Chapter 308: How Vengeful the Raikage of Hidden Cloud Village Is
"Business is often like this. If you do not do it, someone else will. It is like the fields at home. If you do not plow them, another ox will come and do it."
Amamiya Kenichi let out a sigh as he held the storybook in his hand.
He truly had not expected Jiraiya to have such a philosophical side. He had originally assumed Jiraiya was just a writer of adult novels, but he never expected him to come out with something like that.
But wait. Jiraiya definitely did not have a wife, so how had he come to understand such a principle?
That was a question worth pondering.
"Teacher, what kind of person do you think Jiraiya is?" Amamiya Kenichi asked curiously as he looked at Orochimaru, who was fiddling with his oversized mobile phone.
Ever since Amamiya Kenichi had mentioned commercial monopolies, Orochimaru had suddenly become highly motivated. One could even say excited. He had immediately started researching anti theft functions for phones.
"Jiraiya?" Orochimaru frowned slightly.
He knew Jiraiya well enough, though not down to every detail. But in Orochimaru's eyes, Jiraiya was not exactly a proper person.
After all, what kind of proper man peeked into women's bathhouses every day? If Jiraiya had not been so strong, he would have been beaten to death countless times already.
Even Hiruzen had repeatedly warned Jiraiya not to do such things, saying it would damage the reputation of the Sannin. But Jiraiya would agree in one moment, then drag Hiruzen along to peek the next, until Tsunade had to beat both of them into silence.
"Although that guy is somewhat unreliable, he is a very strong ninja, and compared to most people, he is relatively straightforward," Orochimaru said after some thought.
Amamiya Kenichi understood.
He felt the same way. Jiraiya might be indecent, but there was nothing to criticize when it came to his strength.
"Teacher, we are heading to Hidden Cloud now, right? Why do I keep feeling like the Raikage will just rush over and throw a punch at my face the moment he sees me?" Amamiya Kenichi rubbed his hands together.
He and Orochimaru had just left Iwagakure.
Naturally, the business there had been completed, and the price had been the same as in Hidden Sand. However, the Tsuchikage had proposed a condition that had surprised him a little.
He had wanted Amamiya Kenichi to keep the matter confidential and not sell the airships to the other villages. He had even offered to pay all the fees other villages would have paid, in exchange for a one time monopoly.
Amamiya Kenichi had refused.
At first, he had not actually intended to reject it. After all, the Tsuchikage did not know whether he planned to sell to the others or not. And even without Hidden Sand, selling to three great villages would still bring in an enormous amount of money.
But after considering the consequences, he gave up on the idea.
If he had agreed, the Tsuchikage would have learned the truth as soon as he met Konoha's envoys. At that point, the old man would likely march straight to the Akatsuki to cause trouble, and then the Akatsuki would come looking for him.
That would be a headache.
After all, the Akatsuki was the talent pool Amamiya Kenichi intended to use in the future. Nagato was already beginning to waver. Once Obito and Black Zetsu were dealt with, it would only be a matter of time before the Akatsuki leaned toward him.
Moreover, Amamiya Kenichi had great confidence in his peace plan. It was a plan tested by history. There was no problem with it.
"So we are not doing business with Hidden Cloud?" Orochimaru glanced at his disciple with a half-smile.
Missing out on Hidden Cloud was not a major loss, but Orochimaru knew Amamiya Kenichi too well. He was not the kind of person who would sit back and let someone else earn money that could have been his.
Amamiya Kenichi's mouth twitched.
He really wanted to say no. But the thought of Konoha making a fortune in his place made his stomach ache. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to go anyway.
It was only a meeting with the Raikage.
Amamiya Kenichi was not too worried. With him and Orochimaru together, facing one Raikage would not be a problem.
Besides...
Amamiya Kenichi patted his pocket. The things inside were exactly what he had prepared to deal with sudden trouble, enough to make sure he had the power to fight back if anything happened.
"Speaking of which, Kenichi, what do you think the limit of the human body is?" Orochimaru suddenly asked.
Amamiya Kenichi froze for a moment when he heard that.
He glanced out the window. Outside was a sea of clouds. Hidden Cloud Village lay ahead, though there was still some distance to go.
"I do not think the human body has a limit," Amamiya Kenichi replied after a moment of thought.
"Oh? Why?" Orochimaru became interested.
He continued fiddling with the phone in his hand. A thought had occurred to him earlier. Could human beings possess some special technique that allowed a phone to be directly embedded into the brain? If that worked, communication would become much more convenient.
"Because of genes, Teacher," Amamiya Kenichi answered directly.
Although genes were essentially a maddening string of codes, once those codes were deciphered and genetic programming became possible, then human beings, to a certain extent, truly possessed limitless potential.
"You have made breakthrough progress in modifying the Uchiha bloodline?" Orochimaru heard the confidence in Amamiya Kenichi's tone and immediately caught the meaning.
"Yes. I have made some progress. Now I just need a large number of repeated experiments to stabilize the data." Amamiya Kenichi nodded.
He had already made progress with the Three Tomoe Sharingan, but as for the Mangekyo Sharingan, that was still in the theoretical stage.
If one asked when the Uchiha underwent a true leap in power, the answer was clear. It was the transition from the Three Tomoe Sharingan to the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Even a Sannin like Orochimaru, who naturally had strong resistance to genjutsu, had still been overwhelmed by Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan. That was probably one of the biggest reasons Orochimaru remained so obsessed with it.
After all, Mangekyo abilities were simply too powerful.
Combined with the fact that Orochimaru's soul had likely already gone through several reincarnations by that point, leaving it damaged to some extent and weakening his resistance to illusion techniques, it was not strange that he had suffered.
Ordinary genjutsu, however, would never be enough to ambush Orochimaru.
"When the time comes, do it for me as well," Orochimaru said bluntly.
Amamiya Kenichi did not overthink it. He simply nodded.
Even if Orochimaru had not asked, he would have done it anyway. Orochimaru had helped him a great deal. Amamiya Kenichi considered himself someone who remembered favors.
"But I will not let you suffer for it. I can teach you... a secret technique," Orochimaru said after a brief pause, his expression serious.
Amamiya Kenichi looked at his teacher's solemn face, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Then he instinctively turned his head away.
Something felt very wrong.
He always had the feeling that his teacher was becoming more and more integrated with this body.
And he had also noticed that Orochimaru seemed to rarely use his original appearance anymore.
Thinking of that, Amamiya Kenichi suddenly recalled a scene from one of Jiraiya's books.
It was from this month's newest release, The Story of Me and Princess Orochi: The Unveiling.
In it, Jiraiya had solemnly sworn that Princess Orochi always bathed alone and never with him or Tsunade.
Because of that, Jiraiya had boldly concluded that Princess Orochi had either concealed his true identity since childhood or had simply never revealed it at all.
When Amamiya Kenichi had read that line, he had nearly shouted in shock.
Jiraiya truly was bold beyond belief. If Orochimaru ever found out, Jiraiya's grave would probably be overgrown by the next day.
"Teacher, what secret technique are you planning to teach me?" Amamiya Kenichi rubbed his nose, then looked at Orochimaru and asked.
"You will know when the time comes," Orochimaru said with a faint smile, offering no further explanation.
Still, Amamiya Kenichi already had some guesses.
The secret technique Orochimaru meant was most likely one of the techniques unique to him.
Like the Cursed Seal.
Or perhaps...
Living Corpse Reincarnation.
Amamiya Kenichi did not have time to keep dwelling on it, because Hidden Cloud Village was now close.
What made him frown, however, was the dark mass in the sky above the village.
Hot air balloons.
But these balloons were flying at a relatively low altitude. They could not reach the same height as his airship. Then, from below, a bolt of lightning shot upward.
Amamiya Kenichi opened the glass window and caught the object with one hand.
It was a kunai charged with electricity.
"It seems Hidden Cloud and Konoha have a rather good relationship," Amamiya Kenichi said as he narrowed his eyes and looked at the Hidden Cloud ninja gradually closing in from below.
Although he had known that Hidden Cloud and Konoha seemed to be negotiating something, he had not expected Konoha to hand over hot air balloons this quickly.
If that was the case, then perhaps this business really could not be done.
For a moment, Amamiya Kenichi hesitated.
After all, the Raikage's personality was...
"Someone is coming up," Orochimaru said as he stood beside Amamiya Kenichi and looked at the dark shapes below.
Amamiya Kenichi leaned out and looked down.
He saw a hot air balloon ascending rapidly, and on it stood two dark figures.
With the help of his Sharingan, Amamiya Kenichi quickly made out their faces.
A and Bee.
"What the hell?" Amamiya Kenichi was speechless.
He had known that his hatred level in Hidden Cloud Village was high, but he had not expected the A and Bee duo to come charging straight at him the instant they saw him.
How much hatred was that?
"They cannot reach this height, can they?" Amamiya Kenichi had no intention of letting the duo force his airship down.
If they rose any higher, they would be close to seeing it clearly.
So he immediately maneuvered the airship upward, pushing it once again toward its maximum tested ceiling.
Twenty thousand meters.
That was the highest value Amamiya Kenichi had personally tested for the airship.
Although hot air balloons could theoretically rise higher, that assumption was based on the manufacturing standards of his previous life. In the Ninja World, the ceiling would likely be much lower.
He had already tested it himself. The hot air balloons he made could rise to roughly eleven thousand meters before becoming unstable. If they went higher, they would probably crash.
But just by glancing downward, Amamiya Kenichi realized something was wrong.
Although the two dark figures below had stopped moving upward, chakra was now gathering subtly around them.
This was...
In the very next second, those two distant black dots suddenly enlarged. Then a destructive and ominous pressure began to condense.
Amamiya Kenichi's pupils contracted.
He had encountered enough jinchuriki by now to recognize it instantly.
A Tailed Beast Ball.
Killer Bee had directly entered partial tailed beast form on the hot air balloon, and then...
There was no time to think any further.
Amamiya Kenichi immediately used Wind Release to force the airship to swerve. Just as it left its previous position, the shockwave smashed into it, sending the entire airship lurching violently off course.
The violent turbulence made Amamiya Kenichi dizzy and nauseous.
"It is quite obvious that the Raikage really wants to kill you," Orochimaru remarked as he looked at the Tailed Beast Ball exploding behind the airship.
"It looks like this business really cannot be done," Amamiya Kenichi said as he struggled to regain control.
Yet at that very moment, his instincts screamed a warning.
Before he could even react, a bolt of lightning pierced straight up through the underside of the airship, ripping through the balloon envelope.
The airship instantly lost buoyancy, and a huge amount of gas began leaking out.
Amamiya Kenichi's mouth twitched.
The Raikage really did want him dead.
Next time he saw Uncle Jiraiya, maybe he really should tell Jiraiya to write a few extra books where the Raikage got humiliated.
Amamiya Kenichi clenched his fists in indignation.
Defeating someone was troublesome.
Slandering someone was troublesome too.
But now he had a brand new idea. Let the Raikage be humiliated inside an adult novel. Then he could...
No, maybe not.
What if that awakened some strange tastes in certain readers instead?
"But most people with a pure love mindset would definitely hate the Raikage after reading something like that, right? Then I could print them all out and spread them throughout Hidden Cloud Village until everyone there hated him." Amamiya Kenichi felt the idea had real potential.
Still, that was for later.
What he had to solve right now was the situation in front of him.
Looking at the destructive energy fluctuations rising from below, Amamiya Kenichi let out a sigh.
The Raikage really did care for him deeply. How long had he been preparing for this?
The next moment, a black sphere shot upward at terrifying speed.
Amamiya Kenichi instantly used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to fling himself away from the ship.
A dark figure flashed past him at the same time. His teacher's dress rippled violently in the wind, and Amamiya Kenichi only caught a quick glimpse before looking away.
"Watch out!" Orochimaru's indifferent warning rang out.
In the very next second, a violent shockwave crashed into him and sent him flying, while the airship itself was completely obliterated by the Tailed Beast Ball.
"Damn you, Killer Bee... one day I'm going to beat you so badly you won't even be able to rap anymore," Amamiya Kenichi cursed as he felt the intense pain spreading through his body.
"That damned Killer Bee. He really went for the kill."
.....
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