First Encounter with Kakuzu

When the old man heard Qingcheng, he began to recall, saying with a look of grief, "The Black Rock Clan was the one who attacked us. All the legendary weapons our family crafted, except for this Flame Sword, were stolen."

Upon hearing this, Qingcheng took out another C-rank Ninjutsu, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, and said seriously, "If you hear any news about the Kusanagi Sword, send word to the Uchiha Clan in Konoha."

Seeing the ninjutsu Qingcheng handed him, the old man's face filled with gratitude. He said earnestly, "I understand. Thank you for your help. Words cannot express my thanks."

With that, the old man took the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough ninjutsu scroll and began to examine it carefully.

Qingcheng drew the blade of the Flame Kusanagi and held it, scrutinizing it. He was astonished by its incredible sharpness. The red flame patterns on the blade, which was 1.3 meters long, were different from Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword. Both the scabbard and the blade were red.

The blade was three fingers wide, perfectly suited for Uchiha Kenjutsu, such as Uchiha Sword Flame Leap and Uchiha Flame Sword, which are Fire Release ninjutsu performed with a sword.

Qingcheng gripped the hilt and released a trace of fire-attribute Chakra. The blade of the Flame Kusanagi immediately ignited, like a sword of pure flame.

Qingcheng was very satisfied, saying with a smile, "As expected, it's a good item. It's worth at least an A-rank Wind Release ninjutsu."

Then, Qingcheng put away the Kusanagi Sword, hanging it directly at his waist, where it felt quite snug.

The old man, holding two Wind Release ninjutsu scrolls, waved goodbye to Qingcheng and left the black market, preparing to go back and practice the ninjutsu.

Qingcheng strode toward the Exchange Office, curious to see who was powerful enough to run such a large black market.

Qingcheng planned to take all the money from the Exchange Office, return to Konoha to buy more land and shops, aiming to acquire all the empty land in Konoha and become the largest shareholder of Konoha Village, then gradually devour Konoha.

Inside the Exchange Office, a strange man with a stitched mouth was conversing with a ninja from the Exchange Office. The strange man said angrily, "This person's bounty was clearly ten million, so why did you only give me nine and a half million? Are you trying to shortchange me?"

The Exchange Office ninja replied seriously, "Kakuzu, don't talk nonsense. Our Exchange Office never takes kickbacks. The person who posted the bounty lowered the amount. It has nothing to do with our Exchange Office."

Upon hearing this, Kakuzu immediately flew into a rage, saying sternly, "Tell me who posted this bounty! I'm going to kill them for daring to lower the reward!"

The ninja working at the Exchange Office was startled to see Kakuzu's furious reaction. He stammered, "Mr. Kakuzu, our Exchange Office cannot reveal the information of those who post bounties. If you feel it's unsuitable, you can abandon the mission."

Hearing this, Kakuzu immediately shouted, "I already completed that bounty mission! If I don't get ten million today, I'll kill both you and the person who posted the bounty!"

The Exchange Office ninja immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Kakuzu, as a veteran of the Exchange Office, often took assassination missions and would fly into a rage, even kill, if he was shorted even a single Ryo.

Just then, the door of the Exchange Office opened, and an old man in civilian clothes walked in, saying gravely, "Give Mr. Kakuzu the rest of his money. He is a model task-taker for our Exchange Office."

The Exchange Office ninja immediately said, "Understood, Mr. Ado."

The working ninja walked towards the storage room, and soon the sound of counting money echoed from within. Kakuzu, hearing about the additional payment, instantly lost his anger. He said earnestly, "As long as I get all my money, everything's fine."

Then, Kakuzu opened a storage scroll and took out a bloody head.

Kakuzu then said seriously, "This is the target's head." With that, he placed the head on the display counter.

Ado saw the head Kakuzu put down and immediately praised him, "Mr. Kakuzu, you truly live up to your reputation as someone who dared to assassinate the First Hokage."

Kakuzu said earnestly, "Are there any higher bounty missions? I'll take them all."

Ado took out a mission scroll and handed it to Kakuzu, saying seriously, "Mr. Kakuzu, this is the mission that was posted. The bounty is fifty million."

Hearing fifty million Ryo, Kakuzu immediately perked up, saying earnestly, "What kind of mission is it that has such a high bounty? Is it to assassinate the leader of a major ninja village?"

Ado shook his head, saying seriously, "Infiltrate Konoha and assassinate a member of the Uchiha Clan whose family was wiped out."

When Kakuzu heard Ado, he looked very satisfied, saying excitedly, "A wiped-out Uchiha is worth fifty million bounty? What's their background?"

Ado said earnestly, "Their background is quite sinister. They can summon the dead from hell, and they also have seventy billion in deposits."

Hearing about the seventy billion in deposits, Kakuzu's face filled with excitement. He said earnestly, "I'll take this mission. I'll infiltrate Konoha tomorrow and eliminate this Uchiha remnant, taking all their deposits."

Upon hearing seventy billion Ryo, Kakuzu couldn't stop smiling, laughing maniacally, "Hahahahaha~"

Just then, a man in a night suit and a grim reaper mask directly opened the door of the Exchange Office. Seeing Kakuzu's manic expression, he immediately said, "Share the wealth. Can I have half of that seventy billion Ryo?"

The person who arrived was none other than Qingcheng. He had heard Kakuzu's maniacal laughter from afar. When he heard that he himself had seventy billion, he laughed so hard that drool started to drip.

Qingcheng thought to himself, I haven't even stolen your money yet, and you're already eyeing mine. Now that I've found you, let's see who devours who.

Ado and Kakuzu were both startled by the sudden voice. Kakuzu was the first to react, saying fiercely, "Masked guy, do you know who I am? You dare to share money with me? Do you want to die?"

Qingcheng laughed at Kakuzu's words, saying mockingly, "Isn't it just assassinating the First Hokage? Who knows where you were hiding, secretly throwing a single shuriken, and then claiming you assassinated the First Hokage? Were you hiding 800 kilometers away?"

Qingcheng then said with a sigh, "You probably didn't even see the First Hokage's face, did you? The shuriken you threw definitely didn't fly in front of Hashirama. You just took the credit and went to sleep."

Kakuzu's face immediately filled with rage upon hearing Qingcheng's words, as if his lie had been exposed.

And it was true. When Kakuzu received the mission to assassinate the First Hokage back then, he immediately wet himself.

He didn't dare to even look at Hashirama. He only secretly set up Explosive Tags on the road Hashirama was taking to the Land of Fire. In the end, the Explosive Tags were even spotted by the First Hokage.

Hashirama directly removed the Explosive Tags, saying seriously, "This is the main road of the Land of Fire. How could someone do something like this? What if it harms civilians? Wouldn't that be terrible?"

Seeing this, Kakuzu immediately declared to the outside world, "I assassinated the First Hokage! He was almost killed by me!"