Mizukage: I Made a Killing (Literally)

The Land of Water had no reason to refuse the same deal, either.

Especially with the example of the Land of Wind signing an agreement with Konoha after them, yet still getting the benefits first. How could the Land of Water not be anxious?

Of course they were anxious.

Anxious enough to die.

Especially with the Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki and the Second Tsuchikage Mu fighting on the front lines.

The Yuki and the other clans held power in Kirigakure.

Those clans wouldn't be like Gengetsu Hozuki, who was always ready to cut someone down. They'd take whatever benefits they could get first and worry about the rest later.

And the benefits Konoha was offering were something they absolutely had to get their hands on.

Not even the King of Heaven could stop them.

Of course, nobody would try. This was clearly a pile of benefits for everyone.

Compared to Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, which had next to nothing, Kirigakure in the Land of Water had much more to work with.

The Land of Water's market was far bigger than that of the impoverished Land of Wind, and there were merchants in the Land of Water itself.

There was no need to explain what a large market could bring, was there?

If a market was big enough, other countries would be itching to bring cannons and ammunition to force you to open your doors to free trade.

But the Land of Water had never seen anyone operate the way Yuya did. All the benefits were laid out clearly in the agreement. In short, it said, "There's plenty in it for you, Land of Water."

The Second Mizukage was fighting the Second Tsuchikage at the front, while the clans handled all of Kirigakure's affairs. Could anyone really believe those clans were devoted to Kirigakure above all else?

They'd feed their own clans first, then talk about everything else.

Yuya laid out three steps for Kirigakure. The first was to open up its market.

That had already been accomplished, thanks to the other side's cooperation.

The second was to vigorously develop the village's manufacturing industries. Build factories—any kind of factory. Canneries, ham factories, Cola Factories. Those were just extras, of course. The most important factories were the ones that could bring in huge profits and strengthen the country.

Steel mills, construction companies, and chemical plants, for example.

By chemical plants, he didn't mean petrochemicals, but things like medicine and fertilizer.

For some reason, this world had no oil. Though if it did, it would probably be in the Land of Wind. (That was the stereotype—oil had to be next to deserts, even though that wasn't really true.) The Land of Wind would definitely take off if it had oil.

Unfortunately, there was none.

If there had been oil, a lot of things would have been more convenient. Building houses wouldn't have been such a hassle.

But if there was none, there was none.

At least without oil, there was one less thing to cause conflict in the world.

Yuya was very generous to Konoha's merchants, offering them all sorts of subsidies and favorable terms.

Naturally, that was only if they ventured out.

They had to take Konoha's goods beyond its borders.

The factories Konoha had opened were enough to serve its own people, but they wouldn't have much left over.

But Yuya understood one thing: the market was already there. If they didn't get in and claim it first, then by the time they were ready, the local merchants would have taken it over.

Yuya absolutely couldn't accept that.

He'd used all those agreements to open up the markets of two countries at the start, and he'd already handed out a substantial amount of real benefits.

He'd even secretly traded with the Black Market for fifty kilograms of gold just to keep the early spending spree going.

Yuya didn't even dare let Senju Tobirama find out. Tobirama wouldn't stop him, but he'd definitely make Yuya hand over dozens of kilograms of gold so he could distribute it to the shinobi on the front lines.

It wasn't that Yuya opposed giving the front-line shinobi subsidies, but there had to be limits. If they handed it out now, what would they do later?

Fortunately, once winter came, those musclebound guys from Kumogakure started yelling and picking fights with Konoha again. Tobirama didn't have time to stay in the village and handle its affairs.

After leaving the village's money-making operations to Yuya and assigning Kagami Uchiha to assist him, Tobirama headed to the front lines.

As it turned out, Kagami Uchiha now knew that Yuya was the very person he'd once been amazed by—the man who had directed the construction of Wetland Bridge from nothing.

These days, the wetlands around Wetland Bridge brought Konoha several tons of resources every autumn: fruit, medicinal herbs, and all kinds of plump animals. They were all meat.

At this point, the people of Konoha had enough to eat, but that still wasn't enough for Yuya.

Aside from holidays and New Year celebrations, ordinary people in Konoha still rarely had meat at home.

For someone like Yuya, who had the memories of his previous country, that was unacceptable.

It didn't need to be like his previous country, where people ate meat at every meal. Surely they could have it at least once a month?

The ultimate goal was for the people of Konoha to have meat at every meal, but that was a difficult target for now.

Still, Yuya was quick on his feet. If they couldn't get pork, beef, or lamb, they could always eat fish.

The first shipment of three thousand jin of fish traded from Kirigakure had arrived on one of the village's large ships.

That batch of three thousand jin of fish would be enough to feed the people of Konoha for a week.

Of course, when Kirigakure's ships arrived, they were loaded with fish. Once they reached Konoha, the water inside was bailed out. After the ships had dried for a few days, they were coated with tung oil, and then they were ready to buy goods in Konoha.

The obvious first choice was Konoha's clothing.

The trade agreement meant that Konoha sold its clothes at the same prices they cost in Konoha. For the people of Kirigakure, those prices were about the same as what they paid for clothes in their own village.

But the quality was leagues apart.

After all, Kirigakure's damp environment wasn't suitable for raising silkworms, but Konoha's was.

Yuya had even organized the work on a larger scale, gathering dozens of female workers to raise silkworms. He'd abandoned the old method, where every household raised a mulberry tree and a batch of silkworms.

What was the point of running things as individual households? He wanted them to raise silkworms collectively.

Each worker got five trees. Once they produced anything, they had to hand over a portion, but the rest was theirs. How much they earned was up to them.

Anyway, those dozens of female workers were very enthusiastic.

Silk clothes were a complete knockout compared to the linen and woven grass-seed garments in Kirigakure.

The prices were about the same. If you were a merchant from Kirigakure, what would you choose?

Naturally, you'd buy Konoha's goods!

Then Yuya also set up several wineries.

That's right. Brewing alcohol could be done in a factory, too.

When Tobirama heard about it, he was dumbfounded. Wasn't brewing just a matter of putting some things in a jar and waiting? How could that be made into a factory?

As it turned out, not only could it be made into a factory, but its output was pretty high, too.

If Yuya hadn't been afraid that buying too much grain might cause a famine, he would've increased the scale tenfold already.

But there were benefits, too.

In a place like Kirigakure, where the damp climate made people crave clothes woven from Konoha's silk, they also longed for a cup of strong liquor to drive the dampness from their bodies and make them sweat.

And Kirigakure didn't have those things locally.

It was mainly due to the climate.

The alcohol brewed in Kirigakure even tasted sweet. As for its strength, well, it was basically fruit wine.

But after opening trade with Konoha, Kirigakure discovered that Konoha had everything they wanted.

As a result, the local brewers and clothing merchants were driven out of business by the competition. On top of that, a steel mill was built and hired many of their workers. Kirigakure even opened a copycat Cola Factory, but they didn't call the drink cola. They called it Joy Water.

After all that, Kirigakure became visibly wealthier.

The Second Mizukage, who was locked in a fierce battle with the Second Tsuchikage on the front lines, was very pleased with the changes in his village.

But he didn't realize that it was the clans of his own village who'd grown fat off all this.

As for the common people...

You should be grateful we're letting you eat your fill.

The following year, in the spring of Year 18 of Konoha, the war had been going on for almost a year.

But compared to the intense fighting at the start, the clashes between Konoha and Kumogakure had eased considerably. Meanwhile, the fighting between Iwagakure and Kirigakure had gradually turned into a genuine grudge.

The battles grew fiercer, and both sides sent more and more shinobi.

Until...

In the late summer of Year 18 of Konoha, the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage killed each other.

I have to work during the day, so I usually only have time to check the comments during my lunch break or after work in the afternoon (or while slacking off at work). Please forgive me if my replies are slow. Also, please point out any typos you notice, and I'll fix them when I see them. As for promoting this book... I'll just let things take their course. It'll get a recommendation later. If it makes it through that round, great. If not, I'll take it easy and collect the 600 yuan monthly completion bonus. Writing is just a hobby for me, a side gig. If I put a ton of effort into promoting it but still can't write full-time, I'd only be making things hard for myself. Oh, and just so you know, even if this book gets recommended, I won't start mass-releasing chapters. I won't do that when it goes on sale, either. I still have a job, and I'm not a full-time writer, so I don't have the energy for that. I hope you understand. (Sigh, I miss college three years ago. Working is so boring...) Also, I've kept up 4,000 words a day for half a month now. Readers, feel free to invest in the book; in another half-month, you'll be able to get a few dozen platform coins for free.