Granny Cat pulled a small cloth bag from under the counter, filled with the clinking of coins.
She didn’t count them, simply pushing it onto the counter.
“Three thousand two hundred ryo.
Count it.”
The Shadow Clone picked up the bag, opened it, and poured a few coins into his palm.
They were silver-white, and there were a few banknotes too, shimmering in the dim light.
He counted them once; three thousand two hundred ryo, exactly.
He put the cloth bag into his backpack and then folded up the empty cardboard box.
Granny Cat watched his movements as he packed up and suddenly asked, “What’s your name?”
The Shadow Clone’s hand paused for a moment.
“That’s not important,” he said.
Granny Cat chuckled.
“True.
Since you came as a Shadow Clone, you clearly didn’t want me to know who you are.”
She leaned back in her chair, her fingers tapping the counter a few more times.
“Kid, I’ve been in business for decades; I’ve seen all sorts.
You’re not the first of your kind I’ve met, and you won’t be the last.
As long as the quality is good, I’ll take whatever you bring.
Kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, food pills, sealing scrolls—anything.
If the quantity is large enough, we can discuss the price further.”
The Shadow Clone looked up at her.
“The authorities keep a tight lid on explosive tags, but they aren’t impossible to get, right?” Granny Cat’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“If you can get explosive tags, I’ll buy them at market price without lowballing you.
An explosive tag sells for five to eight hundred ryo on the market; I’ll give you three hundred.
I’ll take as many as you have.”
The Shadow Clone was silent for a few seconds.
“What about Great Explosive Tags?” he asked.
Granny Cat’s eyes lit up.
“Great Explosive Tags?
You have those in that warehouse of yours too?”
“I’m just asking.”
Granny Cat stared at him for a few seconds and then slowly smiled.
“Great Explosive Tags have a market price of two thousand ryo each.
I’ll give you one thousand.
If you can get them, I want them.”
The Shadow Clone nodded.
“And sealing scrolls,” Granny Cat continued.
“Blank scrolls, one hundred and fifty ryo a roll.
Low-level sealing scrolls, three hundred ryo a roll.
Kunai made of Chakra-conductive metal, those are expensive—one thousand ryo each.
I’ll take as many as you can provide.”
The Shadow Clone looked at her, his mind racing with calculations.
He had all these things in his warehouse, but the Great Explosive Tags and Chakra metal Kunai were locked in metal cabinets.
He had the keys, but the regulations for those items were much stricter than for ordinary supplies.
Moving those things would be ten times riskier than moving Kunai and shuriken.
“I’ll stick to the small stuff first,” the Shadow Clone said.
“We can talk about the big stuff later.”
Granny Cat nodded.
“Fine.
No rush.
Take your time.
Hina!”
A short-haired female cat, silver-grey in color and quite plump, with cream-white fur on its chest and paws, appeared.
It was wearing a small red cloth vest and carrying a scroll in its mouth.
Granny Cat took the scroll and tossed it to the Shadow Clone.
“Consider this sealing scroll a gift from me.
Next time, just pack your things in here; carrying a backpack is too conspicuous.”
The Shadow Clone put it in his backpack, zipped it up, slung it over his shoulder, and turned toward the door.
After two steps, he stopped.
“Granny, aren’t you afraid I’m a lure sent by Konoha?”
Granny Cat was tidying the abacus on the counter.
Hearing this, her movements paused.
She looked up at the Shadow Clone, a hint of mockery in her eyes.
“If Konoha wanted to set a trap, they wouldn’t send a Genin.
And—” she paused, “you gave the name Uchiha Itachi.
That boy is a rogue Ninja now; no one from Konoha would use his name.”
The Shadow Clone said nothing.
“Next time you come, don’t use a Shadow Clone.
With your level of Chakra, maintaining two techniques won’t last long.
When you walked in earlier, your Shadow Clone was already starting to pop.
I saw it, but I didn’t say anything.”
The Shadow Clone’s heart tightened.
But Granny Cat’s expression was calm, not like she was trying to threaten him.
“I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it,” she added.
“But next time, come in person.
I don’t check IDs here, and I don’t ask where things come from.
I don’t care who you are.
You bring the goods, I give you the money.
It’s as simple as that.”
The Shadow Clone was silent for two seconds, then lifted the curtain and stepped out of the shop.
The two cats at the entrance were still crouched in their original positions, one black and one white, like two guardian statues.
The black cat opened its eyes to glance at him before closing them again.
The white cat yawned and buried its head in its front paws.
He walked out along the alley, his pace neither fast nor slow.
When he reached the mouth of the alley, the sunlight hit his face, feeling a bit piercing.
He squinted and stood at the entrance for a few seconds to confirm no one was watching him before leaving quickly.
He closed his eyes, taking a few seconds to digest the information.
Granny Cat had seen through his Shadow Clone and Transformation Technique but hadn’t exposed him.
She was willing to take explosive tags, Great Explosive Tags, sealing scrolls, and Chakra metal Kunai, and had given clear prices.
She wanted him to come in person next time, saying she ‘didn’t check IDs or ask where things came from.’
Sato Fan opened his eyes and took the cloth bag out of his desk drawer.
The three thousand two hundred ryo felt heavy.
He placed the cloth bag on the desk and stared at it for a long time.
Three thousand two hundred ryo was seven hundred less than the three thousand nine hundred he had expected.
However, the purchase prices Granny Cat offered for explosive tags and Great Explosive Tags were far more profitable than Kunai and shuriken.
Three hundred ryo for one explosive tag was double the procurement price.
One thousand ryo for a Great Explosive Tag was nearly triple.
This was a signal for long-term cooperation.
Granny Cat wasn’t the kind of unscrupulous merchant who would lowball him for a one-time deal.
She wanted to cultivate him into a stable supplier.
The prices she gave were neither too high nor too low, just enough for him to make a profit without her losing money.
And she had explicitly said ‘if the quantity is large, the price can be discussed further’—this was both a temptation and a test.
Sato Fan stuffed the cloth bag into the innermost layer of his backpack, stood up, and walked to an open space.
He needed to cool down.
Body Flicker Technique.
A burst of Chakra, a spring off the soles of his feet, and his whole body shot forward.
Landing, turning, he performed the second hand seal.
A second dash.
Landing again, a third hand seal.
A third dash.
Three consecutive bursts, a fraction of a second faster than his usual pace.
He stopped, panting heavily.
Today’s events had gone more smoothly than he’d anticipated.
Granny Cat was a proper merchant, not some thug looking to rob him.
She was willing to take what he brought and gave a fair price.
More importantly, she hinted at the potential for future cooperation—explosive tags, Great Explosive Tags, sealing scrolls; those were the truly valuable items.
But he wasn’t in a rush.
He’d stabilize the small deals first before considering the big ones.
He took the cloth bag out of his backpack, removed the money, and burned the bag.
Including his remaining salary from last month, he now had nearly six thousand ryo in cash.
Six thousand ryo.
Enough for seven hundred and fifty bowls of Ichiraku Ramen.
Enough to stay in a small inn for twenty nights.
Enough to buy one Chakra-conductive metal Kunai—no, those were eight hundred ryo each, so six thousand ryo could buy seven.
“I’m making money, making money, and I don’t even know how to spend it!”
Bullshit, life is just two words: spending money.
Let’s go eat BBQ!
Konoha’s most famous BBQ restaurant was called “Yakiniku Q,” located on the main street in the center of the Village.
He had passed it countless times before but had never gone in—it was too expensive.
Today was different.
He lifted the curtain and went inside; it was steaming hot, and the aroma of grilled meat hit him instantly.
Sato Fan had just found a corner to sit in when he heard a loud shout.
“Sato!”
Three people were sitting at that table—Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
The table was piled with meat, and the grill was sizzling with oil.
“Why are you alone?
Come join us!” Naruto’s eyes crinkled as he laughed.
Sato Fan carried his teacup over and sat down.
While stuffing meat into his mouth, Naruto said indistinctly, “We just got back from a super awesome mission!
A C-rank mission!
To the Land of Waves!”
The Land of Waves.
Sato Fan’s heart stirred.
“The Land of Waves?
How was the mission?”
Naruto put down his chopsticks, his eyes shining.
“Super thrilling!
We ran into two rogue Ninjas from the Hidden Mist Village!
One could use Ice Style and was even prettier than Sakura—”
“What do you mean ‘prettier than me’!” Sakura rapped him on the head with a chopstick.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Naruto clutched his head and leaned in again, lowering his voice though the volume didn’t drop at all.
“The one who used ice was named Haku.
He was a good person…
in the end, he blocked Kakashi-sensei’s Lightning Blade for someone else…
and died.”
Naruto’s tone became unusually serious for a moment.
“But he really was a good guy.
And that old bridge-builder named the bridge the ‘Great Naruto Bridge’!
How about that?
Pretty cool, right?”
“Great Naruto Bridge?” Sato Fan raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah!
Named after me!” Naruto puffed out his chest.
Sato Fan smiled.
He noticed that Sasuke hadn’t said much, just quietly grilling meat, but there was an indescribable sharpness in his eyes—as if something had been ignited within him.
“So, what’s your next mission?” Sato Fan asked.
“Don’t know,” Naruto said, chewing on beef tongue.
“But the Village seems to be preparing for something big lately.
There are so many strangers on the streets.
I saw a few people wearing cloaks in front of the Hokage Building the other day; you could tell at a glance they weren’t from Konoha.”
Sato Fan’s movement to pick up meat paused.
Strangers on the street.
Foreign Ninjas in cloaks.
He quickly calculated the time in his head—it had been two months since graduation.
Naruto and the others had already finished the Land of Waves mission.
The Chunin Exams were almost here!
But he didn’t say it out loud.
This wasn’t the place for a mere warehouse manager like him to explain things.
“Maybe there’s some kind of event,” Sato Fan said casually.
“Who cares!” Naruto stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth.
“Whatever the event is, I’m participating!
I’m the man who’s going to become Hokage!”
Sakura rolled her eyes at him.
“Pass your next mission first before you talk.”
Sasuke still didn’t speak, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
After they finished the BBQ, Naruto insisted on paying.
Sato Fan didn’t argue; he’d save where he could.
Why should a lowly logistics worker on a fixed salary fight to pay against wealthy combat Ninjas?
There were indeed some unfamiliar faces on the street.
A few young people wearing dark-colored cloaks walked past him; their forehead protectors weren’t in the Konoha style.
Sato Fan stepped aside to let them pass, and only after they were far away did he continue toward home.
When he got home, Sato Umeko was tidying the kitchen.
Sato Michi was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper.
“You’re back?
Have you eaten?”
“I’ve eaten.
Had dinner with friends.
I’m going to my room now.”
The Chunin Exams…
Orochimaru’s Konoha Crush Plan!!