Chapter 238. The Unexpected Move!
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When the news of Shimura Danzo's bounty suddenly dropping reached Konoha—
For a moment—
Everyone was stunned!
People had only ever heard of bounties increasing, but a bounty dropping? That was unheard of!
However—
According to information from the black market, some of the bounty sponsors had begun withdrawing their offers, causing the bounty amount to continue falling.
In just ten days—
It had dropped by several hundred million.
At this moment—
Not only was the internet in an uproar over the movie, but even the entire black market was in chaos.
After all, Danzo had held the top spot on the bounty list for years!
Even the legendary God of the Ninja World—Senju Hashirama—and his brother couldn't match Danzo!
He was practically a legend in the black market, his fearsome reputation exceeding the second-highest bounty by several hundred million. He had long been the prime target of many rogue and assassin ninjas. And now, why had it suddenly… fallen?!
Many ninjas were secretly regretting it…
It's too late!
Thus—
Shimura Danzo.
A legendary figure in the ninja world, Konoha's top-priority protection target, and the undisputed number-one bounty in the black market… Every move he made attracted the attention of major ninja villages and countless ninjas.
So when his bounty suddenly dropped by several hundred million—
Who wouldn't feel heartbroken?
Who wouldn't feel like they'd suffered a massive loss?
It was as if they had personally lost hundreds of millions themselves!
Meanwhile, Konoha had also descended into chaos.
Especially the major clans that had invested in Danzo shares!
This drop had cost them tens of millions. And you know, this wasn't a few thousand, or even a few hundred thousand—it was tens of millions!
That's not a small sum!
As a result, when the clans saw the bounty dropping, they didn't try to stabilize the situation—they cut their losses immediately!
On the other hand, the Hyuga Clan elders who had invested in Danzo shares… Upon seeing this situation, their previously gloomy moods suddenly brightened.
After all—
Their investment contracts still hadn't been recovered, and Danzo had made it clear that he only recognized the contracts—not the people behind them.
But now—
Everyone was losing!
That made it feel a lot better!
Because of this, the clan ninjas who had been sent out to track down the culprit were called back.
At this point—
Danzo's bounty had already dropped to 110 million.
And from the looks of things, it seemed like it would continue to fall! The sheer scale of this "market crash" was terrifying. Many members of the clans involved in the investment were walking around with pale faces—so pale they practically glowed!
It was clear that there was no longer any point in wasting manpower and resources to chase down such a small sum of money.
According to Suzune—
The atmosphere in the clan had improved significantly over the past few days. Even the once-frowning elders were now smiling and casually saying… It's just a bit of money, they don't care about it at all!
So generous!
Yuto scrolled through the online posts, shook his head with a sigh, and murmured, "It looks like the total loss could be several hundred million…"
Danzo had taken out loans to fund this business, and now he was facing a stock market crash and a box office failure for the new movie. How could the creditors not panic?
To cut their losses, they had no choice but to take action.
As for raising the bounty through their own means… If it were just the ten of them, even if they managed to push the bounty back up, it would still cost them several hundred million. Even if Danzo really did get killed, they would still be losing their own hundred million!
After all, this money was their own!
"Now, if I were to buy back their contracts at a low price…" Yuto rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes. A glint of light flashed across them. "…Then push the bounty back up… and once Danzo buys back the contracts… wouldn't I be using Danzo's money to place a bounty on Danzo?"
In that case—
The only loss would be the intermediary fees and the base cost?
That…
Actually sounded pretty feasible!
But after thinking about it for a moment—
"Forget it. I'm running a legitimate business," Yuto shook his head and abandoned the ruthless plan that had crossed his mind.
After all, he was a businessman with the Will of Fire. Every year, he put together large gift packs at a loss to give back to his customers—
How could he stoop to something like that?
He wasn't that kind of person!
He kept scrolling through the online posts.
As more and more people went to see the movie over the past few days, the truth about [Konoha Fortress] being a flop became widely known. In response, ticket sales at Root Cinema had plummeted in a straight line.
On the other hand, [Mahjong Soul], produced by Yuto Group, and [Bloody Mist Ninja Academy], produced by Kirigakure, had exploded in popularity once again. According to sales data from various regions, ticket sales for these two films had been steadily increasing, far surpassing [Konoha Fortress].
Especially as the positive reviews for [Mahjong Soul] spread, plushies of the Nine-Tailed Fox became a hot commodity again, with sales skyrocketing.
Plus the advertising expenses that Danzo had spent early on…
It could be said that this success was largely thanks to Danzo.
Meanwhile, over on Danzo's side…
After drawing everyone's attention with his advertising campaign, the sudden collapse in both audience turnout and bounty had left him in a dire situation. The 1 billion he had secured through the bounty had already been fully invested in filming the movie, building the cinema chain, hiring fake reviewers, and buying advertising slots. It was likely that he didn't have much money left now.
So now…
What exactly was Danzo planning to rely on to deal with those creditors?
Was he going to rely on Root to carry out assassinations?
If he really did that… Konoha would actually kill him, and the Shimura clan would never be able to live in Konoha again.
After all, not only would he be refusing to pay back his debts, but he would also be killing people?!
Was this something a human would do?
That's such a pathetic excuse!
At the very least, he'd have to frame it as protecting Konoha's safety or preventing a coup to make it sound more reasonable.
If not…
Then his only option might be to rely on his status as the head of the Shimura clan to hold off the creditors for now and negotiate a repayment plan in installments.
Yuto took a sip of tea, shook his head, and scrolled through the online posts.
Honestly—
It was pretty entertaining.
Especially the sudden wave of debt collection posts over the past two days…
Tens of thousands of people had taken on these "review" jobs—writing fake reviews. The agreed terms were clear: one like for one or two ryo, a five-star review for ten ryo, with a down payment upfront and the remaining balance to be settled afterward.
But now, several days had passed, and the balance still hadn't been paid.
Some of them had even spent their last bit of money to cover internet fees out of pocket, but with the final payment still unpaid, they had no food left at home.
He heard that… some of them were ready to hang themselves.
It was truly heartbreaking for those who heard it and tear-inducing for those who saw it!
Although many disapproved of the unethical practice of faking reviews, hearing that these people were now broke and struggling stirred up a lot of sympathy.
Especially after it was revealed that this group was made up of victims of the infamous [1040 Financial Project] that had shaken the internet before, people felt even more compassion for them.
They…
They really had it rough!
Yuto felt a pang of emotion in his heart, as if it reminded him of the hardships he had faced when starting his own business…
Except—
There hadn't really been any hardships.
Thanks to the system, he had been raking in money hand over fist for the past few years.
It couldn't be helped.
He ran a legitimate business, and always operating with integrity had earned him the trust of his customers.
Really.
As a businessman, you still have to be honest!
But after thinking it over, as a businessman who embodied the Will of Fire, Yuto felt…
That he needed to do something to help these struggling people.
So.
He.
Let out a sigh.
Then—
He raised his hands.
His fingers quickly danced across the keyboard as he typed out a line of text:
[Keep going! You're the best!]
After hitting send, he leaned back in his chair with a sigh, took another sip of tea, and murmured, "I can only help you this much."
Just as he finished speaking—
The door suddenly burst open, and Suzune rushed in.
"Yuto! Yuto!"
"???"
Before Yuto could ask what was wrong—
He saw—
Suzune standing there, looking completely flustered and confused, still trying to process what had happened. She hurriedly said, "Danzo-sama, he… he…"
She paused for a moment before blurting out:
"He ran away!"
"???"
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