White Zetsu Squad

Half a month of wind and snow could not conceal the undercurrents beneath the surface.

Two insane buying sprees, regardless of cost, had smashed the Underground Black Markets of the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning to pieces.

Available stock had been drained dry. The prices of Explosive Tag materials and Chakra Metal had soared in a straight line, then collapsed completely.

Even the "public reserves" that corrupt officials from various villages had secretly stored in the Black Market, intending to cash out at high prices, had all been taken by Obito. Not even scraps remained.

To transport this mountain of supplies, Black Market merchants had booked every transport ninja hound overnight, instantly paralyzing the underground logistics networks of both countries.

At the end of the storm, several hundred disguised cargo ships quietly approached the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.

Tons of strategic supplies were unloaded overnight, then continuously funneled into Konoha's underground through Flying Thunder God transfer nodes.

Konoha's western outskirts, Orochimaru's underground laboratory.

The spacetime array patterns on the ceiling flickered repeatedly.

Large quantities of high-purity Marrowstone Sand and conductive metal rained down with a clatter into the boiling smelters.

Wearing a white lab coat, Orochimaru casually tore the "loss report" meant to lure prey into pieces and tossed them into the fire.

"What a marvelous sheen..."

Orochimaru stared at the churning molten steel, his eyes filled with fervor.

He picked up a handful of freshly cooled metal shavings and rubbed them between his fingertips.

"With this batch of high-purity material, those little toys on the blueprints finally won't be bottlenecked anymore."

Orochimaru turned and instructed his assistant, "Tell Minato the assembly line can be sped up another twofold."

Deafening roars echoed underground. On the production line, brand-new Chakra Armor was rolling off at