What? You're Stealing Bounty Targets Your Teammates Hunted?

A spacious and luxurious living room was filled with the stench of blood; Kakuzu's bounty target had been easily dealt with.

On the sofa before him sat a corpse with bulging eyes and a twisted head, its neck clearly snapped by Kakuzu's own hands.

Several other bodies lay scattered around the room; these were the personal bodyguards of Kishimoto Qi—the gang leader.

These bodyguards were formidable mercenaries in their own right, even comparable to quasi-first-rate experts, yet before Kakuzu, they couldn't even make a ripple.

After eliminating everyone in the living room, Kakuzu took out the bounty request and checked the bounty information.

He frowned slightly, shook his head in disappointment, and muttered, "Besides this gang leader, everyone else is just worthless trash. But it doesn't matter, it'll just make that brat Xuan Yu run a few more trips to take these bodies to the Bounty Exchange."

As Kakuzu was contemplating how to take advantage of this opportunity to squeeze Xuan Yu, a familiar sense of danger suddenly washed over him.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh—!"

Several sharp whistling sounds cut through the air, followed by three kunai, which shot towards Kakuzu like cold, sharp beams of light with lightning speed.

"Hmph!" Kakuzu snorted coldly, his body flipping sharply to the right, narrowly dodging the surprise kunai. At the same time, a kunai flashed in his hand as he prepared to counter the attacker.

But as he looked up, the scene before him stunned him into silence.

The bounty target whose neck he had personally snapped earlier, along with the bodyguard with the highest bounty, were now slung over Xuan Yu's shoulders!

And in the lightning-fast moment Kakuzu dodged Xuan Yu's surprise attack, Xuan Yu had not only successfully stolen those two corpses but was now carrying them all the way to the living room door!

"What are you doing?!" Kakuzu roared in fury.

Before Xuan Yu even joined the Akatsuki, he had stolen Kakuzu's bounty targets.

And after joining the Akatsuki, he was still stealing Kakuzu's bounty targets—wasn't that a waste of joining the organization?!

Facing Kakuzu's thunderous roar, Xuan Yu paused his steps, then turned back with an embarrassed, sheepish grin. "Kakuzi, sorry about that, old habits die hard! But since we have to turn in the missions anyway, I'll take these two, and you take the rest. It's decided, just like that."

"Stop right there!"

Kakuzu commanded decisively. How could he possibly agree?

He had meticulously planned everything.

He would personally turn in the target with a thirty-million-ryo bounty, and have Xuan Yu send the remaining scattered corpses to various Bounty Exchanges.

However, Xuan Yu showed no intention of stopping.

The moment the words "Stop right there" left his mouth, Xuan Yu had already vanished from Kakuzu's sight.

Kakuzu could only stare in the direction Xuan Yu had left, his eyes filled with murderous intent, as if he could devour someone.

Kakuzu swore viciously in his heart.

If this brat dared to embezzle his money and not give him the agreed-upon fifty percent, then for a period of time afterward, he would relentlessly find a way to eliminate Xuan Yu!

Otherwise, if Xuan Yu continued to oppose him like this, he wouldn't be able to comfortably grind missions and earn money.

On the other side, Xuan Yu had unleashed his full 5000 speed attribute points, pushing his LV10 Body Flicker Technique to its maximum.

At this speed, even carrying two corpses, he was still a blur, rushing straight towards the Empty District Bounty Exchange.

Not long after, Yoshino Yujin, the person in charge of the Empty District Bounty Exchange, saw Xuan Yu in the lobby once again.

In the past few days, Xuan Yu had been coming to the Bounty Exchange lobby several times almost every day.

For some reason, Xuan Yu's efficiency in completing missions had suddenly become much higher than before.

However, these changes had little bearing on Yoshino Yujin, as the manager of the Bounty Exchange.

What concerned him was the Bounty Exchange's performance, and Xuan Yu's frequent appearances had undoubtedly caused his establishment's performance to soar.

Seeing Xuan Yu again, Yoshino Yujin said with a forced smile, "Brat, you've been coming to me to turn in missions quite a bit these past few days, but you've only been bringing in low-value orders. What's the matter, can't you complete high-value missions with your own abilities?"

Xuan Yu merely shot Yoshino Yujin a cold glance, then raised his hand and unceremoniously dropped the two corpses on his shoulders with a "thump" in front of Yoshino, uttering four words indifferently: "Rephrase your words."

Yoshino initially paid no mind to this statement.

But when he looked down and saw the two corpses on the ground, his pupils contracted sharply, and his eyes widened instantly.

"This... isn't this the leader of the 'Wildfire Clan' gang, who's been active near Grass Village recently, and his Chief Guard?! You killed them both?" Yoshino's voice was filled with shock.

As the person in charge of the Empty District's Black Market, Yoshino's intelligence network was extremely powerful.

Therefore, he knew very well what these two corpses brought by Xuan Yu represented.

On the black market, the bounty for a Fire Country Daimyo Guard (i.e., one of the Twelve Guards of Fire) was only thirty million ryo to start with.

And one of the two corpses Xuan Yu had delivered this time had a bounty as high as thirty million ryo!

Yoshino also knew some of the inside story.

The reason the Wildfire Clan leader's bounty was only thirty million ryo was due to the client's limited funds, not because the man's head was only worth that much.

As Yoshino was momentarily stunned by the shock, Xuan Yu tapped the counter with his knuckles, not hurried, and said with a smile, "Mr. Yoshino, I need an additional 2% commission. With my mission completion capabilities, this request isn't excessive, is it?"

Yoshino snapped back from his shock, waving his hands repeatedly. "That won't do."

He had originally intended to give Xuan Yu a 1.5% commission, not the 2% Xuan Yu was demanding.

When the amounts were small, the difference might not be obvious, but when the amounts were large, the difference was substantial.

After Yoshino refused outright, Xuan Yu didn't waste any words. He bent down and made a move to pick up the two corpses, preparing to leave.

Seeing Xuan Yu about to leave, Yoshino quickly called out, "Wait!"

"Oh?" Xuan Yu drawled, waiting for Yoshino to continue.

Yoshino's face showed extreme conflict. After a moment's thought, he seemed to make up his mind and said to Xuan Yu, "I can give you an additional three percent commission. This is the highest amount I can approve within my current authority."

"You've seen my sincerity. I hope you'll come to our Empty District Bounty Exchange to turn in missions from now on. As the Empty District Bounty Exchange's rating improves, I will also give you the highest possible additional benefits within my authority."

Xuan Yu was amused after hearing Yoshino's words.

This way, he could get a lot of extra cash just by coming to the Empty District to turn in missions.

Furthermore, when he split the money with Kakuzu, this additional income would not need to be split equally with Kakuzu.

On the surface, he and Kakuzu were both fifty percent, but in reality, Kakuzu got fifty percent, and he got fifty-three percent, even though Kakuzu was the one who killed the bounty target.

Once the Empty District Bounty Exchange's tier improved, he would be able to get even more additional commission.

With this in mind, Xuan Yu smiled and extended his hand to Yoshino, "Mr. Yoshino, let's settle the payment first, just as you said. But let me be clear, if another bounty exchange offers more, I might not always come to the Empty District."

Yoshino's expression turned serious this time, and he solemnly promised, "Please rest assured, the Empty District Black Market will always be your best partner!"