Under the pressure of Dragon Might, time itself seemed to suddenly slow, but in reality, it was thought that had been frozen.
Never before had the people before him felt time stretch out so endlessly.
Fear nearly swallowed them whole.
Shen Mo stood with his hands behind his back, while Hikari, curled up on his shoulder, also seemed somewhat uncomfortable.
At that moment, as if sensing something, he raised his head and looked in a certain direction.
In an instant, Hiruzen Sarutobi, inside the Hokage's Office, shot to his feet in utter shock. Every muscle in his body tensed, as though the entire world contained nothing but those eyes within the crystal ball.
He finally understood why those Anbu had collapsed.
Stronger than the Nine-Tails—no!
More terrifying than even the First Hokage at full strength!
Cracking sounds rang out continuously.
The crystal ball before him, used to cast the Far-Sight Technique, seemed unable to withstand such overwhelming pressure and gradually began to shatter.
Only when those eyes could no longer be seen did that soul-piercing pressure slowly fade away, though it had already left its mark.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that he might never forget it for the rest of his life.
What in the world was that?
A dojutsu?
No, it was simply raw power—power beyond imagination!
Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed lightly. It was not as though he had never encountered powerful people before, but he had never experienced such spiritual pressure. He began to realize that allowing Danzo to act tonight might have been a tremendous mistake.
This merchant...
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked into the distance with immense gravity and concern. After hesitating for a moment, he finally said in a low voice,
"Bring Danzo here."
"Yes!"
In the darkness of night, a figure vanished into the distance in an instant. When Shen Mo turned back, he slowly withdrew his gaze only after that feeling of being watched had disappeared.
He had not expected Dragon Might, which cost nearly a hundred thousand Trading Points per minute, to have such a use.
The one who had been watching him just now was most likely the Third Hokage.
Looking at the Anbu ninja and Sasuke before him, Shen Mo felt that it was about enough. He slowly lowered the intensity of Dragon Might until it reached one-tenth of its original strength—the level of ten thousand Trading Points per minute.
Even so,
the few people who had already had the mark of fear carved into their hearts remained kneeling on the ground, too afraid to move.
Dragon Might was, in essence, a brutal declaration to everyone of exactly what kind of existence stood before them, engraving that fear deep into their minds.
Running away was impossible.
They could not even move. Their minds had been stripped away—how could they run?
At least at this moment, their fear of Shen Mo overshadowed everything else.
Only Sasuke, having merely been caught in the aftermath, was able to humbly and laboriously crawl to his feet inch by inch.
As he looked at the man's figure before him, his gaze held indescribable fear, along with traces of fervor.
Such an existence, such power!
It would definitely be able to defeat that man!
Definitely!
He shouted it in his heart. Shen Mo, however,
did not pay them any attention. He merely looked toward the distance, a gentle smile appearing on his face again. Raising his hand, he gave it a casual wave, as though brushing away dust, and every Anbu ninja was lifted into the air against his will before being hurled heavily toward the alleyway beside them.
Teuchi had returned.
He had brought all his possessions.
"Mr. Shen Mo." Teuchi walked over. Looking at Shen Mo standing outside the shop, he seemed rather embarrassed.
"It's fine." Shen Mo shook his head with a soft laugh. "Since we're doing business, a little waiting is nothing."
"Mr. Shen Mo is truly kind." Teuchi was somewhat moved as well.
After all, he had made someone wait for him in the middle of the night.
Only Sasuke's mouth twitched.
Kind?
Having felt that pressure, he knew better than anyone what kind of monster the person before him truly was.
He did not even know whether Shen Mo could still be called human.
If hatred had not driven him onward,
then merely standing beside this man at this moment would have been enough to make Sasuke tremble uncontrollably in terror.
"It's a small matter." Shen Mo beckoned Teuchi back into the shop and sat down. "So, how many sets of jars would you like to buy, customer?"
Coming to Konoha today, especially after that battle just now, had actually resulted in severe losses.
Though those expenses had been expected,
he still hoped to earn back at least a little.
"Mr. Shen Mo, this is everything I've saved over the past several decades." Teuchi handed over the small box in his hand without the slightest reluctance, then looked eagerly at Shen Mo. "There are twelve million in total. Aside from the remaining twelve sets of Level 1 Chests, I also hope to buy one set of Level 2 Chests."
Twelve million?
Shen Mo was pleasantly surprised.
That was no small amount. Converted into Trading Points, it was more than six hundred thousand.
His battle just now had seemed to last quite a while, but after Dragon Might erupted, it had really only been two or three minutes. By that calculation, he had not lost money today after all—he had even made a small profit.
"That should be enough." Shen Mo looked at Teuchi and decided to give him a small hint. "Mr. Teuchi, do you know how my previous chef customer embarked on the path of a Gourmet Hunter? When he first made a trade, he did not even have as much money as you do."
"I think he expanded his food business." Teuchi smiled. "For a chef, there is no other way to make money besides that."
Or rather, even if there was, he would not do it.
A true chef would not be willing to waste so much time on matters unrelated to cooking.
"That is indeed the case, but not entirely." Shen Mo smiled mysteriously. "Here, you can even trade food directly."
Teuchi seemed somewhat delighted upon hearing this.
Although he had brought out his entire fortune, it was still far from enough!
Even if Shen Mo had not said it, he knew that the Level 2 Chests contained even more miraculous ingredients, more powerful recipes, and perhaps even higher-level chests in the future.
After witnessing the path leading toward gourmet cuisine, he was truly itching with anticipation.
Unfortunately, he did not have enough money.
"Anything of value can be traded here with me." Shen Mo explained with a smile. "For a chef, the most valuable thing is naturally the food he makes. As long as your cooking continues to improve, whether you create exquisite dishes or develop valuable recipes, you can trade them all here for jars. The exchange rates are fair to everyone, and there is absolutely no need to worry about our credibility."
The system's trades evaluated value.
The value of money was not fixed either.
If the authorities printed vast quantities of money and caused inflation, then without question, the exchange rate between money and Trading Points would widen.
Therefore, Shen Mo would not fixate solely on money.
Those wealthy merchants and nobles would stay right where they were and would not run away. But if these people capable of creating value could grow sooner, whether through making food, developing Ninjutsu, or working hard to earn money, they would ultimately turn into Trading Points in Shen Mo's hands through the jars.
It was a virtuous cycle.
In other words,
the elites of the entire world would work for me?
Shen Mo chuckled to himself, but his expression did not change in the slightest.
Before you continue