Answers to Some Small Questions

Some readers in the comments didn't quite understand certain plot points in this book, so I'll explain them here.

First—

Neville Longbottom was a pure-blood. I remembered that wrong earlier, hahaha...

Because both he and Harry met the conditions of the prophecy, I remembered him as a half-blood like Harry.

Later, I remembered that Voldemort had considered Harry the greater threat precisely because Harry, like himself, was a half-blood while Longbottom was a pure-blood, and that was why he went to kill Harry's whole family...

But I hadn't misunderstood what half-blood meant.

For example, someone like Harry would still be considered a half-blood even if both parents were wizards, as long as one of them was Muggle-born.

Another point—

As for whether Muggles could enter Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, there was a description of it in the "The Prince's Tale" chapter of the original Deathly Hallows.

This passage described Snape's memories and Aunt Petunia:

'The scene shifted. Harry looked around. He was on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Snape stood beside him, slightly hunched, pressed close to a thin woman who looked very much like him, with a sallow face and a gloomy expression. Snape was staring at a family of four some distance away. Two girls stood apart from their parents. Lily seemed to be pleading with her sister. Harry moved closer to listen.'

'Her pale eyes were fixed on the platform: cats meowing in their owners' arms, owls beating their wings and screeching at each other inside their cages, and students—some already wearing black robes—carrying their luggage onto the scarlet steam engine, happily greeting their classmates loudly after being apart all summer.'

These two passages were memories Snape left behind before his death. They described Lily's parents and sister seeing her off at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters before she started school.

Therefore, Muggles could enter Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

At this point, some readers might say: What if a Muggle accidentally got in?

First of all, there was a spell called the Muggle Repelling Charm.

This spell could make approaching Muggles unconsciously leave.

Second, the start of term at Hogwarts was an annual major event in the Wizarding World. There was no way the Ministry of Magic would ignore it completely, especially when it had people specifically responsible for modifying Muggles' memories.

Even if one or two Muggles really did stumble into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, all the Ministry of Magic had to do was send someone maintaining order to modify their memories. One Shot, One Forget, and everything would be solved.

After all, it was a small society with government institutions. I didn't believe such a large group of people at the Ministry of Magic couldn't think of such a simple solution.

Also, Muggle parents were still parents. Wouldn't it be too cold-hearted to forbid them from entering the platform to see their children off?

And it wasn't just Platform Nine and Three-Quarters that Muggles could enter. The Ministry of Magic was occasionally infiltrated by Muggles too. It was just that during the Ministry's darkest period in the seventh book, Muggles who accidentally entered the Ministry of Magic tended to die horribly.

Finally, regarding this book's prices—

Same as before: things with costs but no market were priced according to production cost, such as Web-Shooters and serums; things with no cost were priced according to their approximate market value in their original world, such as eye techniques; things with both costs and a market were priced above cost but below market value, such as firearms; things with neither costs nor a market were estimated, such as inheritances.

Some readers said the prices of eye techniques were confusing, but after converting them, they were roughly right.

According to Kishimoto's setting, the exchange rate between Naruto currency and yen was one ryo to ten yen. Judging by the purchasing power and prices shown in the anime, the value of shinobi currency in the shinobi world was basically equivalent to the value of yen in Japan.

A bowl of ramen costing dozens of ryo in the shinobi world was no different from a bowl of ramen costing several hundred yen in Japan, so yen could be used as the benchmark.

And in 1990, the exchange rate between Pounds Sterling and RMB was roughly 1:15.

That same year, the exchange rate between RMB and yen was roughly 1:16.

Byakugan = 400,000 Pounds Sterling × 15 × 16 = 96 million yen = 9.6 million ryo.

In other words, it was roughly equivalent to 9.6 million ryo in the shinobi world, less than one-third of an Asuma. Compared with what the Byakugan should have been worth in the shinobi world, the price was considerably lower.

But Naruto was created in 1999, and Kishimoto's economic perceptions when creating it were also from around 1999. The world economy underwent several changes from 1990 to 1999. Older readers should know that around 1993, monthly salaries in our country suddenly went from dozens of RMB to several hundred RMB. That was no minor change.

So if the factor of time was included, that price wasn't outrageous at all. It was even a little high. But even if there was a discrepancy, it wouldn't be very large.

So, do you think my pricing is rigorous enough now?

I think what some readers rejected was merely the contrast between Pounds Sterling and shinobi currency in terms of how the numbers looked.

Still, I did make some slight adjustments to prices that seemed a bit inappropriate. Basically, I don't think there are any problems now.

If it still doesn't feel right to you, then there's really nothing I can do. If it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel right—just endure it.

Ninjas are those who endure—hang in there!

That's all, then.