Chapter 87

Three years ago, Orochimaru set a clear goal for himself: making money. And he knew that using his scientific breakthroughs was the fastest and most efficient way to achieve it.

Sure, contributing technology to Konoha was a noble endeavor, but it wasn't exactly lucrative. When he developed the initial recovery potion, the village gave him two million ryo as a lump sum and a modest salary of 100,000 ryo per month. He hadn't complained, but the village wasn't making any real money from the potions either. They sold the recovery potion to Konoha's own ninjas at cost, plus a small fee of 10,000 ryo to cover production expenses. And since the rare medicinal ingredients were in limited supply, the village could only produce about a thousand units per year.

In short, there wasn't enough profit to go around, and Orochimaru had his own ambitions that required funding—funding he couldn't get from Konoha alone.

Initially, he thought of working with Danzo to secure more resources, but there were certain technologies he couldn't risk Danzo getting his hands on. He needed his own independent source of funds to build the experimental base he envisioned. This led him to a simple conclusion: he had to start making money on his own.

Selling these potions to other nations wasn't just about profit. He could increase the price tenfold and earn a fortune, all without Konoha ever finding out. The village had a limited supply of rare ingredients, but Orochimaru wasn't bound by those constraints.

Thanks to his system, Orochimaru could buy the raw materials for his gene repair solution at a fraction of the cost. In the system's marketplace, all the rare ingredients only cost 100 technology points per unit, and the two most essential ingredients cost him only 20 points each. (T/N: He gets the points by completing researchs given to him by the system)

For 40 doses, the cost was just 800 technology points nothing for Orochimaru, who had accumulated a vast amount of points. Three years ago, he still had 23,000 points. After completing more research and development, that number had grown to 48,200.

In other words, Orochimaru had more resources than he knew what to do with. And selling only 40 doses to Kusagakure was hardly going to raise any red flags. The village's ninjas, injured as they were, probably wouldn't last long enough for anyone to notice Konoha-level healing techniques on the battlefield.

---

Three metal boxes sat in front of Orochimaru, each capable of holding 20 vials. Two were filled with recovery potions, and one contained a weakened version of the basic enhancement fluid.

It only took him two days to sell out completely.

Fifty million ryo an amount that wasn't insignificant by any means. If you considered everyday living expenses, even a modest lifestyle would cost about 200 to 300 ryo per day. That's around 6,000 to 9,000 ryo per month.

For comparison, a jounin risking their life on an S-rank mission would receive a reward of two million ryo, split among their entire team.

So, fifty million ryo? It was a substantial sum.

However, the ninja world had a dark underside the black market. Over the last three years, every time Orochimaru traveled, he made a point of learning about the underground dealings in each area, including the black market.

Unlike the official shinobi villages, which carefully weighed the political and diplomatic implications of every mission, the black market had no such reservations. It was purely driven by profit.

On the black market, one could find all sorts of requests, from mundane tasks to organ trafficking. The latter included things like hearts, kidneys, and even the highly sought-after Sharingan. Assassination contracts were also common, with targets ranging from high-ranking political figures to powerful ninjas from the great nations.

These were dangerous missions, often resulting in severe consequences for the assassin, but the rewards were immense. For example, the bounty on the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was set at 30 million ryo. Hiruzen Sarutobi's head was worth 35 million ryo. But killing either of them would provoke an intense manhunt from their respective villages, making it a risky venture.

Orochimaru, of course, had no interest in risking his life like that. Instead, he found the black market to be a perfect place to sell his potions particularly the enhancement fluid. While ninja villages might hesitate to purchase such items in bulk for fear of boosting their enemies' combat strength, the black market cared only about results.

The recovery potions were sold to smaller villages like Kusagakure, while the enhancement serum were distributed through the black market, ensuring they didn't fall into the hands of anyone who could use them against Konoha.

---

"Scientific advancements really are the fastest way to make money," Orochimaru muttered to himself as he walked back to town that evening.

A single trip had netted him fifty million ryo, far more than any high-risk mission could offer. And with the world constantly at war, selling products that enhanced a ninja's combat potential was like printing money. The tenfold price markup was a goldmine.

Of course, some might wonder whether his competitors would try to reverse-engineer the potions. But Orochimaru wasn't worried. As someone from a modern world, he understood the importance of a technological monopoly. The potions and materials he sold were directly sourced from his system. Even if someone managed to analyze the ingredients, they wouldn't be able to replicate them because the materials didn't exist in this world.

In short, there was no threat to his market dominance. In time, Orochimaru believed, the entire ninja world would be operating under the shadow of his technological monopoly.

---

As he made his way back through the forested mountain path toward the town where Tsunade and Jiraiya were staying, something caught Orochimaru's eye.

"Wait… what is that?"

Halfway up the mountain, he spotted a figure in the distance, barely visible through the mist. The person was dressed in black armor and carried a large round fan on their back.

Orochimaru's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is that… Uchiha Madara?"

He blinked, trying to process what he was seeing. It couldn't be. Uchiha Madara was supposed to be long dead, but the figure in the distance matched his iconic look perfectly the black armor, the fan, everything.

Orochimaru's sharp golden eyes, while not as powerful as the Sharingan, had become highly attuned over the years, and he was confident in what he had seen.

"Why would Uchiha Madara be here?"

As he mulled it over, the figure vanished into the fog, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, recalling the history of the Third Great Ninja War. It was in the Land of Grass that Konoha and Iwagakure clashed, and this was also where Uchiha Obito, the future enemy of the world, was supposedly saved by none other than Madara himself.

"Could it be that Madara is hiding in the Land of Grass?" Orochimaru whispered to himself, already piecing together the implications.

Without wasting any more time, he retrieved two tiny, invisible mechanical flies from his sleeve. These insects were one of his recent inventions, designed for covert surveillance.

He released them into the air, directing them toward the location where the mysterious figure had disappeared.