Konoha: Rebuild the glory of the Uchiha

"Lord Ōnoki, it's been a long time."

Uchiha Nan walked into the reception hall and saw Onoki sitting in a chair. He was still so short, showing no signs of growing taller. If he didn't have the chance to grow taller again, 1.3 meters would probably be his limit. Onoki was sitting in the chair, and his feet couldn't even touch the floor.

"Hokage, Kazekage, it's been a long time."

Onoki jumped off the stool and then strained his back.

"Oh, my back!"

Onoki looked pained, one hand on his waist, and it took him a while to recover.

Ohnoki's back... has he already developed a problem at such a young age?

Although it was quite pitiful, it was really funny. Onoki's short stature, exaggerated big nose, and the way he clutched his lower back and screamed in pain made Uchiha Nan and Masa forcefully suppress the upturn of their lips.

"You flatter me. There are just too many things to do in Iwagakure. I accidentally developed a herniated disc. It's just a minor ailment."

Onoki wore an embarrassed smile; he had just lost face after meeting the Hokage and Kazekage.

"Tsuchikage, no matter how busy you are with work, you must learn to take care of your health."

Mosa seemed to understand this deeply; working day and night as a gold miner in the desert, without taking good care of one's health, could lead to an early death.

"It's all for the village. We are the village's shadows." Onoki sighed slightly after saying this, recalling some unpleasant memories. Even as the shadow, he had to take time out to carry out missions in order to earn as much funding as possible for the village. He did missions during the day and stayed up late at night to process documents. Onoki felt bitter!

Why did the atmosphere suddenly become so heavy?

Uchiha Nan quickly changed the subject.

After exchanging pleasantries, Onoki sat back down and started chatting with Uchiha Nan about the Konoha United Fruit Company.

Onoki still harbored reservations, not believing that Uchiha Nan could be so kind as to give away shares to Iwagakure for nothing, at a price that was almost negligible.

For Iwagakure, this is an income of several billion ryo per year!

Is Konoha so wealthy that it doesn't care about billions?

That's the answer, of course!

While billions of ryo a year is a considerable sum, it's nothing to Konoha these days; it's just a matter of earning a little less from the Land of Grass.

Konoha has already achieved its strategic goals with the Land of Grass; making money is just a side effect.

Konoha will earn back several times, ten times, or even a hundred times the billions of ryo they lost in the future!

If these mere billions of ryo can buy Iwagakure's silence in siding with Konoha and promote the establishment of the ninja world's trade system, then that would be a truly worthwhile deal!

Moreover, according to intelligence, Iwagakure and Kumogakure have formed an alliance. This could also undermine the alliance between Iwagakure and Kumogakure. We must make good use of our ancestors' wisdom in forming alliances and counter-alliances.

Uchiha Nan had absolutely no goodwill towards those dark-skinned ninjas from Kumogakure. Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure had all fought wars with Konoha, but only Kumogakure was a ninja village that fought Konoha to the death from beginning to end, until the ninjas from both villages were almost drained of blood before they stopped.

The Hidden Cloud Village is far too aggressive. The alliance between the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Stone Village must be broken, and the Hidden Cloud Village must be isolated as much as possible in the ninja world.

Someday in the future, it wouldn't be unreasonable to impose economic sanctions on Kumogakure!

"Lord Ōnoki, Konoha has always upheld Lord Hashirama's Will of Fire, adhering to the principle of mutual benefit."

"The Land of Grass is rife with war, its people are displaced, and countless people have starved to death. So Konoha took action and created the Konoha United Fruit Company. As for the results, Lord Onoki should have already seen them, so I don't need to say more."

Uchiha Nan spoke in official diplomatic language, emphasizing that Konoha had to uphold the banner of justice.

Onoki listened patiently, at least judging from his expression he believed what Uchiha Nan said. As for what he really thought, Uchiha Nan had no idea.

After exchanging the necessary diplomatic pleasantries, Uchiha Nan handed over the outline of his plan to Onoki. It not only involved the Konoha United Fruit Company but also the rules for the newly constructed ninja world trade system. However, there were too many details involved, so Uchiha Nan only listed the outline and emphasized the obligations that Iwagakure needed to undertake—to support Uchiha Nan and jointly build the new ninja world trade system!

As long as the major ninja villages don't get involved in this matter, Uchiha Nan doesn't care about the opinions of those daimyo. If they don't want to cooperate obediently, then they might as well die.

Ōnoki carefully reviewed the plan, which was similar to what Uchiha Kusunoki had stated in his invitation.

Is Naruto really that transparent?

Billions were given away just like that!

Outrageous!

Don't contact me anymore, Hidden Cloud Village. I'm afraid Konoha will misunderstand!

The village of Iwagakure simply opened its market, allowing villagers to freely buy bananas and other fruit products from Konoha.

Uchiha Nan did not force Iwagakure to buy a certain number of bananas or Konoha's fruit products each year; he left it all to the villagers of Iwagakure to decide for themselves.

"If the goods made in Konoha are of good quality and inexpensive, then the villagers of Iwagakure will buy them on their own initiative. There is no need for the ninja villages to interfere. All the ninja villages need to do is nothing and let the market compete freely."

"If no one buys your products, the shop owner should reflect on why their products are expensive and not good enough."

What's so strange about a business that constantly complains and blames others going out of business and closing down?

"The Ninja World Trade System is designed to promote the development of commerce in the Ninja World, allowing everyone in the Ninja World to enjoy the highest quality and most affordable goods!"

Praise to Hayek, your greatness needs no further explanation!

Uchiha Nan advocated the theory of the free market, and Onoki listened attentively, not finding anything wrong with what Uchiha Nan said.

The shop owner failed miserably and went bankrupt; he deserved it!

If you're not making money, sometimes you should look for the reasons within yourself. Over the years, have you been working diligently? Have your skills improved?

In contrast to ninjas, if you are not strong enough to receive missions, you should train hard to become stronger. In the Naruto world, ninjas are almost all staunch advocates of socialism, for weakness is the original sin.

Talented individuals like Hashirama Senju are rare, appearing only once every few centuries.

As for that so-called escort mission, how much money could that cost!

They planted Iwagakure's flag directly on the caravan, and chopped off any claws that the Land of Earth dared to reach out.

"Thank you very much, Hokage-sama."

Onoki finally smiled. This trip to the Land of Grass had been incredibly profitable, bringing in billions of ryo a year, which would make things much easier for him.

Everything is going so smoothly," Uchiha Nan smiled as well.

The bigwigs have agreed on the terms, and the deal is done!

The atmosphere was peaceful and harmonious.

"The Tsuchikage and Hokage have always had the entire ninja world on their minds. Look at the Land of Grass now, it has changed so much that I can hardly recognize it. It is truly an amazing achievement."

"That's absolutely true. The Hokage's methods are simply unbelievable."

"You flatter me, you flatter me."

Masa praised Uchiha Nan without reservation, and Onoki nodded repeatedly. Uchiha Nan remained humble, but secretly he was pleased. Only flattery from people of the same social standing is the best flattery!

"Naruto has a knack for making money; could you share some tips?"

Onoki stared intently at Uchiha Nan, knowing that Konoha had made a fortune in business over the past two years.

Iwagakure is desperate to improve!

However, doing business is not a field that ninjas are good at. Ōnoki has not yet made up his mind to use the village's funds to run some businesses. After all, Iwagakure's finances are still in deficit. Doing business is risky. If he rashly gets involved and loses money, there will be people with ulterior motives in the village who will stir up trouble.

For traditional ninjas, serving in the army and receiving pay was a matter of course!

To abandon one's proper duties and go into business is utterly rebellious; to even think about it for a second is a sin, let alone do it.

Even Uchiha Nan faced numerous difficulties at the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey, with almost no one in the village supporting him. The voices of the opposition, led by Uzumaki Mito, drowned out everything else.

Uchiha Nan, risking the Hokage's authority, forcefully pushed the project forward.

If it weren't for the opportune timing, location, and popular support, and the fact that Futures had ruthlessly eliminated the inhumane insects within the Land of Fire, allowing those ninja clans to seize the profits, it would have been virtually impossible to promote commerce in Konoha.

"Yes, Hokage, please share some of your insights."

Mosa chimed in from the side. Uchiha Nan smiled, thinking, "I've been rained on myself, why would I want to hold an umbrella for someone else? Yeah, right!"

They tore all the umbrellas apart!!!

"The most important thing in developing a business is choosing the right track and leveraging your strengths. Especially, you have to be willing to go all in!"

"Going all in on poker is a sign of wisdom!"

"Don't be afraid of losing money!"

"The amount of money you've wasted determines your magnanimity. If you've spent a billion taels on wasteful spending, when it comes to getting things done, wouldn't taking out a hundred billion be a piece of cake?"

"I understand, let's give them a round of applause!!"

"."

Go ahead and drink up all that motivational chicken soup for the soul!

It's a pity I didn't bring a speaker; the sound wasn't powerful enough.

Masa and Onoki didn't quite understand Uchiha Nan's motivational speech, but they still couldn't help but applaud him.

"The Hokage, what a spirit!"

"Ten billion taels of money were wasted without warning."

Onoki realized what was going on. No wonder Uchiha Nan could make so much money and be so generous to Iwagakure, giving away billions of ryo without hesitation. When would he be able to be so extravagant?

An S-rank mission only yields a few million taels of silver, and requires high-level combatants from the village to carry it out. The funds accumulated at great personal risk are lost in business, and instead of being used to educate the village's children.

Don't even mention spending 1 billion taels to try and fail, to choose a track. If you lose 100 million taels or tens of millions of taels, the village's higher-ups will be in an uproar.

Mosa remained silent, having already given up. The business world was far too murky. The Hokage had wasted a billion taels of silver, and he knew he must have wasted far more—a billion taels!

Thinking about it makes my heart bleed, so it's safer to continue being a gold miner in the desert.

Sunagakure needs stable development; going all-in with risky moves could easily destroy the village.

Looking at the two people's bitter expressions, Uchiha Nan sighed inwardly.

You are military leaders, how can the military lose money in business?

That's just plain stupid.

Forget it.

"The current economic situation in the village makes doing business far too risky."

Onoki didn't dare to lose 1 billion taels, let alone gamble with the village's funds. He planned to let the village take a break, at least pay off the debts, and then consider doing business when there was some extra money in the treasury.

Mosa nodded repeatedly.

"It's really hard to save up initial startup capital; I took a huge risk back then."

Uchiha Nan deeply resonated with this point, understanding the hesitation of Onoki and Masa.

The initial capital accumulation was bleeding from every pore. Those who lost everything in futures trading and became frequent flyers are now old and gray, and their wives have probably remarried with their children.

"However, I do have a way to get through this difficult period."

Uchiha Nan suddenly remembered an interesting game: the trick to the capital game is to take money from other people's pockets into your own, make fools believe that you have the ability to make their money grow, and then repeat the cycle. In the end, you run off to nightclubs to date young models, while the fools go to factories to fix screws.

"Oh?"

"I humbly request your guidance, Hokage!"

Mosa's expression became excited; he knew Uchiha Nan had a solution.

"If I had an investment product where you only needed to give me your money, and you could get a 40% return within two months, would you be willing to invest?"

After a quick mental calculation, Onoki realized that investing 100 taels and doing absolutely nothing would guarantee a profit of 40 taels. This was a sure thing to do!

"Then I'll probably give it a try."

"Great, I think a lot of people would be willing to give it a try."

"Wait a minute, Hokage. You haven't said what kind of business you're in that you can consistently earn 40% a month."

Mosaic identified the blind spot and raised a question.

"Fengying, do you think there's any business that's guaranteed to make money these days?"

"And why would you, a complete stranger, take on a chance to make money instead of your own brother?"

Uchiha Nan looked at Masa with an expression of concern for a mentally challenged child.

"What does 'Naruto' mean?"

Onoki had a bad feeling, instinctively sensing that what Uchiha Nan was about to say would shatter his worldview.

"There's no such thing as a guaranteed profitable business in this world. The important thing is to convince people that you have a profitable business, which requires initial investment. Just now, the Tsuchikage heard about such a lucrative deal and even wanted to invest some money to try it out."

"I believe many people hold this view: invest a small amount of money and receive a timely return."

"Human nature is to crave something for nothing and to be insatiably greedy."

"The most important thing in the early stages is to promote your money-making ability and attract more and more people to entrust their money to you so that you can make more money for them."

"Using money from later investors to cover earlier losses can accelerate development and cultivate agents. As long as they can attract people to invest this money, they can receive a commission. I believe many people would be happy to earn this money."

"Like a snowball rolling downhill, the plate gets bigger and bigger!"

"A classic Ponzi scheme," Uchiha Nan's magnetic voice announced his idea. Onoki and Masa looked shocked, without a doubt—this scheme would definitely attract a lot of people to hand over their money to Uchiha Nan.

"But there will come a day when this method will no longer be sustainable."

"I know I can just grab the bucket and run away when the time comes."

"If the three of our ninja villages join forces to set up a scheme and find a proxy, our ninja village will have abundant funds, powerful intelligence, and unparalleled influence."

"We can create a god in the investment world!"

"With the combined strength of our three ninja villages, I believe we can implement this plan."

"They easily amassed wealth in the hundreds of billions!"

"And do you really think the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud Village will fall for this?"

Uchiha Nan's words were like the whispers of a demon, tempting Onoki and Masa to open Pandora's box.

"Wealth in the hundreds of billions."

Onoki and Masa had red eyes and were panting heavily.

(End of this chapter)