A Crouching Tiger in the Woods, Waiting for the Wind to Rise
"My lord, the latest intelligence on Kumogakure!"
Pakura, dressed in a white suit, handed a piece of intelligence to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru didn't look at the note immediately; instead, he examined her outfit with great interest.
The suits were custom-made, of course. Unlike the male staff, the female staff didn't have strict requirements for their clothes; they could choose whatever suited them.
Those impressive breasts made the shirt underneath bulge out; I was worried about the buttons that couldn't bear the weight.
The little suit jacket she wore had a small number 3 on the chest, indicating that she joined Northern Lands shortly after Hozuki Mangetsu and Ringo Ameyuri.
The short skirt under the suit jacket hugged her hips tightly, and her long, straight legs in black stockings were dazzling.
She used the first batch of black stockings produced in the Northern Lands, ostensibly to test the quality of the products.
Sure enough, a woman with good looks looks good in anything.
Especially a ripe peach like Pakura, exudes a captivating charm from head to toe.
Orochimaru felt as if he had returned to the world of his past life. Although he was a scientist, it didn't stop him from being a boss in this life!
Noticing Orochimaru's keen interest in examining her outfit, Pakura playfully scolded him and sat down opposite him.
However, Orochimaru didn't unleash his beastly nature; it was quite nice to enjoy the sights during his free time.
"The Kumogakure is really going to keep causing trouble, they keep sending ninjas over every few days!"
Looking at the rows of names on the slip of paper in his hand, the ninja's rank, their preferred Ninjutsu, the time they left Kumogakure, and the number of people, etc.
Ever since Kisame ambushed them, the Kumogakure has been searching everywhere to find out who did it.
Because they had recently Hizashi Hyuga death of Hyuga Hizashi in Konoha, they immediately turned their attention to Konoha.
This is why the Northern Lands has been completely silent for the past six months.
In the Ninja World, if a country closes itself off from the world, it's possible that no news will come out for three to five years, or even ten or eight years.
Otherwise, the affairs of the Amegakure would have been common knowledge long ago, and the Akatsuki could not have kept quiet for so long.
This is because the way messages are transmitted in this world is too limited. There are no communication tools like mobile phones or telephones, let alone the wonderful method of transmitting messages over long distances.
Traveling is mostly done by taking the No. 11 bus, and news is mostly passed from person to person through word of mouth.
For example, if Orochimaru from Konoha mysteriously disappeared, the news would likely spread to the Northern Lands, leading people to believe that Orochimaru had either defected or died.
At least that's how it's passed on among ordinary people.
The situation in the Northern Lands has just stabilized, and no missions have been taken from other villages yet, so the visiting ninjas are naturally unaware of the situation here.
In previous years, there were relatively few outsiders coming here. Recently, even when ninjas came, they were driven away by the Northern Lands Military Police Force.
Although the Land of Grass had caused some commotion earlier, no one in this tiny island nation cared about their lives.
Therefore, information here is relatively scarce, which Orochimaru is not too worried about.
"Should we send more men out to intercept and kill them?"
Pakura continued to ask, seemingly not taking them seriously.
With intelligence, they have plenty of time to prepare, and wiping them out again wouldn't be difficult.
"No need, as long as they don't come to the Northern Lands. This kind of thing can happen once or twice, but not three times. If they are intercepted and killed before even entering the Land of Fire, people will definitely be suspicious."
As for their entry into the Land of Fire, what does that have to do with the Northern Lands? It would be better if the two great powers fought each other.
The Northern Lands is now recovering, and all it needs is time. We must first pacify the internal situation before dealing with external threats. It would be better to announce the existence of the Northern Lands to the Ninja World after he has made all the necessary preparations.
How are our products doing?
As he spoke, Orochimaru looked at Pakura with great interest; what he was referring to were naturally the products produced in the Northern Lands.
With such a large population integrated into the Northern Lands, there will naturally be more talented people, such as scientists and researchers.
While we can't handle things like cell phones and computers, radios and televisions, which don't involve much technology, are definitely no problem.
If it can be built, it can be widely deployed. If the conditions are right, signal tower base stations can be built from the Northern Lands outwards, and power lines can be run over along the way.
This was also the foundation for the future development of wired telephones, and this step was indispensable.
"Dozens of radios have been produced, but progress is slow due to limited production lines."
The same applies to televisions; as for other supporting products, such as speakers, projectors, and microphones, the progress is even slower!
After a moment's thought, Pakura recounted all the information he had gathered.
Even with more talented people, there's also more to do.
An ordinary person would develop step by step, but Orochimaru already had the technological foundation, so all he had to do was produce them one by one.
This consumes more productivity and slows down the overall progress.
Surpassing Hidden Cloud Village in one year and catching up with Konoha in two years is unrealistic, but we still need to have a first five-year plan!
"Hmm! Is the money recovered from various countries enough?"
After a moment's hesitation, Orochimaru asked again.
As far as he knew, Kakuzu had plundered large sums of money from various ninja villages, especially Yugakure and Snow Ninja Village.
One has the money to develop technology, and the other has a highly developed tourism industry. Snow Ninja Village has already joined the Northern Lands with its assets, so it's probably not worth looking forward to in the future.
However, Yugakure, which is now the Capital City of the Land of Gold, still has a steady stream of revenue every year.
"At the current cost, it can only last for about two years at most!"
Pakura said with some helplessness, "Although the cost of building a house is not high, the expenses for industry and technology are astronomical."
Without more revenue, the Capital City alone cannot sustain itself. Moreover, now that the Land of Gold has been unified, where can it go to conquer cities and plunder wealth?
"Keep producing the products; we won't have to worry about not being able to sell them when the time is right!"
Radios and televisions are sold domestically first, as are clothes, stockings, high heels, bags, lipsticks, and cosmetics.
These are all consumables, and our own family uses them in large quantities. Haven't you noticed that Pakura's legs are changing color every day?
"How are they? The stockings are decent quality, right?"
Pakura, who was seriously pondering the problem, was also a little stunned when he suddenly heard Orochimaru's question.
This thought process is so bizarre! One moment they're discussing matters of national importance, and the next they're talking about personal matters.
"Pah... you old lecher!"
Pakura glanced at Orochimaru, then deftly pulled her small foot out of her strappy high heels, and then slightly lifted her foot, stretching her bare foot out from under the desk.
Although separated by an office desk, his 1.2-meter-long legs seemed to transcend time and space, gently resting on Orochimaru's lap.
Why don't you test the quality yourself?
Before Orochimaru could react, her jade-like feet, tightly wrapped in black stockings, began to move restlessly.
Orochimaru looked at her ambiguous smile and couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself. He had unleashed a demon!
Orochimaru naturally couldn't tolerate Pakura's provocation. He was furious, and the incident in Kumogakure had him in a bad mood.
Before long, the two were wrestling, determined to tame Pakura, this wild horse!