Naruto: Starting with the Two Kamui

"You two are really passionate!" Afei teased.

"Yu, stop talking, go back quickly..." Xi Yang buried her face in Lin Yu's chest and whispered.

Lin Yu carried Xi Yang in his arms as she stepped out of the hot spring pool and onto the top floor of Tianyu Pavilion. He gently placed her on the large bed, took a towel to dry her body, carefully covered her with a blanket, and then found a brand-new robe to drape over himself.

Xi Yang, clutching the blanket with both hands, looked at Lin Yu and said, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I still have some things to take care of. I'll go to sleep after I'm done," Lin Yu said.

“Okay, I’ll wait for you…” Xiyang said obediently.

Once outside, Lin Yu released Kakuzu from the space-time continuum.

"Where is this..." Kakuzu landed and looked around.

Lin Yu said, "The original Takigakure Village is now my Dark Village..."

Kakuzu paused for a moment, then said, "Oh, so you mean Shibuki and those guys in the village are already..."

"Do you hate me?" Lin Yu didn't tell Kakuzu that he had spared Shibuki Yu and most of the Takigakure ninjas. In fact, he hadn't made this public either. Lin Yu wanted to make himself appear more ruthless to avoid unnecessary trouble.

“Hate? Why hate? In this ninja world, the strong are respected, and not all ninjas are like the First Hokage, who was 'benevolent'. In fact, compared to the First Hokage, I think Madara Uchiha's policies were more in line with the essence of the ninja world,” Kakuzu said.

"Kakuzu, would you be willing to stay in this village and work for me?" Lin Yu asked.

Kakuzu had already guessed that when Lin Yu fought him, he deliberately left him with a heart. That was probably not a mistake, but a deliberate act.

He didn't kill him because he wanted him to be used by him, but Kakuzu still didn't understand one thing.

"Mr. Uchiha Yu, what exactly do you need me to do, given your strength? Could you please tell me directly?" Kakuzu said.

“The village is short of an accountant…” Lin Yu said.

“Accountant? What’s that?” Jiao Bu asked, puzzled.

Uh, it seems there's no such word as "accountant" in the Naruto world.

"You'll be in charge of the accounts. For a village to develop, it inevitably needs financial support. I want to entrust you with full control of the village's finances," Lin Yu said.

Kakuzu's dark green pupils suddenly brightened: "Are you serious about entrusting me with such an alluring... no, such an important position?"

Lin Yu said, "I believe that the village's finances will be well managed under your supervision."

*Gulp!* Kakuzu swallowed hard. "Then, may I... make a request?"

"Oh? Is it about compensation?" Lin Yu asked.

As we all know, you have to pay someone to do something.

Kakuzu said, "It's not such a trivial matter. I like to let money snowball and grow bigger and bigger. So, if I were to manage the finances, I would have to oversee every single expense in this village!"

"Uh, well." Lin Yu rubbed his chin.

Kakuzu added, "How can we save money if we don't do this! I want to eliminate all extravagance and waste, and I want to write this into the village's regulations. Any behavior that squanders money will be a crime. If you agree to this, I'll do this job!"

After Kakuzu finished speaking, he looked at Lin Yu with some nervousness.

Logically speaking, Kakuzu shouldn't make demands when facing a powerful figure like Lin Yu, but unfortunately... Kakuzu seems to have a strange obsession and fascination with money.

Lin Yu looked at Kakuzu and thought: I never expected... his love for money would even surpass his own life.

In the original work, Kakuzu, as a member of Akatsuki, also held the reins of the treasury, and Akatsuki's wealth was extremely abundant under his management.

But if Kaku knew that all the money he had painstakingly saved had been used by Konan to buy explosive tags in exchange for 10 minutes of art... he would be so angry he'd rise from his coffin.

Lin Yu nodded: "Okay, I promise you, Kakuzu. From now on, in this village, whenever it comes to money, your say will be greater than mine, the Kage."

Upon hearing this, Kakuzu, who is already 75 years old this year, actually showed a childlike smile: "Good! Mr. Yu, just for your trust, I am willing to contribute all of my wealth of 1,076,534,200 taels that I have accumulated over the years to the village!"

Even Lin Yu was surprised by this number.

His own head is worth only 1 million on the bounty list, but Kakuzu has enough money to buy more than 10 of his own heads. Isn't that amazing?

Lin Yu said, "You don't need to give it all up. Keep some for yourself."

“No!” Kakuzu said firmly.

"Well, then I thank you on behalf of the village, Kakuzu..." Lin Yu accepted the offer without any qualms.

Glug glug!

The White Zetsu who was in charge of negotiating with the Daimyo of Takigakure has returned.

"How was it?" Lin Yu asked.

"The daimyo of Taki no Kuni has granted you permission to build the village, but..."

"But what?"

“He had objections to the village’s name. He said that the name of the village must be consistent for the country. This is the Land of Waterfalls, so the village cannot be called Dark Hidden Village. He wants to change it to ‘New Hidden Waterfall Village’.”

Lin Yu said, "Oh, he reminded me too. One country, one village, the names correspond, so..."

"so?"

"Let him rename the Land of Waterfalls to the Land of Darkness..."

Chapter 57 Nightfall in Daming Prefecture!

Late at night, in the Daimyo's residence in Taki no Kuni, the Daimyo was playing shogi with his strategist.

"Daimyo, do you think Uchiha Yu will agree to change the village's name to 'New Takigakure'?" the strategist asked.

"You have to agree even if you disagree. These ninjas love to show off because they can breathe fire and water. If we don't teach them a lesson, they'll keep taking advantage of me..."

The daimyo of Takino-kuni was a man with a large beer belly, a small mustache, and a fan-like headdress.

“But according to rumors about Uchiha Yu, he doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy who acts according to others’ moods…” The strategist’s eyes showed worry.

"Hmph, what does a ninja village need for its development? It needs funding. Without funding, who would be willing to risk their lives for it? And where does that funding come from? It comes from the national treasury. How much funding they can get from me depends on how obedient they are..."

The daimyo covered half his face with a small fan, held a chess piece, and said with an air of dominance, "Could it be that mere ninjas dare to attack this daimyo's mansion? Whether it's Takigakure or Shin-Takigakure, they are just pawns in my hands. This is the relationship between all countries and ninja villages in the world, and even great powers are no exception!"

*Smack!* He used the King General in his hand to knock the strategist King Taki away!

That's right, this is the current state of the ninja world. There are billions of ordinary citizens, but the total number of ninjas is only a mere hundred thousand.

The vast difference in numbers meant that ninjas could never stand in positions of power!

Before the emergence of ninja clans, every major country maintained an army of millions, and even small countries had hundreds of thousands of troops. Military expenditures were enormous, and once a war broke out, the number of casualties would be incalculable, and the cost would be too high!

The emergence of ninja clans greatly solved the problem of warfare.

Countries have hired them as tools of war, replacing the military in national conflicts, which has greatly reduced military spending and casualties...

Having tasted success, various countries began to pay more attention to the existence of ninjas, which gave them a preliminary space to survive.

Thus, the outcome of the war depended on whose army was stronger and who could hire a more powerful ninja clan to serve them.

However, this employment relationship was not secure, because powerful ninja clans would be sought after by every country, making the position of these powerful clans delicate.

Just like the Senju and Uchiha clans during the Warring States period, whichever country hired the Senju, the opposing country would hire the Uchiha...

Therefore, although the state uses ninjas, it does not trust them. Once the war ends, the ninjas will once again lose their place, because they only know how to fight, not how to farm or produce anything. In peacetime, they are of no use...

Until a man appeared, changing the situation.

He was Hashirama Senju, the man known as the God of Shinobi.

The "one country, one village" system emerged, establishing trust and long-term cooperation between the nation and specific ninja clans beyond mere interests.

Ninjas began to be seen as part of the nation, rather than as temporary tools of war.

Countries around the world followed suit, and from that time on, ninjas finally had a real space to survive.

With this trust established, countries reduced their military size accordingly. In order for ninjas to survive in peacetime, countries assigned tasks to ninjas to perform in exchange for payment.

This system has been in use ever since.

But one thing has never changed from ancient times to the present: the existence of ninjas only brought certain conveniences to the country, not that the country would perish without ninjas!

Imagine, ninjas are just powerful humans, made of flesh and blood, so fragile that a single kunai can take their lives!

If a nation were willing to disregard casualties and assemble an army of hundreds of thousands, millions, or even more, equipped with superior weaponry to attack, would the ninja village be able to resist?

I'm afraid that after one volley of catapults and one volley of arrows, there won't be many left...

Some countries have even begun to be wary of ninjas and have drastically reduced their funding; the Land of Wind, located in the desert, is a prime example.

In recent years, some countries have also begun to strengthen their military organization to prevent ninja rebellions. This is not only a precaution, but also a warning...

The status of ninjas remained in this awkward position, struggling to survive in the cracks.

Naruto did not focus on this aspect, but rather concentrated most of its perspective on the ninjas. In reality, what people see is only a small part of the ninja world.

What lies buried beneath that enormous shadow is the helplessness and pain of the ninjas.

This is also the source of the confidence that allowed the Daimyo of Takigakure to challenge Uchiha Yu at this moment.

But this daimyo seems to have forgotten one thing: the Land of Taki no Kuni no Taki no Taki no Taki no Taki has long since lost its decent army...

"Lord Daimyo, Uchiha Yu requests an audience, saying he has something extremely important to discuss!" reported the Daimyo's personal guard.

The daimyo paused slightly in his hand holding the chess piece, and said, "Tell him that if it's about the name of the ninja village, there's no need to meet him. This is non-negotiable! Change it immediately and refer to yourself as 'New Takigakure'! Otherwise, you'll face the consequences!"

"Understood!" The guard withdrew.

Rumble! Rumble!

A few minutes later, the roaring sound continued, but it quickly subsided...

"What happened?!"

The lord and his advisor rushed to the door to check, and witnessed an astonishing scene...

The thousands of soldiers guarding Daming Prefecture were all defeated, and their broken armor and weapons were scattered all over the ground!

Lin Yu arrived through the snow, dragging the personal guard who had just reported the situation along with him.

"Your Excellency, is this the army that guards your daimyo prefecture? It's far too weak..."

The soldiers did not die, but simply fainted.

The daimyo's face turned deathly pale, but he maintained his composure and said, "Uchiha Yu, how dare you! Do you even know where you are?!"

Lin Yu said indifferently, "I know, it's the supreme daimyo prefecture of Taki no Kyu, so I reported my arrival according to the rules. But I also have a rule: if someone treats me with respect, I will treat them with seven times more respect. If someone disrespects me, don't blame me for being ruthless!"