Residence of the Daimyo of the land of hot water
"Hello Daimyo sama," Akashi bowed a little to the man in front of him
"I'm Uzumaki Akashi it's a pleasure to meet you,"
"Please sit down young man,"
Akashi took a seat in front of the leader of this land, flanked by his guards, Maya and Naoya, whom he presented to the Daimyo.
"This is a pleasure to meet you young Lord Akashi, I hope your stay in my land has been pleasant,"
"Yes, very, I already had the pleasure to enjoy your famous hot springs, an incredible experience, very relaxing,"
Akashi praised honestly
"Glad to hear that, it's always good to hear compliments about your home,"
They exchanged a few more pleasantries before the tone of the conversation shifted as they moved to a more serious topic.
"So you've killed Sarato, I've heard,"
Akashi was a little surprised by how suddenly the topic and tone of the conversation changed.
Most Daimyos, nobles in general, after all, preferred to dance around important topics; from that, he could see that the Daimyo of the land of hot water was a little different from the majority of his peers.
"I did no such thing," Akashi replied with a small smile.
The two Uzumaki behind him nearly broke characters, surprised by how smoothly he lied, but inside they cast him a glance that screamed.
'Really!'
"You want me to believe that a day before you arrive in my country one of my most influential nobles with massive influence in the underworld who objected to your plan was eliminated and it has nothing to do with you,"
The sarcasm in the tone of the Daimyo was unmistakable, still, Akashi remained composed.
"I didn't say that it has nothing to do with me, just that I didn't kill him,"
"I think that someone in favor of my proposition must have eliminated him for me,"
'Someone in favor my ass,'
'You mean the kinoe that you sent,'
The two Uzumaki remained silent but Akashi could literally feel the amusement radiating from their chakra.
"Nothing surprising about that, really. What we planned to do with the end of the world market will bring a lot of money to a lot of people.
'Including you, this is why you will let it go.' he thought
It was becoming clear that he was an obstacle to that, is it surprising then that someone decided to take him out?
Though it is sad I certainly will not cry for him this is an opportunity for me to get more influence in the circle,"
Silence stretched in the room for a few seconds as the Daimyo tried to discern how much of Akashi's words were true before his lips parted in a little smile, and Akashi knew that he was off the hook for this murder.
It was not surprising that the Daimyo was annoyed by him after all, as the leader of that land, he too had influence in the underworld on his land.
"He was a pain for me too anyway, now let's talk about what you are here for,"
'He is a natural.' Naoya thought somewhat proudly. 'I should take lessons from the young master,'
As if he knew that Naoya was thinking something disrespectful, Akashi threw him a dirty look that shook the older boy.
Without saying another word, Akashi took out a scroll, and from it, multiple tags appeared.
"We should go somewhere more spacious where we can test them, I wouldn't want to damage your excellency's house,"
Once outside Akashi took out the first tag.
"This is a standard explosive tag, plug your ears please," he said before throwing it in front of him.
Boom
A powerful explosion resounded in the yard.
"Powerful, about the power of the C rank Ninjutsu, but the delayed explosion makes it easy to avoid even for most genin, if they are careful,"
He explained before taking out another explosive tag similar to the first one.
Presenting it to the Daimyo of the land of hot water he said
"This is the new version of The explosive tag,"
With that, Akashi threw it next to where he had thrown the first one.
Boom
An explosion twice as powerful as the first one resounded.
"Not to the level of a B rank Ninjutsu but much more destructive than the first one, no delay before the explosion when activated, I'm sure that you can see the advantages of this new version of the explosive tag, and..."
"What's the price," the Daimyo cut him off, "the most important thing here is the price,"
With a little smile of acknowledgment, Akashi answered, "2,000 Ryo for you, 3,000 on the normal market, a very generous price, don't you think. A normal explosive tag is 1500, what do you think Daimyo sama,"
"This, this is a fair of you," the Daimyo said, realizing that Akashi was giving him a good deal."
"What about the black market? What will the price be there?"
"Has a new patron of the black market 2,500 will be a good price,"
"I expected you to make it more expensive, after all, your goal is to make yourself and your partner richer,"
"Oh indeed, but if the price is too great the rogue ninjas there will not be able to afford it. They don't exactly swim in money,"
"True indeed, I see that you have thought about that,"
At that, he smiled "A little,"
Next, it took out four more tags, on those tags, the kanji of Fire, water, wind, and thunder were written.
"Those are the other new tags I talked to you about, the new invention of my clan."
He took out the tag with the fire kanji on it, after infusing it with a little bit of chakra through it at a tree not far away, before it touched it
Woosh
The tag turned into a ball of Fire that crashes into the tree and incinerated it.
"We made this based on a C rank fireball." He explained
Taking out others' tags he introduced them "We also have lightning current, the wind slash, the water wall,"
After presenting each tag he threw them toward a few targets and demonstrated their power to the Daimyo of the land of water.
"Of course, we have other types in store like the chakra suppressing seal, paralysis seals, or silencing seals.
We can also offer specialized work to protect your residence in case of intrusion, and more."
He then took out a piece of paper that he gave to the Daimyo, this is the list of our offers
"I hope you will find it to your liking," Akashi said after his presentation.
The Daimyo and the samurai took a few seconds to recover as they examined the lists.
"Huh, well... You Uzumaki really know your craft, hm"
'Unfortunately, those old men lost so much time aligned to Konoha,' Akashi thought as a smile appeared on his lips at the genuine praises from the hot water Daimyo.
The smile on the two behind him was proof enough that they appreciated that their expertise was recognized.
"I can see a lot of ways we could use your seals to improve the protection of my land and estates, and I'm sure that the other Daimyos that your clan has already contacted agrees with me,"
"I see that news travels fast, yes we have already made that proposition to a few others and most I've already agreed to let us operate in the lands openly and... covertly,"
All of them, from the Daimyos, their officials, the nobles, and others, are aware that this business will bring a lot of benefit, monetary and more, to everyone involved in the business.
"I have no problem with operating here young man, as long as everything is in order,"
"You will not regret it."
"Well, now that the business talk is done, it's time for leisure. Come eat with me, I will introduce you to the delicacy of the land of hot water."
Akashi was a little surprised by the hospitality of the Daimyo of the land of hot water, but it was obvious that the man was among the rare who actually cared about his people and was genuinely a amiable person.
Usually people tended to look down on in the Uzumaki due to their origin as ninjas, after all most nobles looked down on ninjas and even more on merchant, and when you add the fact that they had lost their land and we're living in hiding some nobles outright refused to even meet them, even with all their connection and money so seeing someone so open with them was refreshing.
"With pleasure my Lord Daimyo,"
As they walked inside the Daimyo asked a question
"By the way how do you intend to supervise your store when you are being wanted by the major Ninja village?"
"Well, this is one of the reasons why the collaboration with the black market was ...important, your patronage is also welcome lord Daimyo,"
"How about we discuss it after the meal!"
The very next day, a massive shop sporting the symbol of the Uzumaki Clan and selling all sorts of weapons and tags opened in the capital of the land of water.
Not long after, the same kind of weapons shops started sprouting all over the world, selling revolutionary seals to everyone, from ninjas, to samurai, to monks, to even nobles.
Soon, the Uzumaki name that had disappeared for a few years started to resurface once again.
In this world, where death was constant and where killing was elevated to an art; new weapons helping the craft was put in high regard, so of course, those new weapons became a sensation throughout the Ninja world.