Chapter 100 The Value of Controlling a Life

"What's that thing?"

"It's a god worshiped by a certain church in the Land of Hot Water. They lure unsuspecting living people into performing rituals in order to seek immortality." Tayuya explained.

"If you say so, then so be it." Naruto shrugged as he stood up, "I don't mind."

"But I'm not interested in anyone else's soul. You're the first debtor, and you'll be the only one."

"You…"

"Who wants to enter a debt relationship with you!" Tayuya turned her head away.

Naruto remained patient, his hand still extended in midair.

Tayuya gritted her teeth, glanced at Naruto, and thought carefully about what he had just said. In the end, she suppressed her anger.

She thought to herself, 'As long as I took the money within the debt limit and ran away, it would be fine. If he made any unreasonable demands, I could just refuse. I'd take the money and disappear, leaving him furious. Anyway, the world was so big, so he couldn't possibly track my down, right?'

Naruto was certain that Tayuya wouldn't refuse his offer. After all, it was the best option considering their positions.

Orochimaru no longer needed her and wouldn't remember her.

Anyway, with Sasuke successfully defecting, Orochimaru wouldn't care whether the Sound Four, a group of expendable experimental subjects, ended up with four or five dead members.

Even if Tayuya didn't return, Orochimaru wouldn't bother searching for her. As Sasuke was the only sweetheart in his heart.

One hundred thousand ryo to buy Tayuya's soul and faith was like a penny to Naruto. After all, money no longer held any meaning for him.

If necessary, he could raise the offer, but it was clear that Tayuya didn't have much of a concept of money.

"Then let's get to know each other again." Naruto held out his hand expressionlessly, "I'm the owner of your soul, your sole creditor, Uzumaki Naruto."

A small, delicate hand cautiously reached out, as if testing the waters, before finally grasping Naruto's palm tightly.

Naruto didn't seem surprised and calmly pulled Tayuya to her feet, "Did you find it?"

"Who told you to throw the money everywhere, you jerk."

"Show some respect. I'm your creditor now." Naruto said with some annoyance as he straightened up from the pile of dead leaves, ceasing his search for money.

The more stylish the act of throwing money had been, the more painful the act of picking it up became.

"No, I won't! I've already sold you my soul, and I don't owe you any money now." Tayuya said righteously.

"The money in your hands already exceeds 100,000 ryo." Naruto glanced at her.

The sunlight was low, filtering through the sparse leaves, casting shapes of light in the swirling dust. The two stood not far apart, their lower legs completely buried in the half-meter-high pile of dead leaves.

The scattered banknotes lay atop the leaves, and both had to struggle to collect them.

"If it exceeds the amount, then just treat it as a debt!" Tayuya puffed out her modest chest and declared righteously, "Anyway, I've already signed that debt agreement, so I'll take whatever I want!"

"If you are in debt, you should treat your creditor with a little more respect." As he said that, Naruto stopped picking up the money and slowly approached Tayuya through the dead leaves.

"What are you going to do?"

"Are you scared?" Naruto asked, not answering her question directly.

"Who… who would be scared, you jerk!" Tayuya clenched her fists, forcing herself to sound strong, "What can you even do? In the end, you're just a kid who's a little younger than me!"

"Your legs seem to be shaking."

"Shut up, you trash-brained bastard!" Tayuya cursed.

"Ooooh?" Naruto moved closer to Tayuya, their faces so close in the thick pile of dead leaves that their noses were just inches apart.

"You…" Tayuya turned her head away, her face full of disdain.

It wasn't until Naruto handed her the nearly 100,000 ryo bill he had collected that she actually blushed.

"Damn it, how much do you love money?" Naruto complained.

"Mind your own business!" Tayuya snatched the money and stuffed it into her chest. "I have nowhere else to go, so of course I like money!"

"If I don't have money to buy food, I'll have to resort to robbing. Doing such thing could easily attract unwanted trouble from the Shinobi Villages."

"You're surprisingly smart." Naruto praised without hesitation.

"That's just common sense! How low do you think of me?" Tayuya snapped back, though she seemed to appreciate the compliment, "Although...you're not wrong, I am indeed smart."

"Since you accept a debt, you should assume your obligations." Naruto said, locking eyes with Tayuya, "You're afraid, aren't you? So what exactly are you scared of?"

"You have no experience in this area, right? Are you afraid I'll suddenly kiss you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tayuya retorted, still trying to maintain her bravado, "I've been fighting since I was six, and I've killed more people than you've eaten bowls of ramen. That kind of thing doesn't bother me at all."

"So scary." Naruto replied sarcastically, before suddenly changing the subject, "Your debt is now two hundred thousand."

Seeing Naruto so close, Tayuya started to panic and shut her eyes tightly, shouting, "I don't want to!"

"Refusal accepted." Naruto said abruptly, then moved away from Tayuya.

"Huh?"

Naruto had already turned and started collecting money in the other direction, not even looking back as he spoke, "You are worth far more than two hundred thousand. You have the right to refuse."

Hearing this, Tayuya stood frozen in place, her thoughts becoming tangled and chaotic as one question kept gnawing at her mind.

'Just how much is my entire life worth to that guy?'

…

The next day.

Naruto woke up in his bed and the empty room was unusually quiet.

The mission had failed, and Sasuke had escaped.

Everyone was injured except Naruto.

Due to her sensitive identity, Tayuya hadn't followed Naruto back to the village. Instead, she went to Tanzaku Town alone, as they had agreed.

Tanzaku Town was a bustling town in the Land of Fire, some distance from Konoha. It had everything one could want, lodging, food, scenery, and wasn't any less lively than Konoha Street.

The relationship between the two is a bit like raising a cat, but not quite.

This arrangement was something Naruto had decided on after considering the situation. After Sasuke's defection, the next three years wouldn't be too eventful.

Naruto needed time to grow, and Tayuya did too.

Before the mission even began, Naruto had already declined Jiraiya's offer to train him. He just wanted to take it easy. He wouldn't believe a word from the old toad unless the sun rose in the west.

Besides, Training with Jiraiya would be too troublesome, and the results also wouldn't be that significant.

He planned to rely on the system for training, returning to a normal routine. First, he would finally tackle the Kyubi's progress he had been putting off and aimed to trigger more options within three years.

Then, he would pick the right time to resolve the issue with the Kyubi sealed inside him.

After all, he already obtained the Sealing Technique to do so.