Chapter Fourteen: Returning to the World of the Hokage

For the time being, Kane had no intention of selling his gold; now was not the right moment, and he still had a considerable sum in savings. Securing wholesale distribution rights for pharmaceuticals and food was a formidable challenge, but there were professional companies willing to handle the legwork for Kane. Besides, it was the year 2000; many parts of the world were plagued by medicine shortages, and the pharmaceutical wholesale market in America was just emerging. Kane, however, set his sights beyond America, targeting other regions.

Word had gradually spread that Kane intended to open a wholesale trading company for pharmaceuticals and food. Those who heard the news were only mildly surprised and quickly lost interest. Old Pent had built a sizable private hospital from scratch; though Kane had inherited shares in this hospital, he had little interest in its management. Now, his attention was on the pharmaceutical wholesale trade—a logical step, considering the family’s background.

“Money flows like water...” Kane muttered, calculating his expenses over the past days. Though the company had been established smoothly and the necessary licenses for pharmaceutical wholesale and trade were well underway—and even though Kane had poached several professionals from the pharmaceutical and international trade sectors—the outlay was substantial.

He had also taken care of the accounting and legal aspects. Once all the formalities were complete, his company could begin operations. This company, however, was merely a front for his initial activities. When Kane’s biopharmaceutical company was up and running, this first company would become largely irrelevant.

Kane now pinned his hopes on the medical ninjutsu of the Naruto world, wishing it would offer him some innovation in drug development. To his recollection, the only way a ninja ever died was on the battlefield. Even during the great ninja wars, though the puppet masters of the Sand had devised countless poisons, all were eventually neutralized. Terminal illnesses like cancer—if left to a medical ninja of Tsunade’s caliber—might yield a miracle cure.

Over the past few days, Kane had only made a token appearance at school; the rest of his time was devoted to his company and the futures market. Since the company consumed cash, he turned to the futures market to generate profit. After nights of research and collaboration with Carl, the two had made over two million dollars speculating on gold and oil.

Though this wartime profit gave Kane a twinge of guilt for a few seconds, the wealth was intoxicating. Watching his bank balance swell, Kane, Carl, and Connor uncorked a bottle of champagne to denounce the war, and though they were underage, Connor allowed Kane and Carl to each have a glass.

The pharmaceutical trading company progressed in an orderly fashion. Though the licenses weren’t finalized, it was only a matter of time. Kane and his newly recruited team discussed the next steps: once the distribution rights came through, the business would start immediately. Their initial focus would be on Mexico and West Asia; as long as they were cautious, shipping medicine there would yield huge profits. Kane offered his salespeople generous commissions—if they dared to take the risk, they stood to make a fortune.

After setting the world trading coordinate in the Naruto world, the trading system entered a cooldown period. Barring any surprises, it would be at least two years before he could search for the next trading world.

But Kane was in no hurry. The Naruto world offered enough opportunities for his development for now.

During Kane’s return, his schedule was packed to the brim. On the tenth day, he checked the goods in his dimensional backpack, then used the trading system to head back to the Naruto world.

...

“Checking out, please,” Kane said.

After leaving the inn at Kawaki Town, he went to his rented warehouse, preparing to hire another team to transport goods to Konoha.

“I’ve been gone about two days—strange time ratio, but that’s a good thing. Both worlds are long enough...” To be safe, Kane first posted a commission in Konoha. Only after a squad of Chunin arrived in Kawaki Town did he hire carriages to transport the goods. Kawaki Town wasn’t far from Konoha, but he had a large quantity of cargo; hiring ninjas was a security measure. If they encountered bandits, the ninjas would protect him, and he would safeguard the goods.

The journey passed without incident. It was still wartime, and Konoha was vigilant in clearing out enemies from the surrounding area.

At Konoha’s gates, the guards inspected the goods and waved them through.

Kane directed the convoy to his two shops and had his people unload the cargo.

“Boss, is this a new shipment?” asked Manager Natsukawa, hurrying out when she saw Kane arrive with the convoy at the shopfront. Her full name was Senju Natsukawa, but she had lost the Senju surname when she was very young.

“It’s a new shipment. Here’s the inventory—check off the boxes and restock, the rest goes to the back warehouse,” Kane instructed. A large room in the back was reserved for storage, and there was also a residence for Kane himself, with a side entrance leading to the street.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had mortgaged four houses in this neighborhood to Kane; otherwise, Konoha would have to pay cash for medicine, which would only worsen the already dire state of the village’s finances.

Kane handed the inventory to Natsukawa and went inside to survey the situation.

The shelves were noticeably depleted—so much had sold in just a few days, with many shelves completely empty. Natsukawa was not the type to slack off; it was clear that all the stock had been sold. Kane did a quick calculation and concluded that supplies were still critically short. He could raise prices a bit; if the war dragged on, even flour could fetch the price of gold.

Once Natsukawa had arranged for the cargo to be moved to the warehouse, they began restocking the shelves.

Kane picked up the ledger for the past few days, reviewed it, then called Natsukawa over. He marked nearly half the items on the inventory and told her to raise the prices by fifty percent; the remainder should go up by twenty-five percent.

Natsukawa’s eyes widened slightly. “Boss, that much of an increase?”

Kane sighed, putting on the helpless air of a typical capitalist. “There’s no other way, Natsukawa. It’s wartime. The outside world is in chaos. Without ninja escorts, I wouldn’t dare transport goods by myself.”

Natsukawa pondered his words. The other shops in Konoha were almost completely out of stock; only Kane could bring in supplies from outside, and hiring ninjas was no small expense.

Thinking it over, it did seem reasonable...

“Natsukawa, I know what you’re worried about,” Kane said, leaning in and lowering his voice. “The clerks in the shop and some of your relatives can buy at the original price—but don’t let this leak out.”

“Th-thank you, boss!” Natsukawa began to bow, but Kane waved her off. A few small favors could win people’s loyalty, which would be useful as the business expanded and more staff were needed. He could recruit all the ordinary people who had lost the Senju name, a gesture that would earn Tsunade’s goodwill when he asked her to develop pharmaceuticals in the future.

“Natsukawa, who’s that over there?” Kane asked, gesturing toward the entrance, where a red-haired girl was peeking inside, hesitating to enter, and watching for quite some time.