Chapter 93: Experiment
Kei's financial reforms in Konoha had been a tremendous success.
The establishment of Village-run enterprises alone had already become a huge supplement to the Village's finances.
At present, Konoha had monopolized industries such as tobacco and casinos throughout the entire Land of Fire.
Aside from Konoha, any other enterprise daring to operate in those fields was deemed illegal and would inevitably be crushed under the iron fist of Konoha's shinobi.
Both were highly profitable industries. After monopolizing the entire market within the Land of Fire, the funds they brought into Konoha each month had reached a level that would have been unimaginable in the past.
Compared to those profits, the Village's old income from commissions had already become negligible.
In addition, customs duties from various regions were also being collected one after another.
When Kei had first established the Departments of Commerce and Transportation, many people had not understood the point of the latter.
Now, however, they understood.
As Konoha shinobi suppressed bandits in different regions, toll stations had been established at major transportation hubs to tax passing caravans and merchants.
Because this had only begun recently, the revenue from it still could not compare to the enormous returns from tobacco and casinos, but its potential was already obvious.
Given enough time, it was only a matter of time before the income from transportation duties surpassed even the profits from tobacco and gambling.
Incidentally, Kei had handed the Transportation Department over to the Uchiha Clan.
Although many shinobi from other clans were also involved, nearly half of the key positions were occupied by members of the Uchiha.
The cold and proud Uchiha, aided by the Sharingan, might not necessarily excel in every kind of work, but tax collection and bandit suppression were not a problem for them at all.
Because of their positions in this department, many Uchiha shinobi had already made their fortunes, and the entire Uchiha Clan had become increasingly wealthy.
With so much extra income pouring in, the Daimyo's funding, which had once seemed quite valuable, now looked rather insignificant.
Kei had proven through facts that once Konoha possessed overwhelming military force, it could take whatever it wanted from the Land of Fire. Why would they still care about the scraps tossed down by the Daimyo?
"The Daimyo is still, after all, the ruler of the Land of Fire. It would not be good to fall out with him too abruptly."
Among those present, Uchiha Kagami remained relatively calm. After thinking for a while, he spoke up.
"Kei, why not leave this matter to me?"
"You want to persuade the Daimyo?"
Kei looked at him with some curiosity.
"I have no way to persuade the Daimyo."
Meeting Kei's gaze, Kagami shook his head.
"But I am confident that I can control him without anyone else discovering it."
"My Genjutsu is very subtle. Ordinary people would never notice it."
He was clearly very confident in his own ability with Genjutsu.
Everyone present could not help looking sideways.
So after all that, the persuasion you meant was simply using Genjutsu to control him.
It had to be admitted, though, that it was an extremely tempting idea.
The so-called Daimyo was ultimately just an ordinary person.
If he could be controlled through Genjutsu, then everything Konoha intended to do within the Land of Fire would become vastly more convenient.
At the very least, the political resistance they faced would be reduced significantly.
"However, if this were discovered, Konoha would become a public enemy."
Homura spoke up at this moment, clearly opposed.
"If such a thing came to light, it would be highly inappropriate."
Using Genjutsu to control a Daimyo... if that were exposed, it would inevitably trigger the hostility of the Daimyos of every nation.
At that point, all of them would likely give full support to their respective Hidden Villages in a joint war against Konoha.
If things reached that point, the situation would become very bad.
"My Genjutsu is extremely subtle. Ordinary people cannot detect it."
Kagami still trusted his own skill.
"In the entire Land of Fire, aside from Konoha shinobi, there are definitely not many people who could see through it."
"There's no need."
Kei shook his head and rejected Kagami's proposal in the end.
"The risk is too high, and it is unnecessary for us."
For Konoha, there were many ways to make the Daimyo behave without having to break an unspoken taboo like that.
Whether through a combination of threat and reward, or simply replacing him with a more obedient Daimyo, either method would be simpler and more reliable than Kagami's plan.
At this stage, Kei only wanted to stay in Konoha and focus on development.
He had no intention of starting a war against the entire Ninja World.
Or rather, even if there was to be a war, it should wait until they possessed enough strength.
"Send someone to persuade him properly first."
He spoke calmly.
"If he truly refuses to cooperate, then we'll consider other methods."
"As for now, let's return to Konoha."
To Kei, the gains from this trip had already been significant enough.
The Six Paths tool, the Bashōsen, was one matter.
But the most important harvest had been the Kinkaku Brothers.
These two powerful figures, who carried an unusually pure Six Paths bloodline, were exceptional research materials and meant a great deal to Kei.
At this point, he was already somewhat impatient to return to Konoha and conduct a thorough study of them.
Following Kei's orders, the group began moving back toward Konoha.
Ten days later, they returned to the Village.
And within those ten days, Konoha itself had already begun to change dramatically.
Relocations were underway in many places, and one construction project after another had been launched, bringing about enormous changes to Konoha in a very short time.
Under Kei's leadership, Konoha was not only earning money, but spending it just as boldly.
Recently alone, he had launched several major projects.
Aside from the restructuring of the Ninja Academy, he had also begun a complete renovation plan for the entire village, intending to repair all of Konoha's roads and sewage systems while reinforcing the barrier around Konoha's perimeter to prevent future accidents.
At the same time, a high-spec laboratory had also begun operating.
Kei had poured an enormous amount of effort into it, spending huge sums to acquire high-precision instruments and related equipment.
To put it bluntly, the funds spent on this laboratory alone were enough to rival a major engineering project.
And in addition to equipment, there were also numerous researchers involved, including professional Medical Ninjas and experts from among ordinary civilians, all serving as part of the supporting staff.
The first heavyweight experimental subject to enter the laboratory after it officially began operation had been personally brought back by Kei himself.
"So these are the corpses of the Kinkaku Brothers?"
Inside the laboratory, Uzumaki Mito looked at the two bodies before her with visible interest.
Strictly speaking, however, only Ginkaku was truly a corpse.
Kinkaku had been captured alive by Kei and was still under control, completely stripped of his ability to resist and reduced to top-grade laboratory material.
"There really is the aura of the Nine Tails' chakra..."
Uzumaki Mito stared at the Kinkaku Brothers, and her expression gradually turned solemn.
"To gain a tailed beast's chakra by devouring its flesh and blood... to think such a thing could actually exist in this world..."
"Not only did they obtain tailed beast chakra, but through that method they also gained the ability to undergo tailed beast transformation directly and even release Tailed Beast Balls."
Kei spoke quietly.
"If the two of them were placed on a battlefield, they would be comparable to actual tailed beasts."
In all honesty, the abilities of the Kinkaku Brothers were truly formidable.
The tailed beast transformation they could achieve was not weak at all. At the very least, they could reach a level equivalent to six tails.
To be frank, at that stage, aside from the Eight Tails and the Nine Tails, the strongest among the nine tailed beasts, the others were probably only around that level themselves.
In other words, by devouring tailed beast flesh and blood, the Kinkaku Brothers had effectively produced two tailed beast level existences.
No, considering that they could retain their sanity during tailed beast transformation and did not have to worry about seal leakage or similar instability, they were in some ways even stronger than ordinary jinchūriki.
Looking at the brothers before her, even Mito, the Nine Tails jinchūriki, showed a trace of astonishment.
To her, the Kinkaku Brothers were genuinely incredible beings.
As a jinchūriki herself, she understood the weaknesses of that state better than anyone, which only made the existence of men like the Kinkaku Brothers seem even more remarkable.
"Do you want to study their bodies and uncover their secret?"
Mito asked.
"And then use that method to mass-produce tailed beasts?"
"If it's possible, then naturally we should try."
Kei nodded.
"If we could mass-produce a batch of tailed beast level warriors, that would be an enormous advantage. It could drastically reduce our losses in war."
"But in reality, achieving that will probably be very difficult."
He continued explaining, "The bloodline of these two is very special. They are suspected to be descendants of the legendary Sage of Six Paths. That is likely why they can consume tailed beast flesh and blood without dying."
"If it were an ordinary person, they would probably fail outright. Even if they somehow survived, it would still be very hard for them to gain the tailed beast's abilities."
If Kei remembered correctly, later on in Kumogakure, someone had once tried to imitate the Kinkaku Brothers by eating the Eight Tails' tentacles in an attempt to obtain its power.
But every such attempt had failed in the end.
The only successful examples were the brothers standing before him now.
Their success was closely tied to the Six Paths bloodline within them.
After all, the Sage of Six Paths had been the creator of the tailed beasts and the jinchūriki of the Ten Tails, the origin of all nine tailed beasts.
Only his bloodline could plausibly integrate with the power contained in tailed beast flesh and blood.
Of course, Kei estimated that he himself might also be capable of it.
After all, he possessed Ōtsutsuki Karma. Though his current body was incomplete, it could already be considered a partial Ōtsutsuki vessel, which theoretically gave him a chance to accept and fuse with tailed beast power.
However, he had no intention of taking that risk himself.
After all, success would be one thing.
But if he failed, the consequences would likely be devastating.
Kei did not want his reincarnation to end prematurely for such a reason before even reaching the fifty-year limit.
"In addition to the flesh and blood of the Kinkaku Brothers, there is one more thing..."
Looking at Mito, a trace of hesitation appeared on his face, but he still spoke.
"Shodai-sama's cells are also extremely valuable experimental material."
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