Naruto: Yes, Uchiha-sama.

Chapter 148: A chaotic movie-watching session, only Uchiha Makoto was truly happy.

at the same time.

Akatsuki Village.

Makoto Uchiha led Shizuku Uzumaki out of his mansion. "Saving Pain, the Chunin" is the first movie produced by Xiaolaiwu, and as the director of the film, he definitely had to step forward to promote the movie.

Especially the premiere!
He'll definitely contribute his own movie ticket!

Uzumaki Tsubaki Shizuku linked arms with Uchiha Makoto, and the two walked together toward the Akatsuki Ninja Cinema. Along the way, people kept greeting him.

"Lord Light and Shadow."

"Master Light and Shadow."

Uchiha Seiichi nodded in response, a warm smile on his face. He saw many familiar faces among them—clan leaders from various ninja clans, Akatsuki ninja who had participated in the Cloud Village War, and many more ordinary Akatsuki villagers, who were mostly going to the movie theater.

It's normal for ninjas to have spare money to spend on entertainment, but it's very difficult for so many ordinary people in the village to have spare money to go to the movies.

What a pity.

My efforts were not in vain.

Akatsuki Village is now probably the wealthiest ninja village in the entire ninja world.

The continuous influx of investment from the ninja world, along with a large amount of funds specially approved by the Akatsuki ninja treasury for construction, has enabled the Akatsuki ninja village to develop its economy rapidly.

"The goal is to ensure that every household in Akatsuki has a chicken in its pot, a ninja to train, a wife in bed, and a job outside."

This was a bold promise made by Uchiha Makoto back then, and now it can be said that he has largely fulfilled it.

Nowadays, in Akatsuki Village, anyone with hands and feet who is willing to work can live a decent life.

During an economic upswing
Everything is so prosperous.

"It's not enough; those nobles are still richer than us."

"Let's keep up the good work next year; the urbanization process in Akatsuki Village is still too slow."

Uchiha Makoto thought to himself silently.

He wanted to create a significant economic gap between Akatsuki Village and Konoha in the shortest possible time.

of course
In fact, the gap between the two sides has already emerged. As the country with the most fertile land, the largest population, and a peaceful environment in the ninja world, the Land of Fire naturally attracts a massive amount of talent and capital from the ninja world.

As an old-fashioned ninja village, Konoha was merely passively reaping the benefits, neither quickly nor ruthlessly enough.

Not only did the Akatsuki ninja village actively devour the food, but they also complained that their bowls weren't full enough, so they ran to the nobles' bowls to snatch more.

Capitalists always prefer places where they can safely and efficiently multiply themselves, and the most suitable place for them in the entire ninja world is called Akatsuki Village.

The current size of Konoha Village is actually only that of a small city in the Land of Fire.

The city of Akatsuki is even beginning to resemble the capital of the Land of Fire.

quickly
Makoto Uchiha had already arrived at a movie theater in Akatsuki Village.

This cinema is the largest in Xiaoren Village, occupying the best location. This area is planned as the consumption center in Xiaoren Village's development plan.

The cinema is surrounded by a commercial area with everything you could want for eating, drinking, and entertainment.

Because of the movie's extensive promotion, this place is now completely packed with people.

Movie tickets are extremely difficult to obtain.

This even spawned scalpers.

As Uchiha Makoto watched the ticket booth, a young couple who had arrived late and failed to buy tickets were looking dejected when a scalper quietly approached them, pulling out two tickets.

The young couple looked hesitant, apparently because of the price. After a moment's hesitation, they bought it anyway.

Uchiha Makoto certainly doesn't like scalpers.

But this also reflects the consumerism that has slowly grown in Xiaoren Village—people are willing to pay extra for movie tickets just to watch the premiere.

No matter how you put it.
It's a good thing that the villagers are willing to spend money, because it shows that they really have money and are willing to spend it.

This confidence stems from the belief in the future development of Xiaoren Village.

As long as the economy continues to circulate, the cumulative effect is limitless.

While Akatsuki and Konoha were joyfully welcoming the New Year.

This New Year is really tough for Kumogakure.

no way.

During the war, a large number of elite ninjas from Kumogakure were killed, causing mourning to be borne by all the ninja clans. Even their First Raikage died in this war. In order to end this inevitable war as soon as possible, Kumogakure even signed a series of unequal treaties with Akatsuki, the Uzumaki clan, and Konoha, and borne heavy reparations.

For all these reasons, the situation in Hidden Cloud Village is bleak.

If the First Raikage hadn't died, the situation would probably be better; at least the village would have been able to stabilize.

But the First Raikage died.

He left all the mess to the Second Raikage.

The village needs compensation outside, a large amount of relief funds inside, and funds to repair the first and second lines of defense. There is also a group of lurking opposition members inside the village waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack. Oh, and there's the daimyo. The daimyo of the Land of Lightning doesn't give this second-generation Raiyu a friendly look either.

The current predicament of Kumogakure has even led the still-immature Second Raikage to consider abdicating.

Even though it is now the New Year.

The Second Raikage is still struggling and hasn't left his office.

He has a lot of people to deal with.

Some ninja clan leaders asked him for money to alleviate their clan's financial difficulties.

There were also young ninjas who were unwilling to accept defeat and hoped that the Second Raikage would lead them to try again.

The poor woman cried out that her husband and sons had all been killed in action, the pillar of her family was gone, and the compensation for their deaths was still outstanding.

The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning did indeed provide him with some funding, but it wasn't enough, far from enough.

This amount of money is simply not enough to cover the deficit all at once; Cloud Village needs money for various purposes right now.

With so many problems, the Second Raikage could only carefully allocate funds to key areas.

The funds for the ninja clan can only be distributed selectively, with powerful clans receiving priority and weaker clans receiving them later.

Or, whichever ninja clan supports him will get priority.
The compensation for ordinary ninja families without any background could only be postponed, as the Second Raikage wanted to use the precious funds to train new recruits.

This will certainly cause the heroes of Kumogakure to bleed and weep.

But he had no choice; in order to secure his position as the Second Raikage, he had to do it this way.

And that's all the money we have.

In reality, no matter how the money is divided, there will always be someone who is dissatisfied.

The consequence of robbing Peter to pay Paul is that he's now being blocked at the door.

"...I don't have any money. I'll just have to bear with it a little longer."

"Lord Raikage, what about the Daimyo's allocation of funds?"

"Please be patient, everyone. If you can get through this year, everything will be alright."

The Second Raikage was incredibly frustrated, but he continued to explain patiently.

After dealing with the ninja clan demanding payment.

Faced with the woman who kept crying and complaining,

His mood became even more depressed, and he could only take out the little savings he had left from his pocket.

Since public funds cannot be misappropriated, he can only use his own money. If nothing unexpected happens, he will have to eat soldier's rations and drink water for the entire Spring Festival.

Among those blocking the door were quite a few malicious individuals with ulterior motives. For those opposed to the Second Raikage, the current situation was perfect.

Simply setting the pace would be enough to overwhelm the Second Raikage, giving them the opportunity to do something.
After a busy day, the Second Raikage finally managed to appease all the people who had blocked his door earlier that day, and slumped into a chair, utterly dejected.

"Lord Raikage, I have obtained it as you instructed."

An ANBU ninja appeared in the Raikage's office, holding a videotape in his hand.

This is a videotape of the movie "Xiaoren Village".

"Okay, I understand."

The Second Raikage took the videotape, a murderous glint appearing in his eyes.
Their Hidden Cloud Village is already in such dire straits, yet the culprit, the Akatsuki Village, still has the leisure to make movies for amusement!
However, the Second Raikage held back. He had to be patient and gradually restore the Hidden Cloud Village's strength, waiting for an opportunity. In the meantime, he found the Akatsuki Village's weakness.

"Now that things have come to this, let's see what Akatsuki Village actually filmed..."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire dismissed his attendants, took a videotape in his hand, and began to play it, his heart filled with indescribable emotions.

Initially, he chose Uchiha Makoto as his supporter simply because Uchiha Makoto was weak and easy to control, and also because he was easy to listen to. He also always thought that Senju Hashirama and Konoha were the ones he should be wary of.

But
The Fire Country Daimyo never expected that the thick-browed, big-eyed Uchiha Makoto would be like this.

Makoto Uchiha also deceived him!
You could say they completely fooled him.

However, given the current situation, eliminating Uchiha Makoto is no longer possible.

And somehow...

Even though Uchiha Makoto's strength is far inferior to that of Senju Hashirama, the Fire Country Daimyo now feels that compared to Konoha and Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Makoto is the one who should be truly wary and cautious.

Makoto Uchiha's various actions demonstrate that he is truly special.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire has seen many ninjas.

Neither the Senju clan ninjas nor the Uchiha clan ninjas, not even Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha, did anything as unbecoming of a ninja as Makoto Uchiha.

The current strength of Akatsuki is inseparable from the extraordinary actions of the Uchiha clan, which transcend the norms of ninja.

There are some things that even the Daimyo of the Land of Fire finds strange.

For example, the village of Ninja would personally participate in making a movie.

So, through simple means, the daimyo of the Land of Fire obtained this videotape.

"I'd like to see what kind of crap you, Uchiha Makoto, have filmed."

Tobirama Senju walked into the movie theater with a bucket of popcorn in his hand. He sat alone in the corner, his eyes fixed on the third row.

Just now, Mito Uzumaki launched her attack.

She and Tobirama Senju went together and bought three buckets of popcorn, one of which was in Tobirama Senju's hands.

The other two buckets of popcorn.
Mito Uzumaki learned from Tobirama Senju's experience and immediately handed one bucket to Madara Uchiha, leaving one bucket for herself and Hashirama Senju, thus distributing the popcorn first.

At this moment, Hashirama Senju sat in the middle, Madara Uchiha sat to his left, and Mito Uzumaki sat to his right.

"Mito, you even bought popcorn. That's great!"

"Why did you buy one less bucket?"

"There were only three buckets left. Tobirama took one, but it's okay. The two of us can share one!"

Mito Uzumaki didn't beat around the bush. Knowing that Hashirama had low emotional intelligence and fearing that he might be too generous, he directly gave up a bucket of popcorn for himself.

Is she going to eat popcorn?

This time, she wanted to personally show off her affection in front of Uchiha Madara, so that Uchiha Madara would realize his own position and that even as Hashirama's best friend, he still needed to maintain a proper distance!
You're too close to Hashirama!
"Ah, open your mouth and taste how it is."

As Mito Uzumaki began feeding the animals, she secretly observed Madara Uchiha's expression.

Madara Uchiha must have felt uncomfortable being the third wheel.

Is it delicious?

"good to eat."

Madara Uchiha remained unmoved, which greatly displeased Mito Uzumaki, who felt it necessary to intensify her efforts.

just
"Ban, why aren't you eating? Let me try this bucket of yours and see how it tastes."

"Hmm, I feel like mine is a bit crispier than this bucket. You should try it."

Hashirama Senju tasted a piece of the popcorn in Madara Uchiha's hand and then gave his comments.

But Madara Uchiha still didn't eat the popcorn.

So Hashirama Senju simply grabbed a few kernels of popcorn and placed them near Madara Uchiha's mouth, personally feeding him.

Madara Uchiha had no intention of eating the popcorn, which was already right in front of him, but he couldn't refuse Hashirama's insistence.

"How does the spotted meat taste?"

"It's actually not bad."

"I told you, let's try a few more!"

Hashirama Senju took a few more. This prompted Mito Uzumaki, who was about to say, "Hashirama, feed me!"

He swallowed the words he wanted to say.

"Bitch is just hypocritical!"

When girls are feeling down, they always like to eat something sweet.

Mito Uzumaki angrily grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into her mouth, hoping to relieve her frustration.

One round isn't enough, let's play another...
One more round.
The movie hasn't started yet.

A third of Mito Uzumaki's bucket of popcorn had already disappeared.

"Mito, you eat so fast!"

"Looks like you really like popcorn. Well then, you can have the whole bucket. Ban and I will share it."

"????"

Mito Uzumaki, listening to Hashirama Senju's "thoughtful and warm" concern, really wanted to dump a bucket of popcorn directly on Hashirama's head.

"Decent... I want to be decent."

"I am Hashirama Senju's legal wife, the legitimate wife of the Hokage of Konoha, the kind of wife who even has children. Madara Uchiha is nothing but a nobody."

"Aaaaaah, Uchiha Madara, I'm going to kill you!!"

Mito Uzumaki's mouth was stuffed full of popcorn, like an angry hamster, her eyes glaring at Madara Uchiha with a deathly look.

"Did I mess with Mito Uzumaki again??"

“No.”

"Could it be because I ate the popcorn she bought? She's got quite a temper, Hashirama, tsk tsk tsk."

"Unlike me, all I can do is..."

After comparing himself to the situation, Madara Uchiha quickly averted his gaze, avoiding looking at Mito Uzumaki, fearing that Hashirama would be caught in the middle.

Because a bucket of popcorn isn't worth it.

Moreover, he didn't want to eat popcorn in the first place; it was Hashirama who fed him, and that's why he ate it.

After a while, Mito Uzumaki finally looked away.

The movie begins.

(End of this chapter)