"Go ahead, what business do you want to discuss with me?"
Kin crossed his arms as he stared at White Fang.
If it was about business, there was no shame in making money.
After all, if he ever really left Konoha, he'd need funds no matter where he went.
Being a penniless ninja would mean resorting to theft, and in this era, only the nobles had any real wealth.
Provoking the nobles was tantamount to provoking a hornet's nest of ninjas.
It was far better to have money of his own.
"I want a jutsu that can win this war," White Fang stated bluntly.
His secret weapon was naturally a jutsu invented by Kin.
From the very beginning, he had pinned his hopes on Kin.
After all, this was the miraculous Uchiha Kin.
"What did you say?!" Kin flew into a rage, grabbing White Fang by the collar.
"Do you think I'm Doraemon? Pulling whatever you want out of thin air?"
"What's Doraemon?"
White Fang looked puzzled.
"You—damn it." Kin gritted his teeth in frustration but forced himself to calm down.
"How much are you willing to pay?"
Given the capabilities of his current "Golden Finger," it did seem possible to deduce a jutsu that could turn the tide.
However, the greater the power, the more demanding the requirements—and the difficulty would skyrocket accordingly.
"Same as your previous price: fifty million," White Fang held up five fingers.
That was the amount Kin had charged during the deal with Mifune.
Kin snorted and raised a single finger.
"The price has gone up. One billion."
If White Fang could screw over Uchiha Kin, then Kin could just as easily inflate the price on the spot.
"Deal."
White Fang agreed without hesitation.
Kin felt like he was the one getting shortchanged.
This was absurd.
White Fang, looking satisfied, pulled out a stack of Fire Country banknotes and placed them on the table.
"Where did you get this much money?"
Kin counted the notes—each worth one million, totaling a hundred.
Even for a ninja, earning a billion was no easy feat.
Not to mention the various other expenses.
Saving up was hard.
Had this guy staked his entire life savings for Konoha's sake?
"I raided a few underground gambling dens in Konoha."
Of course, the locations of these dens came from intel provided by Tsunade.
Kin's eyes widened as he stared at White Fang.
"Are you sure Tsunade won't skin you alive when she gets back?!"
He'd heard that the few surviving underground gambling dens in Konoha were Tsunade's lifeline.
While she wouldn't cover for them, she also wouldn't expose them.
The Uchiha Police Force wasn't just for show.
If she found out the dens had been raided, Tsunade would fly into a rage for sure.
"It's fine. Consider it helping her quit gambling."
White Fang wasn't worried. Tsunade might be violent, but she was reasonable.
He wasn't Jiraiya, after all.
At worst, he'd take a single hit from her monstrous strength and be done with it.
If it were Jiraiya, though, he'd be a dead man.
"You've got guts."
Kin couldn't help but admire White Fang's courage.
This wasn't something just anyone would dare to do.
"So, can you do it or not?"
White Fang cut straight to the point.
"It shouldn't be a problem."
With nearly 80% of the ninja world's jutsu now in his possession, Kin was confident.
"Then it's all up to you."
Satisfied, White Fang finally left Kin's tent.
"Why do I feel like this guy has more faith in me than I do?"
At some point, he'd become White Fang's personal Doraemon.
Damn you, White Fang!!
Kin sighed in resignation.
Instead of immediately deducing the jutsu, he rolled up his sleeves and placed his hand on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu."
Poof!
Little White appeared in the tent.
"Little White, it's your time to shine."
Kin patted the small white snake's head.
Little White: "???"
It was just a tiny snake that couldn't even beat a cat. What did he expect?
"Heh, you didn't think I gave you that cultivation method for free, did you?"
The sealing formula inside Little White's body was the only thing comparable to the Heavenly Demon Art.
Kin called it:
"Dragon Transformation Scripture."
Now, with Little White...
"And my sword."
At Kin's command, Little White opened its mouth and spat out a blade.
The hilt, originally that of the Kusanagi Sword, had been replaced with a pure black one.
The scabbard was gone, revealing the blade—covered in cracks as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.
Kusanagi Sword! Modified! Demon Blade Thousand Fragments!
Kin's greatest masterpiece in forging.
"Plus this."
Kin gripped the hilt and flicked his wrist. The blade shattered into fragments, connected by threads of black chakra.
He slid the weapon into his tool pouch, and the fragments slipped into his sleeves, hidden beneath his clothes.
With all preparations complete...
"Even if the Raikage shows up, I can still put up a fight."
Now...
It was time for the crucial jutsu deduction.
Kin fell deep into thought.
"The enemy outnumbers us?"
A realization struck him.
The next morning, Kin stepped out of his tent.
The entire camp was deserted, as if everyone had vanished.
The corners of his mouth twitched. The sheer disparity in numbers filled him with a hint of despair.
He could only hope that the jutsu would work as intended.
Otherwise...
This battle was unwinnable.
Kin entered the command tent.
All sixteen squads were present.
White Fang stood over a terrain map, frowning in thought.
At the sound of footsteps, fifty pairs of eyes turned toward him.
Ignoring the stares, Kin walked up to White Fang.
"No scouts?"
He was curious.
Ninja operations were stealthy—even during war, their movements were hard to detect unless combat broke out.
If everyone was here and the Cloud ninjas bypassed them to strike the rear, it would spell disaster.
White Fang pointed at the terrain map.
"Cloud ninjas were spotted heading this way last night. No need for further scouting."
"That fast?"
Kin hadn't expected the Cloud ninjas to launch their attack so soon.
According to the marked routes on the map, this camp was the only path they could take.
"You plan to engage them here?"
White Fang nodded.
"Choosing another battlefield would put us at a severe disadvantage."
"How many are there?"
"Three hundred."
"They're not taking this war too seriously, are they?"
Kin rubbed his chin.
For ninjas, three hundred troops led by a strong commander were indeed enough to qualify for a war.
Despite how frequently wars broke out in the shinobi world, aside from Iwagakure, no village had tens of thousands of active ninjas at any given time.
Unless counting the deceased, other villages might reach such numbers.
Konoha had only deployed a few thousand ninjas to the warfront, with the smallest force stationed in the Land of Rain.
Orochimaru commanded a mere few hundred there.
Now, the smallest force was here.
Less than a hundred.
It was almost a joke.
"So, is the jutsu ready?"
White Fang turned to Kin.
"Ready."
Kin produced a prepared scroll.
"The ultimate mob-clearing technique."
"Conqueror's Haki."
...
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(End of Chapter)