Naruto: Yes, Uchiha-sama.

Chapter 167 A Konoha comprador suddenly appears, and an anxious Tobirama Senju walks into the laboratory to go into seclusion!

Night falls.

After a long day of running around, the giant snake ball took a breather at its doorstep, its furrowed brows unfurrowing and a smile appearing on its face.

He then pushed open the door and saw Uchiha Makoto teasing his son Orochimaru's little chicks—the young Orochimaru was so cute, not crying or making a fuss!

"You are Lord Light and Shadow."

"I apologize for my intrusion. Orochimaru, would you be willing to leave Konoha and join Akatsuki?"

Upon seeing the giant snake ball, Makoto Uchiha didn't want to waste any more time, so he went straight to the point.

The surprise came too suddenly, and the giant snake ball's mind went blank for a moment.

He never imagined that such a great figure as Lord Light and Shadow would come to his home to invite him to join Akatsuki, even though he was just an insignificant commoner ninja from Konoha. Therefore, Orochi was extremely apprehensive.

"If you're willing, I'll arrange everything for you, including bringing your wife and children to Akatsuki Village. You don't need to worry about Konoha's investigation; you can rest assured about that."

"I"

The giant snake ball, trembling with fear and displaying extreme nervousness, did not immediately agree.

He knew perfectly well what kind of person he was: mediocre talent, mediocre family background, mediocre strength—just an ordinary commoner ninja from Konoha.

Uchiha Makoto, on the other hand, was a renowned figure in the ninja world, a rising star among the light and shadow!
Now that the ninja village's light and shadow figures have personally come to his house to dig him out, anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that this situation is highly abnormal.

There's probably something fishy going on here!

"Lord Light and Shadow, may I know why this is?"

"It's very complicated to explain, and you wouldn't believe it even if I told you, but I can tell you that this is probably the only chance you'll ever have to change your life."

"I still prefer to show my attitude with actions. There is one million taels in this sealed scroll as your settlement fee for coming to Akatsuki Village. After you come to Akatsuki Village, your wife will have a government job with 30 taels per month, and you will join. Your children will receive the best education in Akatsuki Village."

"I am willing to serve light and shadow with utmost loyalty!"

Greed instantly triumphs over reason.

This is one million taels!

Da Sheqiu felt that even if he worked hard for ten years, he might not be able to save up 100 million taels, let alone meet the later conditions.

His wife was just an ordinary female ninja who retired after marriage and stayed at home. Now that they have a son, he is an even bigger money-devouring beast.

Now the entire burden of supporting the family rests on the shoulders of the giant snake ball, which is in a super-powerful state.

Uchiha Makoto's offer was far too high for Orochimaru. At this stage, ordinary ninjas don't really feel a sense of belonging to the village. They join Konoha just to find a stable place to take on missions and make a living. What a conspiracy!
"Good, remember to be prepared, someone will come to pick you up."

After finishing speaking.

With a thud, Uchiha Makoto vanished from the spot; it was a shadow clone.

"Honey, what just happened wasn't a hallucination, was it?"

"no."

The giant snake ball said this, as if everything was happening too dreamlike.

If it weren't for the sealed scroll containing one million taels of silver on the table, he probably would have thought he was under an illusion.

"Why did Lord Guangying take a liking to me? Could I be one of those legendary late-blooming ninjutsu geniuses, and Lord Guangying's discerning eye discovered my talent!"

"Hmph, that sounds like a dream."

"This trip to Konoha can truly be described as a very fruitful one, it was like a major shopping trip!"

"You should come to Konoha often!"

As Makoto Uchiha lay in bed, a new memory appeared in his mind, and a smile appeared on his face.

He silently tallied up what he had gained from this trip to Konoha.

According to the plan.

This trip to Konoha is planned to last a total of five days, and this is the fourth day.

Four days is actually not a long time at all.

However, the gains were indeed enormous. They gained a son and a daughter-in-law, finalized the plan to capture the tailed beasts, the plan to cooperate with Konoha, the plan for sending students abroad, expanded the influence of the Uchiha clan, and discovered the future tech genius Orochimaru. The gains completely exceeded their expectations.

Soon, the fifth day arrived.

On the last day.

Uchiha Makoto didn't intend to be idle either. Before leaving, he summoned the elders of the Uchiha clan for a final meeting.

Taking this opportunity, Uchiha Makoto formally asked the Uchiha elders to keep a close eye on Senju Tobirama's movements so that he could react immediately while he was in Akatsuki.

Even though Uchiha Makoto was prepared to divert Senju Tobirama's attention, Tobirama was no pushover. He had to be on guard at all times!
"Don't worry, Cheng."

"We all understand that you and the Uchiha clan share the same fate, and we share the same fate. If we work together, the ninja world will belong to the Uchiha clan from now on!"

Uchiha nodded with a smile, without saying anything more.

During this period.

The Uchiha clan elders didn't waste the opportunity and earnestly inquired about the Uchiha clan's future development strategy in the village.

Uchiha Makoto was a true Kage of a village, and he built Akatsuki from scratch. In this respect, no one in the Uchiha clan should know more than him.

If it weren't for the fact that their Uchiha clan had already completely taken root in Konoha, they would all want to return to Akatsuki Village with Uchiha Makoto.

Recently, Akatsuki's development momentum has far surpassed that of Konoha.

During the Spring Festival, the elders of the Uchiha clan noticed that merchants bearing the name of Akatsuki Village had appeared in Konoha, selling various cheap industrial products. Among them, some powerful merchants even used the relationship between the two villages to open many shops in Konoha.

Makoto Uchiha also greeted the Uchiha clan, hoping they could help out the merchants from Akatsuki Village. Having connections in the village makes things easier!

In response to questions from the clan elders.

Makoto Uchiha answered them seriously.

"Store up plenty of grain, make many friends, and wait for the shadow to fall!"

"Could you explain it more clearly, and what does 'slowly calling it 'shadow' mean? This..."

"The first two sentences mean accumulating clan strength and making more friends in Konoha. The 'gradual ascension to Hokage' refers to the clan maintaining a low profile, developing quietly, and competing with Tobirama Senju for Konoha's core territory. Whoever can bring more benefits to Konoha will be supported by the ninja clans. In this way, the Hokage position will eventually belong to our Uchiha clan."

"You can take the lead in trying to raise funds with the ninja clans of Konoha to do some business. I have some connections and businessmen here."

Several contact information sheets for wealthy merchants appeared on the table in front of them. Most of them belonged to various businessmen under the Arasaka Company. The Uchiha clan elders exchanged bewildered glances.

The ninja world is changing rapidly. There is no financial magic in this era, so wealthy merchants and nobles naturally invest in factories in order to increase their capital.

A massive amount of capital was disseminated, and with more factories, more workers were naturally hired, making the economy more and more active, thus starting a positive cycle.

Even the Uchiha clan sensed a certain shift in the wind.

They also knew that Uchiha Makoto was very close to the merchants of the ninja world, that Akatsuki was actively engaged in commerce, and that it even vaguely resembled a capitalist giant. Emerging industrialists were rapidly moving closer to Akatsuki.

Xiaoren Village was the first to embrace capital, and capital responded enthusiastically, leading to a rapid expansion of Xiaoren Village's economic strength.

However, as a traditional ninja clan, the Uchiha clan has always been deeply rooted in the ninja world and is really not good at business, nor has it ever thought of getting involved in these things.

"It's alright, it's very simple. Doing business is just buying and selling. Plus, with the Uchiha clan's influence in Konoha, there's the village's procurement, construction, and land..."

Uchiha Makoto did indeed have ulterior motives.

In an era brimming with opportunities, it's really easy to amass a large fortune.

The Uchiha clan can connect with a large number of Konoha ninja clans, becoming Akatsuki's bridgehead in Konoha and a representative of capital from Akatsuki. Konoha ninjas earn money by completing missions, while Akatsuki capital earns money from Konoha ninjas, and wealth simply changes hands and ends up in Akatsuki!

The Uchiha clan and the ninja clans they have recruited will also benefit greatly.

And the hidden dangers within
No one cares during an economic upswing. Such an economic cycle takes at least ten years. Even if it explodes, it will probably be during Tobirama Senju's term!
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, but in the end, the Uchiha elders accepted the contact information given by Uchiha Makoto.

They chose to believe in Uchiha Makoto.

The Uchiha elders then left.

After a short rest, Makoto Uchiha, accompanied by Shizuku Uzumaki, visited Hashirama Senju once again, marking their final farewell.

I also decided to stay at his house for lunch.

Honestly.

Mito Uzumaki's cooking skills are indeed quite good; her dishes are delicious. Tsubaki Shizuku has been learning many new dishes from her these past few days and plans to cook them for Makoto Uchiha when she gets back—to win a man's heart, you must first win his stomach!

Well, Mito Uzumaki failed!
But that's the principle.

As soon as I walked in the door.

Uzumaki Tsubaki Shizuku went to find her future daughter-in-law... or rather, to find Senju Tsubaki to exchange parenting tips. The connection between the two families is of great significance; they both hope this marriage will foster better relations between the next generation of Konoha and Akatsuki.
Meanwhile, Makoto Uchiha went to Hashirama Senju, only to stumble upon a very embarrassing scene: he was being scolded by Mito Uzumaki and couldn't even lift his head.

Yesterday, under the pretext of the official establishment of the Konoha Police Department, he once again spent the night with Uchiha Madara, even though he had promised Uzumaki Mito that he would return on time.

Upon seeing Uchiha Makoto arrive, Uzumaki Mito stopped, and Senju Hashirama immediately revealed a smile of relief at surviving a disaster.

"Cheng, thank goodness you came!"

"Ah, Lord Hashirama. It's Mito-sama again. You should spend some time with her."

"Okay, I'll definitely pay attention next time!"

Hashirama Senju appeared to be honestly admitting his mistake, but Mito Uzumaki still looked displeased. This was because while Hashirama Senju always admitted his mistakes, he never truly repented; he knew he was wrong, but he would do it again next time!

Afterwards, Hashirama Senju and Makoto Uchiha went to the tatami mat and started chatting.

The topics we discussed were all rather trivial.

He talked about the changes in Konoha over the years. After all, Hashirama Senju was the most idle person in Konoha, and he often wandered around every part of the village.

Hashirama Senju described every change in Konoha.

Uchiha Makoto then casually mentioned Akatsuki Village, whose development can be described as rapid and ever-changing. Next year, the village will gradually begin to have electricity throughout the entire village!

This is truly progress!
But he's a man, after all.
The conversation quickly shifted from everyday matters to the situation in the ninja world, where war seemed inevitable regarding the future of the ninja world!

However, Hashirama Senju firmly believed that although the road was winding, the future was bright.

Sooner or later.

The war in the ninja world will disappear through their efforts. If this generation can't do it, then the next generation will; if the next generation can't do it, then the generation after that will, and so on, generation after generation, endlessly!

Uchiha Makoto was more realistic, and of course he didn't argue that Hashirama Senju couldn't wake up someone who was already unconscious!

Naturally, the two sides started talking about the tailed beasts.

Hashirama Senju was also curious about the Tailed Beasts, which were completely unfamiliar to him and were legendary and incredibly powerful.

"Let's start with the easy stuff and move on to the difficult stuff. Let's catch the Two-Tailed Fox first!"

"Makoto, when we capture the Tailed Beasts, you have to come along. I'm afraid the three of us—Madara, Tobirama, and I—won't be able to defeat them."

"Me? Hmm... I'm fine with it!"

Makoto Uchiha almost lost his composure.

Despite being such a powerful ninja, Hashirama Senju was still too cautious and had no idea just how powerful he truly was.

Of course, this attitude is absolutely commendable. Ignorance and weakness are not obstacles to survival; arrogance is.

Just to catch a two-tailed cat, it took Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, and himself—four people in total—to attack together. Could it be that the tailed beast that was hit by a technique like Susanoo's Great Buddha was the two-tailed beast? Makoto Uchiha even felt a little sad for the two-tailed cat.

The two chatted for a while.

Uchiha Makoto suddenly realized that he had not seen Senju Tobirama at all.

"Lord Hashirama, it's so late, where is Tobirama Senju? Why isn't he home?"

"Logically speaking, it shouldn't be time to officially start work yet."

"Oh, Tobirama. He's in the lab. He likes to research all sorts of weird and wonderful ninjutsu, and every single one of them is very dangerous. Generally speaking, if it's not a water-style ninjutsu, I'll have him put it in the Scroll of Sealing Techniques."

"I have never liked him doing human experiments, even when the test subjects were heinous criminals."

Hashirama Senju's tone revealed his dissatisfaction. His younger brother usually appeared cautious and wise, but he was indeed very rebellious and daring when it came to experiments.

When Konoha was first established and the Land of Fire was eradicating the most evil, that was the happiest time for Tobirama Senju. There was no shortage of test subjects!

"Ah, he definitely deserves to be taught a lesson!"

Uchiha Makoto said this aloud.

The ninjutsu that Tobirama Senju is an inherently evil old devil, and the ninjutsu he is currently researching is 100% designed to deal with him!
To research new techniques, they didn't even let go of their last rest time at the end of the year.
It seems they're really in a hurry!

(End of this chapter)