Gathering Soldiers and Supplies

"Yes, of course I do!"

Yoshikawa's eyes widened in disbelief; he hadn't expected the demand from the seemingly youthful Dongfang Mao to be so terrifyingly high.

However, amidst his surprise, he immediately agreed.

After all, he had a shipment on hand intended for the Land of Fire, and it was more than enough to satisfy Dongfang Mao's requirements.

"Please, follow me, honored guest."

Yoshikawa gestured for Dongfang Mao to follow, leading him to a spacious backyard where over a dozen carriages were lined up neatly, showcasing the scale of his operation.

Yoshikawa reached out to push open a carriage door, revealing an orderly display of various weapons and armor, all gleaming with a chilling light. He stepped aside and chuckled.

"Feel free to inspect them, honored guest. I guarantee you will be satisfied with the quality of these armaments."

Dongfang Mao nodded slightly, picking out one of each weapon and piece of armor he required. After repeated inspections, he found that he couldn't find a single fault with either the forging craftsmanship or the quality of the materials.

Having made up his mind, Dongfang Mao looked back at Yoshikawa and smiled.

"As expected of the Land of Iron. Mr. Yoshikawa, I have nothing to say about the craftsmanship of these weapons and armor. However, given the size of my order, this must be a significant deal for you. I wonder if you could offer a discount?"

Hearing this, Yoshikawa's eyes darted around as he calculated for a moment, then stroked his sparse beard and said.

"You likely understand, honored guest, that we in the Land of Iron generally only earn a modest fee for our craftsmanship on exports. However, seeing as this is your first time trading with us, I will treat it as building a bond of goodwill. For this shipment worth 18.4 million, I will charge you 17 million."

Although it wasn't a huge reduction, any savings were a gain. Dongfang Mao nodded and pulled a scroll from his robes.

"Mr. Yoshikawa, here is the payment. As for the goods, you can have your servants move them onto the ground."

Yoshikawa looked at the scroll Dongfang Mao had laid flat on the ground; he was no stranger to such items, and his eyes lit up immediately.

"A storage scroll? Is the honored guest from a ninja village?"

"Haha, I am merely purchasing some supplies on behalf of my elders."

Dongfang Mao replied with a light laugh, giving no clear confirmation.

However, upon hearing this, the way Yoshikawa looked at Dongfang Mao changed instantly.

After struggling with his thoughts for a moment, he spoke again.

"How about this? I will take another 2 million off for you, making it 15 million in total."

"Oh? Wouldn't that mean a loss for you, Mr. Yoshikawa?"

Dongfang Mao was overjoyed, but he remained calm on the surface.

Yoshikawa put on a timely expression of feigned heartache.

"Indeed. If it weren't for the fact that I felt an immediate connection with you, honored guest, I would never agree to such a deal. If you find the goods satisfactory after returning, please do not forget to come back to me for future purchases. These are the addresses of some of my residences in various countries; if you have any needs, you can send word."

Saying this, Yoshikawa handed a slip of paper to Dongfang Mao.

"That goes without saying. As long as the quality of your goods remains high and they prove useful, we will naturally continue to patronize your business, Mr. Yoshikawa."

After smiling and taking the slip of paper, the two exchanged a few more polite pleasantries.

Shortly after, the servants in the Yoshikawa estate arrived to unload the cargo.

While waiting, Dongfang Mao looked around out of boredom, but suddenly, his gaze was drawn to an object in the southwest corner—a long, black, tubular device cast from refined iron.

Dongfang Mao was stunned. What the hell, isn't that a cannon?

"Mr. Yoshikawa, that is..."

Yoshikawa looked puzzled, then followed the direction of Dongfang Mao's finger, a look of realization flashing across his eyes.

"You mean this? I once went to Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning for business and had the fortune to see their village armaments, the Chakra Cannons. I was very interested in them, so after returning home, I tried to replicate one. The craftsmanship passed, but I couldn't figure out how to integrate the cannon with chakra."

"So, this thing became a mere ornament. I brought it along this time just to see if anyone would be interested, but clearly, no one was."

Yoshikawa shrugged, his expression tinged with helplessness.

Dongfang Mao listened with an unreadable expression, then replied.

"I am actually quite interested in this. How do you intend to sell it, Mr. Yoshikawa?"

"You want this?"

Yoshikawa was surprised, then stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Although I built this mostly out of personal interest, I spent over 5 million ryo on it from start to finish. If you want it, I'll charge you 1.5 million to recoup some of the losses."

Dongfang Mao pondered for a moment and nodded.

"That is acceptable."

Of course, he didn't want to build a Chakra Cannon—he lacked the technology, and the limitations were too great, as only ninjas could use them.

He just wanted to see if he could figure out how to create a gunpowder cannon.

If he could succeed and produce them on a large scale, then his subordinates would no longer be completely helpless when facing ninjas. At the same time, these cannons would be powerful tools for siege and defense.

But that was a matter for the future.

His strategy for dealing with Tsukimiura involved surprise attacks, deception, and using small forces to overcome larger ones; he didn't need to lay siege to a city, so for now, this cannon would just gather dust inside his scroll.

After settling the transaction with Yoshikawa, Dongfang Mao tucked the scroll filled with weapons away and left, heading to the next street over to find a grain merchant from the Land of Fire.

Due to the recent disasters in the Land of Rice Fields, grain prices had skyrocketed to approximately 15 ryo per jin.

Dongfang Mao had no other choice; he spent another 10 million ryo to purchase 670,000 jin of grain. This was enough to supply over a thousand people, sustaining them for half a year even under high-intensity training.

After setting aside the final 3.5 million ryo for emergencies, Dongfang Mao first returned to the inn to notify Tsunade, then left the city alone to head back to the Desolate Village.

Upon returning to the Desolate Village, Dongfang Mao saw Yasuke leading over 30 new faces in training on the open ground at the village entrance.

Dongfang Mao walked up, remaining silent, and simply stood to the side with his arms crossed to watch.

"Disperse!"

"Assemble!"

Yasuke stood at the front of the formation, shouting loudly.

These refugees, having just eaten their fill, naturally had no concept of discipline. Following Yasuke's orders, they immediately stumbled about, collapsing into a chaotic mess.

Seeing this, Yasuke let out a cold snort, stepped forward, and delivered a slap to each of the most egregious offenders before kicking them violently to the ground.

The surrounding people, who had been spared for only minor mistakes, looked on with panic, cold sweat streaming down their faces.

Dongfang Mao watched the scene with cold eyes, making no move to stop him.

After all, Yasuke and the others had been beaten into shape by him in exactly the same way; he had even lopped off the heads of those who were too stubborn to learn before achieving such discipline. Yasuke was merely carrying out his will.

Dongfang Mao had never been content with leading a rabble that only knew how to pillage and plunder; he had always demanded strict discipline.

To have a well-disciplined force, the first step was to make the subordinates obedient. To achieve that, one had to use their fists to make them shut up and listen properly.

This was what an old veteran he had met at a bar in his past life had told him.

Although this method was the dross of military life, it had to be said that it was truly effective.