Chapter 112: Songstress Hana Rin
In the Ninja World, the only ones who keep running around after death are those brought back by Edo Tensei.
But Naruto was pretty satisfied.
Why, you ask?
Because it looked cool!
The visual effects of the breathing styles in Demon Slayer are awesome.
He used the card without hesitation.
Information about Fire God Kagura instantly flooded his mind.
Surprise flashed in Naruto's eyes.
It seemed the power was greater than he'd imagined.
He got up and left the Treehouse.
He walked a few steps outside and stopped in front of a tree.
He drew the Yama blade and adjusted his breathing.
'Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance of the Fire Wheel!'
He thrust the blade forward; flames erupted, sparks scattering everywhere.
The moon had just risen, its pale light filtering through the clouds onto the dancing flames, making them even more beautiful.
When the momentum peaked, it burst forth suddenly—flames flickered and the blade vanished from sight.
All that could be seen was a dazzling arc of fire slashing out in a perfect circle.
The tree toppled, instantly reduced to ash.
The residual force of the flames left the ground scorched like wasteland.
Naruto stared blankly.
Damn!
It's on fire!
The surrounding forest burst into flames.
Naruto frantically started putting out the fire.
If the Forest of Death burned down, Tsunadewould string him up for a whipping.
After more than ten minutes of effort, the flames finally died out.
Worthy of a golden legend.
Just the first form alone had the power of an A-rank Fire Release Ninjutsu.
Wouldn't the final forms reach S-rank?
Naruto grinned happily.
This was a huge win.
Naturally, he didn't test the remaining forms.
Using Fire Release in the forest was too risky.
The next few days, Naruto busied himself with opening the shop.
Mainly decoration and branding.
Decorating was easy—no need for flashy waste.
After all, it was just a drinks shop.
The tricky part was branding.
That meant the brand name and logo.
Sasuke suggested using a flaming eye as the logo.
Hinata didn't really care.
Naruto sighed.
Still hung up on your big bro, huh?
For all we know, he's off somewhere having a great time.
He rejected Sasuke's idea.
It's just cola.
No need to be that dramatic.
In the end he went with a white, hollowed-out Konoha Cola logo.
Using Konoha for name recognition—built-in familiarity.
Thus, Konoha Cola opened smoothly.
A huge poster was set up at the entrance.
A smiling Tsunade holding a bottle of cola, with the slogan beside her: 'I've been drinking it since I was little.'
A clever double meaning.
Flyers were handed out across almost the entire village.
Thanks to Tsunade's huge reputation, the cola shop was packed.
In fact, more than half the customers were girls.
The results were terrific.
After all, bigger is something everyone wants.
And anything produced by the system becomes addictive after one sip.
As everyone knows, daily necessities make serious money.
Sealing Space.
Naruto sized up Kurama.
'Brat, you come in here, don't move, don't speak—what are you up to?'
Kurama lay on the ground, sipping cola.
'How much Chakra do you spend each day exchanging for fifty thousand bottles?'
Naruto gestured. 'About five hundred milliliters per bottle.'
Kurama lifted an eye, scoffing, 'Hardly needs any Chakra at all.'
'Great, the job's yours from now on.'
Naruto gave a sincere smile. 'You can see our cola shop is booming. You supply the Chakra, I'll give you ten percent of the profits—deal?'
'Only ten percent?'
Kurama glared. 'We should at least go fifty-fifty.'
'Because all you provide is Chakra.'
Naruto said matter-of-factly, 'Didn't you say that bit of Chakra is just a drop in the ocean? You get paid for what you do, right?'
'???'
Kurama's big head lit up. 'You tricked me, old man?'
'What are you talking about.'
Naruto frowned, displeased. 'If I were tricking you, I wouldn't share even one percent.'
'Seems fair.'
Kurama's eyes rolled as he considered. 'But what's the use of money to me?'
'How is it useless? You won't stay in my stomach forever.'
Naruto mused, 'Once I'm married, you'll be free, Big Fox.'
'Really?'
Kurama stood up at once, pressing his head to the gate. 'You're not lying to me?'
'This time it's true.'
Naruto stroked his orange fur.
Too excited to care about the groping, Kuramacould sense no deceit.
In fact, Naruto meant every word.
As if you'd spy on Hinata and me getting married—dream on!
By then he would have dealt with the Ōtsutsuki Clan and wouldn't need Kurama anymore.
'Until you're out, I'll keep the money safe for you.'
Sure—let's see if you can get it from me then.
Naruto kept his expression as sincere as possible.
Replace 'get out' with 'grow up.'
It was the line his mom used every time she took his New-Year money in his previous life.
'No problem!'
Kurama answered without a second thought.
Freedom was within sight; everything else was trivial.
Naruto seized the chance to pet him a few more times.
So comfy.
Kurama's fur felt way better than any cat or dog.
Leaving the Sealing Space, Naruto did some quick math.
One bottle sold for thirty ryō—super cheap.
Which meant the customer base was virtually unlimited.
Konoha had at least a hundred thousand people; even if only a third bought, the profit would be huge.
Naruto had a Plan B.
Premium drinks for the nobility.
Ahem—just add some fancy talk.
Something about multi-layer purification, water from some special source, which big shot drank it, etc.
Anything that sounded high-end, throw it all in.
That's what you call brand added value.
Naruto's plan was simple: let the daimyo taste it first; if he liked it, everything would be easy.
Since ancient times, anything that spread from the palace was the priciest and best.
If the daimyo didn't like it—well, there's always the Sharingan.
Team 7's usual wooden bridge meeting spot.
No one knew why Kakashi loved that bridge so much.
Missing your buddy Obito, maybe?
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
Today Kakashi wasn't holding icha icha paradisebut the interspecies reviewers guide.
'Yo, Naruto, morning.'
Kakashi noticed his stare and greeted him with a smile. 'Have you read Lord Jiraiya's new work?'
'Nope, I'm not that kind of person.'
Naruto replied calmly.
As long as I don't feel awkward, the awkwardness is all yours.
'...'
Kakashi's gaze turned odd.
Stop pretending—Lord Jiraiya specifically thanked you for the inspiration.
A moment later, Sasuke arrived.
'All right, everyone's here.'
Kakashi put the novel away. 'Sakura and Karin are at a critical stage and can't join this mission, but no matter—the three of us are enough.'
'What's the mission?' Naruto asked.
'Protect Hana Rin.'
'Hana Rin?'
Naruto grew alert.
The Hana Rin who beats people with Judah?
No, wait—Corgi said never to mix voice actors with characters.
'She's a super-famous songstress, unmatched in singing and dancing,'
Kakashi explained with a smile.'She'll perform in Tanzaku Town the day after tomorrow.'
Naruto felt he'd heard this setup somewhere.
Oh—Kakashi's love song.
Hana Rin was a spy from Lock Village; coming to Konoha naturally meant gathering intel.
But Naruto remembered she liked Kakashi.
Kakashi seemed to like her too—he'd even accidentally given her his on-screen first kiss.
Unfortunately, because of her identity, the two never got together.
And by the time Naruto's two kids were tearing up the world, Kakashi was still single.
The Hatake line, passed down for generations, ends with you—seriously!
(New week—how about some recommendation tickets?)