All Mine

After more than half a day of travel, Fei Yun finally returned to the Land of Fire. He hurried to the bounty exchange and found Que Ni.

Brother Que Ni, there are bounty exchanges elsewhere too, but Fei Yun still preferred this place. He was already familiar with it, and he feared leaking his information or being ambushed by Konoha elsewhere.

Fei Yun cashed in Shimura Shūkyoku's head and also took out a large quantity of treasure and weapons he did not need.

Brother Que Ni, help me figure out a way to sell these.

Que Ni warmly and generously patted his chest. "Don't worry, little brother. Leave it all to me."

This was not the first time the two had done business together. Que Ni was naturally willing to help, since there was plenty of profit to skim. After all, who would know how much he sold them for?

But Que Ni did not dare be too greedy. He knew that if he took too much, it might not be as simple as losing a friend.

Which bounty hunter who survived in the black market was easy to provoke?

Fei Yun naturally knew that Que Ni had made plenty from him, but as long as it was not excessive and he got most of the money, that was enough.

As always, who would work for you without profit?

Brother Que Ni, bring me paper and pen. I'm updating the bounty list!

"Hahaha!"

After handling those trivial matters, Fei Yun began the real business.

Que Ni led Fei Yun into a VIP private room and personally poured him some costly tea.

Fei Yun skillfully took the paper and pen and quickly wrote on the form. The more he wrote, the happier he became, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

"Hmph!"

"Hahaha!" Que Ni drank tea as he looked curiously at Fei Yun, who was laughing wildly.

"Did the nameless little brother find some treasure? You seem so happy today."

Only after a while did Fei Yun finish writing. He pushed the new bounty list toward Que Ni, picked up his teacup, and savored it. Que Ni smiled politely and respectfully, took the bounty sheet, and held it properly in his hands.

The moment Que Ni glanced at it, his gaze was drawn to the sheet in his hand. His squinting eyes widened, and he could no longer maintain his calm smile.

"Th-this..." Que Ni's hands trembled slightly, his heart wildly excited.

"Hahaha! As expected of the nameless little brother. I've been in this business for years, but I've never seen such a huge move."

"So? Can this bounty amount take down half their heads?"

"It absolutely can! I almost want to quit and go to Konoha as a bounty hunter myself!"

"Is that so?"

"Hahaha!" The two let out strange laughs, both in excellent moods.

One could exceed his performance quota and receive a massive bonus. The other was about to see his enemies put on painful expressions. How could they not be happy?

They both had bright and wonderful futures ahead of them!

The bounty list contained a large number of names with enormous rewards. They were all relatives of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Supreme Danzo, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado. The rewards were more than a hundred times the usual rates. Whether ordinary civilians or genin, each had a bounty of ten million ryo. Many jonin did not even have bounties above ten million ryo, while the chunin relatives of those four old geezers had bounties of eighteen million ryo.

As for jonin bounties, Fei Yun did not issue any. Hunting jonin had too low a success rate, and there were not many of them anyway. He could save them for himself and kill them slowly, honing his strength in the process. The rewards he earned could then be used to issue even more bounties.

With trembling hands, Que Ni worked his abacus. After a rapid series of clacks, he smiled as brightly as a chrysanthemum.

"Little brother, the total comes to two hundred ninety-six million ryo."

"Mm... ah..." Fei Yun's laughter abruptly stopped, and his face filled with shock.

His spending had gotten out of hand again, but Fei Yun quickly recovered.

It felt great. It was worth it!

He waved his hand and laughed generously.

"Ah, it's fine. Just pocket change."

Then, Fei Yun took out a spatial storage ninjutsu scroll and summoned all the money he had looted from the Cult of Jashin.

Seeing the mountain of banknotes piled up in the private room, Que Ni grinned so widely that his back teeth showed.

That night, the underground black market went completely mad. A batch of sky-high bounty lists flowed into the hands of mercenary organizations, gangs, wandering ninja, rogue ninja, and thugs.

Those creatures lurking in dark corners throughout the world grew restless like hunting dogs that had caught a scent.

These people feared neither heaven nor earth, following the laws of the strong devouring the weak and money above all else.

As the saying went, people died for wealth and birds died for food. On this road to riches paved with corpses, there was never any shortage of desperate men.

"Killing an ordinary person earns ten million ryo? This Sarutobi Konohamaru is actually worth twenty-five million ryo!"

"Damn it, if we pull this job off, we won't need to take another job for the rest of our lives!"

At black-market drinking tables everywhere, the newest sky-high bounty lists were eagerly passed from hand to hand. Feverish, greedy eyes lit up with crimson light.

How long had it been since they fought such a rich battle?

One job was worth a hundred jobs!

Who would not be tempted? Who would not go mad?

If they did not seize this chance to get rich, they might work themselves to death without ever achieving this much!

For a time, undercurrents surged through the underground black market. Storm clouds gathered once more, converging upon the peaceful hidden village of Konoha.

In the Land of Grass, within a forest, a large group of ninja guards battled several black monsters.

The black monsters continuously fired chakra spheres of various elements from their mouths. The battle was exceptionally fierce!

"Protect the lord! What exactly are these monsters?"

A slick-haired middle-aged man in a black robe patterned with red clouds was wielding a large blade as he attacked the important person being guarded.

Kakuzu, who had been watching from the side, suddenly changed expression and turned toward a messenger hawk flying through the sky. It was a contact bird from the bounty exchange.

Kakuzu steadily caught the information scroll dropped by the bird. He leisurely opened it and examined it, but when he saw the new bounty list, his eyes suddenly widened. His entire body trembled uncontrollably with extreme excitement.

"Interesting!"

Kakuzu scanned the sky-high bounty list on the four great families, murmuring in a low, excited voice. "This is truly too interesting!"

"Mine. They're all mine!"

As a dedicated gold-ranked bounty hunter, no one was more excited or more eager than Kakuzu.

Kakuzu put away the information scroll and stared fervently in Konoha's direction.

Kakuzu seemed to already see immense wealth and money beckoning to him.

"Akatsuki's current policy is not to make a move against Konoha!"

"What a hassle, all because of that Uchiha Itachi."

Kakuzu calmed down slightly, pondering as he muttered to himself.

In his memories, Pain's Rinnegan and Yo's Sharingan flashed alternately. But the next instant, the words "Sarutobi Konohamaru, twenty-five million ryo" on the scroll crushed all his hesitation.

"I can't possibly give up this opportunity to obtain money. As long as the organization doesn't find out, it'll be fine."

A greedy curve formed on Kakuzu's lips as he made up his mind to rush to Konoha as quickly as possible.

If he arrived too late, he feared someone else would beat him to it.

After all, he could not be the only one who had received this information. Other bounty hunters would certainly act as well.

Kakuzu rapidly formulated a plan in his mind. First, he had to fool Akatsuki's eyes.

The leader might not hold him accountable, but it would be hard to explain things to Yo. If the leader chose not to protect him, then to evade the organization's punishment...

Kakuzu looked toward the slick-haired man fighting fiercely and revealed a cruel smile.

"As long as no one knows where I went, won't that solve everything?"

Kakuzu mobilized a large amount of chakra and formed hand seals.

Suddenly, the two black monsters merged together, and intense chakra fluctuations erupted from their mouths.

Fire Release: Head Mashing! Wind Release: Pressure Damage! The fierce hurricane expanded the high-temperature flames without limit, rushing toward everyone. Everything around them was reduced to ashes by the explosive energy, including the slick-haired man who had only just joined Akatsuki.

Everyone died beneath that attack.

Kakuzu walked out from behind the wreckage and swept his eyes over the charred corpses on the ground.

"Good. The mission is complete."

With that, he recalled the black monsters and absorbed them into his body.

Kakuzu took out the black robe patterned with red clouds and put it on. With a flicker, he vanished from the area, speeding toward Konoha.

"My money, you'd better wait for me!"

Kakuzu's eyes burned with fervor.

Not long after Kakuzu left, a large aloe plant emerged from the ground.

The green aloe leaves spread apart, revealing a black-and-white figure fused together.

"What is Kakuzu doing?"

"It looks like he killed another companion."

"Where did Kakuzu go?"

"Should we look for him?"

"No. Leave such a small matter to the leader. We'll go gather information on the tailed beasts."

The shadows of trees raced backward beneath his feet.

Kakuzu tore apart Akatsuki's uniform. Countless black tentacles now wrapped around his body, and those seemingly living tentacles slapped against his manic, grinning face.

"Faster... I need to be faster!"

A garden-like monster burst from his back. The wind-element masked monster lifted him up and carried him through the air on the wind, while the fire-element monster constantly fired fireballs behind them, using the explosive shockwaves to accelerate.

Outside the border of the Land of Fire, a group of rogue ninja was resting in the west.

"Have you heard? Konoha is—"

Before the sentence was finished, a hurricane carrying a black shadow swept over their heads. When they looked up, they saw only leaves drifting down from the sky and a crazed, low laughter coming from above.

"Mine. They're all mine!"

Night had already fallen over Konoha Village.

At Konoha's gate, a masked man wearing gray hemp clothes approached.

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, Konoha's two gatekeepers, had been chatting when they spotted someone approaching and quickly stood up to inspect him.

Kotetsu Hagane picked up a record pen. "Hmm, you're not from Konoha, are you?"

"Outsiders must complete a detailed registration."

Izumo Kamizuki looked the newcomer over from head to toe.

"Sorry, please remove your mask. Village rules require us to record the true face of everyone entering."

The newcomer sneered inwardly. Good thing I already used the Transformation Technique.

After Izumo Kamizuki had taken his picture, Kotetsu Hagane began questioning and recording him. "Your name? Pony. Occupation? Traveling seeker. Where are you from?"

After completing the procedure, Konoha's last line of defense allowed the newcomer into the village.

Not far from the gate, unseen by anyone, strange black tentacles extended from Kakuzu's chest, as though eagerly searching for something.

Kotetsu Hagane stretched and complained, "There seem to be more people entering Konoha today than before!"

The night was dark, but Konoha's streets were brightly lit.

Four- or five-year-old Sarutobi Konohamaru swaggered down the street, followed by the elite instructor Ebisu.

Several black shadows silently watched them from the darkness. They were Anbu assigned to protect Konohamaru.

Ebisu tirelessly explained how to become Hokage to the young master. This was his idol.

The strongest Hokage of all time, the Third Hokage, had entrusted Konohamaru to him. "Konohamaru, remember everything I tell you well. Don't let my appearance fool you—I am Konoha's greatest theoretical instructor!"

"Konohamaru, you possess the bearing of a Hokage. As long as you seriously follow the path I guide you down, you will surely become a great Hokage, just like the Third Hokage."