Just as Hattori expected, he was about to make a fortune again.
Early the next morning, a luxurious ox-drawn cart arrived at his doorstep, and a finely dressed middle-aged nobleman stepped out.
After some small talk, the nobleman got to the main point: he was there to buy puppets! Already aware of the price, he produced a few briefcases full of money and bought five "Reviver" bodyguard puppets from Hattori.
Each one sold for a hefty 30 million taels.
Things moved quickly after that.
With a few grandiose lines, Hattori completed the ownership ceremony, and the nobleman happily left with his newly purchased puppets.
After the nobleman's departure, other nobles gradually started arriving over the next few days, each eager to buy puppets as well.
Within days, Hattori's entire stock was sold out, and his wealth soared past the 2.5 billion mark!
With his newfound wealth, Hattori found himself playing mahyong against the daimyo of the Land of Wind with much greater confidence.
Of course, he lost quite a bit too—losing a few million in a day was common.
But Hattori didn't care, as he was making money far faster than he was spending it!
Once he sold out his first batch of puppets, he immediately got to work on a second batch.
This time, though, he didn't need to make them himself.
The capital city of the Land of Wind was teeming with skilled craftsmen, and finding puppet artisans was as easy as buying salt from a store.
In fact, it was even easier.
All Hattori had to do was post a notice outside his gate saying he was hiring puppet-makers, and by that afternoon, hundreds of people were gathered at his door.
With a quick glance, he easily selected over a hundred artisans skilled in puppet-making, including several ninjas.
He didn't care about their backgrounds; if their skills were up to par, he hired them immediately, handing over the materials and blueprints for the puppets.
The puppets' armor was still custom-made by the blacksmiths, but once finished, these newly hired puppet-makers handled the assembly.
As for Hattori, he focused on sealing each puppet with chakra cores and performing the Rebirth ritual.
This arrangement massively sped up the production rate—he could complete 20 puppets a day!
If not for his chakra supply from the Four-Tails running low, he could've made 200 sealed puppets daily.
But Hattori didn't mind this small limitation; after all, the "Reviver" was a premium product, and he didn't intend to sell too many each day.
After the puppet-makers finished producing a thousand "Reviver" puppets, Hattori had them halt the production of the "Ironwood Mix" puppets and start making entirely iron-structured puppets.
These puppets were still designed after the Swordmaster, but they were ten times larger than the original 1.8-meter version.
Now they stood 18 meters tall!
Clearly, Hattori was aiming to create a giant mecha, and this 18-meter iron puppet was his "prototype"!
He named it the "Avenger."
In the past, he wouldn't have dared attempt something so bold, but now, having sold so many "Reviver" bodyguard puppets, he was financially secure and didn't fear the risk! Even if it failed, he'd only lose a few billion, which he could recoup by selling a few more puppets.
With that in mind, Hattori continued living his lavish life.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, he'd sleep in and sell puppets; on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, he'd go to the daimyo's residence to play mahjong; on Sundays, he'd check the puppet-makers' progress and do a bit of shopping.
At the end of each month, he'd check if his chakra reserves were full. If they were, he'd release the seal and use all the stored chakra to upgrade his Mangekyo Sharingan.
After all, the Land of Wind was perfectly safe, with the Four-Tails as a backup, so Hattori had no concerns about his security.
Finally, at the end of the year, he received the two notifications he'd been waiting for:
**[Upgrade in progress... Consumed 197,000 MP, upgrade successful. Obtained Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!]**
**[Upgrade in progress... Consumed 68,000 MP, insufficient MP to continue upgrading!]**
With his MP running low, Hattori quickly swallowed a chakra replenishment pill and let out a long breath.
"Phew… It took nearly a year and almost 2 million MP, but I finally unlocked the Eternal Mangekyo!"
Using the Susanoo twice in Kirigakure and Sunagakure had severely damaged his vision, leaving him with almost 600-degree myopia.
But with the Eternal Mangekyo unlocked, he felt his vision returning, sharper than ever.
He could even count the wingbeats of a tiny insect flying in front of him!
Most importantly, the Eternal Mangekyo brought him a new ability, **Truth Reverse**.
**[Truth Reverse: A dojutsu from the Eternal Mangekyo, capable of completely sealing the focused space. In this sealed space, no ninjutsu, taijutsu, or secret techniques can penetrate.]**
**[Note: Izanagi blocked the passage to the underworld from his wife Izanami by sealing it with the "Truth Reverse" stone!]**
Seeing this ability, Hattori couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
"Eyes like these—2 million MP was worth it!"
In the ninja world, space-based jutsus were notoriously hard to counter, nearly impossible to defend against.
So, gaining a technique to counter spatial jutsus was a blessing.
Moreover, names like Izanagi and Izanami were legendary, each associated with powerful techniques.
How could "Truth Reverse" be anything but incredible if it was on par with those?
At that moment, Hattori felt his confidence rise—even if Madara and Hashirama were absent, he was the top boss of the ninja world!
Of course, he wasn't interested in taking over the ninja world; his real goals were to earn money, build giant mechas, and upgrade his Rinnegan to revive Pakura.
However, thinking about the Rinnegan left him a little troubled.
If the Eternal Mangekyo cost 2 million MP, wouldn't the Rinnegan require 20 million?
Thinking about the cost, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Sigh… Seems my three five-year plans will need to continue!"
As he was sighing, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from outside.
"Hattori... Hattori, something big has happened… something big!"
"Uh…"
Hattori turned towards the sound, and there, at his gate, was a luxurious ox cart, with Hanaki stepping down.
He stumbled as he ran over and threw his arms around Hattori.
"Hattori, my father wants me to go to the Land of Fire as an emissary, but I'm afraid to go alone. I don't trust anyone else. You're strong; would you come with me?"
"To the Land of Fire?"
Hearing the name, Hattori raised an eyebrow and then broke into a smile.
"All right, I'll go with you!"