In the early morning, Genma woke up from his sleep, the ample rest completely sweeping away his exhaustion from the past few days.
When free of mental stress, a person truly can enjoy a baby-like sleep. Genma had always been highly disciplined, keeping a strict schedule unless it was wartime, but today he had actually overslept a bit.
Black Zetsu still warranted vigilance. However, since Genma possessed the ability of "Equivalent Retaliation," Black Zetsu likely wouldn't target the Yinghuo Organization during this period. After all, if it failed to kill Genma, it would theoretically soon find itself completely isolated without a single subordinate left. If it even lost its last cat scratcher, Black Zetsu wouldn't be able to accept such an outcome.
After the three-step process—entering Black Zetsu's field of vision, embedding deeply into it, and then fading out of it—the two sides should be able to coexist peacefully for quite a long time. So, let Black Zetsu go focus on messing with Uchiha Madara; Uchiha Madara makes life worth living.
After all, its last operation had only yielded a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan. Without another closely related pair of Mangekyo, this pair wouldn't be of much use in its hands. The schemes Black Zetsu had concocted previously only proved one solid fact: in the end, everything relied on Uchiha Madara. Anything else was a dead end; Black Zetsu and White Zetsu simply couldn't do without Madara.
In short, this could be considered a "transfer of harm." Next, it would be Uchiha Madara's turn to suffer, leaving Genma completely out of it. There are always plenty of good people, and even bad people, in the world who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others, and Madara was practically born for this role.
The faint, dense sound of rain drifting into his ears was still quite hypnotic. Genma lay in bed, staring blankly for five minutes before finally waking up completely.
He walked to the window and pushed it open, finding the weather overcast with a gentle drizzle falling outside.
"Good weather," he murmured.
A fine spring rain could indeed be considered good weather. Genma occasionally paid attention to the farming seasons, but his comment about the good weather actually had nothing to do with that. Given his personality, he genuinely preferred this kind of continuous, gentle drizzle over a bright, blazing sun.
Getting out of bed, he tidied himself up, checked his shinobi tool pouch, and strapped it onto his waist. Then, Genma headed to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast.
Given the current situation, Yinghuo Village implemented a collective catering system for shinobi on duty or holding public office, which was highly reasonable at this stage. Individual family kitchens weren't forbidden, of course. After all, with the backing of Daimyo Shimizu Kisuke, the village's supplies were incredibly abundant, but...
Want to cook at home? First, you actually need a family.
Genma chose to eat from the communal pot. In any case, a person like him—who considered his past self dead and now lived as nothing but ashes—wouldn't taste any bitterness in it.
After finishing his meal at a leisurely pace, Genma arrived at the plaza in front of the Yinghuo office building. Today, however, he didn't need to bury himself in paperwork; he was going out to execute the important mission he had mentioned earlier.
The moment he appeared, twenty shinobi rushed out from the nearby guard building and quickly assembled before him. Aside from Genma, the one leading the team this time was the head of the Aburame clan, Aburame Atsukazu.
The shinobi's morale went without saying. On one hand, the village was thriving day by day; on the other hand, some shinobi who believed they had the strength to become Jonin but hadn't yet been officially recognized were brimming with a desire to prove themselves.
Genma came to a halt and gave a brief mission briefing:
"After several months, having faced our failures and annihilated our powerful enemies, we will once again set foot in what was previously Daimyo Takahashi's sphere of influence. We go for no other reason than to reclaim what rightfully belongs to us..."
"Move out!"
A few months ago, the Yinghuo Organization was obscure and insignificant. But what about the Yinghuo Organization now? Internally developing its strength and externally allying with the Senju, while maintaining excellent relations with the Sarutobi, Uzumaki, and Furui clans, its current state was incomparable to the past.
Furthermore, it had established a fearsome reputation, intimidating factions that lacked sufficient power yet harbored ill intentions. The greatest "credit" for the annihilation of the Hagoromo clan undoubtedly belonged to the Senju, but anyone who bothered to gather intelligence would naturally know that the Yinghuo Organization had played a part.
Even more famous than Yinghuo was its leader, Genma, whose reputation soared solely due to his action of actively guiding the Nine-Tails... Though it wasn't a good reputation. Many shinobi, especially the higher-ups of major clans, directly wrote him off as a reckless madman who acted without regard for consequences. In other words, a lunatic who looked completely rational on the outside but was utterly insane within. In short, Tailed Beasts had a terrible reputation, and anyone associated with them would naturally inherit a terrible reputation.
The group of twenty-one left Yinghuo Village in the light drizzle. Before long, they arrived at what used to be Daimyo Takahashi's territory—now a lawless no-man's-land heavily infested by rogue ninja.
The reason no major power had seized the gold mine was that, even though the Hagoromo clan had temporarily withdrawn due to a minor "setback," their brazen initial move caused other major clans to tacitly accept this as Hagoromo territory. It wasn't that they would willingly let the Hagoromo clan reap such wealth, but rather that if they wanted to make a move, they had to plan meticulously and prepare for an all-out war with Hagoromo.
Who could have guessed that, in the blink of an eye, the Hagoromo clan would be wiped out? And since one of the participants in their destruction happened to be the Yinghuo Organization, located right next to the gold mine, the other powers still couldn't recklessly make a move under these circumstances.
Combined, these factors meant that when the Yinghuo Organization reclaimed the gold mine now, there was no need for a hard-fought battle; a simple clearing operation would suffice.
With the organization's strongest shinobi cooperating with growing synergy, Genma left them to handle the rogue ninjas in the area while he, holding an umbrella, leisurely stepped into the mine.
"Well, this can barely count as picking myself up right where I fell," Genma stood on the mountain for quite a while before murmuring quietly.
After most of the day had passed, Aburame Atsukazu came to Genma's side and said, "Lord Genma, the core area has been mostly cleared. A portion of them were dealt with by our forces, while the majority took the opportunity to flee."
"That's normal. Our numbers are limited, so let those rogue ninja run. We only need to maintain control over the core area." Genma thought for a moment, then continued, "Now that we have the mine, mining it will be a top priority. Naturally, this kind of matter should be handled by the Daimyo. However... aren't there some brats in the village who don't take their training seriously? Select twenty of them each month and send them here to mine."
Shinobi were vastly more productive than ordinary people; they could perfectly serve as industrious workhorses in the mining area.
"Lord Genma, our shinobi all train very seriously..." Atsukazu immediately expressed a differing opinion. Sending shinobi to mine? How unseemly! This kind of labor had never been within a shinobi's scope of work.
"There are always those who are relatively less diligent. Just do as I say." Who knows, maybe some shinobi simply didn't like wielding blades and spears, preferring production and labor instead. "Also, have the Fuma clan increase their production of explosive tags."
"Ah? Using explosive tags for mining? Isn't that a bit too... extravagant?"
Blasting ore with explosive tags? Would the explosive tags even be willing? One had to know that at its peak value, one explosive tag was worth one Senju life. So, how much ore would it take to equal one Senju?
Genma didn't see it that way at all. In his mind, anything capable of exploding was excellent for mining. Not being enthusiastic about mining a gold mine? Now that was a real mindset problem. With the mountain right here, it would be a disservice not to drain it dry.
"Continue your sweeping mission, and then temporarily station yourselves here to await the arrival of the garrison unit... I will inform the Daimyo of the situation here."
"Yes, Lord Genma."
Genma left the area and soon arrived at Lingdang Castle to meet with Daimyo Shimizu Kisuke.
"The mine is reclaimed? Wonderful, excellent news." Compared to the shinobi who were somewhat indifferent toward the gold mine, the Daimyo's genuine emotions shone through completely at this moment.
"Lord Daimyo, here is my thought," Genma said. "The ore mined from now on will be smelted into gold. Combined with the gold obtained through trade with the Furui clan, once we have a certain amount of precious metal reserves, we should mint a new specification of the 'One-Ryo' gold Koban."
Saying this, Genma produced a "sample."
The Daimyo took it, weighed it in his hand, and said, "It's a size larger than a standard Koban, and a tenth heavier... Is this meant for immediate circulation?"
"No, store it away for future use."
Daimyo Shimizu's eyes gleamed. If you spoke to him of ninja clan wars, he would be timid and submissive; but when it came to financial matters like this, he struck with full force. His mind spun rapidly, guessing Genma's intention in an instant: "Do you want to crush the Enichi clan at a critical moment?"
"What do you think, Lord Daimyo?"
Shimizu Kisuke was a close friend of Genma's, and Genma was genuinely helping him out. After all, the other party was a true first-rate Daimyo. There was absolutely no need to worry about Gresham's law here. As long as the gold coins from the Land of Kawamoto had a higher gold content at the same face value, no one would be able to resist them upon their initial release.
Hmph, nobody understands economics and tariffs better than me. Just watch how wildly successful it becomes.
Standing beside the Daimyo, Genma said in a low voice, "Purge the vast lands, unite the eight wildernesses, win over the hearts of the people, and unify the entire world."
Huh, for some reason, his handsome and refined face suddenly took on a predatory, ambitious look. Could this place actually be the setting for a legendary historical dialogue?
In truth, Shimizu Kisuke hadn't realized that despite his knack for surrendering, as time went on, he found himself thinking less and less about capitulation.
Over the ensuing period, the Land of Kawamoto worked hard at mining while Yinghuo Village developed silently.
Yinghuo Village's current scale had already created a siphon effect. Coupled with its philosophy of "embracing all rivers into the sea," more and more small-to-medium shinobi clans came to pledge their allegiance. Generally, as long as they underwent a strict screening process to ensure they had no conflicts or animosity toward the Yinghuo Organization and sincerely wished to become part of it, the organization would accept them. After passing a probationary period of a few months without major issues, they would officially change their allegiance.
This method of expansion naturally brought some issues—for instance, ill-intentioned individuals would undoubtedly try to infiltrate and plant moles. However, this was entirely manageable. Compared to the expansion of the organization's combat strength, what did a few spies matter? If one chased after one hundred percent "purity," the organization might as well stop developing altogether. Where wouldn't there be spies? Even villages formed by a single shinobi clan had spies, and shinobi betraying their clans of origin was by no means rare.
In short, to avoid a widespread phenomenon of mixed quality, Genma had already been trying his best to control the scale of Yinghuo Village. Yet, by the following year—around the time Sarutobi Hiruzen was born—he was already capable of mobilizing over two hundred shinobi for a large-scale war.
It couldn't be helped; the model of a multi-clan coalition ninja village held immense appeal in this era. The shinobi world was full of clans like the former Hagamiya clan. If given the chance to join a powerful faction, would such clans refuse?
It was impossible to refuse. Clan honor and history? What were those? Could you eat them?
One had to understand that Yinghuo Village's acceptance of shinobi was genuine. They never used newly joined members as cannon fodder, instead cultivating everyone equally... As long as one didn't commit the crime of "betraying the village," the most severe punishment was merely being sent to the mines.
With such a universally praised way of doing things, to ordinary shinobi clans and rogue ninja, Yinghuo Village wasn't just a place of shelter—it was a faith as bright as the sun. Once they felt the atmosphere of equality within the organization, countless shinobi were truly willing to lay down their lives for the organization, the village, and their leader. This was no joke.
Shinobi were bound to die eventually. Since death was inevitable, why not die more gloriously, with greater value? Sacrificing oneself for an ideal was never an empty phrase in Yinghuo Village. Over the course of the year, there had even been incidents where spies were moved by the village's spirit and confessed voluntarily. This was utterly mind-blowing.
After all, this era was different from the later Hidden Village era; everything was laid bare by comparison. Compared to the rest of the rotten trash in the shinobi world, Yinghuo was the only light. Even if Yinghuo Village had many imperfections, one thing was certain: it wasn't narrow-minded in the slightest, nor would it ever be bound by the word "clan."
A year ago, perhaps some clans would have been arrogant enough to look down on Yinghuo Village. But by now, no matter how much they scoffed, the ideology, sheer volume, and expansion speed of the Yinghuo Organization were enough to force their eyes wide open. The Yinghuo Organization's combat capability might seem just decent, but don't forget it had only been developing for a single year. If it were left to continue expanding like this...
Truth be told, even the neighboring Furui clan had no choice but to eye their neighbor with heightened vigilance.
In reality, this explosive expansion had also exceeded Genma's expectations. He didn't believe he had done anything outrageous, and even the organization's operational policies hadn't changed since he led the Hagamiya clan out of the forest. Yet who could have foreseen that once a baseline scale was achieved, the organization's growth rate would become so staggering? This was probably what people meant by "standing at the eye of the storm."
The current status of the Yinghuo Organization acted as a forcing mechanism for the major shinobi clans sitting at the top of the food chain. They either had to learn from Yinghuo Village and start "embracing all rivers into the sea," or...
North of the continent, in an unremarkable place, lived a shinobi clan whose surname was Diyuanju. Six shinobi were gathered together, seemingly discussing an important matter.
The one leading them spoke first, "Everyone, we have received a highly lucrative mission... to assassinate the leader of the Yinghuo Organization, Hane Genma."
"Heh, a handsome reward. What about the mission's difficulty?"
"But we have always only looked at the reward, not the difficulty, haven't we?"
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