"..."
Kakuzu sat cross-legged on the grass like a defeated rooster, his head hanging low. He looked up at Shinji. "If you wanted me to work for you, why didn't you just say so? Did you have to put me through all this? And you, Kisame Hoshigaki!"
He glared at Kisame through gritted teeth. "We used to be colleagues, and now you've teamed up with an outsider to get at my money?"
"Do you have no shame?!"
But Kisame and Shinji weren't listening. They were staring at a slip of paper.
Their jaws hung open.
The long strings of zeroes nearly made Kisame's jaw drop—he had never seen so much money. Shinji's nearly dropped too. Despite being a Clan Head, he had never handled much money himself.
After a long while, the two looked up and exchanged a glance.
Kisame turned to Kakuzu, puzzled. "Mr. Kakuzu, may I ask what you need so much money for?"
"..."
Kakuzu said nothing.
At last, he scoffed. "With money, you can go anywhere. Without it, you can't take a single step. Haven't you heard that saying?"
"Heh."
Shinji chuckled and shook his head. "Mr. Kisame, don't ask. Everyone has their own story and makes their own choices. Or maybe it's just a hobby. That doesn't matter. What matters is whether you've really made up your mind."
"Hmph!"
Kakuzu said irritably, "If you'd told me from the start that you wanted to hire me as the new New Ninshu's Finance Minister, I would've agreed on the spot. Why go through all this?"
"There's no salary, and you won't have any opportunities to make money on the side."
"I'll do it!"
"You should have some idea what the Finance Minister's duties are. You can't make mistakes. You'll need the temperament to deal with all sorts