Early the next morning, Kakashi formed two shadow clones to oversee Sasuke and Tenten's training. Leaving them to handle the instruction, the real Kakashi made his way toward the Hokage's office, carrying the newly finished medicine ball tucked securely into his vest pouch.
Kakashi made it to the office without delay, knocking twice on the door before Tsunade spoke up and let him in.
Tsunade looked up from her desk, her cup of tea pausing halfway to her mouth before she set it down. Seeing it was Kakashi, she braced herself. In an ironic way, she had grown to both dread and look forward to his visits, knowing they usually brought something groundbreaking and entirely headache-inducing.
Without saying a word, she reached into one of her lower desk drawers and pulled out a large bottle of expensive sake before flicking the cork off with her thumb, knocking the bottle back and chugging half of it in one go, her morning tea completely forgotten.
Exhaling loudly, Tsunade set the bottle down gently in Tsunade terms and looked up with a
'What is it now?' look on her face.
Kakashi reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his invention, setting it on her desk.
"This is my new invention; I've already tested it for negative effects before allowing Sasuke to use it to recover every day. In fact, Tenten has joined the training, was left exhausted yesterday, and is training right now. If you want to verify you have the crystal ball."
Tsunade shook her head.
"Hiruzen took the crystal ball with him when he handed over the hat to me… and I destroyed it along with his house."
Kakashi blinked a few times before gesturing back to the ball.
"Well, anyway, you can have someone verify how well it works. I want to propose a deal where the village gets a percentage of the profits, allowing you to place people on producing these, and I get a steady flow of the money, allowing me to invent the stuff I really want to invent."
Tsunade picked up the ball and leaned back in her chair.
"Ingredients?"
"The common blam grass found in the forest of death, chakra conductive clay, a very common material as well, and the fallen branches of trees here in the land of fire."
"Trees?"
Tsunade muttered, staring down at the gray sphere before the realization clicked. She nodded slowly. "The woods surrounding the village were grown by my grandfather. The soil still carries traces of his vitality."
Her expression sharpened as she looked up from the desk, her eyes locking onto Kakashi. "And you're completely sure about the safety? You tested this thoroughly before handing it over to kids?"
Kakashi didn't hesitate.
"I wouldn't have let Sasuke or Tenten near it if I hadn't. I ran trials on animals first, then tested the formula on myself. The bath grass targets the muscles to heal micro-tears from training. The clay shell acts as the storage; once it dissolves in hot water, the hot water opens up the pores and chakra flows directly into the network."
He leaned back slightly against the office wall, crossing his arms.
"The growth benefits are strongest in younger ninja and kunoichi. While my own reserves only saw a microscopic increase, the results with Sasuke are clear. Over the months he's been using it, his chakra capacity has expanded by roughly five percent, completely separate from his daily training. So while it's still a benefit for grown Jonin and Chunin, the real target for this is the younger generation that are constantly in rapid stages of physical and spiritual growth."
"Kakashi, you understand this is groundbreaking, right? And you're telling me you invented this to have capital for the inventions you truly care about? Just what in the hell are you planning to invent?"
"Yes."
Kakashi joked, taking in Tsunade's confusion about the joke that only people from his other life would get.
"Everything. From medical advancements to military engineering, to everyday things. Ships, chakra weapons, I might even forge blades with special properties like the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. I've got a lot of ideas; I just need the money."
Kakashi spoke passionately, thinking about all the ideas swirling around in his mind. By the time he became the Hokage, Kakashi planned to turn Konoha into a village that was more advanced than the Land of Snow. Trains, chakra weapons for those who can't use ninjutsu, like Lee, special prosthetics for those who have lost limbs in past wars, and Bionic eyes. Every idea was crazier than the last, and Kakashi was restricted by the need for money. He was like a Tony Stark without the billions to back up his inventions.
Tsunade blinked back the image of Tobirama overlapping Kakashi; too many times had she seen her Granduncle cooking up things that only he seemed to understand. Jutsu that took other months or years to invent was dissected and learned while he made jutsu that defied logic or, in some cases, the morals of some, but she only ever saw the genius of him as a kid, later understanding after his death that he wasn't a genius; he was a freak that made geniuses look dumb in comparison.
"Ok, Kakashi, I'm interested. Give me a minute to write out a deal, then you can read it over to see what you think."
Tsunade grabbed a piece of paper from her drawer and began to write, taking her time to think about what she thought was fair, considering the production would ultimately be up to her to decide, and factoring in the labor cost for them.
Tsunade handed him the paper twenty minutes later.
The Village Cut (40% of profit = 1,200 Ryō per): Tsunade secures this to pay the medical-nin corps for their daily labor, manage material harvesting, and fill the village treasury.
Kakashi's Royalties (35% of profit = 1,050 Ryō per): As the intellectual mind behind the formula, this goes directly into Kakashi's personal account as passive income.
"The remaining 25%(750 Ryō would go to the store for packaging and retail space. What do you think? You could sit back and let the money flow in."
Tsunade thought over the amount Kakashi could make each year and wrote two estimated numbers at the bottom, one at the lower end and one at the higher end.
300,000,000 to 500,000,000 yearly without any involvement
Tsunade pulled the paper back and flipped it over to continue writing, much to Kakashi's confusion.
"This much money will make you richer than many of the merchants who visit Konoha, and that's just with one year of royalties, but I don't really want to wait a year if you can do even half of what you just said."
Tsuande wrote a number at the bottom of a page and flipped it back around for Kakashi to see.
50,000,000 Ryō
"I want to see something that will impress me; take your time, but the sooner I see it, the better."
Tsunade walked and motioned for Kakashi to stay in the office, leaving and returning a couple of minutes later with a scroll with the Senju symbol on it, tossing it to Kakashi.
"In that scroll is Fifty Million Ryō; consider this an investment in you. Once I see what you can do, I'll invest in you as the Hokage, but for now, the Senju investment should do just fine."
Kakashi clutched the scroll in surprise, surprised that she hadn't gambled this away before, and surprised that she was handing him this much money.
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade. I actually have something for you, Sakura, Gai, and Lee that I've been meaning to give you."
Kakashi retrieved a scroll and set it down on her desk.
"Six Styles?"
Tsunade read the label on the scroll, unfurling it, her eyebrows rising with each technique described.
Shave, Moonwalk, Iron Body, Tempest Kick, Paper Body (Re-named it from 'paper drawing'), Shigan, and the hidden 7th style, King Gun (Re-named it from Six King Gun). I know you can only use it with mastery of the other 6, thus the name 'Six' King Gun, but I'm changing it)
But Kakashi surprised her again by placing another scroll in front of her.
"That's filled with a month's supply of the bath balls."
"For Sakura, correct?"
Kakashi smiled softly and nodded.
"How is she doing?"
Tsunade took a 'small' sip from her sake bottle.
"She has been trying to blow up those last gords you have her. At the rate she's going, she'll have destroyed the last one on her necklace by the time Naruto, Jiraiya, and Karin return."
"You've stayed in contact with them with the summons, right? How are they?"
Kakashi asked, looking out the window, missing the two Uzumakis.
Tsunade became serious all of a sudden and gave a signal for the Anbu to leave, looking to Kakashi and getting the nod that nobody else was even remotely close.
"The last report from Jiraiya was unbelievable and concerning. Jiraiya claimed to have been attacked by a pale man with white hair and Byakugan eyes."
Kakashi stood up abruptly, chair tipping over and clattering to the ground.
"What?!"
"Kakashi, sit. I haven't even gotten to the even crazier part."
Picking up the chair, Kakashi sat, looking for more information as he realized who had attacked Jiraiya. Urashiki.
"What or whoever attacked Jiraiya was after Naruto, but he was eventually by someone claiming to be Sasuke from the future and a young boy who looks strikingly similar to Naruto, but upon questioning the man claiming to be your student, Jiraiya learned that he likely was Sasuke Uchiha, but not from this dimension; at least that's what Jiraiya thinks."
"Why does Jiraiya think that?"
Kakashi asked, mostly to confirm what he already knew.
"Jiraiya noticed that this Sasuke was surprised when he saw Karin, and when he saw Naruto, but Jiraiya doesn't know what exactly surprised him about Naruto."
"What about Karin and Naruto? Are they safe?"
Only when Tsunade nodded did Kakashi relax, cursing himself mentally for forgetting about that time-traveling parasite.
"Jiraiya was able to take one of its arms. The enemy tried to drain a massive Rasengan fueled by Sage Mode, which nearly turned him to stone. He had to sever his own arm to save himself. According to Jiraiya's report, Naruto was nearly captured. Even with the Flying Raijin, the enemy predicted every location Naruto appeared and showed zero surprise. Just as Naruto was about to be taken, Karin awakened her Uzumaki sealing chains and attacked, cutting the enemy off and allowing Future Sasuke and Jiraiya to coordinate with Naruto, Karin, and that boy that looks like Naruto, Boruto."
"They were underestimated,"
Kakashi surmised immediately, knowing Urashiki and the others well. They were arrogant by default, viewing all other lifeforms as inferior.
'But this is different. In the original timeline, Sasuke erased the memories of Jiraiya and Naruto. I guess he decided against it because he realized this was a completely different dimension from his own.'
"Jiraiya stated they were mocked as 'inferior creatures' multiple times. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't friendly and had no regard for anything. Jiraiya described its attitude not as hatred, but as if it were stepping in a pile of filth."
Tsunade nodded in agreement with Kakashi's assessment.
"That's concerning. What happened to the body? It wouldn't be good if the other villages snoop."
Tsunade waved it off.
"Turned to dust by a combined rasengan by Naruto and Boruto. That thing wasn't able to absorb it because he was occupied dodging chains, Jiraiya, and Sasuke."
"Did this Sasuke say anything else?"
"He only said that we should train hard and be ready for what's coming, but he didn't exactly tell us what's coming. So, we can only prepare for threats of that level and higher."
Tsunade replied gravely, picking up the six-styles scroll Kakashi gave her.
"I'm going to pick up my training again. I thought I was strong enough, but now I know that I'm severely lacking. I'll master these alongside Sakura. Get that other scroll to Gai and train as hard as you possibly can, Kakashi. Get everyone you can stronger."
"Yes. Lady Hokage. Let me train some of the other rookies from the previous Chunin exams. I'll leave the explanation to the sensei; they can't ignore an order from the Hokage."
Kakashi agreed, feeling the drive more than ever.
"Good, I'll inform the sensei of the teams. A basic warning will be given that we're preparing for something, but the greater details will remain between me, Jaraiya, and you for now. The teams and their Sensei will gather, and all train together. With everyone there specializing in different areas, the students won't be short on any ninja disciplines. I'll even send Shizune over for anyone who wants to learn from her."
Kakashi nodded, standing and leaving to find Gai and hand over the scroll.
- Chapter End -