A Deal with Lady Cat!

Taka padded across the carpet on cat paws, obediently making her way step by step to Lady Cat's feet.

She turned sideways, fell over, waved her paws, and rolled onto her back, every motion practiced to perfection.

Her pale yellow tail lightly hooked around Lady Cat's fair ankle, rubbing back and forth over that slender limb. The soft feline fur complemented those exquisite bare feet, smooth as satin.

"Greetings, Lady Cat."

Nara Kaikei kept his gaze straight ahead as he spoke calmly.

"I'm here to commission some ninja tools."

Sniff, sniff.

Lady Cat did not respond to Nara Kaikei immediately. Her nostrils twitched as she reached out with an index finger and scratched Taka beneath the chin.

The affectionate gesture made the Ninja Cat let out a comfortable purr from her nose.

"It smells like catnip~"

Lady Cat withdrew her slender finger and shot Nara Kaikei a coy, reproachful look.

"Young man of the Nara Clan, such an expensive drink will spoil a cat's palate."

Nara Kaikei pressed his lips together, using the small motion to lightly bite his tongue and focus his mind.

"I only considered that most cats tend to like plants such as catnip."

"Just as expected of a Nara child~"

Lady Cat chuckled softly.

"I do accept commissions for custom ninja tools here. What type of ninja tool would you like to commission?"

"A ninja blade."

Nara Kaikei gave the answer he had prepared long ago.

"More specifically, a Wakizashi."

"A bladed weapon?"

Lady Cat's eyes shifted as she gave an immediate reply.

"Then I recommend commissioning a blade from the Land of Iron.

"The Land of Iron produces many samurai. They have extensive experience forging bladed weapons, surpassing even the craftsmen of the Land of Crafts."

"The Land of Iron?"

Nara Kaikei raised a brow. He had not forgotten that massive mystery concerning the Land of Iron.

"Lady Cat, are you saying that I need to travel to the Land of Iron as well?"

"If it is convenient, I would advise Nara-kun to make a trip to the Land of Iron.

"After all, forging a weapon is unlike anything else. There must be sufficient compatibility and rapport between a ninja and his weapon."

Now that they were discussing business, Lady Cat adopted a more formal mode of address.

"Of course, I know what trouble Konoha has been facing lately... war!

"So if Nara-kun wishes to entrust the forging of the Wakizashi, along with overseeing its construction, entirely to me, that is understandable as well... but the fee would be somewhat higher."

Lady Cat held out her thumb and index finger, leaving a small gap between them.

A sly smile spilled through that gap, yet it was not off-putting.

"It really isn't convenient for me to leave the village."

Nara Kaikei nodded.

"I'll entrust both the forging and supervision to you, Lady Cat."

"No problem!"

Lady Cat patted her chest and declared confidently.

"Then let us discuss the specifics.

"The first matter, and the most important one, is roughly how much is Nara-kun's budget for forging this weapon?"

Take Explosive Tags, for example.

An Explosive Tag with a simple structure and weak power was naturally priced differently from one of fine quality and great power.

Nara Kaikei estimated a figure.

"At most... around two million ryō?"

He had previously received research funds totaling one million ryō from the clan head.

To forge a suitable ninja tool, asking the clan head to advance one month's worth of research funding... that was not excessive, was it?

"Two million ryō!"

Lady Cat's violet pupils abruptly contracted, and even her breathing grew heavier beneath her pert nose.

"With that budget, it would be more than enough even to hire the finest blade-forging master in the Land of Iron!"

The key was that the greater the client's budget, the more profit she could take from it.

Since leaving the Nekamura Clan, this was the first time Lady Cat had accepted a single commission of such enormous value.

"What about the forging materials?"

Lady Cat unconsciously licked her lips.

"The Land of Iron possesses quite a few high-quality ores.

"I can also help purchase some special ores from the black market... though that would cost extra."

"I'll provide the weapon materials myself."

Nara Kaikei took out a scroll and opened it before Lady Cat according to the method the clan head had previously explained.

"Chakra Metal."

Poof—

Amid a burst of smoke, chunks of pitch-black ore appeared before Lady Cat.

Lady Cat drew a sharp breath inwardly.

Just what family's lucky god was this young man from the Nara Clan?

The value of these chunks of Chakra Metal alone exceeded one million ryō!

What a wealthy patron, what a thick thigh—she absolutely could not let him slip away so easily...

"Since you are providing the materials, the forging fee can be reduced considerably."

Lady Cat discreetly wiped the corner of her lips.

"By my estimate, no more than one million ryō will be needed to forge the weapon Nara-kun wants."

"One million ryō?"

Nara Kaikei was somewhat surprised.

"That little money is enough?"

Nara Kaikei remembered asking the clan head about the price of a Chakra Crystal before and getting thoroughly embarrassed.

"That little money..."

Lady Cat clutched her heart, feeling as though the sheer wealth radiating invisibly from her client had wounded her.

"Please do not compare a ninja's sense of money to an ordinary person's.

"Besides, even for a ninja, one million ryō is already the upper limit for a commissioned mission."

"All right!"

Nara Kaikei readily accepted Lady Cat's explanation. A commission fee of one million ryō was completely within his psychological budget.

"These pieces of Chakra Metal are mainly for forging the Wakizashi.

"But if there is any left over, please mix it with other metals to make some Special Kunai."

"No problem!"

Lady Cat agreed just as readily.

"For now, we'll set the commission for 'ninja blade forging' at one million ryō.

"Before the commission begins, Nara-kun will need to pay one-fifth of the total as a deposit.

"Also, my rule here is to take five percent of the commission amount as compensation. Is that acceptable?"

Five percent?

Nara Kaikei shook his head. "Let's sign the contract directly."

"How straightforward, Nara-kun!"

Lady Cat was immensely pleased with her client's conduct. She called for a Ninja Cat to bring over the commission scrolls, one copy for each party.

Nara Kaikei handed Lady Cat the Chakra Metal, along with two hundred thousand ryō as the deposit.

"May I ask roughly how long forging the ninja blade will take?"

"Based on my past experience, it will take the masters of the Land of Iron no more than a month to forge a Wakizashi-type weapon."

Nara Kaikei nodded, skipped over the topic of "ninja blade forging," and brought up another matter.

"Lady Cat, I saw quite a few ninjutsu names on the product catalog scroll you provided earlier."

Nara Kaikei looked at Lady Cat.

"Do you also sell ninjutsu scrolls here?"

"Of course!"

Lady Cat's eyes lit up. She had still underestimated the Big Fat Sheep before her—no, the big fat deer!

"Taka, bring over the general product catalog and present it to Nara-kun!"

Taka nimbly flipped over and swiftly fetched the scroll Lady Cat had named.

Nara Kaikei spread open the scroll and quickly searched through the catalog based on his own needs.

There were still quite a few types of jutsu that he lacked.

For example, taijutsu, genjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, and so on.

But as far as taijutsu went, Nara Kaikei had no interest in ordinary taijutsu, even though he had already acquired a C-rank taijutsu, Arhat Fist.

As for Medical Ninjutsu, Nara Kaikei could ask Yakushi Nonō for guidance.

As for the other...

Water Release!

Nara Kaikei quickly found his target type of ninjutsu and began searching through the catalog.

He possessed all five chakra natures. Yin, Earth, Wind, and Fire already each had their own jutsu, leaving only Water Release.

Nara Kaikei had intended to purchase a B-rank Water Release Ninjutsu scroll from Lady Cat.

But perhaps his expectations had been too high.

The only B-rank Water Release Ninjutsu Lady Cat offered was called—Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

That was the absurd Flower Shaking Hand jutsu with forty-four hand seals!

Even if Kisame Hoshigaki came himself, he would have to wave his shark arms around for half a minute before he could use that B-rank Water Release.

Nara Kaikei silently closed the scroll in his hands and asked Lady Cat.

"Lady Cat, do you have any advanced Water Release Ninjutsu that requires no hand seals?"

"..."

Lady Cat, who had always appeared shrewd and clever, revealed a rare expression of blank speechlessness.

Advanced Water Release Ninjutsu without hand seals?

Nara boy, did you hear what you just said?

Seeing the answer on Lady Cat's face, Nara Kaikei did not wait for her response and decisively changed targets.

"I need to purchase two genjutsu scrolls."

Nara Kaikei handed the scroll back to Lady Cat.

"D-rank genjutsu: Mist Servant Technique and Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique."

"Two genjutsu scrolls come to a total of fifty thousand ryō."

Lady Cat dispatched another Ninja Cat.

"Mist Servant Technique is fifteen thousand, and Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique is thirty-five thousand ryō."

These two D-rank ninjutsu were both very basic genjutsu. Quite a few ninjas in Konoha knew them, so they were not expensive.

Nara Kaikei paid with one hand and received the goods with the other, easily acquiring the two D-rank genjutsu.

A message popped up on the panel.

[Detected D-rank jutsu [Mist Servant Technique]. Learn?]

[Detected D-rank jutsu [Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique]. Learn?]

After learning them with a single click, the two D-rank genjutsu appeared in Nara Kaikei's Jutsu Abilities section.

"One last matter."

Nara Kaikei looked at Lady Cat.

"Lady Cat, is there any news regarding Chakra Crystals on the black market?"

"Chakra Crystals? Where did Nara-kun learn of such a treasure?"

Lady Cat looked at Nara Kaikei with some surprise.

"Seeing as we just concluded a transaction, I'll give Nara-kun one piece of information for free.

"Recently, word of a Chakra Crystal circulated on the black market, but it appears to have been bought by people from the north."