Are You Crazy for Money?

"One day, I'll kill him."

A gritted his teeth and said.

Kumogakure had always been the one raiding other villages. When had it ever been raided?

"The humiliation he brought upon the Cloud Ninja will naturally be washed away with blood. But A, don't fall into his trap. The prisoners must all be rescued, at the very least."

Dodai didn't finish his sentence, but A understood his meaning. Even if they couldn't save everyone, they couldn't use Jonin and Chunin as a standard for who to save and who not to. Doing so would cause chaos in the village.

The ninja village system had been established for less than 50 years. Many people in the villages had witnessed their villages grow from nothing, marrying and having children.

Blood ties made the villages closer, but they also constrained some of the villages' decisions.

If it were a country, it could rationally abandon those Chunin. Retaining the Jonin would allow the country to maintain its combat power, and it would recover its strength in ten years.

But as a village, two or three ninja could still stand from the village's perspective and use righteousness to make people accept strategic sacrifices. But dozens of people...

They had to be saved!

A's emotions stabilized. "Where is Killer B?"

"He went to Amegakure to gather creative inspiration. You know he can't sit still. But don't worry, someone is following him."

A nodded, contemplating the afternoon's negotiations.

Meanwhile, Chiyo's representative and Pakura were also preparing to demand an explanation from Hoshino Maki. Why was there a sudden medical fee?!

Seeing the two women aggressively surround Hoshino Maki, Kojima, who knew the inside story, had already dragged Yi back to their room.

"Chiyo Family gets fifty million."

Before Chiyo's representative could speak, Hoshino Maki spoke first.

Chiyo's representative was stunned, then said, "It's not about the money..."

"Sixty million."

"The village currently needs..."

"Seventy million."

"This matter should be discussed with the Elder."

"Seventy-five million. Five million is yours."

"I think you can handle this matter very well."

Chiyo's representative twisted her ankle and turned to sit nearby, pouring herself a cup of tea. She used the lid to scrape the tea, as if the person who had just argued fiercely for the village had nothing to do with her.

Pakura was so shocked by the concise and efficient dialogue between the two parties that she was speechless for a moment. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she reacted, angrily pointing at Hoshino Maki's nose and scolding, "Do you know what you're doing?! You're gambling with the village's fate! If this negotiation fails because of your greed, do you know what consequences it will bring to Sunagakure?!"

"Consequences." Hoshino Maki looked up, stroking his chin, deliberately appearing deep in thought. Then he clapped his palm. "The consequence is that even the worst mine will have 71 free miners. Actually, we could send them to the exchange, but that kind of unethical thing has to be done privately. Are you willing to make a trip?"

"You..."

Pakura was so angry she couldn't speak. Hoshino Maki stopped teasing her.

This woman wasn't very smart. He didn't want her to rush over and punch him.

"Who do you think is in the dominant position in this negotiation?"

Seeing Pakura fall silent, Hoshino Maki rubbed his forehead. "It's us. We implement a supply system. The other party must already know this. Moreover, I've bought a batch of grain from abroad and the black market. Although the village can't supply it freely for a short period, we don't have to worry about running out of food at all. But Kumogakure already suffered heavy casualties. Without these Jonin, how can they defend against foreign enemies?"

"As far as I know, both Stone Ninja and Konoha have sent ninja to the border to gather intelligence from Kumogakure. The Cloud Ninja will also know this information, won't they?"

"So, do you understand?"

"I understand. Give me 500."

"You..."

Hoshino Maki pointed at the smug Pakura. This time, he was the one left speechless.

Why wasn't she this clever usually?!

In the afternoon, the two parties met again, but in a different conference room, as the morning's room needed repairs.

A wanted to push further, but Hoshino Maki's words, "Several Jonin are still undergoing treatment. If the medical fees are not paid promptly, their safety cannot be guaranteed," forced him to agree through gritted teeth.

Those people were not just Jonin; they were also highly respected and from prominent families in Kumogakure. If everyone else was saved but they were harmed, he, the one presiding over the negotiation, would also be blamed.

Since the amount paid was already over a hundred million, another ten to twenty million didn't seem too difficult to accept.

Although the premise of the negotiation had reached a consensus, the subsequent formal negotiation did not go smoothly.

"One billion?! Are you out of your mind for money?!"

A stomped on the marble conference table, bared his chest, and threw a wakizashi in front of Hoshino Maki. The blade plunged several inches into the stone, the hilt still trembling. "Tell me how much I'm worth and take it!"

Shinda glanced at the shattered stone under A's foot, then at the enraged expression of the other party. He swallowed, knowing that the repair costs would have to be borne by Amegakure themselves.

As the atmosphere was about to spiral out of control, Hoshino Maki took a sip of tea. "Don't get agitated. Sit down and let's talk slowly."

"This one billion is not just a random figure. Food and lodging fees, heating fees, clothing fees, air fees, psychological counseling fees, security fees... You know that Sunagakure is currently in a difficult situation. But in such a difficult situation, we still grit our teeth and provide high-level, comprehensive, and humane services to the ninja of friendly villages. A slight increase in price is in line with objective market laws."

A waved his hand. After hearing "air fees," he lost the mood to listen further. He only knew that if he nodded, he would be going down to catch up with the Second Hokage, A.

"Don't even think about one billion. We'll go down together if we have to!"

He no longer had the desire to haggle over this amount.

Eight hundred million or a billion, it all led to death. What was there to discuss?

"We also considered the situation of our allied village. Paying entirely in cash would be quite difficult, so..."

Hoshino Maki took out a scroll, held it between two fingers, and flicked it. The scroll landed in front of A.

A glanced at Hoshino Maki, picked up the scroll, and opened it. Although his brow was still furrowed, his eyes flashed with thought, already considering the feasibility of the request.

The plan in the scroll was to offset 800 million with goods, and pay 200 million in cash.

This plan, while emptying Kumogakure's coffers, was still within their acceptable range.

At least it was much more palatable than the previous demand of one billion in cash.

However, the food and light industrial products were minor issues. The only difficult part was the technology and equipment the other party wanted.

Kumogakure was located in the Lightning Country. They had long revered and utilized lightning more than other ninja villages.

In areas like large transportation, power generation, and communication equipment, they were in a league of their own, arguably at the pinnacle of technology in the ninja world. The technology Sunagakure was requesting this time was almost sixty percent of their cutting-edge advancements.

"Sunagakure wants so much technology, can they even build the equipment?"

In his opinion, it was like a farmer demanding rocket blueprints. Even if you gave them the blueprints, could they build it?

The supporting components, specialized personnel, and the population of the Land of Wind simply couldn't sustain the kind of modern construction that Kumogakure had.

Hoshino Maki spread his hands. "That's why we'll have to rely on our allied village's help in the future. Besides what's on the scroll, I'd also like to purchase some of your country's equipment. I hope you can give us a friendly price then. See, isn't it good for everyone to help each other in commerce and technology?"

A didn't believe a single word Hoshino Maki said, but exporting technology and equipment, along with future maintenance, could indeed bring considerable revenue to Kumogakure. This would significantly reduce the cost of ransoming the prisoners.

From this perspective, if he were to present the other party's demands as his own upon returning, the arrogant Sand Ninja's lion's mouth demanding a billion in cash could be turned into a lucrative export of goods and technology, earning a fortune for the village, and then symbolically paying 200 million to redeem the prisoners. He would instantly become a hero of the village.

This was why they said language was an art.

"Two hundred million in cash is still too much. How about we exchange it all for equipment?"

Although his internal resistance wasn't as strong anymore, he still had to fight for the interests he could secure.

The two sides continued to argue throughout the afternoon, but with significantly more restraint.

The general direction was set, and the remaining details were the most time-consuming.

A full week passed, and the final plan was still not settled.

A had Dodai and a sensory jonin taking turns, while Sunagakure only had Hoshino Maki.

Not to mention Kojima and Pakura, Chiyo's representative almost convinced the other side to agree to a ten-million reduction in materials after just half an hour. If Hoshino Maki hadn't intervened in time, he suspected they might have ended up giving the prisoners away for free and even paying a penalty.

What talent!

Hoshino Maki turned on the electric lamp, carefully recalling if there were any omissions in the day's negotiations.

In the Land of Rain at night, the rain couldn't wash away the boundless darkness.

Five or six ninjas wearing bamboo hats moved through the heavy rain. One of them carried a comatose ninja on his back.

"Hold on, Konan."

Lightning flashed, and in the momentary illumination, a person with orange hair and a resolute face stared at the steel monster not far ahead.