Hatake Shibu stroked his chin.
He hadn’t expected that he had overlooked such an important issue.
After thinking carefully for a moment, he asked,
“If we produce them locally, how many production bases would we need in each country?”
Yoshida frowned before answering,
“Two in the major countries.”
“The Land of Wind might need three.”
“As for the smaller countries, one should be enough.”
Although he didn’t know exactly what Shibu was planning, Yoshida still felt that the boy was being somewhat overambitious.
He didn’t know how Shibu produced these toothpicks, but he assumed that he relied on some kind of machinery.
He never considered the possibility of Wood Release.
That simply didn’t make sense.
What kind of eccentric person would take a technique like this and use it as a money-making tool?
Shibu rubbed his head.
If he really needed that many locations, his Shadow Clones wouldn’t be enough to cover them all.
It seemed he could only conquer the market in the Land of Fire first and worry about the rest later.
“Then if we only sell them within the Land of Fire, can we at least make a little profit?”
After hearing this, Yoshida thought for a moment before answering,
“We can, but the amount of money is too small.”
“For merchants like us, it’s not worth using our caravans for.”
“Whether we’re transporting grain or other goods, their profit margins are much higher than something like this.”
The profit from toothpicks was simply too thin.
If they were only sold within Konoha, there would still be some money to be made.
But across the entire Land of Fire, the profit was far too small to justify setting aside wagons and horses to transport them.
The reason Yoshida was being so blunt was because Shibu was negotiating under his own personal name.
If he were negotiating on behalf of the Hatake Clan, Yoshida would probably help him sell the things even at a loss.
Hatake Shibu sighed.
He hadn’t expected doing business to be this difficult.
He couldn’t even sell something as simple as a toothpick.
Uchiha Obito was listening from the side with a confused expression.
He didn’t understand the intricacies of business.
All he understood was that the toothpicks were too cheap, there wasn’t enough profit, and Yoshida didn’t want to sell them.
“If that’s the case, why don’t we just increase the price?”
Uchiha Obito unexpectedly offered his own suggestion.
Yoshida rolled his eyes at him.
Although he liked Obito’s honest and somewhat foolish personality, this was taking things a little too far.
Once the price was increased, whether anyone would still buy them was another matter entirely.
Only a small number of people were willing to spend large amounts of money simply to improve their quality of life.
But those words caused a tremendous wave to surge through Shibu’s mind.
“That’s right!”
“Why don’t we increase the price?”
“Obito, you’re a genius!”
How had I never realized what a genius this guy was?
“Really?”
“Hehe! I knew it!”
“I, Uchiha Obito, am a piece of gold. Sooner or later, I’ll shine!”
Shibu felt that he should probably take back what he had just said.
This guy really is an idiot.
Yoshida quietly shifted his butt a little farther away from them.
He had discovered something terrifying.
Being an idiot is contagious.
Hadn’t Shibu looked like such a clever child just moments ago?
And now he had been infected too.
Raise the price?
Once the price goes up, will anyone even buy the things?
“Grandpa Yoshida, I’ve decided to abandon the low-end market and enter the high-end market.”
“What do you think?”
Shibu excitedly explained his idea to Yoshida.
His enthusiasm only made Yoshida even more convinced of his theory.
Yep.
He’s definitely been infected.
Yoshida shifted backward again.
“Heh. Since that’s what you want to do, tell me your idea.”
“Just stay where you are.”
“Yes, right there. Tell me from there!”
When Yoshida noticed that Shibu seemed about to walk closer, he immediately stopped him.
Then he realized that this might be inappropriate.
After all, the boy was a member of the Hatake Clan.
“Ahem…”
“I have a cold.”
“I’m worried I’ll infect you, so just stay where you are.”
Hatake Shibu scratched his head.
He felt that Yoshida had suddenly become rather strange.
It was almost as though the old man was avoiding the two of them.
But Shibu didn’t care.
Right now, he only wanted to know whether his plan would work.
“Grandpa Yoshida, what do you think about this?”
“If ordinary toothpicks can’t be sold at a high price, why don’t we make them into something worthy of a high price?”
After hearing this, Yoshida became even more certain that Shibu had been infected.
He suppressed the urge to run straight out the door.
“What exactly do you have in mind?”
“We could carve patterns onto the toothpicks.”
“The more exquisite the toothpick, the more beautiful the design.” This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
“Wouldn’t toothpicks crafted this way be able to sell for a much higher price?”
Shibu excitedly explained his plan.
It was as though he would become the richest man in the shinobi world tomorrow.
He could already see his glorious future.
Yoshida breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he isn’t completely infected.
He then carefully considered Shibu’s proposal.
He had to admit that the plan did have some potential.
After all, the nobles of the shinobi world loved nothing more than comparing themselves with one another.
Every noble household probably had toothpicks.
But how many possessed such exquisitely crafted ones?
If you ate from a pure-gold bowl, other nobles wouldn’t necessarily think you were impressive.
At most, they would think you were some nouveau riche.
But toothpicks were different.
If even the toothpicks you used were exceptionally luxurious, people would look at you differently.
The truly effective ways to show off were often hidden in seemingly insignificant details.
For example, if you told someone how much gold you had spent building your mansion, they would probably just think you were vulgar.
But if you told them that your courtyard had been designed by a famous architect, that the particular trees you liked could only be found in the south, and that you had gone through great trouble to transport them north and used geothermal heating every day to keep them alive through the cold…
People would think you were truly impressive.
Yoshida nodded.
“That really is a decent idea.”
“But this is going to be a time-consuming and labor-intensive job.”
“Are you sure there won’t be any problems on the production side?”
Shibu nodded.
“No problem.”
“I can provide huge quantities of these toothpicks whenever necessary.”
It’s just carving patterns into toothpicks.
Other people have to carve them bit by bit.
When I make them, they simply grow out like that.
“Then how much are you planning to charge per toothpick?”
Since these were going to be sold to nobles, they obviously had to be priced individually.
Nobles had more money than they knew what to do with.
Taking a little money from them was practically an act of justice.
“This much.”
Hatake Shibu held up one finger.
“One hundred ryō?”
“That’s still too conservative!”
Yoshida answered without hesitation.
Shibu was stunned.
One hundred ryō?
He slowly lowered his raised finger, thoroughly humbled.
He had thought his own greed was unmatched in the world.
But compared with Grandpa Yoshida, he was still far too conservative.