Chapter 48

"Once the fighting starts, we'll hold the authority. Whoever we assign will have to go."

"Just like last time."

Back then, the Senju Clan was still at its peak. Plenty of people opposed their control, and even more disliked Sarutobi being Hokage.

If Uzumaki Mito had not supported them from behind the scenes, they would never have been able to keep their positions secure.

But look at things now.

The Senju Clan was nearly gone. Their elites had all been exhausted in the last war.

Their branch families had also been gradually broken apart under the Second Hokage's plan of "integrating the Senju into the civilians."

Those Senju loyalists had all been gradually eliminated through wars and dangerous missions.

How much strength and prestige could the Senju still have left in the village now?

In the end, those Senju people were too straightforward.

They went on and on about Konoha's glory, truly treating the village as their own home.

A few words about "what's good for Konoha" were enough to fool them into obediently running off to their deaths.

This time, they could completely copy their previous methods to deal with the Uchiha, without even sparing that dead-but-not-gone Senju snake.

Danzo even found Uzumaki Mito particularly unpleasant to look at.

Why had she not died already?

If she died, he could fool the remaining Senju descendants into participating in the Wood Release experiments he had long coveted.

If they could truly produce Wood Release, who would Konoha have to fear?

And if he himself mastered Wood Release, would the Hokage position not be his for the taking?

"Danzo!"

Although the Third Generation agreed inwardly, his expression hardened.

"Don't say anything that harms unity."

"Everything we do is for Konoha, not for our own petty selfish desires."

"Ha ha ha!"

Danzo threw back his head and laughed. "Right, right, right! It's all for Konoha! All for Konoha!"

You, Hiruzen Sarutobi, were far more scheming than I was.

And a far better pretender, too.

Danzo had always dared to act and admit what he did. He never hid behind pretenses.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi was different.

He wanted to be a ** and erect a monument to his own virtue at the same time.

"Perhaps that's why you were able to sit in the Hokage's seat back then?"

"Black-hearted enough."

"Looks like I'll have to learn more from you in the future."

"I'll start by waving the banner of 'for Konoha' while I work! Heh heh!"

Danzo sneered inwardly.

In the blink of an eye, another five days passed.

Over the past few days, the Third Generation's group had made no major moves.

Instead, the various ninja clans could no longer hold back. One after another, they came to Uchiha Chisato to discuss medicine allotments.

At Xunjing's current production level, there was simply no way to meet everyone's demand.

Still, every ninja clan that came knocking received at least some allotment.

The Ino–Shika–Cho families, who had moved the fastest, along with Tsunade, whose relationship with Xunjing's group was the closest, received the largest shares.

Uchiha Chisato did not distribute all the allotments to the ninja clans.

She kept thirty percent and continued selling it through the Uchiha Pharmacy.

Although most of those medicines would ultimately still end up in the hands of the major clans.

With purchase limits in place, however, some would still reach small and mid-sized clans as well as civilian ninja.

After buying the medicine, these people normally could not bear to use things like Nutrient Pills and Nourishing Potion, aside from Body-Tempering Potion.

They would only take them out in emergencies during missions.

Used properly, they could save lives.

At Uchiha Chisato's request, Xunjing had no choice but to ask Dr. Kureha to make some medicine every day to increase production.

Naturally, the price was top-grade Plum Wine as payment.

He also had to send her a batch of Chinese medicine texts regularly. The supply could not be cut off.

To avoid giving himself more trouble, Xunjing could only agree.

"How about I hire a few pharmaceutical doctors from Drum Island to manufacture them?"

That thought suddenly popped into Xunjing's mind.

After all, there was no big deal if people learned the formulas for these weakened medicines.

With the abundant resources of the Pirate World, they could make similar potions anyway.

Especially Nutrient Pills that only retained ten percent of their effect.

That stuff definitely would not sell in the Pirate World.

It was completely useless.

Expensive and ineffective.

For that money, one might as well buy a few pounds of Sea King meat. The effects would be far better.

Xunjing immediately told Dr. Kureha about his idea.

"Ha ha ha!"

Dr. Kureha laughed heartily after hearing him out. "You should have done that long ago! You can just open a pharmaceutical factory in a nearby town and specialize in producing these medicines."

Xunjing gave an awkward laugh and hurriedly waved his hands. "How could I? I'm only trying to get some startup capital!"

Dr. Kureha shot him a sidelong glance but did not press further.

"Fine. Put this matter aside for now."

After considering it, Xunjing decided not to rush into opening a factory.

He planned to take Ninja Hawk Little Black and fly directly to Sky Island.

That place had gold everywhere. Digging up a little would be enough.

Besides, he could look for the Rumble-Rumble Fruit while he was there.

If he happened to run into Enel, he could see whether he could sweet-talk him a little and build a closer relationship.

That kid truly had outstanding talent and was worth nurturing.

"Tell me when you're ready. I don't want to spend every day refining these low-grade potions for you."

Dr. Kureha snorted, her tone carrying a hint of disdain.

"I really don't know why you keep messing with this stuff. Don't tell me you want to become a heartless profiteer?"

"Ha ha, how could that be!"

Xunjing hurriedly laughed it off and changed the subject.

He knew that Dr. Kureha held no ordinary status in Drum Kingdom.

Ordinary people might not know who she was, but the kingdom's upper ranks definitely would not dare treat her lightly.

Xunjing even suspected that the ** and many nobles were afraid of her.

Otherwise, when Wapol went on his rampage in the future, how could she have so easily occupied the royal palace as her residence?

Wapol was not known for having a good temper.

"Oh?"

Dr. Kureha raised an eyebrow, her tone amused. "You're quite generous with your spending."

"Fine. To save myself the trouble, I agree."

"But let's be clear: the payment cannot be lacking."

"And buying land, building a factory, hiring people, and getting materials all cost money."

"Are you sure you can afford it?"

Xunjing thought for a moment and scratched his head. "Uh... that will have to wait a few days."

"I'll go get some money first."

He planned to go to Sky Island for gold.

Exchanging paper currency for gold in the Ninja World was too troublesome. He would have to go to the Land of Fire's capital and trade with the daimyo.

That gold was all held by the daimyo and the upper ranks to stabilize the currency.

He might as well fly straight to Sky Island and dig up the ready-made stuff.

With Ninja Hawk Little Black now, flying ten thousand meters into the sky was effortless.

Over on Sky Island, the Golden City was still buried in the clouds and untouched.

The Skypieans and Shandians were busy fighting each other. They had no time to care about all that gold.

It would be even easier to obtain than during Enel's time.

"Do whatever you want."

Dr. Kureha waved her hand, sounding somewhat impatient. "Call me once you're ready, and hurry up."

"I don't want to refine this garbage medicine for you every day."

"I really don't know what you're trying to do with all this."

"Don't tell me you're trying to become a heartless merchant? Heh heh."

Xunjing gave an awkward laugh. "Ha ha, how could that be!"

Xunjing chuckled and scratched his head.

He had earned quite a bit from those potions, but he was not really a heartless merchant, was he?

The people of Konoha were scrambling to buy them and even praising the Uchiha for being fair and generous.

All he could say was that the circumstances on both sides were different.

After returning home that day, Xunjing told his mother about it.

"Fine! Then tomorrow, we'll go to Sky Island first and haul back the gold!"

Uchiha Chisato nodded without even thinking.

Who would ever complain about having too much money?

With so much gold, the sooner they got it into their hands, the sooner they could rest easy.

Besides, she was quite curious about Devil Fruits, especially the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, said to be the strongest Logia. She wanted to see it with her own eyes.

As for whether to eat it?

They could decide that later!

"Alright!"

Xunjing answered with satisfaction.

"Oh, right!"