Konoha Steel United Chamber of Commerce

Senju Hashirama's death didn't have much impact on Konoha.

Because Senju Tobirama hadn't announced it.

Most people in the village knew nothing about Senju Hashirama.

But for some people, Senju Hashirama was a major focus of attention.

A merchant caravan from the Land of Lightning came to Konoha once every month.

They weren't just there to do business. They also had a more important task.

That was to confirm Senju Hashirama's existence.

In fact, it wasn't just the Land of Lightning. The Land of Earth, Water, and Wind—all the great nations—had merchant caravans stationed in Konoha with missions of their own.

Well, actually, the Land of Wind wasn't just there to gather intelligence. Doing business was important too. After all, their godforsaken land was nothing but endless yellow sand, and the Daimyo of the Land of Wind wasn't exactly willing to invest in Sunagakure. So, in a sense, doing business was actually more important than gathering intelligence for the merchant caravans Sunagakure sent.

It didn't matter whether they managed to get any intelligence. If they could sell Sunagakure's local specialties—Desert Fruit, Cactus Potted Plants, and Puppets—they'd make a killing.

Oh, and one more thing: out of the five nations of Wind, Fire, Lightning, Water, and Earth, the Land of Wind was the one outsiders were least willing to visit.

Only those who were truly desperate would go to the Land of Wind to scrape together a living.

But for some weapons merchants, as long as the profession of ninja still existed, there'd be demand for ninja tools, so they'd never be short of money.

Likewise, it was only natural that these weapons merchants wouldn't set their sights on the Land of Wind.

Did that godforsaken place even have money?

Maybe it did, but most of it was surely in the hands of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind.

How poor did Sunagakure become later on? Its Kazekage—a great figure, one of the Five Kage, and in name the equal of the Hokage—was driven to pan for gold in the desert.

Panning for gold in the desert! That was only a little easier than fishing a needle out of a river.

A lot of people said Gaara's father was outrageous. And, well, driving a little kid like Gaara insane was certainly outrageous. But as Kazekage, he did have some redeeming qualities.

At least he panned for gold for the village, instead of using the gold he found to indulge himself. Right?

Ahem. Well, that might be the only thing worth praising about him.

In short, just look at the Kazekage being forced to pan for gold later on, and you'd know how poor that miserable place was.

Merchants naturally went where the profit was, so they wouldn't go there.

Have you ever seen Sunagakure's ninja fight as extravagantly as Konoha's? Konoha's ninja tossed Shuriken and Kunai around like they were nothing, even tying Explosive Tags to them. Their whole attitude was, "Once I throw it, I don't need it back."

What about Sunagakure? They had to attach Chakra Threads to their weapons when they threw them, terrified they wouldn't be able to pull them back and would have wasted a tool.

All right, that was a joke. But the importance of ninja tools to a ninja went without saying. For many Genin and Chunin, ninja tools were like a samurai's sword.

Yuya naturally wasn't going to let this business opportunity pass him by.

Of course, he had a more sophisticated approach.

You make your own ninja tools and manufacture them yourselves? Then I'll deal in raw materials.

Another Steel Mill opened in Konoha.

Take Tenten's family, for example. They used to have to haul iron back from other places with great difficulty, then smelt it and make their own tools. Now I've built a factory ten kilometers outside Konoha. You don't have to find merchants to buy iron ore, iron goods, or raw materials anymore. Just buy them from us. With all that time saved, you can accept our raw materials costing fifty percent more than elsewhere, right?

As for iron ore?

There wasn't any around Konoha. This factory could operate only because iron ore was hauled in from elsewhere, smelted, and then sold to weapons merchants. In reality, the profit was just that extra fifty percent.

Of course, the initial investment to build a factory had to be paid in full.

Ten million Ryo vanished in an instant.

Yuya said one factory wasn't enough; they'd have to build several more.

Senju Tobirama, who'd been lost in grief over his older brother's death, exploded in a rage.

One isn't enough, and you want to build four or five more?!

No way! Absolutely not!

Yuya shrugged and said that was fine if Tobirama wasn't willing. He'd just find someone else.

Senju Tobirama frowned, deep in thought. What exactly was his nephew trying to do?

And did he even have the money?

No money? Then how was he going to get the iron smeltery up and running?

After that, Yuya used Senju Tobirama's name to approach the weapons-manufacturing clans.

One of those clans wore outfits with a distinct Chinese cheongsam style. That's right, it was Tenten's clan.

Konoha might have been poor before, but that was the village. These merchants traveled between different countries, making money from the Five Great Nations. They weren't poor.

If they really had been poor, they'd have moved away long ago.

Yuya said that the Second had recently looked into their steel purchases and discovered a problem.

The price went up by half as soon as the iron ore was shipped here and smelted into ingots. The Second was furious. He thought these outstanding merchants were being ripped off, and that the price had to be the same as before. If you had to pay fifty percent more here than elsewhere, wouldn't people say Konoha was cheating merchants? Would anyone come to Konoha after that?!

After hearing all that, the members of the weapons-manufacturing clans were dumbfounded.

Wait, was the Second an idiot? Why were they willing to pay fifty percent more? Because it saved them time!

A single trip to haul cargo took half a year, and sometimes they ran into bandits. Bringing back even half the iron counted as a success. They also had to pay for Sealing Scrolls and hire ninja. Konoha building a factory was wonderful news for them, and now they were being told the price would go down?

Although they thought the Second was an idiot, the weapons-manufacturing clans naturally didn't say so out loud. And they didn't resent the idea just because Yuya looked like a child. Instead, they figured that sending a child to tell them about it clearly meant the Second didn't consider it a big deal.

Tsk, not a big deal was great. If the price was the same as everywhere else, how much could they make?

Yuya changed tack. "So the Second thinks everyone should join forces and expand the factories. We can all invest alongside him and establish a chamber of commerce. The Second will invest ten million Ryo up front and take half the shares. Each of the other families can contribute a little, and you can negotiate among yourselves over the shares. In the future, we can build more factories together and contribute more to Konoha's development."

When the clans heard that the Second was putting in ten million, they were stunned. Was the Second really that bold?

But then they thought about it. If all their clans joined forces—damn, this could actually work!

It was just that the Second was taking half the shares all by himself...

But then again, he was putting in ten million in real money. What was there to argue about?

And so, at the end of Konoha's sixteenth year, the first joint chamber of commerce in the village—and even in the Shinobi World—was established.

The Konoha Steel United Chamber of Commerce: Konoha held fifty percent of the shares, and the remaining fifty percent were divided among the other weapons-manufacturing clans.

Ah, one more thing: the book's been signed. It won't be very long. I'll end it once I've finished writing what I want to write, probably at around a million words. I'm not asking for recommendations; readers who want to give one can go ahead. I'm not asking for monthly tickets either. It isn't premium yet, and I won't ask after it goes premium. There are countless good books on Qidian. Vote if you like it; if you don't, please remove it from your library instead of leaving a string of insults. That's all. I'm going out to gather material today. Stockpile: -1.