The primitive accumulation of capital was always brutal and bloody.
According to the laws of history, there were generally only two ways to achieve the initial accumulation of capital.
Namely: plunder and exploitation.
The former relied on looting other countries to amass wealth, like the nations of Western Europe during the Age of Exploration.
The latter relied on exploiting one's own people to create wealth, like a certain "Three-Eyed Country."
And what about their own [Flame Hidden Village]?
It had only just gotten started, and the entire village had fewer than five hundred people.
With so few people, how could they exploit them?
Even if you worked them like mules, they still couldn't create much value!
So, if they wanted to grow rich and strong—
If he wanted to accumulate some initial capital, Natsume had no choice but to turn his sights on other villages...
And now—
He had already raided Konoha and Iwagakure...
Ahem! He'd already "robbed the rich to help the poor" once.
It would indeed be difficult to pull it off again.
Meanwhile, the other major hidden villages were currently maintaining a delicate balance.
If he raided them again and disrupted that balance—
It would only hurt the development of his own village.
So, after weighing it all up—
The [Land of Waves] was the only suitable target.
The [Land of Waves] lay southeast of the [Land of Fire]. It was a tiny island nation, connected to the outside world by a single bridge.
It had almost no shinobi, a weak economy, and a population living in poverty.
By all rights, a small, poor country like that wasn't worth Natsume's attention at all!
But Natsume knew the world of Naruto well.
He knew that although the [Land of Waves] was poor, Gato, the president of the Shipping Company that controlled it, was one of the richest men in the world.
A villain like that—cruel and corrupt, who'd made his fortune smuggling drugs and contraband with the help of the mafia and shinobi—
Was the perfect target for "robbing the rich to help the poor."
What's more, after plundering a criminal organization like that, they might even be able to take over Gato's Shipping Company.
With its thriving maritime trade, the company could bring a steady stream of funds to their village!
It was a win on every front. What was there not to like?
That was the real reason Natsume had set his sights on this little country.
Uchiha Toh and the others naturally couldn't understand the deeper meaning behind it.
But they all knew one thing.
All they had to do was follow their Young Clan Head.
With the Young Clan Head's wisdom, he'd never let them come out the worse for it!
"Young Clan Head, are you going to that [Land of Waves]?"
"Mm. I'll make the trip in the next few days."
"I'm going! I'm going!"
"Don't worry. I'll need a few people to help this time. We'll decide who's going before we leave, so don't rush."
"Sure thing!"
"All right, Toh, you can go."
"Remember what I said. Don't hold back. Put everything you've got into it, and make sure the village's infrastructure is as good as it can be!"
"Understood!"
After that, Natsume began planning the village's development while getting his supplies in order for the trip to the [Land of Waves].
That afternoon, however—
The envoy sent by [Iwagakure] arrived at the village as well.
Out of sympathy for Ōnoki's aching lower back—and to show his gratitude for [Iwagakure]'s generous gift of seventy million ryo—
Natsume grudgingly agreed to meet with him.
The envoy was a shinobi in his late twenties, with only Chunin-level strength.
He didn't look like much of a fighter.
Even so—
Once the Iwa envoy arrived, he acted quite high and mighty. He clearly looked down on the fledgling new village founded by these Uchiha defectors.
And when he saw that the leader was really just a kid barely over ten—
He became even more overbearing.
He acted like an envoy from a superior village who'd come to inspect and instruct an inferior one.
Uchiha Gin and the others were so furious they wanted to draw their blades and kill the bastard!
But before he could strut around for long—
Natsume summoned the [Susanoo] and grabbed him with its right skeletal hand, crushing several of his ribs on the spot.
After getting a close-up taste of the "Grim Reaper's greeting"—
He immediately learned his lesson.
He didn't dare act high and mighty again.
Humbled and terrified, he respectfully explained why he'd come.
He said he was acting on orders from the Third Tsuchikage, who hoped to establish a secret alliance with the [Flame Hidden Village] and join forces against [Konoha]!
Hearing that, Natsume didn't hesitate for a second.
He sent the man packing without showing him the slightest courtesy.
Watching the Iwa envoy slink away, the bodyguards beside Natsume looked puzzled.
"Young Clan Head, why not join forces with [Iwagakure]?" Uchiha Nichiyo asked.
As he saw it, their village had only just begun. If they could ally with one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, [Iwagakure], and resist Konoha together, the benefits should outweigh the risks!
Natsume glanced at Nichiyo, pleased.
Asking when you didn't understand was a good habit!
It was much better than being an idiot who knew nothing but blindly charged ahead.
"Join forces?"
"Don't make me laugh."
"Would you sincerely ally with some random little hidden village whose strength you knew nothing about?"
"At most, [Iwagakure] just wants to use us to weaken Konoha."
"There's nothing in it for us, we'd be manipulated, and the alliance would be secret."
"Put simply, an alliance like that is useless."
"Our village has only just gotten started, and we're certainly weak. But my minimum requirement is a public alliance!"
"Not some meaningless arrangement where one side is clearly superior and the other has to cling to it!"
"An unequal alliance can only lead to exploitation, not mutual aid..."
Natsume explained quietly.
He'd seen enough of the muddy quagmire that was the world's political struggles in his previous life to understand these games all too well.
There was no way he'd let [Iwagakure]'s "false" goodwill fool him.
What wolf would willingly befriend a sheep?
Unless it only wanted to use that sheep to lure in more sheep...
Or unless the wolf was called "Grey Wolf"...
Of course, who was the wolf and who was the lamb waiting to be slaughtered?
That was hard to say!
After all, he'd just sheared a whole lot of wool from [Iwagakure].
After hearing Natsume's explanation—
Nichiyo, Gin, and the others fell into thought.
The reasoning was simple enough.
But it wasn't easy to see through when you were caught up in the situation.
After all, it was hard for a weak village not to be tempted when one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages offered an alliance.
Otherwise, back in Natsume's previous life—
So many small countries wouldn't have been sold out by the [Beautiful Country] and still helped the seller count the money...
What's more—
Thanks to Nonō and Kabuto's long-term infiltration of [Iwagakure]—
The whole village was like a naked dancer in front of him, with no secrets at all.
At this stage—
Unless [Iwagakure] was truly willing to lower its stance and offer a sincere alliance—
There was no way Natsume would agree.
"All right, I've met with him."
"How he explains things when he gets back is his problem. Don't worry about it."
"Also, Nichiyo, Gin, get ready."
"We leave first thing tomorrow morning. Our destination is the [Land of Waves]!"
After sending the Iwa envoy away, Natsume turned his attention to business.
He gave his orders to Nichiyo and Gin.
The moment Uchiha Gin heard they'd be going out, his face lit up and he couldn't help cheering.
"Great!"
"But are the three of us the only ones going?"
Natsume said, "We'll bring Tsukihime and Uncle Ryu too... Nichiyo, go let them know."
"Understood!"
"Huh? Tsukihime's coming too? It's over, it's over..."
"This trip's going to be miserable."
Gin couldn't help feeling gloomy.
After all, with Tsukihime's cool and stern personality—
There was no chance he'd be able to let loose on this trip.
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