"Hello, I'm Kakashi Gu Qi, the grand elder of the Hatake Clan. I'd like to meet your clan head."
At the gate of the Hyuga Clan compound, Kakashi Gu Qi spoke to the guards with a serious expression.
"Ah, Gu Qi, what brings you to see our clan head?" Hyuga Keiji asked with a smile.
Gu Qi often lingered outside the Hyuga estate. On top of that, most people on the Hyuga side knew of his feat of taking on Kumogakure's elite jonin alone.
Gu Qi said solemnly, "As the grand elder of the Hatake Clan, I'd like to discuss a business deal with the Hyuga clan head."
Seeing how serious Gu Qi was, Hyuga Keiji put away his smile. "Understood. Please wait a moment."
Gu Qi didn't have to wait long. Soon, someone from the Hyuga Clan led him into a reception room.
He had barely finished a cup of tea in the reception room when the Hyuga Clan's head, Hyuga Hiashi, appeared at the doorway with his hands tucked into his sleeves.
"Greetings, Lord Hiashi." Gu Qi stood and greeted him.
Hiashi nodded with a smile, sat across from Gu Qi, and asked, "Elder Gu Qi, what brings you here today?"
Gu Qi rubbed his nose, looking a little uneasy. "I came to discuss a business deal with you, Lord Hiashi."
"What sort of deal? Tell me about it." Hiashi didn't look down on Gu Qi just because he was a child.
Gu Qi took a piece of Dana Explosives from the backpack behind him. It was about the size of an Exploding Tag, but roughly a finger's width thick.
"This is the business I wanted to discuss with you, Lord Hiashi: a brand-new ninja tool," Gu Qi explained.
Hiashi glanced at the explosive in Gu Qi's hand, then asked, "Is this a type of Exploding Tag?"
"That's right!"
Hyuga Hiashi asked with interest, "Oh? How powerful is it?"
"Why don't we find somewhere to test it?" Gu Qi suggested.
"Come, Gu Qi. Follow me."
Following Hiashi, Gu Qi walked for quite a while before they reached a training ground on the outskirts of the Hyuga compound.
"Our clan members usually train here. There's no one around right now, so feel free to demonstrate it," Hyuga Hiashi said with a smile.
Gu Qi nodded silently and took out the Dana Explosives he had shown Hiashi earlier.
Then he took a detonator with a receiver attached from his backpack and inserted it into the explosive.
After activating the receiver on the detonator, Gu Qi threw the block of explosives far away. Then he took out a remote control with an antenna.
Gu Qi had modified the remote and receiver from radios that were commercially available.
Once Gu Qi pressed the button on the remote, the receiver would pick up the radio signal and trigger the detonator, setting off the explosives.
Actually, Gu Qi didn't need to go to all this trouble. He could simply attach a fuse to the block of explosives, light it, and throw it.
After all, Dana Explosives weren't as stable as later explosives like TNT or C4, which wouldn't detonate even if set on fire.
Still, Gu Qi thought throwing explosives with a fuse was too lame. It just wasn't cool.
That was why he had gone to the trouble of modifying a radio transmitter into a remote detonator.
"Lord Hiashi, be careful. I'm going to set it off." Gu Qi warned Hiashi as he pressed the button on the remote.
BOOM!
The earth-shaking blast drew countless eyes.
Before long, Gu Qi heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching.
"Stand down! There's no enemy! Don't investigate what happened here!"
Before the Hyuga ninjas could reach the training ground, Hyuga Hiashi's chakra-infused shout made them stop in their tracks.
Hiashi was, after all, the head of the Hyuga Clan. Although everyone was curious about what had happened at the training ground, they all left in an orderly fashion at his command.
Once the Branch Family members had left, Hyuga Hiashi turned to Gu Qi with a grave expression. "Gu Qi, now we can talk."
Back in the reception room, Hyuga Hiashi invited Gu Qi to sit down, then asked, "This..."
"Explosives," Gu Qi supplied.
"How much does this... explosive cost to make?" Hiashi asked.
Gu Qi rubbed his chin. "That block just now cost about fifty Ryo to make. Of course, if we produce them in larger quantities, the cost might come down. Oh, that doesn't include the remote."
Hyuga Hiashi was astonished. The blast had been no less powerful than an Exploding Tag, but the price was dozens of times lower.
"And how much would it cost with the detonator?" Hyuga Hiashi continued.
Gu Qi replied, "The remote is something I modified from a radio. It costs about fifty Ryo to make."
Hyuga Hiashi was very pleased with that answer. "Excellent! So, how do you propose we work together, Gu Qi?"
Gu Qi held up one finger. "I'll provide the formula, and the Hyuga Clan will handle production and sales. I want ten percent of the profits."
Hyuga Hiashi laughed. "If word of that got out, people would think the Hyuga Clan was using its power to bully you. Gu Qi, you underestimate the generosity of my clan."
Before Gu Qi could say anything, Hyuga Hiashi continued earnestly, "You'll get thirty percent of the profits. And in the future, if you have any other good business ideas, remember to bring them to the Hyuga Clan first."
Gu Qi smiled. A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush. "Then thank you, Lord Hiashi."
"No," Hiashi said with a smile. "I'm the one who should be thanking you."
Now that they had finished discussing business, Gu Qi had no reason to stay.
He was tempted to go find that little Hyuga girl, but with Hyuga Hiashi right there, trying to hit on a young girl in front of her clan head didn't seem like a good idea.
"If you have nothing else to do, Gu Qi, why not stay and chat with this old man? You could even join me for a simple meal," Hyuga Hiashi invited politely.
Gu Qi scratched the back of his head. "I'd better not. I can't leave Kakashi home alone without worrying."
Hiashi didn't press him to stay. Instead, he smiled and said, "Gu Qi, the doors of the Hyuga Clan are always open to you."
"Thank you, Lord Hiashi."
After leaving the Hyuga compound, Gu Qi finally let out a long breath of relief.
With the Hyuga Clan's support, Gu Qi was sure it wouldn't be long before the cheap, powerful Dana Explosives spread throughout Konoha.
When that happened, he'd be rolling in money.
Actually, explosives like these had already spread among certain circles, but they were being passed off under the name "dynamite."
Besides the manufacturing process for the explosives, Gu Qi had also left behind the design for the detonator.
Once the Hyuga side officially launched the detonator, Gu Qi would no longer need to supply Kakashi and the others.
That meant another hefty loss of income for Gu Qi. It wasn't a huge amount, but it was still money!
"You can't have your cake and eat it too. Sigh, I shouldn't be so greedy," Gu Qi could only console himself.
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