`On the other side, Sakura Haruno rushed to Sasuke Uchiha's side, her eyes filled with worry.
"Sasuke, are you okay?!"
But Sasuke didn't even acknowledge her. Instead, he locked eyes with Hirofumi Ito, burning with competitive spirit.
"This time, you won, Hirofumi! But I'm not giving up. I carry the pride of the Uchiha clan! Next time, I'll definitely beat you!"
Hearing Sasuke's words, Hirofumi raised an eyebrow.
Sasuke Uchiha inherited the entire Uchiha clan's fortune. He's gotta be loaded, right?!
Maybe it's time to hit him up for a loan…
"Bring it on, Sasuke! I'll be waiting!"
Hirofumi already had a few plans in mind for what came next.
First off, he needed to make money and get stronger.
His system only cared about cash. Summoning weaklings like Genin or Chunin? Total waste of time. They wouldn't help much, and he'd still have to shell out for them.
His sights were set on at least blue-tier summons—Jounin-level strength. But that required a million wealth points, which meant a million ryo…
So, he had to figure out every possible way to rake in cash.
His own family? No dice. They could barely spare a few tens of thousands of ryo.
Inside Konoha, he could start a business or maybe pull a Jiraiya and write some steamy novels. After all, Jiraiya had become one of the ninja world's richest guys with his Icha Icha series!
But that kind of money came too slow.
The fastest way? Robbery. He had a target in mind. The big five nations and other ninja villages were too powerful to mess with, but Gato from the Land of Waves? That guy was a perfect mark! Just a powerless merchant with only a few samurai guards—maybe Zabuza and Haku at most—but swimming in wealth!
Even in Konoha, Gato's name was well-known. The guy was one of the richest in the world.
Hirofumi had even considered asking Madara Uchiha to help him rob Gato, but now he had an even better target.
Sasuke Uchiha had the entire Uchiha clan's fortune. As his good friend, borrowing a couple hundred million ryo shouldn't be a problem, right?
In Konoha, the big money players were few. Besides the Third Hokage and Danzo Shimura, there were only a handful of major clans.
Among them, the Hyuga and Nara clans were probably the richest. With the Uchiha clan gone, the Hyuga were now Konoha's top family. And the Nara clan made bank with their medicinal herb business.
Hirofumi had always thought that way, but he'd overlooked Sasuke. Time to cozy up to him!
The Uchiha clan's wealth, even after being split up by the Third Hokage and Danzo, had to still be worth a few hundred million, right? Those old geezers wouldn't dare push too hard—not with Itachi Uchiha still out there.
After the sparring matches, the afternoon classes wrapped up. Back in the classroom, Iruka-sensei let everyone go after a quick tidy-up.
The students buzzed with excitement, ready to head home.
"Hey, everyone!" Hirofumi called out to his little squad. They all turned, curious.
"What's up, Hirofumi?"
"Something going on?"
"Are we having another team dinner or what?!"
The group of young ninjas gathered around, and even Sasuke, hesitating for a moment, didn't leave right away. He glanced over.
Hirofumi walked straight up to Sasuke. "Nothing big, just that our little squad's got a new member today, right?" He nodded toward Sasuke.
"We've all hung out at each other's places before, had meals together. So, Sasuke, you're not gonna be stingy, are you? We've all hosted each other. You're not saying you won't invite us to your place, right?"
At Hirofumi's words, Naruto and the others lit up with anticipation. There wasn't much to do at home anyway, and hanging out with friends sounded way more fun!
Especially since Sasuke lived in the Uchiha clan compound—a place none of them had ever been to!
Sasuke hesitated. After that incident, he was the only one left in his clan. Even if he invited his classmates over, what could he offer them?
Still, deep down, he felt a spark of excitement. He'd been living alone in that big compound for years. Having everyone over might actually liven things up.
"I… I…" Sasuke stammered.
Naruto, picking his nose, sauntered over. "What's the matter, Sasuke? You chickening out, you little punk? We've all hosted each other. Even me, all by myself, treated everyone to instant ramen! You're the pride of the Uchiha clan, right? You're not that stingy, are you?"
Naruto's weird, taunting tone got under Sasuke's skin.
"You damn idiot Naruto! I'm not stingy like you! I was just… just thinking about what to serve everyone! No way I'd treat people to something as lame as instant ramen like you! I'm not short on cash!"
Hirofumi's eyes practically sparkled at that.
That's what I'm talking about! You're loaded, Sasuke! Makes it way easier to ask for a loan later!
Naruto, on the other hand, didn't care about Sasuke's comeback. Treating everyone to instant ramen was already his best effort.
"Tch, whatever, Uchiha punk."
"Damn idiot Naruto!"
"Uchiha punk!"
"Idiot Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
"Naruto!"
"…"
And so, with Sasuke's fat wallet leading the way, the squad went on a massive shopping spree!
Hirofumi had noticed earlier—Sasuke's wallet was stuffed with bills, the smallest being 10,000 ryo! And there were dozens of them!
And that was definitely not even all of Sasuke's money!