Land of Wind, Yuexi Peninsula, Crystal Palace, Hall of Winds, Luxury Suite
Today, the Daimyō of the Land of Wind was, for once, not glued to a gambling table. Instead, he lounged in comfort, sipping tea and listening to his retainer's report. Even his tea was special—a second-grade Blood Mist Red that Third Kazekage Jinghang had specially procured from Kirigakure. Though not the very best, it was still a rare treasure. One sip filled his mouth with lingering fragrance, clearing his mind and refreshing his spirit.
"Currently, I've mortgaged most of your assets to the eight major banks of the Land of Wind and used everything to purchase iron ore. Our entry price was 251 ryō per ton," reported Mute, bowing low.
"Hmm. What's the price of iron ore now?" the Daimyō asked.
"It's already up to 483 ryō. Your assets have nearly doubled!" Mute replied with a smile.
"Haha! Well done! You may rise."
"I dare not. I took the liberty of investing your wealth, my lord—that should be a capital offense," Mute said, bowing even lower.
If I hadn't invested, would you and your entire entourage be left starving on the Yuexi Peninsula? Without investing, where would you get the cash for million-ryō poker games in the Hall of Winds, or for nightly visits to the top courtesans in the pleasure district…
"Sigh, this all came up so suddenly. You handled it well. I'll pardon your offense. Now, are our assets enough to buy back those… properties we lost before?" the Daimyō asked.
"Uh, still… a little short," Mute replied, wiping cold sweat from his brow.
A little short? Miles off, more like! If only you knew how much you've lost these past six years—besides Dragonfly City, there's barely any land left in the Land of Wind that's still yours…
"I see. Keep working at it. Anyway, my poker game's about to start. Prepare 200 million ryō in cash for me."
"Ah!" Mute looked up in shock, but the Daimyō had already vanished.
So I'm the only one running myself ragged here…
With a helpless wave, Mute summoned an attendant. "Sell 200 million ryō worth of iron ore and deliver the cash to his lordship."
The attendant nodded and hurried off.
"No matter how much I earn, I can't keep up with how fast you lose it," Mute muttered with a sigh.
He had no idea that this 200 million would turn out to be the only truly profitable trade of the whole ordeal.
——————————————————
"Have you finished the calculations yet? Have you?!"
In Konoha's "Economic Division" villa, Danzō burst in like a storm, rushing straight to the cluster of actuaries. He'd just come from a meeting on Sunagakure's military exercises and was desperate for an answer.
"We've got the numbers," an actuary replied, looking up.
"So? What's the result?" Danzō demanded.
"If Sunagakure's military exercise goes ahead as planned, the peak price for iron ore should hit 616 ryō per ton."
"Six hundred and sixteen?!" Danzō was stunned.
"How much profit can we make?"
"Approximately… 67.2 billion ryō."
"Sixty-seven point two billion! And after the Fire Eight Pillars Commerce Guild takes their cut, how much is left?"
"Around 20 billion."
The actuary's tone was flat—it was just a number to him, no matter how astronomical.
"Twenty billion! Twenty billion!" Danzō stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.
This business… was just too damn good.
To hell with Amegakure—let them play their own games. Twenty billion could buy two Amegakures!
"However, there are some scattered individual sellers right now, so the price increase has slowed. Otherwise, it could go even higher."
"Who? Who's selling now? Are they idiots?"
"There are many, and they're scattered—Land of Wind, Land of Earth, Land of Lightning. From yesterday to today, the largest transaction came from Amegakure."
"Amegakure?"
"Yes."
"How much did they sell?"
"Three and a half million tons. Sold at 468 ryō. That should be their entire stock."
"What's the price now?"
"492 ryō."
"Hahaha!"
Danzō threw his head back and laughed.
"Those Amegakure fools—still can't pull off anything big. So shortsighted, they don't even know how to pick up money when it's lying on the ground."
The actuary just shrugged, saying nothing.
"Bring out more funds—buy up everything and drive the price higher! We're taking over the market again!"
"As you wish."
——————————————————
Amegakure, Amekage Building, Conference Room
"I told you, didn't I? We sold too early, way too early! It's already up to 490, and it's about to break 500! That's all money!" Kijima complained, glaring at Aotu Tailuo.
Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, Daibutsu, and the rest of the Akatsuki leadership all looked at Aotu Tailuo with similar resentment.
But Aotu Tailuo didn't seem fazed at all. Instead, he picked up a chunk of iron ore from the table—a piece he'd brought in himself.
"I want to remind everyone: this is iron ore. Just iron ore. Iron ore is iron ore—it's not gold dust. Even refined, it'll never fetch the price of gold. The fact that we managed to clear out our inventory and make a killing? That's pure luck."
"But…" Kijima was still unwilling.
"You don't have to look at me like that. If the elders disagree with my approach, you can always remove me. But let me remind you: this is obviously a tug-of-war between the giant financial groups of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. And now, other nations' capital is starting to get involved. With our tiny resources, we wouldn't even make a ripple in that ocean. One wrong step and we're finished. I chose to cash out while we could. If you have a better plan, fine—I'll step aside."
With that, he ignored Yahiko, Nagato, and the others' attempts to stop him and strode out of the conference room.
Kijima turned to Yahiko, fuming. "What kind of attitude is that? That's the expert you brought in? Big ego, small talent!"
"Uncle Kijima, don't say that. What Tailuo said isn't without reason…" Yahiko muttered.
"What reason? His 'reason' cost us over eighty million! If you ask me, we should throw every last coin we have into the market right now—we might still catch the tail end. My guys calculated it: iron ore could go as high as 600 ryō! Do you know how much that is? Four hundred million!"
Nagato quietly bowed his head. Before the meeting, Aotu Tailuo had pulled him aside and given clear instructions:
If the village decides to re-enter the iron ore market, you must find a way to hold back at least five to eight hundred million ryō as reserves. Otherwise, Amegakure will be doomed—no coming back from that.
Thinking of this, Nagato gritted his teeth and raised his hand.
"I have something to say."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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