C181(1)

"We have that many forces?"

Kain revealed a little about the scale of his business to Kushina, and her eyes widened in shock. Still, she didn't know everything—especially about the armed forces and the intelligence organization managed by Yakushi Nono. That part was kept from her.

It wasn't deliberate concealment, but some things were better left unseen—like the human experiments. 

Kain figured Kushina would probably find that hard to accept. Even though he was confident she wouldn't leave him over it, he'd rather avoid such awkward situations altogether.

"After I leave, you can manage these things if you want. If not, just leave it to aya and the others."

Hearing that, Kushina's interest piqued. "Can I manage the business side of things?" she asked.

"Of course," Kain replied. "Even if you lose a few hundred million ryo, it's nothing, as long as you're happy."

When Kain said this, he wasn't exaggerating. He'd been in the ninja world for ten years. It might be a stretch to say he monopolized the basic necessities of the Land of Fire, but at least 30% of its business was tied to him.

Medicine, newspapers, desserts, casinos, chain izakayas, and restaurants—you name it. Aya had also become a well-known businesswoman in the Land of Fire, though many knew Kain was the one pulling the strings behind her success.

Seventy percent of the consumer spots in Konoha were run by Kain, and the money he paid to the Jōnin? It eventually cycled right back into his businesses.

Besides, Kushina's interest was likely just a passing fancy. Kain figured she'd lose interest before long.

Kain's biggest gain from coming to the ninja world this time was the gift from his future self. The technological knowledge Naruto brought him was enough to push the Pent Group's tech to the level of space warfare. But fully digesting that knowledge would take time.

In the meantime, he had been hunting for mineral resources across the ninja world.

Kakuzu, lugging around a sealing scroll, nearly wore his legs out in the process. But he didn't mind—he'd basically become the exclusive enforcer for the Kain Chamber of Commerce. 

Aya even had him take out two underground bounty houses in the Land of sound and the Land of Grass.

These bounty houses had posted rewards for key figures in Kain's organization and refused to withdraw them, so Kain decided to spend some money to teach them a lesson.

Kakuzu handled the job with his usual caution and precision. No one escaped, and the underground gold exchange never figured out he was behind it.

And that was just the beginning. Kain dropped 500 million ryo to wipe out the underground bounty house and those pulling the strings behind it.

On top of that, Aya had a squad of bio-enhanced super soldiers at her disposal. Shinno had helped transform their bodies, using a combination of the T-virus and super soldier serum to boost their physical stats. 

The Red Queen assisted in turning them into semi-mechanized warriors with electronic chip implants to further increase their combat effectiveness.

These chips didn't just contain Kain's orders—they were also loaded with all the essential knowledge a guard needed to know.

At the same time, this served as both a test and a data collection exercise. These super soldiers were the first batch of subjects to use Kain's two serums. 

Even with data support from the future, Shinno still lost over 70 experimental subjects before successfully creating 30 biochemical super soldiers.

Though their appearances were somewhat grotesque, wearing masks covered that up. The masks were specially designed, equipped with multiple functions like infrared scanning, farsighted vision, and electric stimulation. 

Additionally, the soldiers were outfitted with exoskeleton armor and new energy weapons.

The primary weapon used by these biochemical super soldiers was the plasma laser gun. If even grazed by a shot, a ninja's body would be scorched, with injuries severe enough that saving vital organs would be nearly impossible. 

The firing speed of these weapons was faster than a Jōnin's ability to throw kunai. Unless a target could anticipate the shot or had exceptional speed, dodging a plasma laser was nearly impossible.

However, despite the weapon's power, recharging them in the ninja world posed a significant challenge. 

Most of the available energy had to be allocated to the Red Queen and the engineering robots. The thirty super soldiers' weapons were manageable in terms of energy consumption, but scaling up would require reserving even more energy for weapon use.

With the combined protection of the biochemical super soldiers and various magical items, the safety of Kain's key personnel was temporarily secured. 

Aya and the others were also guarded by skilled ninjas and samurai. Under this triple layer of protection, it was virtually impossible for ordinary people to harm them.

Kain had his suspicions about who was behind the bounty offers. The higher-ups in Konoha or the Cloud Shinobi were the most likely culprits—they harbored the deepest grudges against him. 

If they couldn't get to Kain directly, they would likely target those around him or his subordinates.

Naturally, Kushina was the closest to him. However, as the Nine Tails Jinchūriki, she could control the power of a tailed beast, making her more than a match for even five Kage-level ninjas. 

Moreover, the magical items in her possession were the most powerful of all, so Kain didn't worry about her safety.

Somewhere in the Land of Fire – The Root Training Base

Danzo had begun establishing Root bases outside Konoha long ago, and there was more than one. In the Land of Fire alone, there were three hidden bases, and this one was the largest training facility for Root members among them.

After the destruction of the Root base in Konoha, Danzo instructed his people to develop more spells to restrain his subordinates. 

The news of the Root base's destruction had spread to all the ninja clans, severely damaging Danzo's ability to recruit.

Even with Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders, it was difficult for Danzo to attract new recruits from the ninja clans.

 As an elder weakened by incompetence, Danzo's standing—and that of Root—had diminished. Many clans were unwilling to send their members to serve under him. 

Root's recruitment standards were also high—Chūnin were considered the backbone of the organization.

With clan support dwindling, Danzo focused on developing his own candidates, establishing this training base to that end. 

Gento, one of his trusted operatives, began abducting five- and six-year-old children from across the ninja world for training.

Those who demonstrated ninja talent and performed well were allowed to begin practicing ninjutsu. Only after becoming Genin would they be assigned missions.

There were now thirty-three boys and girls, aged seven or eight, in this base. They underwent brutal training every day.

 All thirty-three had been carefully screened and had successfully extracted chakra.

"How many from this group can be added to Root?"

That day, Danzo visited the training base to inspect their progress. His title as Hokage's assistant had been revoked, leaving him with only the rank of an ordinary Jōnin.

….

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