A wooden platform had been erected in Hyuga Village's square.
Below it, seating had been divided by village and clan.
People from every faction filled the seats in a dense crowd.
Shinichi passed through the crowd and walked to the steps.
The broad wooden platform was empty, with no one else on it.
Dressed in his usual clothes, Shinichi walked onto the platform alone.
He stood on the platform and looked at the people below.
When he spoke, he did not start with ninja tools.
"Over a year ago, the Hyuga Clan first came to the Land of Rice Fields to build a village."
"Back then, the village lacked everything."
"What we lacked most was ninja tools."
"When Hyuga shinobi went on missions, they had to use their kunai and shuriken sparingly."
"At the time, the Hyuga took large sums of money everywhere, searching for tools to buy."
"But no matter whom we went to, we couldn't buy any."
The audience was utterly quiet. People from every faction were listening.
In Konoha's seats, Hashirama turned his head at those words.
He glanced at Tobirama beside him.
Tobirama sat there, watching the platform.
He did not say a word.
Shinichi continued.
"Just when the Hyuga were most desperate for ninja tools and meeting rejection everywhere."
"It was the Uchiha Clan."
"They sold us a large batch of ninja tools and relieved our urgent need."
Shinichi looked toward the Uchiha seats.
"We of the Hyuga Clan will always remember the Uchiha's help."
Below the platform, the Uchiha clan members felt deeply gratified by those words.
Several young Uchiha shinobi immediately puffed out their chests.
Someone turned and muttered to a fellow clan member beside him.
"Hmph, at least those Hyuga know how to show some gratitude."
In the neighboring seats, people from the other clans and shinobi villages heard the stir.
They all turned to look toward the Uchiha.
Madara sat at the very front of the Uchiha seats, watching Shinichi on the platform.
There was little expression on his face.
But inwardly, those words pleased him greatly.
Shinichi spoke again.
"But the Hyuga couldn't keep troubling the Uchiha forever."
"So from that point on, I made a decision: Hyuga Village had to make its own ninja tools. We had to make it happen!"
"For this, I personally traveled to the Land of Iron and invited a successor from a family of blacksmiths."
With that, Shinichi turned and beckoned to someone below the platform.
Gengorō climbed the wooden steps and walked over to stand beside Shinichi.
The old swordsmith from the Land of Iron had hands blackened by years of exposure to furnace fires.
His palms and knuckles were covered in layers of thick calluses.
Shinichi looked at the crowd below and gestured toward Gengorō beside him.
"Gengorō's family makes ninja tools. With him, the craft has been passed down for twelve generations."
"It is said that his ancestors made ninja tools for the Sage of Six Paths."
Loud discussion immediately broke out throughout the audience.
Someone from Kirigakure scoffed and laughed aloud.
"The Sage of Six Paths is just a legend the old folks tell."
Hearing this, the people from Kusagakure beside them also shook their heads repeatedly.
Several people from Sunagakure, however, said nothing.
They sat upright in their seats, their eyes fixed on Gengorō's hands.
Shinichi continued.
"But having a good blacksmith alone isn't enough."
"The ninja tools made by the Hyuga are different from those on the market."
"Why?"
"Because the Hyuga use a new manufacturing process."
Someone in Takigakure's seats called out a question.
"What kind of process?"
Shinichi smiled.
"That, I can't tell you."
"To develop this new process, the Hyuga fired dozens of furnace batches and used up twenty thousand jin of iron ore before finally succeeding."
Below the platform, a Sunagakure shinobi lowered his head and counted on his fingers.
Iron ore from the Land of Fire cost three hundred ryo per jin.
Twenty thousand jin meant six million ryo.
He turned his head and muttered to the person beside him.
"The Hyuga really are willing to spend."
Shinichi took a step forward.
"Words alone mean nothing."
"Let everyone see for themselves just how good the Hyuga's new process is."
Two Hyuga jonin carried two large wooden crates up the steps onto the platform.
The crates were set side by side next to Shinichi.
The crate on the left held kunai made by the Hyuga themselves.
The one on the right held kunai bought on the market.
A Hyuga jonin stepped forward.
He reached into the left crate with his left hand and took out a Hyuga kunai.
With his right hand, he reached into the right crate and picked up a commercially bought kunai.
He brought his hands together, smashing the two kunai hard against each other.
A sharp clang rang out.
The Hyuga jonin held up both kunai for the audience to see.
The blade of the commercially bought kunai had chipped on impact.
The one made by the Hyuga was completely unharmed.
The Hyuga jonin casually tossed the damaged kunai at his feet.
Then he turned and took a brand-new one from each crate.
Holding them in his hands, he struck them hard against each other again.
Once again, the commercially bought one chipped.
The Hyuga jonin changed them out three times in a row.
The result was the same every time.
A stir ran through the audience.
The Amegakure shinobi were the first who could no longer stay seated.
People from the several clans of the Land of Hot Water also stood up to look at the platform.
In Konoha's seats, Tobirama leaned forward.
He stared at the kunai in the Hyuga jonin's hand.
Standing beside the wooden crates, Shinichi addressed the audience.
"How much does a kunai sell for on the market?"
The people of the Akimichi Clan had loud voices, and they were the first to shout an answer.
"Five thousand ryo!"
Someone in the Uchiha seats called out as well.
"Three thousand ryo for a shuriken!"
Shinichi nodded and asked another question.
"Then how much do you think a Hyuga kunai sells for?"
People immediately began calling out figures, and someone from Kirigakure loudly offered a guess.
"Four thousand five hundred!"
Shinichi shook his head.
Someone from Takigakure promptly lowered the figure.
"Four thousand!"
Shinichi shook his head again.
Someone from the Uzumaki Clan tentatively called out.
"Three thousand five hundred?"
Shinichi smiled and shook his head.
The voices from the various factions fell silent.
Everyone waited for Shinichi to give the answer himself.
"A Hyuga kunai costs three thousand ryo, and a shuriken costs one thousand eight hundred ryo. That's only sixty percent of the market price."
Shinichi announced the prices from the platform.
"The Hyuga aren't looking to make money off you."
"Consider it our way of making friends with everyone!"
The audience erupted.
On the Land of Hot Water's side, a clan leader who was still standing cried out on the spot.
"Three thousand ryo? That's about what it costs our clan to make a kunai ourselves!"
Over in Kusagakure's seats, the people who had been shaking their heads earlier huddled together, rapidly calculating.
"Buying a thousand kunai would save us two million ryo."
In Konoha's seats, Hashirama slapped his thigh and burst into laughter.
Madara also gave a short chuckle.
Shinichi raised a hand.
The audience slowly quieted down.
Shinichi spoke again.
"Of course, that's only the retail price."
"The price we offer distributors is even further beyond anything you could imagine!"
Before you continue