"Kid! Kid! Don't go!"
On the commercial street, Tatsuma, carrying three golden kunai, heard the voice behind him and stopped. He looked at the sweaty stall owner and asked, "Is there anything else?"
The stall owner wiped the sweat from his forehead. It wasn't sweat from the heat or fatigue; it was from urgency. With a smile on his face, he said, "Kid, can Uncle buy back your kunais? I'll buy each kunai for ten thousand ryo, so it's a total of thirty thousand ryo. With that money, you could buy dozens of kunai at the ninja tool shop. What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Tatsuma furrowed his brows, weighing the significantly heavier golden kunai in his hand compared to the regular ones. He said, "Uncle, do you think I'm foolish?"
"Ah?"
The stall owner felt something was amiss. Tatsuma continued, "A kunai forged from iron weighs less than 120 grams, while these golden kunai weigh around 200 grams. Three kunai amounts to 600 grams. Even if I melt them down and sell them as gold, with today's gold prices, I could easily sell them for over three hundred thousand ryo. And you're offering thirty thousand?"
Seeing that Tatsuma understood the gold market, the stall owner's expression turned ugly. He said, "But, kid, you only spent three thousand ryo and can get thirty thousand ryo. Isn't that already a lot? I can even refund your three thousand ryo and let you play for free."
"Uncle, I see you're not having an easy time running this stall. How about this? I'll round it down for you. Three hundred thousand ryo, and you buy back these three golden kunai. How does that sound?"
Tatsuma shrugged, smiling at the stall owner. The stall owner's face darkened, and he said, "Kid, don't be too greedy. Do you know how much three hundred thousand ryo is?"
"What's your plan then, sir?" Tatsuma detected a hint of threat in the stall owner's words, but he remained calm and unruffled, continuing to smile at the stall owner. With a stern face, the stall owner said, "Fifty thousand ryo. Take the money and leave."
As he spoke, several tall figures squeezed through the crowd. Tatsuma glanced at them briefly, then shifted his gaze back to the stall owner. "Sir, do you plan to continue running this stall in the future?"
"Huh?" The stall owner seemed puzzled but nodded nonetheless. Tatsuma continued, "I see. Do you know, not every student at Konoha's Academy comes from a wealthy background? If you're willing to keep going, I can introduce my classmates to come here and alleviate some of their financial pressures."
At Tatsuma's words, the stall owner's face paled. He understood what Tatsuma meant. Unlike the kids playing ninja games in the Daimyo's mansion, the person in front of him was a student at Konoha's Ninja Academy.
Tatsuma still didn't tell the truth. He wasn't a student at the Ninja Academy but a real ninja. However, revealing the truth might give others leverage against him.
"Little friend, you see, it's not easy for me to run this small business. If all the future ninja like you come here, I'll really go bankrupt. If I buy them back at the price you mentioned, can you keep it between us and not tell the other ninja?"
Seeing the stall owner suddenly become cautious, Tatsuma maintained his smile and said, "Sure, let's make it five hundred thousand ryo then."
At Tatsuma's words, the stall owner's expression turned mournful, and he said, "Little friend, five hundred thousand ryo is even more expensive than making the gold Kunai again. These three Kunai are worth at most three hundred and thirty thousand ryo."
"Sir, the Kunai may only be worth three hundred thousand ryo, but my words are quite valuable. Each word might not be worth a thousand ryo, but the more I say, the more valuable they become."
Tatsuma's smile remained unchanged. After much hesitation, the stall owner finally nodded and said, "Alright, little friend, please don't invite your classmates then?"
"Sure."
Tatsuma nodded, and with a sudden clench of his right hand holding the gold Kunai, his Enhanced Strength burst forth. Then, he handed the severely deformed gold Kunai to the stall owner and asked, "Cash or a deposit slip?"
"G-g-got it... a d-deposit slip."
Watching the gold Kunai, the stall owner swallowed hard. Gold wasn't exactly known for being pliable, and it was beyond the capability of an ordinary person to deform it by hand. With such strength, he and his several assistants wouldn't stand a chance against Tatsuma.
Since Tatsuma didn't have an account at the Land of Fire Bank, he accompanied the stall owner to open one and deposited the money into his own account.
Despite the small hiccup, Tatsuma's mood improved. After all, earning this much money with just a few words was much easier and more lucrative than working hard on missions.
As Tatsuma left with a radiant smile, the stall owner's expression turned extremely sour. With this move from Tatsuma, he had lost most of his income for the past half year. When factoring in expenses like stall rental, employee wages, and other prize expenditures, this year was a total loss for him.
He regretted why he had bullied Tatsuma. Could someone who could hit three hundred balloons in a row be an ordinary kid?!
Slap!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The stall owner slapped himself on the face. It was all because of his greed. Otherwise, he could have had a surplus of two hundred thousand ryo this year. But now, it was all gone!
As Tatsuma happily walked down the street, suddenly, a middle-aged man appeared beside him, walking shoulder to shoulder. He then said to Tatsuma, "Squad Captain, since you've earned so much, how about treating everyone to a meal? After all, missions can be exhausting."
Tatsuma frowned for a moment, then relaxed and looked at the middle-aged man, saying, "Mandrill?"
The middle-aged man smiled and replied, "Sarutobi Kyousuke, member of the Medical Department's corpse disposal team."
Tatsuma knew that Sarutobi Kyousuke was referring to his public identity. He nodded and said, "Sakamoto Tatsuma, uh, unemployed wandering ninja."
"Haha, it seems like you're still quite interesting when you're not fighting," Sarutobi Kyousuke chuckled.
Sarutobi Kyousuke smiled and said, "If you have time, come to the disposal team and learn how to handle corpses. Your techniques are still a bit naive."
Tatsuma nodded. Yesterday, he already thought that Sarutobi Kyousuke's techniques were very proficient. At first, he thought it was because of experience gained from doing it frequently, but he didn't expect him to be a professional in this field.
"Kyousuke Senpai, where are your other teammates? Can I meet them?" Tatsuma asked.
"They're out shopping. If you want to meet them, how about treating us to a meal? After all, that's also why I'm here," Sarutobi Kyousuke replied.
Upon hearing this, Tatsuma nodded and said, "No problem, I also want to get to know Senpai and the others."
Seeing Tatsuma readily agreeing, Sarutobi Kyousuke also nodded. After walking around the street for a while, the two-person team became a five-person team. They then arrived at a restaurant and booked a private room.
Tatsuma got to know Sarutobi Kyousuke's three team members at the dinner table. One was from the Shimura clan, another from the Yamanaka clan, and the last one was from the Aburame clan.
The five of them didn't spend much, after all, even though it was free time now, they were still on a mission. Therefore, they didn't drink alcohol, and the most expensive items in the restaurant were usually various types of alcohol.
Without drinking alcohol, even in the Daimyo's mansion, where the prices were several times higher than that of Konoha, a meal would cost less than thirty thousand ryo. It was similar to when Jiraiya invited him and Minato for barbecue, but back then Jiraiya ordered alcohol.
Of course, cheapness is relative. If it were Tatsuma alone, thirty thousand ryo could last him a long time, and he definitely wouldn't spend it all on one meal.
Sarutobi Kyousuke didn't just eat for free; he also shared some rules or tips that ANBU members should learn, which weren't taught in ANBU training.
For example, even if they both knew each other were ANBU, if they hadn't disclosed their identities to each other during a mission or while acting as ANBU, they couldn't discuss ANBU matters even if they met.
This was an unwritten rule. There were also some small techniques, such as how to politely request a restroom break or rotation change while on guard duty.
Sarutobi Kyousuke had some techniques he wanted to share with Tatsuma, but some were not suitable to discuss during the meal, so they agreed to share them when they had the chance.
After leaving the restaurant, the four of them went their separate ways. Tatsuma went to find his place to stay, while Hiruzen had to stay at the Daimyo's mansion for the whole day, and perhaps even longer, so he didn't need to go there tonight.
The next morning, Tatsuma arrived outside the Daimyo's mansion, but he didn't see Hiruzen coming out. He waited until nearly noon, when the farewell escort finally began its duties.
Hiruzen bid farewell to the officials from the Land of Fire with a forced smile.
When he came to Tatsuma's side, Hiruzen spoke with a stern face, saying, "Let's go."
Tatsuma nodded without asking further questions and began to lead the way. After a whole day of traveling, when they stopped to rest for the night, Hiruzen finally said, "You must be wondering about my attitude."
Upon hearing Hiruzen's question, Tatsuma didn't hide his curiosity and asked, "Hokage-sama, is there a problem with the funding?"
"No, the Daimyo is quite generous in this regard. The funding we applied for has been approved, and the funds promised to Tsunade for establishing the medical ninja training system have also been approved by the Daimyo's office. It will be available soon."
Hiruzen shook his head, the somber expression still lingering on his face. Tatsuma became increasingly puzzled. If the Daimyo was so generous and the funding was secured, why was Hiruzen, who came to the Daimyo's mansion for money, still troubled?
"Sigh..." Letting out a sigh, Hiruzen finally said, "The Daimyo has learned about the changing of the Jinchuriki within five years."
Although this topic was confidential, Hiruzen wouldn't hide it from Tatsuma. Uzumaki Mito had already discussed some matters with him before.
Upon hearing Hiruzen's words, Tatsuma quickly pondered and asked, "What is the Daimyo worried about?"
"He's worried that Konoha doesn't have the power to restrain the Nine-Tails' rampage, aside from Sealing Jutsu," replied Hiruzen.
After Hiruzen spoke, Tatsuma fell silent. The Daimyo's concern was that the new Jinchuriki might not be able to control the Nine-Tails as stably as Uzumaki Mito did. Moreover, perhaps the Daimyo already knew who the candidate was.
The Daimyo could trust Mito and her Sealing Jutsu. But if Mito were no longer available, the Daimyo wouldn't trust the new candidate's Sealing Jutsu. Tatsuma had clearly expressed his refusal to become a Jinchuriki. Therefore, the best candidate would be Kushina Uzumaki, but Kushina might always be seen as an outsider in the eyes of the Daimyo.
Once Kushina became the Jinchuriki, any issues with the seal, whether caused actively or passively, would be a disaster for the Land of Fire. However, the best method Konoha had to deal with the Nine-Tails now was Sealing Jutsu. If Kushina were to actively undo the seal or have her mind manipulated by others, in such a scenario, other people's seals would also be easily undone by Kushina, thus unable to restrain the Nine-Tails.
Apart from Sealing Jutsu, what other means are there to balance the power of the Nine-Tails?
Tatsuma looked up at the troubled Hiruzen and asked, "Wood Release Ninja?"
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