Planning

"Ugh... my head hurts."

Obito rubbed his forehead hard and opened his eyes. He froze when he realized he wasn't at home. His mind was a blank, and he could only remember a few scattered fragments.

Damn, he'd actually drunk himself into a blackout. He couldn't remember how much he'd had. Hopefully, he didn't have a habit of talking nonsense when drunk... Still, at least he'd met Tsunade. That was a small win.

He put on his jacket, opened the door, and went downstairs. He realized it was the same izakaya where he'd drunk the night before.

"Guest, you're awake? I made some breakfast. Have a bite," the proprietress greeted him warmly.

"Uh, no, thanks. Sorry for the trouble last night. I'll come by often from now on." Obito scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. With that, he hurried out of the izakaya.

"Man, that was embarrassing." Obito sighed. The stench of alcohol was so overpowering he nearly threw up. He leaped back to his little place, washed up, then lay down on his bed and began planning for the future.

First was his strength. With the dual Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan, the Three-Turn Golden Elixir had made up for his body's weakness, and he also had Ryujin Jakka. In terms of raw power, he was already incredibly strong. As long as the Otsutsuki didn't show up, he could do pretty much whatever he wanted, as long as he stayed careful.

As for money, he had Uchiha Fugaku's 300 million ryō, enough to serve as his initial capital. Obito already had a rough plan: build a massive business empire in the Naruto World. He would use economic influence to gain political influence, avoiding direct confrontation as much as possible. Only when he grew stronger would he have enough leverage!

Becoming a village's Kage couldn't bring true peace, or at least not peace that lasted.

As for the methods used by Nagato, Obito, and Madara in the original story, only a lunatic would do something like that. What was the point of peace if everyone was dead?

Only by binding the nations of the Naruto World together through shared interests could they achieve true peace. Of course, some crazies would oppose him along the way, and Obito would have to use force to eliminate a handful of extremists. Unite the majority and eliminate the few—that was the guiding principle he'd set for himself.

Obito had already figured out the first step toward building his business empire: become an author and write books!

By writing and printing books, then setting up a publishing house and newspaper business, he could create a complete industrial chain. He'd make money while gaining the power and influence to shape public opinion!

Writing books was extremely profitable. Jiraiya had already proved that in the original story.

And the power of public opinion was something he absolutely had to control. It was an immensely powerful form of soft power—a weapon of the mind! How had White Fang died? The pressure of public opinion from Danzo, the Third Hokage, and the Konoha High Command had made White Fang's situation extremely difficult. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that public opinion had killed him. Whether there was more to it, he didn't know yet.

"Hm?" Obito tucked the sheet of paper covered in writing into the Kamui Dimension. "Who is it?"

"Uchiha Cheping, reporting on the clan head's orders!" Uchiha Cheping called from outside.

"Got it. I have your first assignment: find a fairly large house with a yard. Renting or buying is fine," Obito said.

"Yes!" Cheping replied.

"Wait. Find out where Lady Tsunade lives, too. I want to live next door to her. If that's not possible, find somewhere as close to her as you can."

"Yes!"

"So this is what a real ninja is like," Obito thought. "A combat machine that completes missions."

Now, what should he write for his first book?

Back on Earth, he'd been an avid reader for over a decade. In high school, he and his classmates used to compete over who'd read more, with the numbers measured in megabytes! They'd greet each other when they met in the morning by asking, "How many megabytes did you read yesterday?"

And he'd noticed that after taking the Three-Turn Golden Elixir, his brain seemed to have gotten sharper, too. It hadn't just improved his body; it had enhanced him in every way!

He could now recall most of the novels and movies he'd read and watched. For a novel with millions of words, remembering 80 percent of it would be more than enough for him to plagiarize!

Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise seemed to be extremely popular in the Naruto World. It also didn't involve politics, so it was perfect for him. But he only knew the title of Icha Icha Paradise. He'd never read the actual book!

The anime had shown a few scenes. All in all, it was a rather risqué novel. Obito thought back to all the books he'd read. Plenty of them were indecent, but there was only one that could be considered a classic!

Jin Ping Mei, a remarkable book, had even been adapted into multiple movies and TV shows. But its historical setting would be hard to change, since Obito knew absolutely nothing about that period! The original Obito's mind had been half full of Rin, while the other half was split in two: one part wanted to become Hokage, and the other helped old ladies cross the street...

"Boss! Do you have any books about history?" Obito had come to Konoha's largest bookstore. He'd decided to look through some history books first, then find a setting and adapt Jin Ping Mei to fit it.

"Of course. Go farther in and turn left. You'll find them on the shelves. You've come to the right place, kid. Our bookstore has the most complete and up-to-date selection!" the bookseller said.

"Not many young people read history books these days. The moment you walked in, I saw the glow of knowledge around you."

"Okay, thanks, boss!" How long had it been since you made a sale, for you to shamelessly flatter a kid without even blinking?

"The Chronicles of the Land of Fire, the Rise and Fall of the Land of Fire, the Secret History of the Land of Fire Court, Romance of the Land of Fire..." Obito scanned the shelves, took down a few thick books, and leafed through them. In the end, he picked up around ten books and went to the counter. "Boss, I'll take all of these. How much?"

"Heh, a true scholar, just as I thought. Let me add it up," the bookseller said with a broad smile, taking the books and counting them one by one.

"Thirteen books altogether. That'll be 814 ryō. I'll make it 800," the bookseller said.

"Boss, do you buy all the books in this store and then sell them?" Obito asked with the innocent curiosity of a child.

"Of course! They're my entire livelihood!" the boss said proudly.

"What if someone gave you books for free to sell, and you earned a cut for every copy you sold? Would you be interested?" he continued.

"Haha! Of course I would! But where in the world would you find a fool like that? If I couldn't sell even one copy, wouldn't they lose a fortune?" the boss laughed.

You're the fool! Obito cursed inwardly. It seemed this kind of sales model didn't exist in the Naruto World yet. He'd be the first to try it!

Obito was very confident that his knockoff version of Jin Ping Mei would sell well. Even if it didn't, that was fine; he could treat it as a trial run. As for whether the bookstores would try anything shady if the books became a hit, all he could do was hope they wouldn't. The Uchiha's Konoha Military Police Force wasn't just for show!