Money in One Hand, the Prisoner in the Other

The man definitely had to be handed over.

But how he handed him over was another matter.

He had caught the spy himself, so he ought to get thirty, fifty, or seventy hundred thousand ryo for his daily expenses.

Otherwise, he could barely get by on the little stipend the village gave him.

Miya's eyes darted around, and an idea immediately came to him. He said:

"I can hand him over to you."

"But I caught this spy, and I can't be sure who you are..."

Before Miya could finish, the Anbu Ninja who had stepped forward hurriedly asked:

"Then what do you want?"

They had noticed that Miya was quite strong and worried he might give Miyayama Uemon, who was already at death's door, another kick and kill him outright.

A living spy was far more useful than a corpse.

Otherwise, as Konoha Anbu Ninja who answered only to the Third Hokage, why would they waste their breath on Miya here?

They could have simply seized him by force.

"Nothing much!"

"I'll take him to the old Third, and you can follow."

The bird-masked Anbu Ninja thought it over, then nodded and said:

"All right."

Seeing how agreeable these Konoha Anbu Ninja were, Miya grinned, grabbed Miyayama Uemon by the neck, and said as he dragged him along:

"Then let's go!"

The bird-masked Anbu Ninja nodded again and said:

"Hanatsume, go inform Lord Hokage."

A female Anbu Ninja wearing a dog mask behind him immediately answered:

"Yes."

As soon as she spoke, she left ahead of them.

Then Miya, holding on to Miyayama Uemon, headed for the Hokage Building under the escort of the Konoha Anbu Ninja.

Watching Miya handle Miyayama Uemon so roughly along the way, they worried he would torment Miyayama Uemon to death and wanted to say something.

But they didn't know what to say.

They couldn't exactly tell Miya to be gentler with a spy like Miyayama Uemon!

Come on, they were Anbu Ninja.

What kind of organization was the Anbu? Its full name was the "Special Assassination and Tactical Squad." It was an outright instrument of violence.

Gentleness?

Wasn't that a joke?

Miya wasn't moving quickly, so by the time he arrived at the Hokage Building under the Anbu Ninja's "escort,"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had long since finished work and gone home to cuddle his wife in their warm bed, was already waiting for him in the Hokage's office.

Miya, entering the Hokage Building for the first time, greeted Hiruzen Sarutobi with delight when he saw him again:

"Old Third, long time no see!"

The "long time" wasn't actually that long-less than a month, in fact.

But the happy smile on Miya's face was genuine.

How could he not be happy?

He might have caught a spy, but the man was also worth a whole lot of money!

In all his life, he had never gotten that much money!

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't mind how Miya addressed him. He smiled cheerfully and said:

"Now that you've seen me, can you hand him over to them?"

Having learned what had happened from Hanatsume's report, Hiruzen Sarutobi's first thought was to have Miya hand the man over.

"No way."

Miya clutched Miyayama Uemon tightly, like a mother protecting her young, and refused Hiruzen Sarutobi without a second thought.

"Why not?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was briefly stunned, then asked.

Miya shook his head and said:

"I caught this spy, and you haven't paid me the reward yet!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi could barely keep up with Miya's thinking. Hearing that Miya wanted money before handing the man over, he skipped the small talk and said directly:

"Then I'll give you ten thousand ryo. You can hand him over now, right?"

To his surprise, Miya immediately shot back at his offer.

"Are you trying to fob off a beggar?"

"For ten thousand ryo, I'll kill him before I hand him over."

According to the rewards assigned to village mission ranks, a reward of five hundred to ten thousand ryo was for a D-Rank Mission, the simplest kind.

Those usually involved finding cats, dogs, and the like.

Miyayama Uemon, whom Miya had caught, should have been a B-Rank in difficulty, with a reward of fifty to one hundred fifty thousand ryo.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was pocketing the reward for a B-Rank Mission just like that, hoping to fob him off with ten thousand ryo. As if things would be that easy.

"Two hundred thousand ryo, not a penny less!"

"And he's still alive."

Miya's asking price had jumped twentyfold, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi at a loss.

This kid was too shrewd.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's conflicted expression, Miya continued:

"He won't last much longer. Even if he dies, you'll still have to give me two hundred thousand ryo."

"After all, I'm the one who caught him."

"And I caught him in my own house."

Hiruzen Sarutobi saw that Miya wouldn't give up until he got his money. If another ninja had caught a living spy like this, two hundred thousand ryo wouldn't have been too much, so he nodded.

"All right, two hundred thousand ryo."

"Can you hand him over now?"

Miya shook his head again and held out his left hand, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together.

"Money in one hand, the prisoner in the other."

"What if you go back on your word after I hand him over?"

"Just now, you tried to fob me off with ten thousand ryo."

"Don't think you can take advantage of me because I'm young. All of this is in the textbooks!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's whiskers bristled and his eyes widened.

"This little bastard actually dares to question my integrity."

The Anbu Ninja around them watched Miya and Hiruzen Sarutobi haggle, then saw the usually stern and dignified Third Hokage wearing such an expression. Every one of them struggled to keep from laughing aloud.

"Hato, go get two hundred thousand ryo for him."

To maintain his dignity as the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly regained his composure and gave the order to the bird-masked Anbu Ninja.

"Yes."

After receiving his orders, Hato soon returned with two hundred thousand ryo. He handed it to Miya and took Miyayama Uemon from his grasp.

Money, so much money.

He was rich!

This wasn't twenty ryo, but two hundred thousand.

With that much money, he could buy and buy and buy. The clothes he was wearing were a few years old, too.

It was time to replace them!

He wouldn't have to scrimp and save just to buy one outfit anymore.

It was settled. This time he would pick only the good stuff, and buy more than one outfit.

Looking every bit the money-grubber, Miya counted the two hundred thousand ryo in his hands two or three times. Once he had finally made sure the amount was right, he broke into a wide grin and said to Hiruzen Sarutobi:

"Old Third, thanks!"

"Hee hee hee..."

After putting the two hundred thousand ryo away on his person, Miya immediately said goodbye to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"The amount's right, so I'll be going."

In a cheerful mood, Miya turned around at once, laughing inwardly:

I don't believe you can hold back...