Uchiha Makoto gave the "clueless" Daimyo a cool glance and didn't bicker with him.
Since the Daimyo was unwilling to meet Senju Hashirama, Makoto could do it for him. As the go-between, he'd have plenty of room to operate.
"Your Highness, leave this to me. Set this letter aside for now. If Senju Hashirama comes to the capital of the Land of Fire, I'll receive him."
"That would be excellent."
With Makoto's assurance, the Daimyo smiled.
With the letter settled, they turned to the tulip scheme.
The plan was approaching its climax. Based on current intelligence, over the next month cash flows from every country in the shinobi world would pour into the tulip market. At the right moment, Uchiha Makoto planned to roll out a brand-new trading method: contracts.
Pouring fuel on the fire.
They talked through concrete execution details: spreading false "tips," planting hype men and cheerleaders—people who had to be stationed in every tulip market across the Land of Fire.
After about half an hour, their discussion ended. Makoto left the room. He needed a night's rest; he had rushed to the capital the moment he received the Daimyo's letter.
A week passed quickly.
Tulip prices began rising even faster than before.
Having dived headfirst into speculation, Shimura Danzo spent every day basking in the bliss of "up, up, up."
His worldview took a heavy hit.
How could making money be hard?
Just buy a batch of tulips, sleep, and wake up to a windfall. It was as easy as having hands.
Meanwhile, his desire swelled with his changing worldview—twisted, even. He had planned to invest only one million ryō, but now he had repeatedly diverted clan procurement funds to buy tulips, reaching a staggering fifty million ryō. The returns were enormous; he had already doubled his money.
In a single week, he had made fifty million ryō.
What terrifying gains.
Even the funds Senju Tobirama had racked his brains to "divert" might not match what Danzo earned in a week.
Danzo still hadn't cashed out. According to the rumors on the street, this was just the beginning. Money would keep flooding in. Prices were only halfway up the mountain.
"How could I stop now? If you don't go all out when the big money's here, who knows when you'll get another chance like this?"
That line echoed through the exchange, and Danzo agreed with it wholeheartedly.
Those who jumped off midway, the timid ones ready to sell at the slightest breeze?
How could they be so scared by a tiny dip?
Even if prices plunged, so what?
Judging from the past charts, those were brief pullbacks—backing up to pick up passengers—technical corrections.
Those selling now were brainless chumps. Sooner or later they'd buy back at higher prices.
"Time to see that fool Hiruzen."
"Poor Sarutobi Hiruzen. What could he have done today? Haggling with profiteers over a few hundred thousand ryō."
Smug, Danzo strode out of the exchange. He had spent yet another full day there. Ever since he struck it rich, he had tossed the procurement mission aside.
In his mind, that job could be done anytime. The priority now was making big money.
If you've got money, why worry about buying things later?
So his procurement progress lagged far behind Hiruzen's. Unlike at first, he no longer bothered to make excuses. He didn't even pretend.
"Hiruzen, I came up empty again. All profiteers!"
Beaming, Danzo showed none of the disappointment one would expect from falling behind.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face was stone-cold.
He wasn't stupid. At first Danzo's act fooled him. Then Danzo pushed things further—and now didn't even put on a show.
To find out what Danzo had been doing, Hiruzen had tailed him today, watching him walk into the tulip exchange and stay until their meeting time.
"Danzo, you're still lying to my face. Do you take me for a clown?"
He couldn't hold back anymore and confronted him.
"Drop the act. You haven't done the procurement at all. I know the truth. How can you face Lord Tobirama?"
"The tulip business isn't something for us shinobi to dabble in. Danzo, you must turn back before it's too late."
Danzo's expression shifted. Then he realized.
"Hiruzen, you followed me!"
"Yes, I did. For your own good. Our top priority is to finish the procurement…"
Righteous and solemn, Hiruzen spoke with an air of moral duty.
As a comrade, he couldn't watch Danzo stray further down the wrong path.
"Fine. I planned to keep treating you as just another shinobi, but all I got was your cold shoulder. I'm laying my cards on the table. I won't pretend anymore."
Seeing that Hiruzen had learned his secret, Danzo stopped hiding it. It was about time to come clean anyway.
"Danzo, why are you still like this? I'm only thinking of you. We're comrades. I can't watch you make more mistakes."
Danzo's lips curled into a smile, and he couldn't help humming.
"Hiruzen, you're not a bad guy, just narrow-sighted. Since you're speaking to me from the heart, I've decided to bring you along to make big money."
"Make big money? What do you mean?"
Hiruzen asked, puzzled.
Danzo slowly raised five fingers.
"Hiruzen, guess how much I've made recently."
"Five hundred thousand ryō?"
Danzo shook his head.
"Five million?"
Another shake.
"It can't be fifty million, can it?"
Hiruzen's voice trembled.
Danzo—so you really struck it rich. And now I'm the clown?
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