Museum Twins—Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō!

Museum Twins—Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō!

"Danzo, what do we do now?"

"Didn't you say the recent sharp drops were just corrections, and that this was an opportunity to get in?"

"Why has this been going on for several days already?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes were bloodshot, his beard unkempt, and he had not slept for a day or two. His entire mental state was listless and panicked as he anxiously questioned Shimura Danzō beside him.

However.

Shimura Danzō's condition was no better than Hiruzen Sarutobi's. He had also gone a day or two without sleep, constantly muttering, "How could this happen? It shouldn't be like this. The price should have risen again by all rights!"

"Danzo, say something!"

Shimura Danzō looked dazed. Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed him again. He was truly panicking now. Earlier, the two of them had taken over a huge number of tulip contracts at high prices, practically catching the falling knife at the peak. The current price had already fallen to where it had been two weeks ago. They had lost so much they were practically ruined.

All their previous profits had vanished.

They had also lost five hundred million ryō.

The price of tulips was still slowly falling, descending in waves. Every rise after a dip was merely Uchiha Makoto setting a trap behind the scenes and harvesting them repeatedly. Each time, he gave them a little hope, drove the price up, and then cut them down again. Today's low would be tomorrow's high.

According to plan, this cycle might continue for a month or even two months. He could keep harvesting them again and again, giving them a little hope each time while cutting down plenty more fools.

Shimura Danzō was the victim. Every time he saw hope, he could not help fantasizing and stopped them from getting off the train a couple of days ago. At first, he had not been anxious, while Hiruzen Sarutobi had been panicking inside, because the losses were real. If the price did not rise again as Shimura Danzō had said, making up for the deficit, they would be finished sooner or later!

"Stop whining!"

"Hiruzen, things have already turned out like this. What can I do?"

"Are we supposed to sell all the contracts we have and go back to face Lord Tobirama with a loss of five hundred million ryō?"

Shimura Danzō was extremely irritable. Hiruzen Sarutobi was like a fly buzzing incessantly beside his ear, making him restless and muddled. He was already panicking, and now Hiruzen Sarutobi was pressuring him too.

Making money had them grinning from ear to ear, but losing money had them cursing their luck!

If only he had known, he would never have gotten involved in this tulip business.

Shimura Danzō was filled with regret, accompanied by deep fear. He was truly terrified and had no idea how this matter was supposed to end.

The high spirits they had shown while making money seemed like nothing more than a dream. Now that they had awakened, a terrifying nightmare awaited them. A deficit of five hundred million ryō was truly enough to buy dozens of their lives.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: "What do we do now?"

"I don't know."

Shimura Danzō shook his head. He felt like dying.

How was he supposed to know what to do?

Other than hoping for a miracle, everything else was futile.

But miracles would not come. Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, their fathers arrived.

A short while earlier.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō had been riding high on their profits, they had even written to Sasuke Sarutobi and Shima Shimura, telling them that everything was going smoothly in the Land of Fire and that they had prepared a huge surprise for them.

Sasuke Sarutobi and Shima Shimura assumed that everything was going smoothly with the two of them's procurement mission in the Land of Fire and did not think much of it. By now, the clan relocations were almost complete, but Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō still had not sent them any news. The village would also need to send people to receive the procured supplies once the purchases were finished. With no other choice, Sasuke Sarutobi and Shima Shimura came to inspect the situation themselves.

Faced with their fathers' sudden arrival in the Land of Fire, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō were at a loss. They could produce neither the procured supplies nor the funds for purchasing them.

After a thorough interrogation.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō told them everything that had happened over the past few days.

"This is the surprise you were talking about?"

"Translate it. What does 'surprise' mean?"

"Dammit, translate it. What does 'surprise' mean?"

Sasuke Sarutobi and Shima Shimura were both on the verge of losing their minds. They truly had never expected the sons they had always been proud of and placed such high hopes in to suddenly pull off something this spectacular.

That was five hundred million ryō!

Even for clans as large as theirs, saving up that much money would take a great deal of time. Some of the missions along the way might even cost clan members their lives. Yet these two wastrels had squandered all that money and turned it into a pile of unwanted blank contracts.

Even the tulips were nothing more than pretty flowers in Sasuke Sarutobi and Shima Shimura's eyes.

Naturally.

In their fury, Sasuke Sarutobi and Shima Shimura beat Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō severely again and again. Then they immediately liquidated all the tulip contracts under Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō's names. In the end, only a little over two hundred million ryō in funds and a small amount of supplies remained.

"Let's go back. When the time comes, Lord Tobirama can beat us or kill us as he wishes!"

After venting their anger, Sasuke Sarutobi and Shima Shimura still had to clean up after their two unlucky sons. As fathers, they could never bring themselves to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō. Even a tiger would not eat its cubs.

Running away was certainly impossible, either. The Sarutobi Clan and Shimura Clan had both relocated to Konoha, so they could only leave the matter to Tobirama Senju. They could only hope that Tobirama Senju would show mercy and spare Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō's lives.

And so.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō returned to Konoha in fear and trepidation, where they met Tobirama Senju, who was still processing documents in his office.

Tobirama Senju was in an excellent mood.

Konoha could now be described as a scene of thriving vitality, with all things bursting into life.

Hyuga Clan.

Ino–Shika–Cho Clan.

And a host of other large and small shinobi clans had all come to Konoha, hoping to join it.

Every one of these clans would become a potential supporter of his. He was the Leader in the shadows, after all. In the future, he could gradually take control of the village and surround the Uchiha Clan!

The future looked bright!

Tobirama Senju was thinking this when he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō. The village was waiting for the supplies from the Land of Fire to relieve the crisis!

Unfortunately.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō suddenly dealt him a heavy blow. Tobirama Senju had been looking forward to the future, only to learn that his five hundred million ryō had vanished into thin air and that the experimental equipment he had intended to purchase was out of the question. He then shouted at the two of them in the office:

"Idiots!"

"Two idiots worthy of being put in a museum!"

"I sent you to the Land of Fire to purchase supplies, not to take the money and mess around!!"

I had spent so long writing Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō just to let them achieve the Museum Twins achievement.

Hehe.