After leaving the center of the group’s conversation, Aoba walked over to a cluster of genin who looked rather mediocre.
Judging by the forehead protectors they wore, they were all shinobi from Sunagakure.
During these Chunin Exams, Sunagakure would join forces with Orochimaru to carry out the Konoha Crush, so Aoba had absolutely no qualms about fleecing them.
The arrival of a stranger immediately put the group on alert.
Being a shinobi meant living by violence and competition.
You could never let your guard down, no matter the situation.
“Hey, who are you?” one of them demanded rudely.
Aoba didn’t care in the slightest about his attitude.
He was here to do business, not pick a fight.
With a smile, he asked softly, “I wonder if you guys would be interested in some information about the first round of the Chunin Exams?” People generally didn’t hit someone who came smiling, and besides, Aoba had mentioned something they cared about.
“You’re kidding, right?
The Chunin Exams are conducted by your Konoha’s Kage.
How could the exam content possibly be leaked ahead of time?” “You’re a Konoha shinobi.
Why would you kindly share information with us?” The group all expressed their disbelief.
No matter how they looked at it, the whole thing seemed way too suspicious.
Aoba wasn’t in a hurry.
He calmly said, “Of course, I won’t give you the information for free.
You just need to pay a small price.
I guarantee you’ll get more than your money’s worth.” “What price?” Everyone became a little curious.
This actually sounded rather interesting.
The Chunin Exams hadn’t even started, yet someone was already selling information about them.
This was their first time seeing something like this.
“Judging by the way you guys look, you’re all pretty experienced genin.
“The first round of the Konoha Chunin Exams is usually a written test.
I expect this time won’t be any different.
“And for many shinobi who only focus on fighting, solving written questions can be quite a headache.” Aoba’s final sentence struck right at the heart of the matter.
“I have a way to provide you with the answers during the exam, and you’ll absolutely not get caught cheating.” What Aoba was doing was actually rather risky.
Before the Chunin Exams began, nobody would expect the first test to be testing their ability to gather intelligence.
If someone with ulterior motives noticed what he was doing and reported him to the higher-ups in the village, he might very well be invited to have a little chat with the Anbu.
But in order to make money and earn more chances to use the gacha, he had no choice but to resort to this.
As the saying went, fortune was found through danger.
If you were afraid of this and worried about that, you’d only waste your time and accomplish nothing in the end.
Besides, Konoha would soon discover that Orochimaru had infiltrated the village.
They probably wouldn’t have the time or energy to pay attention to a minor character like him.
Hearing Aoba’s offer, the group couldn’t help but become tempted.
The people of the shinobi world simply hadn’t seen enough.
How could they possibly compare with all the tricks and schemes Aoba had experienced in his previous life?
They were all genin whose academic performance was mediocre and who didn’t have any particular advantage in combat.
If they could breeze through the first exam, their chances of becoming chunin would increase considerably.
Aoba knew they had only come to make up the numbers.
But they certainly didn’t think of themselves that way!
Which genin came to take the Chunin Exams without wanting to pass and become a chunin?
Nobody wanted to be someone else’s background character, and nobody believed they themselves were just a background character.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have signed up in the first place.
One of them was particularly sharp and quickly came to his senses.
“You’re just moving your lips.
Who can guarantee what you’re saying is true?” Aoba remained perfectly calm.
“As for whether it’s true or false, you’ll naturally find out when the exam begins.” He knew that as long as they didn’t voluntarily forfeit the first exam, they could pass even if they handed in a blank paper.
That was why he dared to guarantee it.
Then, with great kindness, he launched another round of advertising.
Each team only needed to pay 30,000 ryo, and he guaranteed they would pass the first round.
He would send them the answers ten minutes before the exam ended.
If the first round wasn’t a written test, they would receive double their money back.
If they failed the exam, they would also receive double their money back.
Of course, voluntarily forfeiting the exam didn’t count.
“I’m just a lowly Konoha genin.
Are you really worried that I’ll scam you?” Aoba wasn’t ashamed of being a genin in the slightest.
In fact, he wore the title proudly, using Konoha’s name as his guarantee.
What followed was an onslaught of persuasion.
“Spending a little money for some peace of mind is absolutely worth it.” “An investment at the beginning will bring you more than ten times the return later.” “If you become a chunin through this joint village exam, your village will definitely value you more when you return…” He painted such a dazzling picture that the group became thoroughly tempted.
Aoba was only one person, and he was still just a genin.
No matter how capable he was, surely he wouldn’t dare refuse to honor his promise.
If things got out of hand, it would become a diplomatic issue for Konoha.
Their own village, Sunagakure, was also one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
They absolutely couldn’t tolerate Konoha’s genin casually bullying their shinobi.
As long as the young man in front of them kept his word, this really was a guaranteed-profit deal.
30,000 ryo was a lot for a genin, but if they saved up and pooled their money together, they could still scrape it together.
Compared to the benefits of becoming a chunin, it was practically pocket change.
The three members of one shinobi team gritted their teeth and finally made up their minds.
“30,000 ryo, right?
We’ll buy the information!” “Pleasure doing business with you!” Aoba happily accepted a stack of banknotes.
Making money feels pretty damn good!
“You’d better not screw us over.
Otherwise, you’ll definitely regret it!” Even after paying, the three still felt somewhat uneasy and didn’t forget to issue a threatening warning.
“Relax, relax.
I’m Konoha genin Natsume Aoba.
You can come find me anytime.” Having collected the money, Aoba was in an excellent mood.
He was less than 70,000 ryo short of being able to do another 10 pull.
Once the first sucker had paid up, the other Suna shinobi nearby became even more tempted.
In just a few minutes, Aoba made another 90,000 ryo.
He quietly transferred all of the money into the system, bringing the balance on his panel to 124,000 ****ryo.
However, nobody was willing to pay after that.
Most people weren’t that easy to fool.
You couldn’t just say a few things and expect everyone to believe you.
Aoba’s actions had also aroused the displeasure of some people.
Just as he was preparing to find some new customers, someone blocked his path.
It was a group of three Ame shinobi.
It rained all year round in the Land of Rain, so Ame shinobi were accustomed to carrying several umbrellas whenever they went outside.
Of course, they weren’t ordinary umbrellas.
In the hands of shinobi, they could serve much the same function as ninja tools.
The leader had a face covered in scars, and one of his eyes seemed to be blind.
His appearance was exceptionally fierce.
The other two wore conical hats with forehead protectors embedded in them, both having such ordinary, forgettable faces that they could have been anyone.
The most curious thing was the equipment strapped to their backs.
It looked somewhat like oxygen tanks, and there was no need to guess that they were auxiliary ninja tools.
“Kid, are you insulting the Chunin Exams?!” The lead Ame shinobi glared at Aoba with hostility, looking as though he was ready to throw down at the slightest disagreement.
“I don’t understand what you mean.” Aoba sighed.
Looks like his grand money-making plan had run into a little trouble.
“A so-called shinobi can’t rely on such shallow tricks to get anywhere!
What you’re doing is an insult to all of us shinobi who traveled thousands of miles to Konoha to participate in these exams!” The man spoke with such righteous indignation that Aoba was momentarily baffled.
I’m just selling some information.
Is there really any need to get this angry?
What he was doing might indeed have a bad influence, but he’d come to the Chunin Exams to make money in the first place.
After thinking it over carefully, Aoba understood.
Every shinobi village went out of its way to glorify the shinobi profession.
Take Konoha, for example.
Children who didn’t understand how brutal the life of a shinobi could be all dreamed of becoming great shinobi, and when they grew up, they even dreamed of becoming Hokage.
He had been selling information about the Chunin Exams, and his advertising just now had been too exaggerated.
He’d made it sound as though you could easily pass the exam simply by relying on underhanded methods.
That was probably what had wounded the pride of these three Ame shinobi and prompted them to come looking for trouble.
“Fine.
You’re right.
I’ll leave.” Aoba couldn’t be bothered to argue with them.
He had already earned enough for one 10 pull, so there was no need to get into a conflict with anyone for the time being.
More importantly, he was worried that making too much noise about selling Chunin Exam information would attract the attention of the Anbu.
If that happened, things might become difficult to wrap up.
He wanted to let the matter go.
But the three Ame shinobi clearly had no intention of doing the same.