Hattori wasn't just messing with the girl for fun; he genuinely intended to leave. He had previously agreed to protect Hanaki for a week, and now that week was up, so it was time for him to move on.
The main reason, though, was that he'd noticed Hanaki was out of money.
Hattori felt that, since Hanaki considered him a friend, he couldn't just keep taking advantage of him when his friend was broke. That would be too unethical.
But every time he saw Hanaki's innocent, rich-guy look, it was hard to resist. To avoid taking advantage of him again, Hattori decided to leave. Out of sight, out of mind.
"Hanaki, as a friend, I've done all I can for you!"
With that, he used his Shushin technique and vanished from the rooftop.
Leaving Hanaki's mansion, Hattori wandered aimlessly through the streets of Wind City, thinking about his next money-making plan.
Hanaki's situation had inspired him: there were a lot of wealthy people in Wind City, and they all valued their lives highly. The bodyguard business had huge market potential.
However, Hattori didn't want to work as a bodyguard himself anymore. It was too much hassle, plus he could only protect one person at a time, which was slow money.
So, Hattori decided to open a security company and become the boss!
No need to hire outside bodyguards—he'd use reincarnation puppets instead. This would save a lot of money and attract certain special clients, like those with big secrets who didn't want their lives on display.
For such clients, the reincarnation puppets could keep their secrets, making them highly sought after and earning big commissions.
If he encountered wealthy clients like Hanaki who could throw millions around, he could even sell them a puppet outright.
Hattori estimated that by selling just a few dozen reincarnation puppets, he'd have enough to build a Winged Gundam Zero EW.
If he managed to sell a few hundred, he'd dare to create *Gipsy Danger*, that 81.8-meter, 2,004-ton giant from *Pacific Rim*!
However, that size would be tricky to power with ordinary chakra pearls. He might need to take down Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself.
"That would be a tough one."
Thinking of this, Hattori couldn't help but shake his head.
"Let's not get too greedy. Building a Gundam would make me the coolest guy in the Shinobi World!"
With his mind made up, he immediately started gathering materials—bamboo, wood, leather, dye, finely crafted swords, and more. In one go, he spent over 20 million.
The cheapest bamboo cost more than 100 ryō per stick, while the most expensive items were the swords. A decent sword cost over 100,000 ryō, while even lower-quality ones were still several thousand ryō each.
Seeing his assets shrink by a quarter made Hattori realize just how weak the currency in the Land of Wind really was.
"It looks like when I set up my security company, I'll have to charge higher fees and use a time-based model—10,000 ryō an hour, with rentals starting by the day and fees non-refundable!"
Thinking ahead, he began making puppets while planning his future business strategy.
Hattori knew that in the Shinobi World, ninja villages functioned like massive security companies, with a wide range of services and fair pricing.
From D-rank weed-pulling jobs for a few thousand ryō to S-rank war missions worth billions, the ninja villages covered it all.
To compete with them, he'd need his own unique advantages.
Cutting prices would be the worst approach, since no matter how low he went, he couldn't beat the rates paid to low-ranking ninja.
So, his only choice was to create a high-end image!
"I'm going to make these puppets a luxury brand—not just a security feature but a status symbol. I want everyone to see puppet guards as a mark of prestige!"
As he considered brand names, he initially thought of "The Immortal," since puppets are, in a sense, deathless.
But the word "death" seemed inauspicious, which could turn off clients, so he decided to flip the concept.
"It's settled. My brand will be called 'The Reviver,' and the tagline will be: 'The Reviver Bodyguard: A Symbol of Status, Exclusively for Nobility!'"
Simple and direct!
The implication was clear—if you didn't have a *Reviver* bodyguard, could you even call yourself a noble?
With a smug grin, Hattori took another trip to the blacksmith's to order a hundred sets of antlered helmets and shining silver armor.
The armor was modeled after the *Swordmaster* skin, with "The Reviver" engraved in gold on the chest.
On the back, he had the national flower of the Land of Wind, the cosmos, along with a coldly gleaming katana.
High-end, elegant, top-notch!
Of course, each puppet would now cost over 300,000 ryō to make.
But Hattori wasn't worried—the higher the cost, the higher the rental price!
The original plan to charge 10,000 ryō an hour was scrapped; he'd now charge per day, at 1 million ryō a day!
This rate matched an S-rank mission reward!
And even then, not just anyone could rent one—they'd need to be nobility.
What? A rich merchant wants to rent one for the status? Sorry, not available!
If they insisted, they'd have to find a noble to vouch for them and pay double the noble's rate.
Want to rent more? Impossible, unless you first become a noble!
By tying the *Reviver* puppets to nobility, Hattori planned to use their sense of superiority and vanity to build his brand!
Once he made up his mind, Hattori sped up his work.
He worked day and night, completing a hundred *Swordmaster* puppets within ten days.
Just then, the antlered helmets and armor he'd ordered from the blacksmith arrived as well.
Once he had the armor, Hattori dressed the *Swordmaster* puppets, then used chakra pearls to seal them, turning these regular puppets into sealed puppets.
He chose low-grade Earth Release pearls for the sealing, as he had plenty of those from defending against Iwa Village's attacks on the northern border of the Land of Wind.
Originally, he'd promised Pakura that he'd use these pearls to upgrade Sunagakure's puppet forces, but after her death, he lost the motivation.
So now, he had nearly 2,000 low-grade Earth Release pearls to use for *Reviver* puppets.
After making the sealed puppets, the next step was creating reincarnation puppets.
This required a lot of MP, but Hattori had used all of his to upgrade his Sharingan, so he'd need to borrow MP from Son Goku for this process.
Son Goku, of course, couldn't refuse Hattori's request.
With Son Goku's help, Hattori spent three more days turning the 100 *Sealed Puppets: Reinforced* into *Reincarnation Puppets: Reinforced*.
With his "staff" ready, the next step was finding clients.
Hattori had that covered; taking ten lavishly designed *Reviver* bodyguard puppets, he headed straight for Hanaki's mansion.
"This time, I won't charge him. Let's consider it his ad sponsorship fee!"
(Chapter ends)