Chapter 205: The Secret of the Tianming Organization
Hot winds swirled in the sky.
Countless sparks darted about.
Naruto used all the moves of the Fire God Kaguraat once, plus Sage Mode and Merlin's status skills; the height he reached in an instant was almost unparalleled in the Ninja World.
But he believed Ōnoki wouldn't kick the bucket so easily.
After another moment, a voice drifted over.
"I'm old; I can't keep up with the youngsters."
Ōnoki emerged, leaning against a wall.
Naruto's mouth twitched as he stared intently at the man's bald head.
The flames from just now must have burned off his last remaining hair.
This was truly... inexplicably comical.
Especially given his height.
Ōnoki noticed his gaze and finally realized that the top of his head felt a bit cold.
He reached up to touch it, and his expression instantly froze.
"Ah, my last hair!"
Ōnoki was overcome with grief.
He was already "brilliant and bald," but now he couldn't even keep his "Mediterranean" fringe.
"Hmph, kid, I'll remember this grudge for cutting my hair!"
Fuming, Ōnoki turned and left, not wanting to stay for another second.
Naruto shrugged.
My fault?
With the Five Great Villages in agreement, the remaining hidden villages were easy to handle.
Naruto waited for Mei Terumī to arrive.
The Hidden Mist Village didn't have any Space-Time Ninjutsu.
A round trip would take several days.
When Naruto saw her again, she was accompanied by two others.
One was nearly fifty years old, with grayish-blue hair, sealing charms hanging from his ears, and most notably, a one-eyed look.
Not because he was blind in one eye, but because it was the only Byakugan known to exist outside the clan.
Ao, Mei Terumī's confidant and bodyguard, known as the Byakugan Killer.
The other was quite young, wearing glasses and carrying twin swords on his back.
Chōjūrō, the next Mizukage.
Naruto smiled.
Well, she's certainly showing some respect.
He glanced at Ao, brought out a table and stools, and brewed a cup of tea for Mei Terumī.
As for the other two, there was nothing for them.
Two grown men didn't need beauty treatments.
Mei Terumī blinked and asked, "Does the vast Tianming Organization not even have two extra cups of tea?"
There was no mockery in her tone; instead, it was rather playful.
"I only prepare it for great beauties," Naruto said without batting an eye.
Mei Terumī immediately burst into laughter, took a sip of water, and said, "Chatting with you is truly a pleasure."
"There's more pleasure to come." Naruto took out a pen and asked, "How about we just sign directly?"
"Are you so certain I will agree?" Mei Terumīlooked at him, her lips curling slightly.
"If you weren't going to agree, did you bring those two along to pick a fight?"
"Maybe I did."
Mei Terumī set down her teacup, and Ao and Chōjūrō behind her grew tense.
They had researched the Tianming Organizationbefore coming.
Just two people could blockade the gates of the Hidden Cloud Village.
If it were their Hidden Mist Village, it wouldn't be as simple as just blockading the gates.
Even if they wanted to kidnap the bride, they might actually succeed.
Of course, the Mizukage would probably be quite happy about that.
"You're still a long way off."
Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you really want to try?"
"Just a joke."
Mei Terumī blew a breath, and a faint scent of roses lingered.
She produced a thick stack of papers and said, "Please take a look."
"..."
Naruto was stunned for a moment.
No, wait, how did you guys come up with so many clauses?
Keep it simple, keep the way you speak simple.
He opened them and flipped through quickly.
"No problems."
Naruto nodded and said.
"You can remember it like that?"
Mei Terumī couldn't help but ask.
Your speed is a bit excessive.
What normally takes half an hour, you finished in half a minute.
Although she quite liked this straightforward attitude.
"It's fine."
Naruto picked up a fountain pen and signed his name at the bottom.
The Hermit.
The Mangekyo Sharingan was like a photocopier.
Reading a few books was nothing.
With just the three of them, he could cast a genjutsu and they wouldn't even notice.
Although Ao had the Byakugan, he didn't know Naruto had the Mangekyo Sharingan; without being on guard, he had no way to resist.
The Byakugan wasn't omnipotent.
Besides, his Byakugan was just an ordinary one.
Mei Terumī gave a soft hum; if you say it's fine, then it's fine.
They hadn't tampered with anything anyway.
They couldn't afford the consequences of being caught.
After signing her name, she raised her hand and said, "Pleasure doing business with you."
"Mhm."
Naruto shook her hand, quickly pulled away, and said, "Now let's talk about the money."
The contract they had just signed was regarding aquatic products.
The Hidden Mist Village chose the first option.
Which was to sell aquatic products at market price to the Tianming Organization for processing.
Because the second option carried the risk of loss.
"How many new ports do you plan to build?" Naruto asked.
Mei Terumī's eyes brightened slightly upon hearing this.
It seemed the Tianming Organization was very wealthy.
She stroked her chin in thought, and after a moment said, "Let's first try building a few ports on the island where the Hidden Mist Village is located."
Naruto could tell immediately that she didn't have a very detailed plan.
He suggested, "Why not build the largest port in the Ninja World and spread its fame?"
No matter which world it was, people liked big things.
The so-called big and beautiful, big as the best—big means surging and bustling.
The Hidden Mist Village was located in the center of the Land of Water, adjacent to the Metropolis; there was no fear of a large port going unused.
Mei Terumī pondered for a bit and nodded, "That works."
"How much money do you want to borrow?" Naruto asked.
"Can I borrow as much as I want?" Mei Terumī's eyes darted.
"Give me a number first."
Naruto acted like a tycoon, looking like money was no object.
To be honest, he didn't even know exactly how much money the Tianming Organization had.
Not counting the Land of Demons and the Land of Snow, there was the Land of Waves shipping company, Kurotsuchi Raiga's gold company, the Artisan Village's ninja tool shop, Konoha's cola and pearl milk tea shops, Uzumaki Menma's idol company, Hana Rin's shiranui songstress project, and so on.
All in all, Naruto felt he could compete with Sister Nan for the title of the wealthiest person in the Ninja World.
If he really ran out of money, there was always En Yui's side.
He could just go to the Daimyo of the Land of Firefor a zero-dollar shopping spree.
Mei Terumī's beautiful eyes sparkled with excitement.
Handsome!
Truly handsome!
A handsome guy telling you to use as much money as you want was the peak of handsomeness.
She suppressed her excitement, elegantly brushed her hair back, and said, "How about you give me a number instead?"
"Thirteen billion."
Naruto said casually, "If that's not enough, I'll give you more later."
Mei Terumī's body shuddered.
She felt weak in the knees.
So handsome it made one's heart tremble.
"By the way, here's a small gift for you."
Naruto pulled out a book and handed it to her, saying, "If you want commerce to flourish, necessary management and taxation are indispensable."
Mei Terumī instinctively looked down.
On the cover were several large characters: A Brief Discussion on Market Economy and Taxation.
Below that was a row of smaller characters: The Secret of the Tianming Organization.
A look of confusion appeared on her face.
She recognized all the words in the title, but when put together, she couldn't quite understand them.
"If it's the secret of the Tianming Organization, why are you showing it to me?"
Mei Terumī looked up and asked.
"It's nothing. We're partners, after all; I'll help where I can."
Naruto smiled and said.
Ninjas were a complete mess when it came to economics.
They were even more lax regarding taxation.
Aside from the commission from missions, other businesses in the hidden villages could evade or underreport taxes as they pleased.
And the higher-ups of the hidden villages simply didn't want to bother with it.
Firstly, because those industries were more or less related to them.
Secondly, the merchants who could stay in the hidden villages were either there since the village's founding or were their descendants, making it difficult to collect taxes.
The root cause was that the guy who unified the Ninja World was a dunderhead.