Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The continuous explosions echoed through the air!
"What's going on?"
"Let's go check it out!"
The four inside the house disappeared one after another.
At the rear courtyard of the command mansion, a sudden battle erupted—and ended within less than a minute! The speed was astonishing, as one side held an overwhelming advantage!
It was Kakuzu!
This battle was expected to happen sooner or later, but Haruto Saito didn't anticipate it would be today. Kakuzu's efficiency was beyond his expectations—not only was he good at managing money, but he also seemed to be quite capable in other areas!
To put it simply, this was an internal conflict within Gutian Village.
After Kakuzu took control of Gutian Village, he was nominally its leader, with all others serving under him. However, the villagers obeyed only on the surface and had been waiting for a chance to eliminate him! Yet, because Kakuzu was too powerful, they hadn't found an opportunity.
Over the past few days, Kakuzu had secretly recruited some of Gutian Village's two hundred ninja under his command. With his strength and wealth, recruitment was relatively easy. Only the former village leader's staunch loyalists resisted his influence.
And today!
The village was now divided into two factions!
A minor dispute escalated into a full-blown confrontation!
Although it started as a trivial matter, Kakuzu took advantage of the situation and eliminated the former village leader and his close followers, effectively wiping out opposition. The remaining neutral ninjas, having lost their backbone, had no choice but to submit to Kakuzu!
With this upheaval, Gutian Village was now entirely under Kakuzu's control. The casualties? Just over a dozen people!
And Kakuzu had successfully asserted his dominance!
For the foreseeable future, there would be no more internal strife. The remaining ninjas had no option but to obey. In time, as the village grew and prospered, loyalty would naturally follow. After all, people's opinions change over time, especially when they see a bright future ahead!
Haruto Saito, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru remained hidden, observing the entire scene unfold.
Only after confirming the battle's outcome did they return to the northern residence of the command mansion.
Back inside.
Tsunade had just sat down and picked up her chopsticks when she asked, "That guy—he's the S-rank black market assassin who tried to kill you?"
"Yeah, that's him," Haruto Saito nodded, glancing at Tsunade.
He had no intention of telling her that Kakuzu had once attempted to assassinate her grandfather. That would just stir up unnecessary trouble!
"He handled it well," Tsunade frowned. "But he's the one controlling Gutian Village, not you. Do you really trust him? In the end, who is the true master of the village?"
"Relax, I have it under control." Haruto Saito grinned. "Even though I can't openly show myself, I'll start meeting with some of Gutian Village's ninjas in secret. The key figures—I'll have private discussions with them!"
Haruto Saito didn't elaborate further.
In reality, he planned to use his ability to read people's attributes to assess them carefully before making contact. If, after meeting him, their status suddenly shifted to 'hostile'—then they were as good as dead!
If they remained neutral or turned loyal, there would be no problem!
That way, there was no risk of betrayal!
Shortly after dinner, a presence stirred at the entrance, followed by Kakuzu's deep voice, "It's done."
Draped in a black robe, Kakuzu didn't step inside—he knew exactly who was in the room.
"Coming!" Haruto Saito responded, standing up and turning back. "I'll be back soon. If you're curious, you can watch from the rooftop."
With that, Haruto Saito vanished.
Reappearing outside, he and Kakuzu swiftly disappeared into the night, heading toward the outskirts of the command mansion.
Inside the house.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru exchanged glances, uncertain of what Haruto Saito was up to. Yet, one by one, they too vanished from the room.
…
Haruto Saito and Kakuzu arrived at an unoccupied courtyard near the marketplace district of Gutian Village.
This was a village-owned property, a site Haruto Saito had chosen for the village's new central hub.
Not the center of Gutian Village itself, but the core of the expansion project he planned to build upon it!
Stepping into the courtyard, Haruto Saito opened his system interface and accessed the village-building function.
He selected: Village Monument!
With a dramatic wave of his hand—though Kakuzu saw nothing—Haruto Saito sent a stream of energy into the ground. The village monument was established!
It was a simple process. The first village monument didn't even cost reputation points.
"It's done! Go up there and release your aura," Haruto Saito instructed Kakuzu.
Kakuzu, already briefed on the plan, nodded without question. He leapt onto a rooftop, clasped his hands together, and unleashed his terrifying presence—blanketing the entire village with his immense chakra!
Meanwhile, Haruto Saito upgraded the village monument!
The initial village monument, which had a range of one square kilometer, was instantly upgraded to an intermediate monument—expanding its coverage to twenty-five square kilometers, forming a perfect square with a five-kilometer side length!
With that, the village itself upgraded from a basic settlement to a mid-tier village—at the cost of fifty thousand reputation points!
However, aside from expanded territory, the village still lacked infrastructure.
Next, Haruto Saito chose to build walls!
Walls were one of the cheapest structures. A kilometer of basic walls only cost one thousand reputation points, and he needed twenty kilometers of them—spending a total of twenty thousand reputation points!
He mapped out the placement of the walls on the virtual map in his system interface, then initiated the construction.
Meanwhile, at the northern residence of the command mansion—
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, wrapped in black robes, stood atop the roof, watching from afar. Yet, they couldn't make out what Haruto Saito was doing. They only sensed Kakuzu's overwhelming aura.
"That damn kid… dragging us out here in the cold…" Tsunade muttered.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground suddenly trembled violently!
All across the village, dust and smoke erupted from the outskirts!
"What's going on?"
"Did something change?"
"An earthquake?"
Jiraiya quickly pulled out a spyglass, scanning the distance. In an instant, his eyes widened in shock. "Walls! Those are earthen walls… wait, no… they don't look like standard Earth Release walls… They're massive!"
He turned, scanning in all directions before exclaiming, "The village is completely enclosed! These walls are over twenty kilometers long—what kind of technique is this?!"
Perplexed, he tried to reason it out. At first, he suspected an Earth Release jutsu, but something felt off.
Tsunade and Orochimaru also took out their spyglasses to examine the scene.
Sure enough, an immense wall had risen from the ground, standing eight meters tall and stretching into the distance—forming a perfect square with five-kilometer-long sides!
"So, he's directly constructing walls to define the village's perimeter…" Tsunade murmured, then suddenly turned toward Kakuzu's position. "Is this his technique?"
After all, Kakuzu was the one radiating chakra.
And if so—what kind of jutsu was this?!
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