Chapter 152 Konoha Village Strongly
Condemns This "Five hundred million?" As.soon as Uchiha Touhuan finished speaking, the entire underground money exchange was in an uproar.
In a gathering place for rogue and wandering ninjas like them, a single order exceeding ten million was rare. And now, a five hundred million order had suddenly appeared?
Even the ninja villages of the Five Great Nations wouldn't easily receive an order of five hundred million.
Therefore, at this moment, all the ninjas in the money exchange looked at Uchiha Touhuan with greedy eyes.
At this moment, Uchiha Touhuan's expression turned cold, and a powerful killing intent was released without reservation.
The ninjas in the money exchange were immediately intimidated by this killing intent and dared not make a move.
Indeed, someone who dared to bring so much cash to this kind of place was probably quite powerful.
"Um… sir, what kind of mission do you want to issue?" The waiter at the underground money exchange swallowed hard and asked.
"Who is your strongest bounty hunter?" Uchiha Touhuan asked.
"Currently, the strongest bounty hunter operating in our base is the one known as the Undying Heart. His mission completion rate is currently 100%."
"Alright, he's the one." Uchiha Touhuan nodded, took out two scrolls he'd obtained from Gato, and placed them on the counter of the gold exchange.
"Count them." Uchiha Touhuan said.
The gold exchange clerk nodded, then unrolled the scrolls, inputting chakra. The next second, the clerk was stunned by the mountain of gold bars piled up inside.
"Five hundred million, right?" Uchiha Touhuan said with a light laugh.
"No… that's right." The clerk nodded.
"The mission is this…" Uchiha Touhuan took out a map of the ninja world, pointed to Calvin's ninja tool factory, and said, "Within a week, I want to hear news that this place has been completely destroyed."
After saying that, Uchiha Touhuan put down the map, turned around, and left with Black Zetsu.
He wasn't worried about the underground money exchange embezzling his money and failing to deliver. If they dared to do that, the next time, it would be Konoha's elite troops.
In dealing with that reckless Haki from the Land of Lightning, Uchiha Touhuan chose the simplest and most direct method. His military factory was waiting to start operating and make money; he didn't have time for business maneuvering.
This was also why he took personal cash from Gato instead of going through Konoha's official accounts.
As for why he was in such a hurry?
Upon returning to Konoha, Uchiha Touhuan had barely arrived home when he received a visiting letter from the Land of Waterfall.
"It seems that treaty is putting a lot of pressure on them," Uchiha Touhuan chuckled, personally drafting an invitation for the leader of Village Hidden by Dragons to visit, which he then had sent to the Land of Fire overnight.
Three days later, Iwata Sawaki, the leader of Takigakure, embarked on his journey to Konoha with his guards. While he was still en route, a major incident occurred in the ninja world.
A massive terrorist attack occurred at the factory of the Calvin Group, the largest ninja tool factory in the ninja world, in the Land of Lightning.
The explosive tags in the entire factory warehouse were detonated by the attackers, turning the entire factory into ruins.
Fortunately, the attack occurred during off-hours, resulting in no casualties. As of now, no organization has claimed responsibility for the incident, but according to survivors, suspicious individuals wearing black robes with red cloud patterns were seen moving around the factory before the attack.
Immediately after the incident, Uchiha Touhuan, on behalf of Konoha, issued a statement expressing deep condolences to the victims of the attack and strongly condemning the attackers.
After Uchiha Touhuan spoke up, Onoki and the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, followed suit, issuing statements throughout the ninja world.
Meanwhile, in the Raikage's office, the Fourth Raikage was pounding his fist on the table, while Calvin, one of the victims of the attack, stood by, his face grim.
"Lord Raikage, I think this is definitely related to Konoha. They just built a new ninja tool factory recently, we sent them a warning, and less than a week later our factory was attacked," Calvin said angrily.
"It's laughable, they even have the audacity to issue such a statement," the Fourth Raikage, A, said through gritted teeth.
"Lord Raikage, what do we do now?" Calvin asked.
"If they dare to do this, we dare to do it again! I'll send out a team of Anbu to blow up their factory in a bit!" the Fourth Raikage, A, declared, pounding the table.
"Lord Raikage, sending ANBU to attack the ninja tool factory in the Land of Fire right now is not a good choice," said Xi, one of the Raikage's strategists, from the A, B, and C trio. "They will definitely strengthen the factory's defenses at this time.
Sending people out to attack now is likely to be counterproductive, and if this action is used against us, it could easily be seen as an act of war against Konoha." "
Then how did Konoha manage to do that? We haven't found any trace of Fire Country ninjas crossing the border recently," Ai asked, puzzled.
"Our informant at the underground gold exchange has sent in intelligence that there's a bounty of 500 million ryo at the gold exchange in the Land of Hot Springs. It's probably related to this mission," Xi said.
"Five hundred million?" A and Calvin were both stunned. "Such a large sum of money should leave traces in all the major ninja villages, right?"
"No, neither Konoha nor Village Hidden in the Rocks has shown any signs of large-scale use of public funds," Xi shook his head. "This five hundred million in cash is probably from private accounts."
"Is Uchiha Touhuan really that rich?" A said in disbelief. He had been the Raikage for so many years,and his personal assets didn't even reach five hundred million.
How could Uchiha Touhuan, who had only been Hokage for a short time, pull out five hundred million in cash? "Five hundred million, he's ruthless!" Calvin said through gritted teeth.
Although he was wealthy, pulling out five hundred million in cash at once was still a very difficult thing.
And now, they couldn't retaliate. Calvin needed funds to rebuild the factory and resume production, and their personal assets were unlikely to be enough to pay the Land of Fire's ninja tool factory such a commission.
"Damn it." The Raikage slammed his hand on the desk, shattering it. "Are we just going to let this go? Do you even know who took on this mission?"
"No." Xi shook her head and said, "The underground gold exchange is always very secretive about this kind of thing. The people from our village who infiltrated it don't have access to this kind of information. But, according to the survivors of the attack, it was done by someone wearing a black robe with red cloud patterns."
"A black robe with red cloud patterns..." A pondered, "Is there any organization in the ninja world that uses this as its symbol?"
"I don't know yet." Xi said, "However, Orochimaru, the rogue ninja from Konoha, wore similar clothes when he assassinated the Daimyo of the Land of Fire a while ago."
"So, there's a mysterious organization active in the ninja world right now, right? And it's full of strong people?" A frowned. "Keep an eye on news about this organization lately."
"Understood." Xi nodded.
"As for Calvin," A looked at Calvin beside him, "For now, focus on getting production back on track. But don't worry, I'll definitely avenge you."
"Okay." Calvin nodded.
...
The Land of Rain.
Konan nodded in satisfaction as she took the 100 million ryo that Kakuzu had handed over. Then she looked at Kakuzu and said, "Kakuzu, it seems you've had a good haul lately. But can you explain why your teammate died on another mission?"
"I couldn't help it, he was too useless," Kakuzu said. "Even the simplest infiltration mission was discovered by the guards, and his combat ability was terrible; he almost dragged me down."
"Is that really true?" Konan asked, frowning.
"Of course," Kakuzu said expressionlessly.
"How much did you get for him this time?" Konan asked coldly. Kakuzu
: ...
Kakuzu wanted to gloss over the matter with silence, but under Konan's intense gaze, he couldn't hold back for long and honestly confessed, "13 million."
"Give it to me," Konan said.
Kakuzu obediently took out another scroll and handed it to Konan.
"Don't do this again next time," Konan said sternly.
"Yes!" Kakuzu nodded. Konan had told him this at least ten times, but he dared to do it again.
After Kakuzu left, Konan took the money and returned to Nagato's room in the tower in the Land of Rain.
"Was Kakuzu responsible for the explosion at the ninja tool factory in the Land of Lightning?" Nagato asked.
"That's right. This is his reward for this mission." Konan placed the scroll on the table in front of Nagato and said, "One hundred million ryo."
"One hundred million ryo? That's quite a sum." Nagato said with a sneer, "Did Kakuzu meet the person who issued the mission?"
"No, the other party provided the funds, specified Kakuzu, issued the mission, and then left." Konan said.
"Never mind if you don't know. In any case, blowing up a place like a ninja tool factory that profits from war is a good thing." Nagato said.
"However, there are witnesses who saw the clothes Kakuzu and the others were wearing for this mission." Konan said, "For the time being, let's keep a low profile."
"I understand." Nagato nodded and said, "The people tracking Orochimaru should also withdraw."
"Understood." Konan nodded.
...
Seven days had passed since the attack on the ninja tool factory in the Land of Lightning. During those seven days, no organization in the ninja world claimed responsibility for the attack, leaving the incident as an unsolved mystery.
Meanwhile, on Gato's side, the new ninja tool factory was gradually getting on track, and production officially began after the first batch of raw materials arrived.
On this day, Iwata Sawaki, the leader of Village Hidden by a Waterfall, and his entourage arrived in Konoha.
(End of Chapter)