The next morning.
Uchiha Makoto opened his eyes.
After a dozen seconds of grogginess, he very reluctantly climbed out of bed.
In Uchiha Makoto's view, waking up early was always an anti-human activity—clearly, for a creature like a human, the main quest of each day should be to find 2,000 calories of food, and then just fool around.
Why make things so complicated?
Why do people wake up early!
Although his mind was wandering through these thoughts, Uchiha Makoto's movements didn't pause for a moment—this is the responsibility of a Kage!
Uchiha Makoto quickly got dressed.
At the same time, his mind had already clearly laid out the day's schedule.
Today was the grand opening of the Akatsuki Village Bank and the big day for issuing the new currency.
As the Lord Light Shadow, he had to personally endorse this matter no matter what!
And he had to preside over it with all his might!
Uchiha Makoto planned to take out all his personal assets and exchange them for the new currency issued by Akatsuki Village according to the village's stipulated ratio.
It wasn't just Uchiha Makoto who had to do this.
All the major ninja clans of Akatsuki Village had to do the same. This was their moment to show their loyalty to Akatsuki Village!
After all, if even the ninja clans who enjoyed the core benefits of the village couldn't fully support this matter, how could the wealthy merchants and nobles outside of Akatsuki Village possibly approve of it!
With this in mind.
Uchiha Makoto did not go to the Lord Light Shadow's office first as usual, but instead headed towards a street in the commercial center of Akatsuki Village.
The Akatsuki Bank, not far away, was holding its grand opening ceremony.
At this moment, a long queue had already formed on this street, stretching from the beginning of the street to the end of the alley, with no end in sight.
The crowd chattered incessantly.
They were all here to exchange for the new currency.
As Uchiha Makoto walked down the street, his conspicuous Lord Light Shadow robe quickly caught people's attention.
"It's Lord Light Shadow!"
"Lord Light Shadow..."
"Lord Light Shadow!"
As he walked, people continuously greeted him. The sound traveled further and further, causing the queuing Akatsuki villagers to turn their heads and look.
The already crowded street became even more chaotic.
The ninjas following behind Uchiha Makoto began their first mission of the day: maintaining order along with the security ninjas on site.
"Everyone, supporting the new Akatsuki currency is the best form of village-patriotism."
Uchiha Makoto greeted the villagers of Akatsuki with a smile, not forgetting to recite a promotional slogan.
What followed was a thunderous response.
A chorus of "Loyalty!"
After all, Akatsuki Village was initially a purely military organization.
The propaganda had always played an extraordinary role.
Of course, Uchiha Makoto was no master of brainwashing. Promoting and chanting slogans were merely icing on the cake. If he had to say what he had done, it was that he had given hope to the ninjas and villagers of Akatsuki.
For the low-level ninjas and villagers.
Akatsuki Village was already a home they were willing to defend with their lives.
Ordinary people, who previously couldn't eat a full meal for months, could now have meat every few days.
Low-level ninjas, who previously had to suffer alone if they were injured or disabled on a mission—to the point where dying directly on a mission was, in a way, a good thing, a clean end—the most tragic fate was to be bedridden for years, clinging to life but unable to die. There were even extremely poor ninjas who chose to commit suicide so as not to be a burden on their families.
Fortunately, times had changed.
They had joined Akatsuki Village.
In Akatsuki Village, even if they were injured or disabled, the village would support them for life, even their families. They were all assigned a job in Akatsuki Village, and there were various subsidies during holidays and festivals.
This was one of the image projects Akatsuki Village had always been building.
There were many, many such things...
Maintaining such an image project really cost a lot of money. Initially, the Akatsuki higher-ups were all against it.
Ordinary ninja villages, even the great ones, would basically just give a decent disability payment and that would be the end of it.
After all, rather than spending resources to support these disabled people, it was better to cultivate more new seeds for the village.
It wasn't that they were heartless and cruel, but that the ninja world had always been this harsh. When cruelty becomes the norm, a little bit of gentleness seems out of place—this was the life of a ninja, living on the edge of a knife!
But Uchiha Makoto insisted on doing it.
First, he had money. Second, he wanted to rule the world!
"This is my savings from over the years. Help me exchange all of it for the new currency and deposit it into the bank."
Uchiha Makoto came to the counter, where several dedicated service personnel were already waiting.
"Yes, Lord Light Shadow."
"After calculation, the total is thirty-eight million, seven hundred forty-nine thousand, two hundred and seventeen ryo!"
The service staff was stunned after calculating.
The number could have been 30 million ryo, or 38 million ryo, but it was precisely thirty-eight million, seven hundred forty-nine thousand, two hundred and seventeen ryo... could this really be all of Lord Light Shadow's savings?
But the key was... this was too little.
For an ordinary person like him, this was an astronomical sum, enough for him to live without worry for a lifetime.
But the person before him was Lord Light Shadow!
He should have at least over a hundred million ryo.
"Alright, thank you."
Uchiha Makoto smiled and took the passbook he was handed... Did he love money?
He had always regarded money as dirt!
And Uchiha Makoto rarely had any need to spend money. His mansion was built with public funds.
To ensure the Lord Light Shadow's dietary safety, his daily food was specially purchased by ANBU ninjas and then delivered to Uzumaki Tsubaki Shizuku. Uchiha Makoto didn't have to spend money on that either.
He himself basically just shuttled between home and the office.
He really couldn't find any place to spend money!
Most importantly, the entire Akatsuki Village was his. Why would he need so much money? Wasn't the right to use it 24 hours a day enough?
This money was what he had saved up bit by bit from his salary as Lord Light Shadow... It would probably all go to his son!
Several reporters carrying cameras around them were taking pictures nonstop.
Evidently, they were also shocked by Uchiha Makoto's total net worth... More importantly, Lord Light Shadow was actually revealing a private matter like his family's assets in public.
This was a rare sight in the world!
Combined with the current direction of public opinion in the Land of Fire.
The quick-witted reporters among them already had a draft in their minds to lavishly praise Uchiha Makoto!
Behind Uchiha Makoto were the clan heads of Akatsuki Village's various ninja clans.
Because an executive order had been issued, and Uchiha Makoto had elevated the matter to a political level, they had to fully support him, taking out large sums of their own wealth to exchange for the new currency.
And the clan heads did not dare to disobey Uchiha Makoto's order.
But they all looked troubled. Lord Light Shadow only had this much money, while their personal assets... My heart is with the Lord Light Shadow, but is the Lord Light Shadow playing mind games with me?
"Ahem... those with assets meeting the ten million ryo standard can enter the VIP room, where there is dedicated service. You are all clan heads..."
"So don't block the way here and obstruct the Akatsuki villagers behind you."
Uchiha Makoto spoke up at the right time. He had been so focused on putting on a show that he had momentarily forgotten about this... It's good to be rich. Once you're all rich, you can contribute to Akatsuki Village in the future!
A chorus of "Yes, Lord Light Shadow..."
The clan heads all breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts and then walked into the VIP room inside.
And the Akatsuki villagers behind them formed a long queue again, waiting anxiously.
Uchiha Makoto looked at the long queue.
To be honest.
He actually felt that it was unnecessary for the Akatsuki villagers to queue up so early in the morning. Not only did it cause traffic congestion, but it might also delay their own proper business.
After all, the Akatsuki Bank wasn't only open for one day. It would open on time every day. They could totally come to support the new currency cause when there were fewer people.
But... these words could only be kept to himself.
He himself had set an example, making the Akatsuki villagers who already planned to support the new currency cause even more enthusiastic—he couldn't pour cold water on the villagers' enthusiasm!
Afterward, Uchiha Makoto did not stay there for long and returned to his Lord Light Shadow office.
He still had a huge pile of things to do today.
The entire morning.
Uchiha Makoto was dealing with the documents on his desk. Just as he was about to take a sip of tea and rest for a while.
He sensed a familiar chakra—it was Senju Tobirama!
The door to the Lord Light Shadow's office was kicked open violently by Senju Tobirama.
"You bastard, if you break my door, you'll have to pay for it!"
Uchiha Makoto's dead-fish eyes immediately appeared, and he said grumpily—If I had known, I would have just blacklisted Senju Tobirama from the Lord Light Shadow building first. He dares to kick my door under the banner of being a Konoha envoy. If he dares to kick the door today, what will he want to do tomorrow!
"Tch~"
"What, is something wrong?"
"Nonsense, otherwise why would I come looking for you, you naturally evil Uchiha brat."
"Then hurry up and say it. Don't delay my proper business here."
"It's the Two-Tails. Konoha ninjas have found its tracks."
Senju Tobirama kicked the door shut again.
The loud noise made Uchiha Makoto's heart tremble. He had a slight urge to take this opportunity while Senju Tobirama was in Akatsuki Village to give him a good beating.
But this thought was quickly diverted by the intelligence that came out of Senju Tobirama's mouth.
They had news on the Two-Tails so quickly!
"Continue."
"Big brother sent me a message overnight, wanting me to ask you when you're free to go capture the Two-Tails together."
Senju Tobirama explained his reason for coming, his expression an extremely ugly, deadpan face.
There was a reason for his expression.
Because some bastard had been showing off in front of people this morning, and a chorus of "Loyalty" had woken up the sleeping Senju Tobirama. In Konoha, Senju Tobirama was a workhorse just like Uchiha Makoto. Uchiha Makoto was so busy because there was a huge pile of things in Akatsuki Village that the ninjas couldn't handle waiting for him to do. Senju Tobirama, on the other hand, was busy moonlighting with experiments.
So for Senju Tobirama, this business trip to Akatsuki Village was a rare chance to relax.
Disturbing someone's sleep is really too much!
So Senju Tobirama had no choice but to get up and spend the entire morning wandering around Akatsuki Village to gather information.
The long queue in front of the Akatsuki Bank was a spectacular sight for Senju Tobirama.
Wealthy merchants and nobles were interspersed in the crowd, walking into the VIP room.
The scene was bustling with people.
Konoha could never create such a grand occasion.
What drove Senju Tobirama even crazier was that the longer he stayed in Akatsuki Village, the more he could feel its vibrant vitality, a realm where all things competed for development.
And Uchiha Makoto's popularity in Akatsuki Village... there were really too many people who praised him.
Especially those street tabloids and newspapers.
These were not proper newspapers. Although some of the content was interesting... the praise for Uchiha Makoto was abnormally exaggerated, to the point of being insane!
"Uchiha Makoto's tears can cure cancer, but unfortunately, he never cries."
"Ordinary people pray to the Sage of Six Paths, but the Sage of Six Paths prays to Uchiha Makoto!"
"Once Uchiha Makoto kicked a bad guy so hard that his foot exceeded the speed of light, traveled back in time, and killed the bad guy's grandfather!"
"Uchiha Makoto once shot down a monster from the sky with his finger. He shouted 'bang', and the monster fell down!"
"..."
"—Most of the above rumors are true."
The rumors about Uchiha Makoto in the garbage newspapers were getting more and more absurd.
But there were too many Uchiha Makoto believers, and the ninja world itself had supernatural powers. Moreover, most ordinary people were illiterate. As the rumors spread, a considerable number of people actually believed this stuff.
But while others might not know what Uchiha Makoto was like, how could Senju Tobirama not know?
Take the capture of the Tailed Beast this time.
From the bottom of his heart, Senju Tobirama felt that his big brother inviting Uchiha Makoto to capture the Tailed Beast was completely unnecessary.
If his big brother and Uchiha Madara failed to capture the Two-Tails together, what difference would adding Uchiha Makoto make?
It would just be another burden when it was time to run away!
Uchiha Makoto completely ignored Senju Tobirama's dead face, his mind imagining the scene.
"Ah, then I must go along... this is a once-in-a-lifetime battle!"
"The Two-Tails... I'm really looking forward to it!"
He felt a little schadenfreude. That stupid cat, the Two-Tails, probably didn't have it this bad in the original story, getting to enjoy a mixed doubles beatdown from Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.
This was a treatment even the Nine-Tails didn't get.
In the future, the cat could brag about this for the rest of its life... After all, to capture the Nine-Tails, Senju Hashirama only used one hand, leaving the other nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine hands untouched, while Uchiha Madara just glared at the Nine-Tails.
Uchiha Madara > Nine-Tails, Senju Hashirama > Nine-Tails, and Uchiha Madara + Senju Hashirama > Two-Tails, doesn't that mean Two-Tails > Nine-Tails!
"Help me inform Lord Hashirama, let's make it the end of the month. Kirigakure and Iwagakure should be here the day after tomorrow. Let's resolve this matter first."
"It should be very quick."
"Then that's settled..."
Senju Tobirama nodded, then he intended to leave, but his anger was still high.
He kicked the door open again!
Bang.
"Dammit, men, stop that naturally evil old demon of the Senju, Tobirama! Seal off the area, and activate the sealing barrier too! This one was specially made by the Uzumaki clan's sealing masters against space-time techniques... This old man is gonna have a go with him!"
"What are you all standing around for? All of you, attack together!"
..............
The next day.
A piece of news spread throughout Akatsuki Village.
The Lord Light Shadow building was demolished. The reason... Lord Light Shadow had a whim and was experimenting with a new ninjutsu in his office.
Fortunately, only one person was injured.
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