Chapter Seventy-Three: Karn's Revenge

"Apologies, esteemed guest from the Hidden Mist Village. Business has been rather hectic lately, and I was delayed," said Karn regretfully. He was two months late for the appointment, and since the Mist needed medicine, the delay might have resulted in casualties.

Yet the Mist ninja showed no sign of displeasure, responding with understanding, "It's all right. The stock you reserved at the pharmacy in the Land of Waves was enough for us these past weeks, and after this transaction, our supplies will last for quite some time."

Currently, Karn operated seven ships—three purchased and three built himself. At this point, steam-powered vessels fueled by gas were already in use, though it was peculiar that despite such machinery, an industrial revolution had not yet begun.

Once the Mist ninja confirmed the details of their deal, he prepared to oversee the loading of cargo. The Mist would accompany the shipment, of course; the cargo was worth over a hundred million ryo, so they dispatched a jonin and five chunin. Per Karn's request, they concealed their identities and wore no forehead protectors.

Karn, noticing the Mist team leader seemed to have something else to say, seized an opportunity and asked, "Is there something you'd like to discuss with me?"

"Was I too obvious? My apologies, Mr. Karn," the Mist ninja replied, glancing around before his expression turned solemn. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Mei Shin, a jonin of the Mist. I sought you out today to purchase an extra batch of supplies, including medicine..."

Private procurement was nothing unusual, but lately, the situation in the Mist had grown dire. The Third Mizukage had issued numerous harsh and severe ninja ordinances. One stipulated that, to prevent intelligence leaks, mission squads were forbidden to abandon wounded comrades and must destroy the brain if necessary.

There were also regulations for ninja clans—minimum monthly mission quotas, with failure resulting in assignment to more dangerous missions in enemy nations.

Even the graduation exams at the ninja academy had grown colder; students now wielded metal kunai and shuriken. Even if one was seriously injured, the proctors would not intervene. In fact, if a student killed their opponent, their score would soar.

These changes unsettled Mei Shin. His clan was small, with only three jonin and ten chunin, yet they too were targeted by the new policies.

Moreover, the Third Mizukage neglected village development. The tension and violence among ninja escalated, and several times, their conflicts nearly involved civilian merchants. As a result, fewer traders came to the Mist, making it harder to buy supplies.

After hearing Mei Shin’s account, Karn nodded thoughtfully. He hadn’t expected such drastic changes to have happened in the Mist Village after only a few months away.

"Mr. Karn, regarding what I mentioned earlier..."

"Supplies? Of course, I'm a merchant; it would be unreasonable to refuse your request," Karn agreed at once. He added, "But I believe we can deepen our business. Mei Shin, putting all your eggs in one basket is dangerous. Perhaps we could..."

He went on to discuss further cooperation with Mei Shin. Karn didn’t fully trust him yet, but the benefits were tempting: craftsmen from the Mist, private mission commissions, and more.

It was only the beginning of the Bloody Mist era; recruiting Mei Shin now was unrealistic, but in a few years, Karn hoped to use him to win over some of the Mist’s kekkei genkai clans.

Not all bloodline clans were like the Bamboo Cutter Clan; the Snow Clan, for example, had many scattered and living incognito.

After sending off Mei Shin, Karn turned to his business in the Land of Waves.

He owned two factories there. The fresh produce factory wasn’t much, a mark of Karn’s benevolence—giving local fishermen a way to earn a living. It made little profit and involved much work, but won him the hearts of the locals. Since its founding, over seventy percent of the fishermen depended on Karn for their livelihood.

The pharmaceutical factory was far more important, guarded by fifty men, with all employees local. The two squad leaders were handpicked by Karn, their families relying on him, so betrayal was unlikely. The factory’s most crucial chemical ingredients still depended on Karn, making it impossible for anyone to steal the formula.

As for the Land of Waves’ guards, Karn trained them in firearms; the cost of ammunition was negligible to him. As long as they mastered their guns, he was satisfied. After expanding the guard force, they would become squad leaders. Karn’s goal was to recruit a thousand armed guards in the Land of Waves, but so far, he had less than a tenth of that.

............

"For now, this is all the personnel. Here are the bounty amounts," Karn’s shadow clone handed a long list to the underground exchange. The sum was so large it drew the attention of the local exchange chief. Thanks to intelligence from Kakuzu, Karn was well-informed about the workings of these exchanges.

"It seems you bear quite a grudge against the Land of Fire. No matter; there are plenty of madmen in the shinobi world. Most targets are fair game, but the first two will likely remain posted for a long time..."

The exchange staff pointed to the top two names—Konoha’s Third Hokage and Danzo. They would not be easily assassinated; their whereabouts were rare knowledge, and even if they left the village, few would know.

"One hundred million ryo apiece—this is the largest bounty we’ve ever received. If you offered more, even the other village leaders might be tempted!"

A hundred million ryo—Konoha, funded by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, received about that much annually in peacetime. Other income depended on the daimyo assigning missions to Konoha through nobles and merchants.

Other villages received even less funding. The Land of Lightning fared slightly better; but the Lands of Earth, Water, and Wind gave less and less, each one poorer than the last. If it weren’t for the lack of intelligence, the other village leaders might indeed lead their elites to ambush the Third Hokage and Danzo.

Shadows were hard to kill, but not impossible. Barriers, arcane tools, secret techniques—each village had its trump cards.

Karn’s shadow clone said, "I’ll send people to gather information regularly."

With that, the clone left the exchange, dissolving into a cloud of smoke in a deserted place.

Karn’s true self received the memory, massaged his forehead, and mused, "The odds are slim, but it’s a form of countermeasure..."

But this was only one of his methods of retaliation. His shadow clones also assumed different identities and visited exchanges in other great nations. This time, his targets were Konoha’s border ninja outposts.

Four ninja villages. If each destroyed three Konoha border outposts, it would cost nearly a hundred ninjas—an immense loss for Konoha in peacetime.

Such a blow would certainly sting Konoha for a while. They might suspect Karn, but more likely, their focus would shift to preparing for war.