Late at night, at 10:30 PM!
Gutian Village remained brightly lit! A large number of laborers were still busy working, tirelessly engaged in construction. Haruto Saito paid generously, ensuring that even with a three-shift, non-stop work schedule, the tens of thousands of laborers were more than willing to continue working!
On the northern city wall of Gutian Village!
Haruto Saito, draped in a black robe, appeared out of thin air! He gazed at the now well-developed architectural complex within Gutian Village, scanned the area, and then vanished once more!
Half an hour later, inside the palace conference room of Gutian Village!
Under dim lighting, four people sat around a round table. Besides Haruto Saito, the other three were Kakuzu, Hattori Ryuya, and Thirteen! Haruto Saito had convened the meeting as soon as he returned, indicating that he had something crucial to discuss!
"...The supplies I brought back this time include enough food to feed 100,000 people for three years!" Haruto Saito said. "There are also kunai, shuriken, and katanas sufficient to equip 10,000 ninjas—all high-quality equipment manufactured by Konoha... Additionally, I acquired 100,000 explosive tags."
Haruto Saito had paid Konoha 1.5 times the usual price to secure these supplies. Otherwise, he would not have been able to purchase such a vast amount of food and weaponry through other channels!
Konoha's stockpile of supplies was incredibly abundant! After all, storing and producing these goods had already become an industrialized process within the village!
"We lack ninjas. I've investigated the thirteen larger villages around us. Even if we annex them all without any losses, we can only recruit about 100 ninjas. However, there are nearly 400 samurai..." Kakuzu reported.
"That can wait!" Haruto Saito raised his hand to interrupt. "The Mist's invasion has completely disrupted my plans. If Gutian Village makes any move, the Mist will definitely take notice and may even go to great lengths to probe our strength. The chances of my exposure would be extremely high... And personally, I have not yet gained enough prestige to rally an army at my command. Unless we can inflict a severe blow on the Mist, we must prepare accordingly..."
"Apart from these conventional supplies, I also brought back a significant amount of rare materials for making explosive tags, but it is still not enough!"
Haruto Saito turned to Kakuzu and said, "So, I need you to go to the black market and purchase as many supplies as possible!"
"What kind of supplies?" Kakuzu asked with a slight frown.
Haruto Saito took out a scroll and handed it to him!
Kakuzu unrolled it and quickly furrowed his brows even deeper. He recognized most of the listed items, but some were quite unusual!
"Some of these materials are used for making explosive tags, but the rest... Are they for setting up formations?" Kakuzu asked hesitantly.
"No! They are all for creating explosive tags!" Haruto Saito replied, tilting his head slightly as he looked at Kakuzu. "Specifically, they are for making sealing explosive tags!"
Kakuzu's expression changed instantly!
The reputation of sealing explosive tags was well known.
"Are you planning to blow up the Mist's main camp again?" Kakuzu guessed. "Another repeat?!"
"That's right, I want to recreate history!" Haruto Saito did not deny it. "However, this time the situation is different, so we must be well-prepared!"
"But... even if we have enough materials, who will make the sealing explosive tags?" Kakuzu frowned. Gutian Village did not have anyone skilled in this craft, and the process of making sealing explosive tags was highly complex—originally a specialty of the Uzumaki Clan!
While it was known that Haruto Saito had taken the Uzumaki Clan's treasures, meaning both he and Konoha should have the knowledge to make them, the issue remained—there was no one skilled enough to do it!
Creating sealing explosive tags required ninjas who were proficient in specific sealing techniques!
"I will hire veteran Konoha ninjas at a high price. Production won't be a problem!" Haruto Saito explained.
The simplest solution was to pay for expertise! Konoha had no shortage of sealing technique users, thanks to Uzumaki Mito marrying Senju Hashirama during the Warring States period!
The production process itself was not an issue—the main problem was the low yield rate!
The real challenge was gathering enough raw materials!
Even the lowest-grade C-rank sealing explosive tag was worth dozens of times more than an ordinary explosive tag! The difference in power was incomparable! Making sealing explosive tags was extremely costly, but Haruto Saito lacked nothing except money!
"Since you say so, I have no objections!" Kakuzu said. "However, the black market may have everything, but competition is fierce. It's impossible to buy everything you need in one go!"
"That's fine. Just get as much as possible!" Haruto Saito replied. "I also have another task for you!" As he spoke, he took out another scroll and handed it to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu opened it and read.
It was an assassination list!
There were a total of fifty-six targets! The highest assassination bounty was 20 million ryo, while the lowest was only 1 million ryo! The total bounty for all targets on this list amounted to a staggering 340 million ryo!
Pure money-burning!
"This..." Kakuzu's eyes widened!
"Let's cause some trouble for the Mist's first army!" Haruto Saito smirked.
Haruto Saito was burning money again! Everyone in the Mist's first army, except for the supreme commander, had a bounty placed on their heads!
The reason he did not put a bounty on the supreme commander was simple—he intended to personally take care of him or assign the task to Thirteen! That man's bounty was simply too high to be cost-effective!
"After you leave, Fenghuo will take over the leadership of Gutian Village next year," Haruto Saito glanced at Hattori Ryuya, "I will disguise him to erase all traces of his identity as Hattori Ryuya, but... you must minimize the time he spends in the public eye."
It was a straightforward concept—if Hattori Ryuya was exposed, then Haruto Saito's identity would be compromised as well!
Haruto Saito needed to minimize such risks!
"Understood! Mission accepted!" Kakuzu said, tucking both scrolls into his robe.
"Do you have any assassin acquaintances in the black market?" Haruto Saito asked.
"No!" Kakuzu shook his head. He had no friends!
"Then... what about contacts? Any assassins you've worked with or have some connection to?" Haruto Saito asked again. "When you tried to assassinate me before, you were able to contact other assassins, weren't you?"
"If you're talking about business relationships like that, then yes, I do have some contacts."
"Good!" Haruto Saito nodded. "If you can be certain they won't betray me, try to establish contact with some reliable assassins. If they are willing to work for Gutian Village long-term or even join us, I can offer them stable salaries!"
"I... will give it a try!" Kakuzu replied, though he was not confident.
"Alright!" Haruto Saito acknowledged. "Fenghuo, tomorrow I will begin my sweep of the Land of Whirlpools! You will bear a heavy responsibility. Do you have anything to say? Or any requests for my approval?"
Haruto Saito would begin a full-scale purge of the Land of Whirlpools the next day!
The Mist's infiltration teams would once again be eradicated!
However, that was not his main goal!
His real objective was to find people! With his innate ability to perceive talent, he would search for individuals with special skills—be it children with ninja potential or existing ninjas with untapped potential!
"I..." Hattori Ryuya hesitated for a moment before saying, "I need to promote two people to serve as my assistants!"