Gatō's Tragic Fate 1/2

Just as Momochi Zabuza's iron-blooded, cold persona completely collapsed, Gatō, the special monster that dropped money, made his entrance.

"My, my, the battle was unexpectedly brutal. Zabuza, what an ugly sight you are. What a disappointment. But fine—I never intended to let you leave this country alive anyway. How dare you crush my wrist."

Gatō continued displaying his death-seeking spirit. Behind him stood a large group of strangely shaped thugs. He was clearly brimming with confidence. If he knew this world had monsters capable of fighting ten thousand alone, and that the useless rabble under him did not even amount to bean sprouts, who knew what he would think.

Of course, he did not know, which was why he could only throw his weight around in a closed island nation like the Land of Waves.

He also did not know that there were only three possible outcomes for all his desperate money-making: first, raising funds for Momochi Zabuza's schemes in the Land of Water; second, working for the Akatsuki; third, benefiting Konoha.

No matter which one it was, Gatō's fate was destined to be tragic.

For now, Konoha was the ultimate winner. Konoha would obtain Gatō's enormous wealth and use it to develop the Land of Waves. The Land of Waves would gain funding, and the development of its economy and people's livelihoods would create mission demands for hired ninja. It was mutually beneficial, and everyone would be happy.

Someone might ask, why invest in the Land of Waves and create missions to earn rewards? Wouldn't it be more straightforward to just pocket Gatō's money?

That was not how it worked.

For a ninja village, funds were the foundation of development. Increasing ninja strength through missions was merely the means; cultivating powerful ninja was the ultimate goal. A ninja village needed money, but its strength depended on the quantity and quality of its ninja.

Momochi Zabuza swayed as he got to his feet and said to Hayato, "Lend me a kunai."

Hayato blinked. "Will you return it? Uh... why are you all looking at me like that? If you borrow and return, borrowing again is easy."

Momochi Zabuza: ?０?.

Why weren't you playing by the rules?

Hayato smiled. "Just kidding. Why is everyone so serious?"

They had just fought to the death. Was this really the time for jokes?

Everyone was speechless.

But Hayato's joking around did ease the atmosphere considerably.

Hayato said to Momochi Zabuza, "You've almost bled dry. If you keep messing around, you're definitely going to die. You owe me a favor, and you might have to repay it with your life. Isn't that a little... excessive?"

Everyone nodded in unison. "Excessive!"

Only Momochi Zabuza nodded solemnly. "That's right. I do owe you my life."

Hayato said to the others, "See? That's what you call enlightened thinking. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring... uh, repaying kindness. Sarara, how many meals have you mooched off me? When are you going to treat me to something and repay a little of that kindness?"

Sarara turned her head and gazed into the distance at the horizon where sea and sky met.

Why was it so blue?

Was Hayato saying something?

Why couldn't she hear a single word?

Fine, Hayato gave up and looked at Naruto Uzumaki.

This kid often shouted about treating everyone, but his wallet was empty every single time.

Why carry an empty wallet around every time? To fool himself?

Forget it. It looked like he could only fleece Shishin.

Somewhere else.

Aburame Shishin, who was carrying out a mission, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and sneezed hard.

His teammate asked with concern, "Caught a cold?"

Aburame Shishin shook his head. "No, my nose just suddenly felt a little itchy."

He also sensed a deep malice.

With his wealth of experience, Aburame Shishin immediately thought of Hayato, and at the same time felt deeply worried for his wallet.

On the bridge.

Watching the ninja laugh and chat without the slightest hint of fear, Gatō felt ignored. If he asked, "You bastards, are you looking down on me?"

Hayato would definitely tell him: yes, they were looking down on him.

Gatō flew into a rage and roared at his motley crew of underlings, "Kill them! I'll pay one million ryō."

Gatō offered what seemed like an enormous price, making his subordinates howl with excitement.

What a bunch of ignorant idiots!

If Kakuzu had been there, he definitely would have shaken his head and refused—he would not take it; the price was too low.

Hayato suddenly raised a hand. "Everyone, do me a favor and don't interfere. Let me handle this myself."

He had just finished a king-tier match. Time for a bronze match to relax.

The bronze players might not be happy about it, but who could they blame for getting matched against him—the matchmaking gods?

Besides, it was the perfect chance to test the new ninjutsu he had just obtained.

At Hayato's request, most of them took two steps back, happy to watch.

Tazuna showed concern.

Sasuke looked displeased.

Naruto was even more direct. "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" A group of Narutos charged forward.

What should you do when a teammate wanted to steal your kills?

Simple—throw out your skills and compete with him!

"Parasitic String!"

A huge mass of threads shot from Hayato's fingers, spreading through the air before falling like a meteor shower and piercing the bodies of the thugs.

"Ah, I can't move!"

"My body is moving on its own! What's going on?!"

"Don't..."

"..."

The thugs let out terrified screams. Some hacked at themselves, while others slashed at one another. The scene was bizarre.

Naruto had charged forward, but faced with this situation, he did not know whether he should attack or how.

After hesitating for a moment, Naruto realized that every enemy had already been injured and fallen to the ground.

Only Gatō remained on the other side.

Hayato looked at Gatō with a smiling expression.

Gatō was still in shock and only came back to his senses after a while. He turned around and ran for his life on his short legs.

Trying to run?

A Parasitic String pierced into Gatō's back.

"One frog, one mouth, two eyes, four legs—plop, it jumps into the water."

Hayato controlled Gatō and made him hop toward the sea like a frog.

"Spare me! I have money, I'll give it all to—"

Splash!

Before he could finish, Gatō jumped from the bridge into the sea. His chances of survival looked extremely low.

Hayato took out his wallet and patted it a few times. "Tsk, tsk, you make it sound like I don't have money. Uh... though I only have a few hundred ryō. Wait, there should have been more than this. Sarara!!!"

Sarara pretended to pick her nose. "What?! Don't call me when nothing's wrong, and definitely don't call me when something is wrong. Yesterday, you ate the taiyaki too. You were happily stuffing your face then, so why the hell are you complaining now?"

Hayato: //(ㄒㄒ)//.

Yesterday, he had thought Hatake Kaito was treating them, so he had eaten especially happily.

Joy turned to sorrow.

Forget it, forget it. He could only console himself by saying he had met the wrong people.

Around noon, the first wave of reinforcements arrived.

It was actually Team Three—Team Guy.

"Why is it you guys?"

Hayato was sprinkling seasoning over grilled fish as he spoke in surprise.

"Hayato, it's you!"

Rock Lee had not expected the person seeking help to be Hayato, and he shouted happily.

Then he complained, "Wasn't this an ultra-emergency rescue? We didn't even eat before running here as fast as we could."

Hayato said, "It was ultra-emergency. Wait, the fish is about to burn. Let me flip it over. Hey, why are you all looking at me like that? The situation was ultra-emergency at the time, not flipping the fish ultra-emergency. Honestly, am I really that unreliable?"

Neji Hyuga said, "Yes!"

Hayato clutched his chest. "Is that really the kind of person I am in your eyes? My heart hurts."

Rock Lee anxiously asked, "Hayato, what's wrong? Does your heart hurt? Were you injured during the battle?"

Might Guy said from the side, "Lee, hurry up and carry Hayato. We're going to find a doctor."

Neji Hyuga: ...

He covered his forehead, speechless...

Hayato looked at Rock Lee, who had already crouched down, with this expression: ⊙０⊙.

This was far from the first time those two had acted like idiots, but he simply could not get used to it.

Hayato sighed. "Lee, I'm fine."

Rock Lee asked worriedly, "Are you really okay?"

Hayato said, "I'm really fine. Since you haven't eaten yet, sit down and have something. Sarara!!!" Hayato shouted the last three words at the top of his lungs.

The seawater churned, and Sarara leaped out of the ocean with a fish on her shoulder—a shark.

Bang!

Sarara threw the nearly two-meter-long shark in front of Hayato. "I want to eat this! Why are you here?!"

Huff!

Hayato: ˋ︿ˊ﹀-#.

Hayato told himself to stay calm. Anger damaged the liver.