Chapter Forty-Eight: A Deal with the Mistveil

"Lord Third, there is someone outside requesting a meeting with you. He is a merchant from the Land of Fire and appears to want to conduct business with the village."
The Mizukage's assistant spoke respectfully to the Third Mizukage, carefully reporting the news. Lately, Lord Third's temper had grown increasingly erratic; he had already dealt with two members of his own Anbu squad. Under his influence, the entire Hidden Mist Village was shrouded in an odd atmosphere.
"A merchant from the Land of Fire? Have him speak to Genji. Am I expected to handle everyone else's business as Mizukage? What are they even here for if all matters fall to me?"
The Third Mizukage spoke coldly after hearing the report, displeased at being disturbed by such trivialities. It was time for the village to change!
Yet, he completely forgot that just days ago, he himself had ordered that no matter how small the matter, he must be informed of everything.
"Yes, Lord Mizukage."
The assistant replied with a bow, suppressing a tremor of unease, then slowly retreated.
Since the Second Shinobi World War, the Third Mizukage's mood had soured. The Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage had perished together, the Hidden Mist was defeated by the Sand, and the bloodline clans within the village were openly and secretly unwilling to obey his leadership.
The Mist Village was strong, but fractured by countless cliques. On the battlefield, they failed to realize their full potential, losing even to the Sand Village fighting on two fronts—a humiliation indeed!
'Only iron-handed measures can unite the Mist Village's strength.'
With this resolve, the Third Mizukage wrote the words "Blood Mist." He intended to use this method to weaken the disobedient bloodline clans, and at the same time, through "cultivation of the strong," enhance the abilities of civilian shinobi. Only then could he truly wield power as Mizukage.
...
Kahn did not meet the Mizukage. Not every leader of the ninja villages possessed exceptional foresight—nor did even the Leaf Village. Back then, it was only thanks to Tsunade, a true expert, that Kahn managed to successfully conduct business with Konoha.
Now, having been sent to deal with another official, Kahn was already prepared for this outcome.
"Please wait here. I will report to Lord Genji."
With that, the assistant knocked on the door and entered to inform the person inside.
Hearing the name Genji instantly brought to mind his presence—though he rarely appeared in Naruto, his status was quite high. It was said he had assisted the Second, Third, and Fourth Mizukage, holding considerable influence in the Mist Village.
Not long after, the assistant returned and said to Kahn, "Please come in."
Genji was a bald middle-aged man, a few years older than Hiruzen Sarutobi. He handled the village's daily affairs—liaising with the daimyo, overseeing logistics, and so on.
After hearing Kahn's proposal, Genji was both surprised and intrigued. The Mist had spies in Konoha and knew there was a merchant selling convenient pharmaceuticals. Not only had the Cloud learned of this, but all ninja villages had received word from their operatives.
The Cloud had acted most decisively, attempting to abduct both Kahn and Kushina.
Genji was astonished that Kahn had come to seek cooperation himself; he had originally intended to have his own spies in Konoha approach Kahn.
The Mist's agents had purchased some medicines from Konoha and sent them back for testing—results showed impressive efficacy, life-saving on the battlefield.
Knowing Kahn's intention was to sell medicines, Genji quickly agreed; it was a tremendous boon for the Mist. Even Konoha felt the shortage of medical ninja—how could the Mist have any more?
Aside from the bloodline clans, civilian shinobi had to wait in long queues when ill or injured, or endure based on their own experience. Ordinary doctors were rare, affordable only to nobles and wealthy merchants.
With Kahn's medicines, the Mist's wounded would be much better cared for. In addition to pharmaceuticals, Kahn also wished to trade other goods—grain, steel, and so forth.
At this point, the Mist represented the dominant force in the surrounding seas. The Stone had their earth-style alliance; the Mist, with water-style users, could easily overturn dozens of ships with a handful of shinobi.
Aside from the content of the transactions, Kahn requested the Mist ensure the safety of his shipping fleet in the Land of Waves—at least to guarantee their own ninja would not attack him. If enemies targeted his vessels, the Mist would be responsible for finding the culprits.
As for payment, the arrangement was much like with Konoha. The Mist, supported by the daimyo's funds, was even more cash-strapped than Konoha. They could only offer gold, jewels, and similar valuables as collateral.
However, Kahn made an additional request: he hoped that the Mist would include chakra metal among their collateral, to appear at least once in every two or three transactions.
Genji fell silent upon hearing this. For ninja, chakra metal was exceedingly precious, enhancing a shinobi's strength—infusing even a small amount into a weapon improved chakra flow and more.
The Mist obtained little chakra metal each year, mostly scavenged from the Land of Rainbow, the Land of Tea, and other places. Hungry wolves within the village watched it closely; every bloodline clan wanted a larger share.
Yet, with access to medicines, the Mist could ensure higher survival rates for civilian shinobi. After much consideration, Genji agreed. Chakra metal could only boost the strength of a select few, but the goods traded with Kahn would serve the needs of most ninja.
They set the transaction site at a port in the Land of Water. Once Kahn's shipping fleet was built, transport would begin from the Land of Waves, with the first shipment scheduled for two months hence.
...
Kahn planned to establish two factories in the Land of Waves: one for pharmaceuticals, another for fresh food processing. Being adjacent to the fishing powerhouse of the Land of Waves, it would be wasteful not to take advantage of such resources.
Ninja world folk were fond of river and sea foods, but in the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, such delicacies were rare. If made into canned goods and shipped there, a sizeable business could be developed.
Kahn also intended to recruit more guards, starting with two thousand, all trained as regular soldiers and equipped with submachine guns, assault rifles, and rocket launchers. He truly wished to see—when a modern armed corps met a ninja unit, which would prevail.
The Land of Waves was too small, suitable only for business and a modest security force; thus Kahn planned to develop his modern military in the Land of Tea.
But for that, he would need to bring the production lines for military factories, or else he would have to transport everything piecemeal. Purchasing large amounts of arms in America was troublesome as well.
Outside Konoha Village, in the Land of Fire, an underground laboratory.
Bang!
A violent explosion turned the condemned prisoner into a cloud of blood mist; even the iron-plated floor was dented by the blast's force.
Orochimaru, eyes alight with interest, said, "After adding the First Hokage's cells, the explosion's power actually diminished. The pure virus releases terrifying heat and force, but just now it manifested as flesh and blood... Tsunade, how's the data collection?"
"We've got the data, but the equipment was destroyed again, and the serum is gone..."
Tsunade scratched her golden hair as she spoke to Orochimaru. It's been a month—three batches of serum, ten dead convict test subjects, three destroyed devices, and only a tiny bit of progress so far.
"Get in touch with him. The experiment can't stop..."
With that, Orochimaru turned to continue his research.
Tsunade muttered quietly, mostly concerned about the expense, feeling awkward about asking Kahn for more.