Freelancer in Naruto

After finishing his deal with Orochimaru, Senshi returned to Ame.

Right now in the ninja world, aside from Onoki frequently getting headaches, the rest of the shinobi and common folk were fairly satisfied with its development.

Thanks to Senshi's influence, Amegakure was steadily becoming the new center of the ninja world. Under Amegakure's leadership, every region was thriving. The entire ninja world was in a state of vibrant growth, a scene seldom witnessed in past eras.

In a certain tomb, Black Zetsu was enthusiastically at work. White Zetsu, his frequent partner, was again holding a sack to help him collect the large quantities of gold and silver treasures.

While Black Zetsu toiled in high spirits, White Zetsu grumbled, "Haven't we accumulated enough funds already? Even if hiring Senshi for missions costs a fortune, we've probably got enough saved by now to commission him for lots of tasks, haven't we?"

Black Zetsu did not turn around, only uttering four words: "The more, the better!"

In the vast stretch of time since his birth, money truly had little practical use for him. For a great many years, it was impossible to hire ninjas like Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama with mere funds to perform tasks. Only with Senshi's appearance did money begin to matter, and it steadily grew more important. Even Uchiha Madara himself had joined in on the great money-making wave.

Thanks to his efforts and White Zetsu's as well, Black Zetsu had recently stashed away quite a substantial amount of funds. And there was no need to worry about whether he might end up with more money than he could spend.

At Senshi's rate of fees, the funds he had squirreled away were nowhere near enough to commission Senshi for too many missions.

Moreover, this stored wealth was not just for his own needs; once his mother was resurrected, she would also need to use it.

Recalling his mother's resurrection, Black Zetsu immediately decided to visit Senshi and discuss the mission's progress. Although Senshi's prowess in completing missions was always reliable, Black Zetsu felt it necessary to check in on how things were coming along.

After cleaning out that large tomb, he didn't linger. Taking White Zetsu with him, he left via the Mayfly jutsu. Considering how "explosive" his tomb-raiding methods were, even if Conan showed up, he might have to rely on security footage to crack the case.

Previously, Madara and Obito had tried claiming a share of the tomb-raiding spoils, but such notions were mere pipe dreams.

Black Zetsu and White Zetsu traveled some distance underground and arrived deep beneath the Mountain Graveyard. The area had been excavated into numerous chambers, each crammed with gold and silver. One could call it the greatest vault in the ninja world, with zero exaggeration.

At one chamber door, Black Zetsu used his "no-regard-for-family" kick to break it open. Inside were piles upon piles of gold and silver. He emptied his sack's contents into this chamber, which then was nearly filled. He planned to excavate another empty chamber with White Zetsu's help, and then head out to see Senshi about the mission status.

Meanwhile, in Amegakure's ninja academy, Senshi was examining the training regimen of the academy's prospective "little calves." Student skill levels varied widely, but that was no concern. He needed only the best among them to join his mercenary group; the others could be sent to the ninja world at large.

More precisely, the top tier would join his mercenary group, the next tier would enter the Akatsuki, and the remainder would join various departments of Amegakure. After three rounds of selection with no success, those students would be "exported" to the rest of the ninja world.

As he inspected the academy's different areas, Senshi noticed a promising phenomenon. After Fu had come to pay him last time, then left the academy in a flashy manner using her Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Dragon technique, many of the students recognized early on that "pay-to-win" was the only real logic.

They spent their time, when not studying or practicing ninjutsu, exchanging notes on how to farm missions and make money. Senshi realized that these kids were on the right track; they would eventually provide him with commissions and "Employment Points" in one way or another.

He even considered lowering the threshold for paying in, letting more people reap the rewards. The price of Bloodline Limits could not be reduced, but all sorts of random ninjutsu, ninja tools, or even chakra were fair game for sale. It needn't be mere ordinary chakra—if someone paid enough, he even had Tailed Beast chakra to sell.

Pleased with the plan, Senshi decided to let either a Wood Release clone or Karin handle it, so Karin wouldn't be bored to the point of fatally overfeeding the White Zetsu. But since at times he'd go out on missions with Karin, he figured letting a Wood Release clone manage the idea would be best.

The plan had so many benefits that Senshi did not delay. With a snap of his fingers, a Wood Release clone quickly formed. As soon as the clone appeared, he casually instructed:

"Use Wood Release here in the ninja academy to build a 'Growth Department.' Any student who contributes funds to support the academy can earn a chance to grow stronger. Furthermore, kids with excellent grades, those who make clear progress through diligence, and those who contribute in any way to the academy also qualify for these growth opportunities."

That first part was akin to the wealthy parents' donation method to help their children get ahead, but with a substantially lowered entry bar, while the second part was standard educational policy. By merging the two, Senshi created the ninja academy's "Growth Department."

Having given the order, the Wood Release clone promptly left the principal's office to set it up. Not long afterward, news spread throughout the school that a "Growth Department" would open.

Countless students, advanced class regulars, and even elite trainees from other villages (there to study abroad) all became thrilled. They yearned to grow stronger, and from the announcement, it seemed almost anyone willing to work hard would have a chance.

After the Growth Department was established, little Haruko became its first beneficiary.

Currently attending the ninja academy, she has placed first in the latest exam. According to the rules Senshi had set, a student ninja achieving that distinction was entitled to a one-time growth benefit.

Amid many curious glances, Haruko arrived at the Growth Department. Normally, if Senshi weren't in the academy or if his real body wasn't immediately available, Haruko would have had to register first. But now that Senshi was physically present, he could personally help her power up.

His real body quickly teleported to the academy and started thinking about what would be best for Haruko.

At the ninja academy's Growth Department…

Haruko, seeing Senshi, took a flying leap and clung to his long leg. Her cute face gleamed with delight. "Lord Senshi, I got first place on the mid-year exam!"

At that, Senshi patted her little head. "Haruko, very impressive! Keep it up, keep on growing, and once you graduate, follow Karin and the others to farm missions throughout the ninja world!"

Haruko nodded seriously, bright eyes full of determination as she promised, "Lord Senshi, I'll work super hard to train and grow. I want to learn from Karin-nee and Musen-nii, and become an awesome ninja, 'cool-cool' to farm missions!"

Senshi hurriedly corrected her: "Following Musen isn't advisable! In some ways, he should be learning from you."

"All right, let's get down to business—I need to decide on an appropriate reward for you."

A second earlier, Haruko had been wondering why she shouldn't emulate Musen-nii. But the instant she heard that Senshi would give her a reward, she tossed away any confusion. Her big watery eyes brimmed with anticipation as she gazed at him. She was dying to know what kind of reward the great Senshi might present.

Had it been some random ninja, Senshi would have given a casual gift and sent them on their way. But Haruko was "one of his people." Once she grew older, she'd produce an endless stream of mission earnings and Employment Points, so it was worth giving her something nice.

After a bit of thought, Senshi knew what to give her: the Rasengan!

Originally, the Rasengan was that "knuckleheaded ninja's" signature technique, but said knucklehead had by now switched to a Saiyan-esque path. Entrusting the further development of the Rasengan to Haruko was feasible.

Hence Senshi asked, "Haruko, have you gotten the Rasengan from any scratch cards?"

Back during the Amegakure uprising, Haruko had performed outstandingly and was thus allowed to join Senshi's mercenary group. However, she was still very young, attending the academy, and therefore lacked time to do many missions or rack up scratch cards. The odds of drawing the Rasengan were very low.

Upon hearing Senshi's question, Haruko shook her head. "Nope, the only dumpling-looking jutsu I have is this."

So saying, she rapidly formed seals.

"Stop!" Senshi intervened upon seeing she was about to cast Fire Release: Great Fireball. This entire Growth Department building was made of wood, and it would be a joke if she wound up burning it down.

Confirming she truly didn't know the Rasengan, he lightly tapped her forehead with a finger. In the next moment, Haruko instantly understood the Rasengan technique.

Learning a brand-new jutsu left Haruko bouncing around with excitement, her little face shining with anticipation.

Senshi chuckled. "Go test it outside in the courtyard."

"Sure thing!" Haruko nodded enthusiastically and waved at him. "Thanks and goodbye, Lord Senshi!"

Senshi waved back at the little girl, smiling as he watched her leave.

Once Haruko emerged from the Growth Department, she immediately became the center of attention. Not far away, Musen and his two companions had come to the academy to finish a mission. Noticing the commotion surrounding Haruko, Musen remarked, "As expected of Haruko—she's as popular as I am."

Lanwu snarked, "Don't confuse being chased by villagers with being 'popular.'"

At that, Musen muttered under his breath, "You're just jealous," and strode toward Haruko's group. Lanwu did want to kill him, but since they were at the academy, she refrained.

…

Back in the principal's office of the ninja academy, Senshi, having returned, was unaware that Musen might be leading Haruko astray. At present, he was meeting a major client—the single biggest client he currently had.

Having appeared in Senshi's office, Zetsu gazed at him expectantly: "Senshi, how's the progress of that mission I commissioned?"

Senshi sipped his tea calmly. "Zetsu-bro, why worry about any task you've left to me? Everything's moving along perfectly. Right now, Tailed Beasts One through Five and also Number Nine are sealed in the Gedo Statue. In a bit, I'll pass Six, Seven, and Eight to Madara so he can revive the Ten-Tails. In short, the mission is going great—we're nearly done."

Hearing that, Zetsu rejoiced. He always knew Senshi's mission skills were top-tier, so he wasn't worried about failure. He'd only come to see how the mission was going. Now satisfied with Senshi's competence, he felt even more confident that his initial decision to save funds and hire Senshi had been wise.

Otherwise, relying solely on Obito and Madara who knew how many more years it would take to resurrect his mother.

As Black Zetsu and Senshi conferred about the mission, Obito and Madara were still off "cool farming missions." Realizing White Zetsu could be sold for money, Obito hoped Senshi would come buy more. They had so many White Zetsu, they practically couldn't use them all, so leaving so many in the stockpile was pointless.

Meanwhile, as Madara considered such things, he offhandedly tossed a chest of money at Obito, saying, "Obito, put this away too. We won't be long before we can buy the Six-Tails."

Obito nodded, "Right. At our mission rate, we'll get the last three Tailed Beasts in no time."

He said that out loud, but inwardly he was sneering. Beneath the mask, he curled his lips into a sinister grin. The old man Madara was too naive. In truth, they had long since earned enough to purchase the Six-Tails. But whenever Obito earned pay, he quietly hid a small chunk inside Kamui's dimension. Though the amounts were small each time, they added up. Madara seldom noticed; if discovered, Obito could bluff his way out.

Hence, up till now, Madara had no clue about Obito's private stash. Another point was that though Obito's direct combat might be behind Madara's, his dual Kamui gave him massive advantages in mission-farming. Often while Madara was en route, Obito had already knocked out multiple tasks.

He had just one reason for this: to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan personally, not as Madara's errand boy. He wanted to craft his own Infinite Tsukuyomi, not Madara's version.

At that moment, Madara, still clueless about Obito's betrayal, was relaxing in the hot spring at their inn. To him, Obito had been wholly in his grip since Kannabi Bridge, so never once did it occur to him that Obito might someday challenge him. That assumption let Obito go on quietly siphoning money.

After finishing missions for the day, they returned to the hot spring inn. However, rather than rest as usual, Obito silently triggered Kamui and slipped away to see Senshi.

In Amegakure's ninja academy principal's private room, Senshi watched with amusement as a transparent vortex opened. Moments later, Obito emerged.

Before Obito could say anything, Senshi calmly remarked, "I anticipated you sneaking here. I know what you're after. Show me your sincerity first, then we'll talk."

Those few words left Obito speechless, giving him the feeling that Senshi had seen right through him—he had no secrets to hide. Still, he followed instructions, laying out a pile of money chests like a small mountain in front of Senshi.

Obviously, he was offering enough sincerity. Seeing that heap of chests, Senshi thought, So Obito's shady dealing surpasses even Smith's.' He's managed to hide all this from Madara.

Thinking so, Senshi gave a slight nod and told Obito, "Obito, your sincerity has deepened our friendship. So tell me what mission you want to commission!"

Beneath his mask, Obito formed a treacherous grin. He revealed his mission request to Senshi.

Meanwhile, at that very time, Uchiha Madara was enjoying the hot spring in the inn, entirely oblivious to Obito's departure. He was still plotting out the Eye of the Moon Plan in detail, feeling highly satisfied with the progress thus far.

Madara mused, Having chosen Obito to assist me truly was a wise idea. Now we only need the Six-Tails, Seven-Tails, Eight-Tails, and then we can practically launch the Eye of the Moon Plan.

Hashirama! I'll make you understand that my ideals and road are the truly correct ones. The ninja world shall achieve eternal peace and happiness through my efforts.

So while Obito and Madara each strived to bring peace in their own ways, the "scientific pioneer" of the ninja world—Orochimaru—felt no interest in such lofty concepts. Right now, Orochimaru merely wanted to make money because making money made him happy.

Back then, he only had death-row criminals as test subjects, so many of his brilliant ideas never got tested. But now that he had White Zetsu, an "ideal test subject," he didn't care about niceties. Zetsu was not even human anyway, so the experiments could be as extreme as possible.

At Konoha's Root base, inside Orochimaru's lab, he and Kabuto were debating the experimental procedures. Orochimaru, fixing his gaze on the White Zetsu in the barrier, said, "I have a bold idea."

Kabuto tried to discourage him at once: "Orochimaru-sama, we've only got three Zetsu for now. I don't think we should be too radical."

Rubbing his chin, Orochimaru said, "You say my plan is too bold? I think it's quite conservative."

Kabuto glanced at the stack of project proposals in his hands, inwardly lamenting. He worried that if they really pushed ahead with these ideas, Konoha wouldn't even have to arrest them—Senshi might show up first to seize them both.

After pondering, Orochimaru acknowledged Kabuto's point. Thanks to having multiple Zetsu, they indeed didn't need to rush; they could proceed step by step. Once these three ran out, they could buy more Zetsu from Senshi.

Reaching a final decision, Orochimaru declared, "Use the newest version of the Eternal Chakra Elixir on that White Zetsu, plus the modified Blacklight Virus, plus the Stone Mask. Then let's randomly combine a few more of our own developments to see the results."

Within the barrier, the White Zetsu who had been fully restrained was furious. "I'm not human, but you two are even worse! You can't do this to me!"

At the moment, this Zetsu fully grasped his circumstances. Imprisoned here, he had personally watched Orochimaru and Kabuto dissect one of his own. Clearly, these two evil individuals were about to do the same to him.

Zetsu tried protesting, but Orochimaru scolded him: "Shut it! You're an ideal test subject. You should have the spirit and resolve to devote yourself to science! Granted, you're not human, but through your sacrifice, you'll be making tremendous contributions to both average civilians and shinobi. You should be honored."

Kabuto nodded in fervent agreement: "Exactly, Lord Orochimaru is completely right! These White Zetsu truly ought to feel honored by their part in such a grand scientific endeavor. If they hadn't been naturally ideal subjects, they wouldn't get to join such a grand project."

At that, the Zetsu in the barrier was about to go insane. The world had shifted so drastically. He couldn't even guess when Black Zetsu became obsessed with treasure-hunting, when Madara and Obito got hooked on mission-farming. Even they had fallen—he might as well die, for his life had no meaning anymore.

Orochimaru and Kabuto operated with swift efficiency. Once they confirmed the plan, Orochimaru issued orders to Kabuto one by one.

"Inject the mutant Manda extract."

This was derived from Manda's body. Sometime before, Manda had mutated and rampaged for an extended period until subdued by the Momotaro Dumpling. Orochimaru and Kabuto had collected that mutated essence, which could fortify test subjects and boost their self-control so they didn't go berserk.

Following Orochimaru's directions rigorously, Kabuto carried out each instruction. It wasn't long before this White Zetsu ended up "enjoying" a dozen forms of Orochimaru-tech. Stacking all those hacks left Zetsu no choice but to become stronger.

Shortly after he began mutating, Orochimaru frowned. "What's with this? It's grown a horn and a tail?"

Inside the barrier, the Zetsu now looked akin to Kabuto in Sage Mode, sporting a horn on his forehead, dark-white snakeskin patterns, plus a tail. Thanks to that Manda extract, he hadn't lost control but rather remained clear-headed.

Gazing at his own bizarre form, Zetsu furiously complained to Kabuto and Orochimaru: touching the horn on his forehead and feeling the tail behind him, he said, "Look at me—do I look good like this? This is freakish. Hurry up and change me back!"

Orochimaru shook his head. "The procedure is irreversible; you can't revert. Honestly, your new look is better than before—perfectly symmetrical."

After Orochimaru's words, Kabuto's eyes shone with zeal. "What's not to like about this? It's terrific! If that tail were on your belly, it'd look even better!"

Orochimaru: (O_O)???

White Zetsu: (O_O)???

When Kabuto was finished, Orochimaru silently mused, I never guessed Kabuto's aesthetic sense would be so advanced. He truly is surpassing his teacher in certain respects—I'm so proud.

White Zetsu, meanwhile, was thinking, Marula! Orochimaru's assistant is even crazier than he is!

Orochimaru had no desire to endlessly discuss Zetsu's new body shape and instead asked, "How does it feel? Has your power improved in all respects?"

Given Orochimaru's question, Zetsu began sensing his bodily changes. While he did look quite strange, his abilities had soared. His total chakra was drastically higher now, and he'd even gained a bunch of unusual "ninjutsu."

After a moment, Zetsu said, "I need my freedom before I can cooperate with your experiments."

Orochimaru cackled, "Freedom? That's meaningless. True, you're more sunlight-resistant now, but it can still kill you. If you keep cooperating with Kabuto and me, we'll gradually refine you to perfection, removing each flaw. Under our efforts, you'll become the single strongest White Zetsu in history!"

While Orochimaru spoke, Kabuto inwardly marveled: As expected of Orochimaru-sama, even talking to a White Zetsu, he'll do a brainwash routine.

And since Zetsu was never too bright, Orochimaru's spiel sparked his interest. For the first time, he looked intrigued: "What do you need from me, exactly?"

Orochimaru replied casually, "First, help us test. Then we'll draw out your essence and see if we can develop a method to mass-produce chūnin-level blacklight vampires."

Orochimaru believed that level of formula would definitely succeed this time. With it, ordinary people could be turned into chūnin-tier blacklight vampires. The only big drawback was that such 'ninja' still couldn't withstand sunlight.

But that wasn't a huge problem. On one hand, they could continue improving the formula; on the other, these vampires could simply wear dark cloaks in daytime. Then they wouldn't be entirely helpless during daylight, and they'd be fully active at night.

~~~

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