"What is it?" Hyuga Mirai asked curiously.
"In the Land of Fire, the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Grass, the Land of Rice Fields, and the Land of Iron, the trade associations we either directly or indirectly control have reported a total of twenty-seven loan incidents, involving an amount totaling seven hundred and thirty million ryo."
Mirai raised an eyebrow. Did she really need to report something as trivial as seven hundred million ryo?
If it was just about money, Eighteen wouldn't have bothered. The fact that she did meant there was more to it.
"Is there an issue with the borrowers or where the money is going?"
Eighteen pulled up a video feed and responded, "There were four borrowers in total—Tsunade of Konoha, Orochimaru, you, and Ayaka Uzumaki. But based on satellite tracking, every transaction actually led back to Tsunade alone. She simply used the appearances and identities of the other three."
Mirai stared at the screen, watching as Tsunade transformed into his likeness, imitating his expressions with impressive accuracy. His lips twitched slightly.
"That woman..."
For a moment, he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just sighed.
"Forget it. It's only seven hundred million. Just count it as bad luck and move on."
Just as he finished speaking, Eighteen continued, "Sir, Tsunade only targeted businesses affiliated with us, and before borrowing the money, she gathered a considerable amount of intelligence."
She then pulled up more surveillance footage, showing Tsunade discreetly collecting information, infiltrating areas using the Transformation Jutsu, and performing reconnaissance from multiple angles.
Mirai frowned.
"Are you sure this is Tsunade and not Jiraiya disguised as her?" he asked, half-jokingly. Tsunade was many things, but an information gatherer wasn't one of them.
Eighteen immediately pulled up another screen, showing Jiraiya getting drunk in the Land of Hot Water.
"Jiraiya is busy drinking, sir," she stated matter-of-factly.
Mirai scratched his head. "It's like they've switched roles… At this rate, Tsunade might summon a toad and start writing novels."
"Ignore her for now," he said after some thought. "She'll never be able to trace this back to us. Just send the bill to Konoha."
The only organizations with direct access to Mirai were:
Uzumaki Trade Association (commerce) Hyakusa Trade Association (medicine) Keikou Trade Association (logistics) Gato Shipping (transportation)
These four corporations controlled the clothing, food, transportation, and entertainment industries in various regions.
The smaller businesses Tsunade had targeted were simply subsidiaries acquired over time.
Even if she managed to track them down, trying to trace them back to Mirai himself was pointless.
If she really wanted answers, she'd be better off just asking Sara.
Mirai wasn't overly concerned about Konoha's affairs. His focus was split between the Land of Wind's situation and advancing his orbital weapons platform.
Once he perfected the blueprints, Eighteen could handle the actual construction.
But there were still far too many secrets on this planet.
The magnetic field controlling the Dragon Vein Exploring the Pure Land Uncharted territories beyond the Five Great Nations Sacred lands like Mount Myoboku, Ryuuchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest
The shinobi world only occupied half the planet, yet they fought endless wars over it.
If Sunagakure had any ambition, they would have begun expanding outward long ago instead of obsessing over Konoha like Iwa and Kumo constantly did.
"Space capsules should also be ready soon. That alone will revolutionize the shinobi world," Mirai mused.
Though they would be too expensive for civilians at first, boosting the base economy would eventually make them affordable.
With that thought, he decided to fully integrate the southwestern regions of the shinobi world—including the Land of Wind, the Land of Rivers, the Land of Birds, the Land of Bears, and the Land of Demons.
Most of the smaller nations had already been absorbed by Hyakusa Trade Association and Keikou Trade Association, with Sara managing diplomatic relations.
At first, Mirai had sent Sara away just to modernize Roran, but she had exceeded expectations—every negotiation she handled had a 90% success rate.
Realizing her potential, he had assigned eight members of the Hebi Squad to her:
Four acted as public bodyguards Four operated in the shadows to eliminate threats
The Land of Demons was an easy acquisition.
Its government was controlled by the Miko Priestess, and since the current Miko was too young to rule, power was distributed among her attendants.
This actually worked in Mirai's favor.
The Land of Demons only cared about sealing away demonic creatures—not politics.
As long as no one tampered with the sealed monsters, the Miko's followers had no reason to interfere with foreign investments.
Sara used this to her advantage.
By offering Keikou Trade Association's resources, she convinced them that if the sealed demons ever broke free, the organization would provide elite warriors to assist in containing the threat.
She even arranged for Hebi Squad to demonstrate their Sage Mode techniques, which left a strong impression.
The Miko's advisors quickly agreed.
The Land of Bears, on the other hand, was laughably weak.
The Daimyo wielded less power than some minor Fire Country nobles, and while they had Hoshigakure and a self-proclaimed "Hoshikage," their military strength was pathetic.
With modernized goods flooding the market, the country's entire ruling class was quickly overtaken.
Even the so-called Hoshigakure ninjas weren't immune.
Many of them, after experiencing electronic entertainment, became completely addicted.
Historically, the Daimyo held power because they controlled land and military resources.
But when the shinobi world became militarized, their power weakened.
Compared to ninja, samurai were obsolete.
For nearly a thousand years, the Daimyo remained in power simply because shinobi never dared to overthrow them—out of respect for tradition.
The Uchiha might have done it, but their longtime enemies would never have allowed it.
Only after Hashirama and Madara formed the village system did the "One Nation, One Village" system solidify, turning ninja villages into official military institutions.
In theory, the villages relied on the Daimyo's funding.
But in practice?
Shinobi were far too powerful to be controlled.
The only thing keeping them in check was money—but Keikou Trading Company had ripped that control away from the Daimyo.
The moment the truth was revealed, Daimyo would become nothing more than figureheads.
They would hold titles, but no real power—not even financial leverage.
As for the Land of Rain, Mirai put it on hold.
Once he secured control over the Land of Wind, he would turn his attention to Amegakure.
Amegakure's constant rainfall made it incapable of self-sufficiency—they had no local agriculture and relied entirely on imports.
Mirai wanted to see if Konan and Nagato would compromise for the sake of their people—or remain stubbornly loyal to their grand plan.
Nagato's goal was to collect the Tailed Beasts, create the Ten-Tails, and use it to terrorize the world into peace.
His ideals didn't conflict with improving Amegakure's conditions—but change required sacrifices.
Peace didn't come free.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Wind, Rasa and the Daimyo had been locked in heated negotiations for three days.
By the third day, both men were furious, but neither would back down.
Rasa was fighting for Sunagakure's survival.
The Daimyo was using the village's past failures as an excuse to cut funding.
At one point, the Daimyo even slammed the table and declared:
"If Sunagakure is so useless, then maybe we should start hiring Konoha's ninja instead!"
Rasa clenched his fists, golden sand forming in his palm.
If not for the One Nation, One Village policy, he would have killed the man on the spot.
And then, news arrived from the village.
(End of Chapter)
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