"Well done."
Seeing Uzuki Yugao return, Shishou smiled and complimented her.
"Hmph!" Uzuki Yugao, still annoyed by the vulgar comments from the audience, snorted in response to Shishou's praise.
"I'll go avenge you."
Despite being snubbed, Shishou didn't get angry. He chuckled and spoke.
Next match.
Shishou faced off against a rogue ninja.
As Shishou dodged the rogue ninja's Water Release attacks, he used his Sharingan to copy and counter with the same Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique.
Since he, Mikoto, and Izumi all wore special contact lenses, they didn't worry about revealing their Sharingan.
However, Shishou kept missing his opponent and instead drenched the spectators, who cursed him loudly.
"How about that? Feeling better?" Uchiha Izumi teased Uzuki Yugao with a smile after watching Shishou's antics.
"Hmph!"
"You're so self-important."
Uzuki Yugao muttered to herself but didn't respond to Izumi. Still, Izumi could see that Yugao's mood had improved.
Meanwhile, Pakura and Mikoto felt Shishou's protective behavior was a bit childish, wasting chakra like that. However, if Shishou had done the same for them, they would have been equally happy.
Not long after, Shishou finally hit the rogue ninja amidst the spectators' curses, knocking him out of the ring.
Next,
Mikoto, Izumi, and Pakura all took their turns and successfully advanced to the next round.
"Hold out your hand."
Seeing Pakura step down from the platform, Shishou extended his right hand.
"What for?"
Pakura looked at Shishou suspiciously, remembering the time he had taken advantage of her in the Land of Demons, making her wary.
That time, she hadn't realized what had happened until much later, once she had returned to the Land of Wind.
"To replenish your chakra," Shishou smiled.
Pakura glanced at Mikoto, who nodded, so she hesitantly placed her hand in Shishou's.
She and Mikoto were close in age, so they had a good relationship.
The next second, Pakura felt a warm energy flowing from Shishou's hand, replenishing her depleted chakra.
This made her curious about how he did it.
After replenishing the chakra of all four women using the energy stored from the Jofuku bugs, Shishou sat down to wait for the next match.
The energy from the Jofuku bugs didn't consume his chakra, making it very efficient.
Two hours later,
Shishou won the championship with the highest score.
The fully recharged Pakura, Mikoto, Izumi, and Yugao took second, third, fourth, and fifth places respectively.
With this, Shishou secured half of the mining rights in Hoshizora City with an overwhelming advantage.
He prioritized acquiring iron and coal mines essential for industrialization.
Over the next month, with Takeko's help, Shishou smoothly established his mining company,
Golden Miners!
...
August, Year 59 of the Hidden Leaf.
Capital of the Land of Water.
Shishou left a casino in disappointment.
It wasn't because he lost money.
He had received information from the ninja black market that Tsunade had been seen in the local casinos.
However, after searching for several days, he hadn't found any trace of Tsunade.
Frustrated, he felt slightly better when his black market contact promised to either find Tsunade or refund his money.
He went to a local specialty ramen shop.
Upon entering, Shishou accidentally bumped into someone and fell to the ground.
"Sorry, sorry."
The person helped Shishou up and apologized profusely.
It turned out to be two young girls, one with blonde hair and the other with black hair, both looking about thirteen or fourteen years old.
Shishou curiously eyed the two girls, puzzled.
He was a burly man with a full beard, standing at 180 cm. Normally, people couldn't knock him over so easily.
Yet, these frail-looking girls had managed to do so.
How strange.
After standing up, Shishou waved his hand, indicating he was fine.
Then, he walked to the counter and ordered a bowl of seafood ramen.
The seafood ramen of the Land of Water was renowned in the ninja world, and he never tired of eating it.
Perhaps he should set up a seafood trading company here, specializing in seafood exports.
As Shishou pondered this, he slurped his ramen.
Meanwhile,
After leaving the ramen shop, the black-haired girl whispered to the blonde-haired girl:
"Tsunade-sama, where are we going now?"
"Hmm, let's leave the Land of Water first, so we don't get caught by the people from the Mizukage Casino."
The blonde girl walked briskly, not even turning her head.
The blonde and black-haired girls were obviously Tsunade and Shizune, disguised and on the run after losing a large sum of money.
...
After finishing his ramen, Shishou strolled around the capital of the Land of Water.
Since he was already there, he wasn't in a hurry to leave.
He planned to look for special foods and gifts to bring back for Mikoto and the others.
As for the Ninja Academy,
Shishou only visited every three or four days, maintaining relationships with Ino and Hinata, while his insect clones handled the rest.
"I wonder if the Mist Village is still under the control of the Fourth Mizukage."
"At this point, Itachi Uchiha had just joined the Akatsuki, and Zabuza Momochi shouldn't have faced the Tailed Beast Bomb yet."
"So, the Fourth Mizukage Yagura might still be under Uchiha Madara's control, enforcing the Bloody Mist policy."
"Should I go and stir up some trouble for Madara?"
As he wandered, Shishou suddenly got interested.
He was destined to clash with the Akatsuki.
Instead of waiting for them to come to him, why not take the initiative?
"By the way, didn't I just think about setting up a seafood trading company?"
"I could establish a company and then approach the Mist Village as an investor seeking cooperation."
"This way, I might even meet the beautiful Mei Terumi. At this point, it's nine years before the Fourth Great Ninja War, and she's in her prime at twenty..."
Determined, Shishou headed to the administrative hall of the Land of Water to set up his seafood trading company.
With the power of money,
Shishou swiftly established a seafood trading company within a day,
Seafood Trading Company.
With a registered capital of ten million ryo,
Shishou received enthusiastic service from the staff of the Land of Water.
Next, Shishou asked the staff for recommendations on security companies.
The staff recommended the Mist Village.
Soon after, Shishou, led by the staff, headed to the Mist Village for an inspection.