At Baiyu's home, Old Kuma leaned quietly by the doorway, gazing toward the corner at the end of the walkway.
He looked like an old man whose children had all left home.
He saw someone approaching. His gaze shifted, and a hint of disappointment flickered across his face.
"Baiyu, are you here alone? Where's Hitomi?"
"She's on her way. Why have you come out again, sir?"
Baiyu replied.
He helped Old Kuma inside and sat him down at the table. Then he fetched two cushions and placed them on either side.
Once Old Kuma was settled, Baiyu brought out the warm food and set it on the table.
"Baiyu, you have to take good care of Hitomi! The neighbors in the public housing watched you two grow up. We all think you're a good match!"
Old Kuma said earnestly, looking terribly worried that Baiyu would never find a wife.
"How could a genius as handsome as me fail to find a suitable wife? Don't worry your head about it."
Baiyu replied.
"..."
Old Kuma couldn't be bothered to argue with him. He turned away, refusing to engage.
What a blockhead!
"I'll go see if Hitomi's here yet."
Worried that the old man would keep harping on the subject, Baiyu stood up and said.
"Knock, knock."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone knocked. Hitomi had changed her look.
She wore a fitted blue-and-white striped outfit, and her loose black hair was tied back with a white cord. A lock of hair fell across one side of her face, covering her right eye. The air of adorable innocence was gone, replaced by a gallant, spirited bearing. She smiled as she watched the two inside.
What caught Baiyu's attention wasn't her transformation, but the Forehead Protector she wore.
"You became a ninja?"
Baiyu asked softly.
Before he knew it, the little girl who used to trail after him had become a ninja, too.
"Yeah!"
Hitomi Uchiha nodded emphatically. The corners of her mouth curled up, revealing a little canine tooth.
"You're here, Hitomi! Come sit down. The food's almost cold."
Old Kuma greeted her, blinking his little eyes as if seeking her praise.
Hitomi Uchiha smiled and obediently sat beside Old Kuma, directly across from Baiyu.
During the meal, she would sneak glances at Baiyu from time to time, her eyes full of an unspoken delight.
Baiyu pretended not to notice and silently finished his meal.
After dinner, Baiyu planned to stay and do the dishes, but Hitomi cheerfully pushed him away. "Take Grandpa home."
"..."
Isn't this my house?
What's with this girl?
In the end, Baiyu walked Old Kuma home. When he returned, he saw Hitomi examining the Kusanagi Sword hanging on his wall.
Its scabbard was damaged, so Baiyu had left it at home during dinner. Old Kuma lived only a few steps away, so he hadn't brought it with him.
"What? You want it?"
Baiyu asked with a smile. He'd gotten the sword from Orochimaru, but still hadn't replaced its scabbard. The battered old thing was a real eyesore.
"Yeah, but I don't want yours. I'm going to have one made for myself!"
"You only just graduated this year. Where are you getting the money?"
Baiyu asked. The girl really thought ninja tools came cheap.
An ordinary Explosive Tag cost at least as much as dozens of pounds of pork. The more powerful ones could cost as much as five figures.
And they were single-use. A basic Ninja Blade cost at least a hundred thousand, and there was no guarantee of its quality.
A Ninja Blade that cost around a million was generally sturdy and well made.
The custom Ninja Blade Baiyu had once used to clash head-on with Kubikiribōchō had cost nearly four million.
It had nearly emptied his parents' compensation money.
Yet even that blade had shattered under the strain of a battle with an elite Jonin.
For an ordinary low- or mid-ranking ninja, around a million worth of ninja tools was enough.
But most Chunin and Genin only carried Shuriken and Kunai. Even Genin rarely had Explosive Tags.
Aside from not knowing swordsmanship, the cost of blades was the main reason people were put off.
"I've done dozens of missions! I've even done a few C-rank missions."
Hitomi widened her eyes and replied firmly, as if to refute Baiyu's doubts.
"With whom?"
"Izumi..."
"Izumi Uchiha? Just the two of you?"
Baiyu asked again, trying to remember who Izumi Uchiha was.
He couldn't recall meeting her, but somehow she seemed familiar.
"I'm going to the ninja tool shop. Want to come?"
Baiyu asked.
"Sure! I was going to buy a sword, too!"
Hitomi jumped up excitedly, even more enthusiastic than Baiyu.
"I didn't think you liked swords."
Baiyu stroked his chin, thinking. He'd never noticed her wanting to learn swordsmanship.
Taking the Kusanagi Sword with him, Baiyu went to a shop in the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The shopkeeper was a tall young man who specialized in ninja tools and weapons for the Uchiha.
"What are you buying?"
Baiyu glanced inside, then asked, "Where's the old owner?"
The young man looked up at him and replied irritably, "Dead."
"I want to have something made. Can your shop still do that?"
Baiyu asked. The man who'd run the shop before was a middle-aged fellow the neighbors all called Old Tie.
"Sure. What do you need made? Different materials have different prices. You can bring your own materials, and we'll charge for labor."
The young man explained the shop's rules.
"A scabbard that fits this sword."
Baiyu handed over the Kusanagi Sword. The young man's eyes lit up when he saw it.
He carefully accepted it with both hands, gripping the hilt with his right hand and slowly drawing it.
He moved like a sloth—slow, sneaky, and cautious.
"What a fine sword! It's sharp enough to rival a divine weapon!"
"Have you ever seen a divine weapon?"
Baiyu couldn't help laughing at the young man's expression.
"Of course. The Gunbai, a divine weapon passed down through the Uchiha, was once kept by my ancestors. It was lost during the early days of Konoha's founding."
The young man spoke with conviction.
"Then can you make a scabbard of this caliber? How much will it cost? Just tell me."
"A weapon of this quality requires plenty of expense even for the accessories. The scabbard doesn't need any special chakra-conducting materials, but it has to fit perfectly and not wear down the blade. That takes a lot of work..."
"Just tell me how much!"
"Heh, anyone with a sword this fine must be pretty strong. I never saw you in the clan before. I'm Kin Uchiha. Where'd you get this treasure?"
"Just tell me how much!"
Baiyu was speechless. Why was this blacksmith so long-winded?
"About thirty million."
Seeing Baiyu's attitude, Kin Uchiha let his smile fade and answered matter-of-factly.
"What? Thirty million?"
"That's right. And even that's cheap. This sword is too sharp, so I'll need to use reinforced materials. They're not as expensive as chakra-conducting materials, but I'll need a lot of them.
"The scabbard has to preserve the edge and help nurture the divine weapon. Ordinary craftsmen don't have the skills for that. Luckily, you came to me. If you'd gone to one of those hacks in the village, you could've offered a hundred million and still found no one willing to make it."
"..."
Baiyu's face darkened. All his savings might not even add up to a tenth of that.
Hitomi suddenly leaned closer and asked, "Big Brother Baiyu, are you short on money? You can have mine."
"..."
Let her support him?
He wasn't that desperate yet.
"I've got enough! Of course I've got enough! I'll come back to have it made later... For now, I want to order two blades from you, about a million each..."
Baiyu said to Hitomi, then went over to Kin Uchiha and explained what he wanted for the Reverse-Blade Sword and the Forward-Blade Sword.
"No problem. One million as a deposit."
After noting down Baiyu's requirements, Kin held out his hand.
The Sword-Pattern Pouch was too small to hold that much money.
Baiyu pulled a stack of bills from his pocket and counted them again and again. At last, he handed them over reluctantly.
Once he gave the money away, it was no longer his.
For the first time, he truly felt poor. His savings for a future wife had been wiped out.
Thirty million ryo seemed like a lot, but compared to Asuma's thirty-five-million-ryo bounty, a scabbard made with divine-weapon-grade materials seemed like a bargain.
"Add a Genin set, too!"
Baiyu suddenly shouted, even louder than he had when he'd handed over the million.
"Hundred thousand! I'll throw in a ninja tool pouch."
Kin Uchiha took a ninja tool pouch out of the cabinet and set it on the counter.
"Big Brother Baiyu, I have money..."
Hitomi said softly from beside him. It was the first time her big brother had bought her a present, and she was thrilled.
She could see that he didn't have enough money, and although she wanted it, she didn't want to put him in a difficult position.
Torn by conflicting feelings, her little face flushed bright red.
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