Overnight Riches

Even the reward for a B-Rank Mission had only been enough after several nearby villages pooled all their possessions.

In the end, Yi Xiang came up with a plan. He transformed into a beautiful young woman, while Kakashi disguised himself as her father, a merchant selling goods.

Sure enough, Yi Xiang's beauty soon caught the bandits' attention, and they carried him off to their leader. Kakashi used the opportunity to find their hideout, but didn't rush into action. Instead, he watched to see how Yi Xiang would handle things.

Then came a shocking sight: Yi Xiang was like a god of slaughter, taking the bandits' lives as easily as chopping vegetables. Kakashi stayed on the outskirts, cutting down any who tried to escape.

When almost all the bandits were dead, Yi Xiang deliberately spared their leader and strategist. He made them experience what it meant to have their bones broken and their tendons torn, to wish for death and be denied it. He tortured them for three whole days, until they died in agony, looking like demons.

Back then, I used two common Ninja Experience Cards, keeping my strength at its peak—or even beyond it.

When I came to my senses, there were only sixty or seventy corpses on the ground, all horribly mutilated. I threw up everything I'd eaten over the past few days right there on the spot. It wasn't until I returned to Konoha that I realized my eyes had evolved to the Three-Tomoe.

Yi Xiang's gaze went distant for a moment as he watched the samurai charging toward him, along with Gato, who was trying to flee amid the chaos.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Three shadow clones appeared in an instant. Two blocked the enemies behind him, while the third restrained Gato and waited for the battle to end.

Yi Xiang swung the Kubikiribōchō, which felt like an extension of his own body. There were no elegant or flashy moves; he simply gave it a light sweep, and three heads fell at once.

"Just as I thought, a big sword is still the best. How could a kid's toy like a Kunai suit a young man like me? Hahaha!"

As Yi Xiang spoke, two more samurai were cut in half at the waist. In just a few seconds, eight samurai had died around him.

Even though they were desperate fighters who didn't care if they lived or died, they had never seen such a ferocious human monster. They immediately forgot about the reward, dropped their weapons, and turned to run.

These men had surely spilled plenty of blood. Yi Xiang wasn't about to let them go, and used the Body Flicker Technique again and again to reap their lives.

Fortunately, the Kubikiribōchō could absorb blood. Otherwise, if it splattered all over him, Yi Xiang would have found it a real nuisance. If the stains wouldn't come out, he'd have to waste another outfit.

Nearly two minutes later, the gloomy corridor fell silent. Or rather, those who had wanted to speak were no longer able to. Only Gato remained, trembling incessantly as he stared at what had happened, his expression vacant.

"Now, no one should be able to stop us from going to collect the money."

Yi Xiang smiled at Gato. His smile was so gentle and composed that it made people feel fond of him.

"Even if I gave you all my money, you still wouldn't let me go, would you?!"

Though terrified of dying, Gato had guessed that this madman in front of him would never spare him. Driven by the last shred of hope he had, he asked the question.

"That's right. But would you rather die painfully, or have me give you a quick death? I'm not that patient, you know~"

Yi Xiang added the last part in a slightly playful tone.

"You're a devil! A devil!"

Gato roared hoarsely and struggled violently against the restraints of Yi Xiang's shadow clone. Then he dropped to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face.

"I was wrong. I know I was wrong. Please, spare me. I still have a huge fortune that I didn't keep here. I can give it all to you.

"You can have anything you want, as long as you spare me this once. Please... please..."

"I may be a devil in your eyes, but to the people you've harmed, I'm a savior. If you can be so vicious when doing evil, why do you lose all your backbone when you know you're about to die?"

"Ah!!!"

Yi Xiang forced Gato's index finger backward with a sharp crack. Gato's face twisted as he howled in agony.

"I understand now. It's because you never felt the pain yourselves. That's why you acted with such wanton cruelty and treated human lives like weeds.

"Are you still unwilling to lead me there?"

"I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! Spare me this once, and from now on I'll only do good deeds."

"Ah!!!"

Yi Xiang easily snapped Gato's middle finger as well. Tears and snot poured down his face.

Once he was able to move again, Gato stopped wasting his breath. Under the watch of Yi Xiang's shadow clone, he led them to where he had hidden his money.

Gato turned the combination lock and opened the safe. Inside, stacks of Land of Fire banknotes, each worth two hundred ryo, filled it to the brim.

Yi Xiang took a look and saw there was about three million ryo. He was already planning how to spend it lavishly, but still fixed Gato with an unfriendly stare.

"Is this all the world's richest man has?"

"Of course not. This is just to throw people off. Please, come this way."

Gato expertly tapped on the wooden wall and turned the painting hanging there. Suddenly, a wooden wall about four meters high and five meters wide slid downward.

Yi Xiang was so stunned that his jaw dropped, and even a trickle of drool fell from his mouth. The wall was piled high with banknotes, also in denominations of two hundred ryo.

"Good grief, there must be tens of millions in here! Gato, you really are greedy."

Gato was about to reply, but Yi Xiang suddenly sliced off his head. It fell to the ground, his eyes still full of confusion.

"So many people have died because of you, all for this money. You can die now."

Yi Xiang looked away and turned to consider how to move the money.

At that moment, Haku walked through the blood-soaked corridor and entered Gato's office. He saw Yi Xiang safe and sound, and the reward they would otherwise have needed to complete countless missions like this one to earn.

"Haku, you're back at just the right time. I just remembered there are lots of homeless orphans in this town. You and Zabuza can use this money to take them all in. What do you think?"

"Sure. Lord Zabuza will agree, too."

"Then your first mission is to protect the peace of the Land of Waves and prevent someone like Gato from appearing again. Take good care of the children, too. You can take the money from here, but you'd better try not to spend too much."

For once, Haku didn't ask Zabuza what he thought first. It seemed he was certain Zabuza would agree with all this money at their disposal.

"Mm... First, you'll have to teach them what kind of people they should become. Choose the kindest children and teach them ninjutsu.

"That way, they might be able to help us in the future, and they'll also be able to protect themselves."

"Yes."

Four days later, the people of Konoha waved goodbye to the residents who had come to see them off.

Gato was dead, and not one of his men had survived. The residents mistakenly believed that the people of Konoha had defeated them together. Unable to hold back their tears of joy, they warmly saw the group off.