Hiruzen Sarutobi paced back and forth in the dimly lit room, his eyes bloodshot and his mind reeling. His usually well-groomed beard was disheveled, and dark circles etched themselves deep under his eyes. Sleep had eluded him for two nights straight, replaced instead by a gnawing anxiety he couldn't shake.
"Danzo… what do we do now?" he asked, his voice trembling, almost breaking under the weight of despair.
Danzo Shimura, sitting across from him at the small table, looked no better. His posture was slumped, his usually imposing presence reduced to that of a worried man cornered by fate. He muttered under his breath, "How could this happen…? It shouldn't be this way. Logically, the prices should rise again…"
Hiruzen's frustration boiled over. "Danzo! Say something! Haven't you said the recent drops were just minor pullbacks meant to let more people enter the market? Why has it been like this for several days in a row?"
Danzo's face was pale, his eyes vacant as he tried to reassure both himself and Hiruzen. Yet every rational thought he had, every calculation he had made, seemed to mock him now. The truth was unavoidable: both of them had bought massive tulip contracts at near-peak prices, confident that the market would continue its upward trajectory. Instead, it had collapsed, wiping out all prior gains and plunging them into a staggering deficit—five hundred million Ryo gone in a matter of days.
The price of tulips continued its slow, fluctuating descent. Each minor spike in value was nothing more than an illusion, a trap set by Uchiha Makoto, who had mastered the art of orchestrated market manipulation. For every glimmer of hope the two men saw, the market would snatch it back, leaving them trapped in an endless cycle of despair. According to the cunning plan, this cycle could last weeks, even months, repeatedly harvesting naïve investors like Hiruzen and Danzo.
Danzo Shimura, normally composed and calculating, felt the crushing weight of helplessness. Every time he saw a brief recovery in prices, he would fantasize about salvation, only for Hiruzen's relentless panic to remind him of reality. Anxiety gnawed at them both, but the losses were real, and the fear of ruin was tangible.
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A Crisis of Nerves
"Stop arguing!" Danzo finally snapped, his temper fraying. "Hiruzen… at this point, what can I do? Are we supposed to sell all the contracts at a massive loss and face Lord Tobirama with nothing but bad news?"
Hiruzen, buzzing like a fly around him, was insistent. "Danzo! There must be some way… some miracle!"
Danzo buried his face in his hands. "Miracle? There is no miracle. I… I don't know what to do anymore."
It was a chilling moment of realization. The heady excitement of amassing unimaginable wealth had evaporated overnight, replaced by a nightmare of debt and failure. This was not a minor setback—it was catastrophic. Five hundred million Ryo vanished into contracts that now held only symbolic value. In a clan-based society where such sums could take decades to earn, the enormity of their misstep was soul-crushing.
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Fathers Arrive
Just as the two young men contemplated their impending doom, the door burst open. Sarutobi Sasuke and Shimura Shima—Hiruzen and Danzo's fathers—had arrived.
The fathers had long been kept in the dark. Earlier, when their sons were riding high on their initial profits, they had sent letters boasting of their success and promising a grand surprise. The elder Sarutobi and Shimura assumed the mission to procure supplies was progressing smoothly. However, the relocation of the clan and the absence of any tangible results forced them to intervene personally.
Faced with the questioning eyes of their fathers, Hiruzen and Danzo could not hide their failure. They confessed everything: every investment, every contract, and the subsequent catastrophic losses.
Sarutobi Sasuke's face turned red with fury. "This is the 'surprise' you promised?" he barked.
Shimura Shima, equally incensed, slammed his fist on the table. "Translate… what do you mean by 'surprise'? Five hundred million Ryo is gone? Are you insane?!"
Even seasoned clan leaders were unprepared for such recklessness. Five hundred million Ryo represented not just money, but lives, missions, and the stability of their respective clans. Hiruzen and Danzo's audacious gambles had turned invaluable resources into a pile of worthless contracts. To the elders, tulips were nothing more than pretty flowers—useless and frivolous.
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Punishment and Cleanup
The fury of their fathers knew no bounds. Hiruzen and Danzo were beaten repeatedly, a painful but necessary lesson from those who understood the value of wealth and duty. Once they had vented their anger, Sarutobi Sasuke and Shimura Shima moved swiftly to mitigate the damage.
All remaining tulip contracts were liquidated under Hiruzen and Danzo's names. After salvaging a fraction of funds and a small portion of materials, only about two hundred million Ryo remained—less than half of the original sum.
"Go back," Sarutobi Sasuke commanded. "Whatever Lord Tobirama decides to do, let him handle it. You've learned your lesson."
Even in their anger, the fathers could not bring themselves to abandon their sons completely. Like tigers with cubs, they punished but did not destroy. Running away was impossible—the clans had already moved to Konoha, and the responsibility ultimately fell on the village's leadership.
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Facing Senju Tobirama
Hiruzen and Danzo returned to Konoha, shoulders slumped and hearts heavy, to meet Senju Tobirama. He was buried in paperwork in his office, oblivious to the chaos brewing with the Tulip Market debacle.
The village was flourishing under his careful guidance. Large clans—the Hyuga, the Ino-Shika-Chō, and countless smaller families—had pledged allegiance to Konoha. Each addition strengthened his power base and tightened the encirclement of rival clans, including the Uchiha.
Tobirama's optimism evaporated the moment Hiruzen and Danzo entered. The two young men, still pale from exhaustion and fear, were forced to confess their failure. Five hundred million Ryo—intended for essential village supplies and experimental equipment—had vanished, squandered on a speculative market that had collapsed spectacularly.
"Idiots!" Tobirama bellowed, slamming his fist on the desk. "Two idiots who belong in a museum! I sent you to procure supplies for the village, not to gamble away funds on frivolous flowers!"
Hiruzen and Danzo could only shrink back, shame and fear overwhelming them. The office, once a place of calm and order, now felt suffocating. Tobirama's fury was a palpable weight pressing down upon them, a reminder of the consequences of their reckless ambition.
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Reflection and Growth
Though devastated, both Hiruzen and Danzo knew this failure was a turning point. The Tulip Market had been a harsh lesson in greed, risk, and strategy. Overconfidence had led to a nearly fatal misstep, but the experience would forever shape their understanding of markets, leadership, and prudence.
As they left Tobirama's office, chastened and subdued, they began to grasp a fundamental truth: fortune was fleeting, and wealth gained without foresight could vanish in an instant. But they also understood resilience, responsibility, and the value of mentorship.
From this point forward, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura would approach every mission and challenge with greater care, tempering ambition with wisdom. The incident cemented their reputations—if not as financial geniuses, then as the "Museum Twins," legendary for their audacious and costly experiment in the Tulip Market.
Their fathers, though furious, watched with quiet relief. The lesson had been harsh, but the young men were alive, humbled, and ready to rebuild. The clans, the village, and the ninja world itself would continue to thrive, even as Hiruzen and Danzo began the slow, arduous process of redeeming themselves in the eyes of Senju Tobirama and their fellow villagers.
The story of the Tulip Market collapse would be remembered for years—a cautionary tale of ambition, greed, and the fine line between triumph and catastrophe. And through it all, the Museum Twins learned that while wealth can vanish overnight, the lessons it leaves behind are far more enduring.
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