Chapter 231: Success

The bathhouse started getting more and more popular day by day. Due to this, Hae took on a full-time role in managing the bathhouse, while Kaida and others started using shadow clones to help with the chores. From cleaning and washing to cooking, everything was done by shadow clones.

Everyone was very happy about this development—the bathhouse was doing very well. It had three premium baths, rented out at 15,000 Ryo per hour. This price wasn't something a regular person could afford, but for extremely wealthy people like the wives of nobles or big merchants, it was well worth it. These guests left the inauguration ceremony with more glowing faces than usual, and after intense 'talks' with their wives that day, the result was clear: the bathhouse's premium rooms were booked for the entire week.

Considering the bathhouse's operating hours of 12 hours a day, the premium rooms alone were earning 3.8 million Ryo. After deducting the cost of all the medicine used in the premium rooms, the net profit they generated was 2 million Ryo from just three baths in a week. Besides the premium baths, there were also two prime baths for 2,000 Ryo each, shared by 10 people, and two normal baths for 300 Ryo each, shared between 35 people. These were separate for males and females. The largest baths didn't have as concentrated a medicinal effect, but even that was enough for most people.

All in all, the bathhouse became so famous that the net profit in just one week was 3.5 million Ryo, a sum no one was expecting. Initially, they had even decided to keep the prices low in the starting months and then increase them gradually.

 Because The medicinal effects of the bathhouse are temporary, so once a woman gets used to seeing her face more gorgeous than usual, she can't go back to her old self and becomes a regular at the bathhouse. Even though it sounds bad, this is how business works. A business only thrives through loyal customers, and addiction is the best way to gain loyal customers. This is how the world works (A.N.: both the ninja world and ours).

But the plan of initially low prices changed when they saw how much the guests, especially the main guests, enjoyed the baths.

...

Kaida then came to Hae with an idea.

"Aunt, I know we initially decided only to cover the medicinal costs of the bathhouse, but I think we can increase the price a little. The response is too good, so I don't think we have to wait a month to increase the price," Kaida suggested.

"I was thinking about the same thing too, but how much should we increase it? If it's too much, it could have the opposite effect. After all, greed does have the power to bankrupt even the wealthiest person," Hae replied.

"I think the price for prime and common baths should remain the same. Normal people can't afford a higher price, no matter how good the bath is," Shisui said.

"Yes, our main target is the premium baths," Yomi added.

"I think I have an idea to get the best price for the premium baths," Kaida said with a smile.

"And that is...?" Yomi asked.

"Let the nobles take the bath first," Kaida said with a small chuckle.

After an hour, the guests came out of the baths, and a chubby man made his way toward Hae.

"Miss Hae, your bathhouse does live up to its reputation as a business of the Uchiha clan. I really like the premium bath. How much do you charge for that?" the noble, a middle-aged, chubby man with a fat face, asked.

"Thank you for praising this humble place so much, sir. As for the price, why don't you make a guess?" Kaida said.

"And who might you be?" the noble asked. His tone was gentle because he knew Kaida was someone from the Uchiha clan and also a family member of Hae and Shisui Uchiha.

"Oh! Where are my manners? I am Kaida Uchiha, sir, son of Aiko Uchiha and Asami Senju," Kaida introduced himself.

"He is my brother, sir," Shisui added, clearing any confusion.

"Oh! Such a well-mannered child you are. What did you ask?" the noble said.

"I would really like you to guess the price of the premium bath, sir," Kaida said once again.

"Hmm, considering how good I feel and how luxurious that room was... maybe 25,000 Ryo?" the noble guessed.

Every noble had some business under them to increase their already huge financial reserves. So they knew quite a bit about business. That's why Kaida decided to use that knowledge to determine the price of the premium bath.

"Thank you for evaluating it so highly, sir, but you've guessed a little too high. Not everyone is as rich as you, so we kept the price affordable—only 15,000 Ryo," Kaida said with a smile.

Hae and the others had to try hard to hide their shocked faces. "15,000? Wasn't the original price only 5,000?" they all thought.

"Oh! That's such a steal. I might make it my daily habit to use this as my personal bath," Reina Kagetsu, the headmistress of the Kagetsu Clan and wife of the current head, Enzo Kagetsu, said.

(A.N.: The Kagetsu Clan is an immensely wealthy clan from Konoha and is featured in an anime filler arc in the Naruto series, specifically in Episode 187: "Open for Business! The Leaf Moving Service.")

"It would be our honor, Lady Kagetsu," Hae said, bowing slightly. Reina was actually more powerful and wealthy than the noble, thanks to her clan's connection with the Fire Daimyo himself. Many people in Konoha preferred to be on her good side rather than her bad one.

Reina just smiled at Hae's comment. Hae then took over the conversation while Kaida and the others made their way toward the other guests.

...

(One week passed)

Earnings from the bathhouse, after removing the cost of herbs and medicine, staff payments, and tax, amounted to 3 million Ryo—an amount no one in the family was expecting. But they thought that the price would drop in the next few weeks and that the craze would die down.

(Second week passed)

Same amount of earnings. "Maybe next week," they thought.

(Third week passed)

Same amount of earnings. "Definitely next week."

(Fourth week passed)

Same amount of earnings.

"Aunt, I think we should increase the size of the bathhouse," Kaida suggested.

"I get where you're coming from—a complete booking for a full month, and even the next month is fully booked. We had to refuse so many customers just because the bathhouse is completely booked," Hae said, sighing from the stress of success.

"That's why I think we should increase the size of the bathhouse, at least double the current size," Kaida said.

"At least we're not short on funds," Shisui chimed in.

"I was thinking the same thing. Shisui, go and ask Fugaku-sama if we can buy land near the bathhouse. If yes, how much?" Hae said.

"Right now?" Shisui asked, lounging lazily on the extra-comfortable sofa that came from the Kagetsu clan, in exchange for the right to book one of the premium baths for an entire month.

"Not right now, but when you're free from doing your important work of being lazy," Hae said.

"Fine, fine, I'll go now," Shisui said.

"Are we going to buy all of the land near the bathhouse?" Kaida asked.

"Yes. The bathhouse is becoming a hot spot for all types of people to meet, wealthy and common alike. There are so many options for more business in that area. Even though we're focusing on the bathhouse at the moment, we can buy the land for future ventures," Hae said.

'I am so lucky she is handling the business. I guess money will not be a problem in the future,' Kaida thought.

"Fine, Aunt, then I'm going to the hospital," Kaida said and headed toward the hospital.

In the last month, Kaida hadn't been sitting idly, watching the bathhouse's success. No, he was diligently practicing both medical and fuinjutsu. In that time, he had already learned seven seals and was working on the eighth one before moving on to the last and most difficult one—the complex array seal. As for medical jutsu, it was also coming along fine.

...

Just as Kaida was about to enter the hospital, a fist came straight toward his gut. His reflexes kicked in, and Kaida swiftly jumped to the side, activating his three-tomoe Sharingan, going fully alert for the fight, only to find Ryota standing where he had been just a few seconds ago.

"You betrayer! I thought we were friends, and you didn't even invite me to the party for your new business," Ryota said.

"Hey, hey, I called you and even went to your house twice. It's not my fault you had to go on a month-long mission right during that time," Kaida said, dodging another punch.

Before either of them could do anything, Kiba came up behind Ryota and began pulling him back, by biting his trousers Here's the revised version of your scene with some grammatical corrections and minor adjustments for clarity:

---

"You're protecting him? I thought you were on my side!" Ryota said, sounding like a man who had been betrayed by his wife of 52 years.

Bark! Bark!

"What?" Ryota asked, startled.

"What did he say?" Kaida asked, noticing Ryota's shocked reaction.

"He's saying not to offend you, or you might beat the crap out of me," Ryota said angrily, turning his head to glare at Kiba.

"Well, at least one of this duo has some intelligence," Kaida said, sitting down and patting Kiba's head.

"Come on, you might have been a genius before, but I've been learning ninjutsu for the last year and a half while you've been wasting your time on medical jutsu. I'm pretty sure I can beat you now," Ryota boasted.

Kaida just smiled and quickly threw two senbons at Ryota's acupoints, effectively paralyzing him.

"You were saying?" Kaida asked calmly.

"Hey, that was cheating!" Ryota shouted.

"And you think your enemy will fight you like a sage? During a mission, you'll face things much worse than this," Kaida replied.

"Hey, I'm already frustrated with two senseis; I don't need another one. I just came to meet with an old friend," Ryota grumbled.

Bark! Bark!

"Yeah, yeah, my one and only human friend," Ryota muttered.

"Alright then, let's go to a restaurant. My treat," Kaida offered.

"Don't you need your sensei's permission before skipping practice?" Ryota asked, noticing Kaida was about to enter the hospital.

"No, I'm in the practical part of my training right now. Besides, my sensei might not even be at the hospital at the moment—they could be taking a medicinal bath," Kaida said with a chuckle.

They headed to a restaurant where Ryota told Kaida everything that had happened over the past year—how he'd learned so many jutsus and mastered his clan's special taijutsu. He also mentioned how he'd gained practical experience by doing various missions. Kaida shared how much he had learned, which only served to depress Ryota.

"Is there anything you haven't learned? Genjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, medical jutsu—are you trying to compete with Lord Third in the amount of jutsu you can master?" Ryota asked.

"No, I'm still way behind if that were the case," Kaida said with a chuckle.

"Man, I thought I'd made some good progress, but it looks like you're already way ahead of me. But don't worry, I'll catch up in no time," Ryota said with a big smile on his face.