Land of Lightning.
Two days later—
The branch stores of Blue Sky Project Corporation across every city remained tightly shut.
Most of the investors still hadn't realized something was wrong.
However, a group of timid and impatient investors had already gathered outside the stores, anxiously discussing the situation.
"What's going on?! Why is it still not open?!"
"Why are all of you panicking?!"
"The company's probably still in meetings! Panicking won't help!"
"You barely invested anything and you're already this scared? I threw in my entire fortune! My cousin invested even more than me, and he's not worried at all! You cowards!"
"If you're not worried, then why are you here?! Go home and wait!"
"I'm just checking things out! Why are you getting angry?!"
Maybe the headquarters meeting was simply taking longer this time.
Don't panic.
Don't panic.
The investors encouraged one another, hypnotizing themselves.
The company members were still in meetings.
They will definitely come back tomorrow.
Definitely.
Then—
Another three days passed.
A large number of investors became increasingly restless.
In another day or two, it will be the withdrawal day for the "loyal customer appreciation event."
So why was the Blue Sky Project Corporation's meeting taking this long?!
Fear began spreading rapidly.
Especially among those gamblers who had gone all-in with their life savings.
Some directly brought small stools and sat outside the stores day and night.
Many of them no longer even had homes.
Their houses had already been mortgaged.
Another two days passed.
Withdrawal day arrived.
The stores remained closed.
Some maddened gamblers finally exploded in rage, smashing the locks and rushing inside to demand answers.
The moment they entered—
They froze.
The stores were completely empty.
Aside from scattered pamphlets and bright red slogans hanging from the walls—
There was nothing left.
"SCAM!!"
"Those bastards ran away with the money!!"
"Impossible! Impossible! The company treated us like family! How could they run away?!"
"Hahahahaha! I knew it! How could something this good exist?! Luckily, I withdrew all my money long ago!"
Ponzi schemes were never particularly sophisticated.
They simply targeted human greed with terrifying precision.
Combined with an overwhelming amount of startup capital, the bubble grew larger and larger until more and more people believed in it.
Some even desperately recruited others beneath them for commission bonuses.
Of course—
No matter how brilliant a scam was, there would always be smart people who saw through it.
Over the past year, several wise individuals had repeatedly warned everyone.
The company was a fraud.
A shell corporation.
Heaven would never drop free money into your lap.
But before profit—
The voices of reason were too weak.
Even when people heard the warnings, they only found them irritating.
Some even attacked the whistleblowers directly.
"You cowards are just jealous because you're poor and too scared to make money!"
"I'd rather die gloriously than live mediocrity forever! How many opportunities does a person get in life?! Blue Sky Project Corporation is a good company! They treat us like family!"
"…"
When everyone was making money—
Nobody cared about reason.
Only now—
The truth had finally surfaced.
This had been a scam from the very beginning.
Some people climbed buildings and jumped.
Some angrily reported the case to the authorities.
Others still refused to give up and continued believing in their "family."
The chaos shook nearly half the Land of Lightning.
Blue Sky Project Corporation instantly became the hottest topic in the nation.
Rumors exploded everywhere.
The Lightning Daimyo immediately ordered Kumogakure to thoroughly investigate the matter.
But his orders came too late.
Kumogakure had already mobilized on its own.
The entire village had become victims.
Their world had collapsed.
Someone actually dared scam Kumogakure itself?!
Did they think the Cloud Village's blades had gone dull?!
The expeditionary ninja forces at the front immediately turned around.
Their homeland had already been looted.
Why continue the war?
First, they needed to catch those bastards.
Kumogakure moved extremely quickly.
Several Iwagakure shinobi responsible for the final cleanup were captured while fleeing the Land of Lightning's borders.
The furious dark-skinned brutes beat them nearly to death first, leaving only a single breath remaining.
Medical-nin then stabilized them.
Afterward, specialized shinobi directly extracted information from their brains using mental secret techniques.
Konoha.
Iwagakure.
Sunagakure.
A plan spanning more than a year.
Their superior—
Mr. Ponzi.
A green-eyed bean-counter who had supposedly earned one hundred million ryo through futures trading in the Land of Fire.
Kumogakure.
Emergency conference room.
"DAMN IT!!!"
"THIS IS TOO MUCH!!!"
The Third Raikage smashed the table apart with a single slap.
After reading the interrogation report—
His heart nearly stopped.
Damn Konoha.
Damn Iwagakure.
Damn Sunagakure!!!
"Raikage-sama, what should we do now?! Many villagers invested their entire family fortunes! Lifetimes of savings vanished overnight! They've already surrounded the Raikage Building demanding answers from you!"
"That's right! Even our clan invested heavily! We originally didn't plan to invest, but Raikage-sama, you—"
"Exactly! Exactly!"
"Raikage-sama, you must take responsibility!"
The entire Kumogakure leadership instantly turned their fury toward the Third Raikage.
The usually explosive man was left speechless.
He was a victim too!
"Raikage-sama, this is bad!!"
An ANBU shinobi suddenly burst through the doors in panic.
"What happened?!"
"Your house! Your house was burned down by the villagers!"
"…What?"
"My house got burned down?"
The Third Raikage's eyes widened.
He was the Raikage.
Normally, he would have exploded instantly.
But then—
His shoulders slumped.
In an instant, he seemed to age ten years.
"Then let it burn…"
"This is all my fault."
The Third Raikage was violent and impulsive—
But he was still a real man.
And unlike certain Hokage, he didn't have a convenient scapegoat like Shimura Danzo.
So he could only carry this massive black pot himself.
But the problem now wasn't who would take responsibility.
The real problem was—
Who would fill this horrifying financial hole?
Kumogakure's finances had collapsed.
Clan finances had collapsed.
The villagers were ruined.
People were so desperate they wanted to jump from the skies.
Just one month ago—
Kumogakure had still been flourishing with vitality and prosperity.
Now the Third Raikage felt as though he were trapped in a nightmare.
If only it truly were a nightmare.
Unfortunately—
This was a bloody reality.
At this point, the Third Raikage even wanted to kill himself.
The burden was too heavy.
Too black.
Impossible to carry.
"Those damned scammers!!"
"Mr. Ponzi!!!"
"Konoha are a bunch of bastards!!"
"And Sunagakure too! They're allied with Konoha! They wear the same pair of pants!"
"No, Iwagakure is the worst! We were allies with them, and they secretly worked together with Konoha to scam us!"
The Kumogakure executives erupted into furious arguments.
The Third Raikage suddenly felt rage flood his body once more.
That's right.
He couldn't die like this.
At the very least—
He couldn't commit suicide.
He would drag those bastards down with him first.
"Everyone…"
"This disaster is my responsibility alone."
"I have no money to compensate you."
"And I no longer have the face to continue sitting in the Raikage seat."
"But…"
"I refuse to accept this."
"I want revenge!!"
"In this world, nobody scams me and continues living happily afterward."
His voice dripped with hatred.
The Kumogakure leadership immediately resonated with his anger.
Their fury skyrocketed.
"Raikage-sama! Give the order!"
"Living while losing all your money is worse than death!"
"Even if I die, I'll make those scammers suffer!"
"Revenge!!"
"We demand justice!!"
In the blink of an eye, Kumogakure's internal conflict transformed into external conflict.
The Third Raikage secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everyone, we must first decide our target."
"Konoha?"
"Sunagakure?"
"Or Iwagakure?"
Despite his fury, he still retained his reason.
If one village declared war on three great villages simultaneously—
The result would only be annihilation.
They needed to proceed carefully.
"Konoha first! They're the masterminds!"
"No! Sunagakure is weaker! Crush the weakest first!"
"Idiot! Sunagakure is too far away, and they're allied with Konoha! We should target Iwagakure! Those backstabbing bastards deserve death most!"
"Well said!"
"I agree!"
"Kill Iwagakure first!!!"
The violent brutes instantly unified their direction.
Konoha was too powerful.
With Kumogakure's economy now ruined, they couldn't compete directly.
Sunagakure was weak—
But too distant.
And backed by Konoha.
Meanwhile, Iwagakure had betrayed them.
Everyone wanted blood.
The meeting's atmosphere exploded instantly.
Iwagakure became the primary target.
That traitorous village had to die.
"But what about the Rain Village?"
"And the Daimyo's orders?"
Someone raised a sharp question.
The Lightning Daimyo had gone insane demanding the destruction of Amegakure and had even provided enormous funding.
Although half that funding had already been scammed away.
"To hell with the Daimyo!!"
"I'm killing Iwagakure first!"
"Not even the Daimyo can save them!"
"If we don't retaliate after being humiliated like this, Kumogakure will become a complete joke!"
The Kumogakure leadership immediately ignored the Rain Village problem entirely.
Debts had to be repaid.
Revenge had to be taken.
If they didn't direct their hatred toward one of the true culprits immediately—
Kumogakure might as well dissolve on the spot.
"Since everyone has decided, then it's settled."
"Gather every remaining fund in the village."
"We'll catch Iwagakure completely off guard."
"If they stole our money…"
"Then we'll reclaim it from the Land of Earth!"
The Third Raikage's face twisted viciously.
"Understood!!"
The Kumogakure executives responded in unison.
Soon afterward, they began discussing battle plans.
Iwagakure itself was already powerful.
Now they'd also gained enormous wealth through the scam.
Like a tiger with wings.
This would be a brutal war.
"This time, bring both the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails."
"But the jinchūriki seals aren't stable yet!"
"There's no time to care about that! We must catch Iwagakure by surprise!"
"Raikage-sama, what do you think?"
"I have no objections."
The Third Raikage was now completely prepared to gamble everything.
Tailed beasts.
Jinchūriki.
He no longer cared.
The village was already collapsing.
Who knew whether there would even be a future left afterward?
Perfect.
Let Iwagakure experience the might of the Eight-Tails' tentacles firsthand.
The Kumogakure leadership spent the entire afternoon constructing their revenge strategy.
In the end—
They finalized the operation.
Strike Iwagakure at maximum speed.
Release the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails near the village to create chaos.
Use that opportunity to crush Iwagakure's main force.
Then split Kumogakure's shinobi into smaller units and loot the Land of Earth to recover Kumogakure's losses.
The codename for this operation:
"Lightning Strike Iwagakure!"
Konoha.
"The changes are huge…"
"The roads got even wider?"
"What's that roaring sound? That massive vehicle…"
"We're finally back…"
"Home…"
The shinobi involved in the Ponzi scheme operation gradually returned to Konoha.
After only one year away—
Konoha had become even more prosperous.
The village already differed noticeably from their memories.
Still—
These were all good changes.
Very good changes.
Hatake Sakumo and Kakuzu returned to Konoha and immediately headed toward the Hokage Building to report the operation.
Uchiha Ren personally poured each of them a cup of iced cola while listening to their detailed report.
Although there had been a few unexpected complications, the operation overall had gone smoothly.
"Konoha really made a fortune this time."
"The poor investors though…"
Uchiha Ren picked up Kakuzu's financial report.
The endless string of zeroes was dazzling.
This was wealth squeezed directly from the people of the Land of Lightning.
Countless civilians, nobles, and even high-ranking officials had been deceived by Kakuzu.
"Hatake Sakumo, why are you still wearing that mask while drinking cola?"
"Isn't that troublesome?"
Uchiha Ren asked curiously.
"For safety reasons, Hokage-sama."
"I must develop the habit of wearing a mask at all times."
"Even when eating in the future."
Hatake Sakumo remained completely serious.
For the sake of his future safety—
Extreme caution was necessary.
"He's just a coward afraid of revenge."
Kakuzu sneered disdainfully.
"Easy for you to say!"
"You stayed in the rear giving orders while I handled public speeches everywhere!"
"Even those black-skinned bastards from Kumogakure were personally negotiated with by me!"
"I don't even know how long my identity can remain hidden!"
"You're one to talk!"
"That's what you get for scamming my futures investments."
"That's because you were stupid."
"No. This is karma for your evil deeds."
Kakuzu still hadn't forgiven the ten billion ryo incident.
If Hatake Sakumo weren't his teammate—
He would've already cut off Sakumo's head and exchanged it for bounty money.
"Enough, enough."
"That's ancient history already."
"Why are you two bringing up old grudges again?"
Uchiha Ren immediately cut off their argument.
He'd already heard these two quarrel countless times.
At this point, he was sick of it.
The two men snorted simultaneously and stopped talking.
Then—
Kakuzu pulled out a bounty poster from his pocket.
"Oh right, Hokage-sama…"
"Can I accept Hanzo of the Salamander's bounty?"
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