Among ninjas, fights came down to who had more information! Unless you were as powerful as Senju Hashirama, even a Kage Level fighter could fall victim to an information gap! (No offense, Hidan and Lord Kakuzu~)
The next day~ Konoha's East Street
A shop bearing the Uchiha Clan Crest opened with great fanfare. Family businesses like this usually had their own clan crests and distinctive markings! Since the Uchiha Clan was Konoha's largest clan, there was nothing wrong with them running a business!
Which clan in Konoha didn't have some kind of commercial income? Could a whole clan really support itself on the income from ninja missions alone? Obviously not.
"Hey, did you hear? The Uchiha Clan is apparently going to sell Sharingan!" The Konoha civilian was clearly well-informed. He'd already looked into it while the shop was being renovated!
"Nani? Are you crazy? If you want to die, go somewhere else! Don't stand so close to me—I don't want your blood splattering all over me!" The people around them quickly backed away from the civilian. What a joke! He was provoking the Uchiha Clan right outside a shop they owned? Did he think the Military Police Force was there for decoration?
The people of Konoha weren't stupid. The Susanoo that appeared on the night of the Nine-Tails attack had been terrifying, wasn't it? And he wanted to pick a fight with the Uchiha? One slash from that giant, and even your next-door neighbor would be joining you to meet Senju Hashirama!
"I'm not joking! I made a point of getting the facts straight. This new shop is apparently launching something called the Welfare Lottery, and the grand prize is a Sharingan!" The civilian had finally found something worth boasting about, and patiently explained.
"Let's grab this lunatic and take him straight to the police station." As he spoke, the crowd moved to do just that!
"Ah, there's no need for that! Everything I said is true! Just wait until the shop opens and you'll see I was right! Let go, I can't breathe! That pervert's hands are all over me! I'm a man!" The civilian struggled and shouted in protest... but the crowd overpowered him and hauled him off to the Uchiha Military Police Force...
Bam, bam, bam! ×100 (One hundred loud firecrackers)
"Fellow citizens of Konoha! To thank you all for your support of the Uchiha Clan's security work over the years, and to celebrate the 49th anniversary of Konoha's founding, our clan is launching a special product to give back to everyone!" As he spoke, he took a stack of Uchiha Welfare Lottery tickets from a box beside him. The beautifully designed tickets featured all kinds of Sharingan, from the simplest One-Tomoe Sharingan to the various forms of Mangekyō Sharingan. The pictures alone were enough to tempt a bunch of kids into collecting them!
"Take a look at what I'm holding. This is called a Scratch-off. If you scratch off five pictures of the One-Tomoe Sharingan, you can take this ticket to the counter and claim a ten-thousand-ryō prize. If you scratch off five pictures of the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, congratulations! You can take your ticket to the counter and claim one hundred thousand ryō. And if you scratch off five pictures of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, you can claim a whopping one million ryō!" Seeing the crowd below him staring with shining eyes, the shop manager took a sip of water and paused for effect.
"On top of that, we've established three more prizes. First prize is the Ninja World's greatest ocular technique: a Three-Tomoe Sharingan! Second prize is twenty million ryō, and third prize is ten million ryō. Scratch off one Mangekyo symbol to win third prize, two Mangekyo symbols to win second prize, or three Mangekyo symbols to win first prize! Each ticket costs just one hundred ryō. For a mere hundred ryō, you can't go wrong!"
"Y-you're... telling the truth?" A Konoha villager came forward, chewing on a steamed bun. (With a beggar's face.)
"Every word is true! We don't deceive the young or the old! Someone like you, with a dream in your heart, shouldn't miss such a wonderful opportunity!" The bespectacled shop manager pointed his microphone at the man in the crowd and shouted.
"Even if you don't believe me, you should believe in the Uchiha Clan's sterling reputation! The Uchiha have a thousand years of credibility behind them. Miss this, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"
"Give me two Scratch-offs!"
"I want two, too!"
"It's only a hundred ryō each. Give me ten!"
The people of the Ninja World had no resistance to something as novel as a Welfare Lottery. One after another, they set off down the one-way road to lottery addiction, hearts full of dreams!
Once the rules were clear, the people of Konoha were instantly fired up. What a deal! Who couldn't spare a hundred ryō?
Compared with ordinary villagers, the great ninja clans found the Uchiha's operation baffling!
What were the Uchiha up to? Even if they wanted to invest in business, why go this far? They were even putting their clan's reputation on the line! Why not just let some of the outsiders who'd joined them handle it? They could assign a few clan members to supervise, at most!
For a ninja clan, strength came first! What? You say Uchiha Gen is the strongest in Konoha? Oh, never mind, then...
At the same time, shops like this were opening all over the major cities of the Land of Fire. The Welfare Lottery was a first for the Ninja World, so there was no competition at all. And with the Uchiha Clan's thousand-year reputation backing it, it was more trustworthy than a guarantee from the government of some small country!
In just one week, the lottery's earnings matched the Uchiha Clan's total income for the previous five years. Nearly one percent of it came from a blond gambler belonging to a certain rival clan!
"Mangekyo~ Mangekyo~ Mangekyo! Nani, why is it a Two-Tomoe? One, two, three Tomoe, all jumbled up! This isn't a straight! I'd have been happy with five Two-Tomoe!" The blond gambler stared at the symbols on the card with a constipated expression.
"Lady Tsunade, I think this ticket is a winner." Shizune suddenly held up a ticket showing five One-Tomoe symbols, looking rather pleased.
If this had been any other kind of gambling, Shizune might have tried to talk Tsunade out of it. But with the Welfare Lottery, a mere hundred ryō was enough to satisfy Tsunade's gambling cravings. Compared with those all-or-nothing games where people casually bet hundreds of thousands or even millions, Shizune was more than happy to support Tsunade in taking up this new lottery habit!
"Five One-Tomoe symbols? That's worth ten thousand ryō, right? Hahahaha! I've only put in eight thousand since this morning, so I'm up! I'm up!" The blond gambler laughed heartily.
How were you up? You'll probably lose it all again in a minute. Haven't you been keeping track of how much you've lost lately? Shizune grumbled to herself.
"The Uchiha Clan finally did something decent. They should've brought out something as great as the Welfare Lottery ages ago! Do I, Tsunade, need this little bit of money? It's just that the pictures on these tickets look odd. It'd be even better if they used our Senju Clan's Wood Release instead!" Tsunade laughed and muttered to herself.
"No way! Sharingan look so cool! Mangekyo are even cooler. When I grow up, I'm going to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan too!" A little kid beside her, collecting losing tickets to play with, butted in. He waved the discarded tickets in his hand and looked at Tsunade with disdain!