Cloud Village's Scheme

Minato thought of the recent reports he had received.

"The clashes between the Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village have been growing more frequent lately."

Shamu did not take it seriously.

"After Utakata returned, the Hidden Mist Village has trained him into an ace of naval warfare for external operations."

"If they don't wipe out the pirate forces, the Hidden Mist Village's influence will never grow."

"And the Hidden Mist Village will only continue to decline."

Shamu had also been sending no small amount of benefits to the Land of Water, all so the Hidden Mist Village could recover more quickly.

Otherwise, his next plan would be delayed indefinitely.

But by Shamu's estimate, the time was nearly here.

Over the past few days, Shamu had arranged for a large number of Uchiha elites in the Hidden Radiance Village to take leave.

Hiruko was getting restless. After all, he had already captured the other Kekkei Genkai ninja.

Now, only the Sharingan remained. Yet all the Uchiha had withdrawn into hiding.

Hiruko's constant investigations outside led him to discover a brutal fact.

Outside the Hidden Radiance Village, there were no Uchiha Clan members with Three-Tomoe Sharingan at all.

If he could not obtain a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he could not assemble a Perfect Ninja.

The start of the month was fast approaching. There were only four days left until the Golden Ring Eclipse.

Hiruko was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Fortunately, the Uchiha Clan's celebration had ended.

All the ninja began going out on missions again.

However, the Uchiha members sent out this time concealed their movements extremely well. Hiruko and the others could only trace one person whose whereabouts were relatively transparent.

That was Uchiha Yoya.

"Boss, this might be a trap."

After submitting the intelligence, Dog Two reminded Hiruko.

Hiruko held the report, his eyes as deep as still water.

"We can't worry about that now."

"If we miss this Golden Ring Eclipse, we'll have to wait another two years."

"After another two years, it won't be so easy to find these Kekkei Genkai ninja."

"Even if it's a trap, we have to go."

On the Land of Water route, it was still Yam Xiong's merchant ship.

They had originally thought the conflict between the Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village would end soon.

Unexpectedly, half a month had passed since their last voyage, yet the route toward the Land of Lightning was still under blockade.

Because Rainbow Ore prices had continued to rise, Yam Xiong's merchant ship had taken the land route last time, but had actually earned even more.

At the Hidden Mist Village's call, more merchant caravans had already begun preparing to resell the ore.

With the sea route blockaded, the merchant associations planned to disembark before reaching the route into the Cloud Village and transfer their cargo overland.

Overland transport would add more than two months to the journey, but quite a few merchant associations from the Land of Water had already set out.

After several days of recovery, Yoya's body had basically healed.

He was now aboard Yam Xiong's ship.

However, he was not serving as a guard this time. He was merely catching a ride.

Another Uchiha team was handling the escort duty.

Yoya's destination was the Land of Lightning, where the Cloud Village was located. He had specifically come to find Yugito.

He carried Shamu's mission: if the Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village started fighting, he was to use the Summoning Technique to notify Shamu.

Shamu would quickly come over to stop the Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village.

Yoya did not know that Shamu had also made him bait to lure Hiruko out.

And Shamu had actually been following him the entire time.

Given Yoya's personality, he had originally planned to wait until the situation between the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning became clear.

Then he would go find Yugito.

But since the clan leader had given him a mission, he had come early.

Yoya had no mission of his own, so he planned to travel aboard a merchant ship from the Land of Water.

After arriving in the Land of Mud, Yoya would head for the Cloud Village while the merchant caravan continued toward the Land of Porcelain.

Blocking shipping routes would disrupt the foreign trade of many countries.

The daimyos of many nations would negotiate with the daimyo of the Land of Lightning.

Although the Land of Lightning possessed strong military power, many supplies still needed to circulate.

The Land of Lightning had a vast territory and many affairs to manage, so it could only maintain the blockade for a short time.

The Cloud Village had never done this before because blockading shipping routes was not worth the cost.

It was not only the Land of Water that suffered losses; their own merchant caravans would suffer as well.

After all, if you do something to others, they can do the same to you.

The reason the Cloud Village had done this this time

was because the Land of Porcelain and the Hidden Mist Village's merchant association had signed a massive contract to transport Rainbow Ore.

The total price was five billion, and the Land of Porcelain had already prepaid two billion.

The remaining three billion would be paid to the Hidden Mist Village after the order was completed.

Rainbow Ore was the economic lifeline of the Land of Porcelain, so the contract price was dynamic.

The Land of Porcelain needed to order Rainbow Ore from the Land of Rainbows over the long term, but both it and the Land of Rainbows were nations without ninja.

Thus, they had always entrusted the Hidden Mist Village's merchant caravans with transportation.

Of course, private merchant caravans from the Land of Water also transported it, but in smaller quantities.

At present, Rainbow Ore could only be found in the Land of Rainbows.

The only substitute for Rainbow Ore was Seven-Colored Ore.

However, no large Seven-Colored Vein had yet been found in the ninja world, and Seven-Colored Ore was far more expensive than Rainbow Ore.

Even though the Land of Porcelain lay beyond the Land of Lightning,

the Land of Lightning had never prohibited merchant associations from the Land of Water from entering.

They had merely charged exorbitant transit fees in the past.

Under the Hidden Mist Village merchant association's usual shipping conditions, they could have completed the transport two months early.

But the Land of Lightning had suddenly blockaded the sea route.

They would not allow merchant ships from the Land of Water to transport the cargo by sea. The Hidden Mist Village alone in the Land of Water

did not have enough people to transport sufficient Rainbow Ore overland.

The Land of Porcelain began protesting and pressuring the Land of Lightning's daimyo, while Rainbow Ore prices soared.

From twenty-five thousand per ton before, they rose to fifty thousand per ton, doubling in price.

The Hidden Mist Village and the Cloud Village now fought almost every time they met at sea.

Although Yam Xiong's merchant ship had not passed through the Cloud Village's route last time,

it had gone ashore in the Land of Mud and taken a detour. The journey took even longer, but the ore sold for seventy-five thousand per ton.

Though the overland route had delayed them somewhat, they still made a fortune.

At this time, the Hidden Mist Village issued another call, and because the profits were substantial,

many private merchant associations in the Land of Water bought large quantities of Rainbow Ore.

Because the Land of Porcelain was purchasing Rainbow Ore at high prices, even at its place of origin, the price had risen to fifty thousand.

But the Land of Porcelain's current price was already seventy-five thousand. As long as they delivered the ore, it would still bring enormous profits.

These private merchant associations planned to follow Yam Xiong's merchant ship's example.

They would disembark in a small country farther ahead of the Land of Mud and transport the Rainbow Ore overland.

The reason the Hidden Mist Village had called for this was because its contract with the Land of Porcelain only specified how much ore had to be delivered.

As long as the ore transported by these private merchant associations could fulfill the contracted amount,

the Land of Porcelain, the merchant associations of the Land of Water, and the Hidden Mist Village would all be happy.

This vast fleet of merchant ships from the Land of Water had sailed out to sea and reached the middle of their journey.

Then they all received a piece of news. It struck like a bolt from the blue.

It stunned everyone badly.

The Land of Lightning had discovered a large Seven-Colored Ore vein, one that could completely replace the Rainbow Ore of the Land of Rainbows.

Furthermore, the Land of Lightning would supply the Land of Porcelain with unlimited quantities at an extremely low price.

The Land of Porcelain's purchase price for Rainbow Ore plummeted.

How could the Hidden Mist Village not realize that they had been thoroughly duped?

This scheme had been in the works for at least half a year. From discovering a mineral deposit to successfully mining it,

then stockpiling enough to disrupt the entire market and even cause the Land of Rainbows' Rainbow Ore prices to fall below their floor price,

it meant they had discovered Seven-Colored Ore long ago and had been stockpiling it through mining, only releasing it now.