Chapter Four: Preparing Supplies

Naruto, at first, was set on an indigenous planet. Had things progressed naturally, perhaps the inhabitants of this world would have developed a society where supernatural abilities and advanced technology coexisted. However, the arrival of several outsiders from the Otsutsuki clan completely altered the course of this planet’s development.

Chakra.

Kaguya Otsutsuki planted the Divine Tree on this planet. After plotting against her companion Isshiki Otsutsuki, she ambushed and sacrificed him to the Divine Tree before ultimately consuming the chakra fruit herself. After giving birth to two children, a conflict of ideals arose between her, Hagoromo, and Hamura Otsutsuki, which ultimately led to her being sealed away.

In the end, Hagoromo Otsutsuki spread chakra among humanity. When his son Indra developed ninjutsu, the class of ninja gradually took the stage of history and grew in power.

“In those scenes I just witnessed, it looked like a war was underway. I wonder what period that was… If it’s the Fourth Great Ninja War, I’d better wait awhile before going. But in the Fourth Great Ninja War, all the forehead protectors were unified, whereas just now I saw both Leaf and Stone headbands, and it was ninjas fighting one another. That probably wasn’t the Fourth Great Ninja War.”

Kane pondered this. The other three ninja wars were less intense, but the Fourth was a cataclysm, and if you weren’t quick enough, you might even get caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

“Since the world is still at war, I can modify my earlier plan for food. I’ll double the supply of medicine and leave only the instruction leaflets…”

Kane had attended some private parties with his father and met a few people, including some from pharmaceutical companies, from whom he could directly order a batch of medical supplies.

And since Kane needed a considerable amount, removing the labels or exchanging them for Japanese instructions should be a simple matter.

Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, antipyretics and analgesics, vitamins, all sorts of emergency medicine, and medical equipment.

Kane could bring quite a lot, but the question was: what could he get from the world of Naruto in return?

Ninja world currency was out of the question—its value here would be less than toilet paper. Gold would be the most straightforward, but gold wasn’t particularly common there either. The only instance he could recall was the Fourth Kazekage, the “Miner,” but Kane didn’t run a jewelry or metals business.

So, rare mineral resources like gold would be the last resort. Risking his life just to bring back a bit of gold wouldn’t be worth it; he’d be better off doing business on Wall Street.

If he wanted to make money, opportunities were everywhere.

What Kane truly sought was a way to gain extraordinary power. Chakra was the most miraculous energy in the ninja world, but it was unique to that realm. The people there, with their hundreds of trillions of cells, were innately stronger than Kane.

Even if he went there, it was uncertain whether he could extract chakra at all, and even if he could, it would probably be a meager amount.

“I’ll need a clever plan… Perhaps Orochimaru, or Tsunade?”

Kane picked up a sheet of paper and began jotting down some ideas, but then he tore it up. His current thoughts were all castles in the air; without even knowing the timeline in the ninja world, no amount of planning would matter. Still, Kane was certain of one thing: if he wanted extraordinary power, he’d most likely have to rely on Hashirama’s cells.

If he only sought chakra, he’d always be a weakling—maybe even a short-lived one.

For now, Kane had to prepare thoroughly, whether it was medicine or attire.

“Fortunately, I speak Japanese—thank you, FBI!”

…

“Karl, how’s the warehouse and the suppliers I asked for?”

On the other end, Karl took thirty seconds to open his groggy eyes. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he shouted incredulously into the receiver, “Kane, have you seen what time it is? The U.S. Constitution protects every citizen’s sacred and inviolable right to sleep—”

“It’s already noon, Karl. Did you oversleep? Should I tell your father you were up all night gaming again…”

Karl instantly sobered up and switched to a cheerful tone. “Come on, Kane, I was just kidding! I’ve found the warehouse and the people for you. I’ll take you to see the place this afternoon.”

“No problem. I’ll drive over and meet you in half an hour.”

After hanging up, Kane went to his father’s study, found the old phonebook, and, relying on memory, located the name and number of the pharmaceutical company manager. He dialed.

“Jess? This is Kane Pent. I’d like to discuss some business with you…”

Being a department manager at a pharmaceutical company was a bit of a step down for a salesman, but Kane Pent was a major shareholder in a private hospital in New York, making him a valuable connection for Jess. Moreover, Kane’s order was sizable—around half a million dollars’ worth of medicine and medical equipment.

In the early twenty-first century, placing such a large one-time order meant that, even for a manager of Jess’s rank, he had to treat a top client like Kane with the utmost respect.

Later, Kane took Karl to inspect the warehouse. The security and space were both satisfactory for Kane’s initial transitional needs. The location was quite private, with few visitors, so it was secure enough.

Once Kane made enough money in the future, he planned to build even more secret warehouses. If he started buying goods in bulk and they vanished in large quantities for no reason, a time or two might go unnoticed, but repeated occurrences would definitely draw attention.

Besides, the warehouse Karl found wasn’t exclusive to Kane; it just appeared empty because so few people rented space there.

After renting the warehouse, Kane drove Karl home, then prepared to meet with Jess to discuss the pharmaceutical deal. After that, he still had other things to purchase.

The ninja world certainly lacked more than just medicine—if it was the Second or Third Great Ninja War, food supplies could also be lifesaving.

Beyond business, Kane always kept in mind that he needed to establish a foothold and build a power base in the ninja world, something like Gato’s, but without courting death as recklessly as Gato had—no background, yet he took over a country with a band of samurai and rogue ninja.

Firearms and munitions would be Kane’s answer to wandering ninja and bandits. If he had enough people using guns, even a chunin could be killed.

The lethality of firearms was no joke—some rifles were as deadly as a chunin’s shuriken, and with their rapid rate of fire, any chunin who encountered a gun squad without defensive techniques would be hard-pressed to survive.

Kane had taken an extended leave from his university, which meant he once again postponed his plans with Karl. But after all the spending in recent days, he entrusted Karl with a sum of cash to invest in the stock market. With war tensions rising in America, there was plenty of room for maneuver in oil and gold.

Needing to make money, Kane spent a day discussing investment strategies with Karl.

After leaving Karl’s house, Kane focused on preparing for his journey to the ninja world.