Chapter 106: Work's Been a Bit Tiring Lately
"Finally, we meet, Jar Merchant."
Inside the Hokage's office, Naruto sat behind his desk with a smile, looking at the man Sasuke had just brought in—Jar Merchant.
Shikamaru stood beside Naruto, while Sasuke blocked the doorway. The only people in the Hokage's office were Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Jar Merchant.
Due to recent major events, Konoha had no extra manpower to deal with the Jar Merchant. And since he hadn't caused any trouble in the village, they had been turning a blind eye to his activities.
But that could no longer continue. After learning from Boruto about the legend of the Holy Grail—and with the appearance of the young Naruto suspected to be a Servant—Konoha could no longer ignore the Jar Merchant.
A Holy Grail that could grant wishes was bound to stir chaos across the ninja world—possibly even triggering a Fifth Great Ninja War over the Grail.
"Lord Hokage, may I ask why you've summoned me?"
The Jar Merchant addressed Naruto without any hint of dissatisfaction over having been forcibly brought to the Hokage's office.
"Jar Merchant, we had no other way to contact you, so we had no choice but to bring you in like this," Shikamaru explained. He was always cautious with unknown elements and would never foolishly push someone who might become an ally toward becoming an enemy just by underestimating them.
"In truth, aside from confirming that you don't pose a threat to Konoha, we also wanted to ask you about the Holy Grail War," Naruto added with a friendly smile.
"Please rest assured, esteemed leaders of Konoha—I'm a law-abiding citizen with the Will of Fire memorized by heart. You may not believe it, but my dream is to become Hokage."
At that, the corners of Shikamaru's and Sasuke's eyes twitched involuntarily. Only Naruto actually believed him. "Really? Hahaha! Then you'd better work hard!"
Ahem. Shikamaru cleared his throat to interrupt Naruto's foolish laughter and continued, "In any case, we need to verify your identity first."
Confirming the Jar Merchant's identity was a necessity for Konoha.
"My identity? As you can see, I'm just an ordinary merchant. Basically, I'll do anything as long as it makes money."
The Jar Merchant spread his hands wide, wearing the look of someone who couldn't care less whether they believed him or not: I'm just a regular merchant. What can you do about it?
"Looks like you're not planning to tell the truth," Sasuke said as his Mangekyō Sharingan activated in his eyes.
Unlike Naruto, Sasuke wasn't so easily deceived. He would never allow a potential threat to remain in Konoha—not with his wife and daughter living here.
"Sasuke, calm down."
Only Naruto could rein him in. Upon Naruto's intervention, Sasuke did indeed halt his aggressive move.
"A merchant, huh?" Shikamaru rubbed his chin. "Then how much would it cost to buy your identity?"
"Fifty thousand ryō."
Fifty thousand ryō was roughly a month's pay for a lower-ranked ninja working full speed nonstop. A lot for them, perhaps, but negligible for the whole of Konoha.
"Alright."
Shikamaru nodded. As Hokage's assistant, he had access to that kind of funding—handling the village's financial allocations was part of his job anyway.
"I'm affiliated with an organization called Hydra."
"What's Hydra?"
"That intel costs a hundred thousand ryō."
"Deal."
"Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. are two opposing organizations. Hydra believes that only by binding everyone together through shared interests can true peace be achieved in the ninja world. S.H.I.E.L.D., on the other hand, believes that peace can only come by erasing the boundaries between villages and nations."
No one had expected that simply asking what Hydra was would also bring up S.H.I.E.L.D.—not even Naruto, Sasuke, or Shikamaru.
"Why have we never heard of Hydra before?" Sasuke asked, cutting right to the point.
If Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. were true rivals, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had been around for so long, then why hadn't there been any sign of Hydra?
"Fifty thousand ryō."
"Alright."
With Sasuke staring at him, Shikamaru slowly responded.
"Because Hydra lost all three previous Holy Grail Wars to S.H.I.E.L.D. and suffered heavy damage. To evade further pursuit, Hydra's leadership made the decisive choice to fragment and go underground."
At this, the Jar Merchant paused and murmured under his breath, "Hail Hydra."
"Is that a code phrase you use to identify fellow Hydra members?" Shikamaru asked after frowning in thought.
"Sorry, I can't answer that," the Jar Merchant replied righteously. "While I am a profit-seeking merchant, I'm also a merchant with principles."
Shikamaru didn't press the issue. He already had his answer—"Hail Hydra" was indeed a code phrase among Hydra members.
"You said earlier that the Holy Grail War has already been held three times," Sasuke said, asking another question.
"Ten thousand ryō."
"Deal."
"That's right. This is the fourth Holy Grail War. Though we at Hydra lost the previous three, we managed to destroy the Grail at the last moment each time, delaying the start of the next war and buying time for Hydra to recover."
"One last question—how does one qualify to participate in the Holy Grail War?" asked Shikamaru.
"Since you've all done so much business with me, I'll give you this info for free." The Jar Merchant smiled. "Participants are selected at random. However, before each war begins, both Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. actively recruit participants and offer them assistance."
Good thing Boruto wasn't in the room. If he heard that the Jar Merchant had sold him his own participation right for a hundred thousand ryō, he'd probably go ballistic.
"Jar Merchant, is there any way we can contact you?" Shikamaru asked after a moment's thought.
"There is—but it's a perk reserved for premium members of my service. Still, for the Hokage's sake, I'll make an exception."
He placed a sleeping snail on Naruto's desk.
"This is a Transceiver Snail. You can use it to contact me," the Jar Merchant explained as he gave a quick demonstration.
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