Sky Curtain: Short Video Commentary on Konoha Villagers

The celestial backdrop transitions.

Why do ninjas, despite being quite wealthy, often give off an impression of poverty?

On the streets of Konoha.

A Chunin who had just returned from a mission touched his deflated purse and fell into deep thought.

"Rich? When have we ninjas ever been rich?"

"It's true that you can make money by completing missions, but the maintenance costs of ninja tools, the wear and tear on kunai and shuriken, bandages and ointments... all of these cost money."

"And do you know what the worst part is?"

A middle-aged ninja approached and lowered his voice.

"Ninjas from commoner backgrounds, without family traditions, have to buy their own scrolls if they want to learn ninjutsu."

"Go ahead and buy the scrolls."

"Can you buy it through official channels?"

The middle-aged ninja rolled his eyes and said to the young man.

"Those are all controlled by the high-ranking members of the various clans and villages! If a commoner ninja wants to learn a B-rank ninjutsu, they can only buy it on the black market!"

"The black market... those prices, those who know, know."

The young ninja swallowed hard. "How expensive?"

"A B-rank ninjutsu scroll can fetch over a million taels on the black market. If it has rare attributes, people will still fight over it for several times the price."

"...Then I'll use my Three Bodies Technique."

Konoha Year 48, Hokage's office.

Nara Shikaku listened to the question on the sky and a rare wry smile appeared on his face.

"That's a great question. Being a ninja may seem glamorous, but it's actually very expensive."

Minato Namikaze nodded: "Military missions earn a lot of money, but ninja tools, medicine, intelligence... these consumables are where the real money is going to be made."

Kushina Uzumaki tilted her head to the side.

"But Minato, didn't you save up a lot of money?"

Minato smiled but did not answer directly.

The reason I'm saving money is so that I can give Kushina a stable home.

Akatsuki's stronghold.

Kakuzu took a look at the title and became somewhat interested.

"Ninjas have money? Hmph."

"I've lived for over ninety years and seen far too many fools who made money only to lose it all. Shinobi tool wear and tear, intelligence costs, medical expenses, hiring people... which of these doesn't cost money like water?"

Hidan grinned from the side and said, "Kakuzu, didn't you save up a lot of money?"

Kakuzu: "The money I've accumulated is the result of killing countless targets. Do you think those ninjas don't want to save money? They can't."

The text on the screen continued to scroll.

Before we get to that, let's look at the main sources of income for the lowest-ranking ninjas.

[Rank D mission: Dig sweet potatoes for a day; reward: 5000 taels.]

Although it looks like a lot, Konoha Village is extremely greedy when it comes to taking a cut.

[A 3% handling fee is deducted first, and the remaining amount is split equally among the three members of the team, resulting in an average of only 833 taels per person.]

Konoha Training Ground.

Naruto counted on his fingers, then looked bewildered.

"How much is 833 taels? How many bowls of Ichiraku Ramen is that?"

Kakashi quietly added from the side, "That should be enough to buy about a dozen bowls."

"That's good!" Naruto's eyes lit up.

Kakashi glanced at him but didn't discourage him.

For a genin doing a D-rank mission, there's no need to change ninja tools or buy any high-level medicines. 833 ryo is indeed enough for the daily expenses of an ordinary genin.

On the street, several lower-ranking ninjas were also discussing it.

"Eight hundred taels for a mission isn't too bad, is it?"

"Yeah, as a genin, I don't need to change my ninja tools for these missions. This money is more than enough for my daily life."

"It's just that it's a bit slow to earn money, 833 taels a day, which is only a little over 20,000 taels a month. But for a newly graduated genin like us, it's good enough to be able to support ourselves."

"You're underestimating me, brother. If you work faster, you can finish three a day, which is sixty or seventy thousand taels a month. That's a lot of money."

Konoha Year 20, Hokage's office.

Tobirama Senju gazed at the drawing on the sky, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"A 50% commission is indeed not low. But the village needs money to operate. The expenses for the ninja tool workshop, medical department, intelligence network, ninja academy... all of these come from the commission on missions."

But Tobirama then thought of the future Uchiha clan and added.

"Of course, what Tianmu said makes sense. If the commission is too high, the lower-level ninjas won't be able to save money, and over time, their morale will inevitably waver."

"It seems we need to discuss the commission structure further."

The text on the screen continued to scroll.

So what exactly is a D-rank mission?

Catching cats, weeding, carrying bricks, delivering messages—for a ninja, it's no different than picking up money.

The pinnacle of ninja earning money is the legendary Sannin.

[The total income from all the missions Jiraiya completed was at least 295 million ryo.]

What does this mean?

[That's enough to buy 590 million bowls of Ichiraku Ramen, enough to eat three meals a day for over 5,000 years.]

Under the sky, after a brief silence, the ninja world erupted in chaos.

In the 60th year of Konoha, on the streets.

"This...this is enough for me to eat for dozens of lifetimes!"

A young ninja swallowed hard.

"So Jiraiya-sama is this powerful?"

"Nonsense! They're one of the legendary Sannin! What's a little money to them!"

"But he doesn't usually seem like he's rich."

"You don't understand, that's called being low-key."

Konoha Year 48, Hokage's office.

Minato Namikaze stared blankly at the numbers on the sky for a moment.

"Is Jiraiya-sensei that rich?"

Nara Shikaku took the scroll containing the mission details and did some calculations.

"Lord Jiraiya is indeed one of the ninjas who has completed the most missions in Konoha. 2.95 million ryo... that number is not an exaggeration."

Minato: "..."

He suddenly felt that he should go to his teacher to get back the money he had been cheated out of for the ramen over the years.

The Land of Rain, the Akatsuki's stronghold.

Kakuzu silently calculated his accumulated wealth over the years, then glanced at the number on the sky...

"...Hmph, it's nothing special."

Deidara gave him a suspicious look.

"Kakuzu, you're not as rich as them, are you?"

Kakuzu: "...How is that possible? How many years has Jiraiya lived? He hasn't even lived as long as me, what makes him comparable to me?"

The text on the screen continued to scroll.

But that's just the money on the surface; Jiraiya's truly terrifying side hustle is what's terrifying.

[He's a top-tier author in the ninja world; his "Make-Out Paradise" series is a veritable money-printing machine.]

[Intimate Paradise surpasses 100 million units sold globally.]

Given Jiraiya's spending power, there's absolutely no way he could spend all his money.

Beneath the sky, all was deathly silent once more.

Then, it completely exploded.

Konoha Year 60, Training Ground.

Kakashi suddenly raised his head, and his usually lazy eyes, hidden beneath his mask, shone with an unusual light, as if he were cheering for his idol.

"Has the sales of 'Intimate Paradise' surpassed 100 million?"

His voice carried a hint of barely suppressed excitement.

He was incredibly excited at that moment. If that was the case, would they release a special edition of Icha Icha Paradise to celebrate this milestone?!