Chapter 60: Forging a Weapon
At the seaside town in the Land of Artisans.
Komiya Yuki said to Yamamoto Ryusei with some sadness, "Ryusei, those older sisters are so pitiful. Do you think there are more pitiful women like them in other places?"
Ryusei nodded. "There are. The pirates in the ninja world right now can never be completely wiped out. You kill one batch, and another appears. So there are many people in this world like them."
Yuki gritted her teeth. "Those pirates are so despicable! Isn't there any other way to solve this once and for all?"
"There is a way," Ryusei nodded, then told Yuki what he had told Uchiha Kagami. He asked, "Yuki, can you help me achieve this goal?"
Yuki immediately nodded and excitedly hugged Ryusei. "I knew you were the best, Ryusei!"
Ryusei and Yuki bought a lot of clothes and daily necessities in the small town. After having someone pack them up, he had Yuki take them to the pier to distribute among the women. Ryusei, meanwhile, stayed in the town to find a weapon shop and look at some swords.
He arrived at a weapon shop and saw that besides the most common kunai and shuriken, there were all kinds of weapons, mostly swords and blades, but also things like spiked clubs, bladed chains, and axes.
The shop owner, seeing Ryusei enter with a ninja forehead protector and a long sword on his back, knew that business had arrived. He immediately went up to him. "Esteemed Lord Ninja, what kind of weapon are you looking for? I have everything a ninja could need here."
Ryusei pointed to the sword on his back. "Do you have a chakra-conductive long sword like the one I'm carrying?"
The shop owner's eyes instantly lit up. A chakra weapon! A big customer has arrived! He quickly said, "Yes, yes! It's just a bit expensive. A long sword with eighty percent chakra conductivity costs fifteen million ryo. Seventy percent costs ten million, sixty percent costs seven million, and fifty percent costs five million. Anything below fifty percent isn't very meaningful. Which kind would you like?"
Chakra weapons are indeed expensive, but still acceptable. However... Ryusei frowned. "Don't you have a long sword with one hundred percent chakra conductivity?"
The shop owner sighed. "No. A weapon like that would be on the level of a divine artifact. Ever since the Kusanagi clan was wiped out, no one has been able to forge a weapon with one hundred percent chakra conductivity. Right now, with the technology of the Land of Artisans and the highest quality chakra ore, we can only forge weapons with ninety percent conductivity at best."
Ryusei was puzzled. "But you don't have any weapons with ninety percent conductivity here either."
The shop owner gave an awkward smile. "There's nothing we can do. Chakra ore of that quality is too rare; it gets snatched up the moment it appears. We don't have the ore here, so we can't forge that kind of weapon. And many master blacksmiths wait until they are trying to forge a divine weapon to use it, but not a single one has succeeded. The ninety-percent conductivity weapons on the market now are all flawed products from those masters' attempts at making divine artifacts. So the quantity is pitifully small."
It seems forging a divine weapon is not just difficult. It looks like I'll have to find the legacy of the Kusanagi clan, or find a master who is willing to try at any cost. Ryusei thought for a moment. "Then do you accept custom orders here?"
The shop owner nodded quickly. "We do, but it will take three days. If we provide the materials, the price will be the same as before. If you provide your own materials, then the labor fee will be thirty percent of the material cost."
Ryusei nodded and asked again, "Then where can I buy top-grade ore right now?"
The shop owner led Ryusei to the door and pointed to the end of the street. "In the whole town, only the Anchor Grass clan, who owns the mines at the end of the street, might have some. But no one has ever managed to buy any from them."
Ryusei was intrigued. "Then I'll go and try. Let's see if I can buy some."
The shop owner watched Ryusei go to buy the ore and couldn't help but reveal a knowing smile, muttering, "Another child who hasn't been beaten down by society. After he suffers a setback, he'll naturally learn."
Of course, Ryusei knew the Anchor Grass clan wouldn't sell. He was just going this time to scout the place. When night came, he would go and "take" it himself. Hehehe.
Ryusei arrived at the Anchor Grass clan's shop. Inside, various ores and metals were on display. These were just samples. Customers would look at the samples, negotiate a deal, and if the quantity was large, the goods would be shipped from the warehouse. If the quantity was small, they would just get it from the back.
Anchor Grass Ichiro was a minor manager in the Anchor Grass family. His daily job was to stay in the shop, negotiate deals with customers, and chat. Compared to his clansmen who supervised the mines, his life was quite pleasant.
Ichiro saw a youth with a ninja forehead protector and a sword on his back walk into the shop. 'Oh, a ninja. Another big deal has arrived.' Ninjas were the highest-spending consumer group for weapons, especially since they had very high requirements for their own weapons, so many of them personally selected their ores.
Ichiro walked up with a smile and immediately began to praise Ryusei. "This young man is already a ninja at such a young age! Truly promising! Are you looking to forge your own weapon? What kind of weapon are you forging? I can help you select the ore. And if you can't find a suitable weapon shop, I can also introduce you to one here. I guarantee excellent quality and a fair price."
Ryusei pretended to think for a moment. "I want to buy top-grade ore."
Ichiro's smile remained unchanged, but in his heart, he grumbled, 'Another one who wants to buy top-grade ore. How can we sell that stuff to you guys? It's much better for us to keep it for ourselves.' He then put on a beaming smile and said, "Lord Ninja, our family doesn't have something like top-grade ore. Why don't you look at the other ores? The quality is quite good, truly fine material for a weapon!"
Ryusei shook his head. "Then forget it. I'll go and ask elsewhere."
Ichiro quickly grabbed Ryusei. "Lord Ninja, there's no need to go looking elsewhere! If I don't have it here, no one else will either. All the ore in the shops here is supplied by us, so I know exactly what they have. How about this? I'll give you a little discount. What do you think?"
Ryusei nodded. "Then how are the ores and metals here sold?"
Ichiro excitedly pulled Ryusei over to a cabinet, took out some samples, and showed them to him. "That depends on what kind of weapon you want to make. If you want to forge a light weapon like a sword, you should choose this Snowflake Iron as the main material. It's hard and lightweight. If you want to forge a heavy weapon like a greatsword or an axe, you should choose Black-Patterned Iron as the main material. It's heavy and hard."
Ryusei thought for a moment. "Then I'll buy the Snowflake Iron. Enough to forge a long sword like the one on my back. I want the best quality."
"You got it!" Ichiro quickly went to the back and brought out a block of Snowflake Iron heavy enough to forge a long sword. "That will be nine million ryo. Do you need me to find a blacksmith for you?"
Ryusei paid the money and took the iron block. "No need, I've already found a blacksmith." He then turned and walked out the door.
At a corner, Ryusei quickly created a shadow clone and had it transform into a cat, perching on the opposite roof to monitor Ichiro. He soon discovered that the Anchor Grass family's business was quite good; several groups of people went in and out in a short time.
Ryusei carried the block of Snowflake Iron to the weapon shop from before. The owner saw him return and asked, "Lord Ninja, did you manage to buy it?"
Ryusei shook his head and handed the iron block to the owner. "He said he didn't have any, so I bought some other metal. What do you think of this?"
The weapon shop owner took the Snowflake Iron, examined it carefully, and rubbed it hard with his hand. "Mm... the quality of this Snowflake Iron is top-grade. It should be able to forge a weapon with over eighty-five percent chakra conductivity. So, Lord Ninja, what style do you need your weapon to be forged in?"
Ryusei walked to the counter, picked up a pen, and drew a picture of a Tang Dynasty hengdao from his past life on a piece of paper. He then marked the dimensions on it. "Just forge it according to this."
The shop owner took the drawing, looked at it, and said confidently, "A straight blade, ah. Alright, no problem. But you only brought the main material. Some of the auxiliary materials will have to come from my shop. That will be three million ryo in total. If you agree, you can come and pick it up the day after tomorrow."
Hmm... that's three million ryo cheaper than before. Not bad, I saved three million. Ryusei nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you."
Ryusei left the weapon shop and went to the pier. He saw that Ito's grain was almost all sold, and the goods Ryusei had stolen from the pirates were also nearly gone. They should be able to sell everything today.
Ryusei went onto the pirate ship and saw only Komiya Yuki with the other women. Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, Uchiha Kagami, and Akimichi Torifu were all gone. He asked with doubt, "Yuki, where did the others go? How come I don't see anyone?"
Yuki pointed at the sea. "They're all in the sea catching fish. They said they want to let the women eat something good."
Ryusei hugged Yuki and whispered in her ear, "Yuki, let me use your storage scroll for a bit."
Last time the team had pooled their money to buy a scroll for daily necessities, Ryusei had used his own money to buy three extra ones. He, Yuki, and Yamashita So each had one. Although Kagami and the others were from prestigious clans, they weren't very wealthy, so they hadn't bought one.
The warm breath from Ryusei's words tickled Yuki's ear, making her a little uncomfortable. She couldn't help but squirm. She took out the scroll from her coat. "Here you go. But what are you going to do with it?"
Ryusei put the scroll in his coat and gave a mysterious smile. "A heavenly secret cannot be revealed. You'll know when I come back tonight."
Half an hour later, Kagami and the others returned from the sea with a lot of seafood. They had also brought back many shells. The shells here were much larger than the ones in the Land of Fire, almost thirty centimeters long.
Hiruzen winked at the approaching Ryusei and Yuki. "Ryusei, Yuki, you two can pick two. Consider it my future wedding gift to you."
Ryusei said to the blushing Yuki, "Yuki, you go and pick two."
Yuki, her face red, ran over and randomly picked two. Then Hiruzen and Danzo carried the shells onto the pirate ship and said to the women, "These are the shells we brought back from the sea. There might be pearls inside. Now, we'll give one to each of you. You can open them yourselves. Whatever you find is yours." He then gave one to each of the women.