Listing to Cheat Money

In a prison in the Land of Water, Terumi Mei was entangled in thick chains.

Heavy seals were pressing down on her, constantly extracting her chakra while at the same time imprisoning her movements.

Terumi Mei's strength was very strong, and even if one looked at the entire young generation of the Ninja World, they were considered the best. However, in the face of this harsh seal, Terumi Mei was still overwhelmed.

In her heart, she knew very well that the Mizukage who gave her this seal was hoping that she would die.

Chakra was the energy of the body and spirit, and having a large amount of chakra extracted without mercy, not only was her body collapsing, even her consciousness was beginning to blur.

Even so, Terumi Mei was clenching her teeth, unwilling to give in.

This was because she clearly realized that if she fainted at this time, then Kiri would really be finished.

From the little test of the ledger she had given Yagura earlier, she had already realized that the current Yagura was not himself - or rather, he had already been taken over by someone.

When confronted with her deliberately scribbled ledger, Yagura didn't react in any unnecessary way.

However, the real Yagura would never let this kind of mistake go so easily... With that guy's character, even if there was a single copper plate that didn't match up, he would fight the accountant to the death.

Combined with the previous intelligence, Terumi Mei immediately realized that something was wrong with Yagura.

However, the power of the mastermind behind the scenes was unexpectedly strong. She was defeated and imprisoned here without even reacting.

To make matters worse, the other party also tried to execute Terumi Mei in the name of plotting a rebellion.

Fortunately, Terumi Mei was usually well-liked, and with this order being so unreasonable that it was opposed by many members of the same faction, Terumi Mei was able to barely save a life.

But Terumi Mei knew very well that this was only the beginning.

When those opponents were cleaned up by that mysterious person, then it would be her turn... This time, it wouldn't be long.

Thinking of Kiri being controlled so inexplicably, Terumi Mei's heart was burning with anxiety.

In the case of not being able to ask for help from all directions, as a last resort, she could only ask for help from Konoha.

Terumi Mei knew very clearly that this was the way to take death.

It wasn't that she was worried about Makoto not honoring the contract.

This guy's default rate so far was zero.

But she was equally clear that once a predator like Makoto started to reach out to Kiri. Even if Kiri could eventually survive, I'm afraid that she would only be able to serve as a puppet...

Terumi Mei was extremely torn over this.

She both wished for Makoto to come and wished for Makoto not to come.

The words that Yagura had said to her before she was controlled were even more confusing and a mess in her thoughts.

If it was impossible to defeat Konoha, then marrying him, or even the Unity, might not be a way out...

Rationally, it was indeed a solution.

It was shameful, but it worked.

But...

Time passed bit by bit in silence, and in order to achieve the best effect of torturing the prisoner, there wasn't a single sound in this huge cage, not to mention any concept of time.

It was as if a year, a hundred years, a thousand years were all the same.

This could be even harder than confinement.

And as the chakra continued to decline, Terumi Mei's mind began to trance...

Just as her consciousness was blurring because she didn't know how much longer she would have to fight hard, a tall man with the fishy salty smell of the ocean appeared outside the cage.

"Ki... Kisame!"

The visitor was none other than Kisame, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Kiri.

Previously, because of Yagura's importance, the relationship between the two was actually quite okay.

Now Kisame came over without the slightest killing intent on his body, which made Terumi Mei's gray mood a little brighter.

...But at the same time, she also knew very clearly that Kisame would not help her.

As a companion, Kisame was very reliable.

As long as he accepted the mission, he would definitely complete it, even if he sacrificed his own life.

But as an enemy...

This stubborn and powerful enemy would be a nightmare for all enemies.

Don't look at Kisame's hideous appearance, not like a good person. But in reality, he is the kind of ninja of the oldest school.

The same kind as Onoki, the stinky and tough kind.

"You're still alive..."

Kisame gazed at the wretched, downtrodden female ninja in front of him, his tone was like a blade crashing, without any emotion contained within it.

This is certainly not because Kisame and Terumi Mei have a grudge... In fact, this is a strict protection.

In order to make the inmates submit, or simply make them feel pain, each hidden village has its own unique techniques.

Either of these can make a ninja's life worse than death.

This was especially true for kunoichi.

The controlled Yagura would never begrudge torturing Kiri ninja with the most brutal means, but if Kisame was standing here... but he would only be standing here.

Terumi Mei knew very well that Kisame would not let herself go.

Before this, she had already tried.

But as the hope of survival became more and more remote, Terumi Mei still wanted to try again.

"Kisame, you have to believe me, Mizukage-sama is really being controlled! -

"You're also an experienced ninja, you just need to try a little, you should know!"

Kisame sniffed and just closed his eyes.

"Ninja are tools, no matter what, they can't take a shot at the Kage... If even this taboo can be broken, then how can the Kage rule over the ninja? -

"Rules are no longer rules if they can be stepped through and have exceptions!"

Ninjas were soldiers.

Not only did they conduct grueling wars, but sometimes they had to conduct even more ruthless espionage activities.

During these activities, the rate of ninja deaths in battle remained high, sometimes even a true ten deaths.

In the case of the army, if only a thousand people need to be sacrificed in order to gain victory in the war, then should they be sacrificed?

But ninjas were also human, who would be willing to die willingly?

At this point in time, the only way to suppress the resistance of the ninjas is to use cold and merciless rules.

On this basis, the authority of Kage can never be challenged. Because when Kage was unable to subdue the ninjas, many things would go out of control...

"I'm willing to bear all the guilt, I just want a chance to prove myself!"

"I can go with you to meet Mizukage-sama, and if my judgment is wrong, please kill me immediately, I won't put up any resistance!"

Kisame sniffed, his eyes raising and lowering.

Terumi Mei knew that the worst had happened.

There were already people who didn't care about the truth now, for whom this was all just an excuse for a faction fight - maybe it was better that Yagura was a fake in their minds.

Because then they would have an absolute reason to overthrow Yagura, and everything Yagura had constructed.

There really were such people in Kiri.

And there were a lot of them.

Heresy was more hateful than paganism.

While Kiri itself was not a religion, the reasoning was similar.

The reforms Yagura had carried out in Kiri last year had been fruitful and had benefited many Kiri-nin as a result. Not all ninja, however, were reformists.

Take for example the Martial Fighting Faction.

The martial arts fighting faction's greatest convention came from fighting, and if there were no more wars, then their reputation and what they could gain would naturally be cut at the waist.

In some cases, they even preferred to raise the invaders themselves.

Yagura's reforms to Kiri were good on the whole. But if everyone went off to develop the economy and make money, would the ninja still be considered ninjas - that was what the conservatives were thinking.

When people get older, they tend to hate changes and new things. They even refuse to replace girls' cute swimsuits with one-piece swimsuits that can better protect girls' privacy.

The two major factions were already dissatisfied with Yagura's reforms, and before there was no way around it, many ninjas were supporting Yagura because they benefited from it.

But now Yagura began to mess around, this part of the ninja who originally supported him naturally began to be centrifugal... Isn't this the best opportunity to attack Yagura?

No matter what the reason really was, taking advantage of Yagura's messing around to pull Yagura down and replace him with one of their own, that was what some people wanted to do.

"Do you have to wait until Kiri is destroyed before you are satisfied! Do you have to get to the moment of death before you regret it! -

"Until the moment of death... -

"You guy, besides following orders, have you never thought about what you're going to do?!"

Kisame murmured, he really never thought about this.

From the moment he became a ninja, the education he received, the people around him, and the words of his seniors all told him that the first and foremost thing a ninja should do is to accomplish his mission.

Beyond that, it was all impurity.

In order to accomplish the mission, all means were permissible.

In other words, if a ninja could not even accomplish his mission, then he had lost all meaning of existence.

In order to prevent his companions from leaking information, then he would kill them first.

Kisame had always thought deeply of this, but hearing Terumi Mei say this, a few more touches inexplicably grew in his heart.

An indescribable feeling began to fill his mind.

For a moment, he felt like a bubble, a false existence.

Only needing to be gently poked... by the tip of a needle No, even if it was just the blowing of the wind, he would completely shatter apart, leaving no trace in this world.

Although most ninjas are so over... but for some reason, at this time, Kisame just particularly care about this matter...

It was as if it was a dream, and after waking up it was still very touching... such a bizarre and direct feeling.

"I don't know what I want to do... So Terumi Mei, what do you want to do?"

"I want to live! Save Kiri from that guy who controls Mizukage-sama! Kick that bastard Makoto back before he comes to my rescue!"

It suddenly struck Kisame that Terumi Mei's idea was very interesting.

"Do you... want him to come to the rescue or not? Or do you not want him to come?"

"...Don't ask such boring questions. This guy is no matter how powerful he is, he's still a human being and he needs to rest, he won't fight for us, we still have time!"

... ...

Makoto posted all the information about the Land of Sea on the wall in front of him.

"What bad luck, can't even rest for a moment... but there's no way, I don't have time to hesitate. -

"The sunk cost now, is already very high..."

Makoto rubbed his cheeks to restore a bit of his spirit.

This time, however, he didn't unleash an illusion spell.

If that thing was used too much, something would really happen.

The spirit was just like the physical body, no matter how tough it was, there was always a limit. Once the limit is breached... the consequences are serious anyway.

He really wanted to take a break, but the matter at hand made it impossible for him to rest at all.

So after settling the matter of Land of Tea, Makoto started to think about the matter of Land of Sea.

From the publicly available information, the Land of Sea was actually just a very ordinary small overseas country.

It had a total of four islands, large and small, and its own strength was so low that it even had no ninja villages in existence, just like the Land of Tenno.

Of course, the Land of Sea itself didn't really need ninjas.

Because it was so close to the Land of Water, it was really the direct horse of the Land of Water.

The general public would more or less give Land of Water a little face, and even if a trickier enemy appeared, it could be solved by temporarily transferring troops from Land of Water.

This was a commonplace, very salty little country.

In Makoto's memory, the only memory point of this country is the mission to the Land of Sea - that is, the time Anko and Naruto went together.

The operation was a bit dangerous, but nothing really special. Like before, everyone fought and called it a day.

That was years later in the episode.

Right now then... Anko is still just a stupid loli who eats dadngo all day long with silly joy.

Aunt Snake in this worldline went about her business with aplomb, and even had time to set little Anko up.

Other than that, Makoto had little impression of the Land of Sea.

- These were all superficial information.

And now the words of intelligence... within this country, there is an implied economic crisis.

However, according to Makoto's experience, it is not the Lord of the Land of Sea who is messing with him, but those great nobles under his command...

Makoto had always felt that if you ask for a price in the sky, you pay it back on the ground. Before the deal, how much price you open, Makoto can be cheeky.

The big deal is that you open your mouth eighty thousand dollars, I will give you four dollars.

Many people have also learned this habit of Makoto.

This time, Moto opened to the Land of Sea's conditions are very generous, the Lord of the Land of Sea also has nothing against the meaning, no reason to back out will only be in vain evil Konoha.

"So, it's that group of nobles under his hand..."

Quite unbelievable, but it does seem like a job that group of nobles could do.

It would be more or less uncomfortable for Makoto if they didn't do something detrimental to the public and force good people to become prostitutes.

Makoto unfolded the intelligence book and rummaged through it to find a lot of interesting information.

The Land of Tea was quite a bit larger than the Land of Konoha, and benefited from the Kiri's recent massive export of fish catches, Konoha had poured quite a bit more attention into it.

Over time, it had also acquired a lot of interesting information.

Before Makoto didn't have the heart to move the Land of Sea , naturally he didn't care about this information.

But now...

Through the interconnection of these intelligence, Makoto roughly determined the beginning and end of a matter - scallops were indeed one of the fist products of the Land of Sea , and in the past many years, it had been handed over to one of his close associates by the Lord of the Land of Sea to operate.

Because of certain reasons that everyone knew, this fist product was actually losing money all year round. It was only that the other party's accounting was good, so it was able to be covered up all year round.

Then when Makoto and the Lord of the Kingdom of the Sea talked it over earlier, and the Lord of the Land of the Sea started to mobilize the treasury's funds in preparation for entering the business chain, that's when he realized what the problem was - where was the money?

After all, the accountant was only a genjutsu user and couldn't create things out of thin air.

Even more tragically, the Lord of the Land of Sea discovered that it wasn't just a matter of not having enough money, it was that the signs of structural collapse had already appeared in his household...

If it wasn't for Makoto suddenly bringing up this matter, he still didn't know how long he would have to be kept in the dark.

But the problem will not be solved by being discovered, and if you want to avoid the economic crisis of the Land of Sea , it is definitely not possible to rely on it alone.

So ... he secretly hoped that Konoha would help...

"Why does it feel like Greece... -

"...Why don't we just deal with it the same way we dealt with Greece, and Konoha can still make some money while we're at it... No, no, no, we can't keep screwing around like this..."

Makoto chewed on his pencil, doing his best to avert his gaze from the other's exchange rate.

"How about listing it to cheat leeks."