Ways to Make Money

Both of them wore looks of sudden realization, finally understanding why Karatachi Yagura had kept such a low profile over the past few years.

They understood why power had slipped from his grasp and why Kirigakure had fallen into such chaos.

They hesitated for a moment. Originally, they had been staunch supporters of the village, and seeing the usually overbearing Mizukage act so humbly toward a guest left them conflicted.

(Most of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been beaten into submission by Karatachi Yagura.)

They cast an apologetic glance at Shien before walking over to stand behind Karatachi Yagura.

Shien, however, did not mind at all. "If the two of you aren't doing well in Kirigakure, you are welcome to join the Uchiha Clan at any time."

Karatachi Yagura was furious. Even in this situation, Shien was still trying to poach his men.

"Trying to poach my people right in front of me? You really don't hold me in any regard, do you?"

Shien replied dismissively, "Give it a rest. If I hadn't helped you, your only eventual outcome would have been death. Do you believe me?"

Although Karatachi Yagura felt humiliated, he knew that Shien was speaking the truth.

Furthermore, since they shared the same enemy, he had no intention of becoming hostile toward Shien.

"The two of you traveled a long way. Surely you didn't come to my Amegakure just to poach my subordinates?"

Shien thought to himself, You actually guessed right. I really did come here to poach people.

However, if he answered that way, the conversation would be dead in the water.

"I was originally planning to cause him some trouble, but since you have recovered, let's form an alliance instead."

"Our Uchiha Clan suffered heavy losses this time."

Karatachi Yagura looked surprised. "Didn't you drive that masked man back?"

Shien sighed. "I won't hide it from you. Internal strife broke out within my clan. The former clan head, Fugaku Uchiha, and his son, Itachi Uchiha, both betrayed the clan."

"It caused a massive number of casualties, and life for us Uchiha in Konoha has become very difficult."

The surrounding Kirigakure ninja were all stunned. They had heard of clan heads dying in battle, but they had never heard of one defecting.

Karatachi Yagura's own Kirigakure was plagued by several factions warring against one another.

He could sympathize to some extent with what Shien was saying.

"How do you want to form an alliance? The relationship between Kirigakure and Konoha is not exactly good," Karatachi Yagura asked, testing the waters.

The relationship between Kirigakure and Konoha was far worse than just "not good." Back when Shisui was still active, Kirigakure had frequently infiltrated the Land of Fire to carry out assassinations.

Even further back, during the Great Ninja War, the Uchiha had essentially held off the Kirigakure offensive single-handedly.

Both sides had suffered hundreds, if not thousands, of casualties, and the blood feuds ran deep.

Now that Shien was suddenly proposing an alliance, Karatachi Yagura had no idea what kind of medicine the man was selling in his gourd.

Shien gave Akabane a look, and Akabane began to step back.

Seeing this, Karatachi Yagura thought for a moment before giving a hand signal.

Whether it was Zabuza, Kisame, Mangetsu, or the others, they all retreated as instructed.

Once only the two of them remained on the scene, Shien spoke up.

"The bad relationship between Kirigakure and Konoha has nothing to do with us Uchiha."

After setting the tone for the conversation, he continued, "The high-level officials of Konoha interfered in our Uchiha internal strife this time."

"After this battle, we Uchiha have seen clearly that Konoha is nothing but a whirlpool. It is better to return to our true selves than to throw our lives away for them."

"Your true selves?" A look of contemplation appeared in Karatachi Yagura's eyes.

"Before Konoha was founded, we Uchiha were the most famous mercenaries in the ninja world."

"From now on, we will listen to orders but not acknowledge authority while in Konoha; we will take on private jobs ourselves."

"Your Kirigakure is in chaos. If you lack high-end combat power, you can hire us."

Karatachi Yagura nodded slightly. He understood what the Uchiha meant—they wanted to establish their own independence.

"We don't have the extra funds to hire you," Karatachi Yagura said quite bluntly.

Kirigakure was too chaotic. It was only after Mei Terumi had prepared the financial reports that he realized just how large the village's fiscal deficit was.

Never mind post-war casualty pensions; even maintaining the normal operations of Kirigakure was difficult.

In reality, because so many people had died on the Kirigakure side, they were the easiest to fleece.

Therefore, Shien had already thought of another way in advance.

Shien's gaze swept over Kisame Hoshigaki, Zabuza Momochi, Ringo Ameyuri, and the brothers Mangetsu and Suigetsu behind Karatachi Yagura.

These were all talented individuals. If they were cultivated properly for two years...

"If you don't have money, I have another way for us to make money together. See if you're interested."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Karatachi Yagura became interested.

Kirigakure was currently short on money, and these were holes he had dug himself. He wouldn't pass up any opportunity.

"Manipulating war!"

Shien licked his lips. Within those few short words, a pungent smell of blood seemed to permeate the air.

Karatachi Yagura's eyes turned deep, and he signaled for Shien to continue.

"You should have heard of the two mercenary groups, the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan, right?"

Karatachi Yagura's eyes lit up, and he looked thoughtful.

Back then, the Uchiha and the Senju were the two strongest ninja clans in the world and the two largest mercenary groups.

Whenever a power hired the Uchiha, their opponent would go and hire the Senju.

That way, both sides would be evenly matched, preventing a lopsided outcome.

Shien shook his head with disdain. "They were too honest back then. It would have been much better to just throw the matches."

"If both sides split the money at the end without anyone dying, wouldn't that have been wonderful?"

Karatachi Yagura finally understood what Shien meant. "You intend to manipulate wars like that?"

Shien replied as if it were a matter of course.

"The five great nations of the ninja world have been fighting for so many years. It is very easy to stir things up and get them fighting again."

"At such times, if a decisive force joins the battlefield to secure their victory, they would be very happy to hire us."

"Your Kirigakure," he said, pointing to the people behind Karatachi Yagura, "already has special forces."

"As long as you cultivate them a little and then take on a few high-difficulty missions to build a reputation, you'll be all set."

"We Uchiha are also forming special forces to take on private jobs."

"As long as we form a secret alliance, won't it be easy for us to coordinate with each other in the future?"

Karatachi Yagura's eyes shone with greed, as if large amounts of capital were already within his reach.

Shien's brain was truly something else.

The Uchiha Clan was the number one noble clan in the ninja world. Even with their losses, relying solely on the Sharingan, they were the clan most likely to produce experts.

Conversely, his Seven Ninja Swordsmen did need some time to recover.

In truth, Shien was simply replicating the way the Akatsuki made money.

However, the Akatsuki only manipulated wars in small countries.

Shien's appetite was much larger; he wanted to manipulate the wars of the five great nations!

"Very well, I agree to this."

After some deliberation, Karatachi Yagura found that this deal was entirely feasible.

At this moment, figures flickered in the woods, and three Kirigakure ninja quickly approached Karatachi Yagura's side.

Shien frowned. Surely these weren't more of Karatachi Yagura's political enemies?

"It's fine, they are my people," Karatachi Yagura said, gesturing to the others while introducing them to Shien.