Transaction

"Let him in." An aged, steady voice drifted from within the room.

Bai Lin took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The room was sparsely furnished: a wooden table, a few chairs, and a map of the shinobi world hanging on the wall.

Sitting behind the table was an elderly man in a cyan robe. His face was gaunt, his hair gray, but his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's—he was the leader of Kusagakure.

Seated to his left and right were two other elders with equally steady auras, clearly the village's councilors.

"So young?" Surprise flickered in the eyes of the leader and the two elders as they took in Bai Lin's appearance.

The boy before them looked no older than twelve. His face was youthful and his posture upright. Though he wore a Konoha headband, he lacked the callowness of a child, instead exuding a composure that defied his age.

This surprise caused the wariness in their hearts to quietly recede.

After all, no matter how much of a genius a young ninja might be, their strength was limited.

At most, they were at the level of a Chunin; they were hardly worth fearing.

"You are the subordinate of Orochimaru?" The leader withdrew his gaze, tapping his fingers lightly against the tabletop with a look of clear scrutiny. "I wonder what kind of deal Orochimaru has sent you to make?"

"Leader, elders, Orochimaru sends his greetings." Bai Lin felt no tension at all. Instead, he walked to the table with calm indifference, pulled out a chair, and sat down with an easy posture.

"Kid, such arrogance! Even if Orochimaru himself walked in, he would have to show our Kusagakure some respect. A snot-nosed brat like you dares to put on airs here?"

The elder on the left slammed his hand on the table, glaring with fury.

The elder on the right chimed in, his tone dripping with disdain: "Exactly! Sending you here, Orochimaru must not hold our Kusagakure in any regard at all!"

"To send a little brat to us—he's probably barely finished weaning, ha ha ha."

The two sang in harmony, their contempt and belittlement undisguised.

The air in the room grew heavy. The leader remained silent, yet he tacitly accepted the elders' attitude, his eyes filled with the cold indifference of a spectator.

A flash of coldness crossed Bai Lin's eyes; in his heart, he had already sentenced them to death.

But his expression remained unchanged. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and offered a gentle smile: "Gentlemen, you are aware of the current situation in the shinobi world, aren't you?"

He paused, his tone remaining flat yet carrying an undeniable weight: "I am a genius of Konoha. Orochimaru sent me here simply to lower your guard—after all, having a 'child' come forward shows more sincerity than having him come in person, doesn't it?"

"Sincerity?" The elder on the left sneered.

"Orochimaru isn't the Hokage of Konoha. What chips does he have to trade with us?"

As a disciple of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru's reputation as a genius was known to many villages.

But his fame was not yet solidified; it was only the beginning of the Second Shinobi World War, and he lacked many tangible achievements.

"If you look down on Orochimaru, then let us call off this deal."

Bai Lin stood up, making a move to leave, and added: "Besides, if other small villages learn of the contents of Orochimaru's deal, they will surely be impatient to cooperate.

After all, anyone would be tempted by the chance to connect with Konoha and obtain sufficient war resources."

"Kid, do you think this is your home? You can't just come and go as you please!" The elder on the left moved to strike.

"Enough!" The leader spoke suddenly, stopping the elder's movement.

War resources?

How could he let this opportunity slip by?

If another village were to beat them to a partnership with Orochimaru, Kusagakure might lose a vital head start.

The elder on the left immediately changed his tune, his tone softening considerably: "Kid, that's not what I meant. We don't look down on Orochimaru; we just felt that having a child come forward was a bit too much like a game."

"Oh? So you wish to continue the trade?" Bai Lin stopped and turned back to look at the three.

The leader smiled: "We can trade. What exactly does Orochimaru want to trade? And what are the terms?"

"It's simple." Bai Lin sat back down and took a thumb-sized glass bottle from the System Space, placing it gently on the table. It was filled with a pale blue liquid.

"What is this?" The leader frowned, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

Seeing this, the elder on the left grew irritable again, slamming the table and shouting: "Are you playing with us? Trying to fool us with a broken bottle like this?"

"Look at you, getting impatient again. What exactly are you so anxious about?" Bai Lin rolled his eyes, feeling a bit helpless.

He had originally thought they were just looking down on him for being a child, but it seemed their personalities were just naturally volatile.

Ignoring the enraged elder, he picked up the glass bottle and said slowly: "This is a potion Orochimaru developed with his heart's blood, known as 'Hero Water'."

"After drinking it, one can instantly obtain a massive amount of Chakra. Even a Jonin could easily reach the strength of a village's Kage."

"Compared to a Military Ration Pill, its effects are not even in the same league."

"Tell me, does such an item qualify as a vital strategic resource?"

That was right; the item Bai Lin had brought to Kusagakure was the 'Hero Water' he had seized from Takigakure. He had poured it from the gourd into this tiny bottle—it was less than one percent of the original, and he had even diluted it with water.

"What?"

The leader and the two elders widened their eyes, faces full of disbelief.

A normal Jonin could reach Kage-level after drinking it?

This was a miracle drug that defied all common sense!

If Kusagakure could possess such a potion, they wouldn't just be able to protect themselves in these chaotic times; they would even have the opportunity to annex surrounding small ninja villages and secure massive profits.

The elder on the left instantly reined in his anger, his eyes locked onto the glass bottle as his breathing grew ragged.

The reason he had been so irritable before was that he thought Bai Lin was playing them for fools, but now, hearing the effects of this potion, nothing remained in his heart but naked greed.

He paused, then dropped another bombshell: "Not only that, but beyond the Hero Water before you, we can also supply large quantities of ninja tools and Military Ration Pills—Shuriken, Kunai, Explosive Tags, poisons, antidotes, scrolls; we have everything."

"You can take as much as we have, and the price will only be fifty percent higher than the standard rate."

Once these words were spoken, the three people in the room could no longer sit still!

During wartime, ninja tools and Military Ration Pills were already scarce commodities, with market prices skyrocketing by more than double; the "only fifty percent higher" price offered by Bai Lin was practically a gift from the heavens!

Kusagakure survived by taking on missions from major ninja villages; if they could hoard a large amount of strategic supplies at a low price, they could not only meet their own needs but even resell them to earn a massive profit margin.

"Are... are you telling the truth?" The elder on the right's voice was trembling, his face full of disbelief.

"Naturally, it is the truth." Bai Lin's tone was flat, though he had already calculated everything in his mind.

These spoils of war scavenged from enemies were useless to him, so it was better to use them to open up trade channels with Kusagakure. This would satisfy the system's rule of "earning consumption funds through business" while paving the way for his subsequent actions.

There was still plenty of Hero Water, and selling a little bit wouldn't have much of an impact. As long as he could gather enough for a Kage-level Ten-pull as soon as possible, Kusagakure would be nothing to worry about.

Orochimaru's camp was located at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, not far from Kusagakure, so this trade route would certainly come in handy later on.

Kusagakure was simply one of the trade channels, a place quite suitable for offloading goods.

The village head took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Such generous conditions made it impossible for him to refuse.

"Fine, we can reach an agreement, but this Hero Water... is its effect truly as miraculous as you say? And what do you want in exchange?"