"Thank you again for your genuine help," Shen Mo repeated with a gentle, appreciative smile, making sure his demeanor was nothing short of pleasant.
He understood the need to maintain a positive rapport; the colossal deal he was about to propose couldn't afford to be scuttled by petty grievances. Despite his inner machinations, he presented as completely self-controlled and utterly harmless.
Tsunade, however, was done with the pleasantries. "Save the compliments and hand over the cash," she demanded, her outstretched hand impatiently shaking. "That will be one hundred thousand ryo."
Shen Mo's eye gave the smallest twitch. One hundred thousand Ryo. A quick internal calculation pegged that at roughly six thousand Transaction Points—a staggering sum for what amounted to a non-effort wellness check.
He knew the journey through dimensions had granted him a brief "time travel protection period," meaning he wouldn't have been in danger even if she had ignored him. The inflated price tag, while audacious, removed any potential guilt he might have felt about his next move. The time for charity was over; the time for commerce had begun.
"My apologies, but I'm currently... liquid-poor," Shen Mo smoothly stated, a regretful look on his face. He reached behind his back and expertly unfurled a medium-sized sealing scroll (a purchase that, along with its contents, cost him a mere 700 Transaction Points). With a soft poof of smoke, ten identical, unremarkable black pottery jars materialized on the floor.
"I have these goods instead."
Tsunade's eyebrows arched, first at the casual use of the sealing technique—a clear marker that this "ordinary" man wasn't entirely ordinary—and then at the jars. She eyed them with immediate distaste. "Pottery jars? And they're worth how much, exactly?"
"These are no common jars," Shen Mo countered, his smile unwavering. "Each one is priced at fifty thousand Ryo."
"Fifty thousand?" Tsunade snorted, the incredulity evident in her golden eyes. The jars were clearly mass-produced clay. "Are you trying to scam me, boy?"
"The vessel itself is worthless, Madam," Shen Mo patiently explained, leaning into the heart of his business model. "The value lies entirely within. Have you ever played a lottery? This is similar, but far more exciting. These jars hold items of wildly varying value. You might receive something worth far less than fifty thousand Ryo, or you might pull an item worth many, many times more."
He watched the subtle shift in her expression—the flicker of interest that every career gambler instantly recognizes. The high-risk, high-reward nature was immediate bait.
"How can I possibly trust that there's anything genuinely valuable inside?" Tsunade challenged, her voice dropping slightly, her enthusiasm growing palpable.
She leaned forward, pressing one hand against her leg, the other clutching her sake cup. The sheer curiosity radiating off her was nearly visible. "What if it's all cheap trinkets?"
Shizune, kneeling nearby, buried her face in her hands, utterly mortified by her master's lack of dignity and instantaneous addiction.
"You could buy all ten, Madam, and you would likely lose money overall," Shen Mo stated confidently, utilizing a counter-intuitive sales tactic. "But statistically, one of those ten will be worth several times the cost. I am not in the business of a single transaction. If a customer profits, they will return, and the house eventually wins. That is the truth of the system."
"A sound business philosophy," Tsunade praised, already digesting the logic. She understood that, to a gambler, a guaranteed losing proposition with a single chance at a life-changing score was irresistible.
"I am merely a reseller, not the creator of the jars," Shen Mo clarified, preemptively closing off the future line of questioning about how one ordinary man could produce a Resurrection Coin. "I acquire them, and I trade them." This satisfied Tsunade, as it explained the sealing scroll—it wasn't his technique, merely his transport.
Her eyes, now sparkling with avarice and anticipation, scanned the ten identical jars. "Can I have two of them?"
"Consider them your medical fee," Shen Mo agreed, then pointed a firm finger at the array. "A few ground rules, Madam: No touching before purchase. No returns after opening. No exchanges for the content."
He wasn't worried about her using her incredible sensory skills or chakra to cheat. The 'Legendary Sucker' was too much of a true gambler to ruin the pure thrill of the draw.
Tsunade's focus sharpened. She had to choose purely by luck. She scanned the row. They looked, felt, and smelled exactly the same.
"This one!" She jabbed a finger, then immediately snatched the chosen jar. With a dramatic flourish and a loud CRASH, she smashed the jar against the wooden floor.
The contents spilled out: a small pile of ten-thousand-Ryo notes.
"Ten thousand Ryo?" Tsunade's face fell instantly. Shen Mo had valued the jar at 50,000 Ryo. A 40,000 Ryo loss on the first turn. "Tch. A bad hand."
She dismissed the loss instantly—gamblers always write off losses as tuition. This allowed Shen Mo, who had been holding his breath, a moment to seamlessly swap the contents of the remaining jars in the system.
This was the true bait.
"The next one!" She quickly picked up a second jar and smashed it.
Instead of money, a small, corked glass vial was revealed among the shattered clay.
"A small bottle?" Tsunade tilted her head, suddenly intrigued.
"Congratulations," Shen Mo announced, his smile now genuinely warm with congratulation and feigned envy. "That is an item of immense worth: Water of Life, valued at fifty thousand Ryo."
It was indeed Water of Life. Shen Mo had sourced it from the Pirates of the Caribbean layer of the system: a ritual-finished vial of the Fountain of Youth, which granted an ordinary person three days of extended life. It cost him 600 Transaction Points, translating to exactly 10,000 Ryo in the local currency. But for his purposes, its perceived value was much, much higher.
"This isn't just water, is it? And it's worth fifty thousand?" Tsunade sniffed the clear liquid, her eyes narrowing. A hint of suspicion, bordering on anger, flashed across her face. If she was being scammed, this "harmless" merchant would quickly learn why she was known as one of the Sannin.
"This is not ordinary water," Shen Mo stated, his tone shifting to one of absolute sincerity and confidence. "We operate with total integrity. This vial is capable of giving an ordinary old man on his deathbed three full days of pure vitality. If you doubt me, even a small sip should allow you to feel its effect."
"Is that so?" Tsunade challenged, her skepticism warring with a potent curiosity. As a medical ninja—the best medical ninja—she knew that delaying death for three days without herbal components or complex medical procedures was impossible. She internally scoffed at the merchant's presumed ignorance of her identity.
Disregarding the risk of poison or illusion, she uncorked the vial and drank half of the colorless liquid.
The effect was instantaneous.
Tsunade's golden eyes widened, her pupils constricting sharply. A wave of incredibly pure life force—a vibrant, untraceable energy—flooded her body. The strength of the surge was negligible for someone with her incredible reserves, but its purity was staggering, feeling exactly like her own life force, only amplified.
She, the master of the Creation Rebirth and Hundred Healings Technique, recognized the signature of life energy better than anyone. This tiny vial, without any visible components, was genuinely capable of giving a few more days of vitality.
For those on the brink of death, or those with massive injuries needing complex, delayed treatment... this small bottle wasn't merely worth fifty thousand Ryo.
It was cheap. It was a bargain.
Shen Mo watched her reaction, his initial confidence now cemented. He had successfully sold a simple item at a massive markup by proving its miraculous nature to the world's greatest medical expert.
The bait had been swallowed, hook, line, and sinker.
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Now that Tsunade has experienced the jar's power, what is the next item Shen Mo will use to fully convert her from a skeptic to a desperate customer?