The capital of the Land of Hot Water was called Spring City, named for its abundance of hot springs.
Spring City's largest power was, naturally, the daimyo of the Land of Hot Water. The daimyo owned nearly half of the city's hot spring hotels, thirty percent of its gambling dens, twenty percent of its restaurants, and the largest armed faction. He also held taxation rights and ownership of more than half the land in Spring City.
Because the Land of Hot Water had not followed the Five Great Nations in adopting a one-country, one-village system, instead using centralized military and political rule managed entirely by the daimyo, the daimyo of the Land of Hot Water held immense power.
However, the daimyo could not do whatever he pleased in the Land of Hot Water. Apart from him, the other factions were like petty warlords, each occupying its own territory. If the other factions united, they could even surpass the daimyo.
The major factions included the Wamura Family, the Okiki Family, the Hizumi Society, and the Evil God Cult.
These four factions essentially represented all forces apart from the daimyo. Any smaller faction had to attach itself to one of them to survive, or it would sooner or later be finished. The four major factions did not permit powers that existed outside their rules.
It was like the Five Great Nations, which would never allow another small country to rise and become a sixth great nation. Either submit to a great nation or be suppressed. The Land of Rain was the best example!
The area where Neji's base was located fell within the Hizumi Society's territory. In the past, Zuo Mu-Duanlong had paid a certain amount of protection money every quarter to avoid unnecessary trouble and maintain peace.
The Hizumi Society controlled the eastern part of Spring City. Its territory was fairly large, though most of it was inhabited by commoners. Its main businesses included selling "drugs," gambling dens, "brothels," and movies. It also collected protection money and squeezed ordinary residents dry.
Because these industries were all prone to conflict, the Hizumi Society maintained an armed force second only to the daimyo's. This force had more than thirty Jonin, over two hundred Chunin, and more than eight hundred Genin, nearly matching the strength of some small ninja villages.
According to rumors, the Hizumi Society also had connections with certain high-ranking officials from the Land of Lightning. No one had stepped forward to verify it, but as long as no one refuted it, it was probably true.
The Okiki Family's main businesses were medicinal herb trading, restaurants, and "drug" production. The Okiki Family produced the "drugs," while the Hizumi Society handled sales. The two were birds of a feather, though rumors claimed their relationship was poor and that they had constantly clashed over prices.
The Wamura Family had a relatively singular business scope. It was a family that had produced and sold weapons for generations, or in other words, arms dealers. Because it manufactured weapons, the Wamura Family held mining rights to nearly all the mineral veins in the Land of Hot Water. The price for those rights was that the Wamura Family was almost completely bound to the daimyo. Otherwise, why would the daimyo hand over the fundamental national right of mineral extraction to them?
Compared to the other factions, the Evil God Cult was much simpler. All its followers had only one goal: spread their doctrine. Since it did not harm the interests of other factions, and because the Evil God Cult was too strange and not weak, no faction had been willing to provoke it so far.
Upon closer examination, none of the four major factions or the daimyo could be called kind. All were built upon exploitation and oppression, and all practiced monopolies. As for the three great vices of sex, gambling, and drugs, they were practically standard business for every faction.
It really was chaotic and dark! As Neji listened to Zuo Mu-Duanlong report the information, he learned the basic intelligence they had recently gathered on the major factions in Spring City, the capital of the Land of Hot Water. There was also a large pile of scattered information afterward...
After leaving Konoha, Neji realized that he had been somewhat naive before. He had always thought Konoha's higher-ups were hypocritical, presenting one face in public and another in private, always fond of political maneuvering and maintaining balance!
After seeing the situation in the Land of Hot Water, Neji realized that when there was no hypocrisy, no public face and private face, and darkness was simply displayed openly, the people at the bottom seemed to live even worse lives.
When rulers did not even bother with a fig leaf, why would they care whether the people lived or died?
The apparent prosperity of the Land of Hot Water
was for the rich and upper class to enjoy, while the rot beneath it had to be filled with the flesh and blood of the lower class! Perhaps I really should do something. Perhaps I can do something!
For the time being, Neji was not planning to touch these factions. It was not that he could not defeat them, but that there was little point in taking them down.
At present, he simply did not have enough manpower to take over these factions. If he only defeated them and did nothing afterward, then what was the point of attacking them? It would be meaningless! It would only increase casualties and make life even harder for the already impoverished commoners.
It would also bring him a great deal of trouble. Those who disrupted the rules and broke the balance were often attacked by everyone together.
His current strength was still far from invincible. Without the assistance of Highly Concentrated Natural Compression Fluid, he had to deal with even ordinary Kage-level experts carefully, and he could not claim certain victory!
What was more, a whole group of Super-Kage-level experts were on the way. He still needed to act cautiously and develop quietly!
The core purpose of establishing a faction was to assist his cultivation!
He could leave trivial matters such as making money, purchasing equipment, conducting experimental research, and gathering intelligence to the faction, giving himself more time to cultivate and more resources to grow stronger.
That was the original purpose of building a faction and escaping Konoha. Otherwise, with Konoha's restraints, not only would many things be difficult to carry out freely, but he would also be constrained by all sorts of missions and bound by so-called ties!
The strong did not believe in tears, and the weak were not worthy of sympathy. Working hard to become stronger was the only way out!
After Zuo Mu-Duanlong finished reporting the basic situation of Spring City's major factions, Zuo Mu-Qi Feng and Tenbu had already used carriages to transport cartloads of medicinal herbs back to the base.
Of the medicinal herbs purchased this time, only a small portion was essential for daily life. Most were dispensable, so although this large-scale purchase drew the attention of some observant people, it did not cause much of a stir.
He separately set aside the juice extracted from the Jingtianlian.
Neji brought it into the laboratory and mixed it with an appropriate amount of Highly Concentrated Natural Compression Fluid in a high-pressure tank. From time to time, he had his subordinates rotate the tank to ensure the two substances came into even contact.
After roughly twelve hours, once the Natural Energy and Jingtianlian juice had fully mixed and been absorbed, he took it out and handed it to Zuo Mu-Qi Feng and Tenbu, instructing them to hire professional pharmacists and refine all these medicinal herbs into Body Reinforcement Fluid.
The pharmacists had to be the best. If money could solve it, then hire them as exclusive pharmacists for our side!
Zuo Mu-Qi Feng and Tenbu were both decisive people. Without saying more, they went out to look for pharmacists.
Seeing Qi Feng and Tenbu leave, Tanaka Iko, who had been waiting outside, knocked and entered. After bowing to Neji, she said softly, "Greetings, Chief. Jingzi spent two days traveling through the villages around Spring City and selected three suitable planting areas. Two have better conditions and are closer to the city, but both are near the Okiki Family's plantations. It is said that the Okiki Family has taken a liking to both plots and is still negotiating prices, intending to use them to grow 'drugs.'"
Seeing that Neji gave no response, Tanaka Iko continued, "The other plot is about sixty kilometers from the city. The soil is fairly fertile, but the vegetation is too dense, making development difficult. Accordingly, the price is relatively cheap. Please decide which plot we should choose, Chief?"
Neji pondered for a while before instructing her, "Put this matter on hold for now. I'll give you an answer within the next two days."
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