Tulips?
A strange look crossed Uchiha Makoto's face, as if he had discovered a new continent.
He hadn't expected to hear that familiar name in the shinobi world.
The tulip bubble was infamous back on Blue Star.
"Darkness, tell me everything about these tulips in detail."
"Yes, Lord Leader."
Although Darkness didn't understand why Uchiha Makoto cared so much about tulips, she still recounted everything she knew.
It wasn't any state secret. Anyone could learn the ins and outs with a little asking around among the nobility.
Although in the Land of Fire there are plenty of commoners who can't even fill their stomachs each day, the nobles have long been accustomed to a life of silks and delicacies so dull it numbs them.
The poor toy with cars, the rich toy with courtesans.
By Maslow's hierarchy of needs, these old-money nobles have moved beyond material wants and begun chasing spiritual gratification.
But antiques, curios, and courtesans had long since lost their novelty.
They preferred something different, something others didn't have, something that could casually signal both culture and wealth.
Tulips.
A flower from faraway islands across the sea. Blossoms shaped like crowns, stems as straight as swords, even the bulbs like little ingots of gold.
More importantly, they are very hard to cultivate.
From seed to bulb takes seven years. From bulb to flower takes another eight months. It perfectly fits what the nobility of the Land of Fire crave.
For now tulips are popular only among a small circle of nobles, but spreading through the whole Land of Fire, and even all noble circles of the shinobi world, is only a matter of time.
"I see."
Uchiha Makoto folded his hands under his chin, the corner of his mouth lifting in a confident smile. As expected, the dragon-born of every world are the same. Even here is no exception.
Once they've eaten their fill, they want something different to play with. Perfect.
You have money. I need money.
Time to make money.
"I'm now certain I've thought of a method that's extremely safe and extremely profitable."
"It's just that the plan is a bit complex, and this room is too small to write it all out."
He had intended to proceed steadily with a safer way to make money, but if there was a chance for quick cash, he wouldn't pass it up.
Let the tulip bubble blow in this shinobi world.
"Lord Makoto, you aren't planning to try your hand at the tulip trade, are you?"
Kazuma guessed first, but at heart he was still a native of this world, not that traveler from a certain island nation. In a short time he couldn't figure out how tulips could make money.
"Exactly."
"But the timing isn't ripe yet. We need to accelerate."
"Accelerate?"
"Yes. I need tulips to resound through the entire noble circle in the shortest possible time."
Right now tulips circulate only within a small corner of the nobility. That wouldn't do.
He wasn't worried the tulip bubble wouldn't inflate here. Human greed doesn't change from world to world.
Since he'd chosen quick money, he intended to make it big. No tiptoeing.
If you're afraid, don't play. If you play, don't be afraid.
The more players in the money game, the better.
"But that's very difficult."
Kazuma frowned. As a ninja, he felt nothing for a luxury that passed among nobles, but experience told him making the tulip name echo across the shinobi world wouldn't be easy.
"Kazuma, start your brain. I've always placed high hopes on you. Let me set an example first. Do you like stories?"
Makoto looked at him. Kazuma's personality and manner were exactly the same as the one in his memory, only limited by his identity as a native. A little prompting would unlock his potential.
"Sometimes I don't mind one."
"Then I have a story called The Daimyō Spends a Fortune on Tulips."
"Our Land of Fire's daimyō loves tulips. Yellow and white ones no longer interest him. He longs to see unusual colors. For that, he is willing to spend a fortune to purchase such rare tulips in the Land of Fire. But an entire year passes with no success."
"At this time, a minor official under the daimyō steps forward and swears on his life that he can fulfill the task. The daimyō nods and entrusts him with it."
"In less than a month, the official discovers a red-and-white variegated tulip in the Land of Fire. It is nearly withered, yet he still pays three million ryō to buy it."
"He brings the almost-withered tulip back to the capital to present it. The daimyō, seeing its sorry state, is furious. 'I asked for a tulip in full bloom. You spent three million ryō to buy this near-dead thing—are you making a fool of me?'"
"The official replies with full confidence. 'Your Highness, the one million ryō I spent on this tulip will not be wasted. Very soon the entire shinobi world will know you truly love tulips, and that you spare no expense even for a rare one on the verge of withering. It won't be long before countless people present tulips to you.'"
"Later, it happens just as he said. A month later the daimyō receives several superb tulips."
Uchiha Makoto's mouth went dry telling it, and a shinobi-world remake of Thousand Gold for a Thousand-Li Horse was freshly minted.
Every move of the daimyō draws countless eyes.
When the King of Chu favored a slender waist, many starved in the palace. Those above lead and those below follow. Paired with the shinobi-world version of spending a fortune on tulips, the effect wouldn't be a simple sum. Let this world feel a shock straight out of mass communication.
He and the daimyō were still in their honeymoon phase. The daimyō wouldn't mind doing him this small favor. He could even rope the daimyō into the deal.
They were fleecing nobles anyway. The daimyō already resented those aristocrats for factionalism and tax evasion. Better to bleed them dry.
"G-good story."
Kazuma swallowed hard, as if a swarm of strange new ideas had just barged into his head.
(End of Chapter)
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