"Old man, seriously impressive. Last night's destruction was so massive, yet our shop somehow came through untouched."
Kakuzu looked at the ramen shop, completely intact, shock written all over his face.
Arisu, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all.
With his hands behind his back, he spoke calmly.
"I told you already, what were you panicking for? My shop carries great terror within it. Even the Nine-Tails doesn't dare touch it."
"Heh... right, right..."
Kakuzu grinned and nodded.
"We're open."
Arisu walked inside with his hands clasped behind him.
"Oh right, Kakuzu. Go make a donation to the Konoha office later.", Arisu suddenly spoke up.
After all, the destruction had been caused by the Nine-Tails. Some civilians had lost their homes before they'd even finished paying off their loans.
As the Nine-Tails' teacher, Arisu felt he should help clean up after his student a little.
Arisu was a good sage, not some troublemaker.
His level of cultivation was very high.
If something was happening right in front of him and he could help, then he would help.
Hearing this, Kakuzu showed a bitter expression.
"Old man, how about we skip the donation? Making money isn't easy for us."
Arisu raised a brow, "I think you just can't bear to part with the money in your register."
Kakuzu nodded immediately, looking utterly heartbroken, "Of course! That's our money! It hurts me just thinking about it..."
Arisu chuckled, "Who said I was taking the money from the register? I'll give you something to sell. You can make at least tens of millions off it."
Kakuzu's eyes widened at once.
'Tens of millions!?'
Then he watched as Arisu slowly pulled out a scroll painting from his sleeve.
"Here, sell this calligraphy piece and we'll have money.", Arisu smiled as he spoke.
Kakuzu looked puzzled for a moment before slowly opening the scroll.
The instant he saw what was written on it, his eyes flew wide open and he let out a shocked cry.
"This is!? This is... this is way too authentic!"
"This is actually Senju Tsuru's handwriting! Where did you even get an antique like this?!"
Kakuzu held the scroll with an astonished expression.
Antiques like this, especially relics from before the Sage of Six Paths Suppressed Demons era, could sell for absurd prices.
And this was calligraphy from a famous figure like Senju Tsuru.
"How did you get this? It's been so many years, and there were so many wars in between...", Kakuzu couldn't help asking.
"You don't need to know that.", Arisu smiled faintly.
Rare?
There seemed to be piles of things from that era over at Mount Myoboku.
This was only something he casually picked out from storage. If he really wanted to, he could even bring out artifacts from the Ninja Sect era.
———
Not long after the donation was made, Hashirama Senju personally came to visit.
"Shopkeeper Arisu! How am I supposed to thank you!?"
"Thank you so much! Konoha truly thanks you!"
"Your donation directly covered the losses from this disaster!", Hashirama tightly held Arisu's hand, speaking with visible excitement.
Arisu smiled slightly, "Mr. Hashirama, it was only a small effort."
"I never imagined you'd donate tens of millions outright." Hashirama spoke in disbelief.
Arisu smiled and changed the subject, "Were there any casualties this time?"
A heavy, guilt-ridden expression appeared on Hashirama's face.
"Sigh... my mistake. Because I acted too late, there were still two casualties. Two babies around Tsunade's age lost their parents.", Hashirama spoke with deep guilt.
"Oh? I see. That is not your fault.", Arisu replied softly.
"I still clearly remember those two babies' names. One is called Jiraiya, the other Orochimaru. Their parents had only just given them those names..."
"They're around little Tsunade's age, yet they already lost their parents..."
Hashirama's face was full of pain.
When Arisu heard those two names, he froze slightly.
'Jiraiya and Orochimaru?'
Thinking about the timeline, the two really had already been born.
Just a slight difference in timing.
Orochimaru was born in October, Jiraiya in November.
Still, things had shifted somewhat.
Orochimaru's parents were originally supposed to die while carrying out a mission.
Unexpectedly, they'd died during this Nine-Tails disaster instead.
Still... in the original story, both of them had ties to Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave.
And now, he was the sole authority over all three great sage regions.
"Mr. Hashirama, where are those two babies now? I would like to adopt them."
Arisu raised his eyes toward Hashirama and spoke evenly, "You want to adopt them?!"
The moment Hashirama heard that, his previously calm eyes instantly lit up with genuine joy, and his expression turned emotional.
"Shopkeeper Arisu, are you serious? This is wonderful!! On behalf of these two helpless orphans, I sincerely thank you!"
"Not only have you repeatedly donated to Konoha and helped those in need, now you're even personally taking in orphans. With such kindness and generosity, you truly deserve the title of Konoha's number one philanthropist!"
Hashirama hurriedly stood up and gave Arisu a deep, solemn bow.
Then he lightly clapped his hands.
Several members of the Senju clan instantly appeared and stood by in silence.
Immediately afterward, Hashirama personally held up an honorary plaque and solemnly handed it to Arisu.
Arisu lowered his eyes to look.
Across the plaque were two large gilded words... Konoha Philanthropist.
"Konoha Philanthropist."
"That works nicely enough. I'll hang it in my shop later."
Looking at the plaque in his hands, Arisu's expression relaxed slightly as he nodded.
"Shopkeeper Arisu, just sign this document. Everyone in Konoha will forever remember your kindness!"
"From this day onward, your Ichiraku Ramen shop will be entirely exempt from taxes! No matter what happens in the future, you can come directly to me!"
Hashirama waved his hand grandly, directly granting Ichiraku Ramen tax-exempt privileges.
This level of preferential treatment was unprecedented. Since Konoha's founding, this was the first time it had ever happened.
The Senju clan members' expressions changed the moment they heard it.
'Oh no! This is bad!'
'Ichiraku Ramen is a hotspot restaurant.'
'If you exempt them from taxes, how much money is Konoha going to lose!?'
'Lord Hashirama's acting on impulse here!'
Even when Arisu himself had served as Hokage back then, he'd never been willing to grant tax exemption privileges like this to any business.
Watching this unfold from the side, Kakuzu inwardly admired Arisu's methods.
Using a donation to directly obtain tax-exempt privileges.
Trading one year of Ichiraku Ramen's income for permanent tax exemption.
'So this is Lord Arisu's strategy!?'
Arisu signed his name on the document.
The moment Hashirama saw the handwriting, he paused slightly.
"Shopkeeper Arisu, there's something special about your handwriting. It looks way too much like the First Hokage's!"
"No, I can't even say it looks similar, it's practically identical!", Hashirama exclaimed in shock.
Kakuzu's heart tightened instantly, 'Should've known, I should've signed it myself. Hashirama used to work under Arisu all the time, there's no way he wouldn't recognize Arisu's handwriting.'
Hearing this, Arisu's expression didn't change in the slightest. He simply smiled faintly, "To be honest, I'm a supporter of the First Hokage."
"So I practiced the First Hokage's handwriting before."
Arisu smiled lightly.