Ye Uchiha dared not say much about Princess Kaguya's jealousy. If a careless remark angered her, she would absolutely pin him to the ground and beat him senseless.
He instinctively rubbed his handsome face, seemingly recalling the earnest "lesson" his ancestor had given him that day. His teeth ached at the memory, and his entire mood sank.
As a formidable figure renowned throughout the Shinobi World, Ye Uchiha had earned his infamous reputation largely by carrying out orders from his clan's higher-ups. He cared little for such empty fame.
Yet being pinned down and beaten by a seemingly delicate woman was a crushing blow to his pride. Had he not known that Princess Kaguya was technically the ancestor of this body, Ye Uchiha would have fallen apart long ago.
Raphtalia stayed glued to Naofumi Iwatani's side, fussing over his well-being. Princess Kaguya, who looked as though someone had snatched away her favorite toy, was deeply displeased. She fixed Naofumi with an icy, almost murderous stare, leaving the innocent man under tremendous pressure.
That evening, Ye Uchiha discussed the mine renovation project with the Lute Village Lord, who had come to visit him in person.
After some thought, the Lute Village Lord frowned. "Based on the requirements you just described, renovating that mine into what you envision will cost at least several hundred gold coins."
Ye Uchiha lowered his gaze in thought. A hundred gold coins was enough to cover an ordinary family's living expenses for more than a decade.
Although the price was reasonable, Princess Kaguya took most of the money he earned these days. The private stash he had secretly saved amounted to roughly that sum. Having to hand over his hard-earned savings now left him rather reluctant.
Ye Uchiha sighed inwardly. As a member of the prestigious Uchiha clan, this was the first time he had felt the helplessness of poverty so keenly.
Building an organization was like feeding an enormous money pit. No matter how many resources went into it, it swallowed them immediately and kept demanding more.
Konoha Shinobi Village, for example, maintained its vast war machine through funding and resources secured by clinging to the Land of Fire Daimyō, along with a cut of its shinobi's mission earnings.
Ye Uchiha had also considered how to fund his future base. Should he follow the hidden villages' system, taking commissions and completing missions for payment?
He quickly discarded the idea. Even setting aside the fact that this world's social structure would never accommodate the hidden village system, their only fighting forces at present were himself, Gin Ichimaru, and Princess Kaguya. Surely he could not handle every little matter personally. That would be beneath him.
Getting rich through technology was a good approach. Unfortunately, none of the three possessed the scientific talent of Orochimaru or Kisuke Urahara. Destruction and killing were their specialties, not sitting in front of complicated equipment for ten days or half a month at a stretch.
It seemed he could only pin his hopes on the next summons. Hopefully, he would summon a useful Servant with the brains to advise him.
He checked the number of available summons on the interface: 3.
Ye Uchiha thought he might as well try a round of summons. Perhaps he could summon some extraordinary scientific genius from another world.
For instance, there was Vegapunk from One Piece, the scientist said to possess intelligence five hundred years ahead of humanity. He had unraveled the conditions governing the transfer of Devil Fruit powers, enabled objects to acquire those powers, and created artificial Devil Fruits.
Then there was Kisuke Urahara, the first director of the Soul Society's Shinigami Research and Development Institute. He had developed the Hōgyoku, Gigai, and all manner of wondrous inventions, making him practically a human Doraemon.
And there was Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, whose survival skills were second to none. He had developed the Cursed Seal, the Reincarnation Technique, cloning technology, artificial human technology... He was renowned as the man who held the key to advanced technology.
Leaving everything else aside, any single technological creation from those three could send enormous shock waves through this otherworldly realm of swords and magic.
The person Ye Uchiha most wanted to summon was undoubtedly Orochimaru, who had developed cloning technology and created Uchiha Shin. Hailing from the same Naruto World, he had forcibly dragged the technological development of a backward feudal age into modern civilization. His methods left Ye Uchiha awestruck.
With Orochimaru's help, his Mangekyō Sharingan could surely advance into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. If he could trace his bloodline back to its origins and refine it, he would be perfectly satisfied with reaching the Sage of Six Paths' level, even if Princess Kaguya's remained beyond him.
The Rinnegan-Ye Uchiha had coveted it for a long time. Outside of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the Progenitor of Chakra, the Sage of Six Paths, and the reincarnations of his eldest son Indra, someone like him, with no special lineage beyond being an Uchiha, had virtually no chance of obtaining it.
"This is the advance deposit. If it isn't enough, come find me." Ye Uchiha took a cloth bag full of gold coins from a Sealing Scroll and handed it to the Lute Village Lord.
As for whether the Lute Village Lord might run away with the money, Ye Uchiha was not concerned in the slightest. The man's entire family lived here. Even if he fled, where could he go? Unless he escaped the Kingdom of Melromarc, Ye Uchiha could order the king to track him down even in the most remote backwater.
Accepting the heavy bag of gold coins, the Lute Village Lord broke into a delighted smile. Quite a few villagers knew skilled trades, and even he knew a little himself. If they could take on the entire project, he believed Lute Village could regain its former prosperity in just a few months.
Unfortunately, the Lute Village Lord knew his villagers' capabilities well. Willing though they were, the task exceeded them. Even with its fairly sizable population, Lute Village could undertake no more than half the project. They would have to seek help from craftsmen in neighboring towns for the rest.
Time flew by. The Lute Village Lord brought several hundred craftsmen from Lute Village and other nearby settlements, transporting renovation materials and tools, and they began diligently remodeling the mine.
They even ate and slept in a camp on the open ground outside the mine. Their tireless dedication, to the point of neglecting meals and sleep, startled Ye Uchiha when he came to observe. Money really was a wonderful thing.
During this time, Naofumi Iwatani, despite having already suffered a thorough beating, eagerly went to spar with Gin Ichimaru several times. With a meat shield volunteering to serve as a punching bag, Gin was naturally happy to oblige. Every match ended with Naofumi being toyed with until he was panting, finally surrendering when his strength gave out.
Notably, the monster egg Naofumi Iwatani had bought from the slave merchant finally hatched, producing a plump little Philo Bird. He simply named her "Filo."
Even Raphtalia could not bear to watch that, remarking that Naofumi Iwatani had no talent for naming things.
Over just a few days, Naofumi Iwatani took Raphtalia out to grind monsters in the wilderness. Thanks to shared experience, Filo grew at a downright cheat-like rate, going from small enough to cradle in his palms to large enough to carry a rider.
Watching Filo grow nearly made Ye Uchiha's jaw hit the floor. What could he even say about such an absurd development? Was this just what one should expect from a fantasy world?
Feeling that they had rested long enough, Naofumi Iwatani said goodbye to Ye Uchiha and the other two on the morning of the fifth day. With a traveling merchant's permit gifted to him by the Lute Village Lord, he left Lute Village alongside Raphtalia and Filo, who pulled a cart loaded with goods.
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