Ch 17: Following

Chapter: Following

"The atmosphere of the ninja world always feels a bit depressing these days."

Ayaan, wearing a turban, glanced up at the sky. Although it was a sunny day, a dark and gloomy atmosphere still lingered.

If he had never been to the world of One Piece, Ayaan might not have noticed it. But now, he could clearly feel that the ninja world indeed carried a heavy, oppressive air—completely different from the joyful, carefree world of One Piece, where even the villains seemed more comical than threatening.

However, this wasn't something Ayaan needed to dwell on. His current focus was locating the black markets marked in the scroll his father had left behind.

In reality, the dark profession of being a ninja had always been closely tied to the black market. Even ninjas from the major villages would occasionally take on missions through it.

For example, if you killed a ninja from another village during a mission conflict, your village wouldn't reward you for it. But if you sold the head on the black market, you could often make a small fortune.

That was the basis of the black market's existence—handling tasks that the five great ninja villages either refused to do or couldn't publicly acknowledge.

"Why are they always next to the toilet?" Ayaan muttered unhappily, covering his nose.

Of course, the location served a purpose—mainly to mask the stench of corpses. Any experienced ninja knew that. Still, Ayaan couldn't help but complain about the smell.

He walked through a hidden entrance and into a dimly lit room, where a man sat behind a counter looking bored. Without saying a word, Ayaan tossed a small bag onto the counter. Its mouth was slightly open, and golden light shimmered from within.

The shopkeeper's dull expression brightened instantly. He reached out, grabbed the bag, and weighed it casually. A satisfied smile spread across his face.

"Sir, are you here to place a bounty, or perhaps looking for information? We also—"

"Neither. I'm here to buy ninjutsu," Ayaan said in a low voice.

"Buy ninjutsu?" The man blinked, surprised. But he quickly composed himself. "Then you've come to the right place. Apart from village- and clan-specific techniques, we have a large number of common ones available. But the prices..."

"Price isn't an issue. Just bring me the full catalog." Ayaan nodded confidently. After looting a large amount of gold from the Drum Kingdom, he had every reason to feel secure.

If converted into ninja world currency, that gold would be worth hundreds of millions of ryo. Even B-rank ninjutsu usually cost only a few million at most.

To put it into perspective, an S-rank mission involving national security only offered a few million ryo. Asuma—son of the Third Hokage, an elite jonin, and a potential Hokage candidate—was only worth 35 million ryo on the black market. No one would argue that some average B-rank ninjutsu were more valuable than his head.

"A straightforward customer." The boss smiled and handed Ayaan a catalog. Ayaan flipped through it, noting a range of standard B-rank elemental techniques and even some A-rank ones. Prices were listed beside each technique.

Most of the A-rank techniques, however, were impractical—like the Great Waterfall Technique. In contrast, highly practical C-rank jutsu, such as the Hidden Mist Technique, weren't listed at all, likely because of their village-specific origins.

Ayaan didn't mind. He quickly scanned and sketched down the ninjutsu he wanted. After estimating the cost, the total came out to about 30 million.

The most expensive among them was the Mystical Palm Technique, priced at over 10 million ryo.

"Alright. How long until I can collect these?" Ayaan asked, returning the catalog.

"Just three days," the boss replied cheerfully. "You can pick them up then."

Ayaan nodded, pulled his hood up, and turned to leave. "That gold just now should be worth around a million ryo. Consider it a deposit."

"Of course, sir. Safe travels," the boss replied with a grin.

In fact, converting gold to ryo was a standard transaction in the black market. By handling the exchange, the shopkeeper had probably made a personal profit of around 200,000 ryo—an amount he didn't need to report to his superiors. Naturally, he was pleased.

But the moment Ayaan stepped outside, several shady-looking individuals began following him. The boss sighed.

"Careful, customer. I'm still hoping to collect the balance."

Black market bosses were rarely powerful by design. The true owners intentionally kept them weak to prevent any of them from rising too high or betraying their clients, which would damage the black market's overall reputation.

So, although the boss wanted to stop the ambushers, he lacked the strength to interfere.

Indeed, the black market rarely robs its own customers, since the reputation loss would outweigh any gain. But bounty hunters and rogue ninjas weren't known for their restraint.

Ayaan knew all this too. But he wasn't particularly concerned.

His current strength wasn't inferior to a jonin's—possibly on par with the top-tier jonin of major villages like Konoha. Among bounty hunters, he would easily rank in the top 20. He wasn't someone average rogue ninjas could handle.

Besides, he was still young. Even if he tried to act experienced, he didn't fully understand the rules. So, he might as well just speak with strength.

After walking about three kilometers from the black market—just outside the zone where fighting was strictly forbidden—the bounty hunters could no longer hold back.

In fact, if it weren't for that three-kilometer no-combat rule, they would've attacked the moment Ayaan stepped outside.

Greed was one reason. But more than that, they saw only a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy. How strong could he be? At most, they figured, he was an elite chunin.

After all, those who came to buy ninjutsu weren't usually genius clan heirs. And even exceptional prodigies like Hatake Kakashi or Namikaze Minato would only be special jonin at that age without the backing of Konoha's system.

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