Chapter 006: The Third Hokage Comes to Buy a Sword Himself. No Credit! Not Even for the King of Heaven!
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A Zanpakutō.
A whole day passed quickly.
Although only one Zanpakutō was sold today...
At least the reward for the first sale was completed.
To celebrate—
Jiang Chen planned to close his stall and go have a drink at a nearby tavern to warm up.
It had to be said—
This time period in Konoha was the most suitable for peaceful living.
At least compared to other Hidden Villages...
There was a sense of normal life here.
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"Young man, do you sell swords here?"
At that moment, a deep and aged voice came from outside the shop.
Jiang Chen looked up.
He saw an energetic old man standing outside the shop at some point.
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"Lord Hokage."
Jiang Chen smiled faintly.
He wasn't surprised at all by Hiruzen Sarutobi's appearance.
Earlier, when Naruto unleashed Hyorinmaru in the village—
That terrifying icy aura must have been sensed by many elite jōnin.
And as the Third Hokage, the leader of Konoha—
It was only natural that Hiruzen would question Naruto about it.
So—
Hiruzen personally coming to find him now didn't surprise Jiang Chen in the slightest.
In fact—
He had been waiting for Hiruzen to come find him today.
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"Looks like you already know why I'm here."
Hiruzen looked Jiang Chen up and down and said with a solemn tone,
"In that case, I'll get straight to the point. What's the deal with these Zanpakutō?
Are these weapons really capable of converting chakra into Ice Release?"
Jiang Chen smirked,
"Lord Hokage, I'm sure you already heard everything from Naruto, didn't you?
Why bother asking again?"
Hiruzen paused for a moment.
Before coming here—
He had already conducted a full investigation into Jiang Chen.
According to the village's census records—
This young man was once a war orphan.
Later, he was taken in by a Konoha ninja and became a blacksmith.
Since then, he had made a living in the village selling ninja tools.
He wasn't a ninja—just a civilian.
But now, seeing him in person...
Hiruzen felt this young man seemed very different from the records.
He was way too calm when facing him.
That wasn't the attitude of a normal civilian.
This man definitely had secrets.
Hiruzen grew secretly cautious, but he maintained a kindly smile on his face to avoid raising suspicion.
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"Your name is Jiang Chen, correct? I'm quite interested in your Zanpakutō.
Would you be willing to sell me a few?"
"Of course, but I can only sell you one."
"Only one? Why?"
"No reason. That's just how the system works. I don't know either."
"System? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Uh... even if I told you, you wouldn't understand.
Just wait here—I'll go get the sword for you."
"???"
Before Hiruzen could react, Jiang Chen had already drawn back the curtain and disappeared into his shop.
When he came back out again—
He was holding a brand new katana.
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"This is a Zanpakutō?
Why does it look different from the one Naruto had?"
Hiruzen frowned.
He remembered Naruto's sword having a blue hilt, but this one had a black hilt.
And the design was a bit different too.
Was this kid trying to fool him?
Jiang Chen explained:
"That's because this blade hasn't awakened its sword spirit yet.
Once it awakens, its appearance will change."
The original form of a Zanpakutō is always a basic Asauchi.
Every blade looks the same at first.
Only after resonating with the wielder does the blade's appearance begin to evolve.
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"Is that so..."
Hiruzen nodded slowly, still somewhat skeptical.
He had heard Naruto mention the concept of a sword spirit before.
So maybe there was some truth to it.
As he pondered this, he reached out to take the blade—
Only for Jiang Chen to snatch it back.
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"Sorry. 20,000 ryō per blade.
Pay first, sword later. Fair to all."
"Ahem... I didn't bring any money today. Can I pay later?"
"Nope."
"Don't you trust me? I'm the Hokage..."
"Even if the King of Heaven himself came, I still wouldn't sell it on credit."
"..."
Now it was Hiruzen's turn to feel awkward.
He had rushed out in a hurry and hadn't brought a single coin.
Helpless, he signaled to an Anbu nearby.
The Anbu quickly appeared and handed him 20,000 ryō, which he then passed to Jiang Chen.
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"Thank you for your patronage, Lord Hokage!"
Jiang Chen grinned from ear to ear and gave Hiruzen a deep bow after taking the money.
He was in a great mood now.
Even the Hokage knew about his Zanpakutō.
That meant he wouldn't have to worry about business in the future.
If every Konoha ninja came to buy one—
He'd be rich.
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"Ding~!"
"Congratulations, host! Successfully sold one Zanpakutō. Chakra amount +2!"
Just as he was thinking that—
The system reward arrived.
In an instant—
Jiang Chen felt a powerful surge of energy within his body, like a volcano about to erupt.
When the feeling subsided—
He discovered that his chakra reserves had literally doubled!
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Damn!
That felt amazing!!!
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PS: A timid question… Does anyone actually like this kind of novel?