Chapter 215: Old Man, Quickly Hand Over the Money!
"The estimated yield should be about ten percent higher than the grain I gave you before." Kenichi smiled as he lifted a finger, holding it up like a salesman making a point. "This is life saving, Leader. You've seen those pitiful people who can't get enough to eat because of the war, right?"
Nagato fell silent.
Of course he had seen them. More than that, he had been one of them.
He had become a war orphan. He had gone hungry until his stomach cramped. He had scavenged for anything edible, whatever he could find, and back then he only had one thought in his head: to eat until he was full.
Kenichi sighed again, his expression full of sympathy. "People are living too hard these days. I even saw a couple earlier who had no food, so they could only trade away their own children…"
"I'll add another one hundred million in funding." Nagato finally snapped, unable to hold back. "You must hand over the grain seeds."
Kenichi's smile brightened.
He knew it. Even if Nagato understood Kenichi was doing it on purpose, he still couldn't stand hearing things like that.
Because Nagato had once been drenched in the rain, he wanted to hold an umbrella for others, at least enough to stop tragedies like that from happening again.
Kenichi did not stop. He kept going, like he was casually chatting about the weather.
"Speaking of which, winter's almost here, isn't it?" He sighed once more. "How pitiful. I wonder if the cotton seeds people have now are enough to keep everyone warm."
Nagato's temples throbbed.
He took a slow breath, clenched his fists, and veins rose along the backs of his hands.
This guy really is…
"I can give you eighty million ryō at most," Nagato said, forcing the words out as he tried to calm down. "The Akatsuki still needs money for a lot of things."
Even in the Land of Rain, people froze to death every winter. Not everyone could afford cotton clothing. Nagato knew that better than most.
Kenichi nodded as if he had just been reminded of something important. "Ah, now that you mention it…"
He clearly intended to squeeze even more out of the Akatsuki.
He already had five hundred million ryō in hand, but money was money. There was no such thing as too much.
Nagato's eyes sharpened. "Before I lose my temper, you'd better…"
Kenichi immediately sealed his lips shut and even made a little motion like he was zipping his mouth closed.
For some reason, that made Nagato even angrier.
Still, Nagato kept his word. He had Konan bring over sixty million ryō to Kenichi right away.
It was essentially an investment.
The crops Kenichi had developed earlier had already proven useful, so Nagato genuinely wanted to see what Kenichi could produce next, whether it was new seeds or something else that could improve lives.
"Heh heh." Kenichi rubbed his hands together, satisfied. "Leader, I'll save my contribution points for now. I'll come back to redeem them later."
He had accumulated a decent amount already, enough to exchange for qualifications to research the Gedo Mazo and other things.
But he didn't have any immediate ideas for that project. He had too many research threads in his hands right now. If he started tearing into the Gedo Mazo immediately, it would just become a sinkhole for time.
Better to leave it for later. There was no rush.
"Mm." Nagato watched him go with a blank expression.
Kenichi truly gave him a headache. Nagato felt like he would never be able to coexist peacefully with someone like Kenichi in this life.
Konan glanced after Kenichi, curiosity in her eyes. "What is he researching now?"
She had watched Nagato bring money in countless times. It was rare to see him actively hand money out. Kenichi was an exception.
"Higher yield seeds," Nagato answered. His gaze drifted down toward the Hidden Rain Village beneath them, and for a moment he looked distant. "And he plans to research higher yield cotton too."
Even though the Akatsuki controlled the Hidden Rain Village, Nagato didn't manage its countless daily affairs.
He didn't have the mental energy for it. The organization had too many internal matters, and he was constantly busy. Still, he could see how people lived.
Konan nodded. Food and clothing were always the first two needs. In that case, it made sense for Nagato to fund it.
She stood quietly beside her friend.
Even though Nagato was using a puppet body, Konan was still looking at Yahiko's face. Without a word, she raised an umbrella.
It began to rain in the Hidden Rain Village again.
Kenichi had no idea what Nagato was thinking.
He was already planning his next steps: hand the development tasks to his Shadow Clone, continue his own research, then return later and squeeze another large sum from Nagato.
Sooner or later, he would bleed the Akatsuki dry.
Fake laborers: stacking bricks and tiles so the boss can buy a luxury car.
Real laborers: ruthlessly extracting money from the old man, then draining the company.
"Deidara," Kenichi said, turning his head toward the boy who was still staring blankly near the airship. "Do you want to come back with me, or stay in the Hidden Rain Village for now?"
Deidara had been deep in thought ever since Kenichi talked about tactics. He was still contemplating life now, to the point that Kenichi briefly wondered if he had said it too early.
Did Deidara not grasp the point?
"Senpai, I still want to follow you and learn." Deidara bowed, his tone sincere.
Kenichi stated it plainly. "I'm going to be doing research. I probably won't have much time to teach you anything."
Deidara didn't care. He repeated, earnestly, that he just wanted to follow Kenichi and learn.
Kenichi didn't say more. He boarded the airship and took Deidara and Natsuhi back to his main base in the Land of Rice.
After parking the airship, he first brought Deidara and Natsuhi to Sasori's laboratory. He planned to bring Natsuhi to his own lab first.
And he also wanted to see whether his teacher had returned.
.....
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