Over the next few days, the Hokage's Office issued an announcement about the incident. The wording had been changed, and it listed the culprit's punishment in detail. The fine, which amounted to more than ten million ryo, drew gasps from the crowd—and plenty of delighted reactions.
Such a "severe" punishment matched what the villagers had expected. Their anger and dissatisfaction had been thoroughly vented.
On top of that, the "farce" on Hokage Rock had been completely cleaned up. The culprit was still only a child, and he had already gone from house to house to apologize.
As a result, the commotion and impact caused by the incident gradually died down.
However, the name Shimiya Aoba once again became the focus of discussion among the villagers and even many shinobi during their spare time.
After all, they had yet to see a second "real man" with the guts to do something like that!
At that moment, our protagonist was holed up at home, enjoying a rare low-key life.
He had no choice. Whenever he went outside, people would stare at him, then whisper about him without the slightest restraint.
This feeling of "fame" really wasn't great. Most importantly, unlike an Earth celebrity, it didn't bring him any actual income.
Otherwise, he could have debuted as an idol by now!
Infamy was still fame, after all!
Besides, he was staying home to study his newly acquired reward!
This time, what he had obtained from the Bronze Treasure Chest was an item called the Perception Eye.
Relic: [Perception Eye]
Effect: Senses all powerful lifeforms within a hundred-meter radius and can provide a certain degree of feedback regarding hostile intent.
Because the description of this effect was rather vague, apart from his daily physical training and White Strike practice, he set aside some of his rest time to specifically study the item.
As the name suggested, the Perception Eye really was a lifelike eyeball. However, after being used, it could perfectly merge into any inanimate object without being noticed by the naked eye.
As for whether special abilities like the Byakugan or Sharingan could detect the Perception Eye, Aoba wasn't sure. He had yet to find an opportunity to test it.
Then there was its effect. He had no clear concept of the term "powerful lifeform."
However, based on the feedback after using it, he reached a conclusion. "Powerful lifeforms" referred to cats, dogs, rats, and larger creatures. Of course, humans were included as well.
Insects, bacteria, plants, and other such lifeforms were excluded.
Once he used the Perception Eye, it was as if he had gained God's-eye view, or activated a radar-based wallhack. He could clearly sense the positions of all "powerful lifeforms" within a hundred meters, and judge their strength based on the size of the fluctuations.
The ability to provide a certain degree of feedback regarding hostile intent was also quite interesting, so he specifically went somewhere crowded to test it.
In the end, he concluded that as long as someone harbored a certain degree of hostility toward him, the Perception Eye could sense it and immediately transmit feedback into his mind. In his perception, those people would be marked red, while everyone else would be white.
It was practically a living radar from a video game!
However, its shortcomings were just as obvious. First, the Perception Eye's range was only a hundred meters. In the world of shinobi, if an enemy got within a hundred meters of you, you had practically already taken one step through the gates of hell.
Compared to the Byakugan's scouting ability, it was nothing but trash!
Second, the Perception Eye couldn't be moved. Once deployed, moving it would immediately cause it to lose its effect. Furthermore, as its user, if he left the area covered by the Perception Eye, it would become ineffective as well.
This greatly reduced the Perception Eye's practical value. At most, it could be used for fixed-point warnings and to investigate whether others harbored hostile intent toward him.
The good news was that the Perception Eye had no usage limit. It could be used repeatedly, and it couldn't be destroyed. The only thing that could be destroyed was the object it parasitized. Moreover, with a single thought, he could instantly recall it into his own eye. Of course, its effects couldn't be activated directly after recalling it.
Overall, the Perception Eye was still quite useful to him.
With this thing, he no longer needed to worry about being monitored. Whoever came near him would be discovered immediately.
He could also clearly tell who constantly harbored malicious intentions toward him and was plotting against him, allowing him to take precautions in advance.
After completely figuring out how to use the item, Aoba gave up on continuing to hole up at home in seclusion and instead made his way to Konoha's special supplies distribution center.
This place had originally been open only to certain special groups. For example, Anbu personnel directly under the Hokage could come here. Those who needed special items could also collect them if they brought a note stamped by the Hokage.
After all, certain special units had benefits that made people envious. Many things didn't need to be bought with their own money; they could simply claim them directly.
The Anbu's various expenses, for example, were actually paid for by the Hokage and the village.
As for why Aoba had come here, it naturally wasn't because he had joined the Anbu or any other special department. He was simply here to collect this month's cultivation-supplies allowance and medicinal bath.
Only a few days after he had caused that huge disaster, Konoha's exclusive medicine shop had begun selling the medicinal-bath powder he provided on a large scale.
And the price was a full ten thousand ryo per dose!
It was simply shamelessly expensive!
When he had prepared the ingredients himself, one medicinal bath had cost him no more than five thousand ryo. Even that extra amount had been spent on useless medicinal ingredients to throw people off.
Something that retailed for less than five thousand ryo was being sold by Konoha for ten thousand ryo, and they wouldn't even haggle!
They had more than doubled the price!
Who the hell would buy something so expensive?
Of course people bought it!
And it sold extremely well!
There was only one reason: Minato, the Hokage himself, had personally stepped forward to endorse it and guarantee its effects!
And that wasn't all. Somehow, the higher-ups in Konoha had reached an agreement with all the major clans. The Uchiha, Hyuga, Inuzuka, Yamanaka, Aburame, Akimichi... all the major clans had placed exorbitantly expensive orders and praised the product endlessly!
It created a tense atmosphere, as if not buying it meant being left behind. If you didn't buy it, your child would lose at the starting line!
How much money did ordinary civilians even have?
So the higher-ups in Konoha had been targeting the various clans as their consumer base from the very beginning!
To nurture outstanding talent, they had already spent so much money. Surely they wouldn't be stingy about making this small investment as well!
And sure enough, after trying the medicinal baths provided by Konoha's higher-ups one after another, the various clans felt as if they had been struck right in their weak spot. Almost no one was willing to be left behind.
It wasn't that there was no one who wanted to force the owner of the formula to make it public or come in and take a share of the profits...
Then Minato stepped forward!
Who the hell would risk offending and falling out with Konoha's leader, the Hokage, over a little money?
Were they tired of living or something?!
Before you continue