Economic warfare

At the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation's first large factory, shinobi and ordinary people alike were hard at work when a supervisor spoke up.

"Lord Mu has issued orders. He needs refrigerators and washing machines in bulk. The factory will run around the clock."

"Huh? Team leader, we need rest! Otherwise, we won't have enough chakra," one shinobi hurriedly protested.

"Relax. Starting tomorrow, plenty more people will be coming here. You'll be divided into three shifts, working only eight hours a day, with two days off every seven days. Those days off will rotate, of course. And Lord Mu said that if we meet the target, this month's wages will be tripled."

Everyone cheered after hearing the team leader's explanation. What did that mean for them? Working here already paid better than farming, and now the pay was doubling. The ordinary workers threw themselves into their work with gusto.

The shinobi felt the same way. Their salaries were already higher than those of ordinary people, and tripling them was far better than taking a day's mission and then going several days without work. Even before the increase, they had earned more here than they did from missions. No one was unhappy with this arrangement.

As for farming, Uchiha Mu had decided from the nation's founding that it would be handled by shinobi, and that plan had now become reality. What once required people and oxen and still progressed slowly could now be done across vast stretches of land by Earth Release and Water Release shinobi alone.

The people freed up went to work in the factories. Everyone was put to use rather than left idle. This had its benefits and drawbacks: the money he had previously acquired had flowed out like water. Fortunately, Kakuzu had now brought back nearly five hundred million ryō along with his intelligence.

All the stock previously given to him had sold out. Now, while reporting his findings, he had also asked for production to be ramped up, with as much merchandise as possible packed into scrolls for him to take along.

This gave Uchiha Mu's nearly depleted funds a substantial boost, and the factories could keep hiring. For shinobi who were not particularly strong or did not want to risk their lives outside, this was a highly desirable job.

Still, this alone was not enough. Microwave ovens and similar appliances would come next, and he was already prepared to earn less in the future. After all, connecting homes to electricity had accounted for half the earnings this time.

Electricity bills would provide an ongoing income afterward. The daimyō was a major consumer, but he could only charge him a token amount. The nobles, however, would have to pay every last coin.

He wanted the lion's share of the profits from electricity, because if he did not make that money, someone else would. He remembered that all these things already existed when the original story's protagonist first appeared. In fact, the Shinobi World's technology might already have advanced by Orochimaru's era.

"Five hundred million?!" Keiko Uzumaki covered her mouth as she looked at the intelligence report and the money that had been sent back. Even the Uzumaki Clan did not have that much.

"Yes. Research, production, and sales are finally connected from end to end. Now we need to keep inventing," Uchiha Mu said excitedly. He was already preparing all sorts of electrical appliances.

He also intended to squeeze every last bit of money out of the former daimyō of the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Frost, who now lived in the city. Although they were enjoying carefree lives and had even learned to mold chakra, they were spending far too slowly.

The Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation was changing by the day and already had three ring roads. Its population was too small, however, limiting its development. Unlike the other shinobi villages, which relied mainly on missions, it had factories for canned meat and Explosive Tags, both recently opened by Uchiha Mu.

Explosive Tags could be sold even in peacetime to replenish his funds. Selling them a little cheaper on the underground black market brought in money quickly, making the operation self-sufficient. In wartime, their price would multiply several times over, bringing in even greater profits.

Overall, Uchiha Mu currently had two priorities. The first was to make everyday life more convenient and address the nobles' problems. The second was to prepare for future wars in the Shinobi World. As everyone knew, once the cannons roared, gold came pouring in. That was the principle at work.

While Uchiha Mu seized the opportunity to expand, the Five Great Nations had already received the news. He had pleased the Land of Fire's daimyō and nobles, then earned enormous sums through their connections.

Only then did they realize this was an option. They wanted to make money this way too. After all, securing funding meant depending on someone else's goodwill, whereas this money would be their own earnings.

But although they wanted to try, they had no idea what to make. Some of their predecessors had come from shinobi clans, while others had not. In the past, they had earned money either through missions or robbery. If asked to manufacture products, they could only make things like Explosive Tags.

People had long since been making those, and neither the nobles nor the daimyō lacked them. More importantly, their prices were already established. They offered none of the pricing power that refrigerators and washing machines did.

Konoha had ideas of its own. Tobirama Senju gathered the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans and several other shinobi clans with their own businesses for a meeting. Hashirama knew nothing about this area, so he left the entire matter to Tobirama Senju.

In Tobirama Senju's eyes, Uchiha Mu was an even trickier opponent than Madara Uchiha. He had never expected the Uchiha Clan, which he knew so well, to produce someone like him.

Even after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, he had remained relatively low-key. He was friendly and approachable in the village he had founded, and his Ninja Academy system was another standout achievement. What could Tobirama do? Copy him, naturally. Konoha might have considerable resources, but it also had plenty of expenses.

Although the Land of Fire never withheld their funding, more money was always welcome. He wanted these shinobi clans with family businesses to expand into the Land of Fire.

Naturally, they agreed to Tobirama Senju's proposal. Their reason for not doing so before was simple: their efforts would end up benefiting someone else. The Land of Fire's capital was far away, and they could not send too many people there to protect their interests.

Now that they had the village's backing, they would have to hand over a share, but beyond serving as a pledge of loyalty, the arrangement would actually earn them more.

Medicinal herbs, barbecue restaurants, flower shops, and the like-Uchiha Mu's discoveries had inspired him as well. If these products could be invented through Lightning Release, could Water Release be used too? As a researcher, once he finalized arrangements with these clans, he planned to run some experiments.

He also intended to establish a Ninja Academy, using Uchiha Mu's model as a reference. There was plenty to keep him busy. The evil old Senju felt no guilt whatsoever about copying the Uchiha.

He could not let the Uchiha make all that money. He was determined to stop Uchiha Mu, or the man would become a formidable enemy of Konoha in the future.

Iwagakure and Kumogakure were negotiating with their daimyō. Kumogakure was still plundering small countries, while Iwagakure was also considering what it could do to earn money. Raising armies and fighting were their specialties, but doing business? If they were good at that, how would those nobles ever have gotten their share of the profits?

This was destined to achieve little. People were naturally shortsighted, after all; taking the long view required self-restraint. When had a corrupt official or tax evader ever stopped to consider whether they would be caught in the future? They only considered the profits right in front of them.

As for Sunagakure's Kazekage, aside from negotiating with the daimyō, he traded sand with Uchiha Mu's nation. Even though the other party was the very culprit behind their reduced funding, he had no choice. This kind of economic warfare wore down the village even more than ordinary war.

Sunagakure had already stagnated. Before people began going hungry, the Kazekage had to find a solution, or the village would collapse overnight. That was something he could never accept.

As for the Ninja Academy, apart from Konoha's plans to copy it, none of the other shinobi villages had considered the idea. Perhaps that was because they did not have the Sharingan.