"Hokage-sama, saving money is good, of course."
This time, Yan didn't need to explain further—Mitokado Homura spoke up on his own.
"The problem is, the price of Explosive Tags never drops. Yet, suddenly, there's a batch of cheap, high-quality ones on the market. Don't you find that suspicious?"
"Now that you mention it... yeah, it is kind of weird."
Explosive Tags are expensive not just because they're hard to make but also because the materials aren't cheap.
If a batch suddenly appears at a much lower price, that means...
"The Akatsuki!!!"
Realizing it, Tsunade almost jumped out of her chair.
"Unbelievable! The Five Great Ninja Villages are all hunting them down, and yet Akatsuki has been operating right under our noses!"
"They even sold us Explosive Tags. That must've been Konan's doing, right?"
In the entire ninja world, only Konan, who specialized in Paper Release, could mass-produce high-quality Explosive Tags at such a low price.
All five great ninja villages agreed on this.
And now, a large batch of cheap, top-quality tags had suddenly appeared on the market—this couldn't be a coincidence.
"Senpai, where did we buy these Explosive Tags from?"
"We don't know yet. We need to investigate."
"It won't be that easy. Either someone is working with the Akatsuki, or they just did a one-time deal."
Yan didn't think the Akatsuki would be that reckless.
Even if they needed money, selling small amounts of Explosive Tags would be too slow, and selling large amounts would attract suspicion. The simplest way was a one-time deal.
Sell once, then disappear—leaving no trail to follow.
"Besides…"
Yan suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Tsunade understood what he meant and gave Mitokado Homura a look.
"Senpai, maybe you should get some rest for now?"
"..."
Tsunade's glance made Mitokado Homura's heart sink.
I can't even be part of this discussion?
Compared to how things used to be, this was… disappointing.
But he had no choice.
"Alright, I'll head back. There's still a lot of work in the logistics department that needs my attention."
"Mm, thank you for your hard work, senpai."
Mitokado Homura left, looking a little dejected.
Neither Tsunade nor Yan showed any intention of stopping him.
Since they had already pushed him out, bringing him back in would only create more trouble.
Once the unnecessary people were gone, Tsunade leaned back in her chair, her sharp gaze studying Yan.
She had a feeling he didn't want to get involved in this any further.
"You're planning to leak this intel?"
"Yeah."
Yan didn't hold back.
"Right now, tracking down the Akatsuki doesn't really matter to the village.
What's most important is rebuilding—restoring the economy and regaining our strength.
There's no point in fixating on the Akatsuki."
"If someone has to deal with them, it shouldn't be us."
"Kumogakure and Iwagakure have been acting like they're the top villages in the Five Great Nations, right?
Then let them handle it."
Dumping the problem onto others and making competitors deal with the headache—that was Yan's usual approach.
Unless it was truly necessary, Konoha didn't need to get involved.
It would only be a waste of time, effort, and resources.
If you're going to investigate the Akatsuki, you need to send strong ninjas, right?
And if you're sending them to investigate, you have to give them clear mission objectives.
You also have to pay them accordingly.
Going back and forth like that—what's the point?
Let Kumogakure and Iwagakure handle it. They want to be the big shots, so let them take care of it.
Konohagakure should just focus on growing quietly. Let the other villages draw the Akatsuki's attention.
"The problem is, we think this way, but Oonoki and A will think the same too."
Tsunade crossed her arms. She didn't believe A and Oonoki would be that dumb.
For other matters, maybe. But if Konohagakure casually threw out some clues, would they really just jump at it like eager little puppies?
That didn't seem likely.
Yan smiled, a bright, cheerful smile. But to Tsunade, it felt unsettling.
Every time she saw that smile, she had a bad feeling.
And she was right.
"Handing the intel directly to Iwagakure and Kumogakure is out of the question. We'll just act like nothing happened.
Let the rumors spread naturally in the village, controlling it little by little.
Just let the outside world hear that there's a new batch of cheap but decent-quality Explosive Tags on the market."
"I'm sure the spies from other villages will be more than happy to spread the information for us."
"Information given by outsiders is always more believable than what you gather yourself, right?"
"..."
Tsunade gave Yan a strange look, stared at him for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"Good thing you're not from another village. I wouldn't know how to deal with a guy like you—tricking people while acting all innocent."
"So... do I get a reward?"
Yan raised an eyebrow.
"Screw you."
She was already exhausted from all the scheming, and now this guy had the nerve to ask for a reward? Get lost.
"No reward, but there's plenty of trouble. Want some?"
"Nah, you can handle it yourself. I'm out."
Yan quickly made himself scarce. If Tsunade said there was trouble, then there was definitely trouble.
He wasn't about to go looking for a headache. Let Tsunade deal with it.
"Hey, did you hear? There's a batch of cheap Explosive Tags on the market lately."
"You sure they're not fake? Be careful with that stuff—it's no joke. Better buy the real ones."
"They're not fake. If you don't believe me, try them yourself. The Ninja Tool shop owner is furious, complaining about some unknown source messing up the market prices."
The rumors started spreading. Some were intentionally planted by Konohagakure, while others came from ninjas who had actually bought these Explosive Tags in the market.
Even ninjas didn't get their money for free. If they could save a few coins, they'd gladly take the deal.
As soon as the news spread, the cheap scattered goods on the market were instantly snatched up.
And it wasn't just happening in the Land of Fire—similar situations occurred in other countries as well.
By the time more people gathered their money, hoping to buy more, the goods were suddenly gone.
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