After parting ways with Tsunade, Tōshirō met up with Kakuzu at the agreed-upon time and place to discuss how to make money.
In a small room, the two of them sat around a circular table.
Kakuzu pulled out a small notebook, filled with information about wealthy merchants, even thoughtfully attaching their photographs.
On the other hand, Tōshirō had nothing written down at all—his approach was far simpler.
Naturally, this annoyed Kakuzu to no end. He looked exactly like an overworked employee being scammed by his boss, grumbling in a rough voice, "You slacking off, kid? Why didn't you prepare anything?"
"Brother Kakuzu, that's a hurtful accusation!" Tōshirō denied it vehemently, tapping his head. "I just have all the information memorized up here."
Admittedly, he had spent some time busy romancing Tsunade instead of gathering intelligence, but he had gotten back to work afterward.
To prove his innocence, Tōshirō began listing out all the intel he had gathered from memory.
Name: Akizuki KōzōGender: MaleAge: 65
...
...
Previously married twice—his first wife was a commoner, the second was a wealthy widow, and his third wife is an 18-year-old girl. Coincidentally, every time he remarried, his previous wife mysteriously died of illness. Based on this pattern, I suspect he's morally bankrupt. He's rich, rotten, and the perfect target for some good old-fashioned vigilante justice.
After hearing this, Kakuzu begrudgingly acknowledged that Tōshirō had, in fact, done his homework.
Tōshirō raised a hand to vote: "I propose we start with this guy."
"Fine."
Kakuzu nodded slightly. To him, as long as there was money to be made, it didn't matter who they started with. "What's the plan?"
"I plan to kidnap his wife and threaten him for ransom. I've already investigated where she frequently goes."
"What? Are the guards around that merchant too difficult to deal with?"
Kakuzu found that hard to believe. Given both their abilities, taking out a rich man's guards should be easy. He figured they could just use the Sharingan to hypnotize the target, extract the information, and dispose of him afterward—erase all traces, simple and clean.
Besides, as Tōshirō had once said, they were only killing scumbags. There was no guilt involved—if anything, there was a sense of moral superiority in acting as vigilantes.
And with part of the money they obtained, they could fund an orphanage, helping homeless children while also recruiting the talented ones into their organization. It was a win-win situation.
"I wouldn't recommend doing it that way," Tōshirō said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "If we use the same method too often, people will start making connections."
He continued, "Also, once we pull this job off, we need to move to another location immediately."
Kakuzu nodded in agreement. That made sense.
Tōshirō went on, "I know it's a hassle, but we're in a high-risk business. We can't be too careful."
"You're right," Kakuzu conceded. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's kidnap his wife and demand the ransom."
"Calm down." Tōshirō crossed his legs and waved a hand dismissively. "Why the rush?"
Kakuzu, ever the practical man, frowned. "Time is money."
Tōshirō grinned. "Kidnapping his wife? With our strength, we can do that anytime. The real challenge is maximizing profits while keeping risks under control."
The words maximize profits immediately piqued Kakuzu's interest. "Go on."
"Income minus cost equals profit. That much makes sense, right? If we want to maximize profits, there are only two ways—either increase income or reduce costs."
Kakuzu nodded, listening intently. He enjoyed these kinds of economic discussions.
"For our line of work, income is simple—it's the money we get from a job. The cost is the time we spend pulling it off. Of course, there are equipment costs too, but those are negligible. To minimize risk, we can't afford to make our operations too routine. In other words, we can't cut down time costs. So, that leaves us with only one option—finding ways to increase revenue."
Kakuzu, still thinking like a ninja, asked, "Increase revenue? You mean demand a higher ransom?"
Tōshirō shook his head. "If we ask for too much, we risk pushing the target beyond his breaking point. The moment he hesitates, our payday gets delayed, and the longer we wait, the higher the risk."
Kakuzu considered this. "Then what do you suggest?"
"Fatten the pig before slaughtering it."
Kakuzu: ???
Tōshirō grinned. "Kakuzu, are you still working as a bounty hunter?"
Kakuzu was caught off guard by the sudden question. "Ever since you came along, I stopped. Why?"
After discovering how lucrative their vigilante business was, Kakuzu had long abandoned bounty hunting—too slow, not enough profit.
Tōshirō chuckled. "Don't stop. Keep at it."
Kakuzu looked confused.
Tōshirō didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked another question. "When you were bounty hunting, did you ever encounter cases where the bounty on a target changed over time?"
Kakuzu thought for a moment. "Yeah, that's happened before."
"Then have you ever considered capturing a target first and waiting for their bounty to increase?"
Kakuzu froze.
As someone who had always been straightforward about making money, that thought had never crossed his mind.
But after thinking it over, he frowned. "That's too unpredictable. You can't always count on a bounty going up."
Tōshirō smiled slightly. "It's true that passively waiting for a bounty target's value to increase is just luck. But what if we intervene?"
Kakuzu was taken aback. "Intervene?"
"If this bounty target were to commit kidnapping and extort a wealthy merchant, how much do you think his bounty would increase?"
"You really are a genius, kid."
Kakuzu finally understood and couldn't help but laugh. The more he looked at Tōshirō, the more he liked him—this guy really knew how to make money.
Tōshirō grinned. "And by the time we're done, the guy will probably thank us for avenging him. Heh…"
"This is getting interesting." Kakuzu's mind raced with new ideas. "If we do this right, we could even use it to clear our own names, couldn't we?"
Tōshirō nodded. "But Kakuzu, you have to be careful. Given your reputation, it wouldn't be wise for you to frequently cash in bounties yourself. That would be too suspicious."
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. "You're saying I should use another bounty hunter's identity?"
"Exactly. But before we do that, to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future…" Tōshirō made a throat-slitting gesture, making his meaning crystal clear.
The black market was full of bounty hunters, all kinds of scum. Killing one wouldn't trouble Tōshirō in the slightest.
Kakuzu mostly understood Tōshirō's plan, but there was still one thing he didn't get. "If that's the case, why don't I just quit being a bounty hunter altogether? Why go through the trouble of using someone else's identity?"
Tōshirō glanced at him. "With your skills, you're probably a well-known name among bounty hunters in the black market, right?"
"In terms of raw strength, I haven't met anyone stronger than me," Kakuzu replied matter-of-factly. He wasn't bragging, just stating the truth.
Tōshirō nodded in agreement. Kakuzu really was an odd one.
Even among Kage-level fighters, Kakuzu was on the stronger side. Yet he had spent his time doing bounty hunting?
Tōshirō analyzed, "With your strength and reputation, suddenly quitting would only make it look more suspicious. That's why I suggest gradually decreasing the number of jobs you take until you eventually phase out. That way, it won't attract unwanted attention."
"You sure are thorough."
Kakuzu was impressed. Working with someone like Tōshirō saved him a lot of trouble.
There was another thing he admired about Tōshirō—his principles. He never killed the innocent, and he even used part of their earnings to help the less fortunate.
To Kakuzu, that was a bit naive. But it also made Tōshirō stand out—strong, smart, and with a code.
With their plan set, Tōshirō and Kakuzu got to work.
The first step was to find a bounty hunter and eliminate him.
Using Kakuzu's connections, they quickly located a suitable target—a bounty hunter of average strength, terrible morals, and no friends. The perfect victim.
With their combined abilities, taking him down was effortless.
Once that was done, they moved on to step two—finding a bounty target and capturing him.
They didn't even need to use secret techniques or bloodline abilities. The fight was over in seconds.
"Damn it… you're too strong…"
The defeated bounty target lay on the ground, despair written all over his face.
Kakuzu grabbed his head roughly, his green eyes gleaming ominously. "You have two choices. One, join us—you'll live, and you'll make money. Two…"
Before he could even finish, the man blurted out, "I choose one!"
He didn't need to hear the rest. He already knew "two" meant death.
Kakuzu smirked. He looked at their new tool.
They needed disposable people to use as fronts. If they just killed them outright, their bodies would rot. Better to keep them around for now. When the time was right, they'd "accidentally" let their identities slip, wait for their bounties to rise, and then eliminate them.
These kinds of fugitives had no choice but to obey Tōshirō and Kakuzu. Under the right mix of threats and promises, betrayal wasn't an option.
Kakuzu glanced at a man wearing an orange, spiral-patterned mask over one eye.
Tōshirō got the message. He walked over and used medical ninjutsu to heal their new tool.
As color returned to the man's face, he swallowed nervously. "M-May I ask… what do I call you two?"
Kakuzu: "Ding Xiu."
Tōshirō: "Ye Wang."
They gave him the fake names they had prepared beforehand.
A deep, altered voice came from beneath Tōshirō's mask. "We have plans. We need manpower. And people like you are perfect for the job."
The man hesitated. "What… what do Ding Xiu-sama and Ye Wang-sama need me to do?"
Tōshirō uttered two words.
"Kidnapping."
The man: ???
After that, Kakuzu and Tōshirō found another tool and repeated the process.
With that, their groundwork was complete. Now, it was time for the real operation to begin.
(End of Chapter)
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