Next, Saya, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Maruboshi Kosuke dragged out three benches from inside the central tower, sat down right at the entrance, and laid all the scrolls out on the ground like a makeshift market stall.
Then, Maruboshi Kosuke suddenly realized a serious problem.
"How do we let everyone know we're selling scrolls here...?"
Saya immediately activated her Mangekyō Sharingan and gave Maruboshi a confident thumbs-up. (￣▽￣)d
"Don't worry. Just watch me."
Then, to the shock of Senpai and the newly-returned examiner who had just come back from the bathroom, she activated her full-body Susanoo. A towering, crimson giant rose up in front of the tower, instantly casting a deep shadow over it.
The tower, already over thirty meters tall, now looked like a toy beneath the massive figure. The young examiner fell straight to the ground in shock.
"Th-That's...!"
senpai's eyes widened in recognition. He remembered the Susanoo that Uchiha Hikaru had summoned during the battle against Kirigakure. It looked strikingly similar, save for the color.
"Another Susanoo…?"
"As expected from someone brought back by Lord Hikaru…"
Saya controlled the Susanoo effortlessly. Its wings folded in and its hands positioned themselves around six glowing chakra crystals embedded in its chest. She focused chakra to her throat and shouted the advertisement with all her might, broadcasting it in all directions—north, south, east, and west:
"Can't pass the Chunin Exams? Don't panic! The Scroll Shop is open for business! Heaven and Earth scrolls available—500,000 ryo each! First come, first served! Group discounts available!"
Her voice boomed throughout the entire Forest of Death.
Even Anko, who was patrolling elsewhere in the forest, heard the voice echo through the trees. She burst out laughing.
"Hahaha!"
"Selling scrolls? That girl's got some nerve. She might actually make a killing at this rate."
Elsewhere in the forest, Fu looked up at the sky, despairing.
"Ughhh! No wonder we didn't find a single scroll after beating four teams! That woman must've looted everything!"
Utakata, on the east side of the forest, sighed and began walking toward the central tower.
Fortunately, 500,000 ryo per scroll was only about a month's mission pay for their team. Manageable, if annoying.
Meanwhile, Naruto had collapsed to the ground, clinging to Sasuke's leg.
"Ahhhh w(?Д?)w What do I do, Sasuke?! Jiraiya spent all my money on booze and brothels!"
"Waaahhh, I'm gonna fail the Chunin Exam just 'cause I'm broke! Waaahhh!"
Sasuke stared at him, completely puzzled.
"...Is 500,000 ryo a lot?" (⊙_⊙)?
"My monthly allowance is one million."
Sakura's eyes sparkled with sudden clarity: I must marry into the Uchiha clan!
Naruto: "Sasuke, please take care of my balls."
Just like that, all sixty-plus remaining teams in the Forest of Death began converging on the tower.
The first to arrive was Hydrangea, along with her two teammates.
They had originally planned to intercept teams trying to turn in their scrolls—but were shocked to arrive before the crowd, only to see an actual scroll bazaar.
In front of the scroll shop lay a massive pile of Heaven and Earth scrolls.
"Wha…?"
"Did you rob every team in the Forest?!"
"Incredible…"
"Give us one Earth Scroll and two Heaven Scrolls."
Saya looked up at Hydrangea, then exchanged glances with Kisame and Maruboshi.
"That'll be 1.5 million ryo. Cash or check, but only checks from the Five Great Nations," Saya said calmly.
Hydrangea nodded. She understood that perfectly. Only banks from the Five Great Nations had internationally honored financial systems. Smaller countries' checks were limited to domestic use. You needed real money or major-nation credit to do real business.
Then Hydrangea and her teammates opened their wallets—and their faces fell flat.
She looked at Saya, embarrassed.
"Big sis... we don't have that much. Can we barter? o(╥﹏╥)o"
Saya glanced at Maruboshi Kosuke for guidance.
He smiled like the wily old fox he was.
"You can trade weapons, but they must be brand new. And we'll only offer 80% of their market value."
Hydrangea beamed. Without hesitation, she pulled out a space scroll and unsealed a large stack of explosive tags right in front of everyone.
She handed over a smaller bundle after counting them out, then casually stored the rest.
"(^▽^) Grandpa, is that enough~?"
Maruboshi examined the tags, nodding in approval.
"One hundred fifty tags. Market price for this quality is around fifteen thousand each. This is more than enough."
Hydrangea cheerfully took the scrolls and headed inside the tower with her team.
"No need for change, Grandpa. Explosive tags are cheap. I've got plenty."
Kisame stared, stunned, swallowing hard.
Holy crap, I thought this girl was broke—she's basically a mobile armory! She's rich as hell!
Soon, more and more teams arrived at the scroll shop.
They all glared warily at each other, tension thick in the air. Eventually, the awkward silence broke with a collective realization:
"Wait… You got robbed by them, too?!"
"…Yeah."
"…Same here."
The reason they hadn't turned violent at the start? Simple.
They were all broke.
Being a ninja wasn't cheap. Most of them came from humble clans. Ninja tools, soldier pills, battle gear—none of it came free.
Even Kisame, despite being in Konoha for three years, hadn't saved enough for a modest home.
So, naturally, chaos ensued.
People began fighting left and right, desperately trying to scrape together 2 million ryo.
Some even aimed for 3 million—hoping to purchase an extra scroll of humanity and take a few samples of the so-called healing potion back to their village.
They were banking on that scroll giving them an edge in their next S-rank mission.
And so, exactly one hundred meters from Saya's scroll shop, a full-on Genin-level ninja brawl erupted.
Meanwhile, a handful of teams skipped the drama and came straight to the store.
Because money? Not an issue.
Neji's team arrived. Tenten, whose family owned a ninja tool shop, pulled out over 200 high-quality kunai and placed them on the bench.
They exchanged the pile for two sets of Heaven and Earth scrolls.
Tenten glared at Neji, exasperated.
"Neji, my dad is gonna kill me when I get back! He's gonna say I wasted top-grade blades!"
"You'd better treat me to dinner for the next two months!"
"I'm gonna eat my losses back!"
Neji nodded apologetically, a bit flustered.
"No problem... ￣□￣｜｜"
He hadn't even thought to bring checks or cash. He'd nearly had to use his father's inheritance. Thankfully, Tenten bailed them out.
Tenten, watching Neji's serious profile, beamed quietly to herself.
Great~ ヾ(≧▽≦*)o
Now I can finally have dinner with Neji without an excuse!
…
…
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