Pirates? They Would Never Return

Since they were on someone else's turf, Kazashiro was worried that the disturbance would attract ninjas, so he decisively led the two little ones to Kakuzu's room and knocked on the door.

"Didn't you say not to bother me while I'm counting money?--"

Before Kakuzu could finish speaking, Kazashiro swept all the banknotes that covered the entire bed off the bed, making room for himself and the two little ones to sit and rest.

"You!"

Kakuzu's eyes were bloodshot with rage, his green eyes practically shooting lasers. He disregarded his image and frantically searched for banknotes on the ground, afraid of missing a single one.

"Such blasphemous disrespect for money, you'll never have any luck with money!"

Kakuzu muttered a complaint as he carefully brushed the dust off the banknotes.

"Tch, this isn't about money anymore. The samurai responsible for the ship's escort have all gone to the bow; something's probably up."

Kazashiro's tone carried a hint of disappointment; even at a time like this, Kakuzu was still only thinking about money.

"Hmph, so what? Just kill anyone who dares to make a move. Maybe there are some valuable heads among them."

Kakuzu listened, but didn't seem particularly concerned.

In his view, unless Hashirama or Madara were resurrected, no one in the entire Shinobi World could possibly kill him completely.

Okay, let's ignore the child-shaped mobile turret next to it.

"Hmm? You were right, boss."

Kakuzu, who was about to put the banknotes into his inner pocket, suddenly stopped what he was doing, and his whole body tensed up instantly.

"A group of ninjas have boarded the ship."

"Everyone in the hall, sit quietly on the deck! All you wealthy folks in your rooms, get your money ready and wait for us to come and collect it!"

The rude voices echoed throughout the ship via the loudspeaker. Scattered on the deck were the heads of samurai and the bodies of several crew members who had tried to resist.

Who is this person?

Kazashiro, who had locked the door tightly, protected the two little ones while glancing at Kakuzu, who was peeking out through the small window.

"A group of ninjas with various Forehead Protector, mixed in with a few ronin, probably pirates from the surrounding area."

"Pirates? Are they crazy? This is a ship from the Land of Water! Aren't they afraid that the Land of Water will send Kirigakure to retaliate?"

Kazashiro was somewhat surprised. In his view, even if Kirigakure was weak, it was still one of the five great hidden villages, and not something that mere pirates could come and cause trouble for.

Isn't this just plain suicidal?

"Those willing to pay to board such a ship are mostly resentful people who value their lives. When faced with this kind of situation, they will obediently choose to pay to avoid disaster. After they finish looting and retreat, they only need to live a carefree life for a while with the stolen money under assumed names. Even if the Mist Ninja comes, they will not be able to find their whereabouts."

Kakuzu seemed very familiar with this process, so much so that Kazashiro seriously suspected that the other party might have also participated in such operations.

Seeing Kazashiro's distrustful look, Kakuzu curled his lip and shook his wrist. "I wouldn't do something with such low returns. I only learned about it when I raided their hideout."

Kakuzu is more interested in robbing robbers than robbing passengers.

Not only does it save the trouble of collecting money from each person, but it also eliminates the need to share profits with others.

"I take back what I said before, boss. It seems you have a real knack for making money."

It was rare for Kazashiro to hear praise from Kakuzu, and combined with the other man's expression, he quickly understood what Kakuzu to do.

"Yeah, earning some extra money isn't bad."

Touching the Kunai hidden on his person, Kazashiro felt as if God was sending him money.

"Unfortunately, after this job, it won't be easy to find such a comfortable ship again."

Aside from the Five Great Nations, the smaller neighboring countries all use small, cost-effective boats, which are far less comfortable than the large ship I'm currently on.

Wait, why did I use the phrase "finish this job"?

Won't this scare the two little ones next to me?

Kazashiro turned his head and glanced at Kimimaro and Bai's reactions.

Yes, Kimimaro has already prepared his bone knife. His indifferent expression suggests he's not afraid.

As for Bai...

The child still had that same smiling expression.

The pirates' mode of transport was a fairly large fishing boat, guarded by two ninjas.

The two chatted idly, completely unaware that Kazashiro and the others had already climbed aboard at the stern.

"Samurai are indeed a bunch of outdated trash. Brother Jie took down three of them with a single move."

"You're obviously a country bumpkin. These samurai are all low-level characters. The truly powerful ones are all around the daimyo and nobles. I used to be from Kusagakure. One of our Jonin defected to assassinate the daimyo, but he was cleaved in two with a single sword strike."

"Really? A Jonin was cleaved in two with a single strike?"

The other pirate clearly didn't believe the man's words.

"How could this be fake? I was in the pursuit team at the time, and I saw him get killed with a single blow, without even having a chance to use a ninjutsu."

"That's really terrifying. By the way, brother, you're from Kusagakure, right? What made you decide to defect here?"

The pirates looked shaken, and were also curious about the reason for their partner's defection.

The pirate from Kusagakure looked utterly dejected. "Hmph, don't even mention it. Chunin a Chunin, but then the village was attacked by unidentified ninjas. Because I deserted in the face of battle, they held me responsible, so I had no choice but to risk a prison break to escape."

"Speaking of which, I should thank the White Death God of Konoha. If they hadn't brought people to the village to look for me, I wouldn't have had a chance to escape."

"White Death God? What a lame title, it sounds like someone's an idiot."

The pirate had clearly not participated in the Third Shinobi World War and had no idea who the "White Death God" was referring to.

"Tsk, look at your Forehead Protector, you must be from Takigakure. No wonder you don't know anything about the White Death God, they're..."

The Kusagakure pirates were about to give the other side a lesson when, just then, the large group that had been plundering the ship completed their mission and was returning to their ship with a large sum of money, interrupting their conversation.

This large group of more than twenty people clearly did not have any sensory ninjas. After confirming that everyone had arrived, they sailed towards the main camp, completely unaware that there were four extra people on board.

"It has to be Brother Jie. As expected of a Jonin from the Hidden Village, he dealt with those samurai like cutting melons and vegetables."

As the ship drifted further and further away, the crew's underlings, while tallying up their valuables, began showering the other ship with compliments.

"Enough talk, take a good look at the accounts. This is the brothers' food allowance for the next period of time."

The pirate known as "The Slasher" wore a Mist Village Headband with a slash on it, clearly indicating that he came from Kirigakure.

"Hmm, shark teeth, that fits my preconceived notion of Mist Ninja."

Kazashiro, observing the situation through the gap in his hiding place, confirmed the other party's appearance and then gave a subtle nod to Kakuzu.

"We'll take action once we get ashore."

Kakuzu understood the implication in Kazashiro's eyes and immediately made a plan.