Naruto hastily buried the bodies of the three once-arrogant Snow Ninja beneath a snowy slope beside the road with a few simple Earth Release techniques.
The freshly heaped earth was soon covered by the falling snow, as though the three had never been there.
Asama Sandayu kept his promise and handed Naruto the two million ryo he had prepared.
The largest banknote denomination in the shinobi world was ten thousand ryo, so two million amounted to only two hundred notes.
Naruto accepted them without expression, counted them, then walked toward Jiraiya, who was rubbing his hands and approaching with a kindly smile.
"Here, Godfather. Count it."
Naruto handed over the money.
Jiraiya beamed as he took the case. Without any attempt to hide it, he cracked the lid open on the spot, his eyes narrowing to slits as he quickly counted the money inside. He clicked his tongue in approval. "Excellent, excellent! Mr. Sandayu is a man of his word!"
He looked exactly like a money-grubbing merchant. Not a trace remained of the imposing, unshakable hero he had been moments earlier.
But in the next second, his smile froze.
Naruto casually reached out, took the two stacks of money, left two notes behind, and strode away.
The entire process was fluid and effortless, so fast that the others saw only a blur.
"???"
Jiraiya blinked, staring at the twenty thousand ryo in his hands as his brain seemed to crash for a moment.
Then blood rushed straight to his head!
"You-little-brat!"
His furious roar shook loose the snow piled on the carriage roof.
Even Jiraiya's white beard bristled. He pointed a trembling finger at Naruto's nose. "You-you, you... You've really done it now! Two million ryo, and you leave me twenty thousand? Do you think I'm a beggar? Believe me,