Chapter 78 (Patreon)

In truth, there was no way Gatō could have expanded his influence until he held the Land of Waves’ entire economy in a stranglehold by relying solely on the samurai he had bribed.

A portion of his profits was secretly paid to the hidden villages of the Five Great Shinobi Countries as protection money.

Once they accepted his money, those villages naturally suppressed any missions targeting Gatō. The only remaining option was to place a bounty through the black market, but the fees were far beyond what ordinary people could afford. Most civilians would not even know where to find a black-market bounty station in the first place.

There was just one problem.

Konoha’s official ledgers contained no record of receiving any protection money from Gatō.

That was because Danzō had personally negotiated the arrangement, and none of the money had ever passed through Konoha’s official accounts.

If Roy had not discovered records of enormous payments from the Land of Waves among Root’s ledgers, he might never have remembered someone as insignificant as Gatō, much less realized just how wealthy the man had become.

At first, Kushina had been reluctant to target a merchant.

Merchants were all potential clients. If Konoha moved against Gatō today, what guarantee did other merchants have that the village would not come after them tomorrow?

If they became afraid and stopped entrusting Konoha with missions, the village could lose far more in commission fees than it gained from Gatō.

Then Kushina read the intelligence Root had gathered on him.

Smuggling contraband, destroying countless families, trafficking people...

Every ryō Gatō possessed had been stained with blood.

Her attitude changed instantly. After reading the entire report, Kushina wanted nothing more than to go to the Land of Waves herself and beat the monster to death.

Before long, Kakashi—who had been going out of his mind from boredom—led a team toward the daimyō’s residence in the Land of Waves.

Gatō’s fortune, however, was not the only thing Roy had set his sights on.

He was also thinking about the other hidden villages.

Soon, a proposal titled the “Uzumaki Legacy Recovery Plan” was placed before Kushina.

“Roy-kun, you want me to teach the Uzumaki clan’s sealing techniques to shinobi from other villages?”

Kushina stared at the proposal in disbelief.

She could not understand why Roy would suggest such a thing. Setting aside the fact that they would be strengthening potential enemies, how could she willingly teach the Uzumaki clan’s secret techniques to people from villages that had once stood against them?

She would never be able to face her ancestors in the afterlife.

She had only restrained herself because the proposal came from Roy. If anyone else—even the Third Hokage—had suggested such a thing, she would have greeted them with her Adamantine Sealing Chains.

“I know you’re upset, but don’t rush to conclusions. Hear me out first.”

Roy caught her clenched fist and began explaining in a patient voice.

“Many of the Uzumaki clan’s secret techniques were stolen after the destruction of Uzushiogakure. Even if outsiders haven’t managed to master most of those sealing techniques, they can hardly be called complete secrets anymore.”

Kushina had to admit that he was right about that.

Even so, she still could not understand why they should take the initiative to teach others.

Possessing a sealing scroll and mastering the technique recorded inside it were two completely different things. Even if outsiders could study the formulas, they would never be able to counter those techniques if they failed to understand them.

However, once Kushina personally taught them, the Uzumaki clan would lose that advantage.

She could not simply hide half the technique while teaching, either. The people sent by the other villages would not be fools.

“First, let’s put the basic sealing techniques aside,” Roy continued. “Even if someone from another village masters one of the Uzumaki clan’s advanced techniques, they still won’t be able to match an actual Uzumaki when using it.”

“That’s true,” Kushina admitted. “Many of our sealing techniques require the Uzumaki bloodline to display their full power.”

“Exactly. Teaching them won’t give them an advantage over you. In exchange, we can demand the original copies of the sealing scrolls they stole. Some of those scrolls may contain techniques that even you haven’t learned.”

Roy smiled.

“And if they want personal instruction from an Uzumaki, it’s only reasonable for them to pay a considerable tuition fee. At the same time, leaving a hidden weakness in the sealing formulas—one only you know how to exploit—shouldn’t be difficult for you, should it?”

There was a significant difference between withholding part of a technique and leaving behind a hidden weakness.

If Kushina deliberately left out important information, her students would quickly realize that she had not taught them everything.

But if she taught them the complete technique exactly as it appeared in the original scroll, no one could accuse her of hiding anything. Whether they could successfully master it would depend entirely on their own talent.

Furthermore, sealing techniques were constantly being revised and improved.

Many of the scrolls stolen from the Land of Whirlpools recorded older versions of the Uzumaki clan’s techniques.

Compared to the newer versions Kushina had mastered, those old techniques naturally contained flaws and vulnerabilities. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for the Uzumaki clan to improve them.

If sealing techniques were too complicated to understand, the Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique offered a simple comparison.

Kushina using the newer version of a sealing technique was like a shinobi casting the Water Dragon Bullet with only four hand seals. The version she would teach the other villages, however, would still require all forty-four.

The difference in speed and efficiency was obvious.

“Would this really work?”

Kushina was beginning to feel persuaded, but she still had doubts.

Even if she was willing to teach them, the other villages might not dare to trust Konoha.

“Don’t worry. Someone will take the chance eventually,” Roy assured her. “As long as one village sends someone to learn, the rest will come rushing over. Even if we refuse to teach them by then, they’ll be the ones begging us to reconsider.”

Early the next morning, Kushina took Roy’s proposal and summoned her advisers, along with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“Absolutely not!” Hiruzen immediately objected. “If we allow the other villages to master Uzumaki sealing techniques, I fear that—”

“What exactly are you afraid of?” Kushina interrupted before he could finish. “Even if I refuse to teach them, can’t they study the techniques themselves? They already possess the sealing scrolls. If someone with enough talent in fūinjutsu appears among them, that person could master the techniques without our help.”

She then explained the benefits of the plan one by one.

“First, we recover the original Uzumaki scrolls. If they refuse to return the originals, then I won’t teach them, no matter how much additional money they offer. They can keep copies, but the original scrolls must be returned to the Uzumaki clan.”

That alone would allow Kushina to restore many of the sealing formulas that had been lost after Uzushiogakure’s destruction.

“Second, we collect tuition fees. Personal instruction in Uzumaki sealing techniques is something no one else in the entire shinobi world can offer. In fact, if we charge too little, they might begin doubting the quality of the instruction.”

The third benefit involved the continued development of fūinjutsu.

Rather than allowing outsiders to study the stolen scrolls and eventually create improved sealing techniques of their own, it would be better to offer them complete versions of the older techniques.

When people had nothing ready-made to learn from, they were forced to conduct their own research.

Once a complete technique was placed in front of them, however, very few shinobi would be willing to spend years of effort developing something better.

The secret techniques passed down through the various shinobi clans were proof enough. Several generations could pass without those techniques changing in the slightest.

If the shinobi world had contained more people with a genuine passion for research, the situation would have been very different.

Shikaku and Fugaku both looked somewhat embarrassed when they heard that.

They were members of prominent shinobi clans themselves, so they knew exactly how long it had been since their clans’ inherited techniques had received any meaningful improvements.

Even Hiruzen was left speechless by Kushina’s explanation.

Furthermore, although fūinjutsu was extraordinarily versatile and could be found in nearly every aspect of daily life, there were few situations in an actual war where sealing techniques could be used effectively.

It was almost impossible for fūinjutsu alone to overturn the balance of an entire battlefield.

After considering the proposal for a while, Hiruzen could only sigh inwardly at the boldness and quick thinking of the younger generation.

If he had been in Kushina’s position, he would never have dared to teach his clan’s secret techniques to outsiders.

The thought itself would never have occurred to him.

Once the proposal was approved, enrollment for the Uzumaki Sealing Technique Training Course was officially opened to the entire shinobi world.

There were only two requirements for enrollment.

First, applicants had to possess an original Uzumaki sealing scroll and return it to the Uzumaki clan. They were permitted to keep a copy.

Second, they had to bring enough money to pay the tuition.

The tuition depended on the level of the sealing technique being taught, beginning at five hundred thousand ryō and rising to more than one hundred million.

The moment the news spread, every major and minor hidden village—with the sole exception of Kirigakure—immediately convened a high-level meeting.

Most of them suspected that the entire training course was a conspiracy devised by Konoha to recover the Uzumaki clan’s stolen sealing scrolls. They doubted that Kushina had any intention of actually teaching outsiders.

In their minds, anyone foolish enough to bring an original scroll and the tuition money to Konoha would immediately be detained.

Not only would they lose both the scroll and the money, but there was no guarantee that the shinobi they sent would ever return safely.

Even if that shinobi did return, Konoha might have brainwashed them and turned them into a spy.

They would truly lose everything.