Snowy Night Escape

Kakashi's gaze rested on the guarantee seal of the Land of Wind Money House.

"The Shell Company has already been registered. The seals and transfer procedures are complete. A routine audit won't trace it back to the source."

Ye leaned back in his grand chair and closed the ledger in his hand.

"Then that's enough. By the time they realize the company is empty, the money will already be in the mining district."

Obito stood in the shadows with a golden abacus in his arms, his eyes never leaving the stack of bills.

"What if someone follows the cash flow downstream?"

Kakashi pulled out a chair and sat down, tapping the outermost guarantee contract with his fountain pen.

"They can find the problem, but it will take at least half a month. Right now, no one is willing to spend half a month investigating a mining certificate that's still rising in price."

As he spoke, he pulled out the latest price sheet and pushed it before Obito.

"Marrowstone Sand was five times the market price last night. By this afternoon, it has risen to seven times. The border markets only recognize the price."

Obito lowered his head to stare at the string of numbers, his throat dry.

"Seven times? Even if the miners threw their lives into the shafts, they couldn't cover the interest rolling in every day."

Ye brushed aside the floating tea leaves, his gaze passing beyond the frost-covered windowpanes.

"They stopped calculating output long ago. They only want to sell the mining certificates to whoever offers a higher price next."

"As long as someone is still taking the bait, they'll keep throwing borrowed money into it."

A faint sound came from the crack in the wall. White Zetsu squeezed into the room with snow piled across his