— — — — — — —
After returning to Konoha,
Kaito immediately began summoning the Konoha Ninjas who had reached the required level of favorability toward him, signing contracts with them in batches.
Without exception, every single one of them agreed without hesitation—no one was foolish enough to refuse.
Not only would rejecting the contract potentially offend the Hokage, but the benefits of signing it were simply too enticing to turn down.
Even though Kaito hadn't explicitly stated what those benefits were, they instinctively knew it was something incredible.
As a result, the number of people under contract with him skyrocketed.
And once they completed the contract, every single one of them was utterly shocked—followed by a wave of relief and overwhelming joy.
They understood.
They had struck gold. Their future was now brighter than ever.
"I never expected Lord Hokage to have such a massive secret! No wonder he's so ridiculously powerful!"
"An entirely different world… And it's one that's far larger than the Ninja World! Just thinking about it makes my heart race!"
"Devil Fruits! I can't believe such mystical items exist! I'd do anything to get my hands on one!"
"Exactly! Even the weakest Zoan-type Devil Fruit can multiply a person's strength several times over!"
"But aren't the techniques Lord Hokage is teaching us even more important and valuable? Whether it's the Primal Chakra Refinement Technique that allows us to steadily increase the quantity and quality of our chakra, or the meditation and Life Force techniques—these are things we could have never even imagined before!"
"With these, even someone like me, a mere Chunin, now has a real chance of becoming a Jonin—or even reaching Kage level!"
"Agreed! And to think that Lord Hokage created these techniques himself… He truly is a monstrous genius!"
"I still can't believe the Sage of Six Paths had ulterior motives when he first gave chakra to humanity… He left behind hidden traps! Thankfully, we're under Lord Hokage's contract now, and with the Primal Chakra Refinement Technique, we can purify and eliminate the chakra seeds implanted within us. Otherwise, just thinking about it is terrifying!"
"Hah! If we hadn't signed a contract with Lord Hokage, we wouldn't have even known about these secrets—let alone feared them!"
After leaving the Hokage Tower, these newly contracted Ninjas couldn't stop whispering about their experiences in small groups.
It took Kaito several days to finish contracting every Konoha Ninja who met the favorability requirement and to make the necessary arrangements for them.
From then on, every day, these people would appear at the training bases Kaito had established in the Pirate world to train their abilities.
Their strength began increasing at an astonishing rate.
Thanks to sealing techniques concealing their changes, the uncontracted Ninja remained completely unaware of the transformations happening around them.
— — —
Just like that, five days flew by.
That morning, Kaito teleported directly to the Land of Fire and met with the Daimyo and his entourage.
He successfully collected the investment of 44.3 billion ryo.
Just as he was about to leave, the Daimyo called out to him.
"Fourth Hokage," the Daimyo said, "I heard from the Second Hokage that the Uchiha Clan possesses a special medicine—one that can nourish the body, heal all injuries and ailments, and even regulate one's health to extend life for a hundred years. Is that true?"
"Oh?"
Kaito raised an eyebrow slightly. "That is indeed true. Why? Are you interested, Daimyo?"
"Very much so!"
Upon receiving confirmation, the Daimyo nodded eagerly and rubbed his hands together. "Would it be possible for me to purchase some of this medicine? I'm willing to pay a high price!"
To him, nothing was more important than extending his lifespan. He wasn't above lowering his status—or spending an outrageous sum—if it meant he could live longer.
Nothing in the world mattered more than his own life.
"I can make that happen," Kaito replied with a nod. "These medicines are extremely precious, and the annual supply is limited."
"But you, Daimyo, are one of the most distinguished figures in the Land of Fire, and you've shown unwavering support in your investments. Naturally, I wouldn't be so petty as to refuse you."
"I can supply you with twenty doses of the nourishing medicine each month at a price of one million ryo per dose. What do you think?"
In truth, the production cost of the medicine was almost negligible. But that didn't stop Kaito from hyping it up to ensure the Daimyo paid a premium.
Of course, the low cost was only due to Kaito's unique method of obtaining and refining it.
Regardless, the medicine's effectiveness was undeniable.
The Daimyo wasn't getting ripped off—in fact, he was getting an incredible deal.
"Hahaha! My thanks, Fourth Hokage!"
The Daimyo beamed with joy.
This was fantastic news.
He felt that the Uchiha and the Fourth Hokage were truly honest and generous people.
Not only were they willing to share such a miraculous medicine with him, but they also set the price at such a reasonable rate.
His respect and favorability toward Kaito skyrocketed.
However, he still fell short of meeting the requirements for a contract.
In fact, he might never reach that threshold.
Not that Kaito particularly cared.
He simply smiled and said, "In that case, Daimyo, you can send someone to Konoha every month to collect the medicine."
"Or, if you prefer, I can have my people or my clone deliver it to you directly and conduct the transaction in person?"
The Daimyo didn't hesitate. "An in-person exchange! I wouldn't feel at ease otherwise."
This medicine was far too important to him. He couldn't afford any mistakes.
"Very well, then. It's settled. Tomorrow, I'll send a shadow clone to complete the first transaction with you."
Kaito agreed without issue.
"Excellent!"
The Daimyo nodded in satisfaction.
At that moment, the other nobles and wealthy merchants in the room grew restless.
They quickly swarmed around Kaito, eager to purchase the same medicine.
In the end, Kaito met their demands as well, selling a total of 525 doses of the nourishing medicine.
After concluding his business, he bid farewell to the group and teleported back to Konoha.
That same afternoon, he held a high-level meeting with the heads of all Konoha's departments.
The topic: how to allocate and use the massive funds they had just acquired.
After an intense afternoon of heated discussions, Kaito finally mapped out a clear spending plan.
Once that was done, he handed over the funds to the finance department, tasking them with managing the distribution across the village.
"With this much funding, we can finally kickstart multiple research projects at once and even expand operations!"
Orochimaru, who had secured a whopping 10 billion ryo for the research division, smirked with satisfaction.
Kaito, however, cautioned him, "Not all of this money is for your experiments. A portion must be set aside for establishing factories and production lines for household appliances."
"The commerce department will coordinate with you on this. Make sure you cooperate with them properly!"
"Also, increase the production scale of White Zetsu by tenfold. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
He needed more White Zetsu clones for his Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu) experiments. Using live humans as sacrifices was too cruel for his taste.
In the past, he had experimented with animals as sacrifices, but that method only allowed him to revive ordinary creatures or weak individuals. Moreover, the proficiency gained from such practices was minimal, which greatly slowed his progress in mastering Edo Tensei.
Reanimating powerful Ninjas using White Zetsu yielded the highest proficiency gains.
As for Orochimaru assisting in the construction of household appliance factories and production lines, this was a step toward diversifying Konoha's economic streams.
Konoha couldn't remain solely dependent on the Daimyo's financial support or Ninja missions.
That would be unsustainable—and frankly, a flawed system.
Relying purely on missions would forever trap Ninja in the role of mercenaries and assassins.
That ran completely counter to Kaito's vision of reforming the ninja world.
He had to start changing things from the ground up.
"Understood! Leave it to me! It won't be a problem!"
Orochimaru nodded, completely on board with the plan.
He had no objections to either expanding White Zetsu production or assisting in setting up industrial operations.
In fact, he fully supported it.
After all, once the factories were up and running, the research division would have more funds at its disposal.
Kaito had already discussed this arrangement with him: the research division would get to keep half of the future profits generated by its technological innovations.
There was no way Orochimaru would overlook such a lucrative opportunity.
Moreover, producing White Zetsu wasn't just for research purposes—it was also to support Kaito's Edo Tensei training.
Orochimaru was quite interested in seeing what kind of advanced abilities Kaito might unlock after mastering Edo Tensei.
If Kaito managed to develop a true resurrection technique… now that would be fascinating.
After giving final instructions to the other department heads, Kaito wrapped up the meeting.
— — —
Ten Days Later
[You have practiced the Flying Thunder God Technique. Proficiency +35. Your Flying Thunder God Technique has reached mastery.]
After completing another round of training, Kaito received the system notification—his Flying Thunder God Technique had finally reached the peak of mastery and was now ready for a breakthrough.
Without hesitation, he teleported home, activated the seals in his room, and initiated the breakthrough process.
The next moment, he felt himself falling into a state of enlightenment.
His mind accelerated exponentially—his thoughts surged forward, a thousand, ten thousand times faster than before.
Countless ideas burst forth.
He began integrating his experiences with the Space-Time Gate's teleportation mechanics and its inherent abilities, refining and elevating the Flying Thunder God Technique to a whole new level.
A far more powerful spatial teleportation technique was rapidly taking shape.
Over an hour later, Kaito finally emerged from his trance.
It was time to test his new ability.
In the next instant, withoutusing the SPace-Time Gate or the Flying Thunder God markers he had placed before, he locked onto a distant location using his Observation Haki—and in a flash, he teleported 26 kilometers east of Konoha.
Then, he deactivated his Observation Haki, switched to Mental Perception, and—swish!—instantly appeared on top of a large tree 5 kilometers away.
"Hahaha! I did it!"
"Now, I don't need Flying Thunder God markers anymore! As long as I can sense an area using Observation Haki or my mental perception, I can teleport there at will!"
"No more limitations! No more struggling in situations where I don't have pre-marked locations or when using the Space Gate would be inconvenient!"
"And it's not just single-target teleportation—group teleportation is now twice as efficient and costs half as much chakra!"
"The strategic potential of this technique just skyrocketed!"
"And on top of that… with this new ability, I might even be able to create permanent spatial storage equipment!"
"For contract holders, this won't be too significant since they already have inventory space. But for non-contract holders, this could be a game-changer!"
"I should mass-produce some of these in the future. Not only for Konoha's people, but I can also sell them at high prices to other villages and the Daimyos!"
"This could be a huge moneymaker!"
Having confirmed the effectiveness and power of his newly evolved Flying Thunder God: Spatial Teleportation, Kaito couldn't help but grin.
He was beyond satisfied.
.
.
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