"Why so urgent?"
"Hatake Sakumo hasn't even chosen a wife yet, and his son doesn't exist at all."
"Does he really need to rush into signing that kind of agreement?"
Uchiha Ren sighed for a moment.
Hatake Sakumo, who had shaken the ninja world during the Second Great Ninja War in the original timeline, had actually become like this.
Shrewd.
Practical.
Cautious.
And now he could casually throw out motivational chicken-soup quotes.
Kakuzu, you truly are utterly unconscionable!
"Hokage-sama, you don't know how many people outside want to kill that little white-haired guy."
"Not only are there many people who want him dead, they're especially willing to spend money."
"As far as I know, there are even spies inside Konoha watching him. They're all targeting Hatake Sakumo."
"The Konoha Military Police Force has already caught four or five of them, yet they still keep coming."
"And they've even tried poisoning him."
"If Little White Hair weren't naturally cautious, cooking every meal himself and personally buying all his ingredients, even testing food for poison when he eats outside…"
"Hmph."
Kakuzu did not finish.
He merely snorted a few times.
Uchiha Ren's eyes widened.
The assassination attempts against Hatake Sakumo had already become this rampant?
No wonder Hatake Sakumo could even sign that kind of agreement.
"Did the Konoha Military Police Force not take follow-up action?"
"For such a serious incident, regulations require tracking it to the end."
"Even my ANBU should be involved."
Uchiha Ren asked about the investigation's progress.
He had long issued a personal safety protection order for Hatake Sakumo.
Both the Konoha Military Police Force and ANBU were responsible for ensuring Hatake Sakumo's safety.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, Hatake Sakumo had risked life and limb for Konoha.
Although his methods were somewhat—
Cough, cough.
In the end, it was all for Konoha!
If Hatake Sakumo left Konoha and was assassinated, then so be it.
But now, assassination activity was happening inside Konoha.
This was slapping Uchiha Ren in the face.
"The force behind these people is extremely powerful."
"The moment the operatives are captured, they kill themselves immediately."
"Their brains have also undergone special treatment."
"The Yamanaka Clan's mental secret techniques had very little effect. They only collected a few clues."
"Trying to trace the source of the spies will not be easy."
"It might lead all the way to the Land of Lightning, crossing several countries along the way."
"Hmm… this is indeed troublesome."
"They're not bounty hunters. They're all death soldiers."
After hearing Kakuzu's words, Uchiha Ren frowned.
The people who wanted to kill Hatake Sakumo really were willing to spend money.
These were death soldiers.
Not bounty hunters.
Bounty hunters sought money.
Compared with wealth, they cared more about their own lives.
A bounty hunter who dared commit crimes inside Konoha against the wind would have to be someone like Kakuzu.
Powerful.
And willing to risk his life for money.
Back when Kakuzu lost badly in futures trading, he had even dared to infiltrate the camp of Konoha's main force alone and ambush members of the Hyuga main family.
"Looks like the Land of Lightning and Kumogakure have acted."
Uchiha Ren stated his judgment.
Death soldiers were not something ordinary households could cultivate.
Either major figures in the Land of Lightning had acted, or Kumogakure's suffering victims had acted.
Or both sides had joined forces directly.
"Then I can only wish Hatake Sakumo good luck."
"I hope he finds a good wife soon and has a fat, healthy son."
"When the time comes, I'll give him a big red envelope."
Uchiha Ren was also helpless about this matter.
There were thieves who acted for a thousand days, but no one could guard against thieves for a thousand days.
He had already done everything he could.
The rest would depend on Hatake Sakumo's luck.
After all, the money Hatake Sakumo had earned was no small amount.
Even if a Konoha shinobi at his level worked hard for three lifetimes, they wouldn't earn as much as Hatake Sakumo had earned this time.
"Hokage-sama, I'll pass that along to Little White Hair!"
"And before Hatake Sakumo marries and has a son, I'll find a way to protect him."
"After all, his family fortune is extremely rich, especially the dividends from this Ponzi scheme."
"And…"
Kakuzu's green bean-like eyes flashed with light.
He was determined to obtain Hatake Sakumo's family fortune.
Not only the family fortune—
Kakuzu even coveted Hatake Sakumo's body.
Hatake Sakumo's head was worth even more than his estate.
Kakuzu was an adult.
He wanted Hatake Sakumo's estate.
And he wanted Hatake Sakumo's bounty too.
Hopefully, Hatake Sakumo would work hard and quickly marry and have a son.
And Kumogakure's harvested crops also needed to keep trying.
Ordinary shinobi couldn't kill Hatake Sakumo.
They needed a group of powerful shinobi to surround and kill him.
Knowing he had caused a massive disaster, Hatake Sakumo had not stopped training for even a moment.
Only by becoming strong enough could he live longer.
His sharp, self-developed blade style flashed with streaks of white light when used.
Even Kakuzu felt his scalp tingle when sparring with Hatake Sakumo.
One careless mistake, and Kakuzu could lose a life.
"Looks like signing this agreement with you is actually quite a good deal for Hatake Sakumo."
Uchiha Ren looked at the energetic Kakuzu and smiled.
He couldn't help saying it.
"Of course!"
"Hokage-sama, I won't waste more time here."
"I still need to discuss a business deal."
"The civilians of the Land of Waves have pooled funds together and want to hire Konoha's engineering team to build a giant bridge."
"Not only that, they also want to hire Konoha shinobi to drive away the nearby ronin."
"Those poor ghosts don't have much oil to squeeze out of them. They definitely can't afford this money."
"But once the bridge is built, it will become the only transportation hub connecting the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire."
"So I plan to lend them money and take partial operating rights over the bridge."
"Afterward, we can earn a large amount of toll fees just by lying down."
"Also, building a canned-food factory in the Land of Waves will definitely be greatly profitable."
"That place is near the sea, rich in fish resources."
"And the civilians of the Land of Waves have been fishermen for generations. Most families even have boats."
"We can easily hire a large number of workers who already know fishing and come with their own production tools."
"Profit with almost no cost."
"Profit with almost no cost!"
When Kakuzu spoke about investment, he immediately became eloquent.
He pulled a portable calculator from his pocket and began clacking away.
The cost of this business would not be high, but the returns would be considerable.
Uchiha Ren patiently listened to Kakuzu's proposal, nodding from time to time.
His face was full of appreciation for Kakuzu.
This was his ideal employee!
Back then, letting Kakuzu join Konoha had truly been a super wise choice.
Uchiha Ren had some impression of the Land of Waves.
It was a small island country near the Land of Fire, weak and poor.
In the original Naruto storyline, it was also Team Seven's first mission location.
At that time, the Land of Waves had been ruled by a third-rate character named Gato.
To stop the bridge from being built, that third-rate character had even hired the rogue Mist shinobi Zabuza.
But none of that mattered now.
Uchiha Ren did not care.
The only thing he cared about was that bridge.
In the original Naruto story, after the bridge was built, the Land of Waves had indeed latched onto the Land of Fire's thigh.
The spring breeze of industrialization blew into the Land of Waves.
In just a few years, the Land of Waves gradually became prosperous.
"Go ahead and do it."
"I trust your judgment."
"Hokage-sama, then I'll leave first."
After speaking, Kakuzu hurriedly left Uchiha Ren's office.
Afterward, Uchiha Ren stretched lazily and walked toward the map hanging in his office.
He carefully examined the markings on the map and found the Land of Waves.
Then he marked it.
Another country would soon be conquered by Konoha.
Cheap labor.
Markets.
Raw materials.
All of these would open themselves to Konoha because of one bridge!
The good days of the Land of Waves were coming!
The grace of Konoha's Benevolent Father would soon shine upon the Land of Waves.
The feeling of winning without bloodshed was truly wonderful.
In the next moment, black sticky liquid appeared beneath his feet, interrupting Uchiha Ren's imagination.
"Elder Brother, I'm back."
"Otouto, you can use the front door in the future."
"Don't appear from under my feet like a ghost."
As Uchiha Ren spoke, he habitually rubbed Black Zetsu's bald head.
Sticky.
Smooth.
A very strange texture.
But rather comfortable.
"Oh, oh~ I understand, Elder Brother."
Black Zetsu closed his eyes, enjoying Uchiha Ren's touch.
"How did your investigation of the Sky Ninja Village go?"
Uchiha Ren returned to his seat and asked about the Sky Ninja Village's intelligence.
Logically speaking, Black Zetsu should still be watching the Sky Ninja Village.
Since he had returned without warning, there must be something important to report.
"The Sky Ninja Village's forces departed two nights ago."
"They brought the Zero-Tails and the aerial fortress…"
"Toward Konoha?"
Uchiha Ren's tone carried impatience.
He had long wanted an excuse to destroy the Sky Ninja Village.
Unfortunately, the ninja world situation had changed too quickly, causing the matter to be delayed again and again.
But there was no helping it.
Uchiha Ren was not a god.
He could not calculate everything.
Now, if the Sky Ninja Village had taken the initiative to stretch its neck toward Konoha's blade, then Konoha could not be blamed.
"No, Elder Brother."
"They headed toward Kumogakure."
"What? Kumogakure?"
Uchiha Ren exclaimed in surprise.
Why were they heading toward Kumogakure?
According to the original storyline, the Sky Ninja Village was powerful at this time.
Especially after tinkering with a special artificial creation like the Zero-Tails.
Using the Zero-Tails' ability to absorb human negative emotions and transform them into dark chakra to power a large fortress, they created an aerial fortress and flying shinobi, completely seizing air superiority.
Because of that, they became uncontrollably arrogant.
They even believed the Sky Ninja Village could compete with Konoha.
After achieving temporary success with an air raid against Konoha, they grew smug.
Then they provoked the other three great ninja villages too.
Relying on the characteristics of their aerial forces, they launched waves of air strikes to destroy ground facilities, then repeatedly bombed villages to eliminate living forces.
With such shameless tactics, they were unstoppable in war.
In the end, they even arrogantly believed the Sky Ninja Village could unite the Five Great Nations with its aerial forces.
But that idea was quickly slapped down by Konoha.
Konoha took advantage of the moment when the aerial fortress landed to replenish supplies and launched a surprise attack.
Those Sky Ninja never even had a chance to take off before being slaughtered by Konoha shinobi.
In that battle, the Sky Ninja Village was nearly destroyed.
All spoils of war belonged to Konoha.
The Zero-Tails was no exception.
Only a few remnants of the Sky Ninja survived.
Led by Shinnō, the remaining Sky Ninja struggled to survive in the ninja world, hiding their identities and collecting funds during two ninja wars, hoping to restore the Sky Ninja Village to its peak.
In the end, they were beaten back to their original form by Naruto.
Uchiha Ren recalled the Sky Ninja Village storyline.
The first target the Sky Ninja Village used to establish its reputation in the ninja world should have been Konoha.
Now, it had become Kumogakure instead.
It seemed the Sky Ninja Village wanted to choose a soft persimmon.
Konoha was still too hard.
Coincidentally, Kumogakure's main force was currently in the Land of Earth, giving the Sky Ninja Village a heaven-sent opportunity.
Kumogakure was truly…
Miserable.
Their elite forces had all gone out to seek revenge.
Now, their home base was about to be taken.
His butterfly effect had ultimately affected Kumogakure again.
Uchiha Ren silently mourned Kumogakure for three seconds.
He had already grown used to this kind of plotline change.
After all, the current storyline had completely collapsed compared with the original.
Even the final boss, Uchiha Madara, was still tightening screws in Konoha's factory.
Although Uchiha Ren still could not quite understand Uchiha Madara's train of thought.
No matter what, this was a good thing.
As long as that old man was willing to retire peacefully in Konoha and not randomly cause trouble, he could do whatever he wanted.
If Uchiha Madara liked tightening screws, then let him shine in the factory.
He could contribute to Konoha too.
Coincidentally, competition inside Konoha's factories had become increasingly fierce.
Shinobi "abandoning proper work" to enter factories had already become common.
Trying to rapidly advance in the factory simply by relying on shinobi status was no longer as easy as it had been several years ago.
Everything depended on assessment.
Whoever worked more and worked faster advanced more quickly.
Uchiha Madara had always been outstanding among them.
One could even call him the leader.
Even after becoming factory director, he had not been removed from the honor board.
He had gone from model employee to model director.
Uchiha Ren also consciously wanted to shape Uchiha Madara into a model similar to Orochimaru.
A true representative of someone who rose from bottom-level employee to factory director.
His struggle was filled with the Konoha Dream.
Filled with Uchiha Ren's new-era Will of Fire.
Konoha TV was preparing an exclusive interview for Uchiha Madara.
They hoped he would share his experience struggling in Konoha and spread Konoha's Will of Fire to the entire ninja world.
"Elder Brother, what should we do now?"
"The Sky Ninja Village's aerial fortress is related to rescuing Mother."
"Although it is only a backup plan, we still cannot give it up!"
Black Zetsu spoke anxiously.
Uchiha Ren rubbed Black Zetsu's head again, signaling him to calm down.
"As long as our thinking doesn't slide downhill, there are always more methods than difficulties."
"The Sky Ninja Village's behavior is no ordinary evil."
"They no longer even place the Five Great Ninja Villages in their eyes."
"If they dare attack Kumogakure today, they'll dare attack Konoha tomorrow!"
Uchiha Ren spoke righteously.
He was determined to obtain the Zero-Tails and the Sky Ninja Village's large group of technical personnel.
If the Sky Ninja Village provoked those mad dogs of Kumogakure, their ending definitely would not be good.
After all, even a broken ship still had three thousand nails.
Even Konoha did not want to fight Kumogakure at this time.
Originally, Uchiha Ren had planned to continue sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, letting the four great ninja villages slowly bleed and weaken one another.
Now, he had to act.
Konoha had to find an excuse to get involved.
Uchiha Ren sat in his chair and sank into thought.
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