Kenya checked the map and confirmed his direction.
He put the map away, took out his nearly empty bag of rice crackers, and tipped the last crumbs into his mouth.
"Tsk, out of food."
He rubbed his chin, ignoring the Anbu Ninja kneeling around him, trembling.
He strode out of the canyon he had widened with a single punch.
His goal was clear now.
First, he would get some money at the border's black market, buy a few crates of premium rice crackers and a few whole roasted pigs, then head out to sea and find a deserted island for a comfortable vacation.
As for how much the Konoha High Command raged, what the hell did that have to do with him?
Half a day later.
At the border of the Land of Fire, in a hidden underground black market.
All sorts mingled here: wandering ninja, bounty hunters, and smugglers of every kind.
The pungent smell of cheap tobacco mixed with alcohol filled the air.
Dressed in ordinary coarse cloth, Kenya swaggered into a pawnshop named "Money Rat."
Behind the counter, a sharp-eyed black-market broker with a thin mustache idly flicked the beads of an abacus.
"Hey, boss. Let's do some business."
Kenya walked up to the counter and tapped its surface.
The broker lifted his eyelids and looked Kenya up and down.
Seeing Kenya's shabby clothes, which did not even bear a ninja village's insignia, a trace of disdain flashed in the broker's eyes.
"A wandering ninja? We don't buy scrap-metal, low-grade ninja tools here."
The broker's tone was arrogant. Clearly, he had taken Kenya for a pauper who never knew where his next meal was coming from.
"If you don't have an S-rank mission permit from one of the major ninja villages, or intelligence on some rare Kekkei Genkai, get out. Don't interfere with my business."
Kenya was not angry. He leaned over the counter and asked with a smile:
"Then tell me, boss, what fetches the highest price on the black market right now?"
The broker sneered, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
"What fetches the highest price? High-grade supplies, of course!"
"The great nations have all been stirring up friction along their borders lately. High-grade weapons and Explosive Tags can't keep up with demand."
"Then there are high-grade building materials! Those daimyo and nobles are building bunkers that can withstand Ninjutsu, and they've driven black-market hardwood prices sky-high."
At this point, the broker sighed.
"Unfortunately, the hundred-year ironwood that can withstand bombardment by B-rank Ninjutsu disappeared long ago. If you can get me one log, I'll pay a million ryo!"
"A million ryo?"
Kenya's eyes instantly lit up.
He had just been worrying about having no money for meat. Wasn't this exactly what he needed, right when he needed it?
"Boss, this hundred-year ironwood you're talking about-is it that really hard wood that blades can't cut and fire can't burn?"
Kenya rubbed his hands together and asked excitedly.
The broker waved impatiently.
"Obviously. If it weren't even that hard, would the daimyo buy it for firewood?"
"What, a broke wretch like you can actually produce some?"
Kenya grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.
"I actually can."
"But my wood is much harder than that hundred-year ironwood or whatever you called it."
The broker burst out laughing as though he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Kid, are you making fun of me?"
"If you can produce wood harder than hundred-year ironwood, I'll buy it for ten times the price!"
"Great! That's exactly what I was waiting to hear!"
Kenya slapped his thigh, turned, and walked straight into the pawnshop's open backyard.
The broker followed him out, wanting to see what trick this wandering ninja who did not know his own limits would pull.
Kenya walked to the center of the backyard and took a deep breath.
He formed no hand seals, simply mobilizing the Wood Release chakra within his body in a frenzy.
At the same time, he perfectly integrated Armament Haki's "hardening" property into that chakra.
Traditional Wood Release emphasized vitality and propagation. It was used to create forests.
It was Ninjutsu that the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had developed for the sake of peace.
But Kenya was different.
He was a Taijutsu fanatic who believed in delivering salvation through physical force.
So his Wood Release completely abandoned the function of "greening," devoting all its chakra to increasing the wood's hardness and density!
This was the "unorthodox Wood Release" that would drive the First to his grave.
"Wood Release: Black Iron Hardwood!"
Kenya gave a low shout and slammed both hands onto the ground.
Boom!
The ground instantly split open.
An enormous log, over a meter in diameter and ten meters long, rose with a roar like a giant black python bursting out of the earth.
The entire log was pitch-black, its surface gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.
It crashed heavily onto the backyard's ground with a deep boom, making even the earth tremble.
The black-market broker stared at the enormous black log, his eyes nearly popping out.
"Th-this... what kind of wood is this? Why is it so black?"
He instinctively stepped forward and reached out to touch the cold wooden surface.
It did not feel like wood at all, but rather a solid block of black iron!
Kenya clapped his hands clean and said with a smile:
"Boss, inspect the goods."
"See whether this Black Iron Wood of mine is worth ten times your price."
The broker swallowed and drew a sharp short blade forged from fine steel from his waist.
He took a deep breath, gripped the blade in both hands, and chopped down viciously at the Black Iron Wood with all his strength.
Clang!
A piercing metallic clash rang out.
The broker felt an enormous recoil travel from the hilt into his arms.
It left the webbing between his thumbs and forefingers numb, nearly making him drop the short blade.
He hurriedly looked down.
His fine-steel short blade, which could slice through iron like mud, actually had a chip the size of a fingernail in its edge!
As for the surface of that Black Iron Wood.
Forget cutting into it-he had not even left a white scratch!
"How is this possible!"
The broker cried out, his face full of disbelief.
Refusing to believe it, he took out several Explosive Tags and stuck them onto the Black Iron Wood.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Violent explosions erupted in the backyard, flames shooting skyward.
After the smoke and dust cleared.
The Black Iron Wood still lay there quietly. Aside from being slightly blackened by smoke, its surface did not have a single crack.
Not even a splinter had come off!
Its hardness was simply absurd beyond belief!
It completely surpassed every building material currently in the Shinobi World!
With trembling hands, the broker stroked the undamaged Black Iron Wood, his eyes blazing with unprecedented fervor.
"A miracle! This is nothing short of a miracle!"
"With hardness like this, even a direct hit from A-rank Ninjutsu absolutely couldn't destroy it!"
"We're rich! We're really rich now!"
He turned to look at Kenya as though he were the God of Wealth, so excited that his words tumbled over one another.
"I'll take this log! Ten million ryo! I'll pay ten million ryo!"
Kenya nodded in satisfaction.
"Deal."
Turning trash into treasure-with this "unorthodox Wood Release" that would drive the First to his grave, he had found a shortcut to riches.
A few minutes later.
Kenya stuffed a thick stack of banknotes worth ten million ryo into his clothes.
He patted the broker's shoulder.
"Boss, a pleasure doing business. I'll come to you next time I have more stock."
With that, he whistled and walked out of the pawnshop in high spirits.
He had just reached the street and was about to buy some premium roast meat and rice crackers from the tavern next door.
Kenya suddenly stopped.
His Observation Haki keenly picked up several rough voices coming from the neighboring tavern.
"Have you heard? Our Kumogakure delegation caused a huge incident at the embassy in Konoha!"
"Heh, how could I not? I heard our Lord Raikage plans to use this opportunity to extort a tidy sum from Konoha!"