Bab 42: Chapter 42: Finally Arrived
After the New Year, Aoba, as a jonin in the village, resumed his missions. However, since the conclusion of the incident with the Hidden Cloud, the entire ninja world seemed to have entered a period of peace.
The only thing that annoyed him was the news Asuma and his team brought back from the outside: the bounty on his head in the black market had risen to 30 million ryo.
At that time, he, who was extremely short on money, even had the thought of turning himself in for the reward.
Thirty million ryo was no small amount. And as a newly rising Konoha ninja, His attention from the outside world had clearly grown.
During one mission, he even encountered that money-obsessed guy, Kakuzu.
To be honest, Kakuzu was one of the most difficult enemies he had ever faced in the ninja world. In his opinion, Kakuzu was even more troublesome than the Raikage.
This doesn't mean Kakuzu was necessarily stronger than the Raikage. In fact, in a head-on battle, Kakuzu likely wouldn't be a match for the Fourth Raikage. But unlike the Raikage, who was more of a brute-force fighter...
Kakuzu was an all-around ninja. He had mastery over all five chakra natures and had so much chakra that he could practically use himself as a mobile artillery.
This made him one of the enemies Aoba least liked to face. When fighting the Raikage, both of them were close-range ninja specialists, so at least his could use his strengths.
But in a fight with Kakuzu, that guy would stay at a distance, bombarding him from afar. It was obvious that Kakuzu had done his homework and gathered information on Aoba, knowing he was a close-combat ninja specializing in mid-to-short-range combat.
So from the start, Kakuzu kept his distance, using long-range firepower to rain down attacks, which greatly irritated Aoba.
Although his Lightning Release: Flash was a stronger long-range attack, with his current chakra reserves, he could only use it three times in a row.
And the most frustrating part was that Kakuzu had five lives.
If it were someone else, he could wait until they ran out of chakra, but with Kakuzu, that wasn't an option.
Left with no other choice, he resorted to one of his hidden cards to escape Kakuzu's pursuit.
Aoba could fly—or, more accurately, glide. That's right, he could use the wind to lift himself into the air and fly at high speed over a certain distance.
The whole process couldn't change direction, so it wasn't useful in combat, but it was a decent way to escape.
At the time, he had two options: enter Sage Mode and fight Kakuzu to the death, or avoid the battle. But fighting to the death with a monster that had five lives seemed unwise.
So, in the end, he chose to leave the battlefield.
That battle with Kakuzu stayed in his mind, though. When they met, Kakuzu was already wearing the Akatsuki uniform but was alone.
It seemed either he hadn't yet partnered with anyone, or he had already killed his partner and cashed in on the bounty. But the target Aoba was most concerned about wasn't with him.
Hidan, the immortal follower of Jashin, was even more ridiculous than Kakuzu. In his plans, Hidan was a crucial part.
He had been secretly gathering information about the Jashin cult for a long time, but the group's activities were more covert than he had expected.
After all, they were a cult, and one that conducted live sacrifices. There was no way the Five Great Ninja Villages would tolerate such people. The cult had always operated in secrecy.
At this time, Hidan had already appeared but had yet to team up with Kakuzu, so he hadn't been able to track him down.
Kakuzu was notorious in the underground world. With his high level of strength, no target he set his sights on ever escaped. He was a super VIP at the bounty exchange.
After returning to the village, he reported his encounter with Kakuzu and was granted a few days off.
Aoba, of course, didn't waste time. He rented a shop on the commercial street and started selling small gadgets he had developed using sealing techniques.
His main products were sensory-enhancing earphones—although they could also take the form of earrings or ear studs—and noise-generating bracelets that disrupted the opponent's balance.
He also developed some combat-supporting hidden weapons, like rings containing poisoned needles and wrist-mounted arrow launchers.
These types of items did exist in the Naruto world, but for some reason, they had never gained widespread popularity.
He always believed that ninja were akin to assassins, and these kinds of tools should have been perfect for them.
Unfortunately, due to the presence of chakra in this world, ninja had access to supernatural powers, which reduced their demand for such gadgets.
But from his perspective, these tools were still very useful for lower- and mid-level ninja.
Honestly, even in Konoha, which emphasized education, the training of ninja was still quite selfish.
Most civilian-born ninja would only master one or two jutsu beyond the basic three techniques, and their chakra reserves couldn't support more than that.
This was the main reason why, in times of war, these lower- and mid-level ninja ended up as cannon fodder. Against elite ninja, they couldn't even rely on superior numbers.
In battles, most genin and chunin still relied on shuriken, kunai, and the occasional explosive tag as a trump card.
But explosive tags were incredibly expensive and not something the average civilian ninja could afford.
And ironically, for true jonin-level ninja, explosive tags weren't that important. The jutsu they cast were far more powerful and versatile than a simple explosion.
So, in the ninja world, explosive tags—and most ninja tools, for that matter—were in an awkward position.
When his ninja tool shop opened, he did get a decent number of customers. But to his surprise, the sensory-enhancing earphones and noise bracelets he had high hopes for didn't sell at all.
On the other hand, the rings with hidden poisoned needles, the wrist-mounted launchers, and similar items sold quite well.
After all that effort, the shop only managed to break even, as making those gadgets took a lot of time and energy.
Aoba's first entrepreneurial attempt in the ninja world wasn't exactly a success.
He did have better products that he hadn't put out yet. If he sold his life-saving potions, they would sell like crazy, and he could easily become Konoha's richest man. But for the sake of Karin and her mother, he couldn't do that.
During his time off, he kept up his usual training by the river with Sasuke. Sasuke's progress with the Rasengan was coming along well, and now it was time to train on incorporating chakra nature transformation.
That part of the training was a bit dangerous, so he was working on a new training plan.
However, that afternoon, just as he finished his training, Karin suddenly ran over.
"Aoba-nii, mom's looking for you."
His face changed slightly. This was their secret signal—White Zetsu was approaching the laboratory.
"That guy... After all this time, he's finally making a move?"
Check out the patreon and get 40 chapters in advance
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
SaintXI
SaintXI Donate some power stones if you are enjoying the novel ;)
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone