The Tsuchikage's Offer: All Village Resources at Your Uchiha's Disposal!

"Knock, knock, knock."

A light knock sounded on the stone building's door, interrupting the conversation on the balcony.

Akatsuchi, Hidden Stone Village's close-combat bodyguard, stood outside. His massive frame was like a wall.

He scratched the back of his bald head, smiling with simple honesty.

"Lord Yoru, the Tsuchikage requests your presence."

Akatsuchi bowed slightly, his attitude so respectful that there was not the slightest fault to find.

"He has prepared some fine rock tea in his top-floor office and says he has important strategic matters to discuss with you."

Yoru withdrew his gaze from the balcony and casually handed his teacup to Fugaku beside him.

"Alright, Clan Head. Take everyone and keep settling into the new home."

He brushed the wrinkles from his clothes, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"I'll go meet that old fox and see how much more he can bleed."

A few minutes later, in the top-floor office of the Tsuchikage Building.

The heavy soundproof stone door had barely been pushed open when a rich fragrance of tea rushed over him.

For once, Ōnoki was not sitting in his lofty Tsuchikage chair.

He sat cross-legged at a low guest table, personally brewing tea with a kind, welcoming smile plastered across his face.

"Brother Yoru, come, come, sit!"

Ōnoki warmly greeted him and casually pushed over a steaming cup of tea.

"This is premium cloud-mist tea produced near the Land of Lightning's border. Even this old man usually can't bear to drink it."

Yoru did not stand on ceremony. He sprawled down across from him, lifted the cup, and drained it in one gulp.

Ōnoki's eye twitched slightly at the sight of him drinking fine tea like a cow gulping water.

"Good tea. The cup's just a little too small."

Yoru set down the empty cup and got straight to the point without beating around the bush.

"Old man, you've gone all out settling my entire clan in such grand fashion. That's a hefty investment. So tell me, what job do you want me to do?"

"Straightforward! This old man likes Brother Yoru's decisive nature!"

Ōnoki slapped his thigh and burst into laughter.

He pulled a palm-sized black jade plaque from his robes and solemnly pushed it in front of Yoru.

The plaque bore Hidden Stone Village's emblem, while its back was stamped with the two gold-painted characters: "Supreme Elder."

"From today onward, you, Uchiha Yoru, are the Supreme Elder of Hidden Stone Village!"

Ōnoki's voice was firm and resounding.

"Your status is second only to mine. Seeing this plaque is the same as seeing the Tsuchikage. Other than the highest command authority over the Anbu, you may freely command every other department in the village!"

The authority he was granting was nothing short of enormous.

If it had been anyone else, they would probably have been so moved that they would have immediately pledged their loyalty.

But Yoru merely picked up the jade plaque, tossed it twice in his hand as though weighing an ordinary stone.

"The title sounds impressive. But does it come with meals?"

Yoru tucked the plaque into his pocket, then pulled a thick scroll from his robes.

"Since Lord Tsuchikage is being so generous, I won't hold back either."

"Smack!"

Yoru pressed the scroll onto the low table and shoved it hard.

The scroll unfurled with a rustle, rolling all the way across the tabletop until it reached Ōnoki's feet.

Dense writing covered its entire length of more than two meters.

Ōnoki froze for a moment, then leaned closer and glanced at it.

That one glance instantly drained the color from the old man's previously rosy face.

"Three tons of raw materials for Explosive Clay in the first shipment?!"

Ōnoki's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. The hand pointing at the first line trembled violently.

"Five complete sets of top-tier microscopic medical equipment, at the standards of Leaf Village Hospital?"

"And this... Underground Cavern Zone A is to be fully cleared out and converted into a special-grade laboratory?"

"Good heavens, you even want to borrow the forbidden technique scrolls for every Water Release and Lightning Release technique collected by Hidden Stone Village throughout the generations?!"

Every line Ōnoki read made his heart twitch.

What kind of list was this?

This was practically taking a knife to Ōnoki's carotid artery and bleeding him dry!

"Brother Yoru, y-you're planning a rebellion!"

The old man clutched his chest, sucking in cold breaths from the pain in his heart.

"The resources on this list would swallow up Hidden Stone Village's entire fiscal budget for ten years!"

"What? Can't bear to part with them?"

Yoru leaned back in his chair and chuckled at Ōnoki's expression as though someone were carving flesh off him.

"Old man, look further ahead. Stop staring at that little patch of land of yours."

Yoru raised a finger and tapped the tabletop, producing a crisp sound.

"Do you really think the ninja world is still in an era where victory is decided by people clashing with kunai and tossing around a few fireballs?"

Ōnoki was stunned. He even forgot his heartache as he instinctively asked, "If not, then what? Isn't that how ninja fight wars?"

"Wrong. Completely wrong."

Yoru's gaze deepened, his tone carrying an arrogant air that seemed to look down upon the era itself.

"That's how cavemen fight."

"What I'm going to build in Hidden Stone Village is a complete revolution in military power and technology."

Yoru leaned forward, his alluring voice echoing through the office.

"Why do explosive tags have to be pasted on one by one? Why can't I load them into launchers and unleash ten thousand of them in a single second?"

"Why can medical equipment only be used to treat illnesses? Why can't I use it to extract Hashirama Cells and genetically enhance ordinary genin?"

"Why do ninjutsu scrolls have to be learned by people? Why can't I engrave them onto weapons, allowing civilians who can't form hand seals to unleash forbidden techniques?"

Ōnoki was dumbfounded.

His mouth hung slightly open, as though countless explosive tags had gone off in his mind at once.

Everything Yoru described completely overturned the understanding he had accumulated during nearly fifty years as Tsuchikage.

"If all of that could be achieved..."

Ōnoki muttered to himself. As he followed Yoru's train of thought, a sudden chill ran through his entire body.

"If it succeeds, Hidden Stone Village will no longer be a ninja village. It will be a war machine capable of crushing everything."

Yoru gave him the answer directly, his eyes sharp as blades.

"When that time comes, forget Leaf Village. Even if the four great nations join forces, we can bombard them into dust with sheer firepower!"

The meeting room fell into deathly silence.

Ōnoki lowered his head and stared fixedly at the long list by his feet, his chest heaving violently.

He was weighing the accounts.

On one side was the enormous risk of emptying the treasury. On the other was the grand ambition of dominating the ninja world.

For an ambitious veteran politician, there was never really any suspense to this choice.

"Bang!"

Ōnoki suddenly slammed the table and shot to his feet.

That aged face once more burned with the madness and ruthlessness he had possessed in his youth.

"Do it!"

Ōnoki ground his teeth, gambler-like red light flashing in his eyes.

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child!"

He grabbed the writing brush from the table, signed his name at the bottom of the list, and heavily stamped it with the Tsuchikage's personal seal.

"Brother Yoru, even if this old man has to sell the pots and melt the iron, I'll gather every last thing on this list for you!"

Ōnoki handed the list back to Yoru, his tone utterly resolute.

"From today onward, all the resources in the village are yours for the Uchiha to choose from. You'll have a green light all the way!"

"Deal."

Yoru took the list and snapped his fingers in satisfaction.

That old man might be stingy, but when it came to major matters, he still had some courage.

After obtaining the highest authority, Yoru did not linger for even a moment.

He stood up, hung the Supreme Elder jade plaque at his waist, and strode out of the Tsuchikage's office.

Outside the door, Akatsuchi and several Anbu waited respectfully.

When they saw the jade plaque at Yoru's waist, their expressions turned solemn, and they immediately dropped to one knee in salute.

"Get up. Cut out the meaningless formalities."

Yoru waved a hand and headed straight for the elevator at the end of the corridor.

"Akatsuchi, lead the way. We're going to Underground Cavern Zone A."

The elevator descended continuously, reaching several hundred meters underground.

As the metal doors slowly opened, a slightly damp, chilly breeze blew toward them.

Before Yoru lay an enormous natural cavern that had been completely hollowed out.

It was as large as several football fields, with glowing ores embedded in the dome to illuminate the bustling crowds below.

Large numbers of Hidden Stone craftsmen were dismantling the old facilities and relaying pipes and lines according to the blueprints Yoru had previously provided.

This place would become Hidden Stone Village's heart in the future.

It was also the true starting point of Yoru's "dimensionality-reduction development and technological hegemony" plan.

"Lord Yoru, this space is large enough, and its concealment is the best in the entire village."

Akatsuchi followed behind him, introducing the place in his simple, honest voice.

"As soon as the equipment arrives, it can be put into operation at any time."

Standing on the elevated walkway, Yoru looked down at the underground research department that was beginning to take shape.

In his mind, he could already see the wonderful sight of Orochimaru conducting mad experiments here and Deidara kneading nuclear bombs here.

"The place isn't bad. It's just missing a technical director to hold down the fort."

Yoru stroked his chin, a calculating smirk rising at the corner of his mouth.

He turned to Akatsuchi beside him, his voice filled with wicked amusement.

"Akatsuchi, prepare the paperwork for leaving the village. Tomorrow, come with me to the Land of Fire's border."

"That snake-playing Leaf Village rogue ninja is probably starving in the Valley of the End right now. Let's go offer him a high-paying job."