The next day, in the castle tower at the capital of the Land of Snow
"Oh? The Land of Lightning is buying up supplies at full force. Do they still intend to keep the war going?"
Obito leaned back on the main seat, holding Kazahana Koyuki in his arms. His Sharingan eyes scanned the report sent by the Polaris Chamber of Commerce, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
After leaving the Land of Rain, he had naturally come here to settle things and he hadn't expected to stumble upon such interesting news so soon.
"I don't know the exact details," replied a bearded middle-aged man standing respectfully below.
"But the purchase list they sent out to the major chambers of commerce does include weapons and other war supplies."
This man was Tomohisa Yukishita, the Minister of Finance of the Land of Snow and now, Obito's subordinate.
He had once been handpicked by Dotō as a convenient bureaucrat.
His family lived in the capital, and he was just an ordinary civilian, someone Dotō could use without worry. Now, that same pragmatism made him useful to Obito as well.
"Heh… interesting."
Obito touched his chin, amusement flickering across his face.
"Tomohisa, go to Terumi Jun's camp and have him prepare a few sets of chakra armor. Hand them over to the Polaris Chamber of Commerce."
"Let them carry the goods to Kumogakure and see if the Cloud are interested in making a deal."
The Polaris Chamber of Commerce, his own creation, a trade guild built and controlled from the shadows was currently under Tomohisa's management.
"Yes, sir!" Tomohisa bowed deeply, his tone full of respect.
"Good. Then get to work."
"As you command, my lord. I will take my leave!"
After the finance minister hurried out, silence returned to the chamber.
Koyuki raised her head from Obito's chest, her cheeks slightly flushed as she gazed at him with soft, almost starry eyes.
"Onii-san looks so handsome when he gives orders…" she whispered with an infatuated smile.
Obito gently rubbed her head, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.
"Koyuki, you're the princess of the Snow Country. You need to learn how to handle things like this in the future."
But Koyuki only smiled sweetly, eyes shimmering with certainty.
"When I grow up and marry my onii-san, you'll be the rightful master of the Snow Country for everyone to see!"
"..."
Obito froze. His Sharingan almost spun out of reflex. For a second, he nearly dropped her out of sheer shock.
The hell did I just hear?
A little loli… hungry for him?
What the fuck.
Sure, Obito was a beast, but not that kind of beast. If it had been a beautiful woman saying that in his arms, he wouldn't have minded at all. But this? This was way too much.
First Karin, now even Koyuki was acting like this? Both of them, looking at him with those eyes?
Why?!
Obito was speechless. He wracked his brain, trying to recall if he'd done anything that could have possibly tugged at their hearts.
Nothing came up. Hell, he openly admitted out loud that he was using them as tools. So why were they turning out like this for him?
Then it hit him.
Wait… isn't this the same bullshit my boi Ayanokoji deals with?
He acts like a cold, manipulative monster with no emotions, yet Karuizawa Kei, Arisu and Ichinose are still obsessed with him.
Hell, they even want to reverse-fuck him.
Obito's eye twitched.
Shit!? Don't tell me… this is the side effect of using people as tools?!
Damnit Ayanokoji!!! This is all your fault… When I have the chance I would throw your smart ass straight into the Devouring Coffin and fuck Horikita Suzune by the way.
---
In Another World...
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sat quietly on a school bus, his trademark blank expression never shifting. Suddenly, he sneezed.
"...?"
That shouldn't have been possible. With his body conditioned in the White Room, catching a cold was impossible. Fever? Illness? Harsh environments? None of it could touch him.
He was supposed to be the pinnacle of humanity in his world.
Yet here he was, sneezing like some ordinary student.
What he didn't know was that somewhere, far away, an Uchiha with a mask was cursing his name.
---
Tomohisa Yukishita proved his efficiency once again. He had received Obito's order that very morning, and by the afternoon the cargo was already loaded onto a ship and sailing out of port.
The reason Obito wanted to sell chakra armor to the Hidden Cloud was simple, he wanted to stoke the flames of war.
Right now, he couldn't be certain if Kumogakure and Konoha would come to blows. After all, Konoha would never take the initiative to start such a conflict.
But if the Cloud gained even a shred of confidence, if they believed they had an edge...it might push them into action.
And if they fought Konoha again, the constant battles would only bleed both great villages dry.
That was exactly what Obito wanted: to accelerate the consumption of their strength until neither could stand tall.
Truly... According to...
Of course, the armor he provided was hardly the cutting-edge model. What he sold to the Cloud wasn't the newly improved version designed under his guidance in the Land of Snow, but the older units left behind by Dotō.
The chakra armor seen in the anime, those ten years later was already a mature, perfected design.
What Obito handed over was little more than an outdated prototype, bait wrapped in steel.
Now that Dotō had been killed ahead of schedule, the follow-up research and development of chakra armor naturally fell under Obito's command.
For the moment, however, what he planned to sell to Kumogakure were merely the remnants of Dotō's stockpile.
Outdated as they were, the armors still retained their two fundamental functions: defense, and the amplification of chakra.
The upper limit was nothing impressive, of course. But for battles at the level of an ordinary jōnin, they were more than sufficient.
That alone was enough to bait the Cloud.
And beyond that, Obito had a second purpose in mind for selling the armors, spreading the Snow Country's technological products.
Because one day, when the Land of Snow truly rose in power, it would export more than just weapons.
Transportation systems. Modern conveniences. Even simple household goods like televisions.
Obito intended to take the Snow Country's science and technology and weave it into the fabric of the entire shinobi world.
Therefore, the chakra armor was nothing more than a tool to build reputation.
Once, he had told Pakura and Kisame of his goal: to dominate the shinobi world.
Did they really believe Obito was some peace-loving savior?
Wrong. Very wrong.
Reunification and peace were only the first step, a shallow facade to satisfy his ambitions.
What Obito truly wanted was to rule the world, reshape it, transform it until it became exactly what he desired.
Because at his core, Obito wasn't just a shinobi. He was an otaku.
His hobbies were simple: indulging in every form of entertainment imaginable.
And yet, for years he had lived in this world with no smartphones, no manga, no games, no movies, no television, no anime, not even a decent novel.
Can anyone truly understand that kind of suffering?
If it weren't for the crushing boredom, why else would he be running around the continents, scheming, plotting, and stirring up chaos everywhere he went?
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