In the office, Senju Tobirama stood in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, cursing them out. The two of them stood there like lackeys, trembling as they listened to Tobirama's scolding.
Even their fathers, Sarutobi Sasuke and Shimura Shima, were on edge.
Only after a long while did Senju Tobirama stop shouting. Drained, he sank into his chair, thinking through the next steps.
That was five hundred million ryō.
For Konoha, it was an enormous sum. More and more shinobi clans were joining, and money was needed everywhere. It would only be more in the future.
According to Tobirama's plan, he wanted to build a secret unit inside Konoha, nominally reporting directly to Senju Hashirama, though in reality taking orders from him. He also envisioned a Ninja Academy, Konoha Hospital, and more.
To make all of that happen, money was indispensable.
And the daimyō still hadn't replied. At this rate, Konoha's cash flow would break. The funds meant for bringing clans into the fold and keeping the village running would be gone. Damn it.
The more he thought, the angrier he grew. His eyes turned icy as he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō. For a moment he even wanted to kill them both.
"Lord Tobirama, my useless son can be beaten or killed as you see fit. The mess they caused this time is too big. They must bear the consequences themselves."
Sarutobi Sasuke and Shimura Shima had sensed Tobirama's murderous gaze and spoke up. As fathers, they had no way to shield their sons now.
Tobirama kept his reason. He only snorted coldly and said nothing.
If killing Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō could bring back five hundred million ryō, he would not have hesitated for a second.
But that was obviously impossible.
Five hundred million ryō.
Their lives weren't worth that much.
Killing these two idiots now would be meaningless. The real problem was figuring out how to clean up after them.
"'Tulips'… I've heard that name before. You two idiots, tell me everything from start to finish. Do not leave out a single detail."
Tobirama spoke to Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō. In a way, losing so much money so quickly wasn't easy to do. His instincts said something was off. Was someone deliberately targeting him?
And then the Uchiha clan popped into his head. That was locking onto a phantom enemy out of thin air.
Though in truth, Tobirama wasn't wrong. The mastermind really was the Uchiha clan.
"Yes, Lord Tobirama."
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō nodded and recounted everything they knew. Danzō had first entered the tulip market and made handsome profits. Hiruzen couldn't resist and joined in. At first they both made a lot of money, but greed swallowed them. They couldn't hit the brakes and ended up losing five hundred million ryō.
"Lord Tobirama, we did make a lot at the beginning. We even planned to donate it all to the village in exchange for your approval, but we never imagined it would turn out like this."
Shimura Danzō couldn't help arguing for himself. He had indeed planned to use money to buy Tobirama's approval.
Hiruzen nodded beside him. If only he had cashed out when he was in the black and returned to Konoha with a fortune. How great that would have been.
"Enough. Haven't you embarrassed yourselves enough?"
Tobirama's face remained like stone. He didn't care to hear their empty promises. He sifted through the account they had just given.
There was no appearance of the Uchiha in it.
That made him relieved yet disappointed. The disappointment felt strange even to him, like a thwarted expectation.
Odd.
He quickly pushed the feeling down and started working on countermeasures. According to Hiruzen and Danzō, tulips were a precious flower beloved by daimyō and nobles. Speculation had spun around them. Though Tobirama had no real experience in commerce and contract trading was a new model he didn't fully grasp, he immediately found the key point — tulips.
Tulip prices had risen from low to high. Even after the crash, demand still existed. If they held enough tulips, there was a chance to earn back the losses.
Tobirama then asked Hiruzen and Danzō how to cultivate tulips.
"Lord Tobirama, tulips are extremely hard to grow, and the cycle is very long. From seed to bulb takes seven years. After the bulb forms, it still needs eight months to bloom. Otherwise contract trading would not have arisen."
"If Lord Tobirama intends to plant tulips to recover the losses, I'm afraid it is impossible."
Faced with Tobirama's questions, Hiruzen and Danzō understood his idea at once. Even though prices had collapsed and were sliding, tulips were still a noble luxury, a precious flower. Tobirama wanted to recoup by selling a huge volume, but the difficulty and time required to grow them made that unrealistic.
"You two idiots know nothing."
Tobirama sneered, cursed them again, and hurried out of the office.
He was going to find his elder brother, Senju Hashirama.
Big brother, stop hanging around with Uchiha Madara all day. The village is in trouble. Time for the man in charge to act.
He had thought of Wood Release.
Wood Release belonged to Hashirama's bloodline limit. It could accelerate the growth of trees, even creating a sea of trees in no time. Tulips were flowers, but Wood Release should still affect them. Even if technical hurdles arose, Tobirama believed he could solve them.
"Big brother, use Wood Release on these tulip seeds, now."
"This concerns the village's future."
Hashirama was dragged over by Tobirama, bewildered. He had words to say, but when he heard it concerned the village's future, he immediately used Wood Release on the tulip seeds before him. A miracle happened.
"Holy crap."
"Unlimited tulip supply?"
"Konoha is this bold. Choosing to dive in now and smash the tulip market to pieces?"
"So you don't want to take ninja missions anymore?"
"Do you not realize half the nobles and magnates of the shinobi world are seething with resentment. And you choose this moment to make yourselves the target. Fine. Fine."
"The fall guy has appeared."
Uchiha Makoto read the report in his hand. He had been fretting over how to clean up the mess in front of him. The nobles couldn't overturn the entire shinobi world, but the damage they could cause was not to be underestimated.
Perfect.
None of this has anything to do with me anymore.
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