Sudden Wealth

After a brief celebration, Natsume began to attend to serious business.

Although they had initially escaped Konoha by this moment, the danger had not yet passed, and it was not the time to let their guard down.

"Nichiyo, how many people escaped, and what are the casualties?"

"Including you, Young Clan Head, a total of 419 people have escaped so far. During the flight, three clansmen were killed in action, and another five were captured..."

This young Uchiha Nichiyo was one of the outstanding assets Natsume had recruited. Only seventeen years old this year, he had just joined the Konoha Military Police Force. He possessed the strength of a Special Jonin, but his decisive and meticulous nature made him trustworthy.

Natsume frowned slightly, feeling extremely indignant.

Even though his great battle with Fugaku had drawn away the vast majority of Konoha's ninjas, it was indeed not easy for over four hundred people to escape completely unscathed.

"Eight losses, then?"

"Hmph! Those Konoha ninjas really spared no effort!"

"Let's set that aside for now; I will find a way to rescue the captured clansmen later."

"Toh, did that matter succeed?"

Natsume looked at another clansman to his right and asked solemnly.

"Reporting to the Young Clan Head, it was a success!"

"Inside here is the silver looted from the Konoha treasury. As per your instructions, Young Clan Head, we only took half, totaling 78 million ryo!" (1 ryo equals 10 yen, approximately 0.6 yuan, which is about 48 million.) (The treasury held real gold and silver; the rest of Konoha's billions in paper currency reserves are managed by the Administrative Department.)

This Uchiha Toh hurriedly opened the backpack he was carrying, revealing a large number of storage scrolls inside.

There were fully over a dozen of them!

Each one was packed to the brim with the silver looted from the Konoha treasury.

Konoha could never have imagined that the defecting Uchiha would dare to raid their treasury!

Consequently, the guards outside the treasury were utterly defenseless against the Uchiha ninjas, who were masters of genjutsu.

Seeing this, Natsume could not help but be overjoyed!

This massive sum of silver was the real treasure!

In fact, taking advantage of the riot to loot the Konoha treasury was one of Natsume's plans.

One had to realize that he was leading over 400 clansmen to defect together.

Once they established a village and settled down in the future, the clansmen's food, clothing, housing, and transportation would all require money—a bottomless pit.

Not to mention, building a village itself required a massive amount of capital!

He led his clan to defect from Konoha to pursue a wealthier and better life, not to lead a group of people to live like savages!

Moreover, as Konoha missing-nin, it would be difficult for them to accept missions from the Great Nations to earn rewards for some time to come.

Therefore, this large sum of funds looted from the Konoha treasury would serve as their startup capital!

78 million ryo was truly not much compared to the Five Great Nations, but for them, it was more than enough.

The reason he only looted half and did not take it all was to avoid making Konoha "desperate enough to jump over a wall"!

If he had really looted everything and caused Konoha's economic chain to break, plunging them into an economic crisis, Sarutobi and the others would surely lead the entire village to hunt them down...

"Well done! With this money, our clan will surely be able to create glory once again!"

"It is all thanks to the Young Clan Head's brilliance and strategic planning!"

Uchiha Toh grinned, laughing excitedly in praise.

After all, raiding the Konoha treasury was something he wouldn't have even dared to dream of before!

In his twenty-plus years of life, he had never done anything so exhilarating!

All of this was thanks to this Young Clan Head!

"Alright, enough with the flattery."

"Pass the word: prepare for one minute. Then we continue our departure, destination: Land of Fields!"

"I have already left people behind there. They will properly receive and settle the clansmen, so they need not worry."

Natsume issued his orders swiftly, without a moment's hesitation.

"Understood!"

"Once you're prepared, head out first. I need to meet someone, but I'll catch up with you shortly."

"Yes!"

A few minutes later, under methodical organization, the four hundred-plus Uchiha clansmen here set off on their journey once again.

They were heading toward the Land of Fields.

The Land of Fields bordered the Land of Fire, situated to the north.

At the speed of an average ninja, it would take just over a day to reach.

However, more than half of these 400-plus clansmen were elderly, weak, women, or children—not ninjas.

Their stamina and physical strength were quite frail; it would take them at least three days to reach the Land of Fields.

During this time.

They would have to deal with erasing their tracks.

Intercepting Konoha pursuers.

Solving issues regarding food, water, and so on.

This was no small undertaking; the slightest mistake could lead to total ruin.

Of course, these were problems to be considered later.

But at this moment, there was another difficult issue that needed to be resolved.

"Come out! Stop hiding!"

Natsume gave a light shout.

He reached down to lift the backpack at his feet, stroking the numerous space scrolls contained within.

[Ding, congratulations on obtaining 78,200,000 value points]

[Would you like to deposit 78,200,000 value points to exchange for 7,820 gold coins?] (Note: The physical silver deposited will not disappear)

[Deposit successful. Congratulations, you have obtained 7,820 gold coins]

[Current balance: 7,828 gold coins]

Looking at the system prompts in his mind.

And the massive fortune that had suddenly arrived, Natsume's heart blossomed with joy.

One had to know, he had saved his New Year's money in Konoha for ten years.

Starting from age seven, he had taken on countless odd jobs.

He had even utilized knowledge from his past life to secretly rake in money.

Only then had he barely managed to save ten million ryo, deposit one thousand gold coins, and exchange for the Mangekyo Sharingan!

Now, in just a few moments.

He had obtained nearly eight thousand gold coins; it was truly a sudden windfall!

From here on out, those expensive exchangeable abilities in the system were no longer out of reach!

Flying Thunder God, Sage Mode, Eight Inner Gates, Rinnegan, Baryon Mode... I want them all!

As expected, working for a living.

Nothing makes money faster than robbery!

Just like that, the sudden wealth of nearly eight thousand gold coins brought Natsume ample confidence.

He felt much more composed regarding the powerful enemy about to appear.

Of course, compared to Konoha's strategic reserve vault.

The paper currency stored at the Konoha Administrative Department should be even greater, with reserves of at least over a billion.

But those paper bills could not be exchanged for gold coins, and the defenses at the Hokage Building Administrative Department were much tighter; that was why Natsume hadn't ordered a raid there.

As Natsume's call rang out.

Before long.

Not far behind, a blurred figure gradually solidified and appeared.

Without a doubt, the other party was Obito, who had been tracking them all the way here.

Possessing Kamui, his travel speed far exceeded that of an ordinary ninja.

As long as he identified the direction, catching up to these defecting Uchiha clansmen was no difficult task.

"I didn't expect you to actually detect me!"

Obito jumped down from the tree branch to face Natsume, his eyes filled with a mixture of shock and wariness.

He hadn't been wrong; the Uchiha clan always managed to produce geniuses from time to time.

Shisui in the past.

Itachi in the present.

And now, this Natsume before him.

They were all geniuses comparable to monsters!

When he was this kid's age, he was still nothing but a dead last!

Yet this brat had already unlocked the third power, Susanoo!

He had even led the clan in a successful defection, playing the massive Konoha like a fiddle.

It was truly terrifying!

A monster like this cannot be left alive!

Otherwise, he might interfere with my Eye of the Moon plan!

Obito made a silent resolution in his heart.

To him, any threat that could potentially stop him from building a "new world" for Rin had to be eliminated!

"Sharingan? Are you also a member of the Uchiha clan? Or is that a stolen eye?"

Natsume asked, feigning ignorance.

He did not rashly expose Obito's identity or his plans.

If he did, Obito would most likely be forced into a life-or-death struggle with him!

Although he was very strong, killing a ninja as "slippery" as Obito with Kamui was not easy.

Not to mention, wiping out the entire Akatsuki head-on would be quite difficult.

Especially Nagato; he didn't possess the invincible Talk no Jutsu.

Therefore, it was not yet time to forge a blood feud with Akatsuki.

The best approach was to give Obito a sound beating, make him realize the difficulty, and buy himself more time to develop.

Once he had enough "pay-to-win" resources, he could naturally steamroll them.

"You don't need to know!"

"You'll be a dead man soon enough."

"Rest assured, I will track down those clansmen who escaped and finish them off as well!"

Obito declared coldly.

Aside from Rin, he never had much affection for the Uchiha clan to begin with.

Moreover, they were all living in such a world filled with war and distortion.

As for this Natsume, monster and genius though he might be, he had just finished a fierce battle with Fugaku and must be severely exhausted.

This was the perfect opportunity to kill him!

He had come tonight specifically to exterminate the Uchiha and collect their Sharingan.

At this moment, Obito would show no mercy.

"Come on then. I hope you're a bit more durable than that old dog Danzo!"

Natsume didn't waste any more words.

With a cold sneer, he launched a fierce attack.

The battle ignited instantly.

Aside from that brat Naruto's Talk no Jutsu, there was no more effective way for ninjas to communicate than through combat.