Shiraha (Grandmaster of Drawing Cakes): Our Country Still Needs a Minister of Finance...

Kakuzu pulled a notebook from his pocket, then groped around and found that the pencil had fallen onto the grass and broken in two.

Kakuzu glanced at Shiraha, his gaze questioning. He could tell that although Kushina was stronger of the two, Shiraha was in charge.

"Please go ahead."

Shiraha extended his hand with a smile.

Kakuzu got up, picked up the half-pencil, and quickly began writing in his notebook.

"You're about to die and you're still taking notes?"

Kushina was completely dumbfounded; this was an incredible level of self-discipline.

"Alright." Kakuzu breathed a sigh of relief after finishing writing.

Shiraha asked, "Can I take a look?"

"Here you go. I didn't even bring any money with me, so consider this your spoils of war." Kakuzu handed the notebook to Shiraha, showing no fear of death whatsoever.

Shiraha took the notebook and began to examine it.

The thick notebook was mostly filled with names, with the reward amount noted at the back.

Aside from the famous figures and their shadows from various countries, everyone else has a price tag.

The most expensive items in Konoha are White Fang and the Three Ninja.

At this point, an "X" was drawn after White Fang's name, clearly because he was dead.

Many of the names that followed were circled and marked with dates, indicating that they were bounties that Kakuzu had received.

Upon closer inspection, Kakuzu's savings amount to at least one billion!

No wonder he's been a working-class guy for decades!

"This is..." Shiraha saw the last column, which contained ninjas with bounties of less than one million taels. One of the names, heavily bolded in pencil, was Kushina! Her bounty was Kakuzu with several zeros and indicated. "Recommended bounty of over two hundred million taels."

Shiraha handed the notebook to Kushina.

Kushina nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it!"

Afterwards, Shiraha returned the notebook to Kakuzu.

"What do you mean by this?" Kakuzu frowned slightly.

"You attacked us last time, Kushina destroyed two of your hearts this time, so we're even. Now we can talk about other things," Shiraha said with a slight smile.

"Other things?"

"I would like to formally appoint you as the Minister of Finance of the Land of Whirlpools, to oversee the nation's economic affairs. What do you think?"

"Minister of Finance?" This was the first thing Kakuzu noticed, and then he asked, "Wasn't the Land of Whirlpools destroyed more than a decade ago?"

"Therefore, we are preparing to rebuild the country. I promise you that you can be the Minister of Finance of the Land of Whirlpools forever. No matter how strong the Land of Whirlpools becomes in the future, no one will ever replace you."

"What makes you think you can rebuild the Land of Whirlpools?"

"Kushina and I are only 18 years old! She didn't even unleash one-tenth of her power just now," Shiraha said seriously.

"What?!" Kakuzu frowned deeply and said, "Even if I agree, will you really let me go? What makes you think you can believe me?"

"You have a good reputation in the Underground Exchange Market. Even if you betray me, you certainly won't betray money, right?" Shiraha said with a smile. By checking the notebook, he felt that Kakuzu was not short of money, but simply liked to collect money, just like some people like to collect stamps.

It's a truly simple and pure hobby.

Hearing Shiraha's confident words, Kakuzu did not make any guarantees or promises, but stared at him seriously. "What is the annual salary of the Minister of Finance?"

Shiraha: "No annual salary."

"No?!" Kakuzu changed slightly, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes. He would rather die than work for nothing.

Shiraha: "But you can take a cut!"

Kakuzu: "What do you mean?"

"Building a nation isn't something that can be done overnight, so before you become the Minister of Finance of the Land of Whirlpools, you must first join our organization and manage its finances. You'll receive 5% of the annual profits, and if your performance is good, you'll get an additional 5% bonus. Even if the Land of Whirlpools unifies the Shinobi World, this percentage will not change," Shiraha explained.

"Wait a minute."

Kakuzu Teuchi Shiraha, telling him to wait a moment.

Then, he took out an abacus from the Storage Scroll he carried with him and started tapping away.

"Alright, I'll do it." Kakuzu put away his abacus and asked decisively, "What's the name of your organization, and how much money are you managing for me?"

Kushina: (⊙⊙)

Kurama: Σ(°△°|||)

"Our organization is called ' Infinite Ring,' and your codename from now on will be ' Pixiu. ' As for the start-up capital..." Shiraha paused, then extended his hand toward Kushina.

"Huh? Oh!" Kushina snapped out of her daze, reached into her clothes and pulled out a bankbook and a stamp, handing it to Shiraha: "The password is your birthday."

Shiraha took it and opened it.

Good heavens!

One hundred million taels.

"Kakuzu, here's 100 million taels. 50 million taels are for your organization's activities, and the other 50 million taels are your advance payment of commission. The password is 0210. You can't possibly not know where the bank is in the Fire Capital, can you?"

Shiraha handed the passbook and seal to Kakuzu.

Kakuzu took the passbook, examined the seal repeatedly, and after confirming its authenticity, asked a series of questions:

"What are your roles in the organization? Who else is there? What are the organization's current tasks? What is my authority within the organization?"

Seeing Kakuzu got into the zone so quickly, Shiraha laughed and said, "My code name is ' Dragon King,' Kushina's code name is ' Crimson Flame.' I am the leader of the organization, and she is the future queen of the Land of Whirlpools."

I'll introduce you to the other members later; as for the current tasks...

The idea is to accumulate funds and secretly recruit Hideto without attracting the attention of the Great Nations.

Your position in the organization is second only to me and ' Crimson Flame ', and all other members will follow your orders.

Before the nation is established, we need time to strengthen our organization.

"I understand, Chief." Kakuzu nodded, carefully tucked the passbook and seal into the notebook, and then put it away in his pocket.

Then, Shiraha took out a Blank Scroll and pen from his pocket, wrote the two large characters ' Pixiu ', and handed it to Kakuzu: "Pixiu is an ancient divine beast that is even more powerful than the Kurama. This code name means good luck and wealth. I hope you can bring these to the organization. The organization will not treat you unfairly in the future."

Although Kakuzu couldn't understand the characters 'Pixiu', the explanation of ' Dragon King ' made him feel that this code name was specially prepared for him.

"You can leave now, Pixiu," Shiraha said. "From now on, we will meet here every six months, and I will give you new instructions."

"Yes."

"Also, I've checked some names in your notebook. Don't touch them."

"This"

"I will compensate you for the lost earnings as a bonus."

"Yes!"

Kakuzu nodded, then left directly.

In fact, he was not short of money at all, because the money Shiraha gave him was less than one-tenth of his savings. What he wanted was Shiraha's sincerity.

Having experienced too many betrayals over the years, Kakuzu's only faith now is money.

Only money will not betray him, and only money should not be let down.

If life still has any meaning for him, it must be making money.

As for spending money, he has no interest.

All he wants to see is an increase in his bank account balance.

As long as Shiraha doesn't betray money, he won't betray Shiraha.

organize

nation

This should greatly improve the efficiency of making money.

Kakuzu's departing figure grew ever more upright, and his steps ever more resolute.

"Shiraha? When did you start this organization? How come I didn't know about it?"

"Just now."

"Then what about the organization members you mentioned?"

"Wait for the ' Pixiu ' to pull people in on its own."

"."

Kushina's eyes widened. This works?

"Shiraha, why do you trust him? What if he leaks our information about rebuilding the Land of Whirlpools? And although 100 million taels isn't a huge sum, it's still a waste to give it to him like this. What if he goes back on his word?"

Kushina pressed for an answer.

Shiraha smiled and said, "Don't worry, this Kakuzu an excellent reputation in the Underground Exchange Market. Besides, this is just a gamble with a huge profit margin; if you lose, you'll only lose a mere 100 million taels."

After you take back the properties in the Fire Capital, you can easily earn hundreds of millions of taels a year, but that's too slow a way to make money.

Why not make an investment? We'll need to establish an organization sooner or later to prepare for the founding of our nation.

Besides, even if he changes his mind, we can make him return the money later.

As for the issue of information leakage, who would believe the words of a missing-nin?

"Oh, oh." Kushina was stunned.

"Isn't giving him a one-time salary of 50 million taels too high?!"

Kushina then asked, not because she was distressed about the money, but because she felt that Kakuzu worth the price.

Shiraha smiled and shook his head, "What I gave him wasn't a salary, but a commission! These are two different concepts."

"Commission? Isn't it still the same as getting paid for working? Is there a difference?"

Kushina was somewhat puzzled.

Shiraha: "If you pay him a salary, he's an employee; but if you give him commission, he's a boss, a partner in the organization! It's different."

"That brat's heart is truly black!" Kurama Fox remarked from within the Sealing Space.

"What's wrong? Kurama, why are you saying that about Shiraha?" Kushina couldn't help but feel indignant for Shiraha. He was so magnanimous, releasing the missing-nin who attacked them last time and even giving them a job and paying them in advance. Is there anyone as honest and kind as him?

Kurama Fox said irritably, "That Shiraha brat said he'd take 5% of the profits as commission. He gave that Kakuzu 50 million taels. You do the math yourself—how much money does he have to make for Shiraha brat to earn a 50 million tael commission?!"

"5% is 50 million taels, 1% is 10 Million Ryo, that is..." The academically challenged Kushina counted on her fingers.

"It's ten billion taels! You idiot!"

"I'm a top student Kurama muttered, cursing under his breath.

"I'm not good at math at all!" Kushina said angrily.

Etc!

One billion taels?

Moreover, after deducting costs, it still makes a net profit of 1 billion taels. How much would the total revenue be?

Even with Kushina's wealth, she felt overwhelmed by the dazzling array of banknotes before her.

"Shiraha, you're too... smart!" Kushina stared at Shiraha, and after holding back for a long time, she finally exclaimed.

"Keep a low profile."

PS: I didn't originally plan to kill off Kakuzu, but I hadn't decided yet. However, I saw a good comment yesterday, so I'll borrow from it a bit. Kakuzu is truly one of the most pure and innocent characters in Hokage.

PS: Thank you Saber for the 1853 points; thank you Mu Yi for the 1666 points; thank you Yu Chanming, Little Sapling in the Two-Dimensional World, z465j, More Than Just Protection, Sloth Sloth for the 1500 points; thank you Book Friend 20170822091648249 for the 1000 points; thank you p147i852yy, Book Friend 20190723113715392, and Book Friend 20211029095822264 for the 500 points; thank you Past, Yingke Little Student, A Fallen Flowers, Zhu Sheng, Zhuanglong Zuoya, Great Qin Warriors, Under Neon Lights in the 1990s, Lu Nong, and Shiva's Dance for the 100 points; thank you everyone.