hotmtlnovel Chapter 71 The Village's Money Bag
Chapter 71 The Village's Money Bag
The popularity of the Tianxi Ninja Tools was like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake.
In just three days, civilian self-defense kits became the most fashionable item in Konoha Village.
This cutting-edge technology can be seen everywhere, from the streets to the alleys.
Konoha Park, the sun is setting.
Two boys, around five or six years old, are playing a ninja game.
"Take this! Shuriken!"
"Hmph! I'll block it!"
This game used to involve throwing wooden kunai at each other, but now...
The chubby boy playing the villain was holding a... children's version of a stun gun, which only had light effects and a faint tingling sensation. He grinned and charged at the tall, thin boy playing "Naruto".
"Accept your punishment, you enemy ninja!"
The tall, thin man calmly took out a small jar with cartoon stickers on it from his pocket and pressed it against the chubby boy.
"Sizzle—"
A red mist with a strawberry scent was sprayed out; this was a children's version of pepper spray, but its effectiveness was greatly reduced.
"Cough cough cough! My eyes! They sting!"
The chubby boy instantly broke down, squatting on the ground with tears in his eyes: "I'm not playing anymore! I'm going to tell my mom!"
"Haha! Justice will prevail!"
On a nearby bench, two middle-aged women who were knitting sweaters watched this scene with wide smiles.
"Hey, this little gadget is quite interesting, much better than those dangerous kunai from before."
......
Nighttime, in the dark alleys of Konoha.
A drunk man was staggering and blocking the way of a female izakaya waitress who was on her way home from get off work.
"Hey little girl, wanna have a drink with this old man?"
The drunk man reached out his dirty hand, trying to grab the girl's arm.
In her panic, the girl instinctively reached into her bag and touched the cold metal can.
Remembering the slogan on the flyer, she made up her mind.
The high concentration of capsaicin spray instantly covered the drunkard's face.
"Aaaaaah! My eyes! Fire! Fire!"
The drunkard covered his face and screamed in agony, snot and tears streaming down his face. He instantly lost all fighting ability and rolled on the ground like a dead dog.
Two auxiliary police officers who happened to be passing by saw this scene, their lips twitched, they went over and gave the drunk man another kick, and then skillfully took out handcuffs.
"Take him away. The charges are harassing women and... rolling around on the ground, affecting the city's appearance."
The next day.
On the streets of Konoha, the morning mist had not yet completely dissipated, but a long queue had already formed in front of the Tianxi Ninja Tool Shop.
"Hey, don't push! Hey lady behind me, I'm talking to you, your basket is practically hitting my waist!"
"Officer, please hurry up and register me. My husband is waiting for me to buy these lightning alarm stickers when he gets back from his mission!"
Dashan, a traffic assistant in a black uniform, was sweating profusely as he held a registration book and kept directing the order.
Not far away, several pairs of bloodshot and jealous eyes were staring intently at the noisy scene.
Across the street, Kentaro Fukushima, the owner of Hayate-do, and Akira Yokota, the owner of Tetsuya, exchanged a glance, both able to see the burning redness in each other's eyes.
"Yokota, this is unbearable!" Kentaro Fukushima angrily stubbed out his pipe. "Our two families used to handle 30% of the village's kunai orders, but now everyone's buying those pepper sprays. Yesterday, my shop only sold three shuriken, and those were just for the neighbor's kids to play with!"
Looking at the crowd practically breaking down the threshold at the entrance of the Iron House, Yokota Akira, the owner of the Iron House, gritted his teeth and muttered, "What makes Tenshi Tsuki so special? Isn't it just because she's close to that Assistant Nishikawa from the Police Department? This kind of monopolistic behavior using her position is a disgrace to Konoha's business world!"
"Let's go! Let's talk to the guys and go to the police station to demand an explanation! Our ancestors were making ninja tools for Konoha for generations, before that Nishikawa Toru was even born!"
One hour later, in the reception room on the second floor of the Konoha Police Department.
Nishikawa Tetsu was holding a cup of tea at a comfortable temperature, looking through the floor-to-ceiling window at the several ninja tool shop owners gathered downstairs.
Although they were dressed respectably, their aggressive demeanor made them look like a group of fighting cocks whose territory had been taken over.
"Che, they've been making a scene in the lobby for ages." Minato Namikaze walked in, looking somewhat helpless. "They're accusing the police department of unfair competition and demanding the revocation of Tenshio Store's exclusive agency rights. Fugaku-senpai originally wanted to just kick them out, but I stopped him."
"Drive them away? Why should we drive them away?"
Nishikawa Tetsu turned around and looked at Minato.
"When a group of vested interests start to protest, it means that our rules have reached their limit. And this is the best opportunity to establish a new order."
"Let's go, let's go see these Konoha's red-eyed devils."
The meeting room door was pushed open.
The previously noisy shop owners fell silent for a moment.
When they saw Nishikawa Tetsu's excessively young face, their pent-up resentment exploded instantly.
"Assistant Nishikawa, you've come at the perfect time!" Kentaro Fukushima, the owner of Hayatedo, slammed his fist on the table, indignantly saying, "Let's not beat around the bush. Why is it that only Shio Shinobi Tool Shop can get their hands on the stuff they sold the other day? In what way are we, the established brands, inferior to her? You're breaking the rules!"
Nishikawa Tetsu did not reply immediately, but gracefully sat down in the main seat, casually opened a document, and did not even look at them.
"Rules? Mr. Fukushima, are you talking about the kind of rules where quality depends entirely on luck, prices depend entirely on personal relationships, and prices skyrocket during wartime?"
"You!" Kentaro Fukushima's face turned bright red.
"Don't get agitated." Nishikawa Tetsu raised his hand and pressed down, his tone calm.
"I'm here today not to listen to your complaints, but to solve the problem. Tianxi Store really can't absorb the entire Konoha market. Recently, due to insufficient supply, there have been cases of reselling and counterfeit goods, which is very detrimental to the police department's brand image."
The shop owners were secretly delighted: Was this a sign that they were about to relinquish control?
"However," Nishikawa Tetsu suddenly changed his tone, becoming stern.
"Civilian defense equipment isn't just an ordinary kitchen knife; it's a combination of science and ninjutsu. If you're allowed to copy it at will, and an unstable sealing technique causes an accident, or an incorrect drug formulation leads to death, who will bear the responsibility?"
The group exchanged bewildered glances. Most of these veteran shop owners only knew how to forge iron and steel. As for sealing techniques and chakra nature transformations? Those were things for ninjas; they were certainly not experts in those areas.
"Therefore, I am preparing to implement a brand new cooperation model—the [Konoha Ninja Tool Standardization OEM Agreement]."
Nishikawa Tetsu pulled a structural diagram from the folder and pushed it to the center of the table.
"What... what is this?" Yokota Akira leaned closer to look and saw a breakdown diagram of pepper spray drawn on it.
"Simply put, we need to implement modular production."
Nishikawa Toru pointed to the blueprints and said, "The metal canister for the spray, the insulating shell of the stun gun, and the handle. I can subcontract the production of these parts, which don't require any ninjutsu, to your workshop. You have a mature forging line, and your output is much higher than my small laboratory."
"What about the core components?" Kentaro Fukushima astutely grasped the key point.
"The core lightning-attribute amplification chip and high-pressure sealing core are supplied uniformly by the police department's laboratory."
Nishikawa Tetsu's eyes radiated a confidence that indicated he was in complete control.
"You are responsible for the production, assembly, and sales of the outer shell. Every product must undergo quality inspection by the police department and be marked with an anti-counterfeiting label that reads 'Supervised by the Konoha Police Department.' You earn the difference between production and sales, while the police department collects technology licensing fees and core component fees."
"In other words, all ninja tool shops in Konoha will be able to sell this product from now on. However, the standards must be set by the police department."
The shop owners were stunned; they had never heard of such a business model before, but after carefully calculating the costs…
If we could use our own workshop to mass-produce the shells and then sell them under the name of the police department, the sales volume would be dozens of times that of when we sold kibble before!
Most importantly, I no longer have to watch long queues at Tianxi stores while I can only watch helplessly. Seeing others make money is more painful than going bankrupt myself!
"Will this... will this work?"
Akira Yokota was somewhat tempted, but still had some concerns.
"If you don't give us the core components, won't we be at your mercy?"
"If you can write a stable high-pressure compression sealing formula, I can also authorize you to produce it." Nishikawa Tetsu glanced at him indifferently.
Yokota Akira immediately shrank back. He couldn't even recognize all three body techniques, how could he possibly understand that?
Just then, the conference room door was pushed open again.
Fugaku Uchiha strode in. He wasn't wearing a police uniform, but rather a black Uchiha clan robe. The profound aura in his eyes, born from the baptism of war, instantly lowered the temperature of the entire conference room by three degrees.
He said nothing, but walked straight to the water dispenser, filled a glass of water, and then turned around, his dark eyes like a bottomless, icy pool, coldly scanning the crowd.
The legend of the ninja world's demon instantly materialized in the minds of these merchants.
"Assistant Nishikawa, I think this agreement is excellent." Kentaro Fukushima, who had originally wanted to haggle further, hurriedly picked up a pen. "For the stability of Konoha, it's our duty as long-established businesses to do our part!"
"Yes, yes, standardization is good! Standardization saves trouble!" Yokota Akiya quickly chimed in, cold sweat trickling down his temples.
After finishing his water, Fugaku nodded slightly to Nishikawa Tetsu, turned and left without saying a word, yet his words spoke volumes.
……
In the evening, after seeing off the group of jubilant shop owners who looked like they had found millions, Fugaku sat on the sofa in his office, looking at the stack of letters of intent.
"Che, I still don't understand," Fugaku frowned. "The Tianxi Ninja Tool Shop is enough. Why share profits with these profit-driven businessmen? If we want to expand production capacity, wouldn't it be better to open a factory directly under the name of the police department?"
"Senior, this is both a business ecosystem and a political defense line."
Nishikawa Tetsu, while tidying up the documents on the table, said without turning his head:
"Making money alone makes you a nouveau riche, attracting jealousy and sarcastic remarks; bringing the whole village together to make money makes you a vested interest group. When all the ninja tool shops in Konoha are making money off our technology, who would dare to cause trouble for the ninja guard?"
"At that time, if something happens to you, senior, these businessmen will be even more nervous than Mikoto-nee, because your existence is the guarantee of their wealth."
Nishikawa Toru looked at Fugaku and gave him a meaningful smile:
"Let interests be the bond, and let standards be the shackles. What we need to do is not just be the guards of Konoha, but the standard setters."
Looking at the boy who was a few years younger than him, Fugaku was filled with emotion.
Fortunately, this kid is on the Uchiha's side; we honest and law-abiding Uchiha can't outmaneuver him.