Chapter 135: Chapter 135 – Subduing Gato
As for the candidate to transplant the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan into, you summoned Boss Black Cat and spaced out for a bit. Although Boss Black Cat agreed to the plan, you simply couldn't bring yourself to modify a summon beast who had fought and suffered alongside you for so long.
At that moment, you suddenly remembered the Baku you snatched from Danzo… but its body was way too large.
Fortunately, Boss Black Cat reminded you at just the right time, and that's when you recalled the perfect candidate—
——White Zetsu.
These experimental disposable bodies were practically everywhere. Even in a remote place like the Land of Waves, finding a hundred or so wouldn't be difficult at all.
You activated your Six-Tomoe Sharingan, flew out of the room, and before long, returned holding a headless White Zetsu in your arms.
You sealed the body properly.
Then, using a simple ocular genjutsu, you suppressed White Zetsu's blank consciousness and directly inserted the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan you'd taken from Uchiha Itachi.
With that, the transplant was complete. Thanks to White Zetsu's powerful vitality, even with his head and body separated, he could continue to survive—no additional procedures required.
〖Day 28〗
At dawn, you extracted Gato's whereabouts from Zabuza.
After all, Gato hadn't treated Zabuza or Haku particularly well. It was only because they were being hunted by Kirigakure's ANBU and had to stay hidden that Zabuza reluctantly served him.
So, all it took was a handful of gold coins and a promise that you would eliminate the Kirigakure pursuers. That alone was enough to make Zabuza defect on the spot.
He even declared that he was willing to follow a powerful shinobi like you.
With that settled, you let the two of them stay in your room to wait…
Before long, you had already captured Gato inside the Minister of Finance's mansion.
Without giving him a chance to resist or speak, you tore off the black cloth from White Zetsu's head and immediately controlled him to cast Kotoamatsukami on Gato.
You implanted into Gato the unwavering loyalty to the "Masked Leader" and the "Masked Organization."
Then, you pulled out a golden mask from your pouch—identical in design to the one you wore.
As soon as Gato saw the mask, he immediately dropped to his knees and prostrated himself, expressing heartfelt gratitude to the organization you had fabricated and the fictional "Masked Leader."
He received the golden mask like it was a sacred treasure and placed it on his face with reverence.
Afterward, you began explaining the organizational structure:
At the top was the "Masked Leader"—no one had ever seen his true face, but everyone in the organization followed his orders.
Below him were you and Gato, the Gold Masks. You served as the direct subordinates of the Masked Leader.
Gold Masks were responsible for overseeing all operations across different regions on behalf of the Masked Leader.
For instance, under your arrangement, Gato was tasked with developing the maritime trade sector to provide financial support for the organization. At the same time, he was to use the Land of Waves as a strategic base—minimizing destruction while boosting the organization's reputation.
As for you, your role was to coordinate communications between all Gold Masks and provide combat protection. You also held the authority to appoint and dismiss all members below Gold Mask rank.
Communication between Gold Masks and the Masked Leader happened only through dreams!
Moreover, only the Masked Leader could initiate contact—Gold Masks were forbidden from reaching out on their own.
Beneath the Gold Masks were the Silver, Copper, and Iron Mask members. Silver and Copper Masks had the chance to be promoted to Gold if they performed well...
However, aside from you and the Masked Leader, the other Gold Masks were only permitted to directly appoint Iron Mask members. To appoint Copper Masks, they had to submit an official request for approval and pass a review. While they couldn't directly assign roles, Gold Masks could still reassign the responsibilities of the Silver and Copper Masks under their command.
With that, you explained the Gold-Silver-Copper-Iron hierarchy, along with the basic salary structure, to Gato.
And thanks to Kotoamatsukami's effect, the now fanatically loyal Gato didn't utter a single word of objection.
He even pledged to dedicate all his wealth to the organization!
Then, he led you to his treasury.
After taking a look around, you decided to take only one-tenth of the total fortune for now—that would be more than enough for a long while. The rest would be kept under Gato's management, to continue expanding the organization's power.
Your goal for him? Become the world's richest man within three years!
Gato agreed without hesitation.
You then left the area using your stealth jutsu, sealed away White Zetsu's head and the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan, and handed them over to Boss Black Cat to deliver back to the ninja cat clan's homeland.
While Boss Black Cat grumbled about having to pay a "spatial storage fee" to the clan, you handed him a hefty chunk of chakra metal from Gato's treasury as compensation.
Back at your residence, you conferred the ranks of Silver Mask and Copper Mask upon Zabuza and Haku respectively.
You explained the organization's structure once again. After thinking it over, Zabuza decided to officially join.
Their missions were twofold:
First, protect Gato and ensure his safety.
Second, travel with his merchant fleet to the north each month, assisting you with your secret dealings at the ninja fighting arena.
Haku's Ice Release would also help keep the "goods" fresh—eliminating the need to burn through sealing scrolls for preservation.
...
〖Day 29〗
Before Zabuza and Haku set out, you asked Haku for a drop of blood.
It wasn't because you intended to absorb and fuse the Ice Release right away. Rather, it was to use the sample as a future reference for synthesizing the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.
When it came to Kekkei Genkai, your policy had always been: synthesize it yourself whenever possible. That way, your understanding of the chakra nature would deepen, and its use would feel more intuitive—with no hidden risks.
Only for Kekkei Genkai inherited directly from the Ōtsutsuki bloodline—like the Uchiha, Hyuga, Senju, Uzumaki clans—would you resort to absorption and regression, as there were no known methods of synthesis.
As for Kekkei Genkai like Transparent Escape, with unknown chakra properties but highly practical uses, you would also consider direct absorption…
Next, you took out a pre-prepared silver mask and a brass-colored mask and handed them to a shadow clone.
You dispatched the clone to keep an eye on the dam and Tazuna's side of things.
This way, you could recruit the construction expert Tazuna and reward him—boosting the organization's prestige among the local populace.
With increased popularity, you could attract more labor to take root here.
Plus, with Tazuna and Gato's combined resources, you could establish a construction company spanning the entire shinobi world. The profits might not lose out to Gato's shipping business. After all, ninja were a rare resource, and most people wouldn't hire a shinobi to build their homes.
...
〖Day 30〗
You found that whether it was inns in town or village huts—or even the feudal lord's palace—they were all too cramped and lacking in secrecy for your purposes.
So you set out in your true body to search for a hideout.
Ideally, you were looking for something like the natural cave Uchiha Madara had used to store the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—spacious and concealed...
On the way, you wiped out over a hundred White Zetsu. At this point, they were nearly extinct in the Land of Waves.
After all, this was an isolated island off the coast. Powerful shinobi rarely set foot here, and White Zetsu had always been limited by their dependence on land movement—they had no way to hide in water.
In fact, among the White Zetsu you captured, only a few had disguised themselves as humans to reach the island by boat. The rest had traveled here centuries ago when the Land of Waves was still connected to the mainland by bridge and soil.
In other words, these White Zetsu had essentially lost contact with Black Zetsu long ago.
And Black Zetsu, in his overconfidence, had completely overlooked this place.
"Looks like coming here was the right choice. Even a thousand-year-old mutt like Black Zetsu can slip up sometimes!"
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