The following week was a busy one for Kakashi. True to his word, he met personally with the twelve traveling merchants who had taken up his offer, enduring long, in-depth conversations about what they needed to bring to Konoha and the construction logistics on the mountain. By the time the final day of meetings rolled around, his desk had a neat stack of business proposals.But as the next person on the appointment schedule walked through the door, Kakashi felt a vague sense of familiarity, like he was trying to match the name to a different face.
The man stepping into the Hokage office didn't look like a seasoned merchant. He was a young Leaf shinobi, maybe twenty-three or twenty-four, wearing standard chunin wear with his hair pulled back into a neat topknot. He wasn't carrying a chest of gold or a ledger of imports; instead, his hands were gripping a thick roll of blueprint paper so tightly his knuckles were white.Kakashi looked up from his desk, his eye scanning the young man's tense posture. "Welcome. Your name is... Ereki Kaminarimon, correct?"
"Yes, Lord Sixth!" Ereki blurted out, quickly bowing so low his forehead nearly touched the edge of the desk. He held the blueprints flat against his chest, his heart hammering against his ribs.
A deep flush of heat crept up the young chunin's neck. He was just a low-ranking ninja who spent most of his free time tinkering with wiring and gears instead of perfecting flashy ninjutsu. Having the legendary Copy Ninja, the newly appointed Hokage, look up and effortlessly pull his name from memory was overwhelming. It made him feel like his quiet ambitions were actually being recognized by the highest power in the village.
Kakashi leaned back in his chair, a faint, polite smile on his face as he observed the young man's nervous energy. In reality, the name sparked a distant familiarity. Still, Kakashi was having a hard time placing the importance of the man in front of him, instead choosing to think on it later if he didn't figure it out during this conversation. Still, for now he'd best calm the man before he accidentally knocked himself out on the front of his desk.
"Don't be formal, Ereki. At ease," Kakashi said, waving a hand toward the empty chair across from the desk. "Why don't you have a seat and tell me what you've got there?"
Ereki quickly took a seat, carefully passing the tightly rolled sheets over the desk.
Kakashi accepted the blueprints and unrolled them flat, pinning the edges down with a couple of heavy inkstones. As he looked over the detailed diagrams, Ereki watched his face intently, searching for any sign of understanding or familiarity.
He wasn't disappointed. The moment Kakashi's eyes scanned the precise grid lines, interconnected pathways, and mechanical gears sketched across the paper, his expression sharpened with immediate recognition, and he looked up from the blueprint with a look of interest.
"Let me ask you, Ereki: did you happen to see the train I brought to Konoha?"
Ereki nodded, looking a little embarrassed.
"I also watched the movie that you and your team starred in. The parts with the train really motivated me to make something even better. What you hold in your hand there, I call it the Thunder Train, or I would if it were a thing."
Ereki spoke with passion, as if he'd forgotten his nervousness for a few moments.
Kakashi looked back down at the blueprint, his fingers tracing the drawn tracks that wound along the paper mountain. "The Thunder Train," he murmured, the name finally making the pieces click together in his head.
The blurry memory in his mind sharpened. This young chunin sitting across from him was the future founder of the world's most powerful tech corporation. In the original timeline, Ereki didn't start this journey until after the war, but Kakashi's proactive moves had pulled the trigger years ahead of schedule.
"It's a strong design, Ereki. It's very detailed and has honest thought put into it; I can tell that you're genuinely passionate about this." Kakashi said, looking up to meet the young man's eyes. "But I have a question for you. How are you planning to power it? Doto relied on standard coal and steam pressure, which makes it heavy, loud, and entirely dependent on a massive fuel supply."
Ereki blinked, surprised that Kakashi understood the mechanical limitations so quickly. He leaned forward, the last traces of his nervousness completely gone.
"I—I was actually thinking of two possible methods, Lord Sixth," Ereki explained, his fingers tracing the engine schematics. "The first is a localized electrical grid, drawing power from a central generation station directly to the tracks. The second, which might be more efficient for a shinobi village, is an engine core that runs on compressed lightning chakra storage cells. The problem is, both methods require high-grade chakra-conductive alloys for the tracks and the engine, and those metals are far too expensive for a regular chunin to experiment on..."
Kakashi smirked. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a fresh, official contract stamped with the Hokage's red wax seal, sliding it across the desk toward the young inventor.
"As I mentioned at the ceremony, Konoha has the resources. We just need the minds," Kakashi said calmly. "Research and Development is already reworking the train I brought back, but they are lacking a lead engineer with your specific vision. I'm offering you the position of Project Head for the village's transit expansion. You'll have full funding, a budget for conductive metals, and your own workshop."
Ereki stared at the contract, his jaw slightly slack. "Project Head? I'm just a chunin..."
"You're the man who looked at a movie prop and figured out how to build a commercial transportation network," Kakashi corrected, tapping his finger on the Thunder Train blueprint. "Sign the papers, Ereki. Let's make your train a thing."
Kakashi smiled. The man in front of him was a breath of fresh air compared to the merchants he had dealt with earlier. While he didn't have any grudge against them, Ereki wasn't motivated by profits but by advancement. It was a nice change from the merchants, who would also bring great change, but Kakashi felt more open and willing to help someone with a clear dream, silently satisfied that his actions had led this man to appear here today.
Ereki picked up a pen Kakashi provided and shakily signed; the terms were clear and cut, with no hidden clauses or anything unfair. In fact, this deal was heavily in Ereki's favor, a complete win for him, and in turn, a win for Konoha.
Kakashi smiled, standing up from his desk and smoothing out his ceremonial robe. "Come with me," he said, gesturing toward the door.
Ereki followed the Hokage out of the office, carrying his rolled blueprints. They made their way up a winding stone staircase until Kakashi pushed open a heavy wooden door, stepping back out into the bright morning sun atop the Hokage Tower.
The wind blew sharply across the roof. Kakashi walked to the stone railing and made a wide, sweeping gesture toward the towering cliffs rising directly behind the building.
"Look up past the monument," Kakashi said, his eyes scanning the massive stone crest that loomed high above the carved faces. "That vast territory stretching out behind the peaks is exactly where the new expansion is going."
Kakashi turned his gaze to the young inventor. "Did you manage to grab one of the flyers I dropped during the inauguration?"
"Ah, yes, Lord Hokage," Ereki said, quickly reaching into his chunin vest. He pulled out a slightly crumpled, folded piece of paper and carefully smoothed it out against the top of the stone railing. It was the master survey grid showing the numbered plots of land available above the cliffside.
Kakashi looked down at the map, then back at Ereki. "Pick a spot on there, Ereki. I'll be sure to reserve that plot for you, and you can pay for it when you have the money."
Ereki stared down at the paper, a sudden wave of realization hitting him. The Hokage could have easily given him the land deed right then and there. But by doing it this way, Kakashi was respecting his pride as a man and a creator. He wasn't handing out charity; he was giving Ereki a real goal to work toward and treating him like a true partner in the village's future.
A deep, unwavering sense of loyalty took root in Ereki's chest. Looking up at the horizon where his testing tracks would one day sit, a look of fierce determination settled on his face.
Kakashi chuckled softly at the young man's fierce resolve, tapping his fingers against the railing. "I'm expecting great things from you, Ereki. But realistically, you're going to need a lot of personal capital to buy that plot and lay down those tracks. You might need to pitch a few smaller, practical inventions to R&D first to raise the funds."
He paused, offering a casual shrug. "Of course, if you want to skip that step, the office of the Hokage can purchase the land for you as an official village asset. We can handle the upfront costs."
Ereki's eyes widened, and he immediately bowed his head. "Thank you, Lord Hokage, but I—I must politely decline! You've already given me a workshop, full project funding, and an incredible opportunity. I already feel deeply indebted to you. If I took a free plot of land on top of this amazing deal, I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror. I want to earn the money to buy it myself."
Kakashi smiled, his response matching the young man's character. He had expected exactly that kind of reply.
"Fair enough," Kakashi said, crossing his arms as his expression turned slightly more serious, though his tone remained warm. "Then let's make a compromise. Effective immediately, I am ordering the official end of your active-duty status. You are off the mission roster."
Ereki blinked, freezing in place. "Off the roster? But, Lord Hokage..."
"It's not a punishment, Ereki," Kakashi interjected smoothly, gesturing back toward the blueprint in the young man's hands. "You are far too valuable to this village. I can't have my lead transit engineer risking his life on a standard border patrol or escort mission."
Ereki's chest tightened, a profound sense of awe silencing any protest he might have had. To be told by the Hokage himself that his life and his mind were too precious to risk on the battlefield was the highest honor he had ever received.
"I understand, Lord Hokage," Ereki said, bowing deeply, his voice thick with emotion. "Thank you. I will give everything I have to the Thunder Train project."
Kakashi stepped closer and lightly clapped him on the shoulder, a warm smile on his face.
"Go home and rest, Ereki. I'll notify the R&D department about your assignment tomorrow morning, and I'll have an Anbu drop by your place to let you know exactly when you'll start."
Ereki nodded quickly, his chest heaving as he tried desperately to contain the sheer explosion of excitement threatening to burst out of him. He clenched his fists at his sides, forcing himself to bow one final time without shaking, determined not to make a complete fool of himself in front of the Hokage.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage! Have a good evening!" he managed to get out, his voice tight with suppressed energy.
Turning on his heel, Ereki practically floated toward the roof door. His mind was racing so fast, and his heart was pounding so hard with the realization that every major barrier to his dream had been completely smashed in under an hour that his chakra control was entirely shot. He tried to focus enough to execute a basic Body Flicker to zip down the mountain path, but his energy was too erratic, refusing to mold properly.
Realizing his unsteady chakra would probably make him trip and crash if he tried the technique, Ereki chose to walk.
- Chapter End -
(Just realized that the intro of this chapter was cut off, it's now fixed)