Shimura Danzō: Hiruzen, Your Thinking Is Too Extreme

"I'm not arguing with you! (Please keep reading!)"

Shimura Danzō walked out of the shop, muttering complaints without end.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was dark as well.

Although they had known from the start that the procurement mission would not be as simple as they had imagined, getting off to such a bad start and running into a dishonest merchant at the very first shop dealt a heavy blow to their confidence.

And with the ninja war growing increasingly severe, these merchants knew full well that their goods would sell no matter what. If they did not buy, plenty of other ninja would. It had the air of a computer market.

"Let's go, Danzo. On to the next shop!"

"This is the mission Lord Tobirama entrusted to us!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled himself together and called Danzo over to the next store.

Time passed quickly, and the entire morning slipped by in a hurry.

After a busy morning, they finally closed the deal for the Ration Pills. The price was a little higher than they had expected, but still barely acceptable.

If they seriously went over the details of the haggling, it had been nothing but torture and misery. All sorts of tactics, expected and unexpected, emerged one after another. Those merchants had clearly made a huge profit, yet they still kept shouting, "There's no profit in this at all! I'm selling at a loss!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō came from traditional Warring States ninja backgrounds, and they were still young. They were simply not good at wrangling like this. This was not work ordinary people could do. Right now, they would rather be on the battlefield cutting people down!

By noon, the exhausted pair arrived at a restaurant for lunch, planning to rest for a while.

While they waited for their food to be served.

At another table, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō heard a familiar name again.

Tulips!

"Little brother, I didn't lie to you, did I? Reselling tulips really can make you a fortune. Just stock up on a batch first, then wait a day or two for the price to rise. You can flip them immediately and sell them off."

"Big Brother, say no more. Your little brother will toast you!"

"By the way, Big Brother, when can we sell the tulips we stocked up on?"

"This is only the beginning. Let me tell you, according to insider information, it's not just the Nobles of the Land of Fire who like tulips now. The Land of Grass, the Land of Rice, and the Land of Rain do too. I heard that they've even become popular in the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning!"

"Really? Then we can make a fortune this time!"

"Of course. Opportunities like this are rare. Chances to make money this easily only come once in a thousand years."

As Shimura Danzō listened to the hushed conversation from the neighboring table, the desire stirred up in him last night rose again.

Tulips really did seem capable of making a fortune, and making money from them looked effortless.

Negotiating and bickering with those crooked merchants had exhausted him. Should he give it a try?

"Danzo, stop thinking about tulips."

"We're ninja. You saw those dishonest merchants this morning. If you rush into the market so recklessly, it'll be easy to suffer a loss!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi saw through Shimura Danzō's thoughts with a single glance. Danzo definitely wanted to try getting into the tulip business again!

Out of a ninja's caution, he kindly reminded Shimura Danzō not to let his imagination run wild. Their most important task right now was to complete the procurement mission, and there was still a mountain of work to do that afternoon.

But there was a reason people said honest advice was hard to hear.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's warning, tinged with a lecturing tone, made Shimura Danzō extremely unhappy.

Our statuses are practically the same. Hiruzen Sarutobi, you bastard, what gives you the right to boss me around?

Don't tell me you think you're better than me?

"Got it, got it. You're really annoying!"

Shimura Danzō said this unhappily, but inwardly dismissed Hiruzen Sarutobi's advice entirely. They were in a crowded restaurant right now, and he did not want to start arguing with Hiruzen Sarutobi here.

"As long as you understand."

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long breath, a relieved expression appearing on his face. He had finally talked Danzo out of it.

But—

That expression made Shimura Danzō even more unhappy.

You think I can't do it? Then I'll prove to you that you're wrong!

The competitive spirit of young people was just that simple, straightforward, and utterly unreasonable.

"Miso soup's here!"

The miso soup was served quickly. They had specifically asked for it. After bickering all morning, they needed some delicious miso soup to soothe their throats.

Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi temporarily put aside their dispute and began drinking the miso soup before them.

"The miso soup is so good!" x2

After saying that, their lunch was quickly served, and the two began devouring it with gusto.

After lunch, they rested for a while and prepared to begin the afternoon's "battle." But the moment they stepped out of the restaurant, Shimura Danzō voiced his idea.

"Hiruzen, the two of us moving together is just too inefficient."

"Why don't we split up? We've already roughly settled on the base prices anyway. If we haggle separately, it'll be much more efficient."

Shimura Danzō said this.

That was right. He wanted to shake off Hiruzen Sarutobi so he could check out the tulip business by himself.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is just too timid. He won't even take a look at the tulip trade, and he keeps putting me down. Hmph... he's absolutely unbearable!

And his thinking is so extreme and old-fashioned. I, Shimura Danzō, won't argue with you!

"That could work. Let's do that."

As expected, Hiruzen Sarutobi only thought it over briefly before agreeing to Shimura Danzō's suggestion. Splitting up would indeed improve their efficiency considerably.

"It's really lively here."

After shaking off Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō immediately headed to the Tulip Trading Market he had been thinking about constantly. People flowed through the entire market, and the clamor of transactions never ceased, broadening Shimura Danzō's horizons.

Everywhere he looked were flushed-faced investors, while excited voices of speculators and scalpers filled his ears.

Stories of getting rich overnight reached Shimura Danzō's ears as well, making his thoughts wander. Tulips are even more profitable than I imagined!

"The current market is all about addressing the pain points of Noble customers, finding leverage in niche segments, using technological advantages to open up entirely new tracks, connecting the upstream and downstream industrial chains, achieving internal resource integration, and ultimately forming a positive feedback ecosystem that breaks through their mental barriers!"

"The price of tulips is still halfway up the mountain—no, it might not even be halfway up yet. Anyway, I've already bought the dip!"

An unknown speculator was promoting his theories, and Danzo happened to hear him as he passed by. He was utterly shocked by those novel, unfamiliar words. Th-this sounds so professional!

After wandering around the Tulip Trading Market for half the day, Danzo came to his conclusion.

The Nobles and Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the Nobles of the small countries surrounding the Land of Fire, and even the Nobles of the distant Land of Earth and Land of Lightning were all crazy about tulips.

Merchants were selling tulips everywhere throughout the Ninja World!

In short, the tulip market was thriving, bursting with life and vitality.

"I think this is an opportunity."

Shimura Danzō had always been someone who dared to think and act. After lining up for a while, he arrived before a merchant.

"What?"

"Sales start at one million ryō?"

"Isn't that ridiculous?"

Shimura Danzō was stunned by the merchant's opening price.

That was one million ryō!

"Lord Ninja, what did you expect?"

"Tulips are now flowers that Noble lords use to prove their identity and status."

"This is no longer the time when you could buy individual flowers. Of course, if you only want to buy one or two, you can go to those low-class little markets. But the flowers there are all inferior goods. Only poor people who still want to put on airs would buy there. Noble lords would never buy so few. They buy by the roomful. And I also provide professional storage services. The price isn't too high, either."

Shimura Danzō hesitated. He did want to try the tulip business, but an entry price of one million ryō was simply too much.

"Hey, what are you doing up there? If you can't afford it, don't waste everyone's time!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

"Poor ninja, don't come here trying to get involved!"

As Danzo hesitated, the people lining up behind him had already begun urging him impatiently.

Mocking words came one after another.

For a moment, Danzo was at a loss. Hiruzen Sarutobi's lecturing face even appeared in his mind. "Danzo, you have no ability to get involved in the tulip business at all!"

"I-I... who says I don't have money!"

"One million ryō. I'll buy it!"

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Don't stockpile the new book anymore. You're going to starve me to death.