Chapter 313: Buyer's Market and Seller's Market
"So now both you, Heavenly Demon, and Konoha want to sell airship technology to our Hidden Mist Village. Is that correct?" Yagura clasped his hands beneath his chin, a faint smile resting on his face.
He looked very young. With that baby face, few would guess he was already a grandfather. Still, appearances were deceptive.
"Yes. That crude imitation Konoha is offering is nothing more than a plagiarized copy of my great art," Amamiya Kenichi said with a chuckle, taking a sip of the tea he had brought himself rather than the tea served by the Hidden Mist Village.
In truth, ninja rarely drank anything offered by the other side during negotiations. No one could know whether something had been mixed into it.
Poisoning had happened before.
And in the Ninja World, there were more poison users than one might imagine. Amamiya Kenichi had once seen a toxin that was harmless on its own, yet became lethally poisonous the moment it was combined with another colorless, odorless substance.
Because of that, he never drank anything offered by others while outside. It was simply safer that way.
Shibi clenched his fists in anger, but he genuinely had no rebuttal. Konoha's hot air balloon was usable, yes, but compared to Heavenly Demon's...
"Our price is very fair, and Konoha can also establish further forms of cooperation with the Hidden Mist Village," Shibi said in a low voice. He could not possibly watch Heavenly Demon steal this business without saying anything.
Even if they had to show Yagura, the Mizukage, some respect, Konoha was not the type to sit quietly and accept losses.
Yagura's eyes narrowed slightly before a faint smile returned to his face.
"Then why not have the two of you demonstrate your products first?" Yagura asked with a smile, looking at the two men before him, though his brows faintly furrowed.
Pain was rising from his abdomen again.
"No." Amamiya Kenichi shook his head.
The airship absolutely could not be shown off so casually. He was not worried about Konoha seeing it, since they had already done so before, but there was no way he would let the Hidden Mist Village observe it too closely. Otherwise, these shameless people would very likely choose the copy and paste route without hesitation.
One should never overestimate a ninja's moral bottom line. To survive in the cruel Ninja World, most had long since mastered the art of shamelessness. Expecting them to preserve any sense of dignity at a time like this was about as absurd as buying a lottery ticket and winning the grand prize on the spot.
Shibi also shook his head. He agreed that showing the product openly was unwise. After all, they were all ninja. Who did not understand how these things worked? If the other side saw too much, trouble would follow.
"Then how am I supposed to choose?" Yagura had never actually expected the two of them to agree. He had only wanted to use the request to drive down the price.
On the way here, he had already heard from his Anbu that this technology, this so called hot air balloon, was indeed extremely valuable.
Especially for the current Hidden Mist Village.
If they did not have such a thing, then compared to the other great villages, the Hidden Mist Village would be at a disadvantage. The proud defenses of the village would turn into empty words, and that was not something Yagura wanted to see.
He had already brought too much harm to this village. Too many had died because of him. If he could not even find a suitable Jinchuriki now, Yagura truly felt he would rather die.
"That depends on you, Mizukage sama," Amamiya Kenichi said calmly, taking another sip of tea.
He understood exactly what Yagura was doing. The man simply wanted to get the airship and hot air balloon at a lower price.
That was within expectations.
If only he or Konoha had come alone, this would have been a seller's market. In that situation, the seller dictated the terms and could squeeze more out of the Hidden Mist Village.
But now things were different.
Two sellers had arrived to compete for one buyer.
That turned the situation into a buyer's market. If either side wanted Yagura to pay, they had to fight for the right to earn that money.
In simple terms, it was like the early days of food delivery in his previous life. The Hidden Mist Village was the customer, while Konoha and Amamiya Kenichi were two competing platforms. Whoever wanted the customer's order had to offer enough incentives.
The difference was that food delivery was a long term business, while this airship deal was a one time transaction.
"Konoha can sell both the airship and hot air balloon for two hundred thirty five million ryo. At the same time, we can establish a strategic partnership with the Hidden Mist Village," Shibi said directly, laying out his terms.
Before he had left the village, the Third Hokage had told him that if he encountered unusual circumstances, he could make decisions on his own.
And this definitely counted as unusual.
"My airship can carry far more cargo and people than theirs. Their imitation cannot compare," Amamiya Kenichi said with a smile.
His airship had excellent carrying capacity. Without that advantage, it would not be especially useful.
Yagura watched the two of them continue to raise their respective offers, the faint smile never leaving his face. If possible, he would have loved to see them compete even harder until the Hidden Mist Village became the greatest beneficiary.
"The Hidden Mist Village is close to Konoha. A hot air balloon or airship only takes a day to get here," Shibi suddenly said.
Amamiya Kenichi was slightly taken aback. For a moment, it sounded as though Shibi was trying to pressure the Hidden Mist Village. That was not exactly wise.
Yagura's expression dimmed as well.
"If the Hidden Mist Village wants to strengthen its contact with the outside world and expand commerce, then the Land of Fire is your best option," Shibi added.
Only then did the atmosphere ease, and Yagura's face returned to normal.
Amamiya Kenichi immediately understood.
Konoha wanted to use its own national strength and political position as part of the bargain. But was that really worth much?
No.
With airships and hot air balloons, the Hidden Mist Village could conduct trade more freely no matter what. Konoha's conditions sounded like a mutual benefit arrangement, but in truth, they were merely taking advantages the Hidden Mist Village could gain anyway and using them as bargaining chips.
"I only need one hundred million ryo to provide the Hidden Mist Village with a more advanced airship," Amamiya Kenichi said.
One hundred million was already a very low price. But if lowering it could make Konoha miserable, he did not mind at all.
As expected, Shibi's expression darkened at once. He shot Amamiya Kenichi an angry glare, and more tiny insects crawled out from beneath his clothes.
He was clearly furious.
Still, the person that mattered most here was Yagura.
The opinions of others were secondary.
While he waited, Amamiya Kenichi casually surveyed the surrounding area. Over by the Hidden Mist Village's side, he spotted Mei. She was speaking to a ninja beside her, her face unusually serious.
Amamiya Kenichi had studied lip reading before. Squinting slightly, he managed to catch fragments of what she was saying.
"[Stay alert... be careful... don't let them...]"
Mei's lips moved too quickly for him to catch every word. His lip reading was not advanced enough for that. But the general meaning was clear enough.
At that moment, Mei seemed to notice him looking at her and abruptly stopped speaking.
On Konoha's side, things were much less interesting. Most of the ninja there were glaring at him with open hostility, including Kakashi and Guy.
That made Amamiya Kenichi chuckle.
It seemed what he had done to Konoha before had truly left a lasting impression.
"I'll buy both," Yagura said at last, lifting his head and speaking seriously to both Amamiya Kenichi and Shibi.
Amamiya Kenichi raised an eyebrow.
Interesting.
Yagura intended to take everything?
Still, it did not bother him. As long as the Hidden Mist Village bought his airship, that was enough. The airship itself certainly had value, but not so much that it could not be duplicated. Once the Hidden Mist Village finished researching it, copying it would not be impossible.
Konoha could not imitate it properly only because they had never obtained a complete physical model. If they ever got one, imitation would not be especially difficult. Airships simply did not have the sort of complex technical barriers that allowed real anti theft measures.
"I have no objection," Shibi said, casting a glance at Amamiya Kenichi.
He was unwilling, but he also understood when to stop. If he pushed harder, the result might be even worse. Since Yagura was already willing to pay one hundred million, there was no need to keep fighting over it.
After receiving the money, Amamiya Kenichi handed a summoning scroll over to Yagura. Then, very deliberately, he looked at Shibi and let a mocking smile creep into his gaze.
Shibi could not see the expression beneath the mask, but he clearly saw the look in Amamiya Kenichi's eyes, and it irritated him. Even so, because Yagura was present, he restrained himself.
After obtaining the money, Amamiya Kenichi left directly.
Although he still coveted Guy's Eight Gates, now was not the time to seize them. He could wait until Konoha's group began the return trip.
"Actually, Mizukage sama, with only Konoha's product, the Hidden Mist Village could already infer how to improve it," Shibi could not help saying after Amamiya Kenichi departed.
He felt Yagura's decision had been excessive. With Konoha's hot air balloon in hand, the Hidden Mist Village should be able to work out how to make improvements on its own. Konoha had done exactly that when developing its own expanded designs.
"This way is simpler," Yagura said with a faint smile.
The money he used to buy Amamiya Kenichi's airship came from his own private reserves. He had not wanted to touch the village's funds. Those village funds would be used for Konoha's products instead.
This was his way of atoning to the Hidden Mist Village.
After all, during the period when he had been controlled, he had issued absurd orders and had even transformed into...
The moment he thought of that, Yagura's expression worsened.
The wound from that day still had not healed, and the lingering pain in his body continued to trouble him. It had already become a chronic problem, and Yagura did not know how much longer he had left.
All he wanted now was to atone for the sins he had inflicted upon the village.
"One hundred million... a bit of a loss, but not by much," Amamiya Kenichi muttered as he looked over the money he had just received, unable to suppress a chuckle.
By the standards of the Ninja World, he was already among the wealthy elite. He just did not know whether Kakuzu had more money than he did. Still, given Kakuzu's habit of earning even his own travel expenses from missions, Amamiya Kenichi suspected that miser was probably richer.
"With the money in hand, there are only two problems left now. First, the Eight Gates. Second, those two muscleheads from the Hidden Cloud Village," Amamiya Kenichi said, stroking his chin.
The second problem was easy. He had already thought of a way to handle it.
The real trouble was the first one.
The Eight Gates was an incredibly strong taijutsu technique. Its drawbacks were severe, yes, but not impossible to overcome. Amamiya Kenichi's research cheat was a perfect answer.
He only needed to obtain the Eight Gates technique, start his research, and then wait for the results.
The problem was how to get it.
"So annoying... The best option would be to have Guy teach it to me himself, but how do I make Guy willingly teach me?" Amamiya Kenichi fell into deep thought.
After a moment of hesitation, a solution gradually surfaced in his mind.
"Then I'll have to trouble Kakashi..." he muttered, rubbing his hands together.
"After this, we need to report the encounter with Heavenly Demon... to Hokage sama," Shibi said calmly, his hands in his pockets as he adjusted his sunglasses.
At the same time, a thought occurred to him.
Since Heavenly Demon had appeared here, was it possible he had already appeared in the other great villages as well?
If that was the case, then Konoha's current plan might completely collapse, and they could even fall behind the others in airship development.
Even Shibi had to admit that the airship Heavenly Demon had developed was powerful. Konoha's own hot air balloon work had, after all, been inspired by him.
"Understood," Kakashi replied.
Even if Shibi had not said it, something like this absolutely had to be reported to the Third Hokage.
As Kakashi walked back, he suddenly heard the sharp cry of a bird from the nearby woods.
He paused.
That sound had seemed somewhat like Chidori.
But it came and went quickly, vanishing almost at once, leaving Kakashi uncertain whether he had heard correctly.
"Was that Chidori?" Shibi asked as he walked over. He had heard it too.
"It sounded like it..." Kakashi said, staring into the forest ahead.
Because of the geography of the Land of Water, a layer of mist had already begun settling in. It was not thick, only a light haze draped across the woods.
"Everyone, stay alert," Shibi said, raising a hand.
A dense swarm of insects immediately poured out of his body and crawled into the fog covered forest.
He intended to find out whether someone there was trying to make a move.
.....
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