Chapter 168: Kakuzu Wants to Be an Accountant

"Tell me what idea you've come up with."

"Kidnapping and extortion," Tōshirō said bluntly.

Unexpected, yet completely within reason. Kakuzu wasn't surprised. "Who do you want to kidnap this time?"

After their last scheme, Kakuzu had made an absolute fortune—so much that he had even started considering switching careers to full-time banditry. The money just came too fast.

"The Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

Kakuzu froze for a moment. His eerie pupils shrank in shock, and for a second, he thought he had misheard.

"Relax. More precisely, it's the Daimyo's son."

Tōshirō spoke as if he were casually discussing the weather.

Kakuzu calmed himself, letting out a chuckle tinged with surprise. "You've got some guts, kid. First, you burned down a lord's castle, and now you want to kidnap the Daimyo's son? I don't even want to imagine what you'll try next."

"Are you scared?"

Kakuzu dismissed the provocation with a smirk. "Kidnapping the Daimyo's son is incredibly risky."

"That's why I'll use a transformation jutsu to change my appearance. I even used one to meet you just now."

Tōshirō coaxed him further. "Think about it carefully. If we pull this off, the rewards will be unimaginable—we'd be talking billions."

Kakuzu was greedy, but he wasn't reckless. "If we're going to make money through kidnapping, wouldn't it be safer to target wealthy merchants instead?"

He sneered. "With your Sharingan, we could empty out an entire bank. Then, we kill everyone to erase all traces. No one would ever find any evidence. Heh..."

Tōshirō nodded in agreement. "True. But this time, it's not just about money. I have a personal score to settle."

"Personal?"

Kakuzu's interest was piqued.

"In short, while I was locked up, I received some very 'special' treatment from those people."

Tōshirō's smile darkened. "These pampered flowers, living in their safe little world… Now that I'm out, I want to give them a free lesson on how cruel reality can be."

Revenge, huh...

Kakuzu muttered inwardly, recalling his own buried memories. He could relate to that.

"Sounds interesting, but the risk is still too high. If we fail, we'll be hunted endlessly."

Sometimes, a refusal wasn't about capability—it was about the price not being high enough.

And in this case, "price" didn't just mean money. It meant things like eliminating future risks.

Tōshirō was silent for a moment, then changed the topic. "Have you spent the money from last time?"

"No."

Gold, jewels, or cash—it was all the same to Kakuzu. He hadn't been in a rush to convert it.

"Good…"

Tōshirō's relieved tone made Kakuzu raise an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Tōshirō had been in such a hurry last time that he forgot something important: laundering the money.

Yes, money laundering.

Ignoring the valuables they looted—gold, antiques, and paintings—even the paper currency had serial numbers. If they spent it recklessly, someone could track it back to them and wipe them out.

Since Kakuzu had asked, Tōshirō decided to explain his concerns.

Kakuzu's pupils narrowed upon hearing it.

As a bounty hunter, his money was relatively "clean"—he had never considered laundering it before.

"You think of everything, huh?"

Kakuzu wasn't afraid of being targeted, but if this issue caused a constant stream of trouble, it would ruin his future.

If things got too bad, he might even become the one with a bounty on his head.

"Need my advice?" Tōshirō offered, appealing to Kakuzu's love of profit.

"Go on."

"You walk by the river often, but you don't want to get your shoes wet. The best way to stay dry? Walk by the river less."

Kakuzu squinted at him, as if asking what he meant.

Tōshirō smirked. "We can launder the money through gambling. As for the gold and jewels, my suggestion is to stockpile them. Once we have enough, we sell everything at once. After that, we retire—'wash our hands clean' and disappear."

"At that point, even if the Daimyo wanted to hunt us down, it'd be pointless. Because we'd already be out of the game, and they'd have nothing on us."

"Even so, just the two of us might not be enough, right?" Kakuzu's words revealed that he was already tempted—but he still had some doubts.

Tōshirō lifted an eyebrow and pinpointed his concern. "You mean without revealing our full strength, right?"

After all, both Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear and Tōshirō's Ice Release and Sharingan were highly distinctive abilities.

Kakuzu nodded slightly.

Tōshirō rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

If they wanted to successfully kidnap the Daimyo's son, they had to avoid using their signature skills, which would significantly limit their power.

Kakuzu would be fine—his stats were already ridiculously high, and his stolen jutsu ensured he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

But Tōshirō...

No Ice Release. No Sharingan.

Hell, he couldn't even use Fire Release, which he was best at.

His Fire Release Techniques Were Inherited—Using Them Would Expose Him

Since he couldn't use this or that, Tōshirō was left with only Water Release as an option.

If he could utilize even half of his full strength, that would already be a good outcome.

Fortunately, he still had time to improve his Water Release techniques. He wasn't foolish enough to seek revenge on the Daimyō's son immediately after being released—that would make it far too obvious. He needed to wait at least a few months.

But using this time to refine his Water Release wasn't a bad idea either. He had already planned to train it, as he was attempting to integrate Boil Release, which required strong Water Release fundamentals.

He also had a training manual on Water Release techniques from the Second Hokage, which he had obtained from his girlfriend—now was the perfect time to put it to use.

With that in mind, Tōshirō made a suggestion. "We can just find some help."

"The more people involved, the higher the risk," Kakuzu expressed his concern. "Aren't you worried about betrayal?"

Tōshirō smiled. "That's why I'll change my identity."

Kakuzu chuckled. "Then from now on, I'll call you Asakura Hao."

Tōshirō laughed and suggested, "Kakuzu, you should pick a new name too."

Kakuzu thought for a moment and agreed, deciding to use an alias.

To be cautious, Tōshirō asked, "That name isn't someone you know, right?"

Kakuzu was puzzled. "Why does that matter?"

"Heh, you never know. What if the ninja tracking us makes a connection through that name? That could be a problem."

Tōshirō wasn't just being paranoid. He had watched enough crime dramas where a detective would make a random connection and suddenly crack the case, leading to the suspect's downfall.

Realizing this, Kakuzu immediately picked another name. He found Tōshirō's meticulousness reassuring. "Working with someone as cautious as you should save me a lot of trouble when making money."

The name he originally chose had belonged to the first bounty he ever collected. Since that target had a high bounty, the name stuck in his memory—but now he realized it had been a reckless choice.

Tōshirō continued, "Kakuzu, how much money do you have in total right now?"

"Why do you ask?"

At the mention of money, Kakuzu immediately became wary. He had always been extremely careful when it came to his finances.

I'm not going to steal it from you… Tōshirō shrugged. "I told you before—using low-level methods during the initial capital accumulation phase is inevitable. But once we've built enough wealth, stability becomes the priority.

"At first, we can amass a fortune through kidnapping and extorting wealthy merchants. But you know what they say—'Walk by the river often, and your shoes will get wet.' So we have to launder our money and go legitimate.

"Seizing the throne of the Land of Bears is one move. Starting a company is another. For that, I need to know exactly how much money you have so I can plan our next steps."

Kakuzu found his reasoning sound. He left the room for a moment and returned with a ledger, handing it to Tōshirō.

Tōshirō crossed his legs and skimmed through it, his brows furrowing. "Just this tiny notebook?"

"What's wrong?"

"This only has basic income and expenses. You call this a ledger?"

Tōshirō tossed the book onto the table, looking utterly disappointed.

"What's the problem?" Kakuzu asked. He had been a ninja his whole life—he loved money, but bookkeeping wasn't his expertise.

It wasn't really his fault—it was a flaw of the times.

Tōshirō flipped through the pages and sighed. "Forget about financial statements, profit and loss reports, and cash flow statements—you don't even have a general ledger or detailed accounts! How am I supposed to assess your assets?"

Despite being scolded, Kakuzu didn't get upset.

He didn't understand terms like "balance sheet" or "cash flow statement," but they sounded impressive.

"What are those things you mentioned?"

Tōshirō sighed. "Financial records—methods of accounting."

"Accounting?"

"It's a system for recording a company's economic activities in monetary terms, summarizing and reporting financial information to reflect its financial position and business performance."

Tōshirō recited a textbook definition.

Kakuzu was baffled but intrigued—his eyes lit up.

Tōshirō smirked. "Want to learn?"

(End of Chapter)

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