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Chapter 38: Startup Capital
"I truly thank you so much, Menma-sama..."
Hyuuga Hizashi bowed deeply, his voice solemn, carrying an indescribable sense of relief in his heart. Finally, it was over—he had not only survived but even got to see Neji again.
However, Naruto simply waved his hand. "Alright, I know." He lazily interrupted. "Since the matter has finally concluded, let's skip the pleasantries."
Hizashi startled, then a bitter smile appeared at his lips. This person before him clearly possessed power capable of overturning the shinobi world, yet showed complete indifference to others' gratitude.
"Yes." He nodded. "If you have any orders, Hyuuga Hizashi will face death without hesitation."
Naruto glanced at him, thinking that even after creating an organization, he could still be a hands-off boss. However, what pleased him more was the system notification echoing in his mind.
[DING!]
[Congratulations Host: Bond established with original character "Hyuuga Hizashi" Level 7 (Maximum)!]
[Points Gained: 150!]
[DING!]
[Congratulations Host: Bond established with original character "Hyuuga Neji" Level 7 (Maximum)!]
[Points Gained: 700!]
[Warm Reminder: Normal favorability Level 7 is maximum. To increase bond level further requires qualitative changes in the relationship]
Already maxed out? It seemed this father and son's gratitude toward him had reached "unwavering unto death" levels. Qualitative change? Could there be further advancement?
For instance... making Neji his disciple in the future? Or simply having him join the "Ember" organization?
Now Naruto had 1650 points—enough for another ten-pull lottery. But... so Level 7 represented maxed favorability?
He hadn't expected that just one heart-to-heart talk with Neji would max out the kid's favorability, reaching a level where he'd bare his heart and soul.
...Ridiculous.
But thinking carefully, the shinobi world did have similar examples.
Like Kimimaro.
Orochimaru had just fed him some inspirational soup, and Kimimaro completely fell for it—even willing to become Orochimaru's new vessel, burning his life to fight until the very end.
So Neji's current loyalty toward him was probably at that level?
'Are shinobi world people all too easy to deceive...'
However, compared to Neji, he was more concerned about another person's bond level.
Satsuki.
Currently her bond level was 5—still two levels away from maximum Level 7.
Level 5... what did that mean?
The moment this question formed in his mind, the system immediately responded.
[Satsuki Bond Level 5: She considers you her closest friend. Your existence has become an indispensable part of her life.]
[Current Relationship: Deep trust, emotional dependence.]
[Development Trend: With just time accumulation, this bond will naturally evolve to higher levels—soulmate, or... romance.]
"..."
Naruto stared at those last two words, falling into brief silence.
Romance?
He could understand the first option—the original Naruto and Sasuke had that kind of friendship transcending life and death. But the second option...
Romance? Satsuki... becoming his girlfriend?
His thoughts involuntarily began wandering. Objectively speaking, Satsuki's appearance was indeed flawless—even after gender-swapping, she maintained her status as a beauty ceiling setting.
Moreover, the current Satsuki hadn't experienced the clan massacre tragedy, so her personality wasn't as gloomy as the original—just carrying some cute tsundere traits...
Having such a girlfriend actually seemed pretty nice...
...Wait wait wait wait wait! When did he start having such dangerous thoughts? He clearly remembered that when first meeting Satsuki, his inner thought was "it would be nice if I had such a cute daughter in the future"!
Something was wrong... this was definitely wrong... could it be Indra's chakra influencing me?
"Menma-sama?"
Hizashi's confused voice pulled Naruto back from his wild thoughts. Only then did he realize his state was somewhat strange, quickly coughing twice to mask his embarrassment.
"...Ahem, it's nothing." Naruto rapidly switched back to serious mode. "You understand my objectives, right?"
"Yes." Hizashi respectfully lowered his head. "Using military intimidation against all nations to prevent war. Since Menma-sama wants to establish an organization, may I ask how complete this organization currently is?"
The air fell silent for several seconds.
"...If we count you," Naruto's tone became somewhat subtle, "Ember currently has two members."
He somewhat embarrassingly stated this shameful truth. However, Hizashi's expression didn't change at all—he simply nodded steadily.
"I see. So does Menma-sama plan to establish a base first, or prioritize recruiting capable individuals?"
His tone remained calm. Hizashi had already decided to dedicate his loyalty completely to Menma—without questioning reasons or considering costs. This resolve had long been established.
Though Menma was a terrifying existence throughout the shinobi world, Hizashi had witnessed Menma arrange his meeting with his son. He clearly understood that this leader's heart burned with true flames of justice.
As the Hyuuga head's younger brother, Hizashi had considerable management experience. Over the years, the Hyuuga family's various affairs had been handled jointly by him and his elder brother—calling him the family head's right arm wouldn't be excessive.
Recalling past events, while he indeed harbored resentment toward the main family due to Caged Bird constraints, that resentment toward his elder brother as family head had never truly taken root.
Until Neji's birth changed everything.
When this exceptionally gifted son displayed amazing talent yet still had to be marked with the Caged Bird curse, when the main family daughter had mediocre talents yet was spared this humiliation due to her main family status—in that moment, years of suppressed resentment finally broke through the surface.
He had accepted his fate as a branch family member, since his talents were at most ordinary jounin level. But seeing Neji about to repeat the same tragedy, that long-endured unwillingness finally exploded.
"I'll handle member recruitment. You'll be responsible for establishing the base. The Land of Hot Water, as a neutral nation, has loose information control and no hidden village, so major nations won't focus surveillance there. Plus, with its developed tourism and frequent personnel movement, it's perfect for a base location."
Naruto outlined requirements point by point. "First, we need legitimate surface identities—preferably using proper businesses to cover activities. Second, the main base must be concealed yet easily defended. Can you manage this?"
Hizashi nodded slightly. "I understand and will complete Menma-sama's mission with all effort."
The requirements seemed complex but weren't actually difficult. Under the premise of not exposing Ember's identity, Hizashi only needed to start a business in the Land of Hot Water as an ordinary merchant.
The real problem was funding. Naruto couldn't personally build houses, but couldn't let Hizashi start from nothing either. So how much did Naruto have in savings?
500,000 ryo—mostly from system lottery rewards. In Konoha, this barely covered a house down payment, but was severely inadequate as organizational startup capital.
Thinking of this, Naruto somewhat regretted not extorting Kumogakure when he'd critically injured the Raikage. But at that time, having just made those world-shaking declarations, immediately asking for money would have been too undignified. Plus, the experience card's time limit was approaching...
However, besides savings, Naruto had other things that could be converted to money.
Suddenly, with a soft "poof," a piece of specially lustrous metal appeared on the table from thin air.
"This is..."
"Spoils from previous battles." Naruto said casually, fingertips lightly tapping the metal surface. "Should be able to exchange for some startup capital. What's the current market price?"
After careful examination, Hizashi couldn't hide his surprise. "This is... chakra metal?" As a core member of the Hyuuga branch family, he'd only seen this rare material once during major family celebrations—that tribute gift had been merely thumb-sized, while this piece was half a palm's width.
Hizashi carefully lifted the metal to gauge its weight. "Current black market rates..." he paused, "approximately 100,000 ryo per gram."
"100,000 ryo per gram... hm?"
Wait, how much?!
Naruto's expression beneath the mask suddenly froze as his heart erupted in shock. 100,000 per gram? Then the 1,500 grams stockpiled in his system space would be... 150 million ryo? This amount could bounty four Asumas on the black market!
Was using Asuma as a unit of measurement perhaps excessive?
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