"Nichizane, I heard the newspaper office opened today, and the sales are going strong." Danzo Shimura strode into the office with a faint smile. His eyes landed on Sakumo Hatake, the newspaper's president. "Sakumo, you're here too, huh? Heh, making good money, I hope?"
"Master Danzo." Sakumo Hatake gave a polite nod, but his expression was troubled.
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, coughed twice, then said, "Danzo, the newspaper isn't making any profit."
"Really? That's disappointing." Danzo's smile remained, but there was a sharp edge to his voice. "The newspaper's funds are limited, and if it keeps losing money, we'll have no choice but to shut it down."
Hiruzen snorted. "It's not necessarily doomed."
"I've read your paper," Danzo said with a condescending chuckle. "Honestly, I'm disappointed. The price is already as high as the market will bear. If you raise it, sales drop. Keep it low, and you lose more the more you sell. Relying solely on our funding won't sustain it."
Hiruzen looked uncertain but stubborn. "I still believe it can be profitable."
Danzo's smile faded. "I stand by my opinion. This isn't a child's game. If the newspaper keeps draining our funds, I won't approve it." He paused, his eyes narrowing like a fox's. "I suggest privatizing the newspaper."
"Privatize?" Hiruzen frowned.
At present, the newspaper office was under the Hokage's direct administration. Sakumo Hatake and his vice president Uchiha Fenghuo were effectively government officials. Privatizing would push Sakumo to the sidelines—transforming him into nothing more than a businessman running a ninja newspaper.
But if the newspaper lost money every day, it would eliminate the financial burden on the government. Two birds with one stone.
"That's right. Any department..." Danzo began, but Hiruzen interrupted with a slow nod.
"I agree. From today, the Konoha Hayate newspaper will become private, responsible for its own profits and losses."
Danzo froze. What was this? Wasn't Hiruzen supposed to push back? Why agree so quickly?
"Do you really agree? Are you sure you've thought this through?" Danzo asked, trying to hide his surprise.
Hiruzen smiled faintly. "I'll reconsider the details later."
Danzo's heart skipped. Did that mean a refusal—or a reluctant acceptance?
He gritted his teeth. "Since you agree, it's settled!" With that, he turned and left.
"Sire Hokage, this could be dangerous," Sakumo whispered. "According to Fenghuo's estimates, once the newspaper expands, advertising revenue alone could bring in substantial income. If it's privatized, the Hokage's office loses control."
Hiruzen exhaled slowly, pipe in hand. "Danzo and I have to prioritize the Root and ANBU. Those require significant funding. If taking the newspaper off the books frees us from this burden, I can breathe easier."
Sakumo nodded, understanding the reasoning.
"Distribute the papers quickly," Hiruzen ordered, "and I'll find ways to absorb short-term losses. My family's resources can help, and we can borrow from influential clans like the Uzumaki if necessary."
In the following days, Fenghuo personally set up over a dozen newsstands throughout the village. Each stand sold about 5,000 papers daily, and Fenghuo estimated the market wasn't saturated yet—he planned to open more.
Fenghuo was tireless, but Sakumo and Hiruzen looked increasingly distressed.
"Selling over 50,000 copies daily means losing over a million ryo every day!" Hiruzen groaned. "I've poured in my family's savings and borrowed from others like the Uzumaki clan. Yet this bottomless pit keeps swallowing the money."
A loss of a million ryo a day amounted to over 30 million monthly, and 300 million yearly.
"Suo Mao, find Fenghuo. Tell him to slow down. If this continues..." Hiruzen clenched his jaw, "our clan and the Hokage's resources will be wiped out!"
Could Fenghuo be a spy from the Uchiha, sent to bleed us dry?
Hiruzen's suspicions haunted him.
Under pressure, Fenghuo reluctantly changed the paper's release schedule from daily to every three days.
Yet despite this, losses kept mounting. Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, editors responsible for editing the Genin's low-level mission reports and fantastical stories from CD City, were exhausted.
"Fenghuo, I'm quitting!" Minato said grimly, his usual golden hair now a messy nest, dark circles under his eyes. "This is harder than training ninjutsu—I can't keep up."
Fenghuo crossed his arms, sneering, "A man shouldn't say he can't handle it."
Suddenly, Jiraiya blushed and punched Fenghuo on the head. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Fenghuo blinked, as if suddenly understanding something.
"Fine. You can leave, but you'll have to train me to be an editor to replace you!" Fenghuo said with a grin.
Eventually, the newspaper's sales stabilized. Fenghuo nearly monopolized the village's news market.
He had worried competitors would try to seize the market, but after calculating the cost—ten ryo per paper sold—they hesitated.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, was close to suffering from angina.
Losing money every day, when would this ever end?
Danzo spent his days happily buying every issue of the Konoha Newspaper. Seeing those papers gave him strange satisfaction.
His Root agents uncovered the truth: all the newspaper's losses were funded by loans from clans like the Uzumaki and other emerging families. As long as the paper survived, these families were financially shackled, unable to flourish.
Danzo swore silently—anyone who interfered with the Konoha Hayate newspaper would face his wrath.
But even after a month, the newspaper headquarters was besieged.
"My lord, trouble!" An editor burst into Fenghuo's office.
"I'm fine," Fenghuo replied.
"No, sir. There are debt collectors outside. They're angry—"
"Debt collectors?!" Fenghuo laughed bitterly. "It must be Ishikacho, Yume Shiya, or Inuzukazume—they each owe nearly ten million ryo."
He opened the office window and shouted: "Tell them I'm not here."
The editor was left speechless.
Visit patreon.com/Morgansenpai to get 30+ chapters