A few days later.
Shimura Danzō stormed into the Hokage's office, fury blazing across his face.
"Hiruzen! What on earth are you thinking? One million ryō! A full one million! And you just throw it away to let that brat fool around?!"
Click.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, calmly took a slow drag from his pipe. He had known this old comrade would come causing a scene sooner or later.
Inside the office, besides Hiruzen, sat the head of the Nara clan—Nara Shikaku.
Seeing Danzō so enraged, Shikaku could only shake his head inwardly. Truthfully, he didn't quite approve of Shimizu Kanzuki going into business either.
After all…
He was one of the unfortunate souls who had once "lost his trousers" investing in a previous venture.
Since then, he had accepted the truth.
He was cut out for missions.
Business? Absolutely not.
"Danzō, don't be so worked up. I'm only giving it a try. We should give young people a chance."
"Who said I'm worked up?!" roared Shimura Danzō, clearly very worked up.
Giving him money was one thing—but you even had the Nara clan clear a transport route and dispatch shinobi to escort the shipment all the way to the Land of Fire's commercial districts.
Was that reasonable?
A waste of manpower. A waste of resources. A waste of money!
At that, Hiruzen's old face flushed slightly. Of course he knew the odds of losing money were high.
Wasn't this just to let that promising youngster gain some experience?
In truth, Hiruzen had started regretting it the moment he agreed.
One million ryō was no small sum.
"Where is that boy Shimizu? Call him here!"
"That's enough!"
Hiruzen straightened, slammed his hand on the desk, and his expression hardened.
"Danzō. I am the Hokage."
"…You—!!"
Fine. Fine.
Pull rank again, why don't you.
"Hiruzen! You will regret this!"
With a loud bang, Danzō slammed the door half off its hinges and stormed out.
He would wait and see Hiruzen lose his proverbial trousers.
Shikaku awkwardly shifted his gaze. Seeing the Hokage's dark expression, he didn't dare utter a word.
"…Ahem. Shikaku, you must think poorly of me."
"You're too modest, Hokage-sama. As you said, giving young people a chance to hear a wake-up call can be a good thing."
Even if the cost was rather steep.
A full one million ryō…
Of course, while one million was a lot, the Sarutobi clan could afford it. It wouldn't cripple them—just sting a little.
"Yes… young people deserve opportunities."
Hiruzen rubbed his brow. He regretted it, yes—but he would never say so aloud.
The money had already been given. It couldn't be taken back now.
He could only hope Kanzuki's grand clothing enterprise wouldn't bleed too much.
Bleed?
Far away in the Land of Fire, Shimizu Kanzuki merely smiled without comment.
It was common knowledge.
Human nature was lecherous.
Desire was the foremost driving force of productivity.
Modern-era fashion designs had an uncanny ability to seize upon the deepest fantasies of men.
Sailor uniforms. Nurse outfits. Flight attendant ensembles. Body-hugging skirts. Petite demon-themed sets.
Black stockings. White stockings. Suspender stockings. Sky-high heels. Ultra-short shorts…
Everything imaginable.
And for formal occasions—lavish gowns capable of devastating the entire shinobi world's clothing industry.
Naturally, Kanzuki didn't craft them personally. The designs were drawn by Yukino and her mother, while the Nara clan arranged intermediaries to handle sales.
The most troublesome part was sourcing quality fabrics.
Yukino and her mother had suggested many business ideas.
But after careful consideration, Kanzuki chose fashion.
Because in the current shinobi world, clothing—true high-end fashion—was a luxury good.
And only a fertile nation like the Land of Fire possessed the agricultural and industrial capacity to sustain a full textile supply chain.
Other villages couldn't replicate it even if they wanted to. At best, they could run small boutiques.
Which meant…
In the Land of Fire, the fashion industry could practically become a monopoly.
—
Land of Fire. Nara clan territory.
Nara Suzaku watched in boredom as a female clan member modeled one of the sample outfits.
Honestly…
Would this really work?
It did look… quite impressive.
Still, wouldn't Hokage-sama lose everything this time?
Shrugging, Suzaku stopped dwelling on it.
They were only providing storefront access—three shops in total.
The stores weren't theirs; they were merely taking a percentage.
So these clothes would occupy prime display positions for only three days.
If there were no results in three days, they'd be shelved.
Day One.
Suzaku found it mildly amusing.
Quite a few older perverts wandered in.
Day Two.
Suzaku frowned in surprise.
Why did it feel like the crowd was getting bigger?
Day Three.
Suzaku stood far from the storefront.
Because he physically couldn't get closer.
"Quick! Give me three sailor uniforms!"
"Men shouldn't hog the line! I want the nurse outfit—and one pair each of black and white stockings!"
"Boss! Where's the boss?!"
"Stop pushing! Today's stock is already sold out!"
"Suzaku! Suzaku! Hurry and restock!!"
That day, Suzaku witnessed the terrifying purchasing power of desire.
Women thought the outfits were beautiful.
Men thought they were beautiful.
Most buyers were wealthy. Suzaku even spotted servants of certain nobles scrambling to grab merchandise.
This… this…
After a stunned silence came dry-mouthed disbelief.
They'd sold out.
They had to be sold out!
Suzaku's fists trembled.
How much money was this?
He remembered—
Even the cheapest set cost ten thousand ryō.
At that thought, he swallowed hard.
Like a madman, he sprinted to the other two stores.
People.
Everywhere people.
All rushing to buy clothes.
And every shop was completely out of stock.
As Kanzuki had put it—
"Hunger marketing."
Suzaku waited until nightfall, vibrating with excitement, spittle flying as he urged the clerks to finish calculating the day's totals.
When he saw the final figure, his entire body began to shake.
"…Quick! Quick!"
"Send this report back immediately!!"
—
The next day.
Hokage's office.
Hiruzen smoked in sullen silence.
Danzō sneered coldly, waiting to enjoy the spectacle.
Shikaku observed his nose, his nose observed his heart—remaining perfectly neutral.
They waited a long while.
When a Nara chūnin burst into the office in a frantic rush, Danzō frowned, ready to rebuke him.
But the young shinobi's face was flushed red with excitement. He held the settlement report high above his head.
"Hokage-sama! Intelligence from Shimizu Kanzuki!"
"Oh?"
Hiruzen blinked. That expression… seemed wrong.
Could it be they hadn't lost money?
"How much did we lose?"
"No, Hokage-sama—we didn't lose anything!
Kanzuki's clothing business made money!"
Interesting.
That boy truly had some skill.
How much?
"Net profit: fifty million ryō!"
"…How—how much did you say?!"The pipe nearly slipped from the Hokage's fingers.