'ACHOO, ACHOO.'
In a bustling city within the Land of Fire, a young man with long black hair and smooth, pale skin rubbed his nose, seemingly unfazed by his recent sneezes. He stared at a cinema billboard in disbelief. He already knew what a movie was, but this one caught his attention for a strange reason, he thought he saw Jiraiya on the poster.
No, not just Jiraiya; he also spotted himself and Tsunade. Although their appearances were a bit different, the title made him suspicious.
Especially the character who looked like Jiraiya but not quite. He immediately recognized that ridiculous, toad-like figure as Jiraiya the idiot.
That was right. He was Orochimaru, one of Konohas Legendary Sannin!
After finishing his mission, Orochimaru had planned to return to the village quickly, but seeing this bizarre poster made him pause. After a moments hesitation, he bought a ticket and went inside, a sly smile spreading across his face as he whispered, "let's see what that Jiraiya idiot is up to in the Land of Grass!"
Since Jiraiya and Tsunade left, Orochimaru had been busy in the village. Besides conducting his own experiments, he occasionally took on some challenging missions assigned by the elders.
He didn't mind, if he wanted to become Hokage, gaining recognition was essential, and handling high-level missions was the best way to earn respect among shinobi. Finding his seat, Orochimaru settled in. Soon, the movie started.
After a series of ads, the film officially began. At first, seeing the three familiar small figures training brought a faint, nostalgic smile to his lips. Though their appearances were a little different from back then, it didn't stop him from enjoying the show. "Really brings back memories! Though that Jiraiya guy is such an idiot!" he muttered.
But as the movie went on, Orochimarus expression slowly changed. When the film finally ended, he sat silently, staring at the screen showing Jiraiya and the shy Tsunade. He was utterly confused and completely shocked. "What... the hell was that?!"
A few days later, far away in the Land of Grass, Charlie reviewed the revenue data from all over. Smiling and nodding with satisfaction, he murmured, "Looks like... we won't be short on money for a while!"
Recent reports have shown that the profits are looking quite impressive overall. The only exception seems to be the blind boxes, which didn't take off as expected.
On the bright side, the movies earnings have grown significantly compared to the previous installment, especially in Konoha. This time, it seems the movie has truly earned its reputation.
The lighthearted, comedic story with a hint of romance unexpectedly connected with the audience, perhaps because the war just ended, and peoples hearts are craving something joyful. As for the blind boxes, maybe they were priced a bit too high, and without strong online buzz, not many people were motivated to buy them.
Charlie glanced at a message from a shop owner in a small town somewhere in the Land of Fire: 'Boss, I think I might have found the "cash cow" you mentioned!'
He was stunned. Just a small town, yet the sales there made up nearly half of the total revenue, and all from one person! Its worth remembering that Mujie didn't just dominate the Land of Fire market during his last trip; he also secured a foothold in the neighboring Land of Earth.
While the coverage Isn't complete, far from covering the whole of either land, the market has clearly expanded a lot compared to the first movie. Apart from that "cash cow," no one else seems to have such deep pockets.
Of course, it might also be that the number of buyers was low overall, which makes that locations performance stand out even more.
Charlie let out a sigh, tinged with admiration. "Come to think of it, Mujie Isn't too bad."
But as he scanned the rest of the report, his expression grew serious again, eyebrows knitting together. "Why are the profits in the Land of Grass so high? Especially the blind boxes, They're even outselling some of the bigger cities in the Land of Fire."
At that moment, Kana hesitated beside him before speaking quietly, "Maybe... its because of Sir Jiraiya and Sir Mujie?"
Charlie blinked in surprise.
Kana continued, "They heard that Mr.Inevitable released exclusive blind box merchandise, and they got really excited about it."
Lately, people had been going wild over blind boxes at the shop, drawing plenty of attention. Kana's cheeks flushed as she leaned in to whisper, "Sir Jiraiya is trying to collect every figure of the Three Great Heroines, he wants to complete the whole set. And Sir Mujie..." Before she could finish, Charlies eyes narrowed, as if he suddenly understood.
The Three Great Heroines, those were the Frog Girl, Snake Girl, and Slug Girl. Even though there were only three characters, each had multiple versions based on different outfits, poses, seasons, and rarity. Collecting them all was no small feat.
"So, Mujie just wants to collect those three?" Charlie asked.
Kana shook her head. "No, he wants them all."
"All?" Charlie blinked.
"Every female character figure from Mr.Inevitables book, he's trying to get every single one."
Charlie was speechless. So, the real money-maker was in the Land of Grass after all.
Meanwhile, at a blind box shop somewhere in the Land of Grass, the scene was chaotic.
"Orange light! Orange light! Orange light! Give me a hit!" one guy shouted, while the other yelled, "I want purple light! Purple light! Give me the swimsuit Snake Girl from the summer series, I'll complete the whole set then."
A crowd had gathered, watching these two with flushed faces and fierce determination. How long had they been here? Days?
The shop owner, microphone in hand, kept egging them on, "Purple light! Purple light! Mr. Mujie is leading by one point! Traveler from the Land of Fire, what are you waiting for? Another hundred pulls? Maybe the next ones the one you want!"
Turning blind box pulling into a competition stirred up a frenzy, if it werent for this guy, maybe they wouldn't be so obsessed. The crowd cheered nonstop, caught up in the excitement.
Nearby, the Three Little Ones looked on in disbelief.
Yahiko covered his face, clearly embarrassed. "How many steamed buns could this old man have bought with all that money?" he muttered, shaking his head. "And he's just throwing it all away here, what a waste."
Nagato and Konan exchanged sympathetic looks and gently patted Yahiko's shoulder. Nagato frowned as his gaze drifted toward Jiraiya inside the shop.
Just as Charlie-sensei and Mom had predicted. This Konoha Sannin Isn't exactly the best influence. Hanging around him makes it easy to fall into bad habits.
"Dont worry, Ive already told Sister Kana what you wanted," Konan whispered softly. "Soon, Sister Kana will let Charlie-sensei know."
Hearing this, Yahiko snapped out of his sulking and lowered his voice. "Please don't let Dad find out. If he does, I'm definitely going to get beaten again."
"Don't worry, its safe."