"Uchiha Mai!"
Kakuzu slammed both fists into the ground, rose to his feet with a murderous glare, and roared, "You little brat, you never intended to discuss business with me properly from the start, did you?"
"No, no, no~"
Uchiha Mai shook his head repeatedly and chuckled. "I was quite sincere, at least until you rejected the hand I offered.
Unfortunately, you refused a favor when it was offered.
In today's Ninja World, there aren't many people who can refuse to give me face. Regrettably, you are not one of them."
Not many meant three: Madara, Tsunade, and Mei Terumi.
The first was truly unfathomably powerful. Even though he was already frail with age, Uchiha Mai had no absolute confidence that he could defeat him.
As for the latter two, those who understood, understood. Just some little pleasures in life—Uchiha Mai allowed them to get a little out of line now and then.
But going too far was unacceptable. They needed to be taught a lesson.
"Since that's the case, I don't need to pretend to be a gentleman anymore."
Kakuzu sneered. "Your corpse is worth three hundred million at the Underground Exchange. Your subordinates, along with these remaining Jonin and Chunin of Kirigakure, should fetch another six or seven hundred million.
A ten-hundred-million order in total. Just thinking about it gets my blood pumping. The stagnant sea in my heart, dead for so many years, has finally begun to stir."
Uchiha Mai's feat of challenging all of Kirigakure alone emboldened Kakuzu, giving him the mistaken impression that Kirigakure was nothing special.
Looks like I was too cautious before, always avoiding the major ninja villages. I missed out on at least tens of millions when I was younger. What a fucking loss.
*This year, I'll make a push for my