Chapter 32: Early Graduation Exam
Upon hearing this statement, Jinpei's expression instantly changed.
The Shadow Clone chuckled inwardly.
In this negotiation, Jinpei had lost his composure for the first time.
The Shadow Clone's thought was:
"While I don't necessarily need a higher price, doing this will reduce suspicion toward me. Also, implying there's a powerful organization behind me will prevent this guy from trying anything dangerous."
But Jinpei fell into deep contemplation:
"Damn it! What should I do? If I only buy scrolls for 1,150 ryo now, I might not be able to purchase from this supplier again in the future. But if I offer a high price and other shops offer even higher, I might still lose the supply contract. Also, is there really a boss behind him, or are there multiple independent producers? Are they trying to corner the entire storage scroll market?"
He thought for a moment and asked carefully:
"Will you only sell scrolls to the highest bidder exclusively, or will you also sell to other shops?"
The Shadow Clone replied strategically:
"We will sell to multiple shops, but the quantity of scrolls allocated to each merchant depends on the price they offer. Of course, those who bid below the average market rate might not receive any inventory. But I don't know the specific distribution plan."
Jinpei analyzed the situation for a while, then sighed internally. He thought to himself:
"Acquiring at too low a price is like killing the goose that lays golden eggs. But how much should I actually spend? I don't want to overpay, or my profit margins won't be sufficient. I'll offer 1,500 ryo per scroll. This should still allow me to earn more than with standard storage scrolls."
Then he made his offer of 1,500 ryo per scroll.
They completed the transaction and briefly discussed methods and timing for future dealings.
The Shadow Clone walked out of the shop carrying 7,500 ryo.
He handed the money to Kaito in a secluded alley, and after confirming no one was observing them, walked a while longer before dispersing.
Looking at the cash in his hand, Kaito initially thought:
"Wow, am I really that skilled at negotiating?"
But after receiving the clone's memories, he reconsidered:
"No, I'm probably still a novice, not a negotiation expert. It's just that the final bluff about competing suppliers was too tempting for him to refuse. Perhaps he also genuinely believes there's a powerful organization backing me, which intimidated him somewhat. Anyway, this was an excellent deal! I should definitely consider selling scrolls to him regularly."
Afterward, he disguised himself with a different transformation and visited several other shops to purchase materials. He bought 30 bottles of chakra ink, 25 blank scrolls, and 200 blank sealing tags.
The blank sealing tags sold for 10 ryo each. He spent a total of 6,500 ryo on materials.
Then he bought some quality meat and headed home. He thought to himself:
"Now that I have some substantial cash, I should definitely increase my meat consumption for better physical development. The meat business here seems to be completely dominated by the Akimichi Clan. All the butcher shops belong to their family. I'm curious if it's because they're exceptionally skilled at large-scale operations, or if they were granted a monopoly on this business when they joined Konoha's founding."
From that day forward, Kaito also began learning other types of fuinjutsu.
He studied various basic sealing formulas, such as Heat Seals, Cooling Seals, Hardening Seals, Softening Seals, Electric Seals, and Moisture Seals. These techniques utilized elemental symbols.
However, compared to storage seals, the number of symbols required was much smaller, as the functions of these seals were quite basic and straightforward.
Heat Seals could only be used to warm rooms gradually.
Cooling Seals, conversely, absorbed thermal energy from the surroundings, making rooms pleasantly cool.
Electric Seals, while capable of delivering a mild electric shock, were relatively harmless—Kaito could withstand such shocks without difficulty.
Hardening Seals were used to reinforce surfaces or objects, while Softening Seals achieved the opposite effect.
Moisture Seals were designed to collect humidity from the air, making the attached surface damp.
All these sealing formulas had to be inscribed on paper tags, and to activate them, they had to be affixed to a surface and triggered with chakra.
The requirement for elemental seals was that the creator must be able to manipulate those elements with their chakra.
But since these were basic-level seals, he could create them even without fully mastering fire, water, and lightning nature transformations.
He spent a total of four and a half months learning and practicing these various sealing techniques.
During this period, he also began selling 20 enhanced storage scrolls to Jinpei each month, receiving 30,000 ryo in payment each time.
He kept the quantity deliberately low to avoid annoying the major commercial scroll suppliers and prompting them to investigate this new competitor.
Jinpei was also quite pleased with the arrangement, as these enhanced scrolls could be resold for approximately 2,300 ryo each—a substantial profit margin.
By the time of the third-year final exam, Kaito had saved over 100,000 ryo!
During the third year, Genshu focused entirely on teaching fundamental shinobi skills. This made the year's curriculum considerably more engaging and practical.
After teaching each new skill, he would often design competitive games or challenges to help everyone become proficient at applying it.
For example, after teaching stealth movement techniques, he gave everyone 29 tags marked with their student numbers. Everyone had to stick these tags on the backs of the other 29 students while simultaneously avoiding having tags placed on their own backs.
Since Kaito was a sensory-type ninja, absolutely no one could successfully stick a tag on his back.
The few students who attempted to sneak close to him received a swift punch or an elbow strike to the face as warning.
Most students made extremely comical expressions and movements while attempting stealth.
During the wilderness survival training, hunting and killing animals didn't cause significant problems for most students, although Kaito sighed internally:
"I never imagined my first kill in this world would be a poor innocent rabbit!"
Genshu seemed to particularly enjoy the part where everyone had to field dress the animals they'd hunted—cutting them open, cleaning them properly, and preparing them for cooking.
This task thoroughly disgusted most students, including Kaito, who had never done such a thing in either of his lives. Only Shimura Shin remained completely unaffected and methodical.
To ensure everyone learned proper survival cooking skills, Genshu forbade students from bringing packed lunches to school for several consecutive days. Their lunch consisted entirely of whatever wild animals they managed to catch!
Later that year, he also introduced tree-walking as an advanced chakra control exercise for the class.
And so, another intensive school year passed.
A week before the final exam, Genshu revealed news that surprised Kaito—though he had anticipated this possibility. He thought to himself:
"Although I suspected this might happen, the sudden announcement is still quite startling!"
Genshu announced to the class:
"If any of you wish to participate in the early graduation examination, please inform me within three days."
However, by the end of that day, Genshu regretted making the announcement during the morning session. He sighed to himself:
"I should have announced this news at the very end of class. Then at least students would have paid attention to today's lecture! No one absorbed anything I taught today!"
After returning home that evening, Kaito contemplated deeply. After careful analysis, he reached a conclusion:
"I still have far too much to learn. Currently, my Wind Release techniques, basic Academy jutsu, Shadow Clone, Body Flicker Jutsu, shuriken skills, and taijutsu have all progressed to satisfactory levels."
"But I still need to learn Earth Release ninjutsu comprehensively. And I also need to seriously work on kenjutsu and genjutsu. As for fuinjutsu, although it's progressing well, I haven't even started studying the intermediate-level sealing techniques available in Library Section D. And the Rasengan still remains incomplete."
In addition, while early graduation could ensure Kaito wouldn't waste time sitting in Academy classes, due to Konoha's current severe shinobi shortage, Kaito believed his free time for personal training might actually decrease rather than increase.
Furthermore, the missions he'd be assigned might carry considerably more risk than usual, especially with the Third Great Shinobi War's aftermath still creating instability.
Therefore, after weighing all factors carefully, he decided not to participate in this early graduation exam.
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