The Shopkeeper of Konoha

"I know that I have taken the oath of not to sell Palickos outside of Konoha and I would never go back on my words. Nor do I wish to. But how long can Konoha hide the fact about the Palicos and they come running after me?" Added Aoto. His statements made complete sense. Many Jonins and even Chunins may soon have Palicos while on missions, and the other villages may soon learn about these awesome contract beasts.

It wouldn't be long before they would target Aoto. This was a huge problem for Konoha. Aoto would need to be hidden if they wanted to keep him secure.

"Konoha will constantly watch over you. A jonin will be sent to protect you at all times." Jiraya declared. Aoto just stated while shaking his head.

"I don't need protection here. If I need one, I will ask for it." Aoto said without any care. At least in his own home, he felt the safest here. He constantly worked during the day and avoided going out at night to avoid being taken by Danzo. He was confident that Hiruzen wouldn't hesitate to knock on Danzo's door and free him if he were abducted during the day.

"Then what do you want?" Jiraya enquired.

"To help me when I need it and not bother me." Aoto said as he needed to gain support from trustworthy people. One of the reliable individuals was Jiraya, and he unquestionably required his assistance if he was in need. Jiraya got into thinking. This kid just made a roundabout method to pull him into his support.

Jiraya was experienced enough to know that even if his actions wasn't liked by the kid, he did want him to be his friend. And it wasn't simply fawning over stories of him being a Sanin; what he wanted was a true friendship.

"Alright kid, you have my support. But I won't be in Konoha for too long. So whatever favor you need, you should ask fast. The Hokage had sent me to take you as an apprentice but from your words I can tell that you don't want to practice at all. I hope you can change your decision. You have too high of a talent to waste away."

'This old man isn't leaving him!'

"For now, I don't need any help. I have already told Hokage that I won't practice ninjutsu. Making those moving frogs was just a dart in the dark. He values me too highly." Once more, Aoto declined. He wasn't a genius; he simply used the system to distribute those. If he began to train, he would be exposed the very next second.

"Sigh! Fine." Jiraya spoke as he gently stood up and strapped his enormous scroll around his shoulder. It was late and it was time to leave.

"Kid, I will see you soon. Your world views are quite interesting." Jiraya declared as he bid Aoto farewell. Aoto just smirked at Jiraya. Aoto was a little worn out after closing the store. Along with the work of opening the shop, the mental struggle and talking made him feel tired.

When speaking with Jiraya, Aoto had to specifically ask the system to hide his trepidation and lies. He had to exercise caution. Even though he spoke excessively and demonstrated his knowledge of the outside world despite the fact that he hadn't ventured outside, it was still okay because the news of the occurrences would be spread to the general populace.

Aoto should be careful not to leak information about anything but the top-secret ones. Aoto came to the realization that when speaking with significant individuals, he needed to restrain his emotions and his speech. With such ideas in his head, he dozed off.

"Jiraya.. Have you spoken to him? How do you feel about him?"

"You are right Sensei. He is quite odd and is much more intelligent than the normal kids out there."

"Did you succeed in persuading him to become your apprentice?"

"Sensei, I already told you I am not interested in another apprentice. The last one.... Moreover, he isn't a bit interested in ninjutsu. I would suggest that we should just protect him for now. If he is one day interested in ninjutsu, he will come to us to learn. Didn't you say that he is also a genius in medical field? Let him concentrate on that. Once he realizes that ninjutsu is required in his field he will come running by to learn."

"..."

"I am sorry Jiraya for what has happened to Minato. I wish I could have saved him."

"..."

"I am leaving.. Take care of their son."

One week had gone by since Jiraya had visited his restaurant. KFC bloomed in full force. Numerous people showed up. In the afternoon, John opened the small cart shop near the school, while at the evening he opened the KFC restaurant. People pleaded with Aoto to extend the hours of operation.

He didn't want to make these people fatter and lose battles in the frontline. Not everybody in the village belonged to the Akimichi clan. Speaking of Akimichi clan, many people from their clan had become a regular customer in their restaurant and Aoto was happy to serve them.

Such a huge cash cow? How could he let them leave.

The other store above KFC was scheduled to open today. Aoto felt it was the proper moment to open the Victoria's Secret store after waiting and making sure the pervert had left Konoha.

Despite the opening's relative silence, people did pay attention to it. Many people were drawn in by the attractive mannequins in sexy lingeries that were positioned in front of the glass, but perhaps out of embarrassment, no one came on the first day of the store's opening.

Arya's first customer came to her on the second day. She had been quite moody since the moment she opened the shop as she felt it was a bit insulting to her but she also knew that she had no choice here.

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