With Haruto Saito's keen senses, he instantly noticed something unusual about the skeletal remains.
The skeleton moved, its left hand drawing the sword!
Smack!
Haruto Saito struck down with a single palm, shattering the skeleton instantly. The eerie green flames flickering in its eye sockets were extinguished in an instant.
Everything returned to silence!
"What just happened?" Haruto Saito blinked in confusion.
A corpse mutation?
Some kind of forbidden technique?
He couldn't figure it out. And now that he had crushed the skeleton completely, he had no way to examine it further.
Haruto Saito turned his head, scanning the small chamber. It appeared to be a prayer room, complete with statues, candle stands, and other religious artifacts.
Without hesitation, he began searching for valuables!
Haruto Saito had no interest in solving mysteries. He was here for treasure, not for unraveling supernatural occurrences.
---
A few minutes later, the vast ocean stretched endlessly before him.
Splash!
The water's surface burst open as Haruto Saito emerged, taking deep, labored breaths. He had retrieved everything valuable from the sunken ship—his treasure hunt was a complete success.
Determining his direction, he swam at high speed, heading back toward the merchant ship!
---
Thirty minutes later.
The massive merchant vessel cruised steadily across the waves.
Haruto Saito reappeared in his cabin, having been gone for less than two hours. No one had entered his room, and no one was aware that he had ever left the ship.
Without pausing to rest, he waved his hand, and a large chest materialized before him.
Opening the chest, he began his inventory check.
Inside were gold ingots.
The purity was subpar, likely due to the primitive refining techniques of six hundred years ago, but Haruto Saito could still estimate their value with ease—he had done this often enough.
The cabin was too small to take out everything at once, and he had to be cautious to avoid arousing suspicion. Thus, he systematically took out one chest at a time, checked its contents, and returned it to storage before moving on to the next.
---
By noon the next day.
After lunch, Haruto Saito returned to his cabin, locked the door, and summoned another chest to inspect.
Upon opening it, he was surprised to find scrolls, all well-preserved! Despite having been underwater for six centuries, they appeared almost brand new. The airtight nature of the chests had prevented water damage and oxidation.
Haruto Saito unrolled a few scrolls and glanced through them.
They were samurai manuals!
The Edo Clan had once been a dominant samurai faction, meaning they would have exclusively practiced the way of the sword.
Uninterested!
After checking a few, Haruto Saito lost interest. He stored the chest away and retrieved another one. This one was slightly smaller and contained various trinkets, including an old bronze mirror.
An antique!
That could fetch a high price!
---
Two days passed.
That afternoon.
The merchant ship had reached the eastern waters of the Land of Fire. In three hours, they would dock at the nation's largest eastern port!
Haruto Saito had finally completed his inventory check.
It had taken much longer than expected—three whole days! Of course, he hadn't been checking continuously, as he needed to eat, sleep, and occasionally step onto the deck for fresh air and conversation with the crew.
Final results:
- Gold, silver, ingots, and coins: estimated value of approximately three billion ryo.
- Jewelry, artifacts, and precious metals: estimated value ranging between one billion and 1.5 billion ryo. The range was broad due to uncertainty in valuing ancient jewelry and rare gemstones.
- Various ancient books, records, and samurai techniques: value unknown and difficult to estimate.
In summary, his treasure haul was worth over four billion ryo!
Haruto Saito was almost numb to wealth at this point.
He was simply too rich now, with a net worth in the tens of billions!
In the entire ninja world, individuals with such fortune were few and far between. However, there were still those he couldn't compare to.
For example, the five great feudal lords!
They were undoubtedly the wealthiest five people in the ninja world!
Unlike the five major hidden villages, which functioned purely as military entities and did not govern the civilian world or collect taxes, the feudal lords held all the financial power. Each year, the hidden villages had to request funding from their respective daimyo. Ironically, this meant that at the moment, even the Five Great Ninja Villages were poorer than Haruto Saito!
Excluding fixed assets, the total cash reserves of the hidden villages barely amounted to a few billion ryo.
Inside his cabin, Haruto Saito held a peculiar scroll, frowning slightly.
This particular scroll had been found among the Edo Clan's advanced samurai techniques.
He had singled it out because it was… unusual!
The text recorded within was incomprehensible!
It wasn't written in any modern language used in the ninja world!
---
The merchant ship finally docked, and Haruto Saito set foot on the Land of Fire once more.
He didn't linger at the port.
Without wasting a moment, he headed straight for the Hidden Leaf Village!
Once past the port, he entered the vast, seemingly endless forests. Sprinting at full speed, he no longer needed to worry about stealth—there was no need to suppress his movement.
---
Two days later.
Noon.
The Hidden Leaf Village was bustling under the bright sun, its streets lively and full of energy.
Inside the Hokage's Office at the village headquarters.
"Father, an urgent report from the Land of Whirlpools!" said Shin Sarutobi, presenting the intelligence scroll to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen took the scroll, quickly scanning its contents. His eyes lit up, and he suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahaha! Excellent! He didn't disappoint!"
The report stated:
At 6 AM the previous day, Danzo, Hyuga Raita, White Fang, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and a squad of 200—including the Leaf Village's elite forces—launched a surprise attack on a secret Mist Village outpost in the southeast of the Land of Whirlpools.
They annihilated over 200 Mist ninja, including nearly 30 from the Mist's elite Anbu forces. Among the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, four were killed, and three were severely wounded. Even Hattori Ryuno was critically injured and forced to flee!
By 7 AM, Danzo led another attack on the Mist's advance camp, scattering their forces. The Mist's supreme commander, Hozuki Ieyasu, was slain on the spot by White Fang!
It was a decisive victory for the Leaf Village!
Hiruzen Sarutobi was ecstatic!
He could finally breathe easily. Resolving the crisis in the Land of Whirlpools meant they could better handle the growing threats from the Land of Rain. His decision to send Danzo had proven to be the right one. However, all of this was made possible by Haruto Saito's earlier actions—eliminating the Mist's hidden operatives and obliterating their advance camp.
Even Hiruzen had not expected such a smooth victory!
The Mist Village had suffered an overwhelming defeat, losing an entire division, numerous elite warriors, and intelligence operatives. With their internal networks completely dismantled, launching a counterattack would be extremely difficult!
"Report!" a voice suddenly called from outside the window.
"Speak!" Hiruzen replied, turning slightly.
"Haruto Saito has returned."