"I'm planning to set up a merchant caravan. Sell some goods in the capital and other places. It's gonna make tons of money." Yamanaka Mai grinned, eyes narrowed in sly delight.
Kazuki's mouth twitched.
His first instinct was to shut the door and see her off.
Is she trying to con a ghost?
Sure, shinobi could establish caravans, but only within their own nation. And for a shinobi, running a trade business was a total hassle. Regular missions paid much better, were more efficient, and way less complicated.
A merchant caravan meant dealing with logistics, market prices, unsold goods, transport routes, time investment, and risk—way too much trouble.
Honestly, Mai would probably have better luck starting an assassination squad. It'd even be more profitable.
"How much are you asking for? And how do you plan to pay it back?" Kazuki glanced sidelong at his crafty squad captain. She clearly wasn't doing this for some honest commercial endeavor—there was something else going on.
What exactly, Kazuki couldn't say yet.
He didn't know Mai all that well. They hadn't worked together long. But he did know she wasn't completely jaded—she had a heart, especially when it came to ordinary people.
"Hmm... How about three hundred thousand ryō?" Mai offered after thinking for a moment.
Kazuki's expression twitched again.
Three hundred thousand? Really?
That kind of money could fund two A-rank missions—minimum.
Shinobi earned well, but they also spent a lot. It was normal not to have much saved up. So it wasn't surprising that Mai needed backing.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Konoha, in a quiet room, Nara Shikaku sat sipping tea with Yamanaka Inoichi.
"She still hasn't given up on that idea, has she?" Shikaku asked, watching the steam rise from his cup.
"No," Inoichi sighed. "Mai's a bright girl, but she's too stubborn."
He was only visiting today because he'd heard Mai had shown up—otherwise, he had other things to attend to.
Shikaku let out a helpless breath.
He knew Mai well. Exceptionally gifted, sharp-minded, and already a jōnin at her age. A real star of the Yamanaka clan. But... she had a flaw.
An overflowing compassion for civilians.
"It's probably from her mother's side," Shikaku murmured. The Ino-Shika-Chō clans were closely intertwined, after all. He knew the backstory well enough.
"Yeah. That girl... she's..." Inoichi shook his head, trailing off as he stared out the courtyard window, lost in thought.
Inoichi, truthfully, kind of hoped Kazuki was the flirty, brash type—someone who'd sweep Mai off her feet. Maybe then she'd forget these big dreams of hers.
But judging by the way Kazuki looked at her, there was no romantic spark.
It was... complicated.
Inoichi couldn't help but think of Mai's naive, borderline laughable, but strangely admirable dream.
"Mai... you're trying to move a mountain with bare hands..."
"You're not worried I won't pay you back?" Mai looked at Kazuki with surprise. She hadn't expected him to really lend her the 300,000 ryō—and certainly not without making her sign anything.
"Just having 'Yamanaka' as your last name is collateral enough," Kazuki replied casually.
He didn't know exactly what Mai planned to do, but he wasn't worried. If anything happened to her, the Yamanaka clan would repay the debt without hesitation. Maybe even with interest.
After all, even Konoha's kids knew: if you borrowed from a loan shark and didn't pay up, you'd end up either acting in weird movies... or worse, become a life-size realistic body dummy.
Kazuki still remembered the time he ordered a custom puppet. The shop owner had eagerly introduced him to some of their "models," apparently molded from real kunoichi.
"The most popular one is based on a taijutsu specialist—super tight. But because of that, most people lose their last bullet too fast. That's why we usually recommend—"
Yeah. That merchant's pitch still echoed in Kazuki's head.
"...Alright, see you around, Kazuki," Mai said after a pause. Her gaze had sharpened—resolute.
Kazuki frowned slightly.
That's the look of someone determined to change the world.
But Yamanaka Mai never appeared in the anime. Her future was a complete mystery.
She left.
Kazuki didn't dwell on it. Sure, 300,000 ryō was a lot—but not for him. Icha Icha Paradise was still making buckets of cash, and he didn't have many things to spend money on anyway.
Food, maybe.
"Hah... time to sleep." Kazuki yawned.
He'd spent the day training with Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he was drained.
Before bed, he didn't forget to send out a few Shadow Clones to continue practicing, draining most of his chakra in the process.
Only then did he let himself fall asleep.
The next morning, Kazuki rolled out of bed.
He didn't bother checking his skill progress. No point. The higher your proficiency, the more absurd the grind became. He'd long since stopped caring about numbers. Keep training daily, and when it was time to level up, the system would tell him.
He arrived early at the training grounds—but Hiruzen Sarutobi was already there.
"Lord Third." Kazuki was surprised.
He knew elderly people often slept lightly and woke early, but he hadn't expected Hiruzen to already be waiting.
Next time, I'll come even earlier...
"Good morning, Kazuki," Hiruzen said, standing upright with surprising vitality. He got right to it, resuming instruction on advanced ninjutsu techniques.
Not a single mention of Biwako. Not a trace of grief.
It was as if she had never died.