"What we call a company—its entire history, from birth to development and now dominating half the Ninja World—has been paved with blood!"
Inside a tavern in the former western region of the Land of Fire, a drunken Jiraiya was spouting off loudly to a group of clearly disgruntled ronin who appeared visibly defeated.
"Absolutely right! Sir, your wisdom is truly profound. No wonder they call you an honorable man from Konoha!"
These masterless samurai, naturally hostile toward the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, immediately responded in unison with enthusiastic agreement.
Some of them had served lords who went bankrupt in the face of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation's brutal market dumping. Others lost their lands during mass layoffs and territorial seizures. Regardless of how they fell into ruin, the result for these ronin was losing their steady stipends.
Though ninja didn't care whether old nobles kept their samurai retinues or not, once these nobles lost access to sustainable income from their lands, the fading glory of the old era left them unable to maintain their former status and extravagant lifestyles. Moreover, there no longer existed any real need to retain samurai forces to deal with disobedient commoners, so naturally, except for a few senior samurai retainers, most landless nobles gradually disbanded their military households.
After all, living beyond your means? That's a nightmare waiting to happen. Nobody wants their family, which barely maintained dignity for a hundred years, to ultimately fall into obscurity.
However, going from simplicity to luxury is easy, but returning to simplicity after experiencing luxury proves difficult. These former proud samurai, stripped of their identities, refused to improve themselves, choosing instead to gather together to complain and vent their anger. Worse still, to demonstrate their uniqueness, they intentionally squandered their limited funds to maintain superficial appearances like "a polished pile of horse dung — all shine on the outside, nothing of value beneath."
So it came to pass that aside from their relatively decent outward appearance and long swords only capable of intimidating civilians, these ronin quickly found themselves in dire straits after less than a month of indulgence, forcing them to huddle in a corner of this tavern, numbing their increasingly empty hearts and stomachs with the cheapest sake available.
"The future of the Ninja World has been destroyed by the powerful Noble Ninja Clans themselves!"
Jiraiya downed his cup in one gulp, then continued spewing wine-flavored passion: "Their very existence is the biggest cancer in the Ninja World!"
"So it is!"
The ronin sighed in admiration, deeply moved by Jiraiya's boldness.
Although the Uchiha Clan controlled various cities across the former western region of the Land of Fire, these proud Uchiha ninjas actually maintained a low profile. Even those stationed within city walls rarely appeared in civilian districts, adopting a laissez-faire attitude, only intervening when basic order and safety were at risk—ordinary citizens seldom even saw ninja around.
It was exactly this kind of careless indifference that let so many disillusioned people gather within the city walls, speaking out loudly—without any interference from the Uchiha Clan at all.
"These powerful Ninja Clans have gone completely out of control!"
With deep sorrow etched on his face, Jiraiya took yet another drink.
"So it is!"
The ronins nodded in approval, then raised their cups together.
Although Jiraiya constantly criticized the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation and even the Uchiha Clan, his remarks weren't considered radical at all among the disappointed crowd—let alone extreme. Therefore, even in a public place like a tavern, both passersby and the tavern merchants remained indifferent, clearly long accustomed to such talk.
Moreover, after disguising himself, Jiraiya's outward identity was merely that of a Konoha chunin temporarily dispatched on official business. It wasn't particularly surprising for ninjas from Konoha headquarters to voice complaints about the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, so his behavior wasn't especially noteworthy.
The reason so many ronins gathered around him, flattering him while simultaneously criticizing the corporation, was mainly because Jiraiya wanted to extract some information from these drifters, so he generously treated all the down-and-out ronins to drinks.
Even though it was just cheap sake and cheap edamame, for these washed-up, penniless ronin whose bodies and wallets had been ruined by drinking, this already felt like a rare feast worth celebrating.
"The Daimyo is simply too merciful!"
After getting tipsy, a ronin with a flushed face stood up indignantly and said, "He shouldn't have stepped down for the common folk. Instead, he should issue an edict summoning us to march on Kyoto and restore order!"
"But precisely because His Highness didn't wish to see common people suffer during wartime did he step back."
"While mercy is certainly a noble virtue, truthfully speaking, Lord Minamoto has indeed been too soft."
Once this topic came up, the ronins lit up immediately, shouting over each other with absurd claims that somehow made them laugh out loud.
According to them, the main reason why the former nobility—the Daimyo and Courtiers—were deposed by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation and even stripped entirely of their lands and rule was because the old aristocrats were too kind-hearted to bear seeing ordinary people suffer in war, thus choosing to step aside.
Otherwise, once the noble lords raised their banners in revolt, their samurai armies would gather into an unstoppable torrent, forming an unbreakable shogunate force. They'd bear unimaginable losses if needed—but they'd crush those traitorous ninja factions without fail, restoring past order and peace.
Such utterly ridiculous arguments even struck Jiraiya—who himself held serious grievances against the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation—as hilarious.
Naturally, on the surface he kept nodding repeatedly, appearing completely in agreement with what the ronins were saying.
"He rose by righteousness—and fell by it too!"
An elderly ronin shook his head as he spoke, "The reason His Highness and the noble officials fell was precisely because they emphasized morality too much!"
"Exactly!"
"So this is what caused the Ninja World to take a huge step backward!"
The ronins nodded approvingly.
Then, they put on airs of grandeur, loudly ordering the tavern attendants to bring more wine and dishes, acting as though they were big shots themselves.
The tavern staff, however, ignored the ronins' shouts and turned to Jiraiya with expectant looks—he was the one footing the bill after all.
"Bring the sake! Hurry up with the sake! And more broad beans and tofu snacks—don't forget plenty of fried fish!"
Jiraiya didn't care about such petty money—even if he treated everyone in this kind of tavern for a whole day, it still wouldn't amount to half the expense he'd rack up spending time at an izakaya.
"Coming right up!"
The tavern staff lit up with big smiles as large jars of unrefined rice wine and plate after plate of snacks were quickly brought out, earning cheers from the roving ronin.
Meanwhile atop a high tower outside the tavern, two Uchiha ninja were using telescopes to observe the commotion happening inside.
"He's definitely just a chunin. Judging by his attire, probably an inept and disillusioned one who'll never get promoted."
One of the Uchiha ninja said while yawning.
"Let's call it a day then!"
The other instantly packed away his telescope and prepared to leave.
For the Uchiha Clan's ninja, the current state of the ninja world was exactly what they loved most.
There were no overt major enemies, internal factional conflicts between hawks and doves had vanished entirely, and their vast territories couldn't even be properly staffed, so to some extent they had to focus on major issues while ignoring minor ones—even when focusing on major issues depended entirely on each ninja's sense of responsibility, thus naturally appearing quite lax.
Just after the two Uchiha ninja disappeared using the Body Flicker technique, Jiraiya inside the tavern suddenly sensed something. He sensed those red-eyed men leaving, which instantly brought a wave of relief over him.
"Listen up everyone, I have a proposal!"
Seeing that no further surveillance remained, Jiraiya stood up and began his pitch.
Far away at the Hakone Prefecture city in the Northern Border, Hyuga Soushu received an unexpected visitor from Konoha.
Orochimaru, one of The Third's apprentices, regarded as a serpent wearing human skin, suddenly made a secret visit requesting a meeting with Hyuga Soushu.
After receiving his subordinates' report, Soushu hesitated briefly before agreeing to see this unexpected guest.
When Orochimaru was escorted into Hyuga Soushu's office by servant ninja, what greeted him was a scene brimming with efficiency.
Teams of attendant ninja brought stacks of documents to Hyuga Soushu's desk, then whisked away the already-approved ones to be sent out. The entire process flowed smoothly and methodically.
This scene sharply contrasted with the constant chaos typically found in the Hokage Office.
"Please sit down!"
As Orochimaru entered the office, Soushu didn't even lift his head, merely pointing at a sofa to one side before continuing his work.
After another ten minutes passed, Hyuga Soushu finally finished clearing all the administrative documents from his desk before looking up. All those busy attendants promptly cleared out, setting down tea and snacks before quietly shutting the office door behind them.
More importantly, from Orochimaru's sensory perception, there were no hidden protective ninjas around, clearly demonstrating Soushu's confidence in his own abilities.
Been a while. What brings you here this time?
Without unnecessary pleasantries, Hyuga Soushu wasted no time and got straight to the point.
"You must have a request, otherwise you wouldn't be here."
Orochimaru didn't hide his intention. "I hope your company can fund my experiments."
"Experiments?!"
Hyuga Soushu perked up at his words.
"Cell experiments!"
Orochimaru nodded, then slowly and deliberately took out a scroll from within his robe. He placed it gently on the table and pushed it toward Hyuga Soushu.
Soushu raised an eyebrow, grabbed the scroll casually, gave it a quick glance, then undid its seal right away.
A soft pop sounded as smoke puffed out, revealing what looked like an ordinary test tube.
In the center of the test tube was a single drop of blood, encased in some kind of solution like a ruby!
"This wasn't just regular blood!"
Soushu instantly sensed the powerful vitality radiating from inside the test tube.
"This is..."
Hyuga Soushu was somewhat astonished.
In the entire ninja world, how many substances could possibly exist that, with just a single drop of blood, could emit such overwhelming vitality? Without a doubt, this had to be the extraordinary body cells of Senju Hashirama!
And what made it even more amazing was that this wasn't just cells anymore—the liquid flowing in the test tube was actual blood, brimming with endless vitality. Its rarity was beyond imagination.
Worth particular attention was the fact that ever since Hashirama's early death, under the strict supervision of his younger brother Tobirama, the Second Hokage, the number of preserved "gifts" had always been extremely limited.
With time and countless rounds of scientific research consuming vast resources, bodily tissues that retained such conditions—still containing the mighty power from Hashirama's body—were truly rare treasures beyond imagination, their value immeasurable!
"This is yang-element blood cultivated based on Hashirama-sama's body cells."
Orochimaru stated calmly. "However, although the yang presence is very strong, due to its intense corrosiveness, transplantation remains completely impossible for now."
"Hashirama's cells!"
Hyuga Soushu inhaled deeply, trying hard to remain calm.
Such a treasure was actually being handed directly before his eyes?
Has the sky of the ninja world really changed enough to make it rain blessings?
Soushu gave him the once-over before asking, "So, what kind of sponsorship do you need?"
"Funds and equipment!"
Orochimaru replied without hesitation. "And it's going to be extremely expensive. I'm hoping for long-term support."
"Why come find me? Are we that close?"
While questioning, Hyuga Soushu put away the yang-element blood inside the test tube.
Since Orochimaru had brought the test tube right to him, it now belonged to him!
"The Hidden Village has run out of funds."
Orochimaru's explanation was perfectly reasonable.
"That does make some sense."
Although Soushu felt this reasoning was somewhat shaky, he soon reconsidered and found it quite understandable.
After all, such an experiment destined to cost a fortune required long-term, high-expenditure investment. Once funding ran into problems, shortages in supplies supporting the experimental system were inevitable; no matter how brilliant Orochimaru's personal abilities or research intellect, he couldn't produce something from nothing.
This was the gap between an individual and an organization—one that couldn't be bridged by intelligence alone.
"One year."
Though Orochimaru maintained a calm exterior, inside he felt somewhat uneasy. "It'll probably take around 21 billion dollars in funding!"
He'd planned to ask for way more, but worried Hyuga Soushu would say no outright, so he cut it in half himself.
"Moreover, all research findings will be jointly owned by both parties. If necessary, the company can send personnel to reside at the lab for study."
Orochimaru felt certain about this—if they even watched him work, they still wouldn't understand much anyway.
"One hundred billion?"
Hyuga Soushu furrowed his brow slightly.
Orochimaru immediately nodded. "Of course, if you think—"
"Three hundred billion!"
Hyuga Soushu directly interrupted Orochimaru's words. "Furthermore, the laboratory will be built exactly to your specifications. However, our company will also station a Sealing Ninja from the Uzumaki Clan to participate in the research!"
"No problem!"
Orochimaru could no longer maintain a poker face.
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