"Bang. Bang."
Shu Shiraishi's right hand, gloved in black, slapped against a power transmission pipe as thick as his wrist.
The copper pipe was scalding hot. The heat seeped through the leather gloves and into the palms. A wisp of white smoke rose from the edge of the gloves.
A torrent of Chakra surged wildly through the power transmission pipe, causing the pipe walls to vibrate and hum.
The sound of the patting was instantly drowned out by the deafening roar of the generator set in the basement.
The two-story-high metal conversion furnace roared.
Blinding blue and white sparks flew wildly within the wire mesh fence. The air was thick with the pungent smell of heated rubber.
On the alloy rack.
Half of Roshi's red beard was burned away. His teeth were clenched tightly on the steel jaw rest, and black blood seeping from his gums flowed down his neck.
No more white mist could be emitted from the gaps in Han's Steam Armor. Only the gurgling sound of a broken bellows remained.
The twelve Sealing Squad ninjas were drenched in sweat, desperately pouring Chakra into the magic circle.
The raging electrical energy deep underground traveled upwards along the thick, black main cable.
It burst out of the ground.
The night sky over Konoha suddenly lit up.
On both sides of the main road, hundreds of newly planted steel pipe streetlights flashed simultaneously.
A soft "sizzle" sound.
Two long, blinding incandescent lights stretched across the night sky, tearing it apart.
A dozen powerful searchlights swept across the air above the factory buildings on the wasteland to the south.
The heart of heavy industry, which had been silent for half a month, began to beat completely.
One month later.
The old ways of working at sunrise and resting at sunset have disappeared from Konoha.
Three shifts. People rest, but the machines never stop.
Every morning and evening, the piercing sound of the changing of the shift whistle would blare precisely over the village.
No. 2 Machine Processing Plant
The conveyor belts on the assembly line creaked and groaned as they turned. The belts were covered in black heavy machine oil.
Akimichi Chōza was shirtless. The fat on his stomach had shrunk considerably.
He lifted a two-ton stamped steel plate with both hands, his steps heavy, and walked to the end of the assembly line.
"Let it go!" The Uchiha overseer in front banged on the railing with an iron bar.
Chōza slammed the steel plate heavily into the slot.
A dozen or so Genin rushed forward with pneumatic wrenches, tightening the screws, sparks flying everywhere.
A steady stream of goods is being produced.
The backyard of the arsenal.
The pine crates were piled up into small mountains. The sides of the crates were printed with red and white Gunbai and Konoha symbols.
It was stuffed with Explosive Tag, heavy machine guns, and boxes of high-explosive Chakra.
The convoy of trucks stretched for two kilometers, spewing black smoke from their exhaust pipes as they rumbled out of the village.
Black market on the border of the Land of Fire.
A smuggler from the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, wearing a gray cloak.
They used a crowbar to pry open the box and glanced inside at the row of gleaming metal gun barrels.
The merchants were breathing heavily. Boxes of silver notes and gold bars were pushed directly over.
Besides weapons, there were also tin cans, cloth, and refined salt.
Konoha's production line products have shockingly low costs. They're being sold at a third of the market price.
In less than two weeks, all the traditional workshops in the surrounding small countries closed down.
Only goods bearing the Konoha logo remain on the market.
Hokage Building, third floor.
Shu Shiraishi stood by the window.
He had unbuttoned the top two buttons of his black short-sleeved shirt. He held a red and blue pencil in his hand and drew circles on the Shinobi World map on the wall.
The pen tip heavily circled several shipping routes of the Land of Water.
A deep scratch was made on the paper.
Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.
"Tap tap tap tap."
They ran very fast; their military boots made the wooden floorboards vibrate.
There was no knocking.
With a "bang," the doors were kicked open. The two wooden doors slammed against the wall and bounced back.
Kakuzu rushed in.
He wasn't wearing the tattered cloak typical of missing-nin. Instead, he was wearing a gray Konoha Finance Department vest.
His vest's left pocket was bulging with abacus beads, which clattered as he walked.
He was clutching a stack of account books that was half a meter high tightly in his arms.
The cover of the top book is embossed with gold foil, reflecting the sunlight streaming through the window.
The entry barrier is a bit high.
Kakuzu was running too fast. His right shoe slipped on the edge of the threshold.
"Ouch."
He lurched forward.
Two ledgers slipped from her arms and landed on the carpet with two dull thuds.
Kakuzu disregarded his balance and immediately knelt down on both knees.
He scooped up the two fallen ledgers and frantically rubbed the covers with the cuff of his gray vest, wiping away non-existent dust.
He got up, grabbed the stack of account books, and rushed to the mahogany desk.
"Splash."
He dumped all the account books onto the table, covering it completely.
Several thick, hardcover notebooks slid directly to the edge of Shu Shiraishi's teacup, causing it to wobble and spill a few drops of water.
Shu Shiraishi turned around, a pencil held between his fingers.
"A dog bit you from behind?"
Shu Shiraishi walked back to his desk, pulled out a leather chair, and sat down.
" Lord Shu!"
Kakuzu was panting heavily.
His face, stitched with black thread, was now flushed a deep purple.
His hands were pressed tightly against the edge of the mahogany table, his ten fingers trembling uncontrollably.
"It's done... last month's financial statements are done!"
Kakuzu's voice crackled like a broken gong.
He grabbed the top ledger, the one with gold lettering.
Turn to the first page.
His thumb was wet with saliva. The papers rustled as he turned them over.
"Look at this."
Kakuzu pointed to the column for total revenue, his finger jabbing hard at the paper.
The parchment was pokesked with small dents.
"Arms exports: 30,000 sets of heavy machine guns, 2 million rounds of ammunition, and 40 million taels of silver."
He swallowed hard.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg!"
Kakuzu turns to the next page.
"Industrial dumping. Our ironware, textiles, and agricultural implements."
"They robbed the entire market of the Land of Water Land of Wind. Ninety percent of their trade routes were cut off."
Kakuzu's voice grew louder and louder, his spittle flying everywhere.
It splashed onto the ledger. He quickly wiped it off with his sleeve.
"Those powerful lords can't even collect land taxes now."
Kakuzu's hands were flailing wildly in mid-air.
"They're all buying our goods. Gold and silver mining contracts are being hauled to Konoha by the truckload."
They even pawned their belts to us.
He pushed aside the several ledgers next to him.
Pull out a long summary sheet from the bottom.
The sheet was unfolded and dragged directly onto the carpet.
"Add in the Chakra energy patent fees, and then there's the commercial monopoly."
Kakuzu took a deep breath, his lungs gurgling like bellows.
"Last month's total GDP of Konoha."
He raised his head, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, staring intently at Shu Shiraishi.
"That's too much."
Shu Shiraishi threw the red and blue pencils on the table.
Who did you surpass?
" The Land of Wind eats sand, the Land of Water fishes, the Land of Earth digs mud, Land of Lightning plays with stones."
Kakuzu's voice trembled.
"The treasury of those four great nations, plus the treasury of the Land of Fire's daimyo."
He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.
"The money from these five companies combined isn't even a fraction of what's in our accounts!"
Shu Shiraishi stared at the summary sheet dragging on the carpet.
At the end of the list, that string of black ink numbers was indeed frighteningly long.
The zeros were densely packed together.
Kakuzu pointed to that string of astronomical figures.
His mouth stretched wider and wider.
The rough, dark stitches on his face were stretched taut by the muscles in his cheeks, as if they were about to snap at any moment.
Hahaha... Hahahaha!
Kakuzu let out a maniacal laugh like that of an owl.
His shoulders shrugged violently. The abacus beads in his vest pocket rattled erratically.
His jaw opened too wide, making a sharp "crack" sound. It was about to dislocate.
Just then...
The wind outside the window has changed direction.
A thick plume of yellowish-black smoke.
It rushed into the office through the crack in the window that wasn't closed properly.
Like a murky, venomous snake.
The air instantly became polluted.
The thick smoke carried a pungent smell of sulfur and the acrid stench of burning heavy engine oil, making one's eyes sting.
Kakuzu was laughing wildly with his mouth wide open.
A puff of yellow smoke went straight down his throat.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
"Cough! Cough cough cough!"
Kakuzu suddenly bent over, covering his mouth tightly with both hands.
He coughed so hard it felt like his heart was being torn apart. Tears streamed down his face, dripping onto his gray vest.