Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the entire afternoon slipped by.
Shimura Danzō left the tulip exchange reluctantly—he was about to miss the time he and Sarutobi Hiruzen had agreed to regroup.
"Danzō, how did things go this afternoon?" Hiruzen asked.
"I ran to three or four shops before finally reaching an agreement with one of them."
Hiruzen asked about Danzō's progress, but since Danzō had spent the entire afternoon sitting in the tulip exchange chatting with speculators, he could only brush it off.
"Don't mention it, Hiruzen," Danzō said. "I ran into nothing but profiteers."
"I'll try again tomorrow."
His words were perfunctory, and his face wore a look of frustration. Hiruzen didn't doubt him—after all, he himself had struggled with profiteers and barely managed to secure a reasonable deal with one shop.
Danzō's "bad luck" seemed perfectly reasonable.
"Then let's call it a day," Hiruzen said.
"Let's eat dinner, get a good rest, and continue tomorrow."
Unlike Danzō—who had spent the afternoon comfortably seated in the exchange hall, boasting with speculators and drinking free tea—Hiruzen had been running all over the place. He felt parched, exhausted, and mentally drained.
"Mm."
Danzō nodded, quietly letting out a sigh of relief.
I managed to fool him.
They returned to the same restaurant they'd eaten at earlier and, as usual, ordered two bowls of miso soup first to soothe their throats.
"Ah… this miso soup really hits the spot," Hiruzen said, eagerly taking a big sip as soon as it arrived.
But when he looked up, he noticed Danzō absentmindedly stirring the soup with a spoon, not drinking at all.
"Danzō, why aren't you having your soup?"
"Oh—uh… it's too hot," Danzō replied, snapping out of his thoughts. "I'll wait for it to cool."
In truth, Danzō was sitting in the restaurant, but his heart was still back in the tulip exchange.
As for thirst?
He'd spent the entire afternoon drinking tea in the exchange's lounge. He wasn't thirsty at all.
Soon, the rest of the food was served.
Hiruzen ate heartily, just like at lunch, while Danzō barely took a few bites before putting down his chopsticks.
Hiruzen tried to strike up conversation several times, but Danzō brushed him off each time. Still, Hiruzen thought he understood.
He must be upset about getting nothing done this afternoon…
Well, at least I did slightly better than him.
Maybe tonight I'll teach him some bargaining techniques.
Feeling a faint sense of pride, Hiruzen resolved to encourage Danzō later. After all, they were comrades.
Meanwhile, Danzō was thinking about something else entirely.
Will tulip prices rise tomorrow?
If they surge, I'll finally prove Hiruzen wrong.
In an atmosphere of awkward silence, the two finished dinner—each harboring their own thoughts.
Back at their lodging, Hiruzen tried to break the silence and share some bargaining tips.
But Danzō refused, sounding exactly like an overworked middle-aged man returning home after a long day.
"Hiruzen… I'm exhausted. Let's talk tomorrow."
"…Alright."
Hiruzen could only nod. The two soon lay down to rest.
That night, Hiruzen fell asleep almost instantly, soon snoring softly—he had truly worked hard all day.
Danzō, however, tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
His mind was entirely consumed by tulips.
That's one million ryō…
After a long time, he finally drifted into a hazy dream.
He dreamed twice.
In the first dream, he lost everything. Senju Tobirama discovered the matter, and Danzō woke up in a cold sweat.
After calming himself, he closed his eyes again—and slipped into another dream.
This time, he made a fortune.
Tobirama praised him, accepted him as a disciple, and—
Before the dream could finish, dawn arrived.
Hiruzen woke up refreshed and energetic. He nudged the still-sleeping Danzō.
"Danzō, wake up."
"Enough, Hiruzen! I'm the Hokage!"
"…What Hokage? Wake up, Danzō!"
Danzō opened his eyes and saw Hiruzen standing over him. He quickly came to his senses, feeling oddly empty inside.
So it was just a dream…
"Let's grab breakfast first," Hiruzen said.
"And then we'll split up again, same as yesterday."
He planned to teach Danzō some bargaining tricks over breakfast.
Danzō nodded, and the two soon dressed and entered a breakfast shop.
"Danzō, when bargaining, the first thing you do is cut the price in half," Hiruzen said seriously.
"After a few rounds, pretend to walk away. Count to three in your head—the shopkeeper will definitely call you back."
"And what if he doesn't?" Danzō asked absentmindedly.
"Then switch shops immediately. That one's a profiteer!"
Hiruzen spoke with absolute confidence.
Danzō listened with one ear and let it out the other—his heart was already racing toward the tulip exchange, eager to see today's prices.
After breakfast, the moment Danzō saw Hiruzen walk off, he circled around a few times and immediately headed for the tulip exchange.
Tulip Exchange
"This place is really lively," he muttered.
"Feels even busier than yesterday."
Watching the crowds flow endlessly through the market, Danzō couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
He then headed straight for the same room as yesterday.
Today's prices should be updated.
The moment he entered—
He saw it.
A striking increase.
A major surge.
Prices had risen by thirty percent.
"I… I made three hundred thousand ryō overnight?"
Joy spilled across Danzō's face. The anxiety that had haunted him all night finally vanished.
As more people gathered in the room, the noise rose again.
Danzō reunited with the acquaintances he'd met yesterday. Small groups formed, tea was poured, and discussions erupted.
"It really went up again!"
"There were rumors yesterday—major merchants from the Land of Earth have arrived in the Land of Fire. You newcomers really caught this wave."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would've invested more!"
"Hah. Rumors? I paid good money for that information!"
Danzō blended right in, eagerly soaking up every scrap of tulip-related news.
"Hey, newbie—you're Danzō, right? How much did you make?"
"Not bad. About three hundred thousand ryō."
"You're that happy over three hundred thousand?" someone laughed.
"Everyone here made at least a million. Tens of millions isn't rare. Some people have even made hundreds of millions."
"And there are those bold enough to stake everything—they've already earned billions."
Danzō sucked in a sharp breath.
Billions of ryō…
Terrifying.
"Uh… what does 'staking everything' mean?" he asked.
"You don't even know that? You really are a novice," the man said with a grin.
"Putting everything you have into one move."
"That's not recklessness—it's wisdom."
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