86. Ripple (1)

Although Pain never lacked manpower or locations—Amegakure itself was already ideal, and manpower could be summoned, stolen, or coerced into service—it was clear: once Akatsuki decided to build this factory, a fair amount of their attention would be diverted to it for the foreseeable future.

"But wait a second." Kisame tilted his head, genuinely curious. "There are already plenty of factories making TVs—at least ten across the five great nations. How can you be sure people will buy ours?"

Hinata slowly turned, her pale eyes glowing coldly in the dim cavern light. Locking eyes with Kisame, she spoke each word with chilling clarity.

"Then… shut them all down. Problem solved, right?"

The entire space froze for a beat. Kisame nodded slowly, not clearly showing his emotions. "Yeah… if people want TVs and ours are the only ones left… then it's a monopoly. One factory, all the profits."

"If it were someone else, I might worry about the morality of it all. But with you guys? I think we can skip that concern."

Hinata turned to Pain, fingers idly twisting a strand of her hair. "So, what do you say, Lord Pain? One more step forward… and all the world's wealth will be within reach."

---

At the end of the day, people who don't want to move forward are rare.

The more capable they are, the more they want to advance. Whether through ambition or corruption, it always comes back to one thing: they want to live life their way, on their terms.

To humans, "moving forward" means something simple—rising in status, earning glory, making money, gaining strength. That's why Akatsuki couldn't say no to Hinata.

After all, they were a group aiming to conquer the entire world.

Sure, Pain still believed that collecting the tailed beasts and forging a massive weapon would force the nations into submission—but compared to the solid, immediate profit of building a real, functioning economy? That idea was starting to sound… naive.

Back in the canon timeline, with no Hinata to partner with, that dream was all they had. As rogue ninja, why not go challenge a few tailed beasts?

But now they had her—a collaborator who could flip a cheap clay figure into tens of millions of ryo. She showed them an alternate path: realistic, profitable, and deeply grounded.

Of course, they weren't going to abandon the tailed beast plan. They just weren't ready to act on it yet. Intel was still incomplete, the targets were scattered, and their influence wasn't strong enough to launch full-scale operations.

So… time to build a war chest. Even conquerors need a solid base of operations.

And this was Akatsuki—a group of S-rank rogue shinobi with enough might to rival a whole Hidden Village.

Like Hinata said, they had the power to quietly sabotage all those underfunded, barely guarded electrical factories in the major nations. And once the timing was right, they'd dominate the industry in one clean sweep.

The only uncontrollable variable was Fox Tales itself.

The entire gamble rested on how well the show would perform—and the production studio was inside Konoha, beyond Akatsuki's direct control.

Even Pain had his reservations. But as any true leader knows, every plan carries risk. And Pain had the guts to bet big when it counted.

As for the man behind the mask—Tobi, or Uchiha Obito—he also saw nothing wrong with the proposal. Akatsuki was a tool to support his Moon's Eye Plan. The stronger it became, the better.

Hinata's personal strength didn't even register as a threat. She was beneath notice. He didn't even care enough to investigate her true identity.

So naturally, the vote passed.

The factory would be built in Amegakure. Machines and workers were easy to come by. Meanwhile, Akatsuki agents quietly began to sabotage the other major nations' electronics factories.

---

"What? No lightbulbs?" Sakura stared in confusion.

Basket in hand, she looked at the shopkeeper in disbelief. "How does something like that even go out of stock?"

"The Yamada Electric Factory nearby caught fire two days ago—faulty wiring, supposedly. Repairs will take a while."

The shopkeeper sighed. For a small business, this was the worst-case scenario.

"Oh… okay. Sorry to bother you."

Sakura walked back to the Uchiha compound, still puzzled. She'd grown quite used to the place now. It had seen a lot of changes this past week.

"Ino, I got the groceries. How about pork bowls for lunch?"

She breezed into the kitchen. Ino poked her head in from the courtyard and gave an approving nod. "Perfect. We can't live on ramen forever. Seriously, it's all Naruto's fault. I swear my hair's starting to look like noodles."

"Choji! Chop some wood!"

With a thump, the chubby boy rolled off the roof. "On it!"

Despite the odd living arrangement, the kids had adapted fast. No family objected—Hinata's group wasn't just another school club. Whatever she planned, they'd learned not to interfere.

---

"Seriously? This is all you found?"

Hinata looked at the television in front of her with deep dissatisfaction. Big, heavy frame, a measly 14-inch screen, and the channel controls were rotary dials? At least it was color, or she might've smashed it on the spot.

Next to it was a camera—a tripod-mounted, double-reel tape recorder model. To Hinata, it might as well be a museum piece.

"Yup. That's the best we could find. I pulled a few strings with Dad, even." Shikamaru looked half-dead. Hinata had dumped the entire production expansion on him. Even with Shino helping, it was killing him.

Thankfully, the Third Hokage was quietly supportive. And with Asuma pulling strings, they secured a second round of funding. Nearly every ninja with spare cash had bought in, hoping for returns. Based on how much they invested, they received stock certificates.

After all, even if shinobi weren't allowed to run businesses directly, who could stop them from investing?

Honestly, in a world with this primitive an economy, Hinata saw Shikamaru as her personal stock market genius. The guy wasn't just smart—he was probably some kind of world-logic-enhanced superbrain.

"Hehehe~ The only thing I'm not picky about is your genius brain. So don't whine. Get that camera ready—we need to shoot the first episode of Fox Tales today, so we can burn it onto tape before graduation tomorrow."

She patted his shoulder with far too much force. Shikamaru nearly collapsed.

"Yeah, yeah… maybe I'll actually have less work once I become a ninja."

---

"Why am I still in costume the day before graduation…"

Naruto, dressed in his full fox spirit getup, hung his head.

"Quit whining, dead last. Hurry it up. I've got training to do," grumbled Sasuke, fully costumed as a young villager boy.

"I know, I know! Geez, you moody emo block!"

Their back-and-forth had become so routine, no one even looked up.

In the courtyard, Shino (still in his shades) directed electricians as they rewired the entire Uchiha compound. Originally, it only had circuits for lighting. Now, they needed full electrical support for the growing mountain of gear.

Kiba, the newest team member, was nervously practicing transformation jutsu in the backyard. With no acting experience, he needed extra time just to get his footing in camera-specific jutsu work.

---

"Tomorrow, the students graduate." Kakashi sipped his drink, seated on a barstool.

It was rare for him to show emotion, but even he sounded a little reflective. This class wasn't normal—aside from a few average students, nine of them were already involved in a shadowy new organization.

"Nervous, Kakashi?" A booming voice cut in.

It was Might Guy—bushy eyebrows, dazzling white teeth, green jumpsuit—Konoha's self-proclaimed noble beast and Kakashi's eternal rival.

"I get it," Kurenai said softly. "These kids are different. Teaching them won't be easy."

She sipped her wine. "The more talented the student, the harder it is for the teacher."

"Heh. Our job is to pass down the Will of Fire. Nothing more, nothing less," Asuma declared, raising his glass with a grin.