Thank Kakuzu

Itachi Uchiha was completely dumbfounded.

Ever since the Uchiha clan compound had been moved to the corner of the village, it had been a long time since any Uchiha had moved out.

For one thing, the Uchiha had legal autonomy. Even the Hokage could not casually interfere in clan affairs.

Within the clan, they knew only the clan head, not the Hokage.

And over the past two years, Fugaku had been strengthening the clan's unity. Aside from women marrying out of the clan, he generally did not encourage clan members to move away from the compound.

It was merely a suggestion, not an order.

But the Uchiha had always possessed a strong sense of clan identity. Even if Fugaku had not done that, few would have been willing to leave.

As for why Uchiha Shu could be such a special case, the main reason was—he had beaten up the clan head.

According to some unwritten rule within the clan, Xiu no longer had to listen to the clan head.

Even if he wanted to usurp Fugaku's position as clan head, at least twenty percent of the clan would support him.

The remaining eighty percent only objected because he was too young. If Xiu had been another two years older, his support rate might have exceeded seventy percent.

And beyond those internal Uchiha issues, there were external factors as well.

For instance, the higher-ups did not want Uchiha clan members moving into the village either.

After all, they had driven them into that corner in the first place out of caution. If they moved back now, would that not make all that effort pointless?

Of course, the higher-ups could not openly say something so harmful to unity.

In theory, as long as the Uchiha clan head agreed, the higher-ups had no reason to stop such private real estate transactions.

But the higher-ups' wishes only concerned large-scale relocations. For a small household like Xiu's, at least from Hiruzen Sarutobi's perspective, he wholeheartedly approved.

If all the Uchiha could scatter like Xiu and blend into the village, he would laugh in his dreams.

And the final reason was also the most crucial one.

Xiu was too young. He had only just been born during the Nine-Tails Attack, so he could not possibly have been a suspect.

As for Hazuki and Izumi... Izumi's father had died during the Nine-Tails Attack, and Izumi had awakened her Sharingan then as well.

With all those reasons combined, there was nothing that could restrain Xiu.

Itachi quickly grasped the key points, but there was still one thing he did not understand.

That was the source of Konoha Hot Springs!

A natural hot spring, at the very top of the waterway—the cleanest hot spring inn, with the most luxurious decorations!

Converted into money, it could buy an entire street on the outskirts of the village!

Not only that, envoys from other villages, foreign diplomats, wealthy merchants, distinguished guests, and even Daimyo from smaller countries were generally received in the hot spring district.

Where had Xiu gotten that kind of money?

"Thank you, Kakuzu!!!"

Just as Itachi was racking his brains, Xiu took a huge gulp of iced lemonade inside the hot spring inn, then picked up a slice of tuna sashimi, dipped it in wasabi, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Oh—so good!"

Hazuki and Izumi could not help laughing at the sight of Xiu.

"It still doesn't feel real. We suddenly have such a large hot spring inn." Uchiha Hazuki sighed. "Xiu really has grown up."

Yesterday, Xiu had brought them there to soak in the hot springs. Afterward, while they rested in a room, he had suddenly asked what she thought of the place.

She had not thought much of it. Since it was her child's filial gesture, she repeatedly nodded and said it was wonderful.

And the place really was wonderful.

It had the cleanest hot spring water source in all of Konoha, top-tier facilities and surroundings, as well as an expensive seafood feast.

Other than feeling that it was a little extravagant, there was nothing wrong with it.

Then Xiu had bought the place without another word and given it to her.

Uchiha Hazuki had been utterly stunned and refused to accept it no matter what after recovering her senses.

Only after Xiu showed her his stockpile of gold bars did she finally accept it.

Especially after learning that the money had been taken from Kakuzu, she felt even less burdened.

"The sentence Mom has said most lately is, 'Xiu really has grown up!'"

Uchiha Izumi, dressed in a dark blue yukata, sat sideways beside Xiu.

"After all, Xiu is already a real man who can provide for the family." Hazuki said with a smile. "What do you think, Xiu?"

"I think we still need to thank Kakuzu..."

Uchiha Shu propped up his chin, his eyes vacant. "If not for him, I couldn't have achieved financial freedom right after graduation. And for some reason, I don't want to move at all right now. I just want to stay like this until I die. Is this the confusion that comes after getting rich?"

He had been an ordinary person in his previous life. Now that he had suddenly become wealthy in this life, he genuinely did not know what to do for a while.

He had originally wondered whether he should find some interesting missions to take on, but then he reconsidered. I'm fucking rich already. Why not just spend money on whatever I want to play?

Once he figured that out, Xiu immediately fell into decadence at light speed.

As the new owner, Xiu's main priority was making himself happy.

Four-pound lobsters, hand-pressed sushi, wagyu sukiyaki—whatever Master Xiu wanted, bring it all out!

Master Xiu was the owner. He could eat whatever he wanted and play whatever he wanted!

Worth mentioning was that the hot spring inn even had a billiards room.

After their bath yesterday, Izumi had invited Xiu to play billiards with her.

And as a Chinese transmigrator with cheats, Xiu had naturally crushed all three of them. His final behind-the-back shot shattered Kurenai Yuhi's fighting spirit.

There was also an arcade with quite a few pachinko gambling machines. Xiu played several rounds, and they really were addictive.

But after playing too much, it became boring. After all, it was his own establishment, so whether he won or lost, the money ended up with him.

In just over a day, Xiu had thoroughly fallen into hedonism, lazily unable to muster any enthusiasm for anything.

A good hot spring inn was no different from the massive bathhouses in northeastern China from his previous life. At most, the facilities differed; food, relaxation, and entertainment were all available inside.

If it were not for the lack of computers and similar entertainment devices, Xiu felt he could hole up here for an entire month.

"So this is what it feels like to be the boss." Xiu laughed.

He had always thought that since he was invincible in the Shinobi World, money was merely a number to someone like him.

A powerhouse like him could never have his mindset swayed by money or material things.

Yet now, he only wanted to find his former self and tell him—Stop fucking bragging!

When you did not spend money, it truly was just a meaningless string of numbers.

But once it was spent, the emotional satisfaction it brought was an entirely different matter!

Xiu was currently going from frugality to luxury. He had never enjoyed such things before, so now he simply could not resist this treatment. He had been completely corrupted.

Especially with Uchiha Izumi beside him, wearing a yukata but clearly no underwear, a beautiful girl with such a sweet voice asking to cuddle up to him...

Thinking of that, Xiu seemed to realize something and got up to walk to the window.

On the other side, Itachi was also observing through a telescope. He happened to see Xiu looking in his direction, his lips seemingly forming a few words.

Itachi instinctively activated his Sharingan and made out Xiu's lip movements.

"...Poor guy?"