At the end of every action, there was inevitably something called a result waiting. That was simply a physical law of this world.
Naturally, after enough manpower and resources had been poured in and time had been allowed to work, Akihabara beside Konohagakure was finally complete. To ensure smooth traffic, the Third Hokage had even ordered a stone bridge built across the ravine so visitors could enter Akihabara directly instead of taking a detour.
"Welcome to Akihabara! As you can see, this district is dedicated to selling every kind of Fox's Tale product! Here, you can find anything that interests you, whether it's Fox's Tale Videotapes, deluxe Figures, or Manga Special Editions! That's right! This is the holy land of every Fox's Tale fan!"
A sweet female voice broadcast the announcement gently from loudspeakers to the arriving visitors. Smiling district staff waited at posts throughout the streets, ready to give directions and answer questions at any time.
These staff members were no ordinary employees. Almost all of them were Anbu. Besides guiding tourists, they were also responsible for defending against outside enemies and mediating disputes. As for which of them were Root operatives, and which were Konoha Anbu who had infiltrated the staff to keep watch on those Root operatives... it was better not to think about it. The question alone was enough to tie one's brain in knots.
Putting all of that aside, the street still smelled of fresh timber and paint, and it was packed with visitors. Unlike the cramped temporary venue used last time, this hastily completed Akihabara at least had broad streets and all the basic shops it needed.
Merchandise such as Figures and art books had also been sorted by category and placed in their prepared storefronts. Compared with the awkward queues and auctions of the previous event, it was vastly more convenient.
The Figures were also divided by grade. Supreme editions would still be auctioned at Akihabara's auction house, while the rest would be sold through shops of different tiers. In other words, the wealthy had their own exclusive high-end venues, while visitors with less money could still find something to enjoy.
Judging from the current situation, far more people had come to Akihabara this time, and their moods were clearly much better as well. Today's turnover alone would probably have the Third Hokage and Danzo grinning from ear to ear.
Hinata had no idea what private agreement the Third Hokage and Danzo had reached, but a considerable portion of the street's daily revenue would certainly go straight to Konohagakure. Only the remainder would be left to Danzo and Akihabara's continued development. Fortunately, Danzo had patience. He understood that the priority for now was completing Akihabara's layout and infrastructure, so he had not become excessively greedy.
"We'll suspend training for today. If you want to take a look around Akihabara, today would be a good time."
Hinata was not especially enthusiastic about Akihabara's establishment. Fundamentally, the place was only a buffer zone between Danzo and the Third Hokage. It would not bring her any direct profit either. At most, it was a platform that could increase traffic and help expand her industries.
Danzo regarded this district as the foundation for his resurgence and naturally would not tolerate outsiders casually interfering with it. Hinata had no intention of offering advice where it was not wanted. If Danzo genuinely needed her input, he would simply and clearly put something of value on the table in exchange. Until then, there was no reason for her to worry on his behalf.
"Huh? Hinata, you're not going there yourself this time?"
Ino was clearly puzzled. During the previous launch event, Hinata had personally led the Film Crew and handled everything herself. Now that Akihabara had actually been built, however, she seemed strangely indifferent to it.
"Of course not. That district doesn't belong to us. Wouldn't it be awkward to show up uninvited?"
Hinata knew exactly what Ino was wondering about, so she smoothly changed the subject. "Besides, I heard that Princess Suikyo of the Land of Waves will be holding business talks with the Hokage in Akihabara today. It would be a shame not to go see her."
"Huh? The Land of Waves we went to last time? But I never heard anything about a princess there."
Naruto sounded surprised, but the blond immediately put the question out of his mind. Excitement took over his face as his imagination ran wild. "Come to think of it, I've never seen a real princess before. I wonder what she's like."
"Idiot. You've already met a real princess, haven't you? Hinata is one—the eldest princess of the Hyuga Clan, no question about it."
With his hands behind his head, Shikamaru reminded him irritably from the side. Princesses held absolutely no attraction for him. If anything, women and trouble were practically synonyms in his mind.
"Ah... Hinata. She's not really like the princesses I imagined..."
Naruto shuddered as though someone had stepped on his tail and muttered under his breath. "The princesses in stories are always gentle and considerate..."
"Ahem. If you put it that way... yeah, I kind of want to see this Princess Suikyo too..."
Kiba immediately agreed with Naruto. Under Hinata's forceful rule, these chronically oppressed youngsters clearly yearned to see another beautiful princess who was gentle and kind, if only to soothe their overworked souls.
"Hmph. I'm not interested. I'm going to keep training. Do whatever you want."
Sasuke was the other person with no interest at all. The approaching Chunin Exams had placed considerable psychological pressure on him. The thought that he absolutely had to become a Chunin this time lashed at his mind like a whip. He was in no mood to go shopping now.
"I don't have much time either. The Hyuga Clan has a few matters I need to handle. So Naruto, bring me back a box of Takoyaki. I want the assorted kind, and don't forget extra sauce. See you."
After briskly stating her request, Hinata turned and left the Uchiha Compound. This was hardly the time for her to wander around leisurely.
Just as she had expected, Akatsuki had rapidly taken control of the entire situation in the Land of Waves under Princess Suikyo's name. The factory that would manufacture Figures had also been completed quickly through the population's concerted efforts. It had not formally begun production yet, but it was already operating under Princess Suikyo's banner.
So Hinata had simply used Princess Suikyo's identity to send Konohagakure a request for commercial negotiations from the Land of Waves. The main subject was the trade details surrounding Figures.
Unless something unexpected happened, Princess Suikyo's factory would become the only legitimate source of Figures in the entire shinobi world. Any other factory that tried to imitate the business for profit would be quietly erased from the world by Akatsuki.
The previous batch of Figures made by Deidara and Sasori had arrived in Akihabara yesterday. Today, Princess Suikyo would meet the Third Hokage in Akihabara and formally announce to the outside world that commercial trade in Figures had been established between Konohagakure and the Land of Waves.
Konan and the ceremonial convoy had already departed. All that remained was for Hinata to change into Suigintou's body and meet them outside the village.
"The stronger a person becomes, the more complicated life seems to get."
Hinata closed the door to her room and laid out bedding on the floor, creating the appearance that her original body intended to get some proper rest. Then she smoothly activated the Soul Transfer Technique. Her consciousness shifted into Suigintou's shell in the basement. After opening her eyes, sitting up, and moving around for a moment, Hinata could not help sighing at the thought.
To satisfy the body's minimum needs, its daily food consisted only of Military Rations Pills (Hyōrōgan) and water. Yet perhaps because of its Sage Body, it showed none of the back pain or stiffness that should have come from lying down for so long. Instead, it remained full of energy and vitality.
Moreover, after a week of that restraint training with Shikamaru, Hinata's original body still had not mastered Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven (Kaiten), but her conscious control over chakra had improved enormously. Now that she had returned to this already exceptional Sage Body, the improvement felt almost doubled, leaving her with a strangely weightless sensation.
"Well... hmm. Probably not necessary..."
Hinata paused and glanced instinctively toward the area above where her original body lay. After thinking for a moment, she shook her head. This was the Hyuga Compound. If an enemy could still break in here, there was little she could do about it anyway. There was no need for extra precautions.
She picked up the final item Haku had left behind—the Mask of the Kirigakure Hunter-nin—and put it on. Then Hinata raised a hand and activated Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals (Makyō Hyōshō). With the amplification of the Sage Body, the technique's effective range had increased dramatically, enough to carry Hinata directly from inside the Hyuga Compound to a secluded corner outside it.
One of the things Hinata had obtained in her deal with Danzo was secret information on how to enter and leave without being detected by the Konoha Barrier and its sentries. Naturally, she knew how to avoid the barrier when leaving Konohagakure.
Soon, in a deeply hidden corner outside Konoha's walls, an ice mirror abruptly appeared out of thin air. Hinata's figure became clearly visible within it, and like something out of a fantasy, the Byakugan girl stepped out of the mirror in satisfaction, completing her departure from the village.
Only after obtaining Haku's Ice Release did Hinata truly understand how powerful Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals could be. The unique technique could be viewed as transforming the user into something similar to "light," allowing them to reflect back and forth at extreme speed between ice mirrors they had created.
There were roughly two conditions for using it.
First: there could be no obstacles between the two ice mirrors used for movement.
Second: the area traversed had to be within the user's own field of vision.
The first condition was easy enough to satisfy. The mirrors did not follow the strict laws of reflected light. As long as an ice mirror existed, its entrance and exit direction could be set freely. By placing mirrors at different angles, the user only needed to make sure there were no obstacles between one mirror and the next.
With Hinata's Byakugan added to the equation, however, the effective range of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals instantly shot to the maximum. The Byakugan provided an almost all-encompassing field of view, which meant Hinata could easily place an ice mirror behind an obstacle, then use an intermediary mirror to "reflect" herself around it.
For example, Hinata's method for leaving Konoha from the Hyuga Compound worked like this. First, she created an ice mirror near the basement window. Next, she placed a second mirror dozens of meters ahead and used it to move herself into the air. From there, she continued creating mirrors farther ahead and transferred between them in a series of leaps until her body reached a small corner outside Konoha's walls.
It sounded complicated, but the entire process took Hinata less than three seconds. In that time, she crossed the sky above all of Konohagakure and arrived outside the village.
It was still a little regrettable. Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals was not a space-time ninjutsu, so it could not simply ignore obstacles between two points. If it could, she would only need to open two facing ice mirrors and come and go freely. Combined with the Byakugan, that would become a true Anywhere Door that ignored every physical obstruction. Unfortunately, Haku's Ice Release Kekkei Genkai fell short of that level, so in the end it remained a conventional ninjutsu.
"Good. I'm out. Time to meet up with them."
Satisfied, Hinata formed Ice Wings behind her and quickly flew away. But after she had traveled only about thirty meters, a faint hiss cut through the air without warning. A Kunai tied to an Explosive Tag suddenly appeared in her line of sight. Judging by its trajectory, the weapon would explode directly along her flight path!
In that split second, Hinata realized something extremely serious.
Oh no! Someone had spotted her!
(8)