Outside, snow still filled the sky, blanketing everything in silver. Inside, the lights shone brightly in a scene of peace and harmony. Koji Kurama and his wife, Mai Kurama, sat in the seats of honor. Akira sat to their left, while to their right sat another Kurama Clan member who had recently awakened a Bloodline Limit—Hisashi Kurama.
Today was January 1st, the holiday most valued by the people of Japan. All the direct descendants of the Kurama Clan had gathered in this hall to celebrate the New Year together.
Koji Kurama was especially happy today. His gaze toward Akira was filled with fatherly affection. This child, only seven years old, had taken the dying Kurama Clan and led it to its current prosperity in just two years. Outsiders might think the Kurama Clan was merely wealthy, but as Clan Head, how could Koji Kurama not know just how powerful the clan had become?
The Kurama Clan had gone from having no jonin-level experts to having them. Two years ago, he alone had been a Special Jonin. Today, the jonin seated in this hall included himself and Hisashi Kurama.
There were also many with the potential to become jonin. Tsukishiro Yuexi, Qing Yan, Taichi Odagiri, Kanon Kurama, and Mirai Kurama all had boundless futures ahead of them. Then there was Hong Lian, who had always remained by Akira's side. Though she was weaker than the first five, she was still a genius among geniuses compared to those her age.
Most crucially, there was Akira Kurama!
Even though Koji Kurama had become a jonin, he still could not see through Akira Kurama's true strength. This child seemed forever shrouded in mist; no one knew what hidden trump cards he possessed.
Koji Kurama even had the feeling that as long as Akira Kurama did not die, the Kurama Clan ruling the world would absolutely not remain a dream!
Akira did not care what Koji Kurama was thinking. He simply found raising a clan rather interesting. Seeing that everyone had nearly finished eating, he softly called out, "Clan Head?"
"Mm!" Koji Kurama nodded and set down his wine cup. The once-lively hall gradually quieted down. Everyone knew that their Clan Head, Koji Kurama, had something to say.
"First, I want to thank everyone for your hard work this past year. At present, our Kurama Clan has opened Zhonghua Cuisine Restaurants throughout the Land of Fire. Our monthly income has continued to grow, and as of the end of December, our net income exceeded seven hundred million!" When Koji Kurama announced that figure, the entire hall was stunned. The Kurama Clan had not been desperately poor before, but it had certainly never been wealthy. Yet now, what other clan in all of Konoha had this much money?
"Now, let Akira Kurama tell everyone about our plans for the new year!" Once the discussions had mostly died down, Koji Kurama pushed Akira forward. Everyone in the hall stared intently at him. They all knew who had brought them such enormous wealth.
"Uncles and elders, Happy New Year." Akira stepped into the center of the hall and politely greeted everyone first.
"Last year, Zhonghua Cuisine alone brought us enormous wealth. I believe no one here would deny that. But at the same time, we must face the fact that the wealth brought by Zhonghua Cuisine has more or less reached its limit. Other than expanding into countries beyond the Land of Fire, there is no more room for growth. Yet everyone should understand the current situation in the various nations. The Third Great Ninja War ended not long ago, and trust between countries remains limited. If we open restaurants there, we may be collecting our employees' corpses within days." Akira deliberately paused, giving everyone time to think, before continuing, "Therefore, the safest place for us to make money is still the Land of Fire. Since the restaurant business has reached a bottleneck, I believe it is time to expand into other industries!"
"Other industries? What industry could make more money than restaurants?"
"Wouldn't that be too risky? The restaurants are still doing great business!"
"I think so too. Isn't the current situation already good enough?"
Listening to the discussions among the Kurama Clan's elderly members below, Akira could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Kurama Clan did not have many old people. If this were the Hyuga Clan, a few elders rambling on and on would have killed any plan halfway through.
"Ordinary people cannot live without food, housing, transportation, travel, shopping, and entertainment. We have an advantage when it comes to food; the Kurama Clan's culinary expertise is already famous far and wide. So, our next plan is housing!" Akira looked at everyone's expressions. Sure enough, every face was blank with confusion.
"This is why I originally asked that the land occupied by the restaurants be expanded as much as possible. It is also the hotel plan I have in mind." Akira grew a little excited as he said this.
Building a chain hotel with his own hands! Wouldn't that be absolutely awesome?
"Ahem... Akira, how exactly should we understand this... hotel?" Koji Kurama coughed and asked with an adorably blank expression.
"A hotel is, at its most basic, a commercial establishment that provides customers with a safe and comfortable place for short-term rest or sleep. Generally speaking, it is a place that provides guests with lodging and food. More specifically, a hotel is an organization that earns economic profits by using its building as its foundation to provide guests with services through the sale of rooms, dining, and comprehensive facilities. Hotels mainly provide tourists with accommodation, as well as daily-life services and facilities, bedtime services, dining, games, entertainment, shopping, business centers, banquets, conferences, and other facilities." Akira explained patiently, but everyone still wore the same confused expression of, "I don't understand it, but it sounds amazing."
Akira could not help feeling inwardly dejected. It seemed that building a five-star hotel in the Naruto World would still be a long and arduous task!
"It still feels rather risky...," several elders began muttering again.
Akira sighed helplessly. "Everyone, a hotel is not built in a single day. Our plan will also proceed step by step. The hotel plan I just mentioned is our goal. Next year, our task will be to build hotels in the Royal Capital, the Secondary Capital, and Oita Prefecture. Everywhere else will remain unchanged for the time being."
After the clan meeting ended, Akira felt more exhausted than ever. Tsukishiro Yuexi tenderly massaged his head, while also blaming herself for being unable to help Young Master.
"Yuexi, go to the training camp and call the Four Brothers—Up, Down, Left, and Right—over here," Akira instructed after resting for a while. The Four Brothers were quadruplets. When the Kurama Clan spy who had found them saw that it would be a pity for such rare quadruplets to starve to death, he brought them back from the Land of Grass. Akira had specifically gone to see the four of them at the time and unexpectedly discovered that they shared a subtle mental connection. That was interesting. So, as a prank, Akira named them Up, Down, Left, and Right. He personally taught them reading and cultivation for two months, then asked Qing Yan to take special care of them. The result had been unexpected.
After a year of training, the four children had finally cultivated Chakra. Upon examination, they were found to possess four different natures: wind, lightning, fire, and water. At the time, Akira had an idea: if he trained these four children to carry his palanquin, wouldn't it look incredibly imposing when he went out?
Once that thought appeared, it could not be stopped. So he specially purchased various rare materials and customized Seed Golden Elixirs for the Four Brothers. This time, the requirements for the Seed Golden Elixirs were not as high as before, so the success rate naturally rose. The four Golden Elixirs were Fire Source, Lightning Kirin, Wind God, and Water Lord. They had two effects: first, to purify Chakra; second, to increase affinity with Chakra natures.
Led by Yuexi, Up, Down, Left, and Right entered with synchronized steps. At the same time, they dropped to one knee and shouted, "Greetings, Young Master!"
"Up, Down, Left, Right, there is only one reason I called you here today. It is time to begin what I promised you back then!" Akira said with a smile as he looked at the identical-looking youths.
"We are willing to die for Young Master!" The four youths looked delighted and immediately lowered their heads as they shouted. Yes, Qing Yan had thoroughly brainwashed these four youths. Akira did not even need to use genjutsu; they were already utterly loyal to him! Qing Yan had awakened a truly incredible ability!
"It is not that serious. Four Seed Golden Elixirs—take them according to your Chakra natures!" Akira beckoned, and Qing Yan approached carrying a tray. Naturally, the items on the tray were meant for these four youths.
"Yes!" The four youths did not hesitate in the slightest. They grabbed the Golden Elixirs and swallowed them.
Akira smiled faintly to himself. He truly had to thank the Uchiha Clan! If they had not selflessly stood at the forefront and drawn all the attention, how could Danzo have failed to notice the Kurama Clan's differences even now?
Before you continue