A month went by just like that. Today, the Orcas would get their new mission—or so they had been told by Hayate-sensei. They took a break for about a week, and then training started again. For Ikki, the results were better than he had imagined. He had become proficient in wrinkling the leaf. It happened instantly, and because of his chakra control, he had reduced chakra usage to a minimum. This was the advantage of chakra control. He should say he was becoming a control freak. As for the Twin Wings technique, he nailed it. He achieved instant acceleration. Ikki Kurogane was a monster. Achieving what Ikki learned from all the techniques detailed and given to him by Indra—he did that in just one week, and just by watching it to boot.
They reached the Hokage's office in five minutes. After knocking, they entered.
"Hokage-sama, Team Orca reporting for duty."
Sandaime: "Oh, you have come." Without looking at them, he picked a file from the pile and pointed at them. Ikki took it from him.
Sandaime: "This is a protection mission for trade from the Land of Tea to here. They are shipping high-end tea leaves. Some rogue ninja might interfere in this mission, so be careful. You need to reach the Land of Tea in two days. You will return here with their merchants and caravan. Any questions?"
[After a moment of silence as no one spoke.]
"Good. Dismissed."
Ikki turned to his team.
"After one hour, let's meet at the gate. Prepare for one week." As he said this, he could feel Sandaime's gaze on him.
Turning to Sandaime, "We are going for one week only. Don't worry."
Sandaime, hearing this, relaxed and started working again.
After one and a half days, their group reached the Land of Tea. After searching around, they found the shop whose owner had assigned the transportation mission.
Owner: "Hi, my name is Tanaka. I am the owner of this shop. Please show me the officially sealed mission so I can confirm you are from Konoha."
Ikki handed over the sealed scroll to him, bearing the mark of Konoha. Tanaka opened and read it. After reading it, he handed it back to Ikki.
Tanaka: "Everything is in order. The caravan will leave the city in the morning. You can rest in the inn. I will send someone to pick you up in the morning."
Ikki: "Before that, are there any chances we will face any shinobi?"
Tanaka looked at Ikki and Hayate, not understanding who the leader was. Hayate, noticing this, said:
Hayate: "He is the leader."
Tanaka: "Oh, young genius. There is a chance, actually. Some rogue ninjas always attack, as my tea leaves are quite good." Tanaka said this proudly, and everyone noticed.
Ikki: "Okay, I want to ask you for a favor."
Hayate: "Ikki, you can't."
Tanaka: "What is it, kid?"
Ikki, getting serious: "You know we are about to fight ninjas with our lives on the line, right?"
Tanaka swallowed his saliva. "Yes."
Ikki: "Then give me a 35% discount."
Tanaka: "What?"
Hearing this, Hinari and Hayate face-planted onto the floor. Chikako started laughing.
Tanaka, after getting out of shock: "Okay, I will give you a 10% discount."
Ikki: "Okay, we are canceling the mission."
Tanaka: "You can't. You are not the team leader."
Ikki: "I am."
Tanaka looked at Hayate.
Hayate: "He is."
Tanaka: "20%."
Ikki: "30%."
Tanaka: "25%."
Ikki: "Deal. I was happy with 20%, but 25% is better."
Tanaka started to sweat. [This kid is dangerous. He made me, a veteran merchant, lose.]
Ikki: "I want to buy 30 kilos of medium tea leaves and 10 kilos of high-end tea leaves."
Tanaka, who thought this deal would make him lose money, started to smile. This was a bulk order for him, and it was good for business.
Chikako, after thinking about something, went to Ikki.
"Triple the order. We can sell it in Konoha. Double the price."
Hearing this, Ikki started to laugh.
Ikki: "Nice idea. Tanaka-san, triple my order."
Tanaka became quite happy. Even after giving the discount, he was making a 5% profit. What he didn't know was that this 5% profit was going to give Ikki and Chikako double their investment—or even more.
Tanaka: "Your total amount will be: for medium tea leaves, 30,000 ryo, and for high-end tea leaves, 50,000 ryo. Total: 350,000 ryo. After discount: 262,500 ryo."
Ikki brought out a scroll from his backpack. After opening and using a cool jutsu, he handed stacks of ryo to Tanaka.
Seeing this, Hayate and Hinari were dumbfounded. They didn't know Ikki had this much money.
Hayate: "Why do you have this much money?"
Ikki: "Our last liquor scheme earned quite a large amount, plus my idea at the weapon shop also earned me quite a lot. I have 1 million ryo in my account."
Hayate: "That liquor prank was yours?"
Ikki and Chikako started to laugh.
After taking the cash:
Tanaka: "I will have your order ready with the caravan. You can pick it up in the morning."
Ikki: "Is it okay if I pack your caravan in the scroll?"
Tanaka: "Yes, that's best. That way, transportation speed will be faster. My associate will come with you."
After three days, Team Orca and Tanaka's associate, named Aino, reached Konoha. They arrived at Tanaka's subsidiary shop. After unloading the caravan, they got the signed mission completion scroll and went on their way.
Hayate: "Ikki, give me the mission completion scroll. I will handle the mission completion. I will bring the mission reward tomorrow to Orca Training Ground."
Ikki: "What's Orca Training Ground?"
Hayate: [Sigh]"Training Ground 10. Hokage-sama renamed it to Orca Training Ground." Saying this, Hayate turned toward the Hokage Tower.
Ikki: "Cool." [After giving Hayate the scroll] "Tell Hokage-sama if he wants tea leaves. I have 10 kilos of high-end tea leaves. I can give him a 10% discount."
Hayate nearly stumbled upon hearing this. [This kid is dangerous. He's going to make money off Hokage-sama.] Hayate left the place.
Ikki turned to Chikako and Hinari.
Ikki: "Let's sell these tea leaves. You should ask your father and clan members. Let's give them a discount of 50% of what we discussed."
Chikako: "Let's go with 10% for now. Let's meet tomorrow to discuss orders."
Hinari: "I will also ask in my clan."
Ikki: "No discount for your clan members, but you will get 10% of the profit."
Hearing this, Hinari got excited and started walking toward the Hyuga clan compound. But Ikki could see some bounce in her steps.
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