The Kakuzu-Style Scam!

Hatake Sakumo stepped into the private room and gently closed the door behind him. He nodded slightly, his expression calm.

"Company President Kakuzu, I've also heard rumors about you." Sakumo sat down on the futon opposite him, his Ninja Blade pressed firmly against the ground, showing no sign of relaxation. "I've received the Lord Hokage's letter. Since we're not strangers, let's talk about the specifics of this mission."

Sakamoto, being quite tactful, quietly retreated to a corner of the private room, standing with his hands at his sides, without interrupting their conversation.

Kakuzu lightly tapped the table with his fingertips, the gold ring striking the wooden surface with a soft, tinkling sound.

"No need to be so tense, kid. This trip isn't about us going to fight the Sunagakure ninjas." Kakuzu was calm. "My trading company has planted many informants in the Capital of the Land of Wind. Many nobles and officials have financial dealings with the Black Yu Trading Company. I have a lot of intelligence on the Sunagakure Village's movements and the Kazekage's recent plans."

Sakumo didn't take Kakuzu's offensive words to heart, and leaned forward slightly. "Tell me the information you've gathered. What exactly is the Kazekage plotting?"

"Shamon has been secretly preparing for war all these years. On the surface, he guards the desert, but in secret, he keeps sending people to infiltrate the surrounding small countries, keeping a close eye on the Land of Fire's territory," Kakuzu said calmly.

"However, due to Iwagakure's failure in the Land of Grass, he cancelled his original attack plan."

"This guy is a typical viper; he won't give up. Fortunately, you guys are doing well in the Land of Grass. I heard that the Hokage even sent his general Hiruzen Sarutobi to guard the southwest."

"As expected of that lord, not only is his strength formidable, but his strategies are equally impressive!" Kakuzu said with admiration, his eyes sparkling.

Hey, hey, hey, that's not right...

Aren't you the ruthless assassin known as the number one Bounty Hunter in the Shinobi World?

That expression... it's disgusting... Sakumo shuddered and muttered to himself.

"Boy, what were you thinking about just now? Were you talking about Lord Kakuzu?" Kakuzu suddenly dropped his eager expression, his eyes turned cold, and his voice became indifferent.

"Hehe, no, you're overthinking it, Company President Kakuzu." Hatake Sakumo said with a serious smile.

"Hmph! If it weren't for the Hokage asking me to show you the world, you mere brat, I..." Kakuzu snorted, his tone laced with arrogance.

"Oh? It seems you're unhappy with the Lord Hokage's decision! Why don't you give it a try, junior?" Sakumo's smile vanished instantly, his gaze fixed intently on Kakuzu.

The atmosphere inside the private room suddenly became tense, the two men were on the verge of fighting.

"My lords, please don't act rashly!" Sakamoto had been cowering silently in the corner, trembled with fright and rushed forward, spreading his arms wide in a desperate attempt to dissuade them. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "We still have a mission to carry out in the Land of Wind. We must not let that lord down!"

"Hmph!" Upon hearing Hatake Sakumo snorted coldly, picked up his teacup, and took a small sip.

"See that, Sakamoto? Even the men under that master only know how to fight and kill. It seems there are still too few people in this world who understand his true greatness," Kakuzu said to the version, then sighed slightly.

"Young man, that master's orders are paramount. After the mission is completed, if you want to fight, Lord Kakuzu must give it a good try."

"Getting back to the point, do you know what a Ponzi scheme is... oh, no, I mean a pyramid scheme?"

Kakuzu asked Hatake Sakumo with a profound and inscrutable expression.

"Um... I don't know, please enlighten me, Company President Kakuzu." Sakumo said with a blank look on his face.

"Haha, to put it simply, it uses the capital from new investors to pay profits to existing investors. No real money-making business is generated in this process; it only survives by constantly attracting new investors."

"Uh... I don't understand." Sakumo looked puzzled but impressed.

Looking at the little White-Hair in front of him, who seemed to be listening to gibberish, Kakuzu sighed inwardly.

Back when the Hokage first mentioned it, he felt like he was listening to gibberish, but it was all about his past.

Then, he patiently explained, "For example, you put a sum of money with me, and I promise to give you high interest every month, but I don't have any actual businesses to generate profit, so how can I pay you interest?"

Kakuzu then pointed to Sakamoto standing beside him and continued, "Look, he invested in me after you. Now, I'll use his principal to pay you interest, isn't that enough?"

"Is there a key point here, that is, subsequent investors absolutely cannot stop investing?" Hatake Sakumo's mind raced as he raised this question.

"Very good, White Fang, you have a real knack for it, you understand so quickly," Kakuzu exclaimed in admiration.

Then the hoarse voice continued in the private room, "That's right, as long as new people keep investing money, the people in front will get profits, and everyone will think the project is really profitable."

"However, once no one invests any more money, the cash flow will collapse, and we'll have no choice but to abscond with the money, leaving all the newcomers with nothing."

"This... killing without shedding blood! Senior, you are indeed ruthless." Sakumo praised with admiration.

"Hahaha, these are all teachings from that lord; I'm merely echoing his wisdom." Kakuzu relaxed as he laughed.

"So, this is the mission of our trip to the Land of Wind."

"By constantly promising extremely high returns on principal and interest to the nobles and wealthy merchants of the Land of Wind, they attracted large amounts of gold and silver; then, they used the silver invested by new wealthy households or ordinary people to pay the dividends to the older batch of nobles."

"Finally, we'll wait for that person's notification, and that's when we'll run away with the money." Kakuzu finished speaking in one breath, then picked up his teacup to moisten his throat.

"In the end, won't everyone in the Land of Wind, from the Daimyo to the common people, all die?" Hatake Sakumo muttered in shock.

Kakuzu was solemn, and he spoke coldly:

"Hasn't that Shamon been preparing to invade the Land of Fire? Once we've taken all the money from the Land of Wind, what will he use to fight?"

"So, don't you still have to obediently go back to your old profession and become a miner?"

Sakumo sat there, unable to calm down for a long time. Was this what the teacher meant in the letter—that the Kazekage should do his job well?

Wow... that's so exciting!

Coming to his senses, he said earnestly to Kakuzu, "Senior, I have another question, please enlighten me."

"Oh? You mean what?" Kakuzu waved his hand and spoke calmly.

"This plan sounds ingenious, but there's one problem: if we want to sweep across the entire Land of Wind, the funds we need to prepare in the early stages will be astronomical," Sakumo said with a slightly somber expression.

"Haha, I knew you had potential, you're a talent for finance." After hearing this, Kakuzu couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

He then confidently explained the situation to Sakumo.

"Kid, who do you think is the richest person in the Shinobi World?"

"Are they the big merchants? Or the major ninja villages?"

"No, the richest are the Daimyo of various countries. Even a small Land of Grass has more wealth than you could earn in several lifetimes, right?"

Kakuzu paused, as if waiting for Sakumo to process his thoughts, before continuing, "Then tell me, among all these Daimyo, which one is the richest?"

"This..." A figure flashed through Hatake Sakumo's mind.

Isn't that the esteemed Daimyo of the Land of Fire?

Looking at the White-Hair boy in front of him with a look of sudden enlightenment, Kakuzu spoke calmly:

"It seems you've figured it out. That's right, all the upfront funding for this mission will come from your esteemed Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

"Furthermore, they will also send people to assist us with this mission."

"I heard it's because, in a recent card game, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was a bit disrespectful to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Daimyo was very unhappy."

Yes, the relationship between the Daimyo and his teacher is self-evident. In addition, there's the alliance they made with the Land of Grass some time ago. Without the Daimyo's support, Sakumo.

Everything connected, and seeing Kakuzu's calm and confident demeanor, Hatake Sakumo curled his lip.

This old man was only taken in because the teacher showed him mercy.

Look at him now, acting like a high-society person, with a big gold chain and a small watch...

Look at yourself again...

The most valuable thing I own is this short knife that my teacher gave me...

Grass!