The effect was instantaneous and profound.
The moment the Cross of Courage settled against her skin, Tsunade felt a palpable shift within her spirit. The crushing weight of her past, the memories that usually triggered a spiral of unbearable despair, were suddenly different. The pain was still there, a sharp, familiar agony, but it was no longer an absolute cliff edge. It was like standing at the very brink of an abyss, feeling the vertigo, but realizing she had found the mental strength to hold on, refusing to leap into the crushing darkness.
"This is... courage," she murmured, her voice husky. Her eyes involuntarily turned red, not from sorrow, but from a sudden, fierce rush of understanding.
She finally glimpseChapter 6: The True Price of Couragess bravery. Courage wasn't the absence of pain or fear; it was the will to move forward, to shield what you love, even in the face of inevitable crisis and despair.
"Miss Tsunade?" Shizune asked, her face etched with worried heartache. She had never seen her master react with such intensity, not even during her quiet, lonely drinking sessions.
Tsunade seemed to snap back to the present. She looked at her arm, her fingers, tipped with bright red polish, suddenly scratching deeply into her forearm.
The skin tore, and dark, venous blood immediately welled up, dripping onto the tatami.
"Miss Tsunade!" Shizune screamed, lunging forward to staunch the wound.
"Shizune!" Tsunade bellowed, her voice a sharp command that froze the disciple mid-step.
Shizune stared, aghast. Her master was staring intently at the bright red blood oozing from her arm. Every time blood appeared, Tsunade would typically start shaking, her medical genius collapsing into a terrified wreck.
But now... there were no tremors.
There was still a deep pain in her eyes—the lingering trauma of loss—but the crippling, physical fear was absent. The hemophobia, her decade-long torment, was suddenly, miraculously, broken.
Shen Mo took a calm, deliberate sip of sake, a faint, proprietary smile touching his lips. He was right. The Cross of Courage was a powerful, positive BUFF—an increase in her mental fortitude and fear resistance. Tsunade's phobia was a psychological barrier, and the artifact had simply raised her internal defenses high enough to bypass the immediate mental collapse. With a little practice and adaptation, her recovery could become permanent.
He allowed himself a moment of internal amusement, wondering what the reaction of Orochimaru would be when he eventually showed up to recruit Tsunade, only to find the Sannin staring at his bloodied finger without flinching, armed with an arsenal of magical potions.
But that was a future problem. For now, Shen Mo focused on his immediate profit.
While Tsunade wrestled with her mental breakthrough, Shen Mo ran his final calculations.
The total value of goods and information extracted from Tsunade amounted to 10.4 million Ryo, converting to roughly 600,000 Transaction Points. His total cost—including the clay jars, the sealing scrolls, the Vajra Talisman, the two "free" jars, and the expensive Cross of Courage (6,000 TPs)—came to approximately 150,000 Transaction Points.
That yielded a net profit of 450,000 Transaction Points. A clean, triple-digit percentage profit. The Jar Business was, unequivocally, the most efficient way to ruthlessly extract wealth.
Yet, even with that handsome sum, he still felt profoundly poor. He mentally reviewed the items he truly desired:
Dark-Dark Fruit (Logia): 21 Million TPs
Wolverine's Adamantium Skeleton and Healing Factor: 11 Million TPs
Professor X's Telepathic Talent: 17 Million TPs
All the truly magnificent, growth-oriented abilities required millions. And if he couldn't acquire them through a natural item—a fruit or a talent—customizing them would effectively double the price.
Still so poor.
He then thought of a different acquisition strategy: powerful subordinates.
Shen Mo suddenly remembered the character he secretly loved: Ikaros, the all-purpose Angeloid from Heaven's Lost Property. Strategically powerful, incredibly loyal, easily trained, and most importantly... she was aesthetically perfect and utterly devoted to her Master.
He checked the system valuation: 82 Million Transaction Points!
He struggled to maintain his calm expression. Why was she so expensive? Telepathy was barely over 10 million!
A moment of careful scrutiny provided the answer. Traits like Fruits and Talents were raw potential, needing growth and effort to reach their full limit. Ikaros, however, was a complete, manufactured weapon—an entity whose ultimate power was already baked in, requiring no further development.
Ikanos. The ultimate motivation.
"Miss Tsunade," Shen Mo interrupted the tense silence, watching Shizune apply medical chakra to her master's arm. He handed something to Tsunade. "Please keep this."
Tsunade took the object. It was an exquisite metal badge, identical to the golden pattern that had momentarily appeared on Shen Mo's forehead.
"What is this?" she asked, her voice steady. Though her skin was still pale, her face radiated a newfound, clear-eyed focus.
"This is a Second-Tier Customer Badge. It's used for communication," Shen Mo explained. "You only need to input a small amount of chakra to activate it. When you wish to purchase more jars, you may contact me directly through this token."
The badge cost 3,000 TPs—a small price for securing a high-value, albeit temporarily penniless, customer. Tsunade, with her status, could generate millions of Ryo quickly.
"So, you're leaving?" Tsunade fiddled with the badge, still trying to ascertain its material.
"I am a merchant, after all," Shen Mo replied with a smile, his meaning obvious: You have no money left.
Tsunade placed her hands on her legs and leaned forward, her dark golden eyes locking onto his with an intense, sober clarity that banished any sign of her earlier intoxication. The Cross of Courage had worked its magic on her mind.
"This symbol you use, the All-Seeing Eye," she pressed, her voice lowering. "Does it mean the jars you sell truly can do anything?"
Shen Mo felt the invisible pressure of her focus. He silently purchased the Vajra Talisman again and slipped it into his sleeve. The time for subtle sales was over. It was time for a promise that would seal her obsession forever.
He looked directly into her eyes, his mysterious smile returning.
"I won't claim omnipotence," Shen Mo said slowly, his voice dropping to a theatrical, conspiratorial whisper. "But many of the jars I sell... they have, in fact, performed the ultimate, impossible miracle."
"Such as?" Tsunade breathed, leaning closer.
Shen Mo paused for a long, dramatic moment, then delivered the final, single word:
"Resurrection."