blogombal Chapter 49 Currency Appreciation
Chapter 49 Currency Appreciation
Minato Namikaze eats very quickly.
But not rude.
His movements had a rhythm ingrained in his bones; even chewing and swallowing were like performing some kind of precise task.
Kushina Uzumaki, sitting opposite him, was completely different.
She ate the rice cake with gusto, blowing on it because it was too hot, completely disregarding her image.
"Boss."
Minato placed the empty bowl down.
He ate it all up, not wasting a single drop.
This is a habit of war orphans or ninjas from civilian backgrounds.
"Check out."
Sosuke walked over.
"Two thousand taels in total."
Minato took out his wallet from his vest pocket and rummaged through it for change.
Just then, his gaze seemingly casually swept over Sosuke's hand.
That was the moment I handed Kushina a tissue.
Sosuke's fingers were covered with a layer of grayish-white, leathery calluses.
Minato's gaze lingered on that hand for 0.1 seconds.
"The boss has trained too?"
Shuimen placed two thousand taels on the table and asked with a smile.
His voice was gentle, like a spring breeze.
But Sosuke felt the pressure.
This pressure wasn't murderous, but rather a chilling feeling of being seen through.
Minato Namikaze's observation skills are S-class.
"The world is not at peace."
Sosuke put the money away, his expression calm.
"A businessman always needs some means of self-defense. I've practiced shuriken fighting."
"It's not just shuriken, is it?"
"The distribution of those calluses is more like long-term manipulation of a tightrope... and your nerve reactions seem to be much faster than the average person's."
Kushina ate too quickly and a drop of red bean soup spilled out.
Sosuke instinctively handed over a tissue to take it.
That movement was so fast, it didn't seem like something a shop owner would do.
"Watergate!"
Kushina wiped her mouth and slammed her hand on the table in dissatisfaction.
"Do I have to resort to occupational hazards just to eat? The boss is a nice guy; he even added sugar for us."
Minato paused for a moment.
Immediately, the scrutinizing look on his face disappeared.
Instead, he sports his signature sunny smile.
He scratched his head and looked at Sosuke apologetically.
"Sorry, I'm used to it. I've been a bit on edge lately."
He stood up and bowed slightly to Sosuke.
"Thank you for the treat. The desserts here are truly relaxing."
"Kushina, let's go."
Minato took Kushina's hand.
The two walked out of the store.
Sosuke was tidying up the empty bowls on the table.
He stared at the empty doorway.
Minato Namikaze.
It's not just about sunlight and speed.
That man's sensitivity and thoughtfulness far surpassed that of ordinary people.
That brief probing was definitely not a casual question.
He was assessing whether the shop owner, located deep within Uchiha territory, posed a threat.
If Sousuke had just shown a hint of panic, or been unable to explain the calluses on his hands.
Perhaps tonight, investigators from the secret service will visit his home.
"What a terrifying man."
Sosuke took a rag and wiped away the dried red bean soup stain on the table.
"However, this also proves one thing."
"War is really about to break out."
Only under extremely tense wartime conditions would a Jonin maintain such a high level of vigilance towards a roadside shopkeeper.
……
Night falls.
The lanterns on Hongshan Street lit up one by one.
The restaurant is closed.
Jin and Maki were cleaning up in the kitchen.
Sosuke was sitting behind the counter, taking stock of the accounts.
Today's turnover is quite impressive.
The Uchiha clan members have indeed strong spending power, and with the celebrity effect of Minato and Kushina, today's sales have exceeded 50,000 ryo.
But Sosuke's mind wasn't on the money.
He was waiting for Takaya Jiro.
The fat man was late.
As agreed, tonight is the time for the sugar to be delivered.
But this was already an hour past the agreed time.
Splash!
The door was pushed open.
Takaya Jiro stumbled in, carrying a leather suitcase.
He wasn't wearing that flashy fur coat; instead, he had changed into a set of coarse gray clothes, and his face was covered in cold sweat.
"Something happened?"
Sousuke closed the ledger.
"It's sealed off."
Takaya Jiro plopped down in the chair, the sturdy wooden chair creaking painfully.
"What's sealed off?"
"The village's supply control order."
Takaya Jiro pulled a crumpled notice out of his pocket.
"It was just posted this afternoon."
"All metals, medicinal herbs, grains, and detonators are classified as Level 1 controlled materials."
"No private chamber of commerce may hoard or trade goods exceeding the prescribed amount without authorization."
"My two carts of refined iron were confiscated as soon as I entered the village. They said it was for wartime requisition and gave me a blank receipt that could only be redeemed after the war."
Takaya Jiro was about to cry.
"That's just an IOU! Exchange it after the war? Who knows if Konoha will even still exist after the war? Even if it does, that little bit of money won't buy anything!"
Sosuke took the notice.
I glanced at it.
really.
This is an inevitable process.
In the face of war, private property is not protected.
"What about clean water?" Sosuke asked the crucial question.
"Although clean water is not a strategic metal, it has still been targeted."
Takayajiro lowered his voice.
"The price of water purifiers on the market has doubled every day."
"Someone is investigating the source of the clean water."
Zongsuke's eyes were slightly cold.
"What stage are we at in the investigation?"
"They've tracked me down." Takaya Jiro wiped his sweat. "Luckily, I have the security team's badge, so they didn't dare confiscate it directly. But they gave me a limit."
"What limit?"
"From now on, we will deliver 500 bottles of purified water to the frontline hospitals every month. We will purchase them at cost price."
Five hundred bottles.
This is robbery.
Moreover, it was a legal robbery.
If you don't hand it in, you don't love the village, and you're going against the will of fire.
"Give them to them."
"What?!" Takaya Jiro jumped up. "That's five hundred bottles! We're giving them to them at cost price? How are we supposed to make a profit?"
"Uncle, there's no other way."
Sosuke poured him a cup of tea.
"This is protection money."
Takaya Jiro sighed.
"That's true."
Although he felt bad about the five hundred bottles of purified water that were requisitioned, he was a smart businessman.
Some losses are inevitable.
If they don't pay tribute to the village, they are challenging the authority of the Hokage Building.
His chamber of commerce can forget about surviving.
"How much candy did you get in this trade?" Sosuke asked.
Takaya Jiro pointed to the oil paper packages piled up on the car outside the door.
"Three hundred catties. All refined white sugar. That smuggling boss from the Land of Rivers only wants our water."
"The war has really started over there now. The battlefield of World War II was in the Land of Rain, and this time it seems to be in the Land of Rivers."
"There's a shortage of medical care and medicine there. A bottle of clean water can buy a woman's virginity, or even her life."
"Now even sugar has been listed as a controlled resource. Fortunately, the logistics department and the supplies section know that this sugar is Uchiha's snack, so they didn't dare to confiscate it."
Sousuke smiled.
This dessert shop was opened at the request of the Uchiha clan.
White sugar is an essential ingredient.
Probably no one would dare to fall out with that group of mentally unstable conjunctivitis over a few hundred pounds of sugar.
"Alright, let's split the profits."
Takaya Jiro put down his teacup and reverted to his businessman's nature.
He opened the suitcase he was carrying.
There are no gold bars.
The box was full of banknotes.
The large denomination banknotes of the Land of Fire have a pungent, ink-like smell.
"Why is it paper money?"
Sosuke picked up a bundle.
A bundle of 1,000-tael notes would be worth one million taels.
There are at least twenty million taels here.
In times of chaos, buy gold. Paper money, once the printing presses in Daming Prefecture are turned on, becomes worthless.
Takaya Jiro couldn't possibly be unaware of this principle.
"you do not know."
Takaya Jiro took a sip of tea.
"The currency of the Land of Fire has appreciated!"
"Appreciated? By how much?"
"Twenty percent! A full twenty percent!"
Takaya Jiro held up two fingers.
"Previously, one tael of gold could be exchanged for six thousand taels of paper money, but now at official exchange points, one tael of gold can only be exchanged for four thousand eight hundred taels!"
"Furthermore, the Daimyo Prefecture forcibly stipulated that all trade passing through the border of the Land of Fire must be settled using the Land of Fire's paper money."
Oh?
Currency appreciation means increased purchasing power in the Land of Fire. Takaya Jiro can now buy more things abroad with the banknotes he has.
This seems like a good thing.
Sosuke stopped thinking about it.