It took less than three days to return to the Kingdom of Ghosts, starting from the Sea Route of the Kingdom of Tea.

As a well-known bounty hunter, Kakuzu has been a bounty hunter for more than 40 years in order to hunt down high-value bounty targets on the bounty list. He has traveled around the ninja world more than once.

I have traveled to many countries, learned about local customs, and gained a detailed understanding of the ancient culture of the ninja world.

Because sometimes when you want to get close to a target, you cannot rely on pure violence, but you have to mingle with the target and blend into the environment where the target is. Therefore, Kakuzu has done this more than once by pretending to be a traveler.

The basis of disguise is to have a thorough understanding of the situation in each country and a thorough understanding of ancient and modern history, so that the disguise will appear handy.

Among the countries in the ninja world, the Demon Country is undoubtedly an extremely special country.

Just like the Iron Kingdom.

One represents the pure witch culture, and the other represents the pure samurai culture.

In the era when Kakuzu was born, the culture of shrine maidens and samurai was actually spreading around the world. During the Warring States Period, we could often see shrine maidens traveling around the world, hanging pots to help the world, and we could also see shrine maidens who wanted to hone their will and sword skills.

Samurai embark on a road of life-or-death struggle.

In that era, although ninjas were the mainstream, there were still places for shrine maidens and samurai, and even monks. There were also a large number of ascetics who traveled around the world to spread their beliefs and attract people to join the religion.

With the pacification of the Warring States Period, the power of the ninja reached its peak, and with the establishment of the one-country-one-village system, the culture of shrine maidens, samurai, and monks gradually shrank.

In the past, the Fire Country was an extremely large country that believed in monks. As a result, with the rise of ninjas, even the Fire Temple, which was loyal to the daimyo, lost its former majesty. Their ideas could only be spread within a small area, and the monks

The traditional culture was gradually replaced by ninja culture.

The same is true for the miko in the Kingdom of Oni. In the era when ninjas dominated the ninja world, the miko culture should be exported to the outside world. Under the protection of the main line of miko, the scope of miko's activities gradually shrank within the country.

Compared with the huge number of ninja groups that have become a symbol of the country's military power, the interests belonging to shrine maidens, samurai and monks will naturally be occupied by ninjas.

Moreover, most of the shrine maidens in the Kingdom of Demons are ordinary women. There are only a very small number of shrine maidens with special abilities.

An independent shrine maiden system, no matter how powerful the ninjas are, cannot affect the status of shrine maidens within this country.

She is obviously the leader of a country and a shrine maiden who can make her voice known internationally, but in the underground black market, there is no bounty on her head.

You know, even the names of the five major countries are on the list. The same is true for the names of other small and neutral countries. Their names appear on the bounty list, and it is just a question of how much the bounty is.

Kakuzu has been involved in the underground black market for decades, but he has never seen a miko from the Kingdom of Demons appear on the reward list.

A special country, a special shrine maiden system, and a mystery that is not corroded by the ninja system.

For Kakuzu, except for special periods when monsters cause chaos, the Demon Country is the most stable country in the ninja world.

In the same way, there is no underground black market running rampant in the Kingdom of Demons. Otherwise, a while ago, he would not have to go to other countries to exchange for Hanzo's bounty, but would exchange it directly in the Kingdom of Demons.

With the outbreak of the Third Ninja World War, the center of the Ninja World is concentrated on big countries such as the Land of Fire. On the contrary, the Kingdom of Oni, a border neutral country far away from the center of the continent, is an inconspicuous one.

But Kakuzu is different, because he maintains financial cooperation with the official pharmaceutical company of the Kingdom of Demons. When others are paying attention to the five major countries, he is the only one who can jump out of the framework of the five major nations and see the essence of the matter.

The Kingdom of Ghosts undergoes some kind of transformation every year.

This transformation is unknown to outsiders.

The perfect road system attracted businessmen.

The arrival of merchants drove the economic development of the Ghost Country.

Economic acceleration has promoted the military integration of ninjas and ordinary soldiers in the Kingdom of Demons, setting up multiple military regions, and turning the entire Kingdom of Demons into an iron barrel.

Not only that, the complete roads shorten the distance between all towns and villages in the Kingdom of Ghosts, making it easier for high-level officials in the Kingdom of Ghosts to issue decrees and highly centralize power.

New types of education and medical reforms were implemented.

Every reform requires massive funds, manpower and material resources.

Although he didn't know the purpose of the top leaders of the Kingdom of Ghosts in promoting this, it was proved everywhere that the power of the Kingdom of Ghosts was getting stronger day by day.

And these actions were all covered up by the ninja war between the great powers.

After all, the great powers are the protagonists of the ninja world.

But Kakuzu knows that the various wealth accumulated by the small ghost country may not be weaker than that of any big country.

The reason why it is still unable to compare with big countries is purely due to the lack of territory and population.

Kakuzu can only have one idea about the current Demon Country - being ambitious.

What will you do next?

Kakuzu was thinking about this question before meeting the so-called mysterious leader from Insect Man.

He had a strong premonition that the Kingdom of Ghosts would never remain peaceful internationally in the next few years.

As for what level of commotion there will be, Kakuzu cannot predict. In short, it will cause great headaches to the daimyo of the five major countries.

The First Military District of the capital Ziyuan City is separated from the commercial street by a wall, dividing the outside and the inside into two worlds.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the commercial street, the official name of the First Military District, which was established behind Ziyuan City, the atmosphere inside is undoubtedly serious and solemn, completely in contrast to the hustle and bustle outside.

The wall that separates the commercial area from the First Military District is also very tall, just like the outer wall that surrounds Konoha Village, but it is much stronger and thicker than the wall that surrounds the entire Konoha.

Although the interior has undergone a second expansion space, it is still not comparable to the size of Ninja Village.

This is natural, after all, the Ninja Village is managed by ninjas and the people living together, but the Demon Country is separated from the people and the ninjas who represent military power, and are managed separately.

The ninja team that can be seen in Shion Castle is only a security team used to maintain law and order.

Entering the administrative area, except for the necessary guards, there was no breath or sound in the position where manpower could be hidden, which proved that the guards hiding in the dark had excellent concealment abilities.

After quietly creating so many powerful ninjas, Kakuzu became more and more interested in what the Demon Country would do in the future.

There is organization, strength, money, and planning...the only thing that remains uncertain is the purpose.

It's impossible to just do it casually.

Moreover, a forty-year work contract is nothing more than a short life experience for him.

Just like his nearly forty years as a bounty hunter, now he has just changed his taste for life.

This is probably the margin of a long-lived person, and there is no need to worry about lifespan at all.

Maybe this is a very novel life journey.

"Um?"

The person responsible for leading Kakuzu in was not the insect man, but another military staff member.

The person he passed by was a man with black hair and a rather handsome face.

Wearing formal black clothing embroidered with asters, but on the left and right shoulders, there is another logo.

It can be called a thunderous fan mark.

That is the family crest of the Uchiha clan, a wealthy family in Konoha.

Is this man with a strange face a ninja from the Uchiha clan?

A messenger sent from Konoha?

No, not to mention that this place will not be open to outsiders. Just the fact that this Uchiha ninja is wearing official uniform with an aster flower mark is extremely intriguing.

It can only explain one thing, this is not an Uchiha ninja affiliated with Konoha, but working in the military organization of the Kingdom of Demons.

The lower-level staff member who led him in also bowed slightly to the Uchiha ninja. He seemed to be of a higher rank and had a familiar look on his face.

Interesting... Jiao didn't show any emotion at all.

Although this incident surprised him, it only aroused some interest in him.

Just as he guessed, the military organization of the Kingdom of Ghosts is not simple.

Judging from the way he walks and the posture with no weaknesses, this Uchiha ninja is at least a jounin-level ninja. Even with only one heart, he may not be his opponent.

Kakuzu knows this very well.

"Mr. Kakuzu, we have arrived."

The staff member leading the way stopped in front of a door, knocked on the door first, and heard the voice of "Please come in" from inside, then turned the handle for Kakuzu and led him into the office.

The office environment is simple, neither luxurious nor cheap, but somewhere in between.

There are green plants growing in the flower pots placed in the window. Near the wall, there are glass cabinets that store various books, documents and information. A thick pile has been accumulated.

A man in his twenties was sitting at his desk. On the desk were the documents he was working on, arranged in an orderly manner, and a half-drunk cup of tea.

After bringing Kakuzu in, the staff quietly walked out of the office, leaving space for Kakuzu and Shiraishi.

"I have admired you for a long time, Mr. Immortal Kakuzu. Please take a seat."

Shiraishi stood up from his seat and made a gesture of invitation.

Kakuzu followed Shiraishi's request and sat on a loose chair not far from the prepared desk.

"As for the work contract, I have already drawn it up here. Mr. Kakuzu can take it back and look at it first, then sign it and bring it to me. If there is anything you are not satisfied with, you can sit down and discuss it slowly."

Shiraishi took out a contract document from the drawer and placed it on the edge of the table near Kakuzu.

Kakuzu didn't go to get it, but stared at Shiraishi with strange and relieved eyes.

"Are you a member of Konoha's former White Fang team's medical ninja team?"

His tone seemed to be questioning, but his tone was actually quite certain of his answer.
To be continued...