"Ōnoki, it's been a long time."
Uchiha Nan walked into the reception hall and saw Ōnoki sitting in a chair. He was still as short as ever, showing no signs of growing taller. If he didn't have the chance to grow taller again, 1.3 meters would probably be his limit. Ōnoki's feet couldn't even touch the floor when he sat in the chair.
"Hokage, Kazekage, it's been a long time."
Ōnoki jumped off the stool and then strained his back.
"Oh, my back!"
Ōnoki looked pained, one hand on his waist, and it took him a while to recover.
Ōnoki's back... he's so young and already has a problem?
Although it was quite pitiful, it was really funny. Ōnoki's short stature, exaggerated big nose, and the way he clutched his lower back and screamed in pain made Uchiha Nan and Mosa forcefully suppress the upturn of their lips.
"You flatter me. There are just too many things to do in Iwagakure. I accidentally developed a herniated disc, it's just a minor ailment."
Ōnoki wore an embarrassed smile; he had already made a fool of himself after just meeting the Kazekage and Hokage.
"Tsuchikage, no matter how busy you are with work, you must learn to take care of your health."
Mosa seemed to understand this deeply; working day and night as a gold miner in the desert, panning for gold, could lead to an early death if one didn't take good care of their health.
"It's all for the village. We are the village's shadows." Ōnoki sighed slightly after saying this, recalling some unpleasant memories. Even as the shadow, he had to take time out to carry out missions in order to earn as much funding as possible for the village. He did missions during the day and stayed up late at night to process documents. Ōnoki felt bitter!
Why did the atmosphere suddenly become so tense?
Uchiha Nan quickly changed the subject.
After exchanging pleasantries, Ōnoki sat back down and started chatting with Uchiha Nan about the Konoha United Fruit Company.
Ōnoki remained skeptical, not believing that Uchiha Nan could be so kind as to give away shares to Iwagakure for nothing, at a price that was practically negligible.
For Iwagakure, this means billions of ryo a year!
Is Konoha so wealthy that it doesn't care about billions?
That's the answer, of course!
While billions of ryo a year is a considerable sum, it's nothing to Konoha these days; it simply means earning a little less from the Land of Grass.
Konoha has already achieved its strategic goals with the Land of Grass; making money is just a side effect.
Konoha will earn back several times, ten times, or even a hundred times the billions of ryo they lost in the future!
If a mere few billion ryo could buy Iwagakure's silence in siding with Konoha and facilitate the establishment of Ninja world trade system, that would be an incredibly good deal!
Furthermore, according to intelligence, Iwagakure and Kumogakure have formed an alliance. This could undermine their alliance, and we must make good use Iwagakure our ancestors' wisdom in forming alliances and Kumogakure.
Uchiha Nan had absolutely no goodwill towards those dark-skinned Kumogakure. Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure had all fought wars with Konoha, but only Kumogakure was a ninja village that fought Konoha to the death from beginning to end, until the ninjas from both villages were almost drained of their blood.
The Kumogakure is far too aggressive. The alliance between the Kumogakure and the Iwagakure must be broken, and the Kumogakure must be isolated as much as possible in the Ninja world.
Someday in the future, it wouldn't be unreasonable to impose economic sanctions on Kumogakure!
"Ōnoki, Konoha has always upheld Lord Hashirama's Will of Fire and adhered to the principle of mutual benefit."
"The Land of Land of Grass is ravaged by war, its people displaced, and countless have starved to death. Therefore, Konoha intervened, establishing the Konoha United Fruit Company. As for the results, Ōnoki has already seen them, so I need not elaborate."
Uchiha Nan spoke in official diplomatic language, saying that Hatake of justice.
Ōnoki listened patiently, at least judging from his expression, he believed what Uchiha Nan said. As for what he really thought, Uchiha Nan had no idea.
After exchanging the necessary diplomatic pleasantries, Uchiha Nan handed Ōnoki the outline of his plan, which not only involved the Konoha Joint Fruit Company but also the rules for the newly constructed Ninja world trade system. However, given the numerous details involved, Uchiha Nan only outlined the main points, emphasizing the obligations that Iwagakure needed to undertake—to support Uchiha Nan and jointly build the new Ninja world world trade system!
As long as the major ninja villages don't get involved in this matter, Uchiha Nan doesn't care about the opinions of those Daimyo. If they don't want to cooperate obediently, then they might as well die.
Ōnoki carefully reviewed the plan, which was similar to what Uchiha Nan had stated in his invitation.
Is Hokage really that transparent?
Billions were given away just like that!
Outrageous!
Don't contact me anymore, Kumogakure! I'm afraid Konoha will misunderstand!
The Iwagakure simply opened its market, allowing villagers to freely buy bananas and other fruit products from Konoha.
Uchiha Nan did not force Iwagakure to purchase a certain amount of bananas or Konoha's fruit products each year; he left all of that to the villagers of Iwagakure to decide for themselves.
"If Konoha -made goods are of good quality and inexpensive, then the villagers of Iwagakure will buy them willingly. There's no need for the ninja villages to interfere. All the ninja villages need to do is nothing and let the market compete freely."
If no one buys your goods, the shop owner needs to reflect on why their products are expensive yet not very useful.
"If a business that constantly complains and blames others goes bankrupt and closes down, what's so surprising about that?"
"The Ninja world Trade System is designed to promote the development of commerce in the Ninja world, allowing the entire Ninja world to enjoy the best quality goods at the most affordable prices!"
Praise to Hayek, your greatness needs no further explanation!
Uchiha Nan was advocating the theory of the free market, and Ōnoki listened attentively, not finding anything wrong with what Uchiha Nan was saying.
The shop owner failed because of his own mismanagement, so he deserved it!
If you're not making money, sometimes you should look for the reasons within yourself. Have you been working diligently all these years? Have your skills improved?
In contrast, for ninjas, if you're not strong enough to get missions, you should train hard to become stronger. In the Hokage world, ninjas are almost all staunch advocates of socialism; weakness is their original sin.
Talented individuals like Hashirama Senju are rare, appearing only once every few centuries.
As for that so-called escort mission, how much money could that cost!
They planted the Iwagakure (Iwagakure) flag directly on the caravan, and chopped off any claws that the Land of Earth dared to reach out.
"Thank you very much, Lord Hokage."
Ōnoki finally smiled. This trip to the Land of Grass had been incredibly profitable, bringing in billions of ryo a year, which would make his life much easier.
Everything is going so smoothly, "Uchiha Nan smiled as well.
The bigwigs have agreed on the terms, and the deal is done!
The atmosphere was peaceful and harmonious.
"The Tsuchikage and Hokage have always had the entire Ninja world on their minds. Look at the Land of Grass now, it's changed so much I hardly recognize it. It's truly an amazing achievement."
"That's absolutely true. The Hokage's methods are simply unbelievable."
"You flatter me, you flatter me."
Mosa praised Uchiha Nan without reservation, and Ōnoki nodded repeatedly. Uchiha Nan remained humble, but secretly he was pleased. Only flattery from people of the same social standing is the best flattery!
"Hokage has a knack for making money; could you share some tips?"
Ōnoki stared intently at Uchiha Nan, knowing that Konoha had made a fortune in business over the past two years.
Iwagakure is desperate to improve!
However, doing business is not exactly a ninja's forte. Ōnoki has yet to make up his mind to use the village's funds to run some businesses. After all, Iwagakure's finances are still in deficit, and doing business is risky. If he rashly gets involved and loses money, there will be other people in the village with ulterior motives stirring up trouble.
For traditional ninjas, serving in the army and receiving pay was a matter of course!
To abandon one's proper work and go into business is utterly outrageous; not to mention doing it, even thinking about it for a second is a sin.
Even Uchiha Nan faced numerous difficulties at the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey, with almost no one in the village supporting him. The voices of the opposition, led by Mito Uzumaki, drowned out everything else.
Uchiha Nan, risking the Hokage's authority, forcefully pushed the process forward.
If it weren't for the opportune timing, location, and popular support, and the fact that Futures had ruthlessly eliminated the inhumane insects within the Land of Fire, allowing those ninja clans to seize the profits, it would have been virtually impossible to promote commerce in Konoha.
"Yes, Hokage, please share some insights."
Mosa chimed in from the side. Uchiha Nan smiled, thinking, "I've been rained on myself, so I might as well offer someone else an umbrella. Yeah, right!"
They tore the umbrella apart!!!
"The most important thing in developing a business is choosing the right track and leveraging your strengths. Especially, you have to be willing to go all in!"
"Going all in is a sign of wisdom!"
Don't be afraid of losing money!
"How much money you've wasted determines how magnanimous you are. If you've wasted a billion taels on wasteful spending, when it comes to getting things done, wouldn't taking out a hundred billion be a piece of cake?"
"I understand applause!!"
"."
Go ahead and drink up all that motivational self-help stuff!
It's a pity I didn't bring a speaker; the sound wasn't powerful enough.
Mosa and Ōnoki didn't quite understand Uchiha Nan's motivational speech, but they still couldn't help but applaud Uchiha Nan.
"The Hokage, what a spirit!"
"Ten billion taels of money were wasted just like that."
Ōnoki realized what was going on. No wonder Uchiha Nan could make so much money; he was also incredibly generous to Iwagakure, giving away billions of ryo so easily. When would he be able to be so extravagant?
An S-rank mission only yields a few million taels of silver, and requires high-level combatants from the village to carry it out. The funds accumulated at great personal risk are lost in business, and instead of being used to educate the village's children.
Don't even mention spending a billion taels to try and fail, to choose a track; if you lose a hundred million or tens of millions of taels, the village's higher-ups will be in an uproar.
Mosa remained silent, already having second thoughts. The business world was far too treacherous. Even the Hokage had wasted a billion taels of silver; he knew he must have wasted far more than that – a billion taels!
The thought of it makes my heart bleed, so I think it's safer to stay a gold miner in the desert.
Sunagakure needs stable development; going all-in with risky moves could easily destroy the village.
Uchiha Nan sighed inwardly as he looked at the two of them with bitter expressions.
You're military leaders, how could the military lose money in business?
That's just plain stupid.
Forget it.
"The current economic situation in the village makes doing business far too risky."
Ōnoki didn't dare to lose 1 billion taels, let alone gamble with the village's funds. He planned to let the village take a break, at least pay off the debts, and then consider doing business when there was some extra money in the treasury.
Mosa nodded repeatedly.
"It's really hard to save up initial startup capital; I took a huge risk back then."
Uchiha Nan deeply resonated with this point, understanding the hesitation of Ōnoki and Mosa.
The initial capital accumulation was bleeding from every pore. Those who lost everything in futures trading and became frequent flyers are now old and gray, and their wives have probably remarried with their children.
"However, I do have a way to get through this difficult period."
Uchiha Nan suddenly remembered an interesting game: the trick to the capital game is to take money from other people's pockets and put it into your own, making fools believe you have the ability to make their money grow, and then repeating the cycle. In the end, you run off to nightclubs to date young models, while the fools end up in factories fixing screws.
"Oh?"
"I humbly request your guidance Hokage!"
Mosa's expression brightened; he knew Uchiha Nan had a solution.
"If I had an investment product where you only needed to give me your money, you could get a 40% return within two months, would you be willing to invest?"
Ōnoki did a quick mental calculation: invest 100 taels and do absolutely nothing to earn 40 taels in profit. Such a lucrative deal was definitely worth doing!
"Then I'll probably give it a try."
"Great, I think many people will be willing to give it a try."
"Wait a minute, Hokage. You haven't said what kind of business you're in that guarantees a 40% return every month."
Mosa identified the blind spot and raised a question.
"Kazekage, do you think there's any business that's guaranteed to make money these days?"
"And why would you, a complete stranger, bring along a chance to make money instead of your own brother?"
Uchiha Nan looked at Mosa with an expression of concern for a mentally challenged child.
"Hokage means..."
Ōnoki had a bad feeling, instinctively sensing that what Uchiha Nan was about to say would shatter his worldview.
"There's no such thing as a guaranteed profit in this world. The important thing is to convince people that you have a profitable business, which requires initial capital. Just now, when the Tsuchikage heard about such a lucrative deal, he even wanted to invest some money to try it out."
"I believe many people share this idea: invest a small amount of money and receive a timely return."
Human nature is to like getting something for nothing and to be insatiably greedy.
"The most important thing in the early stages is to promote your money-making ability, attract more and more people to entrust their money to you, and let you make more money for them."
"Using money from later investors to cover earlier losses can accelerate development and cultivate agents. As long as they can attract investors, they can receive a commission. I believe many people would be happy to earn this money."
"Like a snowball, the plate gets bigger and bigger!"
"A classic Ponzi scheme, "Uchiha Nan's magnetic voice announced his idea. Ōnoki and Mosa looked shocked, without a doubt—this scheme would definitely attract a lot of people to hand over their money to Uchiha Nan.
"But there will come a day when this method will no longer be sustainable."
"I know I can just grab the bucket and run away when the time comes."
"If the three of us ninja villages join forces to set up a scheme and find a proxy, our village will have abundant funds, powerful intelligence, and unparalleled influence."
"We can create a god in the investment world!"
"With the combined strength of our three ninja villages, I believe we can implement this plan."
"Easily amassing wealth in the hundreds of billions!"
"And do you really think the Land of Lightning and the Kumogakure will fall for this?"
Uchiha Nan's words were like the devil's whisper, tempting Ōnoki and Mosa to open Pandora's box.
"Wealth in the hundreds of billions."
Ōnoki and Mosa had red eyes and were panting heavily.