Naruto: Starting from Eating the Gold Fruit

Chapter 18 The Land of Thunder Invades

Three months later, looking at the completed steel plants, these families belatedly realized that the Second Hokage, who had invested ten million taels in the early stages and did nothing, had actually contributed his labor, manpower, and land to build the other five steel plants. These ninja tool families, after deducting worker wages, ore costs, and the net profit from manufacturing and selling ninja tools, earned hundreds of thousands of taels of pure profit each month. However, half of this money belonged to the Second Hokage, who had invested ten million taels in the early stages and did nothing afterward.

It was only then that these ninja tool families realized that the Second Hokage's vision was actually so far-sighted; they...

I got scammed.

But what can you do? In the early stages, others invested ten million taels, while you only invested a few hundred thousand, at most a million taels. Investing less naturally means earning less.

Judging from the current situation, the second generation will probably be able to recoup all the initial investment of ten million within two years, and then get half of the equity in these steel plants for free...

These families are heartbroken, but there's nothing they can do. Their operations were flawless. If you had invested in the early stages, even if it was just five million, you would be making a good monthly income now, breaking even in two years, and making a profit every year after that. But you didn't invest! Who can you blame for not investing?!

Therefore, compared to the original historical evaluation of Tobirama Senju as the "Ninja Tool Doctor," later generations added the title of "Outstanding Economist" to Tobirama Senju's evaluation. In the words of Yua Senju, who became Hokage many years later, all his knowledge of economics was taught by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Therefore, people in other countries in later generations harbored unprecedented hatred towards Tobirama Senju. After all, where there are rich countries, there are naturally poor ones...

But that's a story for another time. Right now...

In early 17th year of Konoha, thousands of ninjas were suddenly mobilized to the border of the Land of Lightning. Clearly, this was the prelude to an impending war...

……

Tobirama Senju naturally noticed this, but while he took it seriously, it wasn't to the point that he couldn't eat.

Just as he had said to Hashirama Senju before, he, Tobirama Senju, was not afraid to be their enemy.

"Knock knock"

"Please come in."

A pretty young woman with a ponytail pushed open the door and respectfully said, "Lord Hokage, those ninja tool clans have once again submitted a joint petition."

Tobirama Senju immediately rubbed his temples, looking like he had a headache.

The so-called joint chamber of commerce that You Ya organized truly impressed him.

He can earn back ten million in two years at most, and also get five steel plants for free, so he can make money every year thereafter.

The key point is that the money earned is all for ninjas to buy ninja tools; ordinary people don't have that need, so it won't have any impact on society.

The establishment of the steel plant can create jobs, and the consumption of ninjas is another aspect.

Even Tobirama Senju, who knew nothing about economics, knew that ninjas shouldn't be allowed to accumulate mountains of money, as this would cause serious problems.

This is good enough. We not only want your money, but we also want to empty your wallets.

Running out of money? Then go do some quests.

But there aren't that many tasks...

Tobirama Senju is troubled again.

Furthermore, seeing the profits from the steel mills, those people couldn't sit still any longer.

But it doesn't matter. Is Tobirama Senju someone who is controlled by others? Impossible.

"What are they trying to do now?"

There's a reason why Tobirama Senju was rude.

These merchant families would naturally not let such a big deal slip by, but the bulk of the profits came from Tobirama Senju, and they dared not offend him, so they had no choice but to find another source of revenue.

Therefore, they wanted to recruit new members.

Tobirama Senju asked Yua, who said it was best not to absorb any more people at this stage.

Therefore, Tobirama Senju decisively refused.

"This time it's not like that. This time they want to jointly invest an additional 500 million taels." The female secretary's eyes lit up as she said this. Five million taels—that could buy so many explosive tags! Art is...

"Uh-huh," Tobirama Senju paused slightly, stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then said, "Let me think about it. You can go out now and close the door behind you."

"Okay~"

After the female secretary left, Tobirama Senju used Flying Thunder God Technique to go to Hashirama Senju's courtyard.

Now only Mito Uzumaki lives here, and Yua has built a small wooden hut for herself outside.

The reason, of course, was to avoid suspicion from his master's wife.

He could do whatever he wanted when Hashirama Senju was alive, but not now. Even if Hashirama Senju's death couldn't be made public, he couldn't continue living there. It wasn't a matter of hiding it or not. If he continued living there, one day Hashirama Senju's death would be made public—that was certain, the news couldn't be kept secret—and then people would look back and say, "Oh wow, your master is dead and you're still living with your master's wife. What are you trying to do?"

The blow to reputation and standing was unparalleled.

Tobirama Senju naturally knew this, so he ran out of the courtyard and found Yua looking at a map.

During this time, You Ya also took some time to absorb the scattered gold from the third place he had previously explored, bringing his total gold reserves to 500 kilograms.

But that's not enough, far from enough. This gold can increase his strength, but not by much.

At least 500 tons is possible.

Tobirama Senju found Yua and bluntly stated the needs of those people.

You Ya laughed immediately: "At the end of last year, we asked them to invest money, but they all refused no matter what. Now they want to buy 15% of the shares by adding 5 million taels?"

Tell them directly that things are different now. If they want to buy, they can. The annual revenue of those steel mills is about 100 million, and the total net profit should be 15 million. If they want to buy shares, they can't just look at these figures. They also need to take into account the factory's workers, equipment, and land. Don't forget, the land use rights in Konoha are in the hands of the Hokage.

Let them calculate it this way: 500 million taels, and give them one percent of the shares.

Tobirama Senju was dumbfounded: "W-Isn't this going too far?"

Yuya glanced at Tobirama and laughed: "Uncle-Master, do you believe it or not, by next year, they'll be begging you to sell them a spot for 500 million?"

Tobirama Senju fell silent, then nodded.

You Ya continued, "However, we still need to offer a little something in return. Uncle-Master, you could try this approach..."

……

These merchants were naturally unwilling to accept Tobirama Senju's proposal; 500 million taels for just one percent was outrageous.

At least that's how they feel right now.

However, Tobirama's next plan made their eyes light up.

it's actually really easy.

That is to use Konoha as the center to export their steel production capacity to other countries.

Selling ninja tools might lead to conflicts with local clans, but these raw materials...

They'd be popular anywhere.

……

Against this backdrop, in the seventeenth year of Konoha's reign, the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning launched an attack on Konoha, thus beginning the First Shinobi World War.

(End of this chapter)