Save What Should Be Saved, Spend What Should Be Spent, Don't Take a Single Cent Home!

[Ding! Recharge successful! Current balance: 50,073,600 ryo!]

After recharging the 50 million ryo he had swindled from Orochimaru into the Pay-to-Win System, Xuan Yu couldn't help but calculate, How can I quickly earn another 40 million ryo?

He had previously obtained the Healing Jutsu for free from Orochimaru and had originally intended to give this ninjutsu a qualitative upgrade.

That meant dumping money into it to reach LV10 to see what kind of special effects might emerge.

However, after walking only a few steps, he became conflicted again.

Every time any of his four basic attributes broke through 10,000 points, he would automatically receive a Growth Gift Pack.

In other words, if he spent another 40 million ryo to push his speed attribute over 10,000, he could obtain a Growth Gift Pack.

Should he save up to upgrade the Healing Jutsu, or open a Growth Gift Pack first to see what it contained?

If the special effects obtained after upgrading a ninjutsu to LV10 were mediocre, Xuan Yu would have definitely made up his mind long ago.

But because he had previously gained astonishing ability boosts when upgrading Leaf Whirlwind, the Three Body Technique, and the Body Flicker Technique to LV10, he was convinced that maxing out the Healing Jutsu would certainly not disappoint him.

At the same time, however, the Growth Gift Pack awarded for breaking 10,000 in any basic attribute was also extremely tempting.

One required saving money and taking it slow, while the other involved spending money for an immediate effect; weighing the two, Xuan Yu found himself hesitating.

He scratched his head and finally decided to check on the progress of the mission with Kakuzu first, to see if he could manage the "Children make choices, adults want everything" approach.

Meanwhile, in a laboratory within a gloomy cave, Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi were conducting a comprehensive analysis of the chakra sample provided by Xuan Yu.

As the capable assistant to Lord Orochimaru, Kabuto had participated in almost all of his research, so his insight was naturally sharp.

At this moment, looking at the fluctuating values on the testing equipment, he couldn't help but reveal a look of deep astonishment: "Lord Xuan Yu's chakra... is very peculiar."

Orochimaru smiled slightly, a glimmer of excitement flashing in his golden slit pupils: "That boy's chakra is indeed very rare. First of all, he possesses all-attribute chakra; even more astonishing is that his chakra possesses incredible plasticity and vitality."

"Although it is still unclear why this boy's chakra is so special, there is no doubt that such chakra has extremely high research value."

Orochimaru licked his lips, his voice filled with irrepressible excitement.

If an ordinary person had spent 50 million ryo to buy such a small chakra sample, they would surely be heartbroken to the point of vomiting blood.

Yet, Orochimaru felt that the money was well spent.

Xuan Yu's chakra sample was enough to push forward the progress of several research projects he had on hand!

For the next period of time, he intended to devote his energy to thoroughly studying the mysteries within Xuan Yu's chakra.

"Lord Orochimaru thinks so highly of Xuan Yu's chakra..."

Kabuto felt both shocked and envious.

He knew very well that Lord Orochimaru had likely already regarded Xuan Yu as one of the candidates for his next "vessel."

In Kabuto's view, if Xuan Yu could truly become Lord Orochimaru's reincarnation vessel, it would be the supreme honor for him.

Of course, Xuan Yu was unaware of all this.

At this moment, he had already returned to the Black Market in the Grass Country and was comfortably sponging off a meal at a restaurant.

The food he was eating was, naturally, what Kakuzu had ordered.

Kakuzu's icy gaze was fixed firmly on Xuan Yu, who was buried in his food across from him. The anger churning in his heart was nearing its limit.

Seeing Xuan Yu's chopsticks constantly reaching for the dishes he had ordered, Kakuzu finally couldn't hold back, his voice as cold as frozen iron: "Why don't you order your own food?"

Xuan Yu didn't even lift his head, continuing to shovel food into his mouth as he replied righteously: "Need you ask? I don't have any money."

Kakuzu was so choked by his matter-of-fact attitude that he couldn't speak for a long while before asking in a deep voice: "Where is your money? Didn't you just earn over 24 million ryo not long ago?"

Xuan Yu answered nonchalantly: "Kakuzi, I told you long ago—money is something you should save when you can, but spend when you must; don't take a single cent home!"

He waved his chopsticks eloquently: "The money I earn is always immediately invested into improving my strength; otherwise, how could my combat power grow so fast?"

"So that's why you eat my food, use my things, and live in my place?!"

Kakuzu finally slammed the table and stood up, a look of fury shooting from his pale green eyes.

Xuan Yu, however, maintained his indifferent expression, waving his hand as he said: "Hey, Kakuzi, broaden your horizons. These expenses are just small change. As mercenaries, we need to have a big picture; don't worry about these trivial matters."

Kakuzu was left completely speechless.

That sounded reasonable enough.

Indeed, these food and lodging expenses were nothing to them.

But the problem was that this guy Xuan Yu followed him around, eating and living for free every day, which was truly infuriating!

Kakuzu forcibly suppressed the fire in his heart and said in a deep voice: "How about this: from now on, I take 51% of the mission rewards, and you take 49%. That extra 1% will be considered your living expenses."

"What?!" Xuan Yu was almost choked by the food in his mouth upon hearing this and jumped up: "Kakuzi, that's going too far! Isn't this clearly robbing me? No matter what, my share of the mission rewards can never be less than 50%. Otherwise, how can we happily grind missions together?"

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes: "Are you threatening me?"

The two stared at each other, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

However, Xuan Yu acted as if he hadn't noticed the other's anger at all. He even sat down unhurriedly and reached out to pick up a piece of roasted meat from Kakuzu's plate: "How is this a threat? I'm reasoning with you. Am I not strong? If we work together, isn't our efficiency higher? We can also take on many high-paying commissions that you couldn't complete alone, right?"

As he spoke, he put down his chopsticks and began counting on his fingers: "For example, I have a vast intelligence network, and you don't. Or, if there are multiple targets, I have the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique and can split up to complete some of them, but you can't. And what if we run into a bounty target who is good at running away? I'm faster than you; they can run from the monk, but they can't run from the temple. They can't escape from me, but you might not be able to catch them, right?"

Xuan Yu summarized incessantly: "In short, after we teamed up, haven't you easily earned the money that was hard or even impossible for you to get in the past? So what's the big deal if I occasionally sponge off your food and drink? Relax your mindset and open up your perspective."

After listening to Xuan Yu's grand lecture, Kakuzu's face turned ashen, and he sighed, too weary to say anything more.

In the end, what Xuan Yu said wasn't entirely without reason.

Ever since they teamed up, Kakuzu's efficiency in completing missions had indeed improved significantly, and they could take on jobs they couldn't before, naturally leading to a surge in earnings.

But then again, Xuan Yu had caused him no less trouble.

He had previously wondered why Xuan Yu was so late in arriving after a mission began. Later, while Xuan Yu was away talking to Orochimaru about cooperation, he specifically went to investigate.

The result was that this little brat had actually accepted a bunch of low to mid-tier commissions under Kakuzu's name while they were on a joint mission, and then ran off to solo them all during his free time.

Upon learning of this outrageous operation, Kakuzu was utterly speechless.

There were simply too many points to complain about this matter; he didn't know where to begin.

Besides this incident, Xuan Yu caused Kakuzu endless headaches in other aspects as well.

Kakuzu discovered with frustration that it seemed only when he was grinding missions day and night with Xuan Yu did the kid behave somewhat normally.

Once he was left idle, this fellow was sure to stir up a whole basket of trouble...