During this time, the two had maintained a one-hundred-percent success rate on their joint missions.
That had made employers from other places all the more curious about them.
On the way to the Amegakure Black Market, Kakuzu ultimately refused to let Uzumaki Shixia carry him all the way there.
Instead, he and Uzumaki Shixia entered the black market one behind the other.
As expected, they attracted the attention of a large number of employers almost as soon as they appeared!
The densely packed employers swarmed toward them.
"It's Kakuzu and Uzumaki Shixia!"
"Where? Has the mission duo finally shown up? I came here specifically to find them!"
"Their mission success rate is incredibly high!"
"It's true. This is my second time hiring them."
"Wonderful! Our village is saved!"
Inside the Amegakure Black Market, everyone buzzed with discussion, and many spoke with the companions beside them.
Naturally, the topic was Kakuzu, the black market's legendary contractor, and Uzumaki Shixia, its rising star.
The pairing was interesting no matter how one looked at it.
One was an enduring legend of the black market, while the other was its hottest newcomer.
Their perfect partnership alone gave people the impression that they were absolutely dependable!
Not to mention that they had never failed a mission since teaming up!
Watching the crowd swarm toward them in the black market, Kakuzu's face twitched.
Aside from Uzumaki Shixia, that simple-minded mission maniac, nobody would take all these miscellaneous jobs.
Considering their difficulty and pay, many of the missions these people brought would only require a few Genin in any ordinary Shinobi Village.
Ugh...
This lunatic really would work himself to death for money.
Kakuzu followed Sixia forward, sighing inwardly.
Their reputation was so widespread that they no longer needed to collect mission slips from the black market's manager.
A crowd of employers holding mission slips approached them directly, ready to hire them.
Unlike Kakuzu, Uzumaki Shixia was excited at the sight-ecstatic, even.
Grinning from ear to ear, Sixia addressed the employers surrounding them from every direction.
"Don't rush, everyone! One at a time!"
"Listen, everyone! No matter how much the reward is, or how easy or difficult the mission is!"
"As long as the reward matches the difficulty and it's a commission mission, we'll generally accept it."
"If you have any questions while posting your missions, you can discuss them with Mr. Kakuzu."
"If not, please line up and hand me your mission slips one at a time!"
Once Uzumaki Shixia finished speaking, the crowd indeed began to move.
The employers who had come to post missions started lining up.
To improve efficiency, they formed two long lines.
Upon reaching Kakuzu and Uzumaki Shixia, the employers handed over their mission slips.
Then they negotiated the rewards and deadlines with Kakuzu and Uzumaki Shixia.
Of course, if a mission had no deadline and the reward was acceptable, they only needed to hand over the slip.
Kakuzu glanced at the densely packed crowd before him, his scalp prickling as he began calculating inwardly.
So many missions? How long will it take to finish them all?
And plenty of them pay next to nothing.
Rather than doing these jobs, I'd be better off killing a few bounty targets.
These people... are they treating the Amegakure Black Market like an ordinary Shinobi Village's mission office?
There's even a commission mission to find a pet cat!
Crack, crack, crack!
The sound of growing wood rang out.
A Wood Clone promptly appeared beside Uzumaki Shixia.
Sixia handed the Wood Clone a mission slip.
At the sight, Kakuzu's face twitched again, and he even forgot to be surprised that it was a Wood Clone.
"What are you doing?"
Sixia leafed through the mission slips as he replied casually.
"It just occurred to me that some ninja use shadow clones to attend the Ninja Academy in their place."
"In that case, Wood Clones can handle plenty of commission missions that pose no difficulty whatsoever."
The Wood Clone Technique he had just unlocked had come in handy at exactly the right time.
"That commission mission was from an employer who wanted us to tutor a boy about to become a Genin in shuriken throwing."
"I've decided to use Wood Clones for Commission Missions like that from now on."
"That way, the two of us can take on more difficult commission missions."
As Uzumaki Shixia spoke with his eyes shining, Kakuzu felt his vision go dark and his head threaten to explode!
Uzumaki Shixia was not using Wood Clones for easier commission missions to reduce his main body's workload.
He was doing it so his main body would have more time to complete harder missions!
After the employers who had come to post missions gradually departed.
Kakuzu held a thick stack of mission slips, feeling as though none of this was real.
Naturally, Uzumaki Shixia held at least as many mission slips as he did.
After all, Kakuzu had rejected some tedious missions while accepting jobs.
Those employers had simply turned around, joined the end of Uzumaki Shixia's line, and successfully handed their mission slips to him.
"Mr. Kakuzu, you can give me the mission slips now."
Uzumaki Shixia held his hand out to Kakuzu.
Without a second thought, Kakuzu handed him the dozens of mission slips.
To Kakuzu, those dozens of slips represented dozens of headaches.
And none of those missions paid particularly well.
Naturally, Uzumaki Shixia saw things completely differently.
How were these dozens of headaches?
These were clearly dozens of opportunities to grow stronger!
They were progress toward becoming a humanoid Ten-Tails!
At that thought, Uzumaki Shixia slapped the thick stack of mission slips between his hands.
His eyes gleamed with excitement as he declared, "Let's go completely wild! Grind to our hearts' content!!!"
Kakuzu: "!!!"
Naturally, Kakuzu spent the journey gazing wordlessly at the sky.
In the past, employers with missions usually went to Shinobi Villages of various sizes to hire ninja for the work.
Now things were different, thanks to Uzumaki Shixia and Kakuzu's immense reputation in the Amegakure Black Market.
Many employers now included the Amegakure Black Market among their options when they needed ninja to complete a mission.
After learning about Uzumaki Shixia and Kakuzu's efficiency and mission success rate.
Those employers usually preferred hiring Uzumaki Shixia and Kakuzu to work for them.
Looking at the dictionary-thick stack of mission slips in Uzumaki Shixia's hands, Kakuzu felt his scalp prickle.
The number of missions Uzumaki Shixia completed alone nearly matched the combined total of all the ninja in a small Shinobi Village.
Even smaller Shinobi Villages had a hundred or so ninja.
Being able to slaughter an entire Shinobi Village single-handedly was nothing unusual.
But the number of missions he completed alone matched the combined total of a small Shinobi Village's ninja.
What could Kakuzu possibly say to that?
And just now, that monster Uzumaki Shixia had snapped up every mission throughout the black market.
Kakuzu had made his name across the Shinobi World for countless years, from the First Hokage's era to the present.
Yet this was the first time he had ever heard of anyone monopolizing black market missions!
And now, Uzumaki Shixia truly was the undisputed kingpin of black market missions!
"Mr. Kakuzu, why do you look so awful?"
Uzumaki Shixia casually asked as he walked along holding Karin's hand.
At that, Kakuzu spoke with utmost seriousness.
"I think we can't keep doing this!"
Once Kakuzu finished, Uzumaki Shixia stopped walking. After a moment's consideration, he nodded earnestly.
"Mr. Kakuzu, you have a very good point. We really can't keep doing this."
"We've been far too lax lately!"
"We could easily clear out the black market's missions three times a day!"
"Once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once more at night!"
"Whenever I think of those employers holding their mission slips, desperately waiting for us."
"My heart is tormented! It hurts so much I can barely breathe!"
Kakuzu's already unpleasant expression darkened completely!
"That's not what I meant!"
As he spoke, he rapidly considered whether he could kill Uzumaki Shixia with combination ninjutsu.
If he kept following Uzumaki Shixia and working nonstop like this, sooner or later he would drop dead on a mission!
After spending most of the past month completing missions alongside Uzumaki Shixia at such a grueling pace and under such an excessive workload, he was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally!
Kakuzu deeply missed all those dear teammates he had schemed into their graves.
Not far from him, Uzumaki Shixia and Karin were busily counting money.
Through constant exposure, little Karin had also come to understand the importance of money.
With Uzumaki Shixia as her role model, she now felt that working hard on missions and earning enormous rewards was what gave life meaning!
"Hiss-"
After counting money for a while, Karin sucked in a sharp breath.
Seeing this, Sixia asked casually, "Did your hand cramp?"
Karin nodded a little miserably. There was nothing she could do; they simply had far too much money to count every day.
Uzumaki Shixia immediately took her little hand and massaged it as he spoke.
"From now on, take a break to relax your hands after counting money for a while, then keep going."
Karin gave a soft huff and turned her little head away, but she made a mental note of his advice.
Seeing her adorable expression, Sixia naturally reached out without hesitation and messed up her hair.
"You jerk!"
Karin let out a yell, clenched her delicate fists, and hammered Uzumaki Shixia's back.
Even at her young age, Karin was already using Uzumaki Shixia to practice her taijutsu.
Once she grew up, she might be able to kill an enemy with a single punch.
After all, Uzumaki Shixia's physical durability surpassed even the Third Raikage's.
Watching the pair, Kakuzu sighed and tried negotiating with Uzumaki Shixia again.
"I think we should have time off every week."
"Getting proper rest will help us perform better on missions!"
Before you continue