"Is everything arranged?"
Shimoku asked, chewing on some fried fish balls.
"Yes, Young Master. Everything's taken care of."
"All the men have been assigned to dig ditches outside the village, and the women sent off to weave cloth. Kurotsuchi has already been handed over to Director Nonou."
"Just one thing though… Master Deidara seems quite stubborn."
"Gin has beaten him up five times already, even swelling his cheeks. Yet he still refuses to back down, keeping that sharp tongue of his."
Riyō reported carefully.
Truth be told, Deidara's display of toughness had surprised him quite a bit.
After all, that kid was barely around nine or ten years old.
An ordinary boy at this age would burst into tears after just one slap.
For him to endure this long was truly no easy feat!
"No big deal. Expected, actually."
Shimoku chuckled lightly.
Others might not understand Deidara, but he knew him well.
A guy willing to use his own life as an explosive source just to witness the bursting forth of art—his way of thinking was naturally different from normal people, and certainly wouldn't surrender easily.
Still, Shimoku had an extremely effective method for handling such tough nuts.
"Young Master, then what next?..."
"The photography equipment I previously ordered from the [Snow Country], has it arrived yet?"
"A batch has arrived…"
"Do you know how to use them yet?"
"More or less…"
"Good. Then release Deidara first."
"Release him?"
"Then use the [Sharingan]'s Genjutsu to trick him into taking off all his clothes and running around the village naked…"
"Have someone follow him and take plenty of photos, shoot lots of videos…"
"Then develop the photos and show them to Deidara once he regains his clarity…"
"I think he, who lives for fleeting explosions, will be deeply moved by the eternal art of photographs."
"After that, I think he'll become much more obedient."
Shimoku revealed a very 'kind' smile as he gave instructions with great care.
Certainly, there were many fearless people out there who don't fear death.
But those unafraid of social suicide? Definitely few and far between.
Especially when it came to a talented young man from Iwagakure in his prime?
"Understood!"
Riyō caught on instantly, involuntarily shuddering.
Instinctively imagining himself in Deidara's shoes—if he were the one hypnotized by illusion techniques and made to run around naked while having commemorative photos taken…
Just thinking about it gave him goosebumps; too horrifying to even contemplate!
If Gin happened to see them…
Well, he'd rather die!
Man, that Young Master really is despicable…
Wait…
The Young Master's eccentric tastes are absolutely terrifying!
Absolutely terrifying!
Riyō hurried away, preparing to 'serve' that Master Deidara, couldn't help silently mourning for half a second.
Onoki's high-stakes gamble did surprise Shimoku somewhat.
However, now that both Kurotsuchi and Deidara had fallen right into his palms,
there really wasn't any need to speculate further about Onoki's intentions.
Besides, he definitely wouldn't suffer any loss either.
Not to mention—he had basically received three million ryo for free!
Frankly speaking, Iwagakure Village's vault had already been exploited twice by themselves, and on top of that, it had suffered severe damages from previous great wars.
Being able to raise 30 million taels as a gift now...
Wasn't easy at all!
Probably received substantial support from the Land of Earth too?
But none of that mattered anyway.
Once money was in hand, it became permanently his;
There was absolutely no way he'd ever give it back...
Soon afterward, Shimoku converted all 30 million taels of silver into gold coins.
This increased his gold balance from [2180 gold coins] to [5180 gold coins].
A major leap toward the milestone of ten thousand gold coins.
Hitting halfway on this little goal already.
Something truly blissful indeed.
Before Shimoku could even recover his senses,
Another piece of good news arrived!
Profits and receivables from Shimoku's shipping company finally came back.
Combined with selling large quantities of jewels and antiques stored in the underground vault...
Even if only half, or just a quarter of everything got sold,
It would definitely be an enormous sum!
Possibly exceeding one hundred million again!
How could this not make Shimoku ecstatic?
So much so that Shimoku rushed out personally to greet this returning team—showing dozens of times more enthusiasm than when he welcomed Iwagakure's delegation.
There was no helping it.
Heaven and earth may fall, but power comes first, wealth second!
And the more money he had, the stronger his power became!
...
Meanwhile, deep inside a dim underground facility.
Facing Black Zetsu's response,
Madara Uchiha finally showed emotion.
He grabbed hold of Black Zetsu, asking earnestly:
"My descendant truly defeated Hashirama?"
"He should have. At the very least, they fought to a draw. I saw it with my own eyes..."
Black Zetsu replied unhappily.
If it weren't for such an unexpectedly powerful wild card suddenly showing up — a crafty little brat who couldn't be easily tricked... Would he have bothered resurrecting Lord Madara at all?
It was exactly because that kid's growth rate was terrifying — as if there were no limits at all...
Black Zetsu feared that if given any more time to that little brat,
Even after successfully reviving his "mother"...
Whether they could win against him remained uncertain!
"Hahaha!"
"Hashirama, you're too weak. Can't even defeat one of my descendants anymore?"
"Hahaha!"
Lord Madara suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
Truthfully, he didn't care at all whether his descendant was extremely powerful.
What concerned him was: in whatever aspect, as long as he could surpass Hashirama, beat Hashirama,
That alone could greatly please him.
After all, having a powerful descendant still counted as one of his own merits, right?
"Oh right, what about Hashirama then? Has the Senju Clan produced any genius recently?"
"The Senju Clan has practically gone extinct. Currently, only Tsunade, the notorious gambler, remains alive..."
Black Zetsu quickly responded.
"Tsunade? Hashirama's granddaughter? Only that one girl left from the entire Senju Clan?"
"Hahaha!"
"Fascinating... No, too fascinating!"
"Both families were the strongest during the Warring States era. The Senju Clan exhausted themselves for the sake of the village... yet they've been wiped out like this!"
"And my Uchiha Clan, although we betrayed the village, have produced such an outstanding descendant!"
"I wonder what expression Hashirama would have upon seeing this spectacle?"
"Hahaha!"
Madara Uchiha burst into laughter again.
It felt like he hadn't laughed this hard or freely in all the years since his prime as he had today...
Well, the current absurd state of things was just too ridiculous.
Frankly, he couldn't wait to meet Hashirama again—what fun it would be to have a serious chat with him about family matters.
He wondered what kind of defeated look Hashirama would show then?
Still, before that, there was someone else he was dying to meet—his young descendant, whose strength rivaled even Hashirama's.
"Lord Madara, what's next?"
"Since the Tailed Beasts haven't begun to be hunted yet, there's no need to hurry."
"Where is my promising young descendant? Where is the new ninja village of the Uchiha Clan? Take me there. I want to see that brat with my own eyes!"
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