White Dove: My Kotoamatsukami has long been thirsty and impatient!

Orochimaru!

This number one scientist of the ninja world was the target he truly wanted to reel in.

In the eyes of White Dove, the man's value was higher than anything else.

Whether it was strength, scientific research, subordinate training, or management, the man was peerlessly outstanding.

Therefore, if he could lure him out, he could settle the matter once and for all.

His Kotoamatsukami was already growing impatient.

So, even though this mission was quite troublesome, he had no intention of bringing a large force; he planned to take only two squads, plus the assistance of Five-Five Split.

He was bringing two squads because he had another mission to complete this time.

Opening up a trade route!

This was a private mission for the One Heart Chamber of Commerce, so naturally, it could not be done openly; he could only use this mission as a cover to complete it after leaving the village.

In the past, he might have had to take several detours to help the chamber of commerce without drawing attention.

Now that the Uchiha were allowed to leave the village, there was no need to hire other ninjas for these matters; they could handle it themselves. They would be more attentive, perform better, and there would be no need to worry about secrets leaking.

Therefore, the right to leave the village was something he had to fight for.

As he thought about this, Tekka and Inabi, his two close followers, arrived, each leading a three-man squad.

For an S-rank mission, bringing a few extra people was something the village higher-ups would surely understand.

It was just that the quality was a bit high.

Aside from White Dove, there were two three-tomoe jonin, two jonin, and four chunin.

There wasn't even a genin... no, wait, there was one genin.

Uchiha Izumi!

She was also part of this mission.

There was no helping it; she had cried, made a scene, and threatened to hang herself just to make White Dove take her along, and no one could stop her.

Even Uchiha Yezue had no choice, eventually compromising and letting her set off with White Dove.

Although White Dove felt a bit of a headache facing this "obsessive girl," he truly doted on her, so in the end, he could only compromise.

Regardless, he had immense trust in Uchiha Izumi's strength.

She was even more ruthless than that "filial son" Itachi or Shisui; a ten-year-old with three-tomoe Sharingan, let that sink in.

If White Dove hadn't been constantly nourishing her body and forbidding her from using the Sharingan, her bloodline disease might have flared up long ago.

On the surface, her strength was that of an elite genin, but in reality, she was definitely not much weaker than Itachi.

One could only say that the strength of the Uchiha clan didn't depend on age, but on who was more unhinged.

Coincidentally, after White Dove, the transmigrator, appeared, Izumi had become truly unhinged, and with sufficient resources for cultivation, it was no surprise her strength was so formidable.

When registering to leave the village, the two "gatekeepers" scrutinized them multiple times, but fortunately, after verifying the mission and confirming everything was in order, they let them pass.

As long as one was a Konoha ninja, leaving the village without permission was considered "defecting," which was the greatest restriction the Uchiha had faced in the past.

Now, that restriction had been lifted.

"Izumi, didn't you just leave the village? Why do you want to go out again?"

White Dove probed for her intentions in trying so hard to follow him.

"But Dove-Dove wasn't with me last time, and this time we can just happen to go soak in the hot springs..."

Izumi's tone was sweet, and she subconsciously tried to hug his arm, but he dodged.

Hmph, White Dove was a man of culture.

As a transmigrator, his values did not allow him to do such things.

"Eww... stop talking, if you keep going, some unspeakable, unknown entity is going to descend!"

White Dove covered Izumi's mouth before she could say anything more outrageous.

After leaving the village, they didn't rush on their way, but stood by the roadside to wait.

Rumble!

Amidst the sound of rolling wheels, a caravan flying the "One Heart" flag slowly drove out from the village.

Yes, it was the transport team of the One Heart Chamber of Commerce.

It was these teams that transported goods and specialties from various places back, while also shipping Konoha products to other regions.

The reason One Heart Department Store could seize the market was because they had their own transport teams and procurement strongholds; otherwise, they wouldn't have such cheap supply channels.

Well, this time, they had managed to assemble the transport caravan without hiring ninja escorts, pulling off a big operation.

The caravan was headed to the Land of Hot Water!

Therefore, a significant amount of time was needed for the journey.

White Dove naturally had to allow certain people time to prepare, which was why he had intentionally played this hand.

Fishing, of course, required patience in "baiting the spot." If he had rushed over at full speed, he might have completed the mission before the "fish" even arrived.

Whoosh!

Wearing an Anbu mask, the silver-haired Five-Five Split, whose identity was long since betrayed by his hair, also arrived in front of the team.

He was following as a coordinating member of the Anbu.

At the same time, he was also a "monitor." His superiors had a very legitimate reason: to confirm the completion status of the Uchiha mission and, incidentally, to gather intelligence.

"Let's go!"

White Dove acted as if he hadn't seen Kakashi at all.

Now was not the time to make a move; they at least needed to be far away from Konoha first.

The transport team was not composed entirely of Uchiha; at most, there were simply no other ninja present besides the Uchiha.

The village only restricted ninja, not ordinary people.

A dozen carriages loaded with goods set off.

A typical small merchant caravan usually consisted of one or two carriages, but this time, not only was the quantity several times larger, but these carriages were also different.

They were too big!

A normal carriage had a load capacity of only about one or two thousand catties, and that was only because the horses in the ninja world were stronger.

However, the carriages here were several sizes larger, and some key parts were even reinforced with iron.

The shape of the carriages was a boxy, rectangular prism; they didn't look aesthetically pleasing, but they possessed a certain "mechanical" beauty.

"These carriages..."

Izumi looked at the carriage beside her with curiosity.

She had also been out on missions for a period of time and had some understanding of the ninja world, so she could naturally see the special nature of these carriages.

Both their appearance and materials were different.

"These carriages are pulling 'Container Carriages.' They are detachable. Once we reach the destination, we can unload the box directly and swap it for another carriage. This will massively increase efficiency!"

White Dove explained patiently.

It was precisely because of these small improvements he made to the caravan that One Heart Chamber of Commerce had developed so well. Otherwise, trying to compete with those established merchant houses without any advantages would have been a death wish.

It wasn't that ninja didn't know that business was extremely profitable, but there was a reason why no one had done it before.

"Is that so..."

Izumi watched even more intently.

Container carriages!

Naturally, this was White Dove's first improvement to the carriages, but this improvement had a prerequisite.

The selective breeding of horses.

While container-style carriages had many benefits, they were also much heavier. If ordinary horses were used to pull them, the cargo capacity would be greatly reduced.

Therefore, White Dove had improved the horses, creating these "Ninja Horses" with greater strength and higher stamina.

In a place like the ninja world, where even toads, slugs, and snakes could grow larger than mountains and the size of ninja beasts was exaggerated, it was truly not difficult to create some simple secret medicines, potions, and the like.

Although the improved version of the Ninja Horse was somewhat expensive to breed, it could easily pull a carriage weighing several tons while moving at a brisk pace, and it could easily go for days on a single meal.

It was brilliant!

It was precisely because of these Ninja Horses, combined with the improved container carriages and rubber tires, that One Heart Logistics pulled away from other merchant caravans in terms of transport efficiency.

For example, right now.

The speed hadn't been very fast just after leaving the village, but now it was several times faster, and they had already overtaken several merchant caravans along the way.

Fast, too fast!

Only after riding in other carriages could one truly appreciate the speed of these ones.

It was as if they had drunk an energy drink—a feeling of flying.

At this moment, they had all jumped onto the roofs of the carriages to continue forward with the team.

As for the ninja, they could still move freely on the speeding carriage roofs.

As for the surrounding situation, White Dove naturally didn't need to be responsible for it; Tekka and Inabi would arrange for people to be responsible for security and reconnaissance.

One had to be careful to protect one's own caravan.

And incidentally, they also had to open up the "trade route."

Some bandits would take money from those old-school merchant houses to cause them trouble.

Fake business warfare: price wars, strategic planning, and backstabbing!

Real business warfare: stealing the company seal, burning the goods, and seizing the cargo!

They had fallen victim to this recently, losing several shipments, so they intended to resolve this issue while they were at it.

Since they had no choice but to hire ninjas to protect the caravan when they couldn't leave the village, now that they could, they naturally intended to "force open" the trade route.

Note that the "force" in "force open" was meant quite literally.

With the caravan moving at an incredible speed, they covered nearly a hundred kilometers in just one afternoon, arriving around ten o'clock at night.

Tsk, tsk!

This speed was terrifying.

Because other caravans only managed about a hundred li—or roughly fifty kilometers—per day.

Yet the carriages White Dove had improved were several times faster.

Now that is what you call effective research!

It just goes to show that the countless technologies of the ninjas were a dimension-shattering advantage when applied to civilian use; failing to make money was purely a failure of mindset, not a lack of technology.

"Alright, we'll stay in Golden Deer Town tonight!"

White Dove looked at the small town glowing with lights before him, a blood-red glint seemingly flickering in his eyes.