C 33

Kain had meticulously arranged everything in the industry, overseeing the handover of medicines and other essential items. This time, Konoha had received funding from the daimyo, which resulted in only a small portion of gold being given; the rest was settled with currency from the ninja world. In total, there was an impressive sum of 70 million ryo. Realistically, Kain knew he couldn't spend all that money at once. He allocated part of it as preparation funds for store openings and reserved two months' worth of financial support for the orphanage to give to Miwa. Kain took the remainder for himself.

In his view, money that sat unused was nothing more than wasted paper. As he made his way from the village, Kain began to strategize how to spend his newfound wealth. He decided to leave 20 million ryo to Aya to continue expanding her business in the Land of Fire. He earmarked 10 million ryo to invite Kakuzu to teach him ninjutsu and intended to use the rest to buy gold and jewelry, passing them on if he stumbled upon anything rare.

Ancient artifacts intrigued him, and he believed he could purchase them all, then resell them to the Japanese people at a profit.

During Kain's stay in Konoha, Aya had made remarkable progress. She had identified two suitable candidates to guard the casino and brought them directly to The Town. Additionally, she recruited several wandering warriors and thugs, totaling twenty-three individuals. However, only four of these recruits possessed knowledge of chakra, and none were ninjas.

Recruiting ninjas with knowledge of ninjutsu proved to be incredibly challenging. Generally, only rogue ninjas would agree to such requests. With the strict control each ninja village maintained over ninjutsu, it wasn't easy for outsiders to learn even the basics, let alone join a small ninjutsu village. Konoha was known to be one of the more open ninja villages for common people, yet even there, during their six years of schooling, students typically learned only a few basic techniques, indicating the high bar set for ninjutsu mastery. Otherwise, Kakuzu wouldn't have become a prominent figure in the underground gold exchange, as there were very few powerful bounty hunters like him.

"Good job, Aya. I truly feel reassured leaving the outside to you," Kain said with a smile. Over the course of this time, he had witnessed Aya's continuous improvement as she adapted to business management. At first, she had even inquired about the location of various goods. Now, Kain could trust her with many responsibilities.

"Aya, your salary will be tripled from now on, and the year-end bonus will be calculated separately," he declared.

Joy illuminated Aya's face upon hearing this. Her previous salary had already provided a comfortable life for her children, but now, with it tripled, she felt she could consider preparing a medicinal bath for her child, a luxury typically reserved for genius ninjas. This was something she could finally afford with her new salary.

As for dividends, Kain had given it some thought but decided to withhold that information for now. He believed others should work diligently for him for at least a decade before discussing dividends. Moreover, he intended to reward them progressively over time.

The subsequent tasks would be straightforward. With staff, machinery, premises, and security in place, the casino would soon open. It was expected that initially, the customer turnout would be low, but with time, the nobles would surely develop a taste for gambling, thus increasing patronage.

Kain planned to continue recruiting guards, as The Town featured not only a casino but also a dessert factory and cocoa tree planting supplies among other shops. According to his calculations, 30 to 40 personnel would suffice to keep the peace and dissuade troublemakers.

Later, Kain reached out to Kakuzu once more, but before Kakuzu arrived, he asked Aya about chakra and ninjutsu.

"Boss, are you looking to learn ninjutsu?" Aya questioned, skepticism etched across her face. With Kain's financial resources, he could easily hire ninjas for protection. Learning ninjutsu at his age seemed like a thankless endeavor, yet she explained everything she knew about it.

"To learn ninjutsu, you must first learn to embody chakra and then manipulate it through meditation to traverse your meridians. Once that's achieved, ninjutsu can be displayed. Chakra is a combination of physical and spiritual energy," she explained.

After providing this overview, Aya demonstrated the Clone Technique and shared the main points of the chakra refining technique, encouraging Kain to try it himself.

However, Kain felt ill-prepared to tackle this challenge. Despite Aya's clear instructions, he couldn't grasp the concepts of physical energy and spiritual energy. He awkwardly smiled and asked, "Aya, could you help me feel your chakra? Maybe if you could let it flow inside me or something?"

"Is that so? It should be fine," Aya responded.

She placed her hand on his back, refined her chakra, and sent it into Kain's body. Instantly, Kain felt a rush of energy pouring into him from her touch, a sensation both miraculous and invigorating.

"That's the feeling," he noted, as he sensed a surge of newfound strength. He quickly formed a seal, hoping to use this invigorating sensation to aid in his chakra refinement. At this moment, Kain perceived his body as remarkably agile and his strength significantly heightened. He believed he was on the brink of understanding the physical and spiritual energies Aya had mentioned.

"Well, Aya, why did you stop?" Kain inquired, feeling the connection of chakra between them dissolve abruptly. He turned to find fine beads of sweat on Aya's face, a clear indication of her exhaustion.

"I'm going to take a break, boss," she admitted, her voice strained.

Kain nodded apologetically, saying, "You should rest for a while. Let me know if you need anything."

Regrettably, he had felt so close to successfully extracting chakra, but with Aya fatigued, he couldn't press her further. He was acutely aware that overexertion of chakra could be detrimental.

The following day, after Aya had rested, Kain made another attempt to request her assistance. Unfortunately, the outcome remained unchanged; Aya fell victim to fatigue once more, and Kain was still unable to extract chakra.

The repeated failures prompted Kain to cease asking her for help. This could be attributed to Aya's limited chakra or perhaps to his own body's limitations. However, once Aya transmitted her chakra, she would require a full day's rest. If this experimentation continued, she would have little time for anything else.

Days later, Kakuzu arrived at The Town after completing his task. Upon hearing Kain's request, his expression soured. "This matter... I just have nothing else to do right now. I'll attempt to transmit chakra later," he replied curtly.

The situation was complicated, partially due to the box Kain had presented. Kakuzu opened the box Kain had pushed toward him, his eyes widening as he assessed its contents.

"Let's see, over 9 million ryo... no, it's likely rounding up to 10 million! What a generous client!" Kakuzu's mood brightened considerably as he counted the money. While he mulled over the task at hand, he reminded himself that teaching ninjutsu was within his realm of expertise. After all, he was a top ninja from Taki Ninja Village who had once fought against the First Hokage!