Did the Uchiha count as friends of the Hyuga?

Below the wooden platform in Hyuga Village's square.

Hundreds of people filled the seats before the platform.

Ninja from every faction craned their necks.

Several Hyuga jonin stood guard on either side of the wooden platform.

Even figures like Shamon and Hozuki Gengetsu stared intently at Shinichi onstage.

They all wanted to know just how low the distributor prices Shinichi mentioned could go.

No one below the platform spoke.

Everyone waited for Shinichi to continue.

"We divide our distributors into three tiers."

"Tier one, tier two, and tier three."

"Each tier gets a different price when buying from us Hyuga."

"Of these three tiers, tier-one distributors get the lowest prices."

"Let's start with tier-three distributors."

"Tier-three distributors buy from the Hyuga at fifty percent of the market price."

"Two thousand five hundred ryo per kunai."

"One thousand five hundred ryo per shuriken."

The crowd below immediately broke into an uproar.

People from the various shinobi villages and ninja clans turned sideways and huddled together.

A ninja wearing an Amegakure forehead protector lowered his head and started doing the math.

He tugged on the sleeve of the person beside him.

"Work it out. We buy kunai for two thousand five hundred ryo."

"That's five hundred ryo cheaper than the retail price the Hyuga just quoted."

The person beside him nodded repeatedly.

"Shuriken at one thousand five hundred ryo are three hundred ryo below retail, too."

"We buy the goods here from the Hyuga and take them back."

"Even if we sell them at the retail prices the Hyuga set."

"We're guaranteed to make five hundred ryo on a single kunai alone."

Shinichi continued.

"Now that we've covered tier three, let's talk about tier-two distributors."

"Tier-two distributors get even lower prices from the Hyuga."

"They pay forty percent of the market price."

"Two thousand ryo per kunai."

"One thousand two hundred ryo per shuriken."

The chatter below immediately grew louder.

People from every shinobi village and ninja clan whispered among themselves.

Over by Takigakure, a ninja shouted at the top of his lungs.

"That purchase price is another five hundred ryo cheaper than tier three!"

"And each shuriken is three hundred ryo cheaper than tier three!"

Onstage, Shinichi spoke again.

"Finally, tier-one distributors."

"Tier-one distributors buy from the Hyuga at thirty percent of the market price."

"One thousand five hundred ryo per kunai."

"Nine hundred ryo per shuriken."

People from several groups below stood straight up.

Someone shouted.

"One thousand five hundred ryo!"

"That's not even half the market price!"

Members of several ninja clans from the Land of Hot Water huddled together, counting on their fingers how much stock they would need to buy from the Hyuga each year.

Shinichi waited for the noise below to die down a little.

He raised his voice and asked the crowd a question.

"Isn't that fucking awesome?"

Shinichi chuckled inwardly.

In his previous life, Lei Busi had loved asking that at product launches.

Everyone below froze.

A member of the Akimichi Clan turned his head.

He leaned toward the Nara Clan member beside him.

He lowered his voice and asked a question.

"What does 'fucking awesome' mean?"

The Nara Clan member shook his head.

"Don't ask me. I've never heard it either."

Shinichi smiled.

"Next, let's talk about how to become a distributor."

"To become a tier-one distributor, you must be a shinobi village from the Five Great Nations, or a friend of our Hyuga Clan."

"The membership fee is five million ryo."

"As long as you qualify, there's no limit on places."

Representatives of several major shinobi villages in the front row began discussing it quietly.

Shinichi continued.

"The requirements for becoming a tier-two distributor aren't as high."

"Shinobi villages and ninja clans from any country are eligible."

"The membership fee is eight million ryo."

"However, there are only ten places for tier-two distributors."

The people from the small countries' shinobi villages and ninja clans could no longer sit still.

The head of a ninja clan from the Land of Hot Water froze.

Only ten places?

He hurriedly turned to look behind him.

Holding out his fingers, he counted the small countries' shinobi villages and ninja clans below the platform one by one.

Amegakure, Kusagakure, Takigakure.

Then there were the several ninja clans from their Land of Hot Water.

Just those seated below today already numbered far more than ten groups.

Shinichi's voice rang out again.

"There are no requirements for becoming a tier-three distributor."

"Anyone here who wants to can become one."

"However, the membership fee is ten million ryo."

"For now, there are only twenty places."

Over by Kusagakure, a ninja shouted loudly.

"Tier three has the highest membership fee!"

"And the highest prices for buying stock from you!"

"Aren't we getting a terrible deal here?"

Shinichi did not get annoyed.

"Tier-one distributors do get low purchase prices."

"But those places are reserved specifically for the shinobi villages of the Five Great Nations."

"And friends of our Hyuga Clan."

The Kusagakure ninja muttered a couple of things but stopped shouting.

Shamon of Sunagakure was the first to speak.

"We in Sunagakure want to be a tier-one distributor."

"Tier-one distributor prices are lower than our own cost of making ninja tools. Why the hell would we make ninja tools ourselves after this?"

Hozuki Gengetsu of Kirigakure hurried to speak up after him.

"You can't keep a deal this good all to yourselves."

"We in Kirigakure want tier one too!"

Mū of Iwagakure, beside him, immediately chimed in as well.

"We in Iwagakure want it too."

The Three Great Shinobi Villages all readily secured their tier-one distributor status.

Konoha's side, however, remained quiet.

Sitting in his chair, Hashirama leaned toward Tobirama.

He lowered his voice and asked a question.

"Tobirama, should we in Konoha become a tier-one distributor too?"

Tobirama shook his head outright.

"Konoha has so many ninja clans under it. We can make our own ninja tools."

"There's no need at all to spend money buying things from their Hyuga Clan."

Hashirama reached up and scratched his head.

He thought the prices Shinichi quoted really were quite a bargain.

But Tobirama usually handled the village's affairs.

He opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing more.

A loud voice came from the Uchiha seats.

A young Uchiha clansman raised his voice.

"Does our Uchiha Clan count as friends of you Hyuga?"

"Can we become a tier-one distributor?"

Several Uchiha clansmen beside him joined in.

"Exactly! Back when the Hyuga were short on ninja tools, who sold them some?"

The crowd, which had been noisy just moments earlier, fell completely silent.

People from the various shinobi villages and ninja clans turned their heads.

A great swath of people all looked toward the Uchiha.

In Konoha's seats, Tobirama frowned.

The Uchiha were a ninja clan of Konoha to begin with.

Yet they had actually asked people from another village that question directly, in front of all of Konoha's clans.

Hashirama turned his head too, looking at the Uchiha and then at Shinichi onstage.

Madara sat at the very front of the Uchiha seats.

He sat steadily in his chair without even turning his head.

He said nothing, nor did he stop the young clansman.

The ninja from the various factions in the front row all stared at the wooden platform.

Everyone was waiting for Shinichi's answer.