As the weeks went by, Seijuro would see his empire grow and grow. Using his clone as a puppet, he was able to make a brand new system for the Uzumaki to gain a lot of money very quickly.
And since all the other nations were either weakened, on a leash, or would rather dip their balls in lava than have to face the devil of the Uzumaki—
The Red Death, one might say, even though Aizen's hair was like half red, half white, but hey, that was neither here nor there.
The fact still stood: this was the man who could wipe a ninja village off the face of the earth quite easily.
Anyway, let us explain how this system worked.
The Uzumaki built some sort of trade center, using powerful seals and all that shit—think like the Amazon of the Naruto world.
Using those seals and their trained soldiers, they could deliver stuff from one nation to another. If need be, they could even use Flying Raijin to make that shit instantly appear where it needed to be.
And since some of that stuff did come from small villages, they also got a chance to thrive. They got like a portion of the share—not much though, considering like 40% of any purchase made went into the Uzumaki's pockets.
TL;DR, millions of yen were made daily. And with that money, he would put up a front of hiring mercenaries to find Uzumaki and bring them back to the village.
Using that as a cover, they were also told to look out for something, which I shall not reveal.
The Land of Tea – Port Kogane
Once a sleepy coast-side port known mostly for smugglers and low-grade shinobi transport, Port Kogane now hosted five layers of Spiral-run security.
Boats now left the port by the hour, loaded with rare blends of tea—tea infused with mild chakra-reactive properties, tea cultivated on steep cliffs bathed in spiritual leylines, tea only the elite could afford to bathe their tongue in.
These weren't just beverages.
They were status.
Every cup a political statement.
The "Uzumaki Gold Leaf Blend," rumored to be grown in chakra-rich valleys sealed personally by Aizen himself, was now selling for 130,000 Ryo per kilogram.
And every ounce of it was routed through the Spiral Capital.
The Land of Wind – High Noon Bazaar, Suna
Probably the most broke nation of all—but with those trades taking place, they could now afford some shit. In exchange for some Suna goods and some money, they got access to ice... yes, actual ice, and some of that good tea.
That good shit. For the first time, people could actually get high—don't question it—and kids got actual toys instead of whatever the fuck they used to play with.
In exchange, they traded that black stuff that their land possessed in huge amounts. They had no clue what it was—it was practically worthless. And thus, like the good American he was... Cough—
Good Samaritan that he was, he took that substance from them. After all, they had no need for it.
The Spiral Trade Web—Map Breakdown:
Land of Tea → Spiral Capital: Tea, silk, rare marine poisons, incense
Spiral Capital → Suna: Premium teas, sealing-enhanced alcohol
Spiral Capital → Land of Iron: Sealed scrolls with "battle philosophies," chakra-reactive armor plates, ink-enhanced calligraphy sets made from whale bone
Spiral Capital → Kumo (occupied ruins): Controlled salvage operations. They sold the right to loot corpses and call it diplomacy
Spiral Capital ← All nations: Gold, jewels, rare chakra beast pelts, contracts, black substance, and debt
Every single route?
Taxed.
Monitored.
Insured by Uzumaki 'Transport Bonds'—which, by the way, had a 40% interest rate, and were required for anyone without direct clan clearance.
Daily Profits?
They weren't even measured in Ryo anymore.
That shit was for peasants.
Seijuro's treasury had to switch to measuring that shit in gold.
At one point, Aizen's clone stared at the numbers coming in and said,
"We might be making more than the entire Fire Daimyō's seasonal budget."
And they were.
And what did Seijuro do with the wealth?
Not save it.
Not hoard it.
He reinvested—not in weapons. Not in armies.
In dependency.
He began offering economic bailouts to minor lords.
"Oh, your rice harvest failed? Here—have a chakra-infused fertilizer package, compliments of the Spiral."
"Oh, your coinage is inflating too fast? Here, the Spiral Coin is far more stable."
"Oh, you want a military ally to protect your border from Iwa raids? Sign this—an Uzumaki Binding Accord."
They signed.
Every. Single. Time.
Seijuro didn't just own trade.
He now owned debt.
Supply.
Logistics.
And worst of all?
Hope.
As he stared at the glowing web of inked contracts and export scrolls lit by floating seals in his office, he smiled.
"Trade... is just war in silk."
He sighed a bit... now with that crude oil he got from Suna, apparently it was some valuable stuff. After some testing—yeah, that shit was hella valuable. At first, he didn't know, but since he knew that Suna's location is where the World Tree was located, and that oil shit they had was more than anyone else, he immediately deduced it had something to do with the tree.
So he bought it... and now?
A smile made itself known to his lips.
By the time Suna realized they got scammed, at best, they could only change the offer to something like a 70%/30% split—with the Uzumaki getting the 70%—as Suna had no tech to turn that oil into something useful.
But the Uzumaki did.
More like, will in the future.
He was already working on ways to make it usable.