Hokage's office.
Reiji sat leisurely on the guest sofa, sipping a cup of hot tea.
Beside him sat Danzō Shimura, face dark as thunder.
No one really knew why, but Reiji had suddenly sought him out, claiming he had a huge business deal to discuss—so huge, he said, it'd make Danzō willing to wash his underwear.
Like hell! I'd rather die in a ditch than wash his damn underwear!
Still, after much grinning and relentless pestering from Reiji, Danzō begrudgingly showed up at the Hokage's office.
Meanwhile, Reiji was happily enjoying his tea.
The plan was nearing its final stage.
And at this point, how could they do without a charming cook-slash-artilleryman from the Second Great Ninja War?
So!
It's settled!
Brother Danzō, it's time for your big self-destruction move!
Anyway, back to the main topic—the Third Hokage was still busy handling his final tasks, so Reiji and Danzō had to wait a little longer.
Time passed, the sun rose in the east and set in the west. After Reiji's fifteenth bathroom trip, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally finished his work.
Seeing the worn-out expression on Hiruzen's face, Reiji couldn't help but comment,
"Old man Hiruzen, have you ever thought about hiring a few young, beautiful secretaries?"
At that, Hiruzen's expression froze. Without a word, he turned his head away.
Beside him, Danzō's old face twitched. The corners of his mouth curled into a sly grin as he muttered,
"Biwako Sarutobi~"
Oh shit!
No wonder you never bring the crystal ball home. So that's the truth!
Reiji cleared his throat loudly, suppressing the smirk on his face, and spoke calmly.
"Alright, no more jokes. The reason I'm bothering you and Old Brother Danzō today is actually pretty serious."
Danzō rolled his eyes, saying nothing.
He no longer harbored any naïve hopes when it came to Reiji.
Having dealt with him countless times, he'd learned one undeniable truth:
This guy's a walking trap! A goddamn bottomless pit! Once you fall in, there's no climbing back out!
Oblivious to Danzō's mental complaints, Reiji went on.
"I've been controlling the pig iron trade from the Land of Iron. Over the past three years, I've slowly driven up the price myself."
He opened with a bombshell. Hiruzen and Danzō immediately frowned, staring hard at Reiji.
Unfazed, Reiji continued.
"Right now, let me be blunt—the price of iron is so high that even the Five Great Nations can't afford it anymore.
At this rate, I believe all five great hidden villages will withdraw. The market will freeze, and pig iron will become a commodity with no buyers."
Hearing this, Hiruzen gave a silent nod. For Konoha, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Konoha had always been the most peace-seeking—and the most fearful of war.
Its central location made it vulnerable from all sides.
Even so, Hiruzen wasn't keen on playing this inflated price game for long. He was already planning to propose a cease in trade to the village clans at the next council meeting.
It was like a balance scale—Konoha could accept high prices, but too high, and everyone involved would get burned.
Put simply, this was more dangerous than a Tailed Beast Bomb.
As Hiruzen mulled things over, Reiji suddenly changed the topic.
"But we can't pop this bubble just yet—at least, not now!
I need a war to blow it up even bigger!"
Hearing that, Hiruzen couldn't hold back. He slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and barked,
"Reiji! We can talk about anything else, but starting a war? Absolutely not!"
Surprisingly, Danzō gave a solemn nod. This was a line they couldn't afford to cross.
Reiji chuckled, putting a finger to his lips.
"Shh. Just hear me out.
The war doesn't have to be real—or even actually exist.
A fake war can pump up the bubble even more!
And then, we divide the spoils among the three of us.
Trust me, this cake is big enough to feed the whole village!"
Wearing a confident smile, Reiji locked eyes with the frowning, deep-in-thought Hiruzen.
A long silence followed, until ANBU appeared to light the candles. Hiruzen finally came back to his senses and gave his orders.
"From now on, seal off the Hokage's office. No one enters or leaves without my say-so!
Also, summon Sakumo!"
"Yes!"
The ANBU vanished. In a flash, Sakumo Hatake pushed open the door without knocking, closed it behind him, and leaned firmly against it.
Seeing this, Reiji knew they were in the clear.
A man carrying the weight of a mountain doesn't turn down a chance to drink water—unless it's poisoned!
Sure enough, Hiruzen's frown deepened as he fixed his gaze on Reiji and said gravely,
"Be specific, Reiji. As detailed as possible."
Reiji nodded firmly.
"For three years, I've made everyone believe that iron prices are rock-solid, the most reliable asset out there.
Since the day I returned, I've only released 1,000 tons of pig iron at this price.
Yet it's already risen to 380,000 ryō per ton.
In three days, I'll release 4,000 tons all at once and raise the price to 600,000 ryō per ton!
Based on my estimates, that's still far from the market's saturation point—but 2.4 billion ryō is more than enough for us to split three ways.
So, we need a war—something that'll make everyone believe that iron prices can still go even higher!"
As Reiji finished with firm conviction, a rare drop of cold sweat slid down Hiruzen Sarutobi's forehead.
Just then, Danzō Shimura suddenly asked, "Are you sure you can actually sell it at that price?!"
Reiji let out a cold laugh.
"Ever heard of added value?
From here on out, iron ore will only get scarcer. Every single piece of iron today might be the last that can still be turned into a weapon.
Iron ore won't drop—it'll only go up.
I've already told them this. If you'd seen the madness I have, you wouldn't be questioning me now!"
As soon as Reiji finished, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke up, eyes serious as he locked onto Reiji.
"What does Konoha need to do? What's the cost?"
Now the real conversation began.
"Simple. Tomorrow, Kumogakure will declare war unilaterally. The day after, Konoha will respond—also unilaterally. We'll make an official statement."
"And then?" Hiruzen pressed.
"And then?" Reiji scratched his head with a chuckle. "If you're not confident, Old man, just pull back the people you've sent out. Adopt a defensive stance, that's all."
"What about actual troop deployment?"
"My shadow clones will handle it!"
"What about the Land of Lightning—Kumogakure?"
Hiruzen shot out questions one after another.
Reiji just smiled.
"From what I know about the Third Raikage, he'd be the first to jump at something like this. He'd probably volunteer to send troops if asked!
Besides, Konoha can assign someone with high status and public trust to accompany me for the negotiations."
Hearing that, Hiruzen pressed his lips together in silence.
Of course I know that! I'm just worried this guy will throw the rules out the window and start moving troops recklessly!
Still... 800 million ryo!
Damn, with that kind of money, I could build a massive wall around Konoha and live worry-free!
We could fire up some Kinjutsu research too!
Keep that hand stretched out to the Daimyō for more funding!
No, no—can't be greedy!
With that thought, Hiruzen asked the most critical question of all:
"What does Konoha—what do I—have to give in return?"
Reiji chuckled.
"Just a few enemies."
Without skipping a beat, he continued,
"Sunagakure—sure, the Third Kazekage has Magnet Release, and they'll take some losses, but out of the Five Great Nations, theirs will be the lightest. Besides, the Kazekage's made a good profit from me, so there's no bad blood.
Iwagakure—already lost the Four-Tails and got knocked around by the Raikage. They're crippled, won't recover for ten or twenty years.
And this move? It'll just slow their recovery even more. Their hostility outweighs their value—no loss, no gain.
Kirigakure? You could beg them to pick a fight and they still might not show. Not worth considering.
Kumo's a temporary ally. They'll share the blowback. Also negligible.
So what's left? Just some small fry!
And let's be honest—the Five Great Nations have always had an unspoken agreement to suppress the surrounding small nations, haven't they?"
At this point, a cold killing intent stirred in Reiji's heart.
They take the money—I take the people. Since those little countries don't even treat their own like human beings...
Then give them all to me. I need people.
He could never forget the grief and emptiness in Rie's mother's eyes.
If war makes human life so cheap, then give them to me.
Give them an empty battlefield to fight over—I'll take the rest.