The Daimyo of the Land of Fire looked at the calligraphy copybook in front of him, slowly tracing the characters.
The midday sun fell upon him, warm and comforting, leaving him completely relaxed in mind and body.
Whenever he had troubling thoughts, the Daimyo would always adjust his mood this way.
Calligraphy could calm one’s mind!
So, who was troubling the Daimyo?
Without a doubt, it was the naturally evil Hashirama Senju!
The “Hashirama Senju Threat Theory” that Makoto Uchiha had been lobbying had long since taken root in the Daimyo’s heart, and was now beginning to sprout and branch out.
Konoha had now entered its next phase: gathering the ninja clans.
According to reliable intelligence, within a span of just a few months, more than one powerful ninja clan in the Ninja World planned to join Konoha, founded by Hashirama Senju…
the Hyuga Clan, the Sarutobi Clan, the Shimura Clan…
and there would be more in the future.
This caused the Daimyo deep anxiety.
Suddenly, the Daimyo focused his mind, sweeping all thoughts from his head.
Taking a deep breath, his wrist moved as he exhaled, the brush flying across the paper in a single fluid motion.
“Diligent in administration and loving the people; clean politics and harmony among the citizenry!” “Hmm…
my writing isn’t bad today.” The Daimyo squinted his eyes and admired his work for a moment.
Today’s calligraphy was better than usual, and his mood had improved significantly.
He then instructed the attendant standing by to put the paper away.
“Your Highness, Lord Makoto has sent an envoy to discuss important matters.” The Daimyo nodded, stepped out of the room, and entered the reception room, where he saw Kazuma waiting on the sofa.
Seeing the gorgeously dressed Daimyo, Kazuma immediately stood up and bowed.
“Your Highness…
Lord Makoto sends his regards.” “Yes, I understand.
Young man, don’t be so formal.
Sit down and speak.” The Daimyo was a man of status.
His attitude toward the shinobi who worked for him had always been gentle.
The Akatsuki Village founded by Makoto Uchiha was his major weapon to balance against Konoha in the future.
A single village must not dominate!
The Ninja World required balance!
After a few brief pleasantries, the two got down to business.
The Daimyo had always been concerned about the progress of Makoto Uchiha’s village construction.
Facing the Daimyo’s inquiries, Kazuma understood immediately.
*I’ll just tell you what you want to hear!* “Everything is under control.
The construction of the village is progressing steadily and positively.
Rest assured, Your Highness, everything is under control!” Although Akatsuki Village’s progress in recruiting ninja clans was slow, Kazuma’s professional caliber was top-notch, and he continued to bullshit without a trace of shame—”Everything is under control, Your Highness!” “The only drawback right now is a lack of funds.” If the Daimyo were willing to approve special funding of 100 billion ryo, Akatsuki Village really would be fine.
Even those major clans that originally looked down on Akatsuki Village would come knocking on Makoto’s door, begging to join immediately.
Money really is king!
Giving a relocation fee of 5 billion ryo upon joining the village, who wouldn’t be tempted?
Of course, if such a figure were actually spoken, the Daimyo would kick Kazuma out without hesitation.
Are you robbing me?!
Do you have any idea how much the national budget for war is each year?
But Kazuma still mentioned their financial needs; after all, Akatsuki Village was truly strapped for cash.
The Daimyo nodded and held up five fingers, indicating he could provide an additional 500 million ryo in financial support.
This figure was not small.
The liquid funds on the books of a major ninja clan in the Ninja World were roughly around this amount.
However, Akatsuki Village aspired to be a powerhouse village in the Ninja World, and this small amount of money could not satisfy Makoto Uchiha’s appetite.
Sensing that the current atmosphere was favorable, Kazuma revealed the purpose of his visit.
“Your Highness, I actually came here today for a business venture.” “It’s a huge venture.
It requires Your Highness’s assistance and financial support!” As Kazuma spoke, the Daimyo frowned, somewhat surprised by his words.
In the Daimyo’s view, Makoto Uchiha and Kazuma Sato were just shinobi.
Since ancient times, shinobi made a living by taking on missions, and the meager payments from missions were completely negligible to nobles.
What kind of major business could these shinobi possibly have?
“Your Highness, have you ever heard of tulips?” “I have…” “The business we want to do is tulips!” The corners of Kazuma’s mouth curled up, a smile appearing on his face as he vividly explained their plan for the tulip bubble.
He was highly eloquent, and in just a few sentences, he piqued the Daimyo’s interest.
“First, we need Your Highness to cooperate with us to make tulips famous in noble circles.
To this end, Lord Makoto has formulated a ‘buying tulips with a thousand gold pieces’ campaign…” “Interesting.
Hyping up tulips?” “What a genius idea.” The Daimyo couldn’t help but stroke the mustache at the corner of his mouth, looking increasingly intrigued.
He did not doubt the feasibility of the plan at all.
When it came to the rotten habits of those nobles, the Daimyo knew them only too well.
A few years ago…
Because of a well-written article, the hypocritical nobles of the capital vied with each other to copy and emulate it in pursuit of elegance.
Everyone praised it, and if you didn’t jump on the bandwagon, it meant you were tasteless and unworthy of playing in their circle.
Thus, everyone lauded the article, copying it day and night.
Not only that, they also paid others to copy it, calling it “experiencing elegance together.” In the end, this farce even drove up the price of paper several-fold.
Facing tulips, as long as he cooperated with Makoto Uchiha’s plan, those nobles would likely repeat their past mistakes.
“This business is indeed not bad, but it is far from being as exaggerated as you make it sound.” The Daimyo shook his head.
It seemed like this business would generate a few hundred million or perhaps a billion or two at most.
Although this was indeed a lot of money, it was far from enough to shock the Daimyo.
“No, Your Highness, it doesn’t end there.” “The tulips are merely a trigger.
The most crucial part comes in the second half.
That is, before the price of tulips skyrockets, we sign contracts with the growers in advance.
Then, when the prices surge, we leak the news and start trading those contracts…
By leveraging continuous hand-to-hand trading and massive profits, we will attract…
At that point, I’m afraid the nobles and merchants of the Land of Fire, and even the entire Ninja World, will go mad for it…” The Daimyo of the Land of Fire gasped, deeply astonished by Makoto Uchiha’s audacity.
He was truly frightened.
This kind of play was unprecedented in this era.
He couldn’t even imagine how many people would participate once this money game began.
He had absolutely no doubt about the greed of those parasites.
Not just the nobles, but also the merchants.
These people were born with an endless pursuit of profit.
As long as the profit was high enough, there was nothing they wouldn’t dare to do, even if it eventually left a total mess behind.
And precisely because the Daimyo understood the nature of these people, he thought much further ahead.
Once this money game ended, how were they going to clean up the mess?