Looking at the instant deposit of one hundred thousand coins,
Shimoku was over the moon, as if he'd just floated up into the clouds.
Of course, after that brief high,
Shimoku quickly shook off his excitement.
After all, strictly speaking,
this massive fortune wasn't really his own.
It had been won through life-and-death struggles by these Hyuga Branch members fighting for their freedom.
These coins still needed to be used to remove their [Caged Bird Cursed Seal].
Certainly, Shimoku could simply take the money and run,
abandoning this group of Hyuga Branch ninja.
With these one hundred thousand coins, he could easily ascend to the Six Paths level in one fell swoop.
However, doing so would feel just too cheap.
After all, Shimoku understood clearly—he wasn't exactly a hero either.
Everything he'd done since arriving in this world had been for the sake of protecting his own life, making himself live better and more comfortably.
And along the way, he had committed no small amount of bloodshed.
Even sparking one war after another—leaving countless innocent lives in ruins.
But there was still a bottom line he hadn't abandoned.
Machiavellian schemes, bloody ruthlessness... those he could accept.
But backstabbing, breaking his word, acting like some low-down animal...
That was beneath Shimoku.
After all, money? Sure, you spend it, you make it back...
Hmph...
Earned it back again!
But once your integrity was lost, it couldn't be recovered.
"Everyone get ready. We're starting the curse removal for everyone now."
"All those who joined the Hyuga Branch through marriage, as well as children aged three or younger who haven't received the cursed seal yet, please stand on the left side."
"The rest who need to have the curses removed, please stand to the right."
"Form orderly lines and come one at a time!"
Shimoku directed everyone to divide into two lines for the removal process.
All members of the Hyuga Branch followed instructions obediently, naturally splitting into two groups.
This time, including Shinkawa Hyuga, there were a total of 206 escaped members from the Hyuga clan.
Among them, 38 individuals weren't originally part of the Hyuga Clan but had joined the Hyuga Branch through marital alliances.
Fifteen children aged three or younger, being held by their parents, had not yet been branded with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.
These fifty-three individuals didn't require curse removal.
The remaining 152 people needed their curses lifted.
Among them were eleven people—including Neji Hyuga—who possessed exceptional talent and met Shimoku's requirements, thus qualifying for free curse removal without payment.
In short, Shimoku himself would have to consume the [Recruitment Order] needed to remove the curses of these eleven people.
Only the remaining 141 people had paid their fees in advance for their curse removal.
Right now, Shimoku felt particularly grateful.
He was glad he had raised the price for curse removal per person from five million to eight million, thereby earning substantial profit margins.
Otherwise, if each [Recruitment Order] was priced at merely 500 coins per unit, considering the failure rate...
Even selling himself wouldn't have covered the costs!
Thankfully, he made a 3 million coin profit per individual.
Let's just hope it'll be enough to cover all those [Recruitment Order] costs!
...
From that moment on, things went quite smoothly.
All Shimoku needed to do was repeatedly exchange for [Basic Recruitment Orders] and use them on one Hyuga Branch House ninja after another.
Just like he had done with Shinkawa Hyuga the first time.
The powerful effect of the [Recruitment Order] could directly remove the Caged Bird Cursed Seal without causing any harm to the person.
It would simply raise their favor toward Shimoku—and Homuragakure—by a small amount.
However...
Watching the [Recruitment Orders] rapidly deplete one after another, seeing 500 coins vanish each time.
Shimoku's heart was bleeding like crazy.
If only all these coins were used just for his own pleasure... that would've been amazing!
Ah, forget it…
At least, watching those Hyuga Branch House ninjas getting rid of their cursed seals and regaining freedom—
The genuine smiles they gave from the bottom of their hearts were quite satisfying.
Even someone like Shimoku, who saw himself as a villain, felt he'd actually done something good this time.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you, Lord Shimoku!"
"Freedom! I'm finally free!"
A wave of gratitude and cheers rose up, blending into a deafening roar.
The surrounding atmosphere became increasingly lively.
Initially, there had been slight doubts among them. But now, seeing the people in front of them successfully break free from the cursed seal and gain freedom before their eyes—
Everyone had no more doubts, praying it would be their turn next!
Eagerly waiting to cast off the cursed seal and embrace true freedom!
...
Thus, the entire curse-removal process continued methodically.
It went quickly too, not counting the time needed for exchanging [Recruitment Orders].
On average, it only took around ten seconds to remove each cursed seal.
And through repeated uses,
Shimoku gradually figured out the pattern.
Generally speaking,
So long as someone willingly accepted recruitment wholeheartedly,
Even using the [Basic Recruitment Order] had a very high success rate.
But those who harbored ulterior motives or were unwilling to pledge loyalty,
Even using the [Intermediate Recruitment Order] wouldn't guarantee success.
Therefore,
When facing a certain Hyuga ninja, if even two [Basic Recruitment Orders] failed consecutively.
There was only one possible explanation.
Hmm...
You little brat must have issues!
Are you secretly still loyal to Konoha? Still attached to the Hyuga Main House?
Damn it, I wasted 1000 coins for nothing!
Alright, no need to explain.
Go stand aside for now.
After everyone else is done, I'll deal with you personally!
...
Soon, over forty minutes passed.
The entire curse-removal process concluded successfully.
Besides six individuals where even two applications of the [Basic Recruitment Order] had failed—who were now labeled as suspects—
All remaining 146 people successfully removed their cursed seals and gained freedom.
In total, excluding two [Intermediate Recruitment Orders] purchased with 2000 coins midway (one failed, one left unused),
He had exchanged and used 190 [Basic Recruitment Orders] at 500 coins apiece.
Successes: 146 times.
Failures: 44 times.
Of those, six had failed two times in a row, using up twelve Basic Recruitment Orders.
Another thirty-two failed once but managed to succeed on their second try.
Of course, that wasn't the main point.
The real issue was that all 192 Recruitment Orders had cost Shimoku a massive sum of coins!
He had nearly spent every last coin he received, only 1,210 coins short of emptying his entire stash!
At the very beginning, when breaking the curse,
Shimoku had worried he might even run out of all his existing coins and still not have enough!
Fortunately in the end, he still had [8,400 coins] left.
That was over a thousand more coins than he originally had.
All things considered, it wasn't a complete waste after all.
Naturally, Shimoku didn't feel too bad about it either.
After all, according to recent information,
within just a few days, his Shipping Company would return with part of last month's profits, along with proceeds from selling jewelry.
At that time, he would surely gain several million coins.
Gathering another ten thousand coins to exchange for an Immortal God Body wouldn't be any problem at all.
...
"Thank you Lord Shimoku! Thank you!"
Right now, having their Cursed Seals removed and regaining freedom,
These members of the Hyuga Branch were deeply moved, feeling as though they had been reborn.
They repeatedly prostrated themselves before Shimoku, pouring out their sincere gratitude.
It was obvious their thanks came genuinely from the bottom of their hearts.
This time, Shimoku calmly accepted everyone's kowtows.
After all, he had spent a staggering 99,000 coins on this alone!
Wasn't he allowed a little moment to cherish the occasion?
However,
Just at that moment,
on the far right side of the group,
the six Hyuga ninjas whose curses had not been lifted couldn't help but anxiously interject, their faces pale.
"Lord Shimoku, what about us?..."
Clearly, seeing so many clansmen successfully remove their cursed seals and gain their freedom,
they felt extremely envious and unwilling deep inside.
"Hmph! As for you..."
"You had better seriously reflect on what's truly going on in your hearts."
"If you still hold feelings for Konoha, or yearn for the Hyuga Main House, then go back."
"I cannot remove your cursed seals..."
Shimoku rejected coldly without any leniency.
Six white-eyed traitors had already wasted 6,000 of his coins. Now they had the nerve to shamelessly ask him to keep lifting their curses?
Shimoku simply couldn't be bothered to deal with them.
"As for the rest,"
"those willing to join Homuragakure can come with me."
"For those unwilling, I won't force you. Feel free to go your own way."
Shimoku scanned the crowd before him and declared firmly.
Then, he headed northward alone.
And the remaining Hyuga Branch ninjas staying behind followed Shimoku's footsteps without hesitation.
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