The atmosphere was extremely oppressive. Ōnoki took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
"Want one for everyone?"
"Cigarette?"
"This logo looks familiar... it's from Konoha again."
"Mmm."
Ōnoki nodded with a pained expression.
Cigarettes are a good remedy for men to relieve their distress.
Originally, Ōnoki didn't smoke, but since becoming the Tsuchikage, he's faced with numerous tasks and increasing pressure.
Smoking thus became a part of daily life.
Damn it!
" Konoha is really persistent; I see them everywhere."
Third Ai cursed, took the cigarette from Ōnoki's hand, and skillfully took out a lighter from his pocket.
He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and a look of enjoyment appeared on his face.
"Can I borrow a light?"
Suitō felt his pockets and discovered that his lighter had been stolen by someone.
Here, for you.
" Raikage, your lighter seems to be Konoha brand too."
Suitō lit a cigarette, glanced at the lighter in his hand, and then saw the familiar Konoha logo.
For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat oppressive again.
The three of them felt a tightness in their chests.
They all fell silent, their eyes fixed on the distance.
They each held a cigarette in their hands, the cigarette butts glowing and dimming in the cold wind, like the wavering thoughts in their hearts.
The smoke rose in wisps, swirling and dissipating in the air, as if representing their unsettled sorrows.
"Do you think Konoha really makes money from this tobacco business?"
The cigarette was almost finished.
Looking at the nearly burnt-out cigarette butt, the Third Ai took the initiative to start talking.
"It must be profitable, otherwise Konoha wouldn't be promoting Konoha brand cigarettes so vigorously."
"When Konoha Tobacco Company opened a branch in Iwagakure, they not only gave me several cases of good cigarettes, but also offered me a job. They were really generous."
After finishing one cigarette, Ōnoki took another one from the pack and lit it.
I've almost finished one of the Third Ai and Suitō, and I still feel like I haven't had enough.
The Konoha brand cigarettes are really strong.
This cigarette helps me calm down and feels good.
The two simultaneously signaled to Ōnoki with their eyes.
Bro, one more!
Seeing these two freeloaders reaching out for their cigarettes, Ōnoki could only take out a few more cigarettes from his pack and give them away.
"To be a guy?"
"You answered it?"
The Third Ai lit another cigarette, and when the topic of being a boyfriend came up, he recalled some unpleasant memories.
"I took the job, spent half a day filming a video, said a few promotional slogans, and earned a full seven figures."
"It's you, aren't you going to answer?"
Ōnoki said it casually, with a hint of pride in his words.
Although no specific figures were revealed, the overall impression was instantly elevated.
"Holy crap!! *2"
The Third Ai and Suitō exclaimed in surprise.
Is the tobacco business really that profitable?
Suitō was starting to question the meaning of life.
He instantly felt like he had wasted half his life!
Seven figures—that's the reward for an S-rank mission!
S-rank missions are extremely dangerous.
Only the village's Jonin ) are capable of completing this mission, which involves various dangers and the risk of dying during the mission if one is not careful.
half a day
Just stay in your room, film a video, say a few gay words, and you can earn seven figures.
I have to take this job too!
"Yes. It's just tobacco."
The Third Ai chimed in from the side.
Both the Third Ai and Suitō were Kage, and thus considered to be worldly-wise individuals.
However, this was limited by the limitations of ninjas.
They only knew that making money in the tobacco business was possible, but they had no idea about the terrifying profits involved.
But Uchiha Nan was fully aware of this.
In the past, in the Rabbit Country, tobacco companies paid 1.5 trillion yuan in taxes annually, while ICBC only paid about 110 billion yuan. The difference was more than a zero.
Tobacco taxes directly subsidize the military expenditure of the Rabbit Country!
The Hokage world is frequently at war
Tobacco is a great way to soothe emotions, and it has a huge market not only in the Land of Fire, but also throughout the entire Ninja world.
The greater the pressure, the more people need to relieve it.
During wartime, tobacco and alcohol were truly hard currency among ordinary people.
Moreover, the tobacco business does not require much technical expertise.
To get into the tobacco business, all you need is power.
Coincidentally, Konoha held a tiny bit of power within the Land of Fire.
Konoha had established a tobacco company several years ago.
Uchiha Nan had Tobirama Senju, Konoha's best horseman, personally upgrade the tobacco processing technology on the market to ensure the quality of Konoha brand cigarettes.
What followed was annexation and expansion.
If you're going to be in the tobacco business, then you have to achieve a monopoly!
Being a warlord is so awesome!
Konoha can eat their fill, run a tobacco business, and don't even have to pay their share of the taxes originally levied by the Land of Fire.
As for his Daimyo?
Screw your Daimyo!
How many Jonin are among Daimyo Kage Level fighters?
The Land of Fire originally had more than twenty mainstream cigarette brands and hundreds of miscellaneous brands, all of which were forcibly acquired by Konoha.
The merger process was fraught with bloodshed and violence, but Uchiha Nan didn't care.
The Hokage of Konoha has Jonin dispatched Jonin from Konoha to visit the owner of the tobacco company with a fruit basket.
The tobacco company owner actually refused to sign the merger agreement voluntarily and then obediently take the money and leave.
That only proves that this is no ordinary tobacco company owner!
If you don't eat loyalty, you'll have to eat purple eggs.
Konoha's air transport unit is ready to be deployed at any time to send them to see the Sage of Six Paths.
It turns out
The owners of those tobacco companies were truly reluctant to give up the goldmine that was the tobacco business.
The tobacco business in the Land of Fire is truly murky and complex.
Konoha had been killing people for over a month.
Even the Daimyo couldn't withstand the pressure from the forces behind the tobacco business in the Land of Fire, and had to personally come to Konoha to plead for mercy.
Konoha has taken over most of the tobacco business!
Lord Hokage!
Konoha has already taken enough!
Konoha eats meat but doesn't let others eat bones; at least they should be allowed to drink some meat broth!
So, stop using your supernatural powers now!
However, Uchiha Nan's attitude was very firm.
Even if it's just meat broth, Konoha has to drink it all himself!
In the tobacco business, you either don't do it at all, or you do it to the very end!
Only monopolies can generate supernormal profits.
He returned home with a Daimyo defeat.
Konoha fought for another half a month, slaughtering countless people in the Land of Fire before finally unifying the entire Land of Fire's tobacco companies.
In the Land of Fire, only Konoha brand tobacco remains.
The tobacco industry, which had been corrupted by powerful figures at all levels in the Land of Fire, was forcibly restored by Konoha, which consolidated all brands of tobacco into a single, unified system.
The enormous profits from the tobacco business in the Land of Fire were only just beginning to emerge.
The higher-ups in Konoha saw those terrifying numbers; the boxing matches alone lasted two days and one night, yet they still couldn't agree on the allocation ratios.
In the end, it was only after Uchiha Nan personally intervened as Hokage to divide the spoils that the matter was finally resolved.
Who knows?
"Anyway, the Hokage of Konoha certainly wouldn't do a losing business."
"It must be very profitable."
Ōnoki spread his hands, his tone somewhat helpless.
He was a ninja, not a businessman; how could he possibly know how much money could be made in the tobacco business?
"Do you think we should give it a try...?"
The Third Ai, puffing on a cigarette, spoke with eager anticipation.
The Kumogakure is in dire straits right now.
First, they were scammed by a Ponzi scheme, and then they led the Kumogakure troops to attack the Iwagakure at great personal risk. Only then did they manage to force the Daimyo of the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning to bleed Daimyo to heal the Kumogakure.
The money hasn't even warmed up yet.
His hometown was bombed into ruins by the Sky Ninja Village.
The reconstruction of the village will be an astronomical expense, and a large sum of money will be needed to handle the affairs of the ninjas and villagers who died in the air raid.
The amount of money recovered earlier is simply not enough to fill such a huge hole.
Even if all the ninjas in Kumogakure worked tirelessly on missions, they still wouldn't be able to earn that much money.
Therefore, relying solely on Kumogakure) is definitely not going to work.
Moreover, ninjas and ninja clans join ninja villages to stick together for mutual support, to gradually improve their lives, and to make their clans increasingly prosperous.
It wasn't to suffer and be a slave.
The Kumogakure hasn't disintegrated yet, purely because of hatred. But once the Sky Ninja Village is destroyed, who knows what will happen next?
I wonder how many ninjas will defect to Konoha.
However, the Third Ai would never allow Kumogakure to fall apart; otherwise, how could he face his father after his death?
I'm sure I'll have to ask Daimyo for money again.
Even a penny can stump a hero.
Moreover, rebuilding Kumogakure would certainly cost an astronomical sum.
Without money, there is no dignity.
The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning would certainly be willing to pay for the Land of Lightning, but there would definitely be no shortage of obstacles along the way.
And a whole host of additional conditions are required.
Even if he were to be verbally abused by the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, he would still have to put on a smiling face and act subserviently at the dinner table for the sake of the village.
Money, oh money!
Kumogakure has always been short of money.
If it weren't for the severe shortage of money...
How could I have been so eager for quick success and fallen for Blue Sky Project Co. Ltd..'s trick?
"That's something worth a try."
Ōnoki nodded; he had always wanted to emulate Konoha's business practices.
But problems kept piling up.
There was considerable resistance within the village, with a group of stubborn conservatives from the older generation leading the opposition against Ōnoki.
Doing business?
They lack ambition!
A ninja should train, become stronger, and then take on missions. During these missions, they fight enemies, constantly honing their skills to become even stronger, and then take on higher-level missions to continue growing stronger.
As for the others...
Let alone doing it, even thinking about it for a second is a crime.
Obstacles from the older generation, and tedious village affairs
Pressure from all sides prevented Ōnoki from making a firm decision to lead Iwagakure through reform and transformation.
But now Ōnoki is determined to take a gamble.
Let those troublesome uncles die!
If you keep dragging your feet and looking back and forth...
In a few years, Iwagakure might not even be a shadow of Konoha anymore.
I should have been more decisive back then!
" Konoha can do it, there's no reason why Kirigakure can't."
Suitō's eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
When faced with setbacks, the weak will cower and retreat, screaming and running away, while the strong will only become more excited.
Suitō himself was born an ordinary person with no bloodline limit, but through constant struggle and his strong resilience, he fought his way up and eventually became the Third Mizukage of Kirigakure.
Konoha is strong, but Kirigakure is not without its own strength.
At the very least Kirigakure is quite far from Konoha, separated by a sea.
As long as you can survive, there is always hope.
Before the Sage of Six Paths appeared and Chakra was transmitted across the land, humanity could not have imagined possessing such immense power. Samurai controlled everything, but later ninjas took their place.
The world will not favor any one person or any one country. As long as you can survive, you will eventually receive a belated reward.
But Konoha is really lucky!
It gave birth to Hashirama Senju Madara Uchiha, two unparalleled figures in the Ninja world, who directly dominated an era, leaving the other four great ninja villages breathless.
The situation only improved after Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju died.
The four great ninja villages seized the opportune moment presented by the deaths of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, giving Konoha no time to develop further, and hastily launched the First Shinobi World War.
The four great ninja villages took turns bleeding out Konoha, fighting for so many years that everyone was exhausted, injured, and burdened with a mountain of debt.
Konoha was forced into a pyrrhic victory, fighting four opponents at once.
at last.
Only the four great ninja villages managed to bring Konoha down to roughly the same level as themselves.
According to the original plan, the four great ninja villages would recuperate for a few more years until they recovered, then join forces to continue weakening Konoha and eventually crush Konoha.
but
Now, another freak Uchiha, has appeared in Konoha.
In just a few short years, he led Konoha to once again reign supreme in the Ninja world!
Damn it!!
It was all for nothing!!
Suitō harbors envy, jealousy, and hatred towards Konoha.
But as a strong person, he had his own pride, and after going through countless hardships, he finally became the Third Mizukage.
Suitō certainly wouldn't just resign so easily.
"It's not just about the tobacco company; what we need to learn is Konoha's way of thinking and handling things."
"I've been studying Konoha and Konoha Third Hokage these past few days."
"That Hokage is extremely ambitious. I'm 100% certain he was the mastermind behind the Amegakure incident, and Hanzo the Salamander was merely a pawn he used."
He wanted the ninja class to officially become the masters of the world.
He wanted to permeate Ninjutsu into every household, and he would use Killing ninjutsu, to develop productivity...
"I can sense Uchiha Nan's domineering spirit, and the facts are proving that he is taking steps towards success."
Ōnoki "spoke wildly," saying things that he had been suppressing in his heart and could not say in public.
The Third Ai and Suitō frowned, but did not refute, simply listening quietly to what Ōnoki was saying.
The Daimyo has a complex and intricate network of connections, maintains close ties with powerful clans in the ninja villages, and is a major financial backer of the ninja villages.
Furthermore, the rules of the ninja world bind the ninja villages and the Kage.
Some things are better left unsaid.
But now.
Facing Konoha, which is so powerful it's like a monster.
Those thoughts that were buried deep in my heart, never to see the light of day, have begun to surface.