Naruto: Yes, Uchiha-sama.

Chapter 135: Let the ninja villages investigate other ninja villages, and let the ninjas fight each other. (Seeking monthly votes.)
"Lord Light and Shadow, is there anything I need to prepare?"

"We've prepared the money to buy the land, and we can take care of that little matter with the Arasaka Company this time."

Uchiha Makoto didn't waste any more words.

Among those behind the attacks on Akatsuki Village, there must be a group of people with serious conflicts of interest with Arasaka Company; otherwise, the counterattack wouldn't have come so quickly.

Then let's just start by taking action against them.

This not only demonstrated Akatsuki Village's stance but also incidentally resolved the troubles caused by Arasaka Company.

"Lord Light and Shadow, if that's the case, then these people are the best targets."

Takahashi Fujimaru instantly understood Uchiha Makoto's meaning and pulled out a list of information that he had prepared in advance from his pocket.

Uchiha Makoto reached out and took it.

He stared at the intelligence for a while, and soon found a suitable target among them.

Most importantly, this family owns a vast amount of land.

So many that even Uchiha Makoto found it outrageous.

Almost all the land in the three surrounding counties has become their private property.

Every year when the Land of Fire collects grain taxes, the local government can probably just go to their house. However, given their status as a powerful noble family, they probably won't be able to collect much tax.

However, this has nothing to do with Makoto Uchiha.

What he values ​​is the land owned by this noble family, which can completely meet the current needs of the Arasaka Company in one go, and even the Arasaka Company alone cannot absorb it.

"Lord Shiguangying, isn't this going a bit too far?"

Takahashi Fujimaru's expression changed as he looked at the person Uchiha Makoto had chosen. This family's social standing was beyond his comprehension. Even if he were incredibly wealthy, he wouldn't be qualified to sit down at their door.

"Tengwan, what are you afraid of? Nothing in history is permanent. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"

"What you need to think about now is to raise funds as soon as possible, because these lands will be snapped up by everyone."

"Yes, Lord Light and Shadow, I will go and prepare immediately. However, with such a vast land area, the cash flow is indeed..."

Takahashi Fujimaru nodded. If even the Light and Shadow Lord wasn't afraid, then what did he have to be afraid of?
The only thing that troubled him was cash flow. While the wealthy businessmen's net worth was indeed substantial, the actual usable cash flow they had was quite limited.
"Don't worry, Akatsuki Village will also contribute a portion of the funds, and you can rest assured that once Arasaka Corporation makes its move, the land prices will definitely be very cheap."

"By the way, you guys have been buying a lot of grain for me lately. See this area? There's a breach in the dike here. It'll solve all the problems at once. There are always some people who absolutely refuse to switch from rice paddies to mulberry fields, so let's just flood them!"

Uchiha Makoto pointed to a large dike on the map, while Takahashi Fujimaru beamed with a bright smile.

Why didn't he think of such a good idea?
With so much land, someone has to cultivate it. How could the nobles possibly farm?
It must be the tenant farmers from those few counties who are doing the planting.

Even if they buy the land
Promoting the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields is not an easy task either.

The obstacles to this matter do not only come from the top.

And those hungry cattle and horses trampling the seedlings could really cause a popular uprising.

But after the floodwaters...
All problems were solved.

"I don't want any of the disaster victims to starve to death during the aftermath; they will all be my future factory employees."

"The ninjas from Akatsuki Village will be watching this."

Uchiha Makoto stared at Takahashi Fujimaru, and he saw through Takahashi Fujimaru's thoughts at a glance.

In this ninja world on the verge of rampant capitalism and moral decay, anything is possible. Especially this guy in front of you, and the people behind him, they're no good.

If there's hoarding of grain to inflate prices, they absolutely wouldn't mind making a quick buck along the way.

According to Makoto Uchiha's idea.

He planned to use this opportunity to monopolize a large amount of land capital, and then let the Arasaka Company begin to expand rapidly.

They flooded the land, bought the fields, and immediately planted mulberry seedlings!
Expand production this year!
As for the disaster victims after the dike breach.
Earth Release and Ice Release techniques will also coincidentally appear at some key points to stop the flood.

The ninjas of Akatsuki Village will also appear before them as bodhisattvas who save them from suffering.

They still need to cultivate these lands.

Ninjas don't know how to farm!

Of course, there were bound to be some unlucky individuals who were caught in the crossfire and lost their lives.

Then Uchiha Makoto could only pray that the Sage of Six Paths would bless them.

There is no perfect solution in this world.

The ninja world is in such chaos.

He's not a good person. These days, it's rare to see someone as kind-hearted as him.

Seeing that his little scheme had been exposed, Takahashi Fujimaru certainly didn't dare to openly disobey Uchiha Makoto's orders and nodded repeatedly, thinking that Lord Kage was kind-hearted!
Then he remembered something and said:
"Huh? Lord Light and Shadow, isn't this a bit too deliberate?"

"It's too easy to spot!"

"Deliberately?"

"The hundreds of ninjas from our Akatsuki village just happened to be passing by."

Do they have any evidence?

"Takigakure Village did all of this!"

Uchiha Makoto said nonchalantly.

A week later.

The capital of the Fire Nation.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire was sitting leisurely alone in the tea room, holding a cup of tea in his hand, quietly gazing at the garden scenery not far away.

It is late autumn.

A sea of ​​yellow greets the eye.

The soft rustling sound of flowing water filled my ears.

The older
He preferred to sit quietly alone in the tea room. Whenever he had free time, he would sit there for an entire afternoon. This would undoubtedly seem boring to others, but it was a rare moment of relaxation for the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Quietly empty your mind.

You don't need to think about anything.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire felt completely relaxed, as if his soul had been cleansed.

"If only everyone's thoughts could be as clear as the color of this cup of tea."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire sighed in this way.

Being a daimyo at this point in time is undoubtedly a tough job.

Times have begun to change slowly.

It seemed like it all happened overnight.

The ninjas seem to have become restless, attempting to break free from the shackles they have worn for the past thousand years. The trend of ninja alliances seems unstoppable.

Even the farmers, who were originally law-abiding, became less obedient to the merchants and began to unconsciously look upwards.

These nobles, who professed loyalty, constantly did things that harmed the interests of the daimyo, relentlessly plundering the nation's wealth for their own use.

It's hard for outsiders to understand what Daimyo is feeling right now.

Human hearts are unpredictable
Great loyalty can appear as treachery, and great treachery can appear as loyalty.

But who is the person he can truly trust and rely on?

He can’t tell the difference, he really can’t tell the difference!
However, time and years have ultimately given him enough experience.

There is no true loyalty; loyalty and disloyalty are sometimes beyond their control. The virtuous are employed when they are capable, and dismissed when they are not.

"The most important thing is balance."

"The loyal should neither be too weak nor too powerful, and the same applies to the treacherous. Strength and weakness are always relative."

“Be wary of the great nobles, but mainly guard against the ninjas,” the daimyo of the Land of Fire muttered.

All his worries seemed to vanish with a single sip of tea, swallowed whole and absorbed into his stomach.

"Your Highness, the Grand Secretary has arrived."

"It seems to still be because of the Akatsuki village incident."

Daiming nodded and waved his hand.

He gestured to his attendant to let the Grand Secretary in.

A jumble of thoughts surged into my mind once again.

The village of Xiaoren has always had conflicts with important figures in the country.

It all started when the Akatsuki village unified the salt market. The Akatsuki village's rather brutal actions caused heavy losses to some small families that depended on these big shots, and some people even physically disappeared from this world.

It was only because Akatsuki's subsequent actions were endorsed by the Daimyo, and the targets they chose were also very clever. Those who died were just people who were not particularly important, and no direct personal injury was caused to these important figures, but it did make them lose face.

However, considering that everyone ultimately made more money, they tolerated it for the sake of money.

However, the recent sweeping actions of the Akatsuki have undoubtedly threatened the interests of many.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire was well aware of these despicable acts, and he also believed that the Akatsuki had indeed gone too far.

If the Akatsuki were to behave themselves, the Daimyo would be very happy. Those important figures who have lost face and benefits would also be very happy.

Thus, the obedience test for the Akatsuki Village was introduced.

Of course, the Fire Country Daimyo never personally intervened; he merely wrote a short poem, and those eager to make a scene and teach the Akatsuki a lesson naturally made their move—he was the one who held the pieces!
Soon.

The Grand Secretary walked in.

"Your Highness!"

The Grand Secretary skillfully performed the kneeling ceremony to the Da Ming, but the Da Ming casually waved his hand, indicating that the Grand Secretary was exempt from such formalities.

"Your Excellency, please take care of your health."

"This land of fire still needs you to shelter me from the wind and rain."

"Get up and try this tea. This is this year's Lion Peak Longjing, picked just as the buds were emerging at night."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire spoke gently to his elder brother, with whom he had spent over a decade.

But to everyone's surprise, the Grand Secretary did not make any move to get up; instead, he kept his head firmly planted on the ground.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened."

"Oh, what happened? Get up and answer me."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire spoke at his usual leisurely pace, while the elder tremblingly took out several intelligence reports from his robes.

"A major levee in the northern part of the Land of Fire suddenly breached, affecting three counties. The entire hereditary noble family in the area was tragically wiped out overnight."

"This family has a long and distinguished history, including a Tsinghua University academy."

“How could this happen?!!”

Even the daimyo of the Land of Fire was shocked this time.

Things like the breaching of the dike.
This is certainly no small matter.

The economic losses are naturally incalculable.

What shocked the Fire Country Daimyo even more was the latter. Such a noble family had been passed down from ancient times to the present, and their family's history even surpassed that of the Fire Country.

If we really want to discuss it...
Such a family would only be half a rank lower than a daimyo in the Land of Fire.

Even in the chaotic Warring States period, when the ninja clans were already bloodthirsty, no foolish ninja would dare to lay a hand on such a wealthy family. Yet now, the entire family has been brutally murdered overnight.

What if things escalate?

This is bound to be a momentous event that shakes the government and the public, a truly earth-shattering event.

"Has this matter been investigated and clarified?"

Who did this?!
"Whoever did it, these heinous individuals who offend noble people must be punished, and they will all pay the price!!"

Upon hearing this crucial information, the daimyo of the Land of Fire was filled with panic.

His face was terrifyingly gloomy.

This has really caused a huge mess.

He couldn't even imagine what the nobles in the Land of Fire might do.

He'd probably see them all rushing to him like startled birds, demanding an explanation from the Fire Country's daimyo. It's a case of kinship at heart. Who wouldn't be afraid?
"Your Highness, the truth has not yet been fully uncovered. It's just that the bodies of the hereditary noble family were found to contain traces of Takigakure ninja."

"But there's probably more to this than meets the eye."

"Go on."

"I suspect it's Akatsuki Village."

The Grand Secretary's voice was deep, and this answer clearly startled the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

That kind of joke isn't funny at all.

"Your Highness, I am not speaking carelessly. The vast majority of the land in these three prefectures belongs to the families of the tragically deceased hereditary nobles, and they have serious conflicts of interest with the Arasaka Company. The matter of the mulberry fields and silk mill has caused considerable unpleasantness. Furthermore, as you know, they are quite familiar with some prominent directors in the entertainment industry and have leaked information..."

"Moreover, on the very day the dam broke, Akatsuki ninjas immediately appeared at the scene. They seemed to have foreseen the future as they rescued the victims. Akatsuki ninjas used Earth Release and Ice Release techniques at key locations, and the actual number of victims who were actually injured was probably less than a few hundred."

The elder's tone was quite agitated; the Akatsuki Village's actions were far too crude.

Those unruly people had nothing of value; what could they possibly lose? They even saved their lives.

It's nothing more than some dilapidated houses and broken furniture.

I heard that Xiaoren Village forcibly seized the property of the deceased noble family to buy food to relieve disaster victims.

"Oh~~"

The daimyo of the Land of Fire's expression changed as his mind raced.

He did not doubt what the Grand Secretary said, after all, on such a matter of principle, he believed that the Grand Secretary would not dare to lie.

This is also why the Grand Secretary has always been the Grand Secretary; sometimes it is necessary to speak the truth!
If the Akatsuki village is involved, this will be a difficult situation.

Tsinghua University graduates come from a distinguished family.

But the Akatsuki village possesses the purest form of violence.

The two collided.

Who will be smashed to pieces?

It is indeed rare to find a Tsinghua University graduate like this.

However, the Land of Fire has more than one such powerful family, and the Land of Fire only has two major ninja villages like Akatsuki. The other one, Konoha, has a ninja god like Hashirama Senju!
The daimyo of the Land of Fire made up his mind.

However, there are some things he shouldn't say himself.

"Your Excellency, what do you think should be done about this?"

"With the nation facing such difficulties, if we thoroughly investigate this matter and it involves the Akatsuki, whose military power is at its peak, our Land of Fire will immediately be thrown into chaos."

"So we can't do this."

"And this matter must be suppressed!"

"Secretly assign missions to Konoha, sending Konoha to investigate, sending other ninja villages to investigate other ninja villages, and sending ninjas to fight each other!"

"Even if things eventually get out of control, there's still Takigakure Village. There's always room for maneuver."

"Your Excellency is truly loyal and devoted to the country!"

The daimyo of the Land of Fire nodded; these words resonated deeply with him.

(End of this chapter)