Uchiha Obito hurriedly explained,
“Grandpa Yoshida, this is my classmate. He came with me today to visit you. His name is Hatake Shibu!”
Hatake?
What a lucky child.
For ordinary civilians, the thing they appeared to care least about was bloodline and family name.
Yet deep down, those were precisely the things they cared about most.
In the shinobi world, a surname didn’t merely represent one’s identity.
It also represented strength.
Children from established clans generally had better talent than ordinary civilians.
Of course, monstrous geniuses were an exception.
The typical examples were the current rising stars Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Minato Namikaze.
But there were so many shinobi in the world.
And only those three had emerged among the civilian-born.
“Shibu, huh? What a good boy.”
“Come inside. My son happened to send me some pastries from the Land of Water a few days ago. You two can try some.”
As he spoke, Yoshida stepped aside and invited the two children inside.
As they walked in, he continued complaining,
“My son… He still hasn’t gotten married, and he hasn’t given me a grandson.”
“As long as you have enough money to live comfortably, isn’t that enough?”
“I shouldn’t have handed the family business over to him back then!”
Clearly, Yoshida had reached an age where he had begun yearning for family affection.
Hatake Shibu scratched his head.
This really wasn’t a topic children like them could discuss.
After all, he was only four years old.
No matter how mature children in the shinobi world were, discussing something like this probably required them to be at least fifteen.
Shibu looked around at the furnishings in the house.
Just as Uchiha Obito had said, the interior decoration looked ordinary at first glance.
But upon closer inspection, it was obvious that ordinary households couldn’t afford it.
It seemed that this old man, who had been doing business outside the village for so many years before retiring, deeply understood the principle of keeping one’s wealth hidden.
After Yoshida arranged for Shibu to sit down in the living room, he brought out some pastries and placed them in front of the two children.
He then smiled warmly.
“Come on, tell me. What brings you two little fellows here?”
Although Obito had said he was coming to visit him, he normally wouldn’t disturb the old man’s life, let alone come directly to his home.
Obito was a good child.
He was cheerful, but also somewhat shy.
The reason he didn’t like visiting the elderly residents at their homes was that every time he came, they would give him food and drinks.
He simply felt too embarrassed to keep accepting them.
Yoshida’s eyes were sharp as well.
Shibu smiled.
“Grandpa Yoshida’s eyesight really is incredible.”
“No wonder you managed to build such a huge business empire.”
“You really are impressive—wise with age, vigorous despite your years, sharp-eyed, full of spirit, still ambitious in old age, radiant with vitality, bursting with energy, and overflowing with vigor!”
Shibu immediately launched into a barrage of flattery.
After all, praise was free.
Maybe if he praised the old man enough, Yoshida would be more accommodating during the negotiations.
Shibu had absolutely no business experience.
If he didn’t get the other party to take care of him a little, he might end up being sold while still helping the other person count the money.
Yoshida’s face became covered in black lines, while a faint blush also appeared on his cheeks.
The black lines were because Shibu had shamelessly piled on so many compliments.
After all, this was Hatake Sakumo’s son, the rising star of the Hatake Clan.
How could he be this shameless?
The blush, however, was because Shibu was still just a child.
Children were usually the most sincere.
Yoshida was already old.
Who knew when he might leave this world and go meet the Sage of Six Paths?
So what was wrong with being happy when someone praised him?
Uchiha Obito, meanwhile, stared at the Hatake beside him in complete shock.
Since when had his best friend become so good at flattering people?
Normally, Shibu’s sharp tongue was already enough to make people suffer.
Yet he could actually praise someone?
“You brat, stop trying to butter me up.”
“Tell me. What exactly do you want me to do?”
Although Yoshida said this, the smile he couldn’t suppress and the obvious satisfaction in his eyes told Shibu that things had already worked out.
“Of course not. Grandpa Yoshida is simply that impressive.”
“I just have a small favor I’d like to ask of you.”
Shibu immediately explained why he had come.
He was here to sell something.
If he couldn’t sell it, then all the flattery he had just delivered would have been wasted.
“Oh?”
“Then tell me first.”
“Is this something involving the Hatake Clan, or something involving you personally?”
There was a lot of meaning behind this question.
If it involved the Hatake Clan, Yoshida would have to think carefully.
After all, the reason he could travel freely throughout the shinobi world doing business was precisely because he had never attached himself to any particular faction. This chapter is updated first at novelping(.)com.
The moment he started working for the Hatake Clan, the Hatake label would be stamped onto him.
Although that would grant him the Hatake Clan’s protection, it would be a losing proposition for Yoshida.
Protection came at a price.
He would have to display the Hatake Clan’s crest, and part of his annual profits would have to be handed over to the clan.
More importantly, once he became associated with a particular clan, the major powers would stop doing certain weapons-related business with him.
If war broke out, he could easily be detained by another country, and his supplies could be seized.
Such things happened all the time.
Hatake Shibu naturally understood these intricacies.
The reason Yoshida had directly asked this question was because he had noticed a maturity in Shibu that was completely out of place for a child his age.
That was why he had asked.
“Of course, it’s my own business.”
“Actually, I hope you won’t let this matter become public.”
“I see.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
Shibu stroked his chin and looked at Yoshida.
“Actually, I want you to help me sell something called toothpicks.”
With that, Shibu took more than a dozen toothpicks from his pocket and placed them in front of Yoshida.
“You mean you want to sell these on a large scale?”
Yoshida certainly didn’t believe that Hatake Shibu intended to have him sell only a dozen toothpicks.
If that were really the case, Yoshida would have to seriously consider whether he should give the boy some money and send him to Konoha Hospital to have his head examined.
Shibu nodded.
“I plan to sell them in bulk.”
“Five hundred toothpicks for fifty ryō.”
“I believe they’ll sell reasonably well in restaurants and among ordinary civilians.”
No one could resist something that made it easy to remove food stuck between their back teeth.
Yoshida picked up one of the toothpicks and looked at Shibu.
“You want to sell these to me for fifty ryō?”
“You’re too naive.”
“These things have too much weight relative to their value.”
“If you sell them within Konoha, you might still make some money.”
“But if you want to sell them abroad, that’s simply unrealistic.”
Hatake Shibu froze.
Then he suddenly remembered.
The cost of transportation in this world was far higher than it had been in his previous life.
Toothpicks were a low-margin, high-volume product.
There was no way they could be transported profitably to other countries.
Unless they produced them locally.