Chapter 122 - 122. It Ain't Easy Doing Business.

Shiroken spent the whole day tending to the field. He knew the faster he worked on it the better it would develop. His expectations were high from this, and this was also an experiment, if he was able to successfully do it, no human shall ever die of hunger again in the entire world.

"KONAN, COME HERE, CHILD" Shiroken called her. It took her some time to get back to normal mental condition after witnessing the death of her best friend. Monari helped her a lot. But still, Konan never smiled. She stayed serious.

Surprisingly, Shisui was giving her company these days. Shiroken wondered if the boy liked her or something. But, there was no romantic signal yet so he considered it was just from the good of his heart.

Using her paper wings, Konan flew to Shrioken, the man she had put her trust in..

"Fly high in the sky until you see a lake far away. You see this pipe, you take this end and lay this down all the way into that lake. Can you do this?" he asked. He wished that she would be able to divert her mind by working.

"Yes," With a nod, she picked one end of the huge pipe roll and dragged it along with her into the sky. Soon, she saw a big lake, it had clouded over it, raining constantly. She wondered how this was possible, not knowing this lake was formed during Shiroken's battle with Jiraiya and four Hokages.

Diligently, she laid down the whole pipe and returned to Shiroken. Currently, she was not wearing the old Akatsuki coat, now, it was a white coat with golden clouds instead.

Once she returned to Shiroken, she saw him making a big windmill with his wood release. In no time, he connected the pipe to one end of the windmill and the other end to another pipe.

Wind Country had no lack of wind, hence the windmill immediately started moving. In no time, the water pipe started to pump out water. Happily, Shiroken connected it with his elaborate sprinkling system.

Soon after, it started raining down on the recently Natural Energy treated land. Konan, who had not shown any expression on her face all this time, finally looked shocked, her brows up and eyes widened.

Shiroken chuckled, "Come here, sit with me, child. Let me show you something beautiful"

Shiroken was crouched on the ground. Konan obeyed and crouched beside him. He put his palm over a small patch of ground and spoke, "Just look at the ground under my hand."

He supplied an immense level of natural energy in that small section. In just 3 seconds, a small sapling grew out, it immediately grew bigger, turning into a stem. It didn't stop there either.

Shiroken moved back and let the stem grow bigger and thicker, slowly, it turned into a small tree of two metres in height and a few metres of its branch span. Soon after it started to have small flowers on its branches, and in no time, those flowers became apples. In a matter of a minute, they had a tree full of juicy apples.

Shiroken stopped making it bigger and instead plucked on an apple. He handed it to a bewildered Konan. Her face said it all.

With a smile, Shiroken patted her head, "Konana, people are like this tree. You too. All your life, you struggled to grow into a tree in this unruly world. Right now, you're a beautiful flower. A battle-hardened flower. Now it's on you to develop yourself into an apple. It's you who must decide, should it be an apple of strength? Or an apple of weakness, sadness and sorrow? Think about it. And never forget, I'm always here to help you anytime."

He ruffled her blue hair like she was a child and left. Unknown to him, she actually felt like one, since Shiroken's demeanour made him feel like an old wise man. She just silently nodded and looked at the tree.

After Shiroken was gone, she glanced at the apple with thousands of things running in her mind. But finally, she took a bite and muttered to herself, "Apple of strength."

...

Konoha's Market,

This Market was specially made in the newly built half of the village. Shiroken had purposefully planned its development. Now, all the Dama Country's caravans can just come here and set up shops. But the area wasn't just reserved for them, any trader could open a shop here since it was a big area.

Rakumatsu, the bulky, muscle loving, everyone's favourite old man, headed this batch of goods. He knew what the Konoha people would like so he chose things himself. Unlike other villages, the people of Konoha were decently rich, so they tend to spend money on new things. Hence, he brought all the weird stuff he could find. But still, daily necessities and food remained in high demand.

"SALE! SALE! SALE! The best Cakes and Milkshakes from Dama Country. Created by the famous Milky Milky Farm(Saiken's farm). Get the best fresh fish from the famous Isobu's Fishworld. All 30% OFF. SALE! SALE! SALE!"

The old man shouted through a paper cone. His shop already had a large crowd and more were coming. He had to use a few boys to help him work. These boys were normal people of Dama Country, hired by the Government-owned Merchant Corporation. The young men were registered in the Country's employment office, so whenever there was an opening they found jobs.

This was how Dama Country had a 99 per cent employment rate. It wasn't a hundred because many were like Kurama, laid back people who'd rather waste time.

"BOSS RAKU! Someone from a non-shinobi village is here. He said he wants to order some goods on an emergency basis." A clerk came to him.

As the boss, Rakumatsu went to talk. The person was a normal guy, about 50 years old, there was nothing remarkable about his appearance except his very thin body and deflated chins, enough to show his cheekbones completely.

"What do you need, young lad?" Rakumatsu cheerfully asked.

"Lord Rakumatsu, I want to order food from you. Please bring food to my village quickly. My people will die if not given anything. There are 100 men, 78 women and 56 children. We all have been suffering from famine due to our harvest being plagued by a flock of termites.

"We asked for help from the last Hokage, but nobody came. Now, a new Hokage came, but I was not let in to meet her. Please, I beg you. I have brought all the remaining livestock and money we have, I would like to trade them with you for food." the man cried.

Rakumatsu, the oldest man of the Nidama clan, remembered the old days when he used to be the village chief, long before he met his beloved lord Shiroken. He has faced many such starving seasons himself and knows the pain of seeing your loved ones die slowly right in front of you. His own newborn granddaughter died from lack of food after all, as his daughter-in-law had nothing to eat to produce milk.

*PAT* Don't worry, young man. I shall bring the food myself. And don't worry, Lord Dama never mistreats people. You should have directly come to us. And we do not take money or livestock for this food. Consider this humanitarian aid. Let's go now." Rakumatsu cheerfully went with the man after ordering his men what to do in his absence.

He took 10 carriages full of various vegetables, grains, meat and special supplements. 9 boys from Dama country followed him, while the man from the village sat beside Rakumatsu on the leading carriage.

"Don't worry, boy. Everything will be fine." the old man continued to support him.

The man was still crying and slowly led the way. "There, right through there, from the jungle."

They travelled for about 3 hours, but the village was nowhere to be seen. They were instead continuously heading deeper into the jungle.

The man just then started crying even louder, his nose started to run and tears mixed with them. He faced Rakumatsu, "*Sniff* My Lord... you are such a kind man. This Lord Dama must be very kind too..."

"Haha, it's alright. Don't cry, you look ugly. You don't want your family to see you like this." Rakumatsu handed him a handkerchief.

But the man continued to cry, even more now, "I... I'm sorry... they have the village hostage."

*BAM*

Rakumatsu pulled the reins of the horses and stopped immediately. An ominous revelation surfaced in his mind. Hastily, he jumped and looked back. His heart cried immediately.

"NO... THEY WERE INNOCENT KIDS!" Rakumatsu shouted in fury and pain, seeing the slit throats of the 8 boys who were pulling the carriages. All were dead, only one in the back could run away.

*WOOSH*

Out of nowhere, about 50 ninjas appeared, all clad in armour and Anbu masks. They stood on the tree branches and looked at him.

"Lord Dama always says, only kill when you know one has gravely sinned. YOU ALL HAVE SINNED! HAAA..." Rakumatsu raged, his muscles pumping and growing, shredding his upper robes into pieces. His bare upper body was visible to all, muscles like steel armour covered him.

And so, the old man fought. But he was... just a human... with extraordinary strength. It could stop the sharp blades, but not the fiery fire and attacks made by Chakra.

Still, he fought bravely, shredding apart many of the ninjas with his bare hands and incredible speed. But... it was not enough.

Injured, breathing heavily, he fell to his knees. The last person he looked at was the crying man who lured him here. Rakumatsu smiled, "Boy, I was once like you. Take the food with you. Don't let your family die."

The man cried even more, but ran quickly with as many carriages as possible, tying them together. Rakumatsu continued to fight, winning time for that man.

Out of 50, only 15 ninjas survived. There was blood everywhere, a display of Rakumatsu's brutal strength. But in the end, like all castles famous for being impenetrable, he fell. And with that, a calamity they had summoned. The ground shook, for the life they took... belonged to someone even Shiroken lovingly called Grandpa.

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[ANNOUNCEMENT: I am starting new fanfic, called "Marvel: Mr. President" It starts in 1939. You can probably guess MC's background. He will be an old man, badass and cool, not completely kind as his other identity is Hell's Inquisitor, he was once a human. He's a mix of both, Angel and Demon.

[Synopsis.]

Hector King, a man in his 50s, no family or friends to speak of, paralysed from the waist down due to a work-related accident. Now lived alone with his pup Huskey.

But one day, he mistakenly summoned Satan. "Ah, it's been a long time since I was summoned. You found my book? Good, what do you want? Riches? Women? Fame? Strength? Or perhaps, your legs? All at the discounted price of your soul." Satan offered.

Hector, however, didn't need any of that. And so, his answer even shocked Satan, making that smug look disappear. "I... I want you to be my friend."

And from there, the friendship that would last eternity started, all at the price of Hector's soul.

...

Year 2021,

As a mortal, Hector died. But Satan decided to do something crazy, "F*CK IT! You're my best friend, I can't let you die. Hector, I am appointing you as Hell's Inquisitor, a position only under me."

...

1939,

Earth Hector found himself in his old original physical body again, but he was now taller and buff, like a bodybuilder.

"I-I got a new last name? Hmm, it has a nice ring to it." He muttered.

He was, from then on, Hector King Washington.

"WOOF!"

And the good boy Moony was also there, bigger, buffed and more beautiful.]

***I will start posting it here after Naruto Fic ends, which will probably be around chapter 180.***

[Check out the cover in this para comment. It has MC in it.]

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WHERE MY STONE SALARY?

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(Advised you don't join right now as there are only 25 chapters. I Will be uploading more soon.) You can read 30 Advanced chapters at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

Thank you for your support!