The process of packing the goods was very long, after all, there was simply too much stuff.
Dodai had finally recovered from the pain of spending money. He walked over to Gekko Chizan and began asking about the recent situation.
"You mean those bandits?"
"I don't know. My caravan was robbed three times. Sigh, those bandits are ruthless— they didn't even leave me the delivery carts."
"So now I can only pile all the goods inside the town. That way it's at least a bit safer."
It had to be said that Gekko Chizan's acting was on another level. Even an elite from Kumogakure like Dodai was completely fooled.
Hearing about the bandits, his expression darkened. He nodded and stated seriously:
"Don't worry. Kumogakure will soon launch operations against the bandits in the Land of Lightning."
"Those bastards have been rampant for far too long. It's time to clean them up."
"How long will it take to finish loading the goods?"
What worried him most right now was the supplies. The longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for the village.
But looking at cart after cart of goods, there was nothing he could do— there was simply too much.
To fully load everything would take half a day.
"Half a day. And that's with me hiring quite a lot of manpower. You know, once people hear it's for deliveries, many workers refuse to take the job."
"Money is important, sure— but life is more important."
"Kumogakure stays isolated from the world. We can't even hire guards."
That last remark was heavy with sarcasm. It nearly made Dodai explode, but what could he do?
The ninja couldn't return to the village, and the ones sent out had all been captured. This bitter loss could only be swallowed in silence.
"Don't worry. It won't be like that anymore. The village is operating normally now."
"Oh? Really....."
Gekko Chizan's sarcasm was absolutely Kage-level. Sentence after sentence left Dodai completely speechless.
Who buys this much material all at once during "normal operations"???
Do you think everyone else is blind?
"Alright. I'll leave a team of ninja here as guards. I and the others still need to go to other towns to purchase supplies. Even with what you have here, it's still not enough."
"Oh, I see. In that case, once the goods are loaded, just send them directly to Kumogakure, right?"
"Mm. Many thanks, boss."
Gekko Chizan watched Dodai's departing figure, laughter blooming in his heart.
Why?
Because the very moment Dodai turned away, the reward Gekko Chizan had been waiting for finally arrived.
[Ding! Detected the host forcibly plundering Kumogakure's supplies, then reselling them back at several times the price. Black-hearted merchant! Shameless plunderer! No number of titles can properly describe the host anymore!]
[Therefore! This system can only present the following reward to the host: Genjutsu +5!]
Tsk tsk, the reward was a bit small. But Gekko Chizan was already satisfied— these days, getting any reward at all was good enough.
He shifted his gaze to the team Dodai had brought. It had to be said, Kumogakure was very cautious this time— they had directly dispatched fifty ninja.
Fifteen of them were staying behind. Looks like Dodai really had been traumatized by all those robberies.
Normally, for an escort mission like this, one squad would be more than enough.
But now? Five squads executing the mission together.
"Shui, you're in charge of continuing the loading. I'm going to rest for a bit."
Gekko Chizan glanced at Uchiha Shisui standing nearby, gave a smiling order, then headed toward the shop.
Shisui, familiar with his movements, understood immediately— his teacher was going to wait in other towns for their next targets.
Honestly, scamming people to this extent was kind of impressive.
Shisui looked at the various documents in his hands.
Making money like this… was it really that easy?
...
Over the next few days, Gekko Chizan gave Dodai a perfect lesson.
Of course, Dodai himself had no idea.
Across four towns, Gekko Chizan forcibly shaved more than one billion ryō off Kumogakure.
"Sensei, this isn't right!"
"I worked my ass off, and you only gave me thirty million ryō! You know my shop alone sold over three hundred million ryō!"
The reunited Gekko Chizan squad was now in a luxurious mansion, dividing up the spoils taken from Kumogakure.
But Gekko Chizan was famously money-obsessed, stingy, an iron rooster.
Trying to get him to share money was harder than ascending to the heavens.
Sure enough— out of more than one billion ryō in loot, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Shisui, Nohara Rin, and Kakashi each only got thirty million ryō.
Way too little!
This wasn't even enough for him to— anyway, it was just far too little!!!
"What, you brat, not satisfied?"
"Were we acting privately this time? No!"
"This was a mission for the village! Fighting for the village's future!"
"It's already generous to skim a bit for you! Stop nitpicking!"
"I still have to hand the rest over to the village!"
Gekko Chizan spoke with righteous fervor, but the speed at which he stuffed money into his pockets was lightning-fast.
Sure, part of it had to go to the village— but how much that part was? That was another story entirely.
Saying this to his own disciples, of course the village came first.
But if he said it to Namikaze Minato?
That would be a completely different tune.
"No, sensei, that's still way too little."
"Can you add some more? How about fifty million ryō?"
Obito still wasn't giving up, always dreaming of prying a bit more money out of his teacher's pocket.
Unfortunately, reality was cruel.
Gekko Chizan directly flew up and kicked Obito away.
"Go sit over there. Play around for a few more days, then get ready to head back."
"Huh? We're going back just like that? We're not going to cause Kumogakure a bit more trouble?"
This time, before Obito could even react, the one who spoke first was actually Nohara Rin.
The young girl had just tasted a brand-new kind of fun. She wasn't satisfied yet, and it was already ending?
"Uh… Rin, Kumogakure has already noticed something. If we keep acting, we might get caught in one net."
"Take the advantage and leave— that's the best strategy."
Gekko Chizan's words pulled Rin back to reality.
People really should know when to be satisfied.
...
For the next few days, they toured the Land of Lightning.
Since they were already out, how could they return without having enough fun?
This was also Gekko Chizan's true intention— he needed to confirm Kumogakure's movements.
After the supplies were transported back to the village, Kumogakure finally managed to catch its breath.
The Fourth Raikage dispatched large numbers of ninja across the Land of Lightning, launching comprehensive crackdowns on bandits.
It was obvious that this disaster had made the Raikage furious.