...
One evening, a month later, in a small town nestled in the mountain valleys of the Land of Lightning.
A carried a money box in one hand and was followed closely by three Kumogakure shinobi as he strode quickly toward an inn.
It was none other than Gekko Chizan striking again.
To avoid suspicion, Gekko Chizan had deliberately booked two rooms.
As he entered the room, a puff of white smoke burst forth, revealing Gekko Chizan with a sly grin on his face.
"Another 40 million ryo in the bag."
"And A's debt is now 40 million ryo deeper."
In the span of a month, Gekko Chizan had borrowed money from ten different financial houses, all under A's name, of course.
At this point, Gekko Chizan's personal savings had exceeded 400 million ryo, bringing him ever closer to his goal.
Meanwhile, the debt under A's name had also climbed past 400 million ryo.
With every loan taken out in A's name, he gained corresponding stat boosts.
Looking at his rapidly increasing stats, Gekko Chizan only grew more enthusiastic with each scam.
As expected, borrowing money really was the fastest way to get rich—especially when you didn't have to pay it back yourself.
Casually sealing the money box into a scroll, Gekko Chizan began scouting for his next target location.
[Gekko Chizan]
[Konoha Village, Gekko Clan Jōnin, Jinchūriki (Seven-Tails)]
[Kekkei Genkai: Transparent Release (Perfect Mastery), Second Kekkei Genkai (Inactive, Mission Progress: Savings 426 million ryo)]
[Ninjutsu: Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, Eight Gates, Flying Thunder God Technique, Fire Release Ninjutsu (Great Fireball, Phoenix Fire), Earth Release Ninjutsu (Earth-Style Wall, Head-Hunter Jutsu), Wind Release (Armor, Great Breakthrough, Wind Cutter), Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, One Thousand Years of Death (Power +11%, Spiral trait), Summoning Technique (Snake)]
[Senjutsu: Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu (Inactive), Natural Energy (Beginner)]
[Tailed Beast: Chōmei, Affinity 100%, Tailed Beast Transformation: 100%, Tailed Beast Ball (Mastered, Optimization Progress 0%)]
[Strength: 72]
[Speed: 75]
[Chakra: 95]
[Physique: 82]
[Ninjutsu: 96]
[Taijutsu: 54]
[Genjutsu: 61]
[Hand Seals: 78]
Chakra and ninjutsu had seen the most notable increases—unsurprisingly, since A was the victim, each loan raised his stats by 5 points.
In just one month, Gekko Chizan had hit up nearly every financial house in the Land of Lightning.
He had signed promissory note after promissory note, leaving behind photo after photo of A.
At that very moment, A was still on the frontlines of battle, completely unaware that he had already become a billion-ryo debtor.
Under cover of night, Gekko Chizan set off once more, heading westward across the Land of Lightning.
He no longer intended to venture further into the country. After all, no one could predict Kumogakure's movements—if something were to happen, he'd prefer to make a quick escape.
"Chōmei, wings—time to hit the road again!"
Gekko Chizan always traveled at night, thanks to Chōmei's ability to fly.
No matter how fast you run, nothing beats flying.
It was precisely this aerial mobility that allowed him to pull off such a feat in just a month.
"Huh? Is that a convoy?"
Suddenly, from the air, Gekko Chizan spotted a caravan flying the Kumogakure banner.
"Chōmei, check for me. I think my night vision's acting up."
Chōmei fell silent for a moment. His insect eyes were literally built for night vision—how could he be seeing things?
Still, he checked anyway.
"Fifteen people. Ten wagons. It's a Kumogakure supply convoy."
Gekko Chizan nodded, his gaze landing on a ninja at the front of the convoy.
"Kumogakure... Magnet Release user. That's Troy, isn't it?"
"If they have him escorting the cargo, it must be strategic supplies."
To have a convoy guarded by a Jōnin with a Kekkei Genkai—this definitely wasn't a simple shipment.
Gekko Chizan's hands suddenly itched.
"Chōmei, strategic supplies... wanna go for it?"
"Hehehehe, I'm already preparing scale powder."
Chōmei had basically become Gekko Chizan's twin in thought and form—the two were now completely in sync.
Activating Transparent Release, Gekko Chizan dove straight toward the convoy.
"Speed it up! This batch needs to reach the Land of Fields immediately!"
Troy, the convoy leader, urged them to move faster.
"Troy-senpai, why are we sending supplies to the Land of Fields?"
"Didn't Iwagakure already pull out?"
"Exactly because Iwagakure pulled out—we need to occupy the Land of Fields quickly."
"Most of our forces are still fighting Konoha in the Land of Hot Water, but the Land of Fields is just as critical. We can't give it up."
"Raikage-sama has his reasons. We just follow orders."
Hearing their conversation, Gekko Chizan's eyes narrowed.
Kumogakure wanted to establish a battlefront in the Land of Fields too?
Well, it made sense. Raikage's strategy was always to move the battlefield outside their borders—both the Land of Fields and the Land of Hot Water fit that logic.
Too bad for them—they ran into Gekko Chizan.
If this batch of supplies made it through, he'd write his name backward.
"Chōmei, ready?"
"Always. Paralyzing powder."
With Chōmei's reply, Gekko Chizan clapped his hands together.
He muttered, "Ninja Art: Scale Powder Paralysis Technique!"
Immediately, he released a wave of powder.
Under the cover of night, the colorless and odorless scale powder quickly enveloped every person and horse in the convoy.
"Hmm!? Something's wrong!"
Troy immediately felt his whole body go numb. He tried to warn the others—but it was already too late.
Everyone around him collapsed one after another. In the end, even Troy, overwhelmed by the powerful paralytic, slowly toppled over.
"You actually reacted... not bad for a Kekkei Genkai ninja of Kumogakure."
Gekko Chizan revealed himself atop one of the wagons, a smirk playing on his lips.
His scale powder had never failed before. A single Kekkei Genkai ninja? Not even worth mentioning.
"Whoa... there's a lot of stuff in here..."
"Food, weapons, explosive tags."
Opening two of the wagons, Gekko Chizan's eyes lit up.
He quickly pulled out a storage scroll to collect the goods—but froze the next moment.
He only had two usable storage scrolls left. The rest were full—either stuffed with cash or everyday items.
"Damn, it's moments like this I really regret not having more scrolls."
"Chōmei, got any good ideas on how we can carry all this?"
Chōmei looked at him like he was a complete idiot.
"I'm literally sealed inside your body. What do you think I can do?"
"What if we transform into Tailed Beast Mode and fly out with everything?"
Gekko Chizan stomped his foot in frustration, but a new idea soon struck him.
He bit his finger.
"Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A massive golden python appeared beside the wagon, its huge vertical pupils glaring furiously at Gekko Chizan.
"Chizan! You interrupted my beauty sleep! Do you have any idea what that means?!"
"Come on now, Jinlin-san, don't be like that. I need your help!"
Jinlin glanced suspiciously at the clearly panicked Gekko Chizan.
"Hurry, help me transport all of these supplies back to Ryūchi Cave. Once I get back to Konoha, I'll retrieve them from there!"
Jinlin's eyes widened. What?! You summoned me in the middle of the night—just to move cargo???
...
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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