Chapter 160: Why Should I Pay It Back?

Kakuzu had no reason to refuse. If he lost, it meant this brat had a sharp mind, and it wouldn't hurt to consider his advice in the future. If he won, he would earn five million ryo directly.

Tōshirō smiled. "Then it's settled. But before that, you need to agree to one more thing."

"Can't you just say everything at once?" Kakuzu was clearly displeased with Tōshirō's last-minute additions.

"Sorry, sorry, but this should be an easy favor for you."

Kakuzu gave him a strange look.

A day later, the two arrived at the agreed location to collect the bounty. "The target is dead. Now, it's time for you to keep your promise," Kakuzu said, pulling out two severed heads from a box.

The employer, a blond-haired man, looked satisfied. Without unnecessary chatter, he handed over the pre-prepared payment.

Kakuzu took the money box, opened it, and began counting the bills with one hand in a steady rhythm. If he had been born in peaceful times, he would have made an excellent accountant.

The blond-haired man's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed Kakuzu was missing an arm and seemed to be seriously injured.

At the same time, he also noticed a masked boy standing beside him—a stranger he hadn't seen before. His eyes flickered with calculation as he downed a few more drinks, setting up his next move.

"What? Afraid I'd try to scam you with counterfeit bills?" he asked casually.

Kakuzu continued counting, unfazed. "When it comes to money, one must be meticulous."

"Oh, fair enough," the blond-haired man responded before shifting his gaze to Kakuzu's empty sleeve. "Looks like this mission was pretty tough, huh?"

"It was manageable… cough cough."

A glint of malice flashed in the blond-haired man's eyes as he subtly nodded. "Who's this brat? Never seen him before."

Kakuzu showed no interest in answering. "I have no obligation to explain anything to you."

"My apologies, my apologies… I shouldn't have pried," the blond-haired man said, suddenly clutching his stomach with a pained expression. "Sorry, I think I ate too much earlier and got an upset stomach. Mind if I use the restroom?"

His prior drinking and eating had set up this excuse well, making his sudden need for a break seem natural.

Kakuzu didn't even look up. "Make it quick."

"Apologies, I'll be right back," the blond-haired man said, holding his stomach as he hastily left, as if he really had an emergency.

A moment later, Kakuzu, still focused on counting, suddenly sensed something and slowly looked up. In front of him stood a group of hostile strangers.

"The prince sends his regards," one of them said.

Kakuzu stopped counting, calmly stacked the money back into the box, shut it, and exhaled. Turning to Tōshirō, he said, "Looks like you won."

Tōshirō smirked. "Seems like it."

—

Outside, the blond-haired man waited for news. However, the outcome was far from what he had expected. His face twisted in shock. "Impossible…"

He had sent so many people in, yet they couldn't even take down an injured one-armed man. What the hell was going on?

Suddenly, Kakuzu's detached hand shot out, grabbing the blond-haired man by the throat and dragging him forward. "Hmph. Overconfident fool."

"Guhh… Let me go… You can't kill me…"

The blond-haired man was filled with regret, begging for his life like a dog.

Kakuzu sneered and tossed him to the ground. The man coughed and struggled to his feet, only to be met with a pair of crimson eyes—three tomoe swirling within.

"Tell me everything you know," the owner of the eyes commanded.

"Y-yes…" As if possessed, the blond-haired man blankly recounted everything he knew before collapsing into unconsciousness.

"So that's how it is," Tōshirō muttered, piecing together the situation. He couldn't help but marvel—Sharingan really is an incredible ability.

After his Sharingan evolved to the three-tomoe stage, he had gained a powerful hypnosis effect.

He wasn't particularly skilled at using it yet, but fortunately, the target was just an ordinary person with zero resistance to visual jutsu. Controlling him had been effortless.

Regarding this, Tōshirō had a lot of complaints. If even he, with his mediocre control, could manipulate someone this easily, why did Sasuke have to fake getting arrested in the future just to gather intel? Shouldn't he be able to control people effortlessly with just one glance?

Take Sakura, for example—she had a high resistance to genjutsu but was still instantly knocked out by Sasuke during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

Really seems like he got weaker over time…

As Tōshirō was silently ranting about this, Kakuzu's voice interrupted his thoughts. "The power of the Sharingan… really is convenient."

After working with a Sharingan user, Kakuzu started seeing Tōshirō as a valuable partner—not just because of his ability, but also because of his intelligence.

He preferred working with smart people. It saved him a lot of trouble.

In fact, faking an injury had been Tōshirō's idea.

Now, standing over the unconscious blond-haired man, Kakuzu raised his hardened hand like a blade, preparing to deliver a clean, painless death—one that would be well-deserved, given the amount of money he had handed over.

"Wait," Tōshirō suddenly stopped him.

Kakuzu's hand froze mid-air. "Why?"

Tōshirō flashed a mysterious smile. "It's better to fatten the pig before slaughtering it."

Kakuzu frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you want to make even more money?"

Kakuzu: ???

—

About ten minutes later, the blond-haired man groggily woke up, clutching his aching head.

"I'm… still alive?" he muttered in disbelief.

Looking around, he saw no one else nearby. Though he didn't understand what had happened, he knew one thing—he had narrowly escaped death.

With that, he made his only logical choice: he ran, stumbling and crawling his way back to his castle.

—

That night, the silence was eerie.

The blond-haired man had a nightmare and woke up drenched in sweat. Just as he was about to lie back down, his breath caught in his throat.

In the darkness, two pairs of eyes gleamed—one red, one green. Cold and terrifying.

"Ahhh—!"

Before he could even scream, he suddenly froze, his body paralyzed as if he had lost all control.

"Tell me everything valuable in this castle… and everyone involved in the assassination attempt," a young voice whispered from the shadows.

After extracting all the necessary information, Tōshirō grinned in satisfaction. "Looks like we have a busy night ahead."

Kakuzu's green eyes gleamed with excitement.

The next day, the blond man left the castle, accompanied by Tōshirō and Kakuzu, who had disguised themselves as his henchmen. After navigating through several twists and turns, they arrived at a house. The blond man pushed the door open, revealing a room filled with burly men covered in tattoos.

Upon seeing the blond man dressed in luxurious attire and recognizing his face, the burly men immediately recalled who he was. They quickly stepped forward with fawning smiles to welcome him.

The blond man waved his hand. "I want to see your boss."

"The boss?"

"Less talking, more doing."

The burly men quickly scurried away. When they returned, they brought back a bald, muscular man, who also greeted the blond man with a flattering smile and ushered him into a private room, preparing tea for him.

Under Tōshirō's control, the blond man got straight to the point. "I'm here for a simple reason—I want to borrow some money."

The loan shark boss was momentarily stunned. "Borrow money?"

"What, is there a problem? I'm just facing some short-term financial difficulties. I'll pay it back in two days, no problem."

Though the boss didn't understand how someone like him could have money troubles, this was a rare chance to establish a good connection. He wasn't about to let it slip away. With a generous wave of his hand, he patted his chest and said, "Money is no issue, Your Highness. How much do you need? Whatever you want, I'll provide it."

The blond man grinned. "As much as I want."

"???"

"What, you think I won't pay you back?"

"No, no, of course not." The loan shark boss thought to himself—there's no way a noble like him would default on a loan, right? To leave a good impression and secure future benefits, he decided to offer a large sum.

The blond man was very pleased and assured him he would repay the money in two days.

"Take care…" The loan shark boss sent him off with a beaming smile.

After leaving, the blond man visited another loan shark and went through the same routine. A city this size had more than one loan shark, after all.

Two days later, the time to repay the loans arrived, and the loan shark boss personally visited to collect the debt.

Before he even entered, he spotted a familiar face—a rival loan shark. Given the fierce competition in their industry, they naturally recognized each other. The man looked furious, as if his parents had just been murdered. "Damn it! This is outrageous!"

"What's wrong? You seem really pissed off."

The furious loan shark glanced at him. "You're here to collect your money too?"

"What, you are as well?"

"No shit. Why else would I be here?"

"What happened?"

"You'll find out yourself."

Not wanting to say more, the man stormed off in anger.

Confused, the loan shark boss entered to confront the blond man, only to be met with a response that shattered his understanding of reality.

"What? Repay the money?"

The loan shark boss was shocked. "Your Highness, paying back debts is only right and just!"

"Repay? Repay what? Are you joking? I borrowed that money fair and square—why should I have to pay it back?"

You've got to be kidding me…

What the hell?!

For the first time, the loan shark boss—who was always the one intimidating others—found himself on the receiving end of such shameless arrogance.

Now he understood why the previous loan shark had left in such a rage. He, too, was absolutely livid.

But what could he do? The blond man was the son of a powerful lord, while he was just a mere loan shark. He had no choice but to swallow his anger and bide his time.

As the loan sharks left one by one, Kakuzu, still disguised as a servant, turned to the equally disguised Tōshirō and said, "Damn, kid… you're really devious."

That said, he couldn't deny he was enjoying himself. After all, the money they had made in just two days was an absurd amount.

Having lived for so long, Kakuzu finally understood what real money-making speed looked like.

Compared to this, his old bounty hunting days felt completely idiotic. Why the hell had he wasted his time on that?

Tōshirō smirked. "Now, let's move on to the next step of the plan."

That night, the castle went up in flames.

Watching the inferno from a distance, the two culprits found the sight truly delightful.

By borrowing money from every loan shark in town and then refusing to pay it back, they had driven them all into a rage. As a result, when Tōshirō and Kakuzu went on a killing spree, it was easy to pin the blame on the furious loan sharks.

Given the nature of their business, it wasn't hard for outsiders to believe they had turned to violence. They were the perfect scapegoats.

Between the loaned money and the treasures they had looted from the castle over the past few days, the two of them had amassed an astronomical fortune.

"Kakuzu," Tōshirō suddenly said.

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"That's my name. I suppose I'll acknowledge you. You really do have a talent for making money."

(End of Chapter)

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