Konoha's missions were divided into five ranks: D, C, B, A, and S. Private individuals could almost never commission A-Rank or S-Rank missions. Those involved other nations' secrets and required at least a Jonin to complete.
Only someone like the Daimyo of the Land of Fire or a very high-ranking official, who held considerable influence over Konoha, could commission A-Rank or S-Rank missions. Otherwise, private individuals could only commission missions of B-Rank or below.
The mission Karn commissioned could be rated no higher than a B-Rank mission. He would be traveling around the Land of Fire for quite some time and might encounter wandering ninja or ronin along the way. Even the Land of Fire was not spared during wartime, and every war spawned plenty of bandits, robbers, and wandering ninja.
Since Karn's mission would take a relatively long time, the Mission Department set the payment at two hundred thousand ryo. A mission squad led by two Chunin would depart tomorrow.
Of course, this single mission could not offset the money Konoha owed him for medicine. Karn would have to commission at least several dozen missions like this before they were even.
Karn planned to go back and tell Xia Chuan about his departure. He would be leaving the two shops in Konoha in her hands. For now, there was nothing particularly difficult about the work, just stocking shelves and keeping the books. The two shops had hired eight people in total. If he had not wanted to earn a favor from Tsunade, would a capitalist like him have taken on such a money-losing venture?
"Xia Chuan... Oh, you have customers. Carry on, then. Come see me when you're done."
As soon as Karn entered the shop, he saw a crowd of Ninja Academy students buying things. After leaving Xia Chuan those instructions, he headed to his living quarters in the back courtyard.
A little while later, Karn suddenly heard footsteps approaching his door and said, "Come straight in, Xia Chuan..."
Swish, swish.
The door slid open, but the person who entered was not Xia Chuan. It was Kushina Uzumaki, with her red hair and slightly chubby cheeks.
"You're... Kushina, if I remember correctly?" Karn pretended to think for a moment before asking uncertainly, "If you want to buy something, please go to the shop out front. These are my private living quarters."
Looking a little embarrassed, Kushina bowed to Karn. "Sorry, boss. It's just... there's something I wanted to ask you."
If you know you should apologize, then hurry up and leave!
But after three seconds of staring at each other, Kushina still showed no intention of leaving. Karn sighed, stood up, and said, "Come in and sit down. I'll get some tea."
"Thank you, boss."
Kushina actually came in and sat down. While she waited for the tea, she looked around Karn's living quarters.
"Here you go, Kushina. What did you want to see me about?" Drink your tea, say what you need to say, and hurry up and leave.
Karn silently thought to himself. He had a feeling that getting too involved with the prospective Nine-Tails Jinchuriki would have unpleasant consequences.
"Boss, your chocolate is so popular. Could I reserve some?"
Holding her teacup, Kushina looked at Karn expectantly. She had secretly slipped into his living quarters in the back courtyard because there had been too many customers earlier, and she had not managed to get any.
"Sold out again? I didn't expect business to be this good."
As he considered this, Karn thought he could open a candy factory in the Shinobi World. The Hokage Universe did not seem to have any particularly famous sweets. Even decades later, Konoha's best-known sweets were still dango and red bean soup, though that might have been because of a certain person's endorsement.
At this point in time, however, Karn was certain that sweets such as chocolate and lollipops were sold only at his shops.
Sugar is a source of happiness. The sweets market in the United States is worth at least a hundred billion dollars. If I open a sweets factory in the Shinobi World, could I build a trading company spanning the Land of Fire within three years?
It seemed that after leaving Konoha tomorrow, he would at least need to survey the surrounding towns and see where he could set up a factory.
"Boss? Boss?"
When Kushina saw Karn fall into thought after saying just one sentence, she called out several times before finally snapping him out of his reverie.
"Sorry, I got distracted," Karn apologized. "You said you wanted to reserve some, right? No problem. How much would you like?"
Kushina thought for a moment, then gave him a number. "One hundred bars."
"One hundred chocolate bars will cost twenty thousand ryo. Including what I promised you last time, I'll give you one hundred and twenty bars in total. That's right, isn't it? But I should remind you that eating too much chocolate will make you gain weight. You need to get enough exercise."
"That's right, that's right!"
Hearing Karn's calculations, Kushina eagerly nodded in delight. She had finished yesterday's thirty bars in less than a day, and Tsunade and Nawaki had even taken some of them. As for Karn's warning about exercise, Kushina paid it no mind at all. Her daily training was exhausting, and a silky-smooth chocolate bar was the best reward after all that hard work.
Karn nodded. "All right. Remember to pay Xia Chuan before you leave. Once the next shipment of sweets arrives, you'll be the first person I notify."
Kushina froze for a moment. "I... I still have to pay?"
"Of course. Who buys things without paying? Even if it's a reservation, you have to pay at least a deposit before I buy them and let you know."
Seeing Kushina's expression, Karn could not help asking in puzzlement, "Don't tell me you don't have any money?"
"O-of course I do."
Although Kushina very much wanted to say that with confidence, her guilty tone had already given everything away.
Before Karn could say anything else, Kushina stood up and headed outside. From the way she moved, he did not need to guess that she was off to scrape together the money.
The first batch of sweets had only begun to spread their reputation, but the second had already drawn crowds scrambling to buy them. Today's customers had all been students from ninja clans. Only they could afford the expensive snacks at the Karn Food Store.
After all, even a simple D-Rank mission paid a ninja anywhere from five hundred to ten thousand ryo, and a hardworking Genin could complete at least three a day.
The Shinobi World really was a treasure trove, with so much left undeveloped. Karn added several more items to his future plans. Within three years, or perhaps five, he had to establish a force in the Shinobi World powerful enough to influence Konoha's decisions, then use the Shinobi World's strength to build his influence in Karn's Marvel Universe.
After briefing Xia Chuan, Karn prepared to set out.
There were two ninja squads. Since Konoha was still at war, squad sizes had been reduced, generally consisting of one Chunin and two Genin. Karn therefore had six ninja guards for this trip, including two Chunin. His safety within the Land of Fire was certainly assured.
Besides the ninja, there was also a driver. Karn had bought two horse-drawn carriages as well. One carried supplies, while the other was a more expensive carriage for his own comfort. Its interior was spacious enough for him to sleep comfortably at night.
Only after everything was ready did Karn leave Konoha.
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