The Power of Money Exceeds Your Imagination

A deafening explosion rang out, kicking up enormous clouds of dust that obscured an entire stretch of forest.

Hozuki Gengetsu had never expected the Land of Whirlpools to have prepared so many Explosive Tags. It was only an invasion war. It was not as if they had never experienced war before, so why were they refusing to play by the usual rules this time? Not only had they poured the entire nation's strength into it, but they had poured in the entire nation's wealth too!

Once they spent all their money, how would they calm the people and rebuild the country after the war? Were the whole country supposed to eat dirt?

If every war were fought like this, nations would have collapsed long ago.

What did ninjas carry out missions for? Money, of course! If you had this much money, why the fuck didn't you say so earlier? With money, everything was negotiable! Why not just give the money to me? Why had they started this war in the first place? For profit, obviously! Did the Uzumaki Clan really love this land so much? Even if they rejected his proposal, they could have simply left the Land of Whirlpools and found another place to multiply. Even if there were so many people outside, if their entire clan wanted to leave, could anyone really stop them?

No matter what, the Uzumaki Clan was still a major clan. Wouldn't it have been enough to find another place to settle and prosper?

Did they really need to waste money like this?

With money, what couldn't be negotiated?

What he did not know was that because of Kirigakure's invasion this time, along with the hidden hand behind it, the Uzumaki Clan had nearly been wiped out.

But now, they were probably truly finished.

Hozuki Gengetsu watched with a dark expression as the dust cleared, revealing devastation everywhere. If he proposed taking money and making peace now, not only would the village higher-ups and Elder Council curse him to death, but the villagers would curse him to death too!

Though most of those who had died were cannon-fodder genin, cannon fodder or not, they could not afford to lose so many!

Every genin had a family. Once they started marching in protest, his time as Mizukage would be over.

Starting a war, only to get beaten until they had to call them daddy—what kind of bullshit was that?

If they could not win, they could have run!

Was this suicidal method something only those brainless fools could come up with? Kirigakure only wanted this territory, to use it as a restraint against the Land of Fire. Hozuki Gengetsu now seriously suspected that Hiruzen Sarutobi, that old scheming bastard, had scared him into this trap! He must have intended for the Land of Whirlpools to inflict severe losses on Kirigakure. Otherwise, how had these fools, who only knew how to charge headfirst and howl, suddenly learned to use strategy?

This was not logical! How had they changed?

Everyone in the ninja world knew that the Uzumaki Clan was made up of people who put no points into intelligence and dumped them all into Chakra!

Hozuki Gengetsu looked around at the devastation stretching for several kilometers, all of it reduced to one enormous crater. "Treat the wounded. The rest of you, continue the operation with me."

Motherfucker!

Now he truly had to wipe out the Uzumaki Clan. Otherwise, how could he face the villagers when he returned? How could he face the Elder Council?

The Uzumaki Clan had put him over the fire to roast!!!

Now, he could only act. He could not spare a single member of the Uzumaki Clan.

A vicious look flashed across Hozuki Gengetsu's face. He waved his hand and roared, "Kill!! Leave none alive! Kill them all!!!"

Seeing Kirigakure begin to howl, Uzumaki Kai nodded in satisfaction. Prince Xun's strategy truly was effective!

It was a little expensive, but Kirigakure had dared to invade the Land of Whirlpools. If they did not teach them a harsh lesson, they would think the Uzumaki Clan was easy to bully.

It was only money. Prince Xun had plenty of it anyway. Besides, this feeling was amazing!

Even without relying on that so-called brother on the surface, the Land of Whirlpools would still win. Especially when Kirigakure had suffered such heavy losses right from the start—genuine, devastating losses! Surrounded by so many Explosive Tags, how could they not have suffered terribly? Could they not see that even the Uzumaki Clan members were crying out in pain? They might have been Shadow Clones, but the pain was still transmitted!

If the Mizukage failed in this invasion and returned to the ninja village, his title as village leader and high-ranking official would probably be finished.

So this time, the Mizukage was truly going all out.

Uzumaki Kai narrowed his eyes as the dust dispersed, and the scene before him gradually came into view. He could not help clicking his tongue and sucking in a cold breath. So this was the power of money. No wonder ninjas loved money so much! This felt incredible!

He waved a hand and shouted to the Uzumaki Clan members behind him, "The next step."

He sneered at the Mist Ninja before him. They thought that was all the Explosive Tags they had and planned to howl as they charged in for a head-on clash. Uzumaki Kai could only say he was sorry—they had no idea how much money Prince Xun had.

Uzumaki Kai now felt some admiration for Prince Xun. He had actually prepared for this long ago. And he had heard that Prince Xun had long said Konoha's people had sinister intentions and wanted to harm the Land of Whirlpools, warning the Clan Elders and Clan Head not to trust them. Yet no one had believed him.

"Prince Xun truly has remarkable foresight!"

When he saw the Mist Ninja come to their senses and prepare to launch a full-scale assault after all the Explosive Tags had been used up, he said, "Prepare!!!"

"Swish, swish—!!"

The Uzumaki Clan members neatly raised their Bows and Arrows, aiming at the attacking Kirigakure forces.

Seeing this, Hozuki Gengetsu quickly raised his hand to stop the Mist Ninja. Especially when he saw the Explosive Tags attached to the arrowheads, he immediately cried out, "Explosive Tags! Take cover."

But it was already too late.

"Fire—!" Uzumaki Kai sneered, directly waving his hand.

"Looks like they've reached the second step." Glancing at the forest in the distance, Xun Uzumaki turned to look at the Second Elder beside him. They worked in pairs—one threw Molotov Cocktails, while the other defended. It was just right. If Hot Air Balloons had not been so difficult to make in this era, he would have wanted to establish an air force.

"We've reached the Mist Ninja fleet," the Second Elder said. "The people below have probably noticed that something is wrong."

Xun Uzumaki curled his lip in disdain. So what if they noticed?

The Mist Ninja were not aerial ninjas. He refused to believe they had any high-altitude defenses or could fly. At such a height, what could they do besides throw Shuriken and ninjutsu? Even if they threw them, there was nothing to fear. The Uzumaki Clan might not have much of anything else, but they had plenty of Chakra. From so high up, how powerful could the Shuriken and ninjutsu they threw be?

"Haha!!" The Second Elder laughed loudly. "Kirigakure will probably suffer devastating losses this time!"

We suffered devastating losses too!

Xun Uzumaki looked helplessly below. He had spent a tremendous amount of money. Even if they defended the Land of Whirlpools this time, they would not be able to obtain war reparations from Kirigakure, because...

The Land of Whirlpools was still too weak. It would already be fortunate if Kirigakure did not come attack them again, and they still wanted compensation.

Of course, if they could capture the Mizukage or seize a Tailed Beast, then they might have a chance to negotiate with Kirigakure. After all, if a ninja village did not even ransom back its own Kage, it would be doomed sooner or later. Hozuki Gengetsu and the Mist Ninja would probably be mocked by every other ninja village.

If they had the strength, they really could pull something like that off. The problem was that they lacked the strength!

Kirigakure had two Tailed Beasts!

As long as they did not release them, Xun Uzumaki would be grateful. Capture Tailed Beasts? If they had that kind of ability, would others have dared to invade so easily?

"Big Brother and the Clan Head have begun," the Second Elder suddenly said.

Had they begun?

Xun Uzumaki narrowed his eyes.