All-in Is a Kind of Wisdom! (Please Bookmark, Follow, and Vote Monthly)

Time passed quickly.

An afternoon quietly slipped by.

Shimura Danzō reluctantly left the Tulip Trading Market, because it was almost time for his agreed rendezvous with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Danzo, how did things go this afternoon?"

"I visited three or four shops in a row and finally managed to negotiate a deal with one of them."

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Shimura Danzō about his afternoon, but Danzo had spent the entire time bragging with those speculators at the Tulip Trading Market, so he could only fob him off.

"Don't ask, Hiruzen. I ran into nothing but a bunch of unscrupulous merchants."

"I'll try again tomorrow."

Danzo brushed him off verbally while wearing an annoyed expression. Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, did not grow suspicious. He had also encountered a group of unscrupulous merchants and had only managed to negotiate a deal with one of them after much difficulty, obtaining a suitable price.

So it was understandable that Danzo had simply been unlucky.

"Then let's call it a day."

"Let's go have dinner first, then get a good night's rest. We still have to continue tomorrow."

That was what Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

Unlike Danzo, who had spent the afternoon sitting in the Tulip Trading Hall and bragging with that group while enjoying free tea, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been busy all afternoon. He felt parched and utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.

"Mm."

Shimura Danzō nodded, inwardly letting out a long sigh of relief. At last, I managed to fool that Hiruzen fellow.

The two returned to the restaurant where they had eaten lunch and, as usual, ordered two bowls of miso soup first to soothe their throats.

"Miso soup really is delicious."

The moment the miso soup was served, Hiruzen Sarutobi eagerly took a large gulp and sighed in appreciation.

But as soon as he raised his head,

he saw Shimura Danzō sitting there absentmindedly fiddling with the spoon in his bowl. Danzo was not gulping down the soup as eagerly as he was, despite Hiruzen assuming he would be just as parched, so he asked, "Danzo, why aren't you drinking your miso soup?"

"Oh, oh. I think it's too hot. I'll let it cool first."

Shimura Danzō came back to his senses. He was sitting in the restaurant, but his heart had already been left behind at the Tulip Trading Market. As for the miso soup?

He had spent the entire afternoon drinking tea in that room. He was not thirsty at all!

Before long,

the dishes were served. Hiruzen Sarutobi ate heartily, just as he had at lunch, while Danzo only took a few bites before setting down his chopsticks.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried striking up a conversation several times, but Danzo brushed him off each time. Still, he could understand Danzo's feelings.

"Danzo, it looks like you're unhappy because you came back empty-handed this afternoon. Ah..."

"Heh, but I'm still a little better off than he is."

"Still, I can teach him some haggling techniques tonight."

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a little proud, but he still planned to console Danzo that evening. After all, they were comrades!

Danzo, meanwhile, was still wondering whether tulip prices would rise tomorrow.

If they rose sharply, he could rub it in Hiruzen Sarutobi's face.

In a rather silent atmosphere, the two finished dinner while each harbored their own ulterior motives.

After returning to their lodgings, Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to break the silence and teach Shimura Danzō a few haggling techniques.

However, Danzo rejected him, his tone resembling that of a middle-aged man who had worked all day, returned home exhausted, and was facing his wife.

"Hiruzen, I'm too tired today. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

"All right."

Hiruzen Sarutobi could only nod, and the two settled down for the night.

That night, Hiruzen Sarutobi slept like a log. Before long, he began snoring, because he really had worked all day.

Shimura Danzō, however, tossed and turned, unable to sleep at all. He was still thinking about the tulips. This was an investment of a million taels!

After a long time,

he drifted into a hazy, dreamlike state. Danzo had two dreams in succession. In the first, he dreamed that he had lost everything and that Senju Tobirama eventually discovered what had happened. The shock woke him instantly. After calming himself, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep again. Before he knew it, he had fallen back into a dream. This time, he had made a huge profit. Senju Tobirama praised him repeatedly and even took him on as a disciple. In the end, he even...

Soon, dawn arrived.

After a full night's sleep, Hiruzen Sarutobi was refreshed as he nudged Shimura Danzō, who was still enjoying a beautiful dream.

"Danzo, wake up."

"Enough, Hiruzen! I'm the Hokage!"

"What Hokage? Danzo, wake up!"

Shimura Danzō opened his eyes and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi urging him to get up. He quickly came to his senses and sighed inwardly, feeling rather disappointed. So it was only a dream.

"Danzo, let's go have breakfast first!"

"Let's split up just like yesterday!"

That was what Hiruzen Sarutobi said. He planned to teach Danzo a few haggling tricks over breakfast. Shimura Danzō nodded, and the two quickly got dressed and arrived at a breakfast shop.

"Danzo, let me tell you about haggling. First, you slash the price in half. After haggling back and forth a few times, you can pretend to leave. Count silently to three, and the owner will definitely come back to stop you."

"Hmm. Hiruzen, what if the owner doesn't come back to stop me?"

"Then hurry up and find another shop. This one's an unscrupulous merchant!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with great seriousness, while Shimura Danzō let the words go in one ear and out the other. His heart was already impatient to reach the Tulip Trading Market and check today's tulip prices.

After breakfast, the moment Danzo saw Hiruzen Sarutobi walk away, he took a couple of detours and immediately headed for the Tulip Trading Market he had been longing for.

Tulip Trading Market.

"This place really is lively!"

"It feels like there are even more people than yesterday."

Looking at the crowds coming and going through the Tulip Trading Market, Shimura Danzō could not help sighing in amazement. He immediately headed for the room from the previous day—today, the tulip prices were being updated!

The moment he entered,

Shimura Danzō saw the striking number showing an increase.

A huge rise!

The price had actually gone up by thirty percent!

"I made three hundred thousand taels in just one night?"

The delight on Shimura Danzō's face was impossible to conceal. The anxiety that had plagued him all night finally eased.

As more and more people filled the room, the noisy chatter started up again. Danzo ran into the group of friends he had met the day before. The several of them sat together in groups of three or five, discussing the market while drinking tea.

"It went up again, just as expected!"

"Yesterday, there were already rumors that a large group of wealthy merchants from the Land of Earth had come to the Land of Fire. Those of you who just entered the industry really caught this wave."

"How come you had another tip and didn't tell me? If I'd known, I would have increased my position yesterday."

"Tch, a tip? I paid for this tip!"

Danzo mingled among them with a delighted expression, eagerly probing for news about the tulips.

"Hey, newcomer, your name is Danzo, right? How much did you make?"

"Not bad. Three hundred thousand taels."

"You're that happy over three hundred thousand taels? Who here hasn't made at least a million taels? Even ten million is nothing special. There are people who've made over a hundred million. Some especially daring people who went all-in have already made billions, even tens of billions!"

Shimura Danzō listened to this. Although there were terms he did not understand, such as "all-in," he still could not help drawing a sharp breath. Tens of billions of taels!

It was truly terrifying!

"Brother, what does 'all-in' mean?"

"You don't even know what 'all-in' means? You really are a complete novice!"

"All-in is a kind of wisdom!"

As usual, please follow, bookmark, and vote monthly.

I wrote two chapters today while taking a break from work at my desk. It felt great!

Finally, I have one more thing to say.

Remember to follow along. Don't put me on the back burner, Esteemed Readers.