The Second Haul

When Karn arrived at the Hokage's Office, it was once again just Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura. Tsunade was absent.

"Karn-san, forgive us for asking you here on such short notice, but we have something we really need to discuss with you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke very politely, but he had little choice. Konoha did not have enough medical ninja, so saving the wounded meant relying on Karn's medicine. The results had proved that his medicine increased the wounded's survival rate by fifty to sixty percent.

With results like that, Konoha could preserve its strength during the war instead of suffering devastating casualties.

"I understand what you mean, Third Hokage, but extending credit isn't something I can decide on my own. In fact, I paid some of my own money up front for the last shipment. If I can't recover those funds this time, I won't be able to sell medicine to your village anymore, and my supplier will probably find someone else to work with."

Karn spoke to Hiruzen Sarutobi with a helpless air. Rather than listen to them talk in circles and haggle, he preferred to lay things out plainly.

Credit and the price of the medicine were his hard limits. Neither was negotiable. He could accept goods as collateral, but otherwise, he would rather end their dealings. Those were his boundaries. If he let them be crossed easily, the other side would only keep pushing for more.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi need not bother telling him how pitiful the Konoha ninja were or how much they suffered. However pitiful they might be, they were not fighting to protect him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly, then forced a smile and asked, "Then what kinds of goods would you accept as collateral?"

It was a seller's market, and Konoha had no other choice unless it decided to abandon all pretense and move against Karn. But Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent ANBU to follow him several times without ever discovering how his supplier delivered the medicine. Karn's ability to vanish mysteriously also kept Hiruzen Sarutobi from taking action.

Although Karn was an ordinary person with no chakra, there might be a sealing jutsu in his brain. If they acted against him and gained nothing, the medicine could end up flowing into other hidden villages.

"If you don't have money, jewels, jade, gold ornaments, or objects several hundred years old will do. But I decide their value. Of course, I won't deliberately undervalue them."

When Karn spoke that last sentence, Utatane Koharu's expression soured. She felt he was singling her out because she had quoted an inflated price for the houses last time.

"Or you could offset the payment with missions. I'll be traveling to other parts of the Land of Fire soon to discuss some business, and I'll need guards with me."

As for the guns in Karn's backpack, they could protect him in certain situations, but a surprise attack by a ninja would still be dangerous.

Mitokado Homura suddenly asked, "Could we trade ninjutsu scrolls? Konoha has collected quite a few techniques."

"Ninjutsu?" Karn shook his head without hesitation. "Let's forget that, Elder Mitokado. I'm not a ninja. A ninjutsu scroll is less appealing to me than a bestselling novel."

"I see. That's a shame..."

After saying that, Mitokado Homura fell silent.

Once both Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had stopped speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi addressed Karn. "Then, Karn-san, Konoha will need the same quantity of medicine as last time. We'll show you a list of goods worth the corresponding amount shortly."

"No problem, Third Hokage."

After Karn finished speaking, an ANBU member escorted him out of the Hokage Building. The medicine was stored in the warehouse behind Karn's food shop. Apart from the stock he intended to put on sale in the pharmacy, the remainder was just enough to meet Konoha's needs.

That afternoon, just after Karn finished eating, Konoha's ANBU invited him to the Hokage Building again. This time, instead of going to the Hokage's Office, he was taken to another room.

Only Mitokado Homura was inside. It made sense when Karn thought about it. The Hokage had a great deal to handle every day and could not spend all his time on the medicine alone.

"Karn-san, please inspect the goods. Here is the list."

Mitokado Homura handed Karn an inventory, then gestured toward the boxes on the table.

Forty kilograms of gold, a hundred gemstones, a box of jewelry, and more than thirty antique objects.

When Karn saw the rather casually arranged objects at the end, he knew they were "antiques" with a long history. Still, he checked with Mitokado Homura, who assured him that they were indeed very old and that even Konoha had few such items.

According to the Senju Clan's records, they were at least five hundred years old. Mitokado Homura hid nothing: the Senju Clan had contributed them all. To ninja, aside from their long history, an old bowl was simply an old bowl, albeit one with somewhat more elaborate designs.

Still, out of habit, Mitokado Homura had assigned these "antiques" what they considered a high price. That price, however, was calculated as though they were ordinary utensils. Karn found their idea of an expensive price rather amusing, but once he considered that the shinobi world might have no tradition of collecting antiques, he understood.

If he took these back and marketed them as artifacts of mysterious provenance, he should be able to squeeze a few million dollars out of Japanese buyers.

Besides the gold, Karn also inspected the gemstones and jewelry.

There were no major problems with the gemstones. At least to Karn's eye, Konoha probably lacked the ability to produce convincing fakes. He rejected a few stones with poor appearances or cracks, leaving Mitokado Homura feeling rather embarrassed. He silently grumbled about Utatane Koharu. Since they had already agreed to the trade, she should not have included these.

Fortunately, Karn said nothing, or Mitokado Homura would have lost face.

The other box contained jewelry that looked extremely valuable. Karn opened it and took a look, immediately deciding that most of it was probably genuine. Two of the valuable pieces had not even been cleaned properly and still bore bloodstains.

Holding the two bloodstained pieces, Karn looked at Mitokado Homura. Mitokado Homura turned his head away, as though examining corners of the room that needed repairs. Inwardly, however, he cursed Danzo. Root had not even cleaned up the things it had stolen. How embarrassing.

"Other than the items I just set aside, this should more or less do, Elder Mitokado."

After inspecting everything and confirming there were no issues, Karn turned to Mitokado Homura and spoke. The items he had rejected would surely be made up for with houses in the end. Houses were probably the one thing Konoha never lacked. Whenever there was not enough room, it simply expanded.

"Next is the amount to be covered through commissioned missions."

Mitokado Homura nodded and told Karn, "Let's discuss that at the Mission Department. They can provide a more detailed mission assessment."

Hiruzen Sarutobi might let Utatane Koharu play a few tricks with the goods being traded, but missions were the foundation of Konoha's reputation with outsiders. Neither Hiruzen Sarutobi nor Mitokado Homura would allow anyone to tamper with them.