In less than three days, Tsunade and Kitazawa's Ocean's Heart jewelry store became famous in the Capital of the Land of Fire.
The two of them lived in the Daimyo's residence, and noblewomen visited them constantly.
They all came for one reason: they wanted to own the same necklace as the Daimyo's Wife. Even if it wasn't exactly the same, something similar would suffice.
Kitazawa's response was always the same. First, he would have them attend the necklace auction on Saturday, and then he would discuss it with them.
The time arrived on Saturday.
The Daimyo's Wife generously lent them the backyard of the Daimyo's residence. The reason was that she had received enthusiastic praise during this period.
Every noblewoman who saw her would compliment her necklace and then show an envious expression. The Daimyo's Wife felt a sense of joy, being above all others yet below one.
In fact, high-end brands sell precisely this kind of prestige.
"They are truly crazy," Tsunade said, shaking her head as she looked at the courtyard filled with noblewomen.
"They have money and time, so naturally, they would come to join the fun," Kitazawa said, not surprised at all.
Of course, the Daimyo's Wife also played a significant role. The Ninja World, apart from the Ninja, is essentially a feudal society with strict hierarchies.
With the Daimyo's Wife leading the way, they would all surely come. Moreover, the location was the Daimyo's residence; not coming would be disrespectful to the Daimyo.
In fact, the Daimyo also came, which was largely thanks to Tsunade's great influence.
"After this auction, our jewelry store will surely receive many orders." Tsunade smiled at the thought of countless money.
"Scarcity creates value," Kitazawa explained casually. "There shouldn't be too many custom-made pieces, and the Hyuga Clan is also too busy."
"What a pity," Tsunade said with some regret.
Not earning so much money truly pained her heart. However, what Kitazawa said also made sense; once it becomes common, it loses its high value.
Custom high-end jewelry can make money, and ordinary standardized jewelry can too.
"When we return, we'll send someone to open a branch in the Capital." Kitazawa paused, then asked, "Do you have any suitable candidates?"
"It's a shame Rina is too busy; otherwise, we could have her come," Tsunade pondered for a moment, then said, "Let the Hyuga Clan be responsible."
"That works too." Kitazawa's heart suddenly stirred, and he remembered a Ninja of the Uzumaki Clan still existing in the Ninja World.
Her name is Honoka Uzumaki, and she is currently a researcher on Summoning Island in the Land of the Sea, with the goal of developing the ultimate Summoning Beast.
In the original storyline, she had long red hair and was skilled in the Sealing Technique. Unfortunately, due to the ultimate Summoning Beast's failed rampage, she also died.
This plot should not have happened yet. Kitazawa felt that he could take Karin there during the next Monthly Exam.
Nine AM.
The auction officially began.
Although the auctioned necklace was not the same as the Daimyo's Wife's, it still looked very luxurious. Bidding rose and fell, slowly stopping only after fifty million ryo.
"I wonder how much it will reach in the end!" Tsunade said excitedly.
"It might even reach one hundred million," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"One hundred million? That's impossible," Tsunade subconsciously shook her head and said.
One hundred million, for a Ninja, was already an astronomical figure. Asuma Sarutobi's bounty was only thirty-five million ryo.
Taking Jiraiya as an example, the total rewards from all the missions he completed in his lifetime probably amounted to about six hundred million ryo.
Although he was often away, he did not do few missions, and among Jonin, he was considered outstanding.
Most importantly, he was powerful, and most of his missions were high-level ones. For example, he completed 614 A-Rank Missions and 138 S-Rank Missions.
An ordinary Jonin, even throughout their entire life, would find it difficult to complete even a third, let alone half, of that mission volume.
Half an hour later, only three noblewomen remained in the bidding.
These three noblewomen were the most distinguished, apart from the Daimyo's Wife. They also didn't get along, so they had been competing.
Tsunade bit her lip. She felt that she had never been this nervous, not even during her first S-Rank Mission.
Ultimately, as she expected, it didn't reach one hundred million ryo, but it did reach eighty million ryo.
"So much money!" Tsunade's eyes sparkled like jewels.
"You're the Hokage, how can you be so undignified?" Kitazawa asked with a smile, looking at her expression.
Tsunade was in a good mood and didn't mind his teasing.
She would get a ten percent share of these eighty million ryo, which was eight million ryo, enough for her to squander in the casino for a long time. And this was just the beginning.
"I can't think too much," Tsunade quickly shook her head and said, "As soon as I think of so much money, being a Ninja feels meaningless."
"How is it meaningless?" Kitazawa glanced at the sky and said, "The Ninja World ultimately respects strength."
After the Akatsuki Organization launched the Eye of the Moon Plan, and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya descended, no matter how much money one had, they would still be lambs to the slaughter.
With invincible strength, there would be no need for necklace auctions; these people would proactively offer him money.
As for now, Kitazawa would temporarily abide by the Ninja code.
"How are you more open-minded than me?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.
Logically, a young man like Kitazawa should be the most susceptible to temptation. Yet, he remained perfectly calm in the face of such a huge sum as eighty million ryo.
"I personally prefer to pursue strength," Kitazawa said casually.
He couldn't tell Tsunade that he had seen aliens.
"Hmph, then you also said you'd keep my money safe," Tsunade pouted and said, "Why don't you just give me the money directly?"
"That's impossible," Kitazawa met her gaze and said calmly.
"Damn it!" Tsunade immediately said, displeased, "I'm your teacher!"
"The auction is over, it's our turn. You'll make a list of the noblewomen who want custom jewelry later."
After Kitazawa finished speaking, he walked into the courtyard.
Tsunade felt like she was punching cotton.
This student of hers wasn't afraid of her at all, which made her feel she had no authority as a teacher. Yet, Kitazawa was too excellent, and she truly couldn't suppress him.
The two of them were busy until night, finally dealing with all the noblewomen. Kitazawa looked at the money in the passbook and nodded with satisfaction.
Although the Ninja World valued strength, money still played a significant role. After all, not every Ninja could walk the path of invincibility.
These eighty million ryo came quite easily for him, and without any cost. All raw materials came from the ocean.
At most, he just needed to pay some wages to the Hyuga Clan and the Gato Shipping Company.
Kitazawa was now curious about Hyuga Hiashi's reaction when he saw so much money. This was a good opportunity to have him assign more personnel.
"Let me see!" Tsunade leaned forward and said excitedly.
She would go to the casino as soon as she had money, so she had never saved any, only accumulated a pile of IOUs. Eighty million ryo was the largest sum of money she had ever gotten her hands on.
Kitazawa opened the passbook facing her. But as she reached for the passbook, he put it away.
"Is that how you see me?" Tsunade asked, looking speechless.
"We've been playing in the Capital for a week. When are we going back?" Kitazawa decisively changed the subject.
"Tomorrow," Tsunade paused, then became excited again, "You're coming with me to the casino tonight!"
"You just earned eight million ryo, and you want to lose it already?" Kitazawa shook his head and asked.
"What are you talking about?" Tsunade couldn't help but punch him, saying with great confidence, "I'm definitely going to win from eight million ryo to eighty million ryo!"
But the facts proved that when it came to gambling, there were no surprises for her.
With a crunch, Tsunade, who had lost all night, walked on the road and directly crushed a small stone to dust.
Kitazawa's eyelids twitched. Those high-heeled sandals would definitely be lethal if stepped on a person.
Kitazawa followed her, not saying much, to avoid being implicated.
The two returned to the Daimyo's residence.
"Wake me up tomorrow!" Tsunade returned to her room, still angry.
The next morning, after breakfast, the two bid farewell to the Daimyo's family and left the Capital of the Land of Fire.
Since Tsunade had already played for a week, they traveled at a normal speed on their way back, arriving at Konoha Village by night.
"When do you plan to go to Otogakure?" Tsunade stopped at her doorstep and looked at Kitazawa.
"Give me a week," Kitazawa thought for a moment and said.
"Okay," Tsunade paused, then said, "Your safety is the most important thing. If Orochimaru isn't caught, there's always next time."
After she finished speaking, she walked into the house and closed the door without waiting for Kitazawa to respond.
---
"I'm home!" Kitazawa opened the door and shouted towards the living room.
A fragrant breeze swept over. Kurenai flashed in front of him and hugged him. This week, she had been extremely unaccustomed to being alone.
Kitazawa lowered his head and kissed her without a word.
The two of them engaged in a battle of lips for several minutes before reluctantly parting.
"Why were you gone for so long?" Kurenai gasped, asking curiously.
"Mainly, the promotion took a lot of time." Kitazawa led her into the living room and asked, "Guess how much our first necklace sold for?"
"At least thirty million ryo," Kurenai thought for a moment and said.
She had seen the necklace for auction; it was adorned with various gems, diamonds, and jade, clearly very expensive.
"It was eighty million ryo." Kitazawa sat on the sofa, pulling her into his embrace.
"That much?" Kurenai's eyes widened, and she instinctively sat on his lap.
"They're all wealthy noblewomen, very rich." Kitazawa rubbed her thigh, smiling as he said, "And the most important thing is their reputation."
"We're rich!" Kurenai excitedly kissed him on the cheek and exclaimed.
She suddenly felt a loss of motivation in life. Eighty million ryo—she would have to complete eighty S-Rank Missions to earn that much.
In fact, she had completed no more than twenty S-Rank Missions to date. After all, she had only recently become a Jonin. Unless one is a Jonin, they typically wouldn't undertake S-Rank Missions.
"Eighty million ryo isn't all ours." Kitazawa paused, then said, "Besides, money is ultimately external; strength is the foundation."
"Mm." Kurenai quickly returned to normal.
"Then let me check on your Sealing Technique studies this week." Kitazawa picked her up and walked towards the bathroom.
Kurenai gave him a glare. But soon she became busy, bathing for two hours without needing to touch the ground.
The cost was utter exhaustion; she didn't even have the strength to walk and was carried back to the room by Kitazawa.
---
A new day, Monday.
This was also the second week of summer vacation.
After waking up, Kitazawa ate breakfast and went to the Ninja Academy. As for Kurenai, she wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.
"Teacher Kitazawa!" Hyuga Hinata's face lit up with surprise when she saw him.
"Teacher Kitazawa, we missed you so much!" Naruto greeted him excitedly.
"Yes!" Ino ran up to him and asked, "Teacher Kitazawa, did you go on a mission this week?"
Shikamaru, Choji, Yakumo, Shino Aburame, and others also gathered around.
Only Sasuke and Sakura were absent. They had gone to participate in Kakashi and Kosuke's summer special training.
"I did go on a mission." Kitazawa patted Ino's head and said, "You all continue training; I'll see if there are any issues."
"Yes, Teacher Kitazawa!" Naruto, Ino, and the others dispersed again and resumed their training.
Just then, three lines of text appeared before Kitazawa's eyes.
[Current Mission: Have five Medical Ninjas learn Limb Regeneration.]
[Mission Reward: Master-level Yang Release Chakra Nature Transformation.]
[Host has completed the mission; reward issued.]
Has Shizune finally learned the Limb Regeneration Medical Ninjutsu? Kitazawa instinctively clenched his fist.
With Master-level Yang Release Chakra Nature Transformation, he would be able to learn Ninja Art Creation Rebirth – Strength of a Hundred Seal even faster.
In addition, modifying the Medical Forbidden Technique: Cellular Activation would also be much quicker.
And once Shizune learned Limb Regeneration, Kitazawa would no longer have to oversee the Konoha Hospital's Medical Ninja training class. He could focus his energy on cultivating his Ninjutsu.
Kitazawa snapped back to reality and looked at Hinata and the others. Most of their training didn't require much input from him; his gaze fell on Naruto.
His Wind Release: Rotating Shuriken was already very proficient, allowing him to move on to learning the next Ninjutsu.
Kitazawa was deep in thought. He taught Naruto Wind Release: Gale Palm, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, and Wind Release: Rotating Shuriken, all to enhance his long-range combat abilities. Currently, it is sufficient.
To learn more advanced Wind Release techniques, Naruto would need to improve his Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation level.
However, he was young, and his Chakra control was average, so learning them would be quite time-consuming.
For close combat, Naruto had two methods. One was the Taijutsu taught by Might Guy. The other was the great sword Samehada, which Kitazawa had given him.
Naruto had already learned most of Might Guy's Taijutsu; what remained was the Eight Gates Formation, for which he did not meet the learning conditions. As for the great sword Samehada, it could indeed be strengthened further.
"Naruto," Kitazawa called out, having thought this far.
"Teacher Kitazawa."
Naruto immediately ran over. Behind him, the great sword Samehada bounced along, chasing him.
"You don't need to practice Wind Release for now; switch to Kenjutsu." Kitazawa drew Zangetsu and said, "Pick up Samehada; I'll teach you Konoha Style Swordsmanship."
Upon hearing this, the great sword Samehada immediately bounced excitedly into Naruto's hand. Because Naruto didn't use Kenjutsu or blade techniques at all, it was often not put to use.
Once he learned Konoha Style Swordsmanship, it could better demonstrate its value. That way, it wouldn't be abandoned.
Kitazawa didn't do anything extra today; he just accompanied Naruto and the others in their training.
The next day, he arrived at Konoha Village's flower district.
But not to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, but to the newly opened Ocean's Heart jewelry store.
When Kitazawa had the Hyuga Clan Ninja create jewelry, he ordered the opening of the first jewelry store in Konoha Village.
Rina Uzumaki was in charge of managing it because this jewelry store was the property of Konoha Village.
"It can open tomorrow; just inform Lady Tsunade then," Kitazawa said after a moment's thought.
Konoha Village's Ocean's Heart jewelry store was a secondary venture. To truly make money, they had to rely on the Ocean's Heart jewelry store in the Capital of the Land of Fire.
Therefore, Kitazawa did not intend to inquire about this matter or attend tomorrow's opening. He planned to visit Otogakure (Village Hidden in the Sound) today.
Although he already understood the situation in Otogakure, not going there would make it difficult to report to Tsunade.
"Alright." Rina Uzumaki nodded.
Kitazawa then went to the Hyuga residence.
"Kitazawa!" Hyuga Hiashi greeted him with great enthusiasm. The reason was that he had already heard the news from the Capital of the Land of Fire.
A necklace crafted by Hizashi Hyuga and his team had sold for the exorbitant price of eighty million ryo.
Although their Hyuga Clan would only receive a tenth of that, the subsequent many necklaces combined would still amount to a truly formidable income.
"I hope Clan Head Hiashi can send more people." Kitazawa saw his expression, guessed the reason, and so he wasted no words, saying directly.
"No problem!" Hyuga Hiashi immediately agreed, saying generously, "However many people you need, our Hyuga Clan can provide!"
"I plan to open an Ocean's Heart jewelry store in the Capital of the Land of Fire." Kitazawa thought for a moment and said, "Send twelve more people to this jewelry store."
"Understood." Hyuga Hiashi said with a beaming smile, "I'll have them depart today."
"For the specific details, have them contact the head of the finance department." Kitazawa finished giving instructions and turned to leave.
---
Hokage Building.
Konan walked into the Anbu office. She hadn't followed Kitazawa to the Capital of the Land of Fire earlier. After all, Tsunade's strength was such that she would be detected.
She also didn't follow Kitazawa to Otogakure today. She came to the Anbu office to find out what the Gato Shipping Company and the Underwater Exploration Team had been doing recently.
Last time, she had the Land of Rain search for minerals, and there was already a result: a silver mine had been found. Kakuzu had already gone to work at this silver mine.
Konan casually picked up a document from the table. As an Anbu Ninja, she had the right to review it.
This document happened to detail what Kitazawa and Tsunade had done in the Capital of the Land of Fire. Konan's eyes widened in disbelief after reading it.
Her first reaction was that those noblewomen were crazy to spend eighty million ryo on a necklace. Was it too easy for Kitazawa to acquire this money?
Konan came back to her senses, and an idea surfaced in her mind: could the Land of Rain replicate this?
But she quickly shook her head. The Land of Rain and the Hidden Rain Village were too poor; sometimes, they even relied on funding from the Akatsuki Organization.
And most importantly—the necklace. What did this necklace look like?
Konan decided to take this opportunity to visit the Capital of the Land of Fire.