The Akatsuki Ninja Village Rises on the Wind!

With the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire stamping his Daimyo seal on the agreement, the plot proceeded as it had in the original.

The Ninja Village Era had truly arrived.

The transformation of the ninja economy would inevitably bring about an overhaul of organizational structures. The old system of ninja clans accepting missions as family-based units could no longer keep up with the times.

They could either choose to adapt or be swept away by the tide.

"Big Brother, why do I feel like the Daimyo's attitude toward our Konoha is so cold?"

At the farewell banquet,

the Daimyo still appeared before Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju. Even though he himself had no desire to appear before the dangerous Hashirama Senju, matters of etiquette and human relations required him to come.

However, he treated Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju in a strictly businesslike manner, wearing a hypocritical smile. As a sensor-type ninja with keen insight, Tobirama Senju sensed the air of estrangement surrounding the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire.

"Tobirama, your habit of being suspicious of everything has returned. The Daimyo just walked over with a warm smile and shook hands with both of us!"

"He was very enthusiastic!"

"Big Brother, you're just too willing to trust others!"

That was what Tobirama Senju said.

If Konoha wanted to prosper and develop, it had to maintain friendly relations with the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire. However, the Daimyo's current attitude worried him. In particular, seeing Uchiha Makoto and the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire chatting away so enthusiastically made Tobirama Senju even more displeased!

Moreover, when Tobirama Senju had shaken hands with the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire earlier, he had carefully examined the Daimyo's body with chakra, but he had not detected any unusual chakra fluctuations within him.

Uchiha Makoto had actually not used Genjutsu on the Daimyo! Then what had Uchiha Makoto done to make the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire trust him so much that he had entrusted him with full responsibility for establishing a ninja village and creating a ninja mission distribution platform—matters that could change the future of the Ninja World? The Akatsuki Ninja Village established by Uchiha Makoto had been fully supported by the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire.

Tobirama Senju felt that he had to do something to preserve the friendly relationship between Konoha and the Land of Fire, thereby obtaining more funding and more sources of missions.

Of course.

In Uchiha Makoto's view, everything Tobirama Senju did later would ultimately be futile, because as long as Hashirama Senju remained alive, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire's attitude toward Konoha would never fundamentally change.

Even if Hashirama Senju knelt before the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire and swore that he only wanted to be a wealthy village chief and absolutely had no intention of rebelling,

people's hearts had always been difficult to fathom. Hashirama Senju might dare to say it, but the Daimyo would never truly dare to believe him. Whether someone harbored rebellious intentions was unimportant; possessing the ability to rebel was reason enough to target them.

The banquet ended.

Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju left the Capital of the Land of Fire, while Uchiha Makoto also did not remain in the Capital of the Land of Fire for long.

This time, the Land of Fire could be said to have gained an enormous harvest. Not only had it obtained 95 billion ryo in funding, but it had also received recognition from both the Land of Fire and Konoha. From now on, the entire Ninja World would have to address him as "Lord Shadow!"

Although the Akatsuki Ninja Village's strength did not yet match the title, now that he had both legitimacy and money, recruiting personnel and strengthening the ninja village would naturally follow.

A few days later,

Uchiha Makoto returned to the Akatsuki Ninja Village. During that time, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire signed a series of agreements concerning the construction of ninja villages and announced them to the entire Ninja World. Konoha was already famous and powerful, and it had the full support of the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire.

This did not surprise anyone.

But—

Akatsuki Ninja Village? Where had you come from?

For a time,

the name Akatsuki Ninja Village shot straight to the top of the Ninja World's trending topics, attracting the attention of countless ninja clans. Uchiha Makoto's name also spread throughout the Ninja World.

"Oh~ A member of the Uchiha Clan!"

"So it's Konoha's auxiliary account!"

"Damn it!"

"Which bastard started spreading this rumor throughout the Ninja World? How could the Akatsuki Ninja Village be Konoha's auxiliary account?"

Inside his office, Uchiha Makoto watched the absurd rumors spreading throughout the Ninja World and felt extremely irritated, but there was nothing he could do. The Akatsuki Ninja Village really did look especially like an auxiliary account raised by Konoha at present, leaving him with no chance to clarify matters.

"If the Akatsuki Ninja Village is attacked, Konoha will dispatch troops unconditionally!"

The two ninja villages had signed such an agreement. No matter how much the Akatsuki Ninja Village denied being Konoha's auxiliary account, nobody would believe it.

Konoha's Tobirama Senju was pretending to be dead and keeping silent, probably hoping to watch Uchiha Makoto make a fool of himself.

Uchiha Makoto sat in his office and sighed. Although he felt helpless, he had no intention of issuing a statement to clarify things. Rumors only became darker the more one tried to erase them. A verbal clarification was useless; there had to be powerful proof.

When Yongzheng had ascended the throne, rumors had circulated among the people that he had usurped the throne. He had personally stepped forward to clarify the rumors and even written a book called Record of Great Righteousness and Secrets. In the end, he only made matters even more suspicious. Ultimately, his son Qianlong had to clean up the mess for him by confiscating Record of Great Righteousness and Secrets and designating it a banned book, then killing everyone who had spread the rumors. Such powerful proof immediately stopped the rumors circulating among the people.

But the Akatsuki Ninja Village currently had no proof that powerful.

Still, being mistaken for Konoha's auxiliary account was not entirely without benefits. At the very least, it allowed the Akatsuki Ninja Village to ride Konoha's wave of popularity and attract numerous ninja clans of all sizes throughout the Ninja World.

The Hyuga Clan had already agreed to Konoha's invitation, then politely declined again. Naturally, Uchiha Makoto still had not given up. If a direct approach would not work, then he would use an indirect one!

However, the Snow Clan, Kaguya Clan, and Kurama Clan that Uchiha Makoto had contacted earlier had all replied. They had expressed tremendous interest in the Akatsuki Ninja Village.

Konoha already had enough bloodline ninja clans. The Senju Clan, Uchiha Clan, Hyuga Clan, and all those Secret Technique clans alone occupied a huge number of positions. If more joined, the seventy percent share of missions would not be enough to go around.

Although the Akatsuki Ninja Village had only thirty percent of the mission share, considering its current number of ninjas, that quota could practically be described as abundant and filling. There were more missions than they could complete—far more. They might even have to outsource some of them.

The Land of Fire was already wealthy and located in the center of the Ninja World. Taking everything into consideration, settling down in the Akatsuki Ninja Village was actually an excellent choice. There was no need to go to the Land of Water, an isolated country far from mainstream civilization. The four great nations generally did not include the island nation of the Land of Water in their affairs.

Moreover,

Uchiha Makoto had stated in his secret letters that anyone who came would receive settlement expenses: five hundred million ryo for a bloodline ninja clan, three hundred million for a Secret Technique family, and proportionally less for smaller clans. Once an entire clan migrated to the Akatsuki Ninja Village, they would receive cash immediately!

Jimmy joined an organization to do business, earn lots of money, and grow wealthy. Ninja clans joined ninja villages to complete more missions, earn money, and strengthen their families.

A huge mission quota—

along with the power of money—

made the results obvious.

The number of ninja clans in the Akatsuki Ninja Village rapidly increased, causing Uchiha Makoto's heart to swell with boundless pride. He could not help but exclaim in a Fenghua accent, "What a scene of vigorous life, with all things competing to flourish!"

Amid the joyful atmosphere,

Uchiha Makoto convened a meeting of the Akatsuki Ninja Village's ninja clans.