene like this, one that could massively boost the audience's affection, Haru of course had to give it to an Uchiha. Subtly layering moral charm onto the Uchiha image was his duty as clan head.
At first, Haru had still had some patience. After all, for an Uchiha, smiling warmly really was difficult.
But this useless bastard Inabi had already messed up more than ten takes, and Haru was on the verge of replacing him with another Uchiha clan member entirely.
"Get lost, get lost. You, whichever Uchiha that is, get up here and take his place!"
"No, please, Clan Head-sama!"
"There are too many people here. Later, if you find somewhere quieter, I..."
Haru could not be bothered wasting more words on him. He had given him an opportunity, and he had completely failed to use it. He had pulled strings to get himself this role, yet had not even practiced his smile seriously beforehand.
"Last chance!"
Haru returned to the director's seat and gave Inabi one final opportunity.
And to be fair, this time Inabi's smile actually looked pretty decent. It finally carried a bit of warmth.
Haru nodded.
At last, that take passed.
Just as Haru was immersed in the joy of being a director, Shikato ran over to the film set and dragged him back to the Hokage's office.
"Hokage-sama, filming needs to pause for two days. We've received word from Lord Tomiya. Other than the necessary rear-guard ninja, the main front-line forces will return to the Leaf tomorrow at ten in the morning."
"The Leaf is going to hold a grand welcome ceremony. You have to attend in person."
Only then did Haru remember the date Tomiya had previously set for his triumphant return.
It really was these next few days.
Perfect timing.
There was also a scene in the movie where the war ended and the Leaf ninja returned home in triumph. This time he could film it on location and even save some money.
When Haru shared the idea with Shikato, Shikato naturally had no objections. As long as Haru was happy.
The next day,
Haru led the upper ranks of the Leaf to the village gates and arranged a grand welcoming ceremony. Every camera in the film crew had been brought out.
To make sure they showed the best possible spirit, Haru had already sent word to Tomiya in advance. This welcome ceremony would be fully recorded on video, so the Leaf had to look full of energy.
"Tomiya, welcome home!"
"Hokage-sama, I did not fail my mission. I return victorious, and I've even brought you an interesting prisoner!"
"Who? Don't tell me it's Ohnoki."
"No. A bounty hunter. No idea what madness got into him."
"He actually set his sights on a Hyuga main family member's White Eyes. His strength was incredible. He almost pulled it off. If I hadn't come out for a walk in the middle of the night because I couldn't sleep..."
"The structure of his body is unlike anything I've seen in my entire life. His hearts..."
"Forget that for now. Let's eat! Let's eat!"
Haru had no interest in discussing unlucky matters on a day of celebration, so he immediately dragged Tomiya off to the hotel banquet.
The table was packed with the Leaf's upper ranks. Shikato, Takuya, Mito...
Amid clinking cups and flowing drinks, everyone drank heartily, and the words of praise made Tomiya down three huge bowls of alcohol in a row.
He had dreamed of this scene countless times. Becoming the commander of a war front, leading the Leaf to crush invading enemies. But when Tobirama had been Hokage, he had never given the Uchiha a chance to command troops and build prestige.
"Takuya, you owe me a drink. There was a bounty hunter whose strength wasn't weaker than mine, and he was after a main family member's White Eyes. A Hyuga main family member's White Eyes are worth over a hundred million on the black market. Fortunately, I..."
Tomiya began describing how, unable to sleep, he had gone for a walk in the night and discovered a bounty hunter attempting to ambush a Hyuga main family sentry stationed at the edge of camp. Tomiya had quietly summoned a squad of Uchiha jonin, and while the Hyuga main family ninja and the branch family member beside him tangled with the bounty hunter, Tomiya's group surrounded the man from all sides and, after a fierce fight, captured him alive.
Takuya, already half drunk, was jolted so awake that most of the alcohol vanished from his system. He immediately stood up and downed three huge bowls of alcohol in a row to thank Tomiya. If that reckless bounty hunter had actually succeeded, then Takuya's position as clan head would have become very unstable.
"I'm telling you, that bounty hunter supposedly has five hearts. We destroyed four of them."
The moment Haru heard five hearts, he could no longer sit still.
(End of Chapter)
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