at night
Kakuzu finished organizing the data, his green beady eyes gleamed with a sharp light.
In just one day, the number of members of the Land of Lightning Blue Sky Project reached nearly a thousand. These people were the first to try it out, the first to make money, and also the most likely to lose everything.
Human desires are like a boulder rolling down a mountain; once they start, they can never be stopped.
Kakuzu recalled some unpleasant memories: back then, he, like a plump, green leek, was almost cut down by the roots; now, times have changed, and he has been transformed into a sickle!
This feeling is really... awesome!!!
"Notify everyone to intensify their efforts and ensure that all investors who have paid their fees attend the company's marketing conference on time, so that we can effectively convey the company's philosophy to them."
"During the Spring Festival, the company's care and support services must be in place, and we must personally visit those wealthy elderly people living alone."
"And you all need to remember the pyramid theory; at a certain point, you must spread this theory."
"Investors are A, B are their downlines, their friends and relatives, and C is their relatives' relatives and friends' friends."
"This is a unique marketing model of the Blue Sky Project. The more people join, the more money you earn. Let's all work hard together and get rich!"
"We must encourage them to be A, to be at the very top of the pyramid!"
Under the Kakuzu of night, Kakuzu convened a meeting with the company's key personnel.
The blackboard was covered with densely packed knowledge points, exciting slogans, professional rhetoric, and a pyramid scheme theory.
The key personnel kept writing down key points with pens, intending to teach these theories to their colleagues in other locations within the company later.
"Shout our slogan again!"
"Sleep on the floor today, be the boss tomorrow!!"
What are you?
"We are billionaires!!!"
"Good!!"
Kakuzu seemed born to do pyramid schemes. His passionate speeches, coupled with the packaging of financial theories and his experience in bookkeeping in Konoha, created a sophisticated set of data theories that Kakuzu presented vividly, and the company's core members were truly drawn in.
There were a few "smart idiots" who, whether genuinely brainwashed or simply damaged by the powerful illusions, actually invested their own money.
Do you really think that when you're on the run, the sickle won't cut your own people?
Don't be fooled by Kakuzu's current appearance in a suit and tie, looking like a good guy. Once he takes off his tie, he's a madman. He wouldn't dare to take money from the big shots, as he'll hand it all over eventually. But he'll take as much money as his underlings can get.
It's a one-off deal anyway, might as well take the cut. Kakuzu doesn't care about you, if you've Kakuzu, come to Konoha and assassinate him.
As the meeting concluded, Hatake Sakumo shook his head at the company's core members, who were already deeply engrossed in their roles. It was yet another silent massacre; this time, he could watch the "leek" of the Land of Lightning put on a trapeze act.
Hatake Sakumo; his bounty was about to skyrocket again. He quickly pulled a mask from his pocket and put it on. "Hmm, I feel safe now. I feel much better."
Kumogakure, heavy snow falling
"This year's financial report is as bad as a pile of shit!"
"Can't you guys come up with a way to make some money?!"
The air conditioning and heating in the conference room for the year-end summary meeting were set to 30 degrees Celsius.
The Third Raikage, A, was still dressed in a light shirt as if it were summer, slamming his fist on the table and roaring in the conference room: this year, Kumogakure's budget was in deficit, and next year's budget was already over budget.
The funding approval for Daimyo has not yet been granted, and it is unknown whether more funding can be obtained to cover the deficits from previous years.
The burly, dark-skinned men in their seats all kept their heads down and remained silent; their talents were all focused on how to win in a one-on-one male battle.
"I heard that a Cloud Ninja force has appeared in the Land of Rice Fields. Confess, have you been secretly sending people out to make quick money behind my back?!"
" The Daimyo has sent someone to question me, asking why I didn't report the major military operation of Kumogakure to Daimyo, which resulted in me being severely scolded by the Daimyo's envoy!"
"We'll split the profits 30/70, keeping 30% for you, and I won't pursue this matter further!"
Still, complete silence.
"Hey, you guys have really messed things up!"
Have I ever withheld your funds?
"The village is facing difficulties now, and you're all pretending to be mute? If you can do it, then do it; if you can't, then get out of here!"
The Third Ai inherited his father's temper; when angry, he was like a raging Dotō, his eyes scanning everyone, trying to find some clue from their expressions.
" Lord Raikage, you know me well; I never do anything that violates village rules."
" Lord Raikage, you know me. According to my habits, a true man stands tall and upright; I would never do such a thing!"
" Lord Raikage, you know me. If it were me, this matter wouldn't leak out at all, and no one would be able to come out alive to complain!"
" Lord Raikage, you know me, I just got married recently and have been busy having my son. I simply don't have time to go out."
"Don't look at me! I'm staying right next to Lord Raikage, not leaving his side for a moment!"
"I can tell from your voices, you all possess extraordinary skills—someone is framing you!"
Seeing that he couldn't get any information out of the Third Ai had no choice but to give up for the time being. However, he definitely needed to give an explanation to the Daimyo. If the Daimyo used this incident to cut this year's budget, he would be in big trouble!
Who is it?
" Konoha!!!"
"No one but Konoha has this motive; they're trying to stage a whole thing to smear our Kumogakure!"
"It's just like how they make movies to smear us!!"
"Despicable, shameless, and filthy!!"
"I'll remember this grudge; the Kumogakure will pay for it sooner or later!"
The Third Ai, A, pinned the blame on Konoha. Since they were both enemy villages, it was safe to shift the blame to Konoha when problems arose, especially since the Land of Fire was so close to the Land of Rice Fields!
Has any intelligence been sent from Konoha recently?
The Third Ai, A, turned to look at the intelligence chief. Recently, information about Konoha had been sporadic. Three days had passed since the agreed time, and the intelligence agents lurking in Konoha had still not sent back any messages.
"According to the intelligence gathered by the third batch of agents sent there, Konoha is busy doing business and has already made a fortune!"
"Hmm? The third batch? What about the first two batches?"
The Third Ai posed a soul-searching question, causing the head of the intelligence department to stammer.
" Lord Raikage, they've gone to Konoha and aren't coming back."
The Hokage is not human!
They created a so-called "green card system" specifically to recruit ninjas from the five great ninja villages. As long as they provided valuable information, they could receive Konoha's protection and a large reward, and even live in Konoha as Konoha ninja.
"Asshole!!!"
Why did they betray the village?!
Raikage slammed his fist on the conference room table, angrily saying that the expensive table was cracked, making the Finance Minister feel a pang of heartache; the table had already been replaced five times this month. "Lord Raikage, if you can't make money, you must at least try to save money, right?"
"Due to funding constraints, a small number of spies hadn't received their salaries for two months, so they defected to Konoha. In the end, their entire network was also captured."
"They betrayed the ninja village just because they were two months behind on their pay and funding!"
"This is absolutely outrageous!!!"
No one responded to the Third Ai's words; ninjas made their living by beheading people.
Being sent to Konoha as a spy was already a life-or-death job; they were already risking their lives. Now that they're even embezzling their pay, they can't blame their brothers for not being loyal to the Lord Hokage.
Water flows downhill, and people strive for higher positions. Being a ninja in Konoha is far more promising than being a ninja in Kumogakure.
After venting his anger, the Third Raikage calmed down a little. He was still short of money.
"Where's Iwagakure? Why haven't they contacted us lately? I remember Ōnoki used to write me a few letters every month, but now I haven't heard a thing from the letters I write to him."
"It seems... um... Lord Raikage, you've forgotten? I remember mentioning it to you last time, that Konoha and Iwagakure have partnered to start a company called Konoha United Fruit Company, and the annual dividends are in the billions."
"Asshole!!"
"That shorty is a traitor! He cut off all contact with Kumogakure for a mere few billion taels of silver. I wrote him so many letters, and he didn't reply to a single one?"
" Lord Raikage, please relax. The Tsuchikage actually mentioned in his letter three months ago that he's been very busy lately and might not be able to reply promptly. Just wait a little longer, and maybe next month the Tsuchikage will reply to you."
"Bullshit! I suppressed the Gyūki for a whole day that day, and I even had time to reply to his messages that night. He just jumped ship to Konoha for money!!"
The Third Ai, this dark-skinned, blond-haired giant, clearly lacked the talent for being a sycophant. The lame excuse of "too busy to reply to you" wouldn't fool him at all.
"Should we still maintain the alliance with Iwagakure?"
"Of course we must maintain it!"
The Third Ai, A, spoke through gritted teeth, not blinded by anger. He knew that Sunagakure had long been bought off by Konoha and had probably completely sided with Konoha.
If Iwagakure also sides with Konoha, wouldn't Kumogakure truly be left isolated and helpless in the face of the powerful Konoha?
Konoha is truly terrifying. Even the Third Ai, couldn't believe the intelligence sent back by the spies—the exaggerated infrastructure, the terrifying flow of people, and the enviable financial resources.
Even if Konoha does nothing, it will become stronger and stronger. Whether it's this world or the original Hokage world, the historical trend over the next thirty years will still follow the industrial route, and capital and personnel mobility will become increasingly active.
The Land of Fire, Konoha, boasts the largest population, the most advanced technology, and the safest security.
Capital and people will flock to the Land of Fire, Land of Fire is a bottomless pit that sucks up everything in the entire Ninja world.
Konoha is still consciously pushing and leading this development, wanting to bypass the Land of Fire Daimyo and reap the benefits of this era.
The Third Ai, couldn't understand the complex economic factors behind it, but his beast-like intuition told him that if Konoha continued to develop normally, it would easily achieve the feat of taking on the four great ninja villages single-handedly in Konoha future.
Therefore, even though Iwagakure and Konoha were exchanging glances, the Third Ai, A, could only pretend not to know, and even had to write to Ōnoki regularly, pretending to look forward to his reply.
Of course, Ōnoki realized this as well. He was determined to unite with other ninja villages to weaken Konoha's strength. Even if he couldn't wage war against Konoha, he was determined to cause Konoha some trouble. But Konoha moved too fast, so fast that Ōnoki didn't even have time to react before Konoha had already taken over the Land of Grass.
And... um... billions of taels of silver in dividends every year... oh, that's so tempting! I'll just crave it this once. The relationship between Iwagakure and Konoha is just a facade; my true friends are Kumogakure.
What?
Ponzi scheme?
Hundreds of billions of taels of silver
Sigh. I've already betrayed you once, so a second time doesn't matter. This money is just too tempting (what a greedy little cat!).
" Konoha can make money through business, so why can't we, the Kumogakure, Konoha the same?"
The Third Ai, A, planned to learn by doing in Konoha. Although the Land of Lightning and the Kumogakure were not as wealthy as the Land of Fire Konoha, they weren't far behind. If he simply copied their homework, he could at least get a passing grade of 60, if not 80 or 90.
"Hey, why are you so quiet again?!"
"They're all so talkative when they need funding, why are they so silent now!"
"Speak up!!!"
Looking at his "highly skilled" subordinates, the Third Ai was filled with rage. He really wanted to punch them all to death! They went out to make quick money behind his back, and then hogged all the profits themselves! What a bunch of bastards!
Konoha attacked the Land of Rice Fields. To be honest, even the Third Ai, A, didn't believe it. There was absolutely no reason for it. The Land of Rice Fields was a loyal subordinate of the Land of Fire. Why would Konoha beat up its subordinate for no reason?
The suspects are likely his subordinates.
" Lord Raikage, we lost a lot of money last time we plagiarized a Konoha movie. The box office was atrocious. The industry even called Kumogakure plagiarism dogs."
"I think ninjas should do ninja things; doing business is really..."
The finance minister's voice trailed off until he was rendered speechless by the death stare of the Third Ai.
Damn it!
The Third Ai, who only knows how to spend money but not how to make it, really wanted to punch his head off.
"Are we just going to watch Konoha grow stronger and stronger until it can crush Kumogakure?"
"We have a blood feud with Konoha! The Second Hokage died at the hands of Kumogakure! Damn it, the more I talk about it, the angrier I get. Those damned Kinkaku and Ginkaku!"
The Third Ai punched the wobbly table. With a loud crack, it shattered completely into pieces of wood.
The sixth one
" Lord Raikage, I have a suggestion. Ninjas aren't good at business, so we can entrust our money to someone who is, and let him make money for us."
"Yes!!"
"How could I not have thought of that?!"
" Lord Raikage, I actually thought of that a long time ago, and I was just about to tell you."
"Actually, I thought of that a long time ago!!"
Looking at his "skilled" subordinates, the Third Ai suddenly understood his father's hardships—leading this group of clowns to compete with Konoha and holding out for so long. Truly remarkable!
However, having people who know how to do business help Kumogakure with their business is indeed a good idea.
But where can you find someone like that?
"Then tell me, where can I find people who know how to do business?"
" Lord Raikage, a powerful investment company has emerged in the Land of Lightning. I think we should give them a try."
A promotional poster for Blue Sky Project Co. Ltd.. was handed to the Third Ai.