Land of Waves.
"Ah—no... I have lots of money."
Sizzle!
Zabuza remained expressionless as the kunai in his mouth slashed across Gato's throat.
Clang!
Only then did he weakly release the kunai clenched between his teeth. It fell onto the bridge with a clatter.
He turned around and slowly walked toward Haku.
"Just because you suffered a few setbacks, you decided hiring ninja was a waste of money.
You really looked down on ninja too much, Gato...
Fine then. A wealthy man ranked among the richest in the world died by my hand.
This life of mine hasn't been completely worthless."
Zabuza muttered under his breath.
The people responsible for guarding Gato were all intimidated by his killing intent and did not dare move.
Not until he lay down beside Haku.
"What did he mean?" Naruto asked, unable to make sense of Zabuza's words.
Kakashi said, "I told you before. Gato is one of the world's richest men. He once had countless ninja under his command.
He hired ninja to wipe out many factions, including the Hagoromo Clan, which joined Konoha years ago.
When he fought for the ports of the Land of Waves, he also clashed with ninja forces from the Land of Hot Water.
There were also many conflicts between companies.
As time passed, Gato gradually came to believe that hiring ninja was a waste of money.
So he turned to hiring ordinary people from gangs and street thugs instead.
He only hired assassin ninja when he needed enemies dealt with.
His habit of firing ninja after using them is why most of his guards are now gangsters and thugs.
Otherwise, with his old style, even if we joined forces with Zabuza, we would all have been killed."
"Come on, don't build them up while putting us down.