Upon his return, Jay decided to immediately make numerous preparations, including establishing a plausible identity.
Jay also wanted to profit from the products available in the ninja world, in his current world, besides the food he could afford.
He could also acquire some good equipment and technology, although not as sophisticated as the modern world, but for now, Jay had memories from his previous world.
He knew that technology in the Naruto world could be like the early 90s on one side, then incredibly advanced on the other, and even absurd on the other.
The point is, nothing could be used as a benchmark based on what Jay had seen and known, especially if it didn't align with what Jay remembered.
So, Jay was confident he could make adjustments, especially since the ninja world was always in a time of scarcity. What Jay meant here was that food distribution between countries was uneven, and many places were always short of food.
This could be an opportunity for Jay to supply supplies to earn money and a complete picture of the next ninja world.
Because if he simply appeared in the ninja world as a wandering ninja, Jay would clearly be misunderstood by many village ninja and might even be considered a spy.
So he needed another layer of protection, and in this case, disguising himself as a merchant seemed reasonable.
And it could help him gather a lot of information and other useful items.
"I need resources to trade in the ninja world, and in this case, I already have food. So another logical thing is weapons, but they will definitely be limited to ninja weapons like kunai, shuriken, and swords, or something else.
They have to be of good quality, and to determine whether they are of good quality or not, I can only make a few samples and let Ameno judge whether they are worth selling.
Furthermore, I need gold as another strategic commodity for currency in the Naruto world.
With money, I can hire shinobi and buy many valuable things, and even ninjutsu, so it looks like I have a lot of work to do." Jay, who had made several plans, realized that he needed to do more preparation.
"Let's go to the black market and see where we can exchange gold," Jay decided to first find a place to exchange gold.
After a while following the usual path to the sub-district, Jay soon arrived at the black market, which was hidden behind closed doors.
There, Jay contacted some of his acquaintances, and after some communication, he got directions.
"Hey, Shadow, you asked the right person. I know someone who can help you exchange a lot of food for gold," a thin, cunning man with a proud expression said to Jay.
(To disguise himself, Jay created the name Shadow in the black market.)
"Quickly say 'Monkey,' and I'll give you a suitable reward. But remember, don't try to trick me," Jay replied again.
He reminded the monkey not to play tricks on him.
"Hahaha...how long have we been interacting, Shadow? You can rest assured," the monkey then led Jay to a location.
The two of them didn't go into the black market area; instead, they both appeared to be heading towards the outside of the black market.
Walking back towards the center of the crowd, the monkey eventually led Jay to a striking green building.
Seeing the scene, Jay's eyebrows immediately rose, as if suddenly realizing where they were.
(Damn… don't tell me this place…) As Jay began to guess where they had come from,
Soon the monkey led Jay to the back of the building, eventually stopping behind it.
And after ensuring it was quiet, the monkey knocked on a small door at the back of the building.
With an erratic rhythm, the small door soon opened.
To reveal the face of a fat man.
"What's the matter?" asked the fat man.
"There's business coming from across the street. Uncle, please come outside to discuss it," the monkey replied calmly, smiling at the fat man.
"Oh, there's business. How big is it? If it's small, I'm not interested," replied the middle-aged man, still behind the door.
"It's definitely big, Uncle. Don't worry. Let me check first," the monkey then walked over to Jay and asked.
"Shadow, how much gold do you want to exchange? Oh, and one gram of gold costs $3 per gram," the monkey asked, not forgetting to tell Jay the price.
"$3 per gram…" Jay, hearing the figure, began calculating silently.
(1 kg of Sekar rice) (The price on the black market is sold for $1. This price increase is due to dwindling supplies and the situation still being unstable. Although the rebellion has been crushed, the situation is still unstable, so prices remain high.)
So Jay needs 3 kg of rice to exchange for 1 gram of gold. That's quite expensive, Jay thought to himself.
Then I'll order… about 15 kg of gold. How about you? Can you afford it?" Jay asked quickly after briefly considering the amount of gold he wanted to exchange.
"15 kg!!" Monkey exclaimed in surprise.
Monkey thought Shadow would only exchange for tens of grams of gold, or even 1-2 kg at most.
Even so, that was already considered a large amount.
So hearing this figure, Monkey was shocked.
"Interesting… you want about 15 kg of gold. I can fulfill your request, but what do you want in exchange?" The fat, middle-aged man asked, his eyes narrowed, as if he wanted to hear what Jay wanted in exchange.
"Rice!" Jay answered with a single word.
"Rice!!!" The middle-aged man's eyes lit up... as if he had gotten what he wanted.
The middle-aged man was well aware of how attractive rice was right now, when food was scarce and limited throughout the country and even throughout their region.
Suddenly, someone had the nerve to exchange it for gold, and the amount he wanted was considered a wholesale trade.
"Okay, you can exchange gold for rice, and for the amount of gold you want, you have to deposit at least 50 tons of rice. Are you up to it?" The middle-aged man asked again.
"You can be sure I'll deliver the 50 tons of rice to you, but you'll have to wait nine days," Jay replied.
"Okay, let's agree. Once you've got the rice, you can contact the monkey," the middle-aged man replied.
"Deal," Jay replied again.
#######
After parting ways with the monkey, Jay, who was heading to his next destination, began thinking about what else he would need for his trade in the ninja world.
"With my current spatial abilities, I can add at least another 50 hectares of rice fields.
And in just nine days, I can harvest at least 250 tons of rice.
With that amount, I'll definitely have the gold I need. The excess will be used to resupply the village and also to trade in the ninja world.
So now all that's left is to find materials like iron and steel to make weapons in the ninja world." Jay decided to immediately head to the largest blacksmith shop in the sub-district.