Chapter 80: I Want to Create a World with Only Money
Kakuzu was running wildly through the woods. Usually, he was the one giving chase, the predator hunting his prey. Now, the roles were reversed.
How the tables have turned.
He began to seriously consider whether he should just give the woman her twenty percent share. After all, a few million ryō wasn't worth offending someone this powerful.
A sudden flare of chakra erupted from ahead. Kakuzu's head snapped up, his eyes locking onto a figure standing atop a massive tree branch—Kazushi. The instant she entered his field of vision… she was gone.
In the next second, she was already standing right before him.
Fast. Far too fast. It was a speed that seemed to tear through the fabric of space itself. If not for the faint afterimages her Body Flicker left hanging in the air, he would have sworn she had used a space-time ninjutsu.
Her short sword pierced his chest, finding another heart.
The ordinary steel of the blade couldn't withstand the sheer density of her chakra. It shattered inside his body, the fragments embedding themselves in his flesh and bone.
'Why is it another speed-type?'Kakuzu raged internally.'That Ida Mutzuki was one, and now this woman, Kazushi, is another.'
He swore an oath then and there: he hated speed-type shinobi.
Just as he prepared to move, Kazushi's indifferent voice cut through the air. "Run again, and you won't even get to keep your last heart."
She really did have intelligence on him.
For the first time in a long, long time, Kakuzu felt a sliver of genuine fear. He only had one heart left. If she stabbed him again, he would truly die.
He surrendered.
"Don't! Don't kill me," he croaked, his voice strained. "I'll give you your share of the money, isn't that enough?"
Kakuzu hastily unsealed a scroll, spilling its contents onto the forest floor. He carefully counted out the bills in front of Kazushi, his expression one of deep agony as he handed the stack over.
Kazushi simply stared at the money, making no move to take it.
"I didn't count wrong! Twenty percent is exactly this much," Kakuzu insisted stubbornly. To prove he hadn't embezzled a single ryō this time, he snatched the money back and counted it again, right in front of her.
In the process, he discovered he had accidentally included one extra bill. He swiftly plucked it from the stack, tucked it deep into a small inner pocket, and patted it twice to ensure it was secure before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Kazushi's eye twitched. "...Are you treating me like a beggar with this pittance?"
She hooked a finger into her ninja tool pouch. A kunai appeared in her hand, its tip aimed directly at Kakuzu's last remaining heart.
Kakuzu's instincts screamed at him to execute a tactical retreat.
But he couldn't. This damned woman was simply too fast. The moment he even thought of turning, the cold steel of the kunai was already pressed against his chest. It didn't sink in, only breaking the skin, but he didn't dare move another inch.
"Fine! I'll give you half, alright? I did all the work! I, Kakuzu, killed all those people!"
The blade was not removed.
"Sixty percent... eighty... ninety... Fine, fine, fine! I'll give it all to you!"
Kakuzu was on the verge of tears. As he handed the sealing scroll to Kazushi, he felt as if half his life was being torn away. He pleaded, "Can you at least leave me one bill? Just one! I bled for this mission! I sweated for this mission!"
His only answer was the sight of Kazushi's hand ruthlessly snatching the scroll away.
Just when he thought the nightmare was over, he heard her speak again. "Give me all the scrolls you have on you."
"You rotten woman, you th—" The curse died in his throat as the kunai pushed a little deeper. The message was clear: give them up or die.
Consequently, every single one of Kakuzu's scrolls was snatched by Kazushi—the scrolls containing his life savings, the proof of his kills he was preparing to submit for bounties, and even the chakra-conductive metal he had been hoarding to sell for a good price.
Gone. It was all gone.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Kakuzu collapsed to the ground, his face a mask of utter despair. "How did I ever offend you?"
Seeing his pitiful state, Kazushi kindly decided to enlighten him. "I learned it from you," she said, toying with the scrolls as a grin spread across her face. "The art of robbing other thieves."
She gave him a cheerful smile. "The results are quite good. Thank you for the lesson, Lord Kakuzu."
Regret washed over Kakuzu. He shouldn't have been so greedy over those few million. If he had just been a bit more honest, if he hadn't taught her this trick, perhaps he wouldn't have been robbed blind.
"Since you've saved up so much, I won't kill you this time. Go on. Consider this your 'life-buying money,' and remember to prepare more for the next time we meet."
The moment Kazushi finished speaking, Kakuzu scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.
He ran, tears streaming from his eyes and carried away by the wind. His precious, precious money was leaving him, just like that.
He didn't know how long he ran, but once he was certain he was far out of her range, Kakuzu stopped and began to curse at the empty air.
"Kazushi, you damned woman, just you wait! Sooner or later, I'll kill you and take all my money back...!"
He cursed with extreme prejudice, digging up every foul word he had learned over his long life and hurling them into the void as if he were screaming right in her face.
In the middle of his tirade, his vision blurred. Kazushi appeared before him again.
She offered a casual smile. "Hi, Kakuzu. We meet again."
Before Kakuzu could even process her words, he was subdued. Her Wind-style Body Flicker was like a localized gale, seemingly traversing space to pin him in place. The kunai was once again pressed against his last heart, in the exact same spot, only breaking the skin.
Kakuzu's mind went blank. '...She was always planning to kill me, wasn't she?'
"What on earth do you want?" he ground out.
Kazushi laughed. "I don't want anything. Who knew we'd run into each other again? What a coincidence. If you don't offer up some life-buying money, it'll make me look like I have no credibility."
Kakuzu nearly spat the words through his gritted teeth. "I gave you all my money! Didn't you see?"
"Then what should we do?" Kazushi adopted a troubled expression. She thought for a long moment before her eyes lit up. "How about this? Write me an IOU. When you've saved up enough money, you can pay me back."
"Just kill me already!"
"How could I? I only enjoy robbing thieves. I don't like killing people," Kazushi said, baring her teeth in a sharp grin. "And it's fine if you don't sign. I have plenty of strength, and plenty of methods."
Kakuzu was completely broken. If he met two more people like her, he might as well just stab himself twice and end it all.
'This world is hell! I want to create a world with only money!'
Ultimately, under Kazushi's relentless threats, Kakuzu signed an IOU for thirty million ryō.
As he finally stumbled away, he prayed he would never encounter the terrifying woman named Kazushi again in his life.
With just a few simple moves, she had obtained a massive sum of money and farmed an unknown amount of emotional energy from Kakuzu. Kazushi was very satisfied.
It was just a shame that Shamon's intelligence network was so pathetic. She had been wandering the Land of Wind for so long, yet he still hadn't found her. Could he be any more unreliable?
Speaking of which, the death of Yanagawa Fūsho was actually Shamon's fault.
The man was constrained by the political realities of the Land of Wind. Unlike the Hidden Villages of other great nations, Sunagakure couldn't just declare its autonomy and force the Daimyo to pay for protection. Instead, the Kazekage was being slowly strangled by the feudal lord.
, Shamon wasn't decisive enough. He didn't dare to assassinate the Daimyo and dismantle his regime. Because of this hesitation, the Daimyo sanctioned him instead.
The Wind Daimyo wasn't a fool. He withheld funds from Shamon but gave money to other factions within the Hidden Sand Village, even propping up a rival named Kawakawa Shō to compete with the Kazekage. Kawakawa Shō was a veteran Puppet Master of the village, and with the Daimyo's backing, he was actually able to contend with Shamon for influence.
If Shamon hadn't had the support of Chiyo and Ebizo's families, along with his own solid foundation of strength, he might have been ousted from his position already.
Even while being this poor, they still had to engage in internal strife. Shamon probably felt he was the most miserable Kage to ever take office—only slightly better off than the Second Raikage, because at least he was still alive.
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