Chapter 37: Report to the Kazekage! I’m Taking Him Down!
"Despicable! Shameless! Utterly disgraceful!" Rasa slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage, sending the teacup tumbling over and spilling tea across the surface.
"If you're angry, just say so, but why take it out on the table? Now I have to clean up," Karuke muttered as he pulled out a cloth to wipe the mess.
"Have you ever seen anything like this? Have you? The factory hasn't even been running for a year, and this oxygen-tube-wearing old man has already raised taxes for the third time! What does he want? I bought the land along the river with real money for a fifty-year lease, so what gives him the right to demand more taxes? If he pushes me too far, I'll move the factory elsewhere. Tax hikes? Let him go tax the River God of Shule instead!"
"Move the factory? That's not an option. Did you forget what the Kazekage instructed? We're supposed to stay by this river," Karuke said, trying to calm Rasa down as if soothing an upset child. He poured Rasa another cup of tea.
Rasa slowly regained his composure, taking a sip of tea. "So, it's just one million ryō for 'sanitation fees'? Fine, give it to him. Consider it charity for a beggar."
"I think we can pay it, but we shouldn't give in so easily. If Hanzo of the Salamander can extort us at will, he'll only become more brazen in the future," Karuke cautioned.
"Of course, it won't be that easy!" Rasa said with a sly smile. "Send him an invitation. Let's have dinner tonight and propose that he sells us the Sumu Iron Mine. If he agrees, this one million can be counted as a personal gift from Sunagakure's Sandglass Group. Forget calling it 'sanitation fees' or 'garbage fees'—those terms sound too degrading."
"And if he refuses?" Karuke asked.
"If he refuses..." Rasa's lips curled into a sinister smile.