After "quelling" Tsunade,who had grown increasingly sensitive and emotional as her due date approached—with some rather "sophisticated" soothing, Hii Kōri picked up the documents Akane had left and began flipping through them.
The stack was less than three fingers thick, probably a couple hundred pages. Compared to the mountains of design sketches and research manuscripts he usually dealt with, this was practically "light reading."
That said, the slightly excessive thickness of paper in the Naruto world still made him miss the A4 paper from his previous life.
He spun a pen absently with one hand while rapidly leafing through the documents with the other, noting that Akane had already prepared a table of contents. The content roughly fell into three categories.
The first was business operations: reports on the execution of various commercial projects, revenue and profit statements, priority assessments for partnerships with organizations and guilds in different countries, and proposals for changing certain raw material suppliers.
In short, the "money-making" part.
The saying "no business without cunning" captured only one facet of it. The ability to mobilize capital, the courage to make decisions, the wisdom to choose correctly, and the necessary luck—all of these together sustained a large guild's operations and expansion.
Before the Second Shinobi World War, drawing on his experience in economic research from his previous life, Hii Kōri had guided the Red Hot Sand Guild to enormous profits.
But now, quite a few merchants had caught on to his methods and were trying to replicate them—which was why he had decided to slow the guild's expansion.
For now, however, the iron fist of capitalism from several centuries in the future seemed still too heavy for this era.
Ah, too powerful. The invisible hand of Hayek.
Sighing to himself, Hii Kōri's pen never stopped, scrawling annotations like Budget increase: 5% rejected, Short their stock, and similar directives across the documents.
The second category covered a broader range: research department expansions and summaries of various assigned projects, plans for upgrading production lines across regions, recruitment of talent and the formation of research teams in corresponding fields, investments in various countries… and reports on contact with and assessments of ruins, hidden minor nations, and independent ninja clans.
In other words, the "money-spending" part.
Regarding these expenditures—which could only be described as burning through cash—Hii Kōri had little concern. He was a researcher himself; repeating hundreds or thousands of "useless" verifications when hitting a bottleneck was completely normal.
Besides, it wasn't like there were no results. At least the crop modification department seemed to have made some progress.
Alright, let's see what good stuff you've come up with!
What's this about tomatoes with an average acidity increase of 76.3%?
Hii Kōri turned the page eagerly, then fell into a long, awkward silence. Tsunade, who hadn't been interested before, noticed his sudden stillness and glanced over at his expression, then burst out laughing.
With the face of someone who had just bitten into a tomato, he continued flipping through the other results.
Not bad. Yield's up. Sour's fine—just add more sugar when cooking. The Land of Wind's sugar industry always had excess capacity anyway.
Somewhat consoled, Hii Kōri kept reading.
Unlike the first two parts, the final category contained core intelligence accessible only to a select few, including him.
This included analysis of cross-regional energy transmission networks and small-scale pilot reports, monitoring and analysis of the Rōran Dragon Veins, reports on human experimentation, records of how cursed energy affected ordinary living things, and more.
Hii Kōri skimmed through these quickly. While the commercial and industrial development reports required time to show results, these projects were measured in years. Getting no feedback for a year or two was entirely normal.
As expected, the most detailed and useful data was the pile of stress relief records for structural components.
As everyone knew, specialized equipment components couldn't be used immediately after fabrication—they required stress relief first. For Oddly shaped or oversized parts that couldn't be stress-relieved through heating or vibration, natural aging over months or years was necessary.
Though Hii Kōri's jujutsu, Ucchuṣma: Hundred Transformations Sealed Method, could directly eliminate an object's intrinsic properties—including accumulated stress—these components were themselves made from "nonexistent metals" created through his jujutsu.
The properties a material could be imbued with were not directly related to its size. As the intended material for his Shinshi Kiki-zu series puppets, these metal parts were already infused with various additional properties, and maintaining the balance of all parameters was extremely difficult.
It was like playing Jenga.
Hii Kōri had based his improvements on the very concept of "steel." If, after modifications, he abruptly removed properties, the entire structure could collapse logically.
Time slipped away in quiet reading and writing.
Tsunade had watched him review documents out of curiosity at first, aside but from the amusingly sour tomatoes, she quickly lost interest in the dense data and jargon.
After eating lunch sent up by room service, she curled up in the same style of rocking chair they'd had at the coast, lazily soaking up the sun, watching Rashōmon's shifting shadow forms play simple games with Shizune and little Sara in the carpeted corner.
After a while, something seemed to occur to her. She turned to Hii Kōri, still buried in paperwork, and asked: "Didn't you say you had those Dragon Veins? With such a massive energy source, why are your projects still moving at such a measured pace? Couldn't you use the Dragon Veins' energy to speed things up?"
"Mm… that's because—"
Hii Kōri's pen paused as he prepared to sign the next document. He thought about brushing her off with "the timing isn't right" or "the technology isn't mature," but then reconsidered. Tsunade had once been Konoha's elite, and she'd been obsessively studying Tobirama Senju's notes. Even if she had little interest in politics, exposure would have given her some understanding.
Moreover, she had a contract with one of the Three Great Sacred Lands.
With that in mind, he raised a seemingly unrelated question: "Your summoning contract is with Shikkotsu Forest, one of the Three Great Sacred Lands, right?"
"That's right… why? Looking to learn Shikkotsu's Sage Mode? Let me warn you, compared to that idiot Jiraiya's version, Shikkotsu's senjutsu is even less suited for humans."
Though caught off guard by the sudden question, Tsunade didn't think too deeply. She assumed it was because he had just seen Jiraiya's techniques—after all, those Dragon Veins were also natural energy.
"When you have time later, ask the Slug Sage about natural energy and the Dragon Veins. Even if I explained now, it would be hard to make it clear."
"What's that supposed to mean… making me sound like some idiot. Fine, don't tell me."
Tsunade pouted but didn't press further, simply filed his words away.
She couldn't blame him for being vague—she had to admit her own recent behavior had been rather foolish.
After finishing the documents, Hii Kōri felt like he was forgetting something. It took a moment to remember: he hadn't yet visited another key contributor.
He said a quick goodbye, stuffed the completed files into a scroll on his wrist, pulled out a pile of small toys he'd bought earlier as product samples for Rashōmon used to entertain the two energetic girls, carried the now-sleeping Tsunade back to bed, grabbed a beautifully packaged box of specialty sweets from the Land of Hot Water, and ambled out of the suite.
After asking directions from a couple of people, Hii Kōri made his way to the other side of the guild headquarters—the office district. He pushed open the door marked Head of Operations.
As the heavy door cracked open, a wave of strong coffee aroma hit him. Behind the desk, a somewhat wilted figure was sprawled in an office chair.
That was the man known for his loud laugh—Ahaha-kun. The pillar of Red Hot Sand. Sakaki Tatsuma.
At the moment, he was covering his face with a folder, looking like he was either asleep or dead.
Hii Kōri suspected he was dead asleep.
"Moshi moshi? Still alive? Still healthy?"
Hii Kōri set the sweets box on the desk with a thunk, casually lifted the folder covering Ahaha-kun's face, and waved it in front of his half-lidded eyes.
…Ahaha-kun's hairline is looking a bit dangerous.
"You—you value women over friends!"
As if triggered by some switch, Ahaha-kun shot upright like a zombie, slamming his hands on the desk, grinding his teeth.
"Who?"
"You!"
"I value women?" "Yes!"
"Over friends?" "Exactly!"
"Where did you get that from?"
"After you asked me to get the car ready, how long has it been since you contacted me?!"
"I didn't?"
"No! I was working myself to death and you never came to see me!"
"Hmm… now that you mention it…"
"So you admit it!"
"Alright, alright. My fault. Want me to kneel? I can do that."
Facing Ahaha-kun, whose hairline had receded toward Vegeta's level from all the "hardships" he'd put him through, Hii Kōri could only concede. If it came to kneeling, he'd have no complaints.
"Forget it. Seeing you hopping around like that puts my mind at ease."
Having unceremoniously torn open the gift box and stuffed two pastries into his mouth, Sakaki Tatsuma rolled his eyes.
As the chief executive of Red Hot Sand, he'd dealt with no shortage of "important figures" over the years—he should have more composure. But with Hii Kōri around, what was the point of putting on airs?
Ever since taking over this guild from his junior, he had completely understood
ood why the man loved sweets so much.
"Though I think 'valuing women over friends' isn't quite accurate. Besides you, I don't really have any other male friends—actually, no female friends either."
Languidly slumping in his chair, Hii Kōri grabbed a rice ball, tossed it in his mouth, and started helping with the paperwork, his words muffled.
"Ugh. Your social circle is way too small, isn't it?"
"As if yours is any better."
"That's your fault, okay?!"
Ahaha-kun's bravado collapsed. He slumped over his desk, wailing weakly: "Back when I was just working odd jobs, I was busy too, but at least I had time for the casino now and then. Now… now I'm drowning in reports and contracts!"
"Look at my hair! My hairline! It's worse than the Third Kazekage's back when he used to stay up all night on paperwork!"
"I'm busy too."
Pen never stopping, Hii Kōri didn't look up: "Research, training, maintaining relationships, dealing with all the emergencies you guys can't handle."
"Besides, you're enjoying it, aren't you? Raking in all that money feels amazing, right?"
"Can't lie. It does."
Ahaha-kun's expression turned serious—the same "business face" he wore for important signings—and he nodded earnestly.
Besides, like Hii Kōri said, he was never idle either. Even taking a vacation with his two girlfriends, he'd still come back with a dozen captured Konoha ninja.
"Speaking of which, we haven't hung out in a while. Once things settle down, let's grab a drink tonight?"
"Oh, can't. I've got plans. With Akane."
"? You moth—"
Seeing Ahaha-kun's Face start to redden, Hii Kōri grabbed a pastry and stuffed it in his mouth, then waved goodbye and made his escape.
"Keep it up! Keep it up! I'll give you tomorrow off!"
Swiftly escaping Ahaha-kun's protests, Hii Kōri made his way to Akane's office.
To improve efficiency, Akane and Sakaki handled different areas of operations—so their offices were separate.
When he pushed open the door, Akane was leaning back in her chair, one hand pressed over her closed eyes, the other rubbing her temples. There were still traces of wetness from eyedrops on her face—clearly exhausted.
Hearing the door, she assumed it was her secretary and said vaguely: "Just leave the documents on the desk. I'll look at them later."
Hii Kōri didn't answer. He quietly placed the files he'd reviewed that afternoon on the corner of her desk and moved around behind her.
Noticing the footsteps drawing closer, Akane opened her eyes with a questioning look—and met Hii Kōri's gaze.
"It's you…"
"You've worked hard."
His voice low, Hii Kōri put his hands on her shoulders—with a gesture that would have Sakaki Tatsuma screaming that he did value women over friends—and began massaging.
The massage technique of a top-tier taijutsu and medical ninja was nothing to scoff at. A wave of mingled soreness and relaxation spread through Akane's body, drawing an involuntary soft sound from her.
She bit her lip, closing her eyes again to enjoy this rare attentiveness.
"Hmm… I really have worked hard… I spent less than ten days with you in Rōran, and you scared and sweet-talked me into leaving to do this troublesome job…"
Her complaint lacked real bitterness; instead, the pleasurable lassitude thickened her voice with an unconscious sensuality. Her body leaned toward Hii Kōri without her realizing, settling into a half-reclining posture.
Hii Kōri's gaze followed her neck—now flushed a faint cherry blossom pink from the massage—down past her elegant collarbone, across the softly rising hills of her chest, to her toes, relaxed and stretching the thin silk of her stockings.
She really needs more time to unwind… maybe we should set up a hot spring facility here.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Hii Kōri had already imagined Akane in a yukata.
His quad-core brain could certainly be called a ghost brain. With Yin Release, his imagined miso soup might not even stay imaginary.
As if sensing his gaze, Akane suddenly remembered she had kicked off her shoes earlier to relax. She stealthily opened one eye to find Hii Kōri smiling peacefully at her. Already flushed from the massage, her cheeks grew even warmer. She quietly reached out and pulled her shoes back on.
Perhaps to ease the awkwardness, she changed the subject rather abruptly: "That lady… isn't one of the two I'd heard about, is she?"
She was referring, of course, to Pakura and Karura. It was only natural that she would investigate Hii Kōri's relationships, given her own "illicit thoughts" about him.
Sakaki Tatsuma had contributed to this, partly out of schadenfreude.
Watching your friend get caught in a love triangle—worth it even if you die.
He was a truly chaotic force. Quite vicious.
"Ah… how should I put this. Tsunade used to be a Konoha ninja. As for how it happened… you could say it was my fault during the war."
Akane let out a light snort and, with a gesture that seemed almost dismissive, pushed his hands away: "Then you deserve it."
Hii Kōrij ust shrugged, offering no response.
Finding him so unresponsive, Akane pursed her lips, stood, and tugged him by the collar toward the door: "Enough of that. Tonight, you're going to drink with me until we're both satisfied."
"…At this point, should I say 'as you wish'? Your Majesty?"
"If you know what's good for you, you'd better keep me happy~"
Ahaha-kun: What about me? I'm not even in the car yet!
***
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