Trade Deal Reached

After Shinbu Kosuke had recovered a little more, the two of them hurried through the night toward the secret base of the Grass Fruit faction.

To conserve his strength, Lu Zeming chose not to fly.

It was a heavily fortified military stronghold. The outer perimeter was covered with both visible and hidden sentries, and security was extremely tight. Shinbu Kosuke had to answer a series of passwords and codes and present his pass before they were finally allowed inside.

Once inside, they saw rows of tents stretching across the area. Heavy troops guarded the perimeter of the camp, while patrol squads moved between the tents from time to time.

Shinbu Kosuke led Lu Zeming toward the largest tent in the center. As they passed a smaller tent, Lu Zeming heard heart-wrenching screams and all kinds of groans and wails.

Shinbu Kosuke's expression darkened.

"That's the wounded soldiers' camp. Medicine is in critically short supply, and medical Ninja are scarce as well. Many of the wounded can only receive simple bandages and treatment before toughing it out on their own."

"How could I have forgotten? You have wounded soldiers, and we have medicine. To be honest, we can even produce Wound-Healing Pills. You should be interested, right?"

"Wound-Healing Pills? How come I've never heard of them?"

"A pill I developed recently. It's similar to a Soldier Pill, except its purpose is to heal wounds!"

Of course, there was no newly developed medicine. Lu Zeming had come up with the name on the spot.

Lu Zeming was confident that, with his skill as a renowned physician, developing a pill that could treat external injuries and relieve pain would not be difficult.

As for side effects—what side effects? Those were all rumors.

Shinbu Kosuke was quite excited. "That's wonderful! If we had Wound-Healing Pills, our injured brothers would suffer much less!"

As they spoke, the two had already reached the entrance of the main tent. Someone had gone inside to report their arrival.

After they were granted permission to enter, Lu Zeming was asked to hand over all his weapons.

Shinbu Kosuke looked somewhat troubled, but it was a special period, and he did not step in to help Lu Zeming.

Lu Zeming shook his head inwardly. In the end, we're not on the same side.

After handing over his weapons, Lu Zeming was invited into the main tent.

Shinbu Teiichi, Shinbu Mutsuto, Kazama, Fujimoto, Inoue, and the patriarchs of various major clans were all seated inside.

What surprised Lu Zeming was that a middle-aged Ninja from Iwagakure was seated beside Shinbu Teiichi.

Unlike the other Ninja, this man had little of the killing aura common to warriors. Instead, he exuded more of a scholarly air.

"Little Lu Zeming, we meet again! Come, take a seat. We've been waiting for you!"

Shinbu Teiichi was extremely enthusiastic.

Lu Zeming did not stand on ceremony. He casually found a low table and sat down.

"You should know everyone else. The man beside me is Iwasaki, the military advisor we specially invited from Iwagakure."

Lu Zeming gave a slight nod in greeting and said nothing more.

Shinbu Teiichi enthusiastically arranged the wine and dishes. Lu Zeming did not eat anything and merely toyed with the chopsticks in his hand.

After three rounds of drinks and several courses of food, Shinbu Teiichi finally brought up the real matter.

"You brought the goods, right? Hurry and take them out so I can have a look. I'm counting on this shipment of yours to turn the situation around!"

Lu Zeming did not answer. Instead, he looked toward Iwasaki.

Shinbu Teiichi laughed heartily. "Iwasaki is one of us. Don't worry—just take them out!"

Lu Zeming still did not move. Instead, he asked, "I brought the goods. Have you prepared the money?"

"Of course I have!"

Shinbu Teiichi clapped his hands, and seven large chests were carried inside.

When they were opened, they were filled with stacks of green banknotes.

Lu Zeming merely sneered. "You're trying to fool me with currency from the Land of Grass? If you want to break the deal, there's nothing I can do about it. I can only take the goods to the Shinomiya family and ask whether they're interested in buying them!"

Shinbu Teiichi's face immediately darkened.

Iwasaki spoke up at this point. "Little friend, if you want to go to the Shinomiya family, you're welcome to try. You may not know this, but the Land of Grass is a major producer of medicinal herbs."

"So what?"

"So what? Turning medicinal herbs into Soldier Pills isn't difficult. But have you ever heard that the Land of Grass is a major producer of Soldier Pills? No, right? That's because the Shinomiya family has monopolized the medicinal-herb and Soldier Pill businesses in the Land of Grass. Well, to be precise, Konoha has monopolized them."

"You say you want to negotiate a partnership with the Shinomiya family. How is that any different from seeking death?"

At those words, Lu Zeming's heart skipped a beat.

No wonder those three Konoha Ninja managed to track me down.

Suppressing his astonishment, Lu Zeming retorted, "So you're saying I can't refuse to trade with you?"

"That's exactly right!"

"Bullshit. There are the Five Great Nations and more than thirty smaller nations. Who doesn't need Soldier Pills? Don't take yourselves so seriously. I won't have trouble finding buyers for my goods!"

Iwasaki looked awkward, but he still stubbornly replied, "If you don't sell to us, I'm afraid you won't even make it out of the Land of Grass!"

"Then we'll see whether I have what it takes!"

The instant he finished speaking, Lu Zeming's aura surged. His entire body rose into the air, suspended like a god.

The chopsticks in his hand, along with those on the other tables, seemed to have received a summons. They all flew up and began circling around him.

The tips of the chopsticks pointed at everyone in the room, as though they might shoot out at any moment.

The scene left everyone in the tent completely dumbfounded.

Shinbu Teiichi rarely showed shock, but now even he did. "You... How did your strength increase so quickly?"

"That's none of your concern. I'll only ask you this: are you buying or not? If you aren't, I'll find another buyer!"

Shinbu Teiichi looked toward Iwasaki.

Iwasaki's thoughts raced. He had not expected this kid to be capable of flight, and his strength was not to be underestimated either. Their plan to blockade the trade route was no longer feasible.

Iwasaki gave an almost imperceptible nod, and only then did Shinbu Teiichi say, "It's a misunderstanding. Everything just now was a misunderstanding. Of course we're doing business. It's just that, with the war going on, we can't produce that much cash from the Five Great Nations at the moment!"

"I already said last time that you could exchange Ninjutsu or books I needed. If all else failed, you could also trade grain, salt, iron, or other bulk commodities!"

Shinbu Teiichi gritted his teeth. "Fine. We'll do as you say!"

Shinbu Teiichi clapped his hands again. This time, only two chests were carried in.

One chest held books and Ninjutsu Scrolls, while the other contained currency from the Land of Fire.

Lu Zeming gave them a cursory examination and found that the books were all related to medicinal herbs and Runes. Of the two scrolls, one contained the A-Rank Ninjutsu Great Waterfall Technique, while the other was a Four Symbols Seal Scroll.

There was twenty million ryo in currency.

The value of the two chests was exactly equivalent to five thousand Super Soldier Pills.

Lu Zeming was very satisfied. Without hesitation, he took out the Sealing Scroll containing the goods and released the five thousand Super Soldier Pills.

The main tent was instantly filled with the fragrance of medicine, leaving everyone feeling refreshed.

The two sides then agreed on the time of the next delivery, as well as the price of the Wound-Healing Pills.

The Wound-Healing Pills were somewhat cheaper, though that was only in comparison with the Super Soldier Pills: eight thousand ryo per pill.

Shinbu Teiichi hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and agreeing.

Just as Lu Zeming had put everything away and was preparing to leave, Iwasaki called out to him.

"Our Iwagakure is also very interested in your Super Soldier Pills, little brother!"

"Oh? You want to buy some? Sure. Twenty thousand ryo per pill!"

The corner of Iwasaki's mouth twitched. "You sell them to the Shinbu family for ten thousand each, but charge Iwagakure twenty thousand? Aren't you being too greedy, little brother?"

Lu Zeming shrugged. "I'm selling to the Shinbu family because they're locals from the Land of Grass. You're a foreigner, so of course I have to charge you more!"

Iwasaki was left speechless.

In truth, Lu Zeming was not deliberately refusing him. The village was currently short on raw materials, and production capacity was limited. Relying solely on gathering herbs in the wild was not a long-term solution, while the medicinal herbs planted in the village still needed time to mature.

Supplying the Shinbu family was already difficult enough. There simply was not enough extra to sell to Iwagakure.

I'll have to push the herbs to mature faster when I get back!

With that thought, Lu Zeming left the Grass Fruit camp, stepped onto his long blade, and flew toward Flower Village.

By the time he returned to the village, it was already past midnight. Lu Zeming greeted Kumi Uzumaki, the village's chief steward, before returning to rest.

The next morning, Kumi Uzumaki rushed into Lu Zeming's room in a panic.

"This is bad! People—so many people!"

Lu Zeming jolted upright. "Did Konoha attack?"