As soon as Kimura Masao closed the soundproof door behind him, he immediately changed his facial expression and furiously barked at his assistant.
"Why are you sitting there? Quickly bring the analyzer!" Masao said, compensating for his servility to superiors with anger at inferiors.
"Yes, Masao-sama." The forty-year-old man answered and immediately slipped into the far room.
Masao meanwhile skeptically began to examine one of the katanas, already thinking in advance how to refuse this respected person from the Nakayama Family without loss, because even he could not just conclude trade agreements with other suppliers. However, the more he looked at the katana, the more the skeptical look changed to surprised and then completely shocked.
"This is a master's work!" Kimura Masao exclaimed inwardly. He could unmistakably determine decorative katanas whose only purpose was to decorate collections of rich and influential people.
Seeing that all the katanas were made excellently, he was even more surprised why this person brought a purely antique item to a pavilion engaged in selling combat blades.
He thought for some time about returning and clarifying some details with Kenshin but almost immediately changed his mind remembering his imperious attitude threatening to turn into displeasure.
Moreover, Kimura Masao was an excellent specialist in his field and perfectly understood good swords, so he very quickly noticed properties uncharacteristic for antiques. Even at a glance the katana had perfect sharpening which simply could not be applied to antiques for reasons of preservation.
Masao carefully took the katana in his hands and carefully ran his fingers along the blade, then again and again each time applying a little more force. At some point he got so carried away that he completely forgot about caution, but the katana did not dull or crack even when he applied all his strength as a peak Genin.
"WHAT?!" Kimura Masao exclaimed mentally. He could not believe his eyes, the katana without any problems cut his chakra-infused flesh remaining without a single micro-chip.
Unable to contain his excitement, he ran to the warehouse following his assistant and literally snatched the sword quality analyzer built on pure fuinjutsu from his hands. Many different fuin evaluated only three parameters of the blade inserted inside the structure.
After Masao inserted the blade into the analyzer and activated the one-time fuin, he began to wait for the result. His assistant was in complete confusion and did not understand at all what had happened to his boss but decided to remain silent so as not to get under his hot hand once again.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Masao suddenly laughed seeing the results given by the analyzer.
There were only three small windows on the small metal device with an archaic internal device. Everything was built on the principle of ordinary wall clocks. The mechanism inside the analyzer based on the received data displayed a number in the window accurately showing the analysis results.
Durability — 10
Hardness — 10
Sharpening — 9
Seeing completely perfect results, Kimura Masao suddenly understood the confidence of that person and his words that these swords are better than everything in his pavilion. This katana was on the verge of being considered the most valuable relic that is never seen for sale.
The delighted Masao grabbed the katana and stack of shurikens hurrying back to the guest because he understood that making him wait longer than allowed was impossible.
*****
Kenshin meanwhile sat relaxed on a luxurious sofa by the standards of this world and just waited for the manager to return. He still had not fully come to terms with the role of a respected and imperious person but tried to behave exactly like that.
"Nakayama-san, forgive me for making you wait." Masao said with a fawning smile returning and then continued: "Your blade is magnificent! Not only is it a real work of art, it is also really higher quality than everything sold in this pavilion. May I know the name of the master who made it?" He asked breathlessly.
"This person does not want to reveal his identity. I will only say one thing — he is a member of my Nakayama Family." Kenshin answered in a calm tone. And although at that moment he was sitting on the sofa, this did not prevent him from looking at Masao from above.
Hearing a rather soft refusal, Kimura Masao smiled contentedly and said: "Of course, Nakayama-san, I understand everything."
"Fine. Since you are convinced of the quality of my blades, we can get down to business. One hundred thousand ryo for one blade and five hundred ryo for one shuriken. The price is not negotiable, as is the subsequent markup from your store." Kenshin declared imperiously looking Masao straight in the eyes.
"S-Sir, the price for these magnificent blades is more than acceptable, but… The price for shurikens is a bit overpriced… With all due respect, I cannot purchase consumables at such a high price…" Masao answered embarrassedly. Usually his pavilion purchased shurikens for 50 ryo apiece and sold them with a small markup of about 30-50 ryo on top.
"These are not just consumables. These shurikens are higher quality than all you have seen in your life." Kenshin answered confidently. He had no doubt that even in the Uzumaki clan filled with fuinjutsu masters there were not so many resources and wealth to create shurikens of this level.
"Hmm… It's awkward to admit, but my old eyes did not see anything special in them…" Masao said with a hint. He simply had to maneuver and try not to anger the respected guest which this time was extremely difficult for him. The interlocutor seemed to see right through him and was completely impervious to any tricks accumulated over long years of negotiations.
"Want to know what's special about them? Fine, I'll show you." Kenshin said, taking one shuriken from the stack and at that moment Masao was very frightened but maintained outward composure hoping for the reasonableness of the hot-tempered guest.
"S-Sir…" Masao began but fell silent when Kenshin lightning-fast threw the shuriken aside.
A small pop sounded from his swing, and a gust of wind strongly shook the curtains in the room. Masao meanwhile belatedly turned his head in that direction and stunnedly stared at a small crack in the strong stone wall. The eyes of a strong Genin allowed him to examine it in all details, and the old manager could not believe what he saw.
"And now look what happened to this shuriken." Kenshin said calmly, and only after his words did Masao come out of his stupor.
"I-I'll be right back." He said with a smile and quickly went out the door expecting to see the shuriken in the next wall, but it was not there. Only exactly the same perfectly smooth crack. Masao was inwardly amazed at how strong and incredible these shurikens were and was already ready to buy the entire batch. However, there was no shuriken behind the second wall either, only a small crack indicated that it flew further.