Chapter Fifteen: Kushina (Vote Requested)

After hearing Karn’s question, Natsukawa tilted her head and glanced toward the entrance, then waved to the red-haired girl outside the door.

“Boss, this is Kushina. She’s been coming to the shop a lot lately, buying chocolate and candy.”

Once Kushina was by her side, Natsukawa smiled gently and introduced her to Karn.

A candidate for the jinchūriki, Karn nodded, neither wanting to get close nor intending to deliberately keep his distance. He simply said to Natsukawa, “So she’s a customer—then you take care of her, Natsukawa.”

“Are you the boss?” Kushina suddenly asked. “I want to buy a lot of chocolate at once—is that allowed?”

Karn looked at Kushina, then feigned a thoughtful scrutiny and asked, “As long as you have the money, you can buy as much as you want. You could even buy out the entire stock in the warehouse.”

“As long as I can buy it, thank you, boss.”

With that, Kushina pulled a thick wad of bills from her pocket and laid it on the table.

Karn picked it up and counted: five-thousand ryo, in two-hundred ryo notes. For a child, that was quite a sum.

After verifying the money, Karn stowed the five-thousand ryo in the drawer and said, “Five thousand ryo buys you twenty-five bars of chocolate, Natsukawa, help the customer pack them up—”

But before Karn finished his sentence, Kushina slammed her palm angrily on the table and demanded loudly, “Boss, why only twenty-five bars? Last time I bought ten bars with one thousand ryo. This time it should be fifty!”

Karn raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh, your math is pretty good.”

Kushina scratched her head, a bit embarrassed. “It’s nothing… Wait, no, that’s not the point. Even if you compliment me, it won’t work. Boss, you should give me fifty bars of chocolate. Don’t cheat me out of my money.”

“Sorry, it’s not cheating you. The prices just went up right before you came.”

Karn shrugged helplessly, then took out the five-thousand ryo from the drawer and said to Kushina, “Chocolate is now two hundred ryo per bar. If you don’t want to buy it, I’ll give you your money back.”

Two hundred ryo for a bar of chocolate was expensive. Besides being tasty and high-calorie, there wasn’t much special about it; but for those who loved sweets, chocolate was more important than rice.

Especially when Karn was the only one selling it—there were few sweets in the Leaf Village, chocolate was a luxury among luxuries, so a higher price was only natural.

Moreover, it wasn’t meant for civilians anyway. Now, the children of the ninja clans in the Leaf were the main customers.

“Two hundred ryo a bar… that’s just too expensive…” Kushina’s small face was conflicted. The five-thousand ryo she brought was borrowed from Tsunade and Nawaki; she hadn’t been in the Leaf long, her only relative was Mito Uzumaki, and she was currently living with the Senju clan. She didn’t have much money.

Asking Grandma Mito for more felt embarrassing.

‘Kushina, why do you need money?’

‘I want to buy snacks!’

Too humiliating. Just imagining it made Kushina cringe. But she really liked these sweet, silky treats, even if they were expensive… After hesitating, Kushina finally pushed the money back and said, “Then I’ll buy twenty-five.”

Chocolate was very popular—if she didn’t buy now, it would sell out fast.

Karn reclaimed the money, then feigned exasperation and said to Kushina, “Since you like it so much, Natsukawa, give this customer thirty bars. From now on, for every five she buys, give her one extra, no limit.”

“Really?” Kushina’s face instantly brightened, and she bowed in thanks to Karn.

“Thank you, boss, you’re such a good person.”

Watching her gratitude, Karn couldn’t help but smile inwardly. That’s how it was with these ‘green shoots’—after being reaped, a little kindness was all it took to earn their sincere thanks.

Kushina left with her chocolate, cheerful even though she hadn’t gotten the fifty she’d hoped for—still, she’d gained five extra.

After Kushina left, Karn took Natsukawa next door, preparing to clear out the shop for selling daily medicines and medical supplies—bandages, cotton swabs, and so on.

Natsukawa was a little surprised when she heard Karn’s plan. “Boss, are you planning to sell medicine here?”

Karn nodded. “That’s right. I might hire three more people. Take two days to get the place ready, and we’ll open in three.”

“In that case, boss, I have someone to recommend. His name is Jie Kōmirai. He knows some medical ninjutsu, but he lost a hand on the battlefield and is no longer a ninja…”

Natsukawa spoke cautiously; the man she mentioned was her friend’s husband. Although he got compensation when he left the ninja ranks, the money was long gone. Now missing a hand, he couldn’t do physical labor, couldn’t form seals or use medical ninjutsu. He was barely surviving thanks to his wife, but relying on her made him deeply ashamed, and he’d grown increasingly despondent.

“He knows medical ninjutsu? Perfect. He’ll get the same salary as you. Ask him if he’s willing to come.”

Karn said directly. A resident physician only needed to talk, after all, and he still had one functional hand. The heavy lifting could be handled by the other two. If he hadn’t lost an arm, frankly, he wouldn’t be so lucky.

“I’ll leave finding the other two to you as well, Natsukawa. Just no shirkers.”

Natsukawa was delighted and quickly replied, “Don’t worry, boss. I won’t let you down.”

The overall environment was difficult. In the Leaf Village, only ninjas had status, and even the village finances were strained during wartime—ordinary people had it even worse.

People longed for peace because war not only took their loved ones but left them hungry.

With permission, Natsukawa asked Karn for leave to find Jie Kōmirai and two other clerks, and Karn agreed, covering the cash register in her absence.

Karn couldn’t stay in the Leaf Village forever. Once the war wound down, he’d have to expand his influence outside, first establishing a foothold in the Land of Fire, then gradually moving into smaller countries.

Medicine and food were profitable, but the medicine business was currently monopolized by the Leaf, and food sales would be slow to accumulate funds.

“Maybe I should look into the entertainment industry. Novels should have a decent market in the shinobi world—even Jiraiya makes a fortune from a few books. I’ve got a whole world of literary masters behind me; I could spark a renaissance in the shinobi world.”

Thinking about novels, Karn realized it was a promising plan. Most importantly, he already had ten Japanese novels with him, and it wouldn’t take much effort—just drop off a couple at the bookstore every so often, then wait for the money to roll in.

In the end, Karn could branch out across the entire entertainment industry, controlling the direction of public opinion throughout the shinobi world.