He naturally knew these people hadn't acted out of malice earlier. After all, they'd never seen him before. Mistaking him for an enemy was understandable.
"Hurry up and thank Kazama-sama!"
"Thank you, Kazama-sama! Thank you so much!"
After the crowd dispersed, Orochimaru immediately approached Kazama with a fawning smile.
"Kazama-sama, you're truly kind-hearted! Rest assured, starting today, I'll have your portrait spread throughout Oto no Kuni. That way, no one will mistake you for an enemy again."
"Have you looked into the backgrounds of those who attacked me earlier?" Kazama asked. "I know Oto no Kuni is short on manpower, but we can't just recruit thugs and riffraff."
"Don't worry, Kazama-sama," Orochimaru replied. "Those people have no major crimes to their names. They're just wandering samurai from the nearby areas. I was concerned that Akatsuki might send someone after me, so I gave them strict orders to kill any strangers on sight."
"You should change that order as soon as possible," Kazama said. "Otherwise, anyone willing to join Oto no Kuni will be scared off. Follow Konoha's guard protocols instead—verify identities first, then decide whether to let strangers enter the village."
"Understood!"
"And one more thing, Orochimaru," Kazama added. "This Oto no Kuni of yours is way too rundown!"
Looking at the chaotic, sparsely populated village before him, Kazama felt a pang of disappointment. This was far from the grand ninja villages like Konoha or Kumo that he'd imagined.
"Uh, about that…" Orochimaru scratched his head awkwardly at Kazama's comment.
"I originally planned for this place to just be a hideout, so I didn't put much effort into it. If you want to turn it into a super ninja village like Konoha, it'll take time. And money—lots of it. Building a village, recruiting people, everything requires funds!"
"Orochimaru!" Kazama chuckled, seeing Orochimaru play the poor card. "You're one of the Sannin, for crying out loud. Don't tell me you're broke!"
"I won't lie to you, Kazama-sama," Orochimaru said sheepishly. "I do have some savings, but they've all gone into my experiments, so…"
Kazama shook his head in exasperation.
"Zabuza!"
"Here, sir!"
"Didn't I tell you to split Kado's money from Nami no Kuni? Half for the people of Nami no Kuni, half for our reserves. How much is left?"
"Not a single ryō has been touched," Zabuza replied. "But as Orochimaru-sama mentioned, that amount is a drop in the bucket. It's nowhere near enough for village construction."
"Exactly!" Orochimaru jumped in. "Building houses and walls is easy—just find some ninja with Doton skills. But to expand our ranks, we need serious money to attract wandering ninja. Oto no Kuni has no reputation yet, so no one's going to join us just for the name."
"Reputation? That's easy!" Kazama said confidently. "I can make Oto no Kuni famous right now!"
"Doton!"
With a swift hand sign, Kazama used Doton to construct two towering structures.
"What's this?" Orochimaru and the others stared, utterly confused, unsure how this tied to building Oto no Kuni's reputation.
"There are many ways to attract wandering ninja," Kazama explained. "Money is convenient, sure, but it risks drawing greedy types who won't be reliable in the long run. However, if word spreads that joining Oto no Kuni can rapidly boost one's strength, I guarantee this place will be bustling in no time!"
As he spoke, Kazama infused a massive ball of Yurei no Honoo—a mystical flame—into the base of one of the towers.
"This flame is called Yurei no Honoo, known as the ultimate training cheat," he said. "Anyone near it will see their strength skyrocket."
"Really? That's incredible!"
Orochimaru and the others were stunned, their jaws dropping at Kazama's words.
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