"I lost…" Sasuke looked at Shen Mo, eyes burning with deep frustration. "Even Heavenly Flying Immortal wasn't enough?"
Combat experience, standard fighting—he'd felt the gap.
Not as helpless as before.
But still no hope of winning.
Yet even Heavenly Flying Immortal, pouring all his strength, couldn't win?
"Heavenly Flying Immortal was too powerful, so even Kakashi couldn't hold back," Shen Mo said calmly. "If I hadn't stepped in, you'd be dead or gravely injured. Kakashi… minor wounds at most."
"Dead?" Sasuke's pupils shrank.
He'd been too heated, focused on unleashing his only sword-intent skill, ignoring the fallout.
Now, thinking back…
Heavenly Flying Immortal was indeed mighty but a reckless, all-in sword form—no fallback, no defense. He'd let all his chakra flood into it, no control. A head-on clash like that—
He'd really die!
Sasuke's heart shuddered with aftershocks.
"Sasuke," Sarutobi Hiruzen crouched, helping him up, brushing dust off him, staring into his eyes. "I understand your thirst for revenge, but as that fight showed, a ninja needs more than power. Combat experience, situational judgment—you still have much to learn from Kakashi sensei."
Sasuke lowered his head, shame and frustration mingling.
He'd been hit hard by reality.
Not enough.
His strength wasn't enough!
Nearby, Naruto watched this warm scene, insanely jealous. To him, the Third Hokage was clearly acknowledging Sasuke's power.
"The Hokage's right," Shen Mo said, flashing a seemingly helpless smile. "I saved you because you didn't grasp the product's nature—just this once. But if you keep this up, we might not trade again. You could die before then."
Sarutobi nodded inwardly, surprised the merchant would caution Sasuke.
"For that—" Shen Mo's tone shifted, "I strongly suggest you buy a few sets of Combat Experience Series cans!"
Sarutobi: "What???"
"Combat Experience Series cans?" Sasuke's eyes widened, shouting in disbelief.
"Of course," Shen Mo chuckled, brimming with confidence. "Never guess what's in the cans—that's our Omni-Potent Chamber of Commerce's motto. Combat Experience Series cans let you gain top-tier combat experience effortlessly. Setting traps, beating stronger foes, clutch reversals… If you had experience beyond Kakashi sensei's, today's fight might've gone either way."
Sasuke could barely fathom it.
Not just him.
Even Sarutobi and Tsunade felt it was absurd.
Power could come quick, but combat experience and skill? That wasn't solo practice—it demanded years of life-or-death battles.
"Your cans are just too wild," Tsunade sighed, resigned. "Every time I think I've got them figured out, something crazier pops up, shattering expectations."
Sasuke, recalling last night, nodded, deeply relating.
But his eyes sparked with hunger again.
Cans!
He needed more cans!
"I wanna buy cans too!" someone suddenly shouted, voicing everyone's thoughts.
Yup, Naruto.
Fists clenched, he pushed into the group, pointing at Sasuke. "That's so cheating! Just buy cans and get that strong? It's straight-up unfair!"
Sure, Sasuke lost to Kakashi sensei today, but even Naruto could see…
The current Sasuke could thrash a hundred of him.
Even upbeat Naruto felt crushing despair at this glaring gap.
"Hmph," Sasuke scoffed. "Those cans come at a cost. I've got money—do you?"
That jab hit the mark.
Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe, a wry smile flickering in his eyes.
Money.
Getting strong with money was great, but money wasn't easy to come by.
As Hokage, he'd wracked his brain to squeeze more funds from the daimyo.
Even past wars, at their core, were about profit.
Ninjas, scarce and unproductive, relied on civilians to sustain them.
And civilians were finite.
Plundering with force was like killing the goose for eggs. Any village daring that would face every other village's wrath—such a lunatic would ruin everyone's interests.
"Money… I've got some," Naruto said, chin up, but his confidence waned. He looked at Sasuke nervously. "How… how much did you spend?"
"Not much," Sasuke sneered, head high. "Two billion."
"Two… billion!?"
Naruto wasn't the only one gasping—Tsunade joined in.
That's a fortune!
Naruto counted on his fingers, struggling to recall how many zeros a billion had.
A ton, anyway.
Sarutobi's gaze mixed shock and doubt. On one hand, two billion for that power seemed steep. On the other, had the Uchiha clan really left that much money? Ouch—what were the ninjas handling the Uchiha aftermath doing!?
Truth is, they'd all missed the point.
Shen Mo spoke softly from the side. "My deals aren't just about money."
Seriously, why were these ninjas obsessed with scraping cash for cans?
Tsunade too.
She could offer her developed ninjutsu, medical skills, everything. Then keep innovating.
Even study the herbs from cans, create new stuff, and sell it back.
A virtuous cycle of value creation—didn't that sound better?
Shen Mo felt he needed to nudge them.
Shift their focus…
From cash to broader horizons.
"Tsunade should know," he said, pointing to his forehead. "Here, everything has value. Can prices are just those values in numbers." Instantly, the Omni-Potent Eye, once shown to Tsunade, reappeared.
That same regal aura.
The newcomers—Sarutobi, Kakashi—paled slightly.
Especially Sarutobi.
Tsunade's description paled compared to seeing it firsthand.
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