"Excellent, Kakuzu. I knew I was right about you."
Tetsuya nodded in approval, then took out a key and tossed it to Kakuzu.
"This is the key to the Treasury. From now on, whenever you need money, help yourself. Just leave a record of how much you take."
Kakuzu caught the key and went completely blank, standing there stunned for a long time.
"The Treasury... the Treasury... the key to the Treasury!"
He had never expected Tetsuya to simply hand him the key to the Treasury. Did he really trust him that much?
This feeling was truly wonderful.
"Thank you for trusting me, boss!"
Overcome with excitement, Kakuzu dropped to his knees before Tetsuya.
"Hey, hey, none of that. Didn't I tell you from the very beginning? We're business partners, not master and servant. Get up."
Tetsuya hurriedly helped Kakuzu to his feet.
Kakuzu spoke gratefully.
"Boss, I'm willing to lay down my life for you. I'll give you everything I have, until my dying breath."
A man would die for someone who understood his worth, just as a woman would dress up for someone who admired her.
Kakuzu had thought Tetsuya's willingness to give him a share of the profits was generous enough. He had never imagined Tetsuya would hand him the key to the Treasury outright.
For someone who loved money as much as he did, this was an incredible show of regard.
"All right, I don't want you dead. I want you alive. We've got plenty of time ahead of us, and plenty more chances to make money."
"You're right, boss. I need to stay alive and keep making money. More and more money."
At the mention of more opportunities to make money, Kakuzu's eyes lit up.
Tetsuya was very pleased with his reaction.
The reason he dared to entrust Kakuzu with the key to the Treasury was simple: he was a money-grubber, and an exceptionally stingy one at that.
Making money was his greatest passion, but spending it wasn't. Given the key to the Treasury, he might move in there at most, but actually spending the money? He really wouldn't do that.
"Kakuzu, you've been traveling around lately, so you should know what's happening out there. How far has the war between the nations progressed?"
Kakuzu thought back carefully before answering.
"The fighting is deadlocked, with clashes on every side. I have to say, as the biggest winner of the First Shinobi World War, Konoha has built up formidable strength over the years. It's fighting on three fronts at once.
"But the other major Shinobi Villages aren't weak either. They're locked in a stalemate now, and there's no telling which side will break the balance first."
As he spoke, something suddenly occurred to Kakuzu, and he smiled.
"Boss, I just remembered a very interesting piece of intelligence."
"What news has you grinning like that?"
Tetsuya was a little curious.
Kakuzu answered.
"Two days before I came back, the First Hokage's own grandson, Senju Nawaki, died on the front lines. Explosive tags blew him up.
"Isn't that funny? The First Hokage's own grandson, a twelve-year-old prodigy Ninja, blown up by explosive tags.
"Looks like each generation of the Senju Clan really is worse than the last. Or perhaps Hashirama and Tobirama were simply flukes."
He shook his head with a sigh.
Hashirama Senju had been so powerful, a hero who had made his name while still young. How could his grandson have ended up being blown up by explosive tags?
Could something like explosive tags really kill anyone?
"Nawaki died, huh."
Tetsuya recalled seeing Orochimaru and Nawaki beside him on the road the day he left Konoha. He couldn't help shaking his head. It really was fate.
Life truly was fragile. Fortunately, he would never die.
Forget ordinary explosive tags—even Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags couldn't blow him to death.
At the mention of the Senju, Izuna, who had been sitting to one side drinking tea, also raised his head.
"Hashirama Senju's grandson?"
"Yes. Hashirama Senju apparently only had one grandson and one granddaughter. His granddaughter is one of the Third Hokage's students. She's on another battlefield right now."
"Hmph. Serves him right."
Izuna snorted coldly.
"Neither my brother nor I left any descendants, yet that inherently evil Senju actually had a grandson."
"Nawaki is dead. Whatever killed him, it's bound to spark public outrage in Konoha. I'm afraid Konoha's offensive will become even fiercer."
"That's true."
Kakuzu nodded.
"Before I came back, I already saw Konoha sending large numbers of Ninjas to the front. I heard they've found the Third Hokage's student Jiraiya and sent him to the battlefield."
"Unless something unexpected happens, all three of the Third Hokage's prized students will assemble at the front, and the fighting will grow even more intense."
"Let them fight. No matter how hard they fight, the flames of war won't reach the Capital City anyway."
Tetsuya took a sip of tea before speaking again.
"How did it go? Have you made contact with Amegakure?"
"We've made contact. As expected, boss, everything went just as you predicted. Amegakure's leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, is willing to buy the Ninja Tools we make. They intend to join the fray too."
"That's only natural."
Hearing that Hanzo of the Salamander was willing to buy their equipment, Tetsuya smiled in satisfaction.
"He's an ambitious man who's always wanted to lead the sixth great Shinobi Village. Besides, the three great nations of Wind, Fire, and Earth have turned his Land of Rain into their battlefield. Its people have been driven from their homes, with countless dead and wounded. Never mind Hanzo of the Salamander—any leader of Amegakure with an ounce of fighting spirit would choose to take a stand."
"But no matter how hard Hanzo of the Salamander struggles, he won't be able to change anything."
Izuna nodded in agreement.
"Given Amegakure's geographical position, the Land of Rain is a natural battlefield for the three great nations of Wind, Fire, and Earth during wartime. In peacetime, it serves as a buffer between them."
"To change any of that, someone would have to step forward and overpower all three great nations."
As he spoke, Izuna cast an inquisitive look at Tetsuya.
In his view, aside from his own brother, Madara Uchiha, and Hashirama Senju, Chiba Tetsuya should also be capable of overpowering all three nations.
Tetsuya paid no attention to Izuna's gaze. Instead, he took out a map and spread it across the tea table.
"Still, that said, with the right approach, Amegakure's location could actually allow it to develop very quickly. It's a small nation connected to three great nations and three smaller ones, bordering six countries in all.
"It could open up roads and become a transportation hub linking those nations, a center for trade between them.
"As long as the trade routes are opened, the Land of Rain could build its economy entirely on commerce. Customs duties and business taxes alone would bring in a fortune."
Kakuzu studied the map carefully too. It really was just as Tetsuya said.
The three great nations each had their own specialties and needs. All they had to do was act as middlemen, buying the relevant goods from each nation and reselling them to whichever country needed them. Wasn't that practically free money?
At that thought, Kakuzu's eyes gleamed.
"Boss, let's conquer the Land of Rain!"
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