"Use Mount Myōboku Toad Oil—never flag, embody peak manhood! Even Jiraiya says it works!"
Minato Namikaze: "Yorin, I'm begging you—spare Jiraiya-sensei."
Minato spoke earnestly to Uchiha Yorin: "He's over forty; he can't take that kind of grind anymore."
Yorin: "Well…"
He'd originally thought pairing Ryūchi Cave Virility Powder (oral) with Toad Oil (topical) would give instant, massive, explosive results—make you as strong as Jiraiya.
Bundled together, sales would be unbeatable.
But Minato was looking at him with such sincere eyes that Yorin felt if he refused, Minato might hit him with a Rasengan or a Flying Thunder God Slash.
Uchiha Yorin could only drag out his answer, deeply put out:
"Fiiine… I'll change the use-case. The health-supplement market is huge anyway.
We'll say toad oil warms and nourishes, fights sub-health and fatigue—and eases hair loss."
Minato: "—Eases what?!"
At "hair loss" Minato almost leapt out of his chair.
Yorin: "Balding. Heard the water's hard in the Land of Water—male hair loss is rampant. Myōboku Toad Oil will be big there."
"…"
"…Then I'm counting on you."
After a few seconds' silence, Minato gripped Yorin's hand: "Develop the anti-hair-loss Toad Oil ASAP."
He signed a pass with practiced ease, handed it over, and clapped Yorin's shoulder: "When you get to Myōboku, use my name—it works!"
Yorin: "Minato, you know this—I do everything for Konoha."
"Yes," Minato nodded, and told him solemnly:
"My heart and conduct are clear as a bright mirror; all I do is justice."
"Yorin!"
"Minato!"
×3
…
And so, Yorin left the Hokage's office with a deeply moved face—only to, once alone, show a Light Yagami "plan succeeded" grin.
"Thought you were hard to handle? Please."
He lifted Minato's pass.
It had Myōboku's address and the countersign with the toads:
All expected. What surprised him was a small line beneath:
"This time the split is 50–50, okay? Otherwise I won't help you with those bigwigs in the Land of Fire."
—next to a chibi Minato sticking his tongue out.
Uchiha Yorin: "Wow."
Looks like, under his long nights of "guidance," Minato had grown up a little.
Yorin felt very gratified.
But the phrase "bigwigs of the Land of Fire" rubbed him wrong.
He's got this and this, and he still can't make money standing up?
So the history books were right:
Feudalism is the greatest obstacle to capitalism.
In the Land of Fire and every great nation—their domains and cities—the daimyo and nobles are all leeches.
In Konoha, Uchiha business goes smoothly enough; step outside and those punks stick out their hands, eyes wide.
With so many freeloaders grabbing equity for nothing, when will Yorin ever become the ninja world's richest man?
He still wants to fire the Gold Release · Silver Bullet Barrage and buy the Five Great Villages—then crown himself Emperor of the Shinobi World.
If every deal needs half the shares handed to bugs like that, he'll never finish the "world's richest" achievement.
Without becoming the richest, he can't build a mega harem; without a mega harem, he can't have mega kids; without mega kids, how the hell is he supposed to revive the Senju?
Should he really do what he and Orochimaru joked about—clone one million Uchiha–Senju hybrids and call the quest clear?
…Honestly, not impossible.
But materials and cloning aren't cheap—they need money too.
…
Uchiha Yorin: "Damn it—how do you build good capitalism with these parasites around? I'll have to move under the Akatsuki banner!"
Konoha wasn't ready to raise the banner and make the daimyo vanish without a grave; Yorin hadn't maxed war support and picked the Grand Western Kingdom policy.
No matter—he'd planned for this. He'd asked Nagato for Akatsuki outfits for a reason.
Nagato says "make the world feel pain."
Well, the world's big—you can't reserve pain just for shinobi villages. The Five Great Countries, the five daimyo, the five elders, the five magistrates—they can feel some too. That's fairness.
Can't let those punks cling to girls and sip wine and fast-forward to the finale.
Just thinking about it made him mad.
God. Damn. It.
Uchiha Yorin: "Settled. On the way to Ryūchi Cave and Mount Myōboku, we'll pull a few jobs—wave the Akatsuki flag."
…
Nagato didn't yet know that one decision would make Akatsuki famous a decade early.
Not as a super-powerful rogue-mercenary group—but as a super-powerful redistribution group.
The great Akatsuki—friends of the poor, nemesis of the rich—dedicated to blasting daimyo and lords and creating a world where everyone is equal.
That's the meaning Yorin assigned to Akatsuki. Sounds better than "make the world feel pain," doesn't it?
If Nagato didn't like it… too bad. The new leader, Lord Yang, said so. Hee-hee-hee.
…
And so, it was happily decided.
Ryūchi Cave and Mount Myōboku… maybe even Shikkotsu Forest.
Yorin would tour the Three Great Sages. Raise cash for the Senju revival—build a name for Akatsuki.
Then, before Sister-in-law's due date, hurry back to Konoha and, with Minato, thrash the wayward student.
"Should I crush Obito now? …No, wait. Obito isn't the point—Zetsu is.
If I kill Obito, Zetsu will burrow deep—then it gets messy. Better to keep him on the hook. When I'm strong enough, I'll smash him and Kaguya together. Done."
Next, say hi to the clan head… hmm—bring Tsunade-nee along?
Rebuilding the Senju needs a heads-up. And then—the orphanage.
Which first? The more "important" Tsunade—
or the… moderately important orphanage that will need Ryūchi Cave virility powder?
Yorin thought for a few seconds—and headed for the orphanage.
No other meaning—mainly to show the kids some love.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!