Market Research

Qingcheng walked up to the Yamanaka Clan's flower shop and asked, "What flowers should I buy to honor the dead?"

The owner of the flower shop was a young, lovely woman named Yamanaka Yui.

Yamanaka Yui looked at the tall, handsome Qingcheng and immediately perked up. Smiling, she said, "Qingcheng-kun, no... I should call you the Uchiha Clan Head."

Qingcheng merely smiled faintly and said seriously, "Call me whatever you like. You can even call me the Uchiha Clan's dead-last Clan Head."

Hearing Qingcheng's words, Yui chuckled softly and promptly introduced herself. "My name is Yui. If Qingcheng-kun wants to buy flowers in the future, you can come directly to me. I can give you a discount."

Qingcheng looked at Yui. She resembled Ino a little, brimming with youthful beauty, with fair skin, lovely features, and long blonde hair.

I can try digging into her. Maybe I'll even get the Mind Body Switch Technique out of it.

He then smiled and said, "Yui? That's truly a lovely name. Your eyes are as beautiful as the sun in the sky."

Yui was delighted by Qingcheng's praise. He actually compared me to the sun in the sky. He's so thoughtful.

She smiled and replied, "Qingcheng-kun, you flatter me. You said you wanted to buy flowers. Are you going to visit a deceased relative?"

Yui then realized something and immediately said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. I only recently learned that the Uchiha Clan was wiped out. Your relatives all died in that disaster."

Qingcheng nodded and said seriously, "It's all right. I've already accepted her passing."

Yui suddenly felt that Qingcheng was so pitiful. If all her relatives had died, she would certainly have broken down. No one wanted to live in a world without friends or family.

Yui immediately said, "If you're honoring deceased relatives, you must use Hyakue Flowers."

Qingcheng said seriously, "Prepare eight hundred lilies for me first. I'll go buy some wine, joss paper, and incense."

Hearing that Qingcheng wanted so many lilies, Yamanaka Yui immediately said, "We don't have that many in the shop yet. I'll arrange for our florists to wrap them right away. They'll be ready soon."

Qingcheng nodded and said seriously, "Sorry to trouble you. How much will it cost? I'll pay you now."

Yamanaka Yui said seriously, "Eight hundred thousand Ryo. I'll give you an 18% discount, so how about seven hundred thousand Ryo?"

Sure enough, in a place where people died every day, lilies were a high-end expense. Only the Yamanaka Clan sold fresh flowers in the village. They had opened several flower shops, and this trade alone brought in money by the bucketful every day.

Qingcheng promptly paid, pulling out a stack of banknotes as he smiled and said, "I'll come pick them up later. Once they're wrapped, put them in bags for me."

Yui smiled. "Take care, Qingcheng-kun. Your flowers will be ready very soon."

Qingcheng turned and left the flower shop, heading toward Konoha Mall. Along the way, people kept mocking him. "Look at that useless Uchiha Clan Head. He's actually dead last."

The Shimura Clan mocked him the most viciously. "That trash is dressed so gaudily. Is he out trying to seduce women?"

Qingcheng simply gave them a thumbs-up and said with a smile, "Thank you for the encouragement. I'll lead the Uchiha Clan to prosperity."

This scene was witnessed by a watermelon-haired ninja clad entirely in green. Even Konoha's Sublime Green Beast could not help praising him. "What an indomitable man! He will surely restore the Uchiha Clan to prosperity. To witness that day, I will run one hundred laps around Konoha!"

Burn, my youth! Might Guy charged toward the outskirts of the village like a green beast, kicking up clouds of dust along the way.

The civilians all grumbled, "That watermelon head is dressed so green he looks like a pile of shit."

A Shimura Clan ninja said, "Dressed all in green like that, his wife must have run off with another man."

Looking at that green figure, Qingcheng thought, Youth Bro has a very unusual way of rewarding himself. Other people reward themselves with barbecue. He rewards himself by running laps around Konoha.

Qingcheng made a round through the market to see what Konoha lacked. He also needed to establish several industries and monopolize Konoha. As for food, he found no fried chicken and hamburgers, roast duck, cola, or Kangshuaifu iced tea.

The second thing was the wildly popular little yellow books on the market. Icha Icha Paradise was easy enough to buy. After Qingcheng read one or two volumes, he grumbled inwardly: Is this all Jiraiya can do? So many details are poorly written. What's with "partially concealed"? You should write "graceful curves, full breasts, and a shapely rear."

The pictures were all secretly snapped wherever he could find them. He lacked vision, and the compositions were terrible. Still, it counted as the first genre of erotic fiction in the ninja world.

When Qingcheng saw that the royalties brought in tens of millions of Ryo every year, an idea came to him. If I wrote two books—The World of Two, Wild Dreams of Desire, and The Story of Nami and Kurako—they'd explode on the spot. Miko and Maruko would count money until their hands went numb.

Qingcheng walked onto the Uchiha Clan's street and began collecting rent. After Sasuke had beaten them up, the shop owners had basically become obedient. They all smiled and said, "Uchiha Clan Head, we were in the wrong last time. Could you lower the rent a little?"

Hearing the shop owners' words, Qingcheng said seriously, "Lower it? Our Uchiha storefronts are all in prime locations, and you're asking me to lower the rent? Over the years, which one of you hasn't made a fortune?"

There were ninety-five shops in total. The rent for ordinary shops was two hundred thousand Ryo per year, while large shops paid three hundred thousand Ryo a year, for a total of over twenty-two million Ryo collected.

The Uchiha Clan could live comfortably just off rent. Yet by Sarada's generation, Sakura still had to pay off a mortgage. Those assets were definitely swallowed by the Sarutobi Clan or the Shimura Clan.

There were also three vacant storefronts. Qingcheng planned to combine them and open a fried chicken and hamburger restaurant. He had even thought of the name: "Uchiha Fried Chicken."

It would become Konoha's first fried chicken restaurant.

Qingcheng called Yamahuku over and said seriously, "Take the rent back, then summon a band. I'm going to honor the Uchiha Clan."

Yamahuku said awkwardly, "Clan Head, that isn't customary in Konoha. When honoring deceased friends or relatives, people only bring a flower. No one has a habit of hiring bands."

Qingcheng thought about it. Maybe too many ninjas die every day, so they can't play for all of them. Or perhaps everyone has simply grown numb. I could even open a one-stop funeral service in the future. That would also be a business model for monopolizing Konoha.

After thinking for a moment, Qingcheng said seriously, "Go find me a band. Our Uchiha Clan will take them in and train them into a One-Stop Company for funerals."

"Our Uchiha Clan will beat gongs and drums and hold a grand memorial. I want to tell everyone that the passing of loved ones cannot be handled so casually."

Hearing this, Yamahuku nodded at once. After all, Qingcheng was the Clan Head and had so much money that he could not spend it all even if he raised useless people.

He then asked, "I wonder whether this model can make money, this One-Stop Company for funerals."

Qingcheng said seriously, "Yamahuku, you're too ignorant. People die in battle here every day. If we develop Konoha's market, our Uchiha Clan will definitely be the first to eat the crab."

Yamahuku's face twitched. He then explained, "Clan Head, if you lose money, don't blame me for not warning you."

Yamahuku then turned and headed down the street.