Slowly, the name of the Uzumaki started to resound once again in the ninja world for their sealing jutsu.
Indeed, with their careful planning and the support of the leaders of the nations where they opened their stores, the Uzumaki weapons shops had an unprecedented success.
"Wohoo, we are rich, you hear me, rich," Uzumaki Naoya shouted in excitement, grabbing a handful of money that he threw in the air with a crazed expression.
Anyone seeing him like that would have thought that he had lost his mind, but even Karin, who always scolded and hit him for every little thing, left him jubilate in peace without reprimanding him because she herself was baffled by what she was seeing.
*Money.*
In the room where Akashi, Karin, and Naoya were box after box of money, bank notes, gold coins, and even gold bars were stacked in a small mountain of money.
That money amounted to more than tens of billions of ryo and they had made it in just one week.
"We have always been rich," Akashi said, slowly taking a handful of golden coins in his hand, even though he appeared calm, in truth, Akashi's heart was in turmoil.
The Uzumaki were indeed among the wealthiest clans in the world, but even for them to make billions in a week is staggering.
It show what kind of world they live in.
"Young-Young master you are a real genius. I never expected that we could make so much money in just a few days. I think I understand why you always curse the old elders. But, I still think that you shouldn't curse the dead, it's bad luck."
Akashi softly chuckled at her warning before letting the coin in his hands fall back in the box.
"If you say so," he said softly, having already steadied his emotion, he turned around. "Send eight billion to the old man. I'm going back to my lab."
With that, Akashi left the room; he had already made great advances in his experimentation.
Karin sighed softly, her heart still beating loudly. She hadn't yet recovered from suddenly having billions fall into her lap like that.
"Crak,"
A sudden made her jump.
"Huh!!"
Hearing a foreign sound, Karin's heart beat wildly, she took out a Kunai and turned around, ready to deal with what caused that sound, but...
The view in front of her left her dumbstruck.
Naoya had at some point emptied all the money on the ground.
He was now literally swimming in money.
"Wiiii..."
'Fuuu' putting a hand on her head, she let out a long sigh, letting all the tension go.
'Having so much money on oneself isn't good for the heart, but before that,'
Karin looked at the giant pile of money before
"Hop," in one leap she joins Naoya
"Let's relax for a bit before sending it to the clan,"
***
Not far away in his lab full of futuristic machines, Akashi could be seen standing in front of the body of a rogue ninja that had come to eliminate him and take the bounty that had been placed on his head by the ninja village.
Using a special magnifying glass, he observed all the details of the blood-red eyes of the kinoe in a special container in front of him.
His gaze turned toward another container containing a three-tomoe Sharingan that he had received from his grandfather.
"I see, I finally understand everything." He said taking off the glasses
"There really is a reason why the Sharingan is such a valued dojutsu"
With the magnifying glasses combined with the Sharingan, Akashi was able to observe and understand chakra in more depth than most ninjas in their entire lives.
After a week of observation and testing, he could now used his Sharingan to replicate the ability of the ketsuryugan to read memories.
"It's unfortunate that I can't replicate their other abilities..."
The image of his kinoe partner manipulating blood using their eyes replayed in his mind for a second before he dismissed it
"Or maybe it's for the best, one dojutsu can't do everything, maybe things will change once I awaken the mangekyo,"
With everything done, he put back the eyes in their respective vials before storing them in a scroll.
"I need to rest,"
"Hm!" As he turned around, he was interrupted by a barely perceptible groan of pain and resignation.
"Oh, I nearly forgot you two, sorry for that,"
He walked back toward the two rogue ninjas tied to the operating table.
Both of them were tall, muscular, rugged, and ferocious, both of them had a lot of blood on their hands, and that's why Akashi had chosen them.
After regaining the memories of his past life, Akashi, with his new perspective, realized once again that there was nothing glamorous or even good in being a ninja.
"You served your purpose, you can rest now," Akashi said, looking at the ninja who had his eyes gouged out.
It was the one he had used as a test subject by replacing his eyes like lamps with the Sharingan or the Ketsuryugan, depending on his needs.
"Thank you, sir,"
The ninja broken by weeks of being used as a test subject responded meekly before Akashi put his hand on his neck.
Crack
The sound of the rogue ninjas' neck being snapped resounded loudly in the room.
Akashi had long become numb to killing, torturing, or using people as guinea pigs.
In the ninja world, cruelty was common currency.
After taking care of the first, he turned to the other
Slap
"Huh, Wha- what, Si- sir, good morning..."
The loud smack woke the rogue ninja, who stumbled on his words as he looked at Akashi's blood red eyes.
"Good morning and good night."
In an instant, the ninja who woke up fell into an illusion and became lethargic.
"Multiclonage,"
Poof
A clone of Akashi appeared in the room
"If something goes wrong get me out," He said before looking at the ninja on the table
"The eyes are the window of the soul, let's see if it is true."
Akashi, using the technique of the Kinoe, circulated his chakra in a complex pattern.
Ploof
In an instant, Akashi found part of his consciousness sucked into the rogue ninja's mind.
He found himself floating in a blank white space.
"It's similar and at the same time different from the Yamanaka technique,"
Akashi remarked as he noticed that he wasn't completely cut of from his body like the Yamanaka.
"Good, it is a useful technique,"
He was happy that he wouldn't have to fall asleep and be disconnected from his body if he ever decided to use it.
"It's a little like the mind's eyes," he thought after all using the mind's eye to extend your perception is like projecting your consciousness far away from your body
Outside his a smirk appeared in Akashi's face as his Sharingan spun
"Show me your... earliest memory,"
As Akashi said that the space around him illuminated itself with a blurry image of a child running with his friends, playing at being a ninja,
With a smile, he changed scenes
"Show me your... training," He said after a second of reflection.
"Pause," with a spin of his eyes the image stopped,
"Resume,"
"Fast forward,"
"Slow down,"
Akashi had a rare grin as he observed the image in front of him moving like a movie.
And why wouldn't he use that technique that was impressive on many levels and seemed contrary to what he initially thought, well-suited for the Sharingan?
"Now show me your fights,"
"Your techniques,"
"..."
After thirty minutes, Akashi left the room satisfied after asking Karin to get rid of the bodies of the ninjas in his lab.
After a good bath to get rid of the scent of death, Akashi let himself fall on his bed in a bathrobe.
"Today was a good day,"
He was happy, and for good reasons; today, his research had borne fruit in ways he didn't expect. Once he mastered the technique of the kinoe's to sneak into others' minds, something in his own mind clicked.
Closing his eyes.
Akashi found himself in his own mind space.
Standing on the clear water representing his chakra pool, Akashi took a deep breath, and as he spread his arms, the water below rose. Slowly, it took the shape of a traditional castle, not too big nor too small.
Once it was done.
It suddenly solidified and became exactly what he wanted it to look like.
"Good,"
He said Look at the structure in front of him with satisfaction.
"Let's call that the mind palace,"
The door opened, inviting him to enter.
As he slowly made his way inside the palace, it rearranged itself to suit his taste.
The interior of the palace was a mixture of traditional and modern, reflecting his inheritance.
He then sat down on the tatami that materialized on the ground.
"Now the library," he said and slowly row and row of scrolls appeared.
Those were all the scrolls that he had read in his life, scrolls from the Uzumaki and from the Uchiha and more.
Once everything was in order Akashi smiled contentedly, he now had an entire library in his head.
"Perfect,"
With that done Akashi finally let himself fall in a deep slumber.