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After a long while, Shen slowly opened his eyes, reached out and closed the window, then sat down at the table. After escorting the caravan to its destination, the boss generously gave Shen a considerable commission. After receiving the money, Shen immediately bought the most detailed map he could find.

It's touted as the most detailed map, but that's only in comparison to other maps. Let alone other countries, this map doesn't even clearly mark the various regions of the Land of Iron. The only relatively valuable part is the three well-known trade routes, which lead to Konoha in the Land of Fire, Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, and Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.

Konoha, known as the strongest ninja village in everyone's eyes, is rich and powerful, and can take and consume anything. Sunagakure, due to its unique puppeteer profession, also has a large demand for high-quality iron ore. As for Kumogakure, it is purely for the purpose of obtaining strategic resources, since iron is a resource that no country can ever be too scarce.

Shen looked at the map in front of him and planned his next route. First, he definitely had to go to Konoha. As the most powerful country in the world at present, this ninja village might have made some kind of deal with that alien. Of course, this was just Shen's guess.

Suddenly, Shen looked up at the window and saw several dark figures quickly leaving from the rooftops under the cover of darkness. Among them was Shen's marked person. A Command Seal left on the person allowed Shen to easily sense his whereabouts.

After those people left, Shen didn't chase after them. Instead, he went straight to the boss who was drinking.

"Lord Shen! Come and have a drink, it's on me today!" The tipsy caravan owner raised his glass to Shen.

With a clang, the Soul Blade on Shen's back vibrated, the sound cleansing the boss's spirit from top to bottom. The boss jolted awake, and his drunkenness vanished instantly.

"Come with me, I have something I want to ask you."

After the boss regained consciousness, Shen asked a question, then placed his hands in front of him and walked towards the hotel entrance.

The boss paused for a moment, glanced at the remaining wine in his glass, hesitated for a few seconds, then put the glass down on the table and quickly followed.

Walking along the fairly bustling street, Shen glanced at the weapons hanging in the blacksmith shops around him. They were all inferior weapons, not even as good as the products produced on the Clock Tower's assembly line. But that was normal, given the difference in the times.

"When is the earliest you can set off for Konoha?" Shen suddenly asked, his voice breaking through the surrounding noise and reaching the caravan owner's ears precisely.

"Um...it will take at least five days. I've already contacted some old friends and asked them to sell this batch of goods and also pick up some popular items from Konoha." The shopkeeper said honestly. Recently, the profits from trading have been increasing, but this is based on the fact that the risks of trading have also increased.

Many of the small caravans that used to operate have disappeared in recent months, which is why the boss is so eager to recruit a skilled tradesman; making money requires saving one's life first.

"I've never been to Konoha before. Is there anything I should be aware of?" Shin asked immediately.

The boss thought about it for a moment. As for things to be careful about, he didn't have any particular feelings. Konoha was generally peaceful, and the management of ninjas was quite good. The protection fees they paid were less than half of those of other villages, which was why they liked to go there. No matter what goods they brought, as long as they arrived safely, they could still make a lot of money after deducting taxes and protection fees.

After thinking for a while, the boss decided to start with the industry he was familiar with. "Actually, there's nothing much to worry about. If I had to say, the purchase price of medical devices in Konoha has been rising for the past two years, which has also driven up the price of the raw materials used to manufacture those devices several times over. If you'd like to make some extra money, I can help you contact someone to buy a batch of similar goods."

The boss never stopped talking about making money. In addition, he was also trying to use profits to bind Shen and his caravan together.

"The price has gone up for two years? And since it's so profitable, why don't you mainly sell this?" Shen continued the conversation; sometimes, certain information comes out through conversations like this.

"Because the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju, has taken office, I've heard that she values ​​medical ninjas very much and has been pushing for reforms in this area, which has caused the prices of such items to go up," the shopkeeper said after thinking for a moment.

"As for why we don't sell that, it's because several large caravans have already bought it all. It's fine if we sell some scraps, but if we sell all of it, let alone whether we can buy it or not, even if we do, we won't be able to leave the Iron Kingdom."

"Of course, Lord Shen, please rest assured that I will not exceed the limit when I contact you."

Monopoly, indeed, is the most profitable business everywhere.

Shen wondered to himself, "So what kind of goods do you mainly buy and sell?"

"I sell everything, but lately I mainly buy some average-quality iron ingots to transport there, and then buy some handicrafts and grain to bring back." The boss spoke with more confidence about making money, after all, he was someone who started from scratch and made it to this level in this harsh environment, how could he do it without some skills?

"The handicrafts and souvenirs from Konoha are incredibly profitable, especially small statues with the Konoha symbol. They can easily fetch a high price. Everyone loves them, and some people even say that having one at home will bring good fortune and wealth."

While listening intently to the boss's endless stream of business insights, Shen occasionally nodded in agreement. Many of the things the boss said were quite in line with market principles. For example, Konoha, as a victorious nation that had won many battles, already possessed a well-known soft power, and the fact that a Konoha mark could fetch a high price was proof of this.

However, this soft power must be backed by hard power. At the very least, it must deter most people from openly counterfeiting the markings, otherwise, what price can it fetch?

"Since it's so profitable, aren't there any smugglers?" Shen interjected.

The boss paused for a moment, "It seems you really don't understand Konoha. Who would dare to smuggle goods into Konoha? The Hyuga clan of the Konoha Police Department are infamous. Their eyes can see through things. No matter where something is hidden, it can't escape their eyes."

"Sir, we can't do such a thing. Konoha is very strict about smuggling. If you're caught, you'll be severely punished. Sometimes, they'll even send ninjas here to investigate."

“The Hyuga clan…” Shen memorized the name. “And can you tell me about any other famous ninjas that you can contact?”

Just as the boss was about to speak, Shen's follow-up sentence cut him off. As a small business owner, he could only come into contact with a handful of Jonin, let alone those figures who were widely known in the ninja world.

"Well... as you know, sir, I'm just a small-time businessman. The only person I'm somewhat familiar with is Might Guy, the Blue Beast of Konoha, a Jonin. I have a long-term supply agreement with a female ninja in his team named Tenten. Every time I bring some cheaper weapons, they're all bulk-produced for her."

"By the way, there's a member of the Hyuga clan in Lord Azure Beast's team named Hyuga Neji. He shone brightly during the Chunin Exams a few years ago, so he's probably a core member. But I don't know him well."

The boss racked his brains, constantly searching his memory for any ninjas worth discussing. "That's right! I still have a book signed by Jiraiya, the hero of Konoha. I attended his book signing event. The people drawn in that book... really made me lose all interest in normal women."

Shen stopped in his tracks. Why did the boss's "hero of Konoha, Jiraiya" sound like a painter who draws doujinshi?

"No need to say anymore." Shen interrupted his boss's desire to share. If this continued, his boss would start to tell the whole plot of the book. "I will be leaving in three days. If you can make it, come with me. If you can't, I'm sorry."

"I can make it, I can make it." The boss hurriedly agreed. At most, he would lose a little profit if he went two days early, but he could make up for all the losses after a trip to Konoha. He knew exactly what he was doing.

The boss guessed that Shen was probably a Jonin-level samurai. Ninjas of that level were hard to hire even with money; it was purely a matter of luck. Even if you could, the price for escorting a caravan would be outrageously high, and who knows, he might get into trouble and be sold off along the way.

People like Shen, who would step in to help midway through a crisis, are extremely rare. Such people are clearly morally upright, responsible, and reliable.

After confirming the departure time for Konoha with the boss, Shin spent the next three days traveling to several nearby towns, trying to find some useful information. Unfortunately, he found nothing. Instead, he witnessed several instances of samurai openly fighting in the streets, and the fights were quite brutal.

In addition, Shin also discovered something: the chakra, tentatively identified as invading energy, had already infiltrated many non-living entities. Chakra, like some plastics, is difficult for the planet itself to break down. Every time chakra is generated, it re-enters the entire planet's cycle, encroaching on the space that originally belonged to other energies.

This cycle repeated itself, resulting in an environment with extremely high chakra concentration. However, this puzzled Shen greatly. If aliens really existed, they should have already come out to reap the rewards by now.

What are they waiting for? Are they waiting for the chakra to assimilate the entire planet and then devour it all at once? That seems unlikely. Chakra's assimilation ability is indeed strong, but based on Shen's observations over the past few days, it would probably take hundreds of millions of years to penetrate the entire planet. From an efficiency standpoint, that's not worthwhile.

If we extrapolate from this, what kind of trouble might aliens have encountered if they exist?

Three days later, Shen arrived at the departure point as agreed. The caravan owner had already bought more than a dozen cartloads of goods and was there with his employees to conduct a final inspection.

Among these goods, one of the carriages belonged to Shen. According to what Shen said to his boss yesterday during their conversation, the goods in this carriage would be considered Shen's commission.

Having traveled back and forth between various places several times, Shen now has a general understanding of the prices of some goods in this world. If this carriage is filled with the goods the boss mentioned, the price will be several times higher than the commission the boss gave him when he arrived.

"Hurry up! You can't even do this little job properly? Are you all just freeloaders?!" the boss roared at his employees. The tarpaulin had been there for several hours, and there were still empty spaces above several carriages.

Just then, the shopkeeper saw Shen appear beside the caravan and hurried over. "Sir Samurai, you've arrived! Your goods are ready. They're all the best iron ingots I can get my hands on, top-notch quality!"

Led by the boss, Shen arrived at the carriage, which was piled high with iron ingots that had undergone preliminary forging. There were so many that they had pushed open the tarpaulin a little.

The shopkeeper took out a small hammer from his pocket and tapped the iron ingot twice, producing a crisp sound. "Listen to this," he said, "these were all made by highly skilled craftsmen. I personally oversaw their work, and there's absolutely no room for error!"

Shen reached out and gently snapped the iron ingot in half, which then fell into his hand.

The boss's voice suddenly lowered. He stared at the cross-section of the iron ingot for a long time without saying a word. Judging from the cross-section, this iron ingot was not a low-quality product. How come it was like a piece of foam in Shen's hands?!

“It’s pretty good,” Shen said.

The boss chuckled, thinking Shen was being sarcastic, but Shen was actually speaking from the heart. After all, this was a handmade item, and considering the limitations of the technology, its performance was quite good.

"When do we leave?" Shen tossed the iron ingot back onto the cart.

"We'll set off immediately. As per your request, we'll take the main road this time, and it should take about half a month to reach our destination," the shopkeeper said. He then quickly began preparing the goods, worried that Shen might feel they were leaving too late and would leave first.

Chapter 246 Is someone targeting the Sand Ninja?

While Shen followed the caravan to the Land of Fire, the largest country in the Naruto world, Zed remained in the Land of Grass, where he first landed.

The Land of Grass is a country that excels at imitating other countries, especially in ninjutsu. As a result, the Land of Grass is highly receptive to various cultures and can accept any useful ninjutsu. However, the problem with this scattered country lacking its own unique ninjutsu is the looseness of its cohesion.

Therefore, the Land of Grass also has the highest rate of rogue ninjas. Of course, the number is definitely not as high as that of the Five Great Nations, since the number of ninjas is not even in the same league.

After a large influx of ninjas from various countries, the gold exchange offices in the Land of Grass became the most prosperous. It can be said that, apart from the ninja villages, almost every other town had a branch of the gold exchange office, which is why Kakuzu liked to operate in this land.

With a large number of people willing to exchange money and weak local fighting and suppression capabilities, there is practically no country where it is easier to quickly earn commissions than here.

Inside a medium-sized gold exchange, independent ninjas and rogue ninjas coexist in a barely harmonious manner, following some unspoken rules. Of course, arguments are still inevitable. If the gold exchange hadn't hired a group of ninjas with sufficiently high commissions to suppress these disputes, these guys who risk their lives might have already started fighting.

With a creak, the door to the gold exchange was pushed open, and the noise inside immediately subsided after the person who entered was seen.

Ignoring the bounty hunters around him, Jie walked directly to the gold exchange staff under their gazes. "Give me the latest bounty."

"Your level is only B, so you can only get a portion..." The new employee prepared to refuse the robbery according to regulations.

Just then, the guard next to him picked up a bounty list from the table and threw it in front of Jie.

Jie put down the silver notes he had bought, then took what he wanted and sat down in a secluded spot. The moment he sat down, several round tables around him were immediately cleared out, and the people who had been sitting there scurried away as if avoiding a plague.

"Don't provoke him," the guard whispered to the staff member.

The staff clearly noticed Jie's unusual nature; not just anyone could frighten these desperate criminals like this. "Just who is he?"

While asking the questions, the staff also glanced at the information on the scroll in front of them: Jie, strength unknown, original ninja village unknown, ninjutsu proficiency unknown, rank B.

“A ruthless newcomer,” the guard said, his eyes fixed on Jie in the distance.

When Zed first entered the exchange, he just wanted to see if he could gather some information. However, the Chunin inside the exchange saw that this newcomer didn't even have a headband, but his equipment looked pretty good. So they wanted to extort Zed, since most newcomers to the exchange didn't know the rules.

The Gold Exchange secretly allows this behavior, which can filter out some unqualified bounty hunters and also give some frustrated rogue ninjas a chance to vent their frustrations.

The problem arose when the process had just reached the point of physical provocation. Jie didn't care about any of that. He only ever had one way of dealing with people who were hostile and attacked him: kill!

Several Chunin's shadows instantly betrayed them, and then, under everyone's watchful eyes, these shadows swiftly killed their hosts, before moving from the corpses' feet into the shadows surrounding Zed.

This decisive killing, lasting only a few seconds, completely shocked the entire exchange. The guards who were supposed to maintain order decisively pretended not to see anything. Forget about rules; in this world, might makes right.

Subsequently, during the registration process, because he was unwilling to reveal any information, Zed's rating was temporarily set at B. However, within the Guardians, Zed's danger level was considered to be S-level, and it was best to avoid provoking him if possible.

After receiving the latest bounty list, Jie discovered something: the number and price of bounties for Sand Ninja had increased by more than three times in just a few days.

Rank B bounties are primarily aimed at Chunin-level targets. Even for Konoha members, under the threat of the Konoha Revenge Squad, the average price is only between 250,000 and 300,000 ryo. For Sand Ninja, the price is even lower, around 150,000 ryo.

Now, the average price of Sand Ninja has risen to around 200,000. Most importantly, Jie also saw the Blood Kill Bounty at the Exchange Shop. This is a bounty that can only be initiated by a bounty hunter who is at least S-rank or who invests more than 30 million ryo.

The targets of bounties are generally not fixed. For example, a genin from a certain faction. Yes, a genin. The minimum bounty is only for the lowest-ranking ninja. As long as they have a Sand Ninja headband and some body parts that can prove their identity, they can receive a portion of the bounty.

Such bounties only appeared during a few Shinobi World Wars. At that time, the remote Gold Exchange was filled with bounties from the five great nations, and there were even higher-level bounties. All the nations at that time were using every means at their disposal to weaken their opponents' manpower.

Who is targeting the Sand Village? What do they want? To start another Shinobi World War?

Jie looked at the bounty poster in his hand and pondered. The best way to get the answer to this question was to go to the gold exchange. Of course, Jie estimated that his current record was not enough to make them reveal the information of the poster. The result of forcing it would be to fight.

Even disregarding energy consumption, Jie would not want such a potentially large-scale killing, since the other party was neither an enemy invading his homeland nor an enemy already on the opposite side.

Suddenly, Jie, who was deep in thought, smelled a familiar scent and looked up at the entrance of the gold exchange.

With a creak, Kakuzu walked in through the door carrying a corpse. The moment he appeared, the entire exchange shop erupted in excitement, as Kakuzu was extremely popular within the exchange shop.

Blood dripped from the corpse onto the ground. Kakuzu enjoyed the sounds around him, but after taking a couple of steps inside, he suddenly sensed a strange gaze.

Turning his head to look in the direction their gazes were directed at, Kakuzu and Zai locked eyes. Instantly, Kakuzu had the urge to throw the corpse in his hand and turn away.

However, Kakuzu quickly suppressed his thoughts; he was inside the exchange shop and couldn't afford to embarrass himself like that.

In addition, Hidan, Kakuzu's teammate, was worshipping an evil god nearby, which gave him some courage to face Zai.

The sounds inside the exchange gradually subsided, and everyone looked at the staring contest between Jie and Kakuzu, seemingly understanding something.

Chapter 247 You don't bleed?!