Taking Over

The butler Zabuza had brought in quickly assessed the situation and realized Naruto was the one who could decide whether he lived or died.

He dropped to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling so badly he could barely get the words out. "Please don't kill me, sir! I... I'm just an ordinary butler!"

Naruto didn't immediately resort to intimidation.

He simply took two steps forward and stopped in front of the butler, gazing at him calmly.

"But you're not ordinary. Gato trusts you a great deal and has put you in charge of much of the business in the Land of Waves," Naruto said. "Still... if you cooperate with us, you'll not only live, but your treatment afterward won't be any worse than it was under Gato. It might even be better."

Naruto's tone wasn't harsh. He spoke as if stating the obvious.

His words were simple, yet they went straight to the butler's concerns.

After countless repetitions, Naruto had long since figured out the man's personality.

He wasn't particularly steadfast. He valued profit more than loyalty, had a family to support, and preferred stability to risk.

So bribing him with rewards would work better than threatening him.

Then Naruto swiftly put his plan into action.

He took a stack of blank contracts and some of Gato's letterhead from the documents they had just found, and laid them out on the table.

"Imitate Gato's handwriting." Naruto looked at the butler, his voice quiet but clear. "Write a few documents."

The butler hesitated, but under Naruto's calm gaze and Zabuza's silent pressure, he reached for the pen.

He was clearly familiar with Gato's writing habits and handwriting. Before long, he had produced a fairly convincing imitation. In truth, whether it looked like Gato's handwriting didn't matter anymore.

The butler was to announce to the public that Gato had died of a sudden illness.

The announcement would claim that, before his death, Gato had entrusted his entire business to the joint management of Zabuza, the ninja he had hired, and his most trusted butler.

All operations would continue as usual, and no personnel or positions would change for the time being.

That would at least stabilize the situation in the short term and prevent the chaos that would come from a power vacuum within the Gato Corporation.

Naruto continued issuing instructions.

All efforts to sabotage the bridge were to stop immediately. The economic and material blockade against the people of the Land of Waves was to be lifted as well. The company would also distribute compensation to every civilian household in the country.

"There's no need to raise a large sum for now, but the money must reach them quickly, and word of it needs to spread," Naruto added.

This would not only win the people's support quickly, but also make the outside world—especially the people of the Land of Waves—

realize that the "Gato Company" had apparently changed, reducing resistance to the plans that would follow.

Finally, Naruto turned to the butler. "You can leave for now. Zabuza is your boss from this moment on. As long as you do as you're told, your life won't be in danger."

"Yes... yes! I understand! I'll do exactly as you say. I won't make a single mistake!"

His voice still trembled with relief at having survived, but there was even more urgency in his desire to prove his loyalty.

With that, the butler didn't dare look at the two men in the room again. He practically bowed himself out, his steps unsteady but remarkably quick.

Naruto knew the butler wouldn't cause any trouble for the time being and would obediently do as he was told. That was why he had deliberately kept him around.

Then Naruto pushed the contracts, treasury keys, personal seal, and other items they had found over to Zabuza. His tone grew more serious. "The criminal empire Gato left behind will likely descend into infighting. You need to bring them under control as quickly as possible."

"And Gato's butlers and the senior members of the Gato Corporation who aren't in the Land of Waves will need to be dealt with too."

Zabuza gave a cold snort, a trace of bloodthirsty excitement flashing in his eyes. He clearly had no objection.

Naruto then took out a blank sheet of paper, scribbled on it, and handed it to Zabuza.

Zabuza took it and saw that it was covered in names and notes: who had to be killed, who could be used for the time being, and even who would submit temporarily but eventually betray them—and when and where they would do so.

It also listed all of Gato's businesses throughout the shinobi world, what each one dealt in, and his connections to certain daimyō and wealthy individuals in other countries.

The information was detailed enough to be unsettling.

"Remember, the takeover has to be both swift and discreet. Other hidden villages and nations will find out sooner or later, but the later, the better."

Naruto's ultimate goal had never been to become another Gato.

He planned to gradually legitimize Gato's criminal enterprises—smuggling, gambling, loan-sharking, and the rest—and shift them toward legitimate maritime trade and international logistics. They would all be important foundations for his plans in the future.

"You're really leaving all of this to me?"

Zabuza found it hard to believe, though he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. After all, he was already on Naruto's ship, and it seemed there was no way off.

"Of course. I trust you a great deal. But there's something I have to tell you," Naruto replied calmly.

By now, Zabuza had begun to trust him. It was time to tell him what he really had in mind.

"What?"

"Why do you think I took Gato's assets and businesses?"

Zabuza looked puzzled. "You said before it was for the money, so you could use it somewhere more suitable. As for what 'somewhere more suitable' means... I'm not sure."

"I've been through a lot. That's why I believe the shinobi world needs to undergo a complete and thorough transformation." Naruto's gaze grew distant.

Before Zabuza could respond, Naruto continued, "Even if I help you return to Kirigakure, then help you—or someone else—become the Fifth Mizukage and change the Bloody Mist policies, can those changes really last?"

"What do you mean?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Replacing a Mizukage and revising the old policies is like painting a fresh coat of paint over a dilapidated house. The foundation is rotten. Sooner or later, it'll collapse again." Naruto spoke calmly.

Zabuza was even more bewildered. "So? Do you have a better solution?"

"I wouldn't call it a better solution. What I intend to do is tear down every dilapidated house, lay the strongest foundations anew, and establish an entirely new and unified order. Only then will tragedies like the Bloody Mist Village never happen anywhere again."

"You mean... unite the shinobi world?!"

Zabuza drew in a sharp breath. Only then did he truly understand the scale of the ambition behind this boy before him. "Do you know how much power and resources that would take... and how many corpses it would leave behind? This isn't as simple as overthrowing the Fourth Mizukage. You'd be standing against the entire world!"

How grand a goal was this? How vast?

"You're right. But to me, standing against the entire world isn't impossible. I'm confident because I have enough information and enough strength—but I still can't do it alone."

Naruto first admitted it plainly, then continued, "Whatever the goal, whether it's uniting the world or becoming a Kage..."

"It all boils down to obtaining what you want by whatever means necessary."

"There are many ways to achieve a goal, but they all have different consequences. I'm confident I can find the optimal solution, but... this time, I still want to find a relatively suitable one."

Zabuza was a little confused by that last sentence, but Naruto's meaning had otherwise been clear.

Zabuza knew Naruto was powerful and frighteningly capable of gathering intelligence, but he still hesitated at the thought of taking such a mad step.

After all, this seemed rather different from what they'd agreed on earlier.

"You don't need to think too much about it. Besides, you don't have a choice. If you hadn't met me, when would you have made it back to Kirigakure?"

Naruto met Zabuza's eyes. "Even if Kirigakure truly changes, does that mean it won't repeat the mistakes of the Fourth Mizukage in the future? Not necessarily, right?"

"This..."

Seeing that Zabuza still hesitated, Naruto had no choice but to use his final trump card. "Actually... I understand the pain of growing up as children who all shared the same pot of rice, only to be forced to kill one another in the end. If we join forces, perhaps we really can change the world and spare everyone that kind of suffering."

"If you follow me, the change you bring won't be limited to Kirigakure. You'll have the chance to help shape an era—one in which the 'Bloody Mist Village' will forever remain a thing of the past."

Those words struck Zabuza where he was most vulnerable.

Zabuza looked at Naruto, who had extended a hand toward him, and into those fathomless blue eyes. There was no fervor in them, only a chilling, steady certainty.

After a long while,

Momochi Zabuza, the cold-blooded man, slowly and heavily clasped Naruto's outstretched hand.

"Hmph... An interesting plan. I'll see for myself whether you can really change this rotten shinobi world."

Naruto wasn't surprised that Zabuza now trusted him from the bottom of his heart and had joined him. He calmly gave his next instruction. "Then I'll leave the rest to you. I need to head back first."