“Hmm…
Hiruzen…
what if the shopkeeper doesn’t come back to stop you?”
“Then hurry up and find another shop.
That one is a swindler!”
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with complete seriousness.
Shimura Danzō, however, let the words go in one ear and out the other.
His mind was already racing ahead to the tulip trading market.
He desperately wanted to see today’s tulip prices.
After the two finished breakfast, Danzō waited until Hiruzen had gone some distance away, took a couple of detours, and immediately headed for the tulip trading market he had been thinking about nonstop.
Tulip Trading Market
“This place really is lively!”
“There seem to be even more people than yesterday.”
Looking at the crowds streaming through the tulip trading market, Shimura Danzō couldn’t help sighing in amazement.
He immediately headed for the room he had visited yesterday.
Today was the day the tulip prices would be updated!
The moment he entered—
Shimura Danzō saw a conspicuous figure showing a surge.
A huge rise!
The price had actually gone up by thirty percent!
“I made three hundred thousand ryō overnight?”
The delight on Danzō’s face was impossible to hide.
The anxiety and fear that had plagued him all night finally eased.
As more and more people entered the room, the noise started up again.
Danzō ran into the group of friends he had met yesterday.
Several of them gathered together, drinking tea while discussing the market.
“Sure enough, it went up again!”
“There were already rumors yesterday that a huge group of wealthy merchants from the Land of Earth had arrived in the Land of Fire.”
“You newcomers really caught this wave at the perfect time.”
“How come you always hear these rumors before I do?
If I’d known yesterday, I would’ve increased my position.”
“Tch.
Rumors?
I paid money for that inside information!”
Danzō happily mingled among them, eagerly soaking up every scrap of information about tulips.
“Hey, newcomer.
Your name is Danzō, right?
How much did you make?”
“Not bad.
Three hundred thousand ryō!”
“You’re this happy over three hundred thousand ryō?”
“Who here hasn’t made at least a million ryō?
Even ten million isn’t anything unusual.
There are people who’ve made over a hundred million.”
“And some of the really gutsy ones who dared to go all-in have already made billions, even tens of billions!”
Shimura Danzō didn’t understand some of the terms, such as going all-in, but he still couldn’t help sucking in a sharp breath.
Tens of billions of ryō!
That was terrifying!
“Brother, what does ‘go all-in’ mean?”
“You don’t even know what ‘go all-in’ means?
You’re really a complete rookie!”
“Risking everything is a kind of wisdom!”
The man explained the meaning of going all-in to Shimura Danzō.
After listening carefully, Danzō understood what the term meant.
He repeated what the man had just said.
“Risking everything is a kind of wisdom?”
He carefully savored the words.
Although Danzō still couldn’t completely grasp the deeper meaning behind them…
There was just something about the phrase.
It sounded damn good!
“Young man, if you have a great goal, you may have to work toward it countless times.”
“But the opportunity to achieve it may only appear once or twice.”
“When the opportunity comes, seize it and go all-in!”
“You’re still young.
Even if you lose, so what?
You can always start over!”
“Go big, get it over with!”
Everyone chimed in.
These were classic motivational slogans!
In reality, it was nothing more than a pyramid scheme.
The speculators in the room could spout this sort of rhetoric without even thinking.
After all, they were just bragging!
What was there to be afraid of?
If someone actually believed them and made a fortune, they could use that story as bragging material for years to come.
They might even reap unexpected benefits from it.
And if someone went bankrupt…
That wasn’t their money!
If some idiot lost his fortune, he only had himself to blame!
“Well said!”
“Young people should charge forward without hesitation!”
“If you aren’t hot-blooded when you’re young, are you really young?”
“Exactly!
Exactly!”
Several people cheered enthusiastically.
The atmosphere in the room quickly became heated.
For a moment, the entire place was filled with an atmosphere of carefree excitement.
Everyone was making money!
Human beings were, after all, social animals.
Not only did people naturally seek companionship, but they could only truly thrive as individuals within society.
Surrounded by such an atmosphere, Shimura Danzō was quickly infected by the excitement of the crowd.
Listening to those inspiring slogans, his feverish mind began to run wild.
“I made three hundred thousand ryō so easily in just one night.”
“If I had ten million ryō, that would be three million in profit.”
“If I had a hundred million, that would be thirty million!”
“Making money is as easy as breathing!”
A wave of regret surged through Danzō.
Thirty million ryō!
If he had continued doing ordinary missions like before, it might have taken him ten years or more to earn that much!
Of course, this was only Danzō’s fantasy.
He wasn’t insane enough to throw all his money into something he had just started and barely understood.
Besides, this wasn’t even his own money.
It belonged to his clan and the village.
If he made money, everyone would be happy.
But if he lost it…
He would definitely suffer the consequences!
Thinking this, Danzō shook his head, trying to drive all those wild thoughts from his mind.
But the idea of increasing his position and going all-in had already taken root in his heart.
The happy hours spent bragging always seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
It was almost noon.
Even though Danzō wanted to stay longer, he had no choice but to leave.
It was almost time to meet Sarutobi Hiruzen again.
However…
Danzō still had no intention of telling Hiruzen that he had made three hundred thousand ryō through the tulip business.
I’ll quietly work hard and make money.
Then I’ll amaze everyone!
Let Hiruzen regret it all by himself!
Thinking this, the corners of Danzō’s mouth curled upward.
He even couldn’t help humming softly as he walked briskly toward their agreed meeting place.
“Danzō, how did you do with your mission this morning?”
The moment they met, Sarutobi Hiruzen asked about Danzō’s progress on the supply-purchasing mission.
But Danzō had spent the entire morning drinking tea and bragging at the tulip market.
Just like yesterday, he brushed Hiruzen off.
“Uh…
same as yesterday.”
“I ran into another bunch of swindlers…
But it doesn’t matter.
That’s unavoidable.”
“Really…?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen was slightly stunned.
The Danzō standing before him looked energetic and cheerful.
You didn’t close a single deal, yet you’re this happy?
That’s strange.
“Hiruzen, why are you staring at me?”
“Come on, let’s go eat!”
“I’m exhausted after working all morning.
Lunch is on me today…”
“Danzō, why didn’t you say so sooner?
Let’s go, let’s go!”
Danzō didn’t want to prolong the conversation.
He immediately deployed his secret weapon:
“Lunch is on me!”
And sure enough, it worked spectacularly!
….
Land of Fire Palace
At that very moment, inside the imperial palace of the Land of Fire—
“Makoto, you’re finally here.”
“Take a look at this letter.
What do you think we should do?”
The Fire Daimyō sat on a sofa and handed the letter to Uchiha Makoto, who had rushed over overnight.
Something like this obviously couldn’t be discussed with Makoto through a letter.
They had to sit down and discuss it face-to-face.
“Your Highness, don’t be in such a hurry.”
“Let me read the letter first.”
Uchiha Makoto took the letter and read through it.
In truth, Senju Tobirama’s message had already been summarized in the letter the daimyō had sent, urgently summoning Makoto to the capital of the Land of Fire.
But the daimyō had clearly added far too much of his own speculation.
Who knew how much incorrect information he had mixed in?
After reading the letter, Uchiha Makoto had a rough understanding of the situation.
At present, the Konoha storyline was proceeding almost exactly as in the original.
The only difference was that, because of the Senju Hashirama Threat Theory Makoto had been promoting, Konoha had yet to establish cooperation with the daimyō.
This was extremely advantageous for Makoto.
The longer the daimyō waited before cooperating with Konoha, the slower Konoha’s development would be.
As for the claim in the letter that Senju Hashirama intended to personally come and negotiate with the daimyō…
That probably meant Hashirama would personally bring gifts and visit the daimyō, asking him to cooperate with Konoha.
And if the daimyō refused…
To accomplish his goal, Hashirama might even kneel and bow his head to the daimyō.
No need to rush.
The letter could be left unanswered for a while.
Let Konoha stew a little longer.
Let the bullet keep flying for a while.
Moreover, regarding the negotiations between the daimyō and Konoha, Makoto had to find a way to participate.
He needed to do everything possible to keep the daimyō suspicious of Senju Hashirama.
Just as Uchiha Makoto was thinking this, the daimyō’s voice reached his ears.
“Makoto, as the daimyō, I don’t want to meet someone as extremely dangerous as Senju Hashirama.”
“So…
why don’t you deal with Senju Hashirama?”
The daimyō said this as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
He certainly didn’t want to meet Hashirama himself.
What if, during the negotiations…
Hashirama suddenly smashed the cup in his hand onto the floor?
The daimyō wasn’t about to put himself in unnecessary danger!
“Me?”
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Uchiha Makoto began coughing at the sheer absurdity of what he had just heard.
He stared at the daimyō.
You old geezer!
If I were actually capable of dealing with Senju Hashirama, do you think the first thing I’d do would be to deal with you?
I’d put on your clothes and take your place myself!
A true man born between heaven and earth should never remain beneath another’s heel!
Uchiha Makoto gave the “clueless” daimyō a calm glance.
He didn’t bother arguing with him.
Since the daimyō didn’t want to meet Senju Hashirama, Makoto could simply go in his place.
As the intermediary, there would be plenty of opportunities for him to manipulate the situation.
“Your Highness, leave this matter to me.”
“Let’s set this letter aside for now.”
“If Senju Hashirama personally comes to the capital of the Land of Fire, I’ll be the one to receive him.”
“Then that’s wonderful.”