The Kingdom of Trade.
It is located above the Kingdom of Fire, with the Kingdom of Fields on its left and the Kingdom of Iron on its right.
Due to its unique geographical location and cultural nature, this kingdom enjoyed a thriving trade, hence it was named the Kingdom of Trade.
Currently, Tōshirō is in this kingdom, but his goal isn't this place specifically; rather, his true destination lies in the area between the Kingdom of Thunder and the Kingdom of Trade.
After a rapid advancement throughout the day, Tōshirō felt a bit tired. The time given to him by the wealthy merchant was more than enough, so he wasn't in a hurry and decided to stay at an inn to take a break.
As the saying goes: "If the food is scarce and things are annoying, how can one continue?"
He did this to conserve his energy and maintain a good mental and physical state for future tasks, focusing on being ready for any fight rather than avoiding work.
After completing the check-in procedures at the hotel and inquiring about the best local spots, he headed to the busiest area.
The streets were intertwined and connected in all directions, with shops neatly lined up displaying a variety of colorful goods, making one feel dizzy from the numerous options.
Merchants called out for their products, and street vendors pushed their carts through the bustling market filled with crowds.
"Hey, young man, do you want to buy some pork?"
Tōshirō heard someone calling him and turned to see a huge man with a rugged face, holding a large knife for slaughtering pigs, wearing an apron that showed off his bulging muscles, with a strong smell of blood wafting from him.
Tōshirō gave him a slight glance and then continued on without paying much attention.
As he wandered through the market, he found himself at a seafood shop, which had a large pink sign reading "The Red House."
"Hey handsome, do you want to spend some fun time with the sister?"
Upon hearing this call, Tōshirō felt he had to respond in some way. He looked toward the voice and saw a woman working in the field of "protein transfer," overly made up, with her hair styled in a bun, wearing a revealing dress that showcased her long legs adorned with fishnet stockings, giving her a seductive appearance.
His assessment? He wasn't impressed. Not because the stockings weren't white.
With just one look, Tōshirō felt disinterested.
The woman working in "protein transfer" noticed Tōshirō's elegant attire and assumed he was from a wealthy family, starting to showcase everything she had to entice him.
At this age, young people are in a critical stage of puberty, and if she could seduce him and get him to enter, he would become addicted to this place and return time after time, bringing money with him.
Tōshirō remarked, "Cliché."
He wasn't interested in such matters.
"Well, I'll come back when I'm older."
In this time, making money wasn't easy. As Jiraiya said, is this truly wrong? No, it saves women who have strayed from their paths.
Yes, Jiraiya is no longer that person...
Don't ask me how I know; he told me himself.
And who knows if he's exaggerating.
It makes sense; if he can bear the title of "deviant hermit," do you think the word "deviant" is just a label?
Jiraiya became a ninja, and he had income, so what he did suited his character.
By the way, Tōshirō will return when he is older, but only out of curiosity to see what these places are like. As they say, "Without research, you cannot judge." He does this to gather material for his writings.
After some time, Tōshirō was wandering down the street when he suddenly saw a crowd gathered in front of a shop, holding up signs, suggesting that they were causing a disturbance.
Curiosity piqued, Tōshirō approached the crowd.
He arrived just in time, as two men stepped out of the front door, dressed in formal suits—one wearing glasses and the other not.
In this era, suits and glasses had already been developed.
As the two men emerged, the crowd surged toward them, expressing their anger, with the issue revolving around one thing: "Can people live with these exorbitant prices for medicines?!"
The man with glasses appeared indifferent, acting with arrogance, while the other man, who wasn't wearing glasses, attempted to calm the situation, shouting through a loudspeaker: "Quiet! Do you want to solve the problem or not?"
The leader of the crowd, with an angry face, shouted: "Quiet! Let's see what they have to say."
The man passed the loudspeaker to 'Mr. Joachim,' who raised his hand, signaling that he didn't need the megaphone.
He then glanced at them with a condescending look and said, "I'll say a few words. First, thank you for supporting our company's products. I understand your concerns and your strong objections to the prices of the medicines we produce; our company fully understands your demands.
"But just as we understand you, I hope you can understand us as well. Our company invested countless resources in developing these medicines. The market is volatile, and it's possible that a better medicine could emerge to replace this one, at which point all of our investments would be wasted.
"Therefore, to better recover our initial investment and reduce risk, it is unavoidable that our product pricing is slightly higher. I hope you can understand the difficulties we face.
"You have your families, but our employees have families too. If our company unfortunately goes bankrupt, our employees will be left without a means of sustenance. Can you bear that responsibility?"
"One shouldn't be too selfish; don't always look at issues from your own perspective, but try to see things from the perspectives of others."
To be honest, he had a point, and some of the crowd were affected by his words. But when it comes to life and death, words alone aren't enough. Some of the crowd began to express their anger physically.
In an instant, rotten eggs and tomatoes were hurled at the two men.
"How dare you throw rotten eggs and tomatoes at me! Arrest these people!" shouted Joachim furiously.
Joachim was extremely angry; this group of troublemakers who had been repeatedly advised with good words actually dared to throw things at him. He immediately ordered his men to apprehend all of them.
Just as he finished speaking, a group of armored men surrounded them.
These men were warriors from the Iron Country; due to their proximity to the Merchant Country, they would come here to earn some mercenary money.
Soon, the two groups clashed, and the result was a disastrous defeat for the crowd.
Although the man with glasses was furious at these troublemakers, he didn't order the warriors to arrest them. He preferred to control the situation, because without these people, how could he earn money?
Tōshirō watched the whole scene with a sense of helplessness; he thought that both sides had some validity.
Medical issues like these should be managed by the government, but the policies of this world seem to be worse than garbage.
Tōshirō shook his head and left the scene, finding a restaurant where he ate a simple meal. When he exited, night had fallen, and he returned to the inn to sleep, as he had to continue his journey early the next morning.
That night, a team of five, including Tsunade, entered the city.
(End of Chapter)
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