blogombal Chapter 38 Start-up Funding
Chapter 38 Start-up Funding
"Thank you so much, Master Menma..."
Hyuga Hizashi bowed deeply, his voice solemn, his heart filled with an indescribable sense of relief. Finally, it was over. He had not only survived, but he would even be able to see Neji again.
However, Naruto simply waved his hand. "Alright, I know," he interrupted lazily. "Now that things are finally over, let's skip the chit-chat."
Hizashi paused, then a bitter smile appeared on his lips. The person before him clearly possessed power enough to overturn the ninja world, yet he was completely indifferent to the gratitude of others.
"Hmm." He nodded. "If you need my help, I will gladly serve you, even at the cost of my life."
Naruto glanced at him. It seemed that even after creating an organization, he could be a hands-off manager. However, what pleased him even more was the system notification sound in his mind.
【Ding! 】
[Congratulations, host! You have established a bond with the original character "Hyuga Hizashi" (Level 7) (Max)!]
Points earned: 150!
【Ding! 】
[Congratulations, host! You have established a level 7 bond with the original character "Hyuga Neji" (maximum)!]
Points earned: 700!
[Friendly Reminder: Level 7 is the maximum level for normal affinity. To further increase the bond level, a qualitative change in the relationship is required.]
Already at the maximum level? It seems this father and son's gratitude towards me has reached the point of "unwavering until death." A qualitative change? Could it be that I can go even further?
For example... how about making Neji your disciple in the future? Or, how about simply having him join the "Jin" organization?
Naruto now has 1650 points, enough for another 10-pull. But... does level 7 mean his affection level is maxed out?
I never expected that just by talking to Neji, I could increase his favorability to the maximum, to the point that he would be willing to open his heart to me.
...Outrageous.
But upon closer reflection, there do seem to be similar examples in the ninja world.
For example, Kimimaro.
Orochimaru simply gave him a pep talk, and Kimimaro completely fell for him, even becoming Orochimaru's new vessel, burning his life force to fight to the very last moment.
So, is Neji's level of loyalty to me roughly this level?
Are the people in the ninja world all too easily fooled...?
However, he cared more about the bond level of another person than Neji.
Satsuki.
Her current bond level is 5, which is two levels away from the maximum level of 7.
Level 5... what does that mean?
The moment this question popped into my mind, the system immediately responded.
[Zuoyue's Bond Level 5: The other person considers you a close friend, and your presence has become an indispensable part of her life.]
Current Relationship: Deep trust and emotional dependence.
[Development Trend: With time, this bond will naturally evolve into a higher level—a soulmate, or… love.]
"..."
Naruto stared at the last two words and fell into a brief silence.
love?
He could understand the first option; the Naruto and Sasuke in the original work had that kind of deep friendship that transcended life and death. But the second option...
Love? Satsuki...becoming his girlfriend?
His thoughts began to wander uncontrollably. To be fair, Zuo Yue's appearance was indeed impeccable, maintaining her top-tier looks even after the gender swap.
Furthermore, the current Sōgetsu hasn't experienced the massacre of her clan, so her personality isn't as gloomy as in the original work; she just has a touch of cute tsundere...
Having a girlfriend like that would be really nice...
...Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! When did he start having such dangerous thoughts? He clearly remembered that when he first saw Satsuki, his thought was, "I wish I had a daughter as cute as her in the future!"
Something's not right... This is definitely not right... Could it be Indra's chakra influencing me?
"Menma-sama?"
Hiashi's confused voice pulled Naruto back to reality from his reverie. He then realized that his behavior was a bit strange and quickly coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment.
"...Ahem, it's nothing." Naruto quickly switched back to serious mode. "You know my purpose, right?"
"Yes." Hizashi bowed respectfully. "To deter other countries with force and prevent war. Since Lord Menma wants to establish an organization, how is its completion progressing?"
The air suddenly became quiet for a few seconds.
"...If we include you," Naruto's tone became somewhat subtle, "[Jin] now has two members."
He revealed the shameful truth with a hint of embarrassment. However, Hizashi's expression remained unchanged; he simply nodded calmly.
"I see. So, does Lord Menma intend to establish a base first, or prioritize recruiting capable individuals?"
His tone was calm. Hizashi had already decided to dedicate his loyalty to Menma without reservation—without asking why, without considering the cost. This resolve had long been established.
Although Menma was a fearsome figure in the ninja world, Hizashi witnessed Menma arranging for him to meet his son, and he knew very well that a true fire of justice burned deep within the leader's heart.
As the younger brother of the Hyuga family head, Hizashi is quite adept at management. For many years, he and his brother have handled all the affairs of the Hyuga family together, making him nothing short of the family head's right-hand man.
Looking back, he did harbor resentment towards the main family because of the constraints of being a caged bird, but that resentment never truly took root in his elder brother, who was the head of the family.
Everything changed with the birth of Neji.
When the exceptionally talented son displayed astonishing abilities, yet was still branded with the curse of the caged bird, while the head of the family's daughter, with mediocre talents, was spared this humiliation because of her status as a member of the main family, at that moment, the resentment that had been suppressed for many years finally broke through.
He accepted his fate as a member of the branch family, after all, his talent was at best that of an ordinary Jonin. But when he saw Neji about to repeat the same mistake, the resentment he had suppressed for so many years finally erupted.
"I'll handle recruiting members; the base construction is your responsibility. As a neutral country, the Land of Hot Springs has lax intelligence control and doesn't have its own ninja village, so the Five Great Nations won't be closely monitoring it. Plus, with its thriving tourism industry and frequent population movement, it's perfect as a base."
Naruto explained the requirements one by one. "First, you need a legitimate, publicly known identity, preferably using a respectable profession as a cover. Second, your main base must be well-hidden and easily defensible. Can you do that?"
Hizashi nodded slightly. "I understand. I will do my best to complete Lord Menma's task."
The requirements may seem complicated, but they are actually not difficult to fulfill. Without revealing his identity as part of the [Jin] organization, Hizashi only needs to start a business in the Land of Hot Springs as an ordinary merchant.
The real problem lies in funding. Naruto can't build the house himself, but he also can't let Hizashi start from scratch. So how much savings does Naruto have?
50 taels of silver, most of which came from a lottery system, was barely enough for a down payment on a house in Konoha, but it was far from sufficient as start-up capital for an organization.
Thinking about this, Naruto felt a pang of regret. After severely injuring the Raikage, he could have easily taken the opportunity to extort money from Kumogakure. But he had just made that awe-inspiring declaration that shook the ninja world; asking for money so soon would have been beneath him. Besides, the trial card was about to expire...
However, besides his savings, Naruto has other things that can be turned into money.
Suddenly, with a soft "bang," a piece of metal with a peculiar luster appeared out of thin air on the table.
"This is….."
"Old loot," Naruto said casually, his fingertips tapping lightly on the metal surface. "Should be enough to get some start-up capital. What's the market price now?"
After bending down to examine it closely, Hizashi couldn't hide his surprise. "This is... chakra metal?" As a core member of the Hyuga branch family, he had only seen this rare material once before, at a major family celebration. The gift presented at that time was only the size of a thumb, but this piece in front of him was as big as half a palm.
Richa carefully picked up the metal and weighed it in his hand. "Currently, the black market price..." he paused, "is about 100,000 taels per gram."
"One gram for 100,000 taels... Hmm?"
Wait, how much?!
Naruto's expression froze beneath his mask, his heart churning with shock. One gram worth 1 ryo? Then the 1500 grams he'd stockpiled in his system space would be... 5000 million ryo? That amount could even warrant a bounty of four Asumas on the black market!
Is using 'asma' as a unit of measurement a bit excessive?