Bzz-
The inky vortex spun violently, and a powerful spatial force enveloped the three of them.
Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi felt their vision blur, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived somewhere unfamiliar.
Before them stretched a lush mountain forest.
Towering ancient trees stood tall, their dense branches and leaves blotting out the sky.
A thin mist hung among the trees. Sunlight spilled through gaps in the leaves, casting dappled light and shadows on the ground.
The air carried the fresh scent of earth and vegetation, entirely different from the atmosphere in Konoha.
There was no chakra here.
Fugaku and Itachi noticed this almost simultaneously.
In this world, they could sense no flow of chakra at all. What filled the air was an unfamiliar, pure natural energy.
"This is... another world?"
Fugaku crouched down, scooped up a handful of soil, and rubbed it carefully between his fingertips, his eyes full of disbelief.
The feel of the soil was real, the fresh scent of the vegetation was real, and even the birdsong and insect calls in their ears were real.
They really had come to another world.
"Mount Fujikasane."
Zongyan waited for the two to adjust before beginning his introduction.
"This is the location I marked on my last visit. It's remote and rarely visited, so no one will discover our presence."
Itachi looked around, activated his Sharingan, and carefully examined their surroundings.
Sure enough, his Sharingan still worked normally in this world, and his chakra was not restricted in any way.
After all, chakra was a combination of physical and spiritual energy. Unless they entered Sage Mode, they did not need to absorb anything from outside.
"This world really has no chakra. It has another kind of energy instead."
Zongyan nodded and picked up the conversation.
"So, as far as we're concerned, this world is practically undefended."
The three found a clear, level patch in the forest and sat in a circle to discuss their next steps.
"This world has hundreds of countries of different sizes and varying strength. To maximize our gains, we should, of course, control the people in power in every country."
Zongyan spoke first, sharing his thoughts.
Fugaku frowned and began considering it.
"Hundreds of countries? There are only three of us. Controlling that many rulers will take quite some time."
"That's why we need to split up."
Zongyan already had a plan and quickly laid it out.
"The three of us will separate, each heading in a different direction, and use genjutsu to control those countries' rulers. At our speed, we can take them all within a month at most."
Itachi nodded. The plan was indeed feasible.
They all possessed the strength of a Special Jōnin and could travel very quickly. A month should be enough for the three of them.
"What happens after we control them? How do we collect the resources? We can't go remind them every day." Itachi had another question.
Zongyan thought for a moment and said, "We could set a fixed collection date. Once every three months, for example?"
Fugaku and Itachi considered it, then nodded.
"Every three months it is!"
"Then how much should we collect? If we make these countries hand over everything, it could cause civil unrest and destabilize the situation. That would slow down our resource acquisition instead."
Another question had occurred to Zongyan. He looked toward Fugaku. As the clan head who handled clan affairs every day, his father should have some ideas.
Seeing his second son looking at him, Fugaku began considering it too.
Killing the goose that laid the golden eggs was inadvisable. A steady, lasting supply was the way to go.
"This is a world of ordinary people, so metals like iron are its most important strategic resources. Neither weapons nor farming tools can do without them."
"In that case, let's have every country pay tribute equal to twenty percent of its total iron output."
"Twenty percent?"
Itachi thought for a moment, somewhat puzzled.
"Wouldn't that be too much?"
"No. Twenty percent of a country's iron output will put it under some pressure, but it's still within what it can bear."
"It won't cause too much turmoil or make the ordinary people revolt!"
Zongyan shook his head as he explained to Itachi, then agreed with Fugaku's proposal.
The three discussed a few more details and stood up once they had confirmed everything.
"Then it's settled. We'll meet here again in a month."
Fugaku looked at his two sons and spoke in a deep voice.
"All right."
"Understood."
The three exchanged glances, then each leaped into the mountain forest in a different direction and disappeared.
Itachi darted swiftly through the mountain forest.
Even in a world without chakra, he was still as fast as lightning.
With a light push of his feet against a tree trunk, he shot dozens of yards forward like a phantom, leaving only a faint afterimage.
The scenery along the way stirred countless feelings within him.
The mountain forests of this world resembled those of the Shinobi World, yet there were subtle differences.
The types of trees, the cries of birds and beasts, and the scents in the air all held an unfamiliar freshness.
What caught his attention most was that this world also possessed a special natural energy, and it was particularly abundant.
Perhaps this was why demons existed in this world, and why one could reach Kage Level through physical training alone.
After racing along for about half an hour, Itachi finally heard human voices.
He slowed his steps and approached silently.
On a narrow path at the edge of the forest, a middle-aged man in a coarse-cloth kimono was leisurely heading down the mountain, carrying bundles of wood on a shoulder pole.
A cloth was wrapped around his head, his face was covered in sweat, and he was humming an unfamiliar tune.
Itachi concealed himself behind a tree and quietly observed the man.
He'll do.
Itachi slowly activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and an invisible force of genjutsu silently invaded the woodcutter's consciousness.
The woodcutter stopped abruptly.
His gaze began to glaze over, his pupils dilating slightly as though his eyes had lost focus.
Itachi emerged from behind the tree and walked up to the woodcutter.
"Look at me."
Itachi's voice was low and carried an unquestionable power.
The woodcutter raised his head mechanically, meeting Itachi's eyes.
In an instant, a vast torrent of information flooded Itachi's mind.
The woodcutter's name was Yamada Tarō. He was forty-seven, an ordinary woodcutter from a nearby mountain village who made his living cutting firewood.
His memories contained this country's language, its history, its geography, its power structure...
Itachi's pupils contracted slightly as he rapidly digested the information.
This world was called Earth.
The country he was currently in was called Japan.
According to the woodcutter's memories, people frequently went missing throughout Japan. The official explanation was attacks by wild beasts or bandits, but many legends about "demons" circulated among the populace.
It was said that there were man-eating demons with boundless strength, impervious to blades and spears, that could only be slain with a special weapon called a "Nichirin Blade."
There was also a secret organization called the "Demon Slayer Corps," which specialized in hunting these demons in secret.
"So that's how it is..."
Itachi murmured, a flicker of understanding passing through his eyes.
Itachi deactivated his Sharingan, and clarity returned to the woodcutter's eyes.
He shook his head, looked at the bundles of firewood on the ground, and scratched his head in confusion.
"Strange. Why did I stop?"
Muttering to himself, he bent down, hoisted the firewood onto his shoulder again, and continued down the mountain, remembering nothing of what had just happened.
Itachi stood where he was, quietly watching the woodcutter's retreating figure disappear at the end of the mountain path.
In his mind, he had already begun rapidly formulating a plan.
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