Chapter 17: A Chance Encounter with Kakuzu at the Money Exchange

Land of Lightning, a certain port city along the coast.

Under a gloomy sky, Kakuzu, clad in a black robe, walked slowly through the bustling streets, exuding an aura that warned others to keep their distance.

His teal eyes scanned the surrounding pedestrians coldly, as if evaluating their worth.

His presence was grim; passersby scrambled to avoid him, not daring to meet his gaze.

After arriving at a restroom on the outskirts of the city, Kakuzu looked around for a moment before stepping inside.

After knocking on the doors in a specific sequence, a door appeared in a corner of the restroom, leading to a dark passage of unknown destination.

However, this was not Kakuzu's first time here; he followed the stairs inside with practiced ease.

The space below opened up suddenly. Seeing a customer arrive, the two young women at the reception desk immediately flashed professional smiles: "Welcome."

"I'm here to collect a bounty," Kakuzu's voice was raspy and somber.

"Understood, please wait a moment." After bowing, one of the girls stepped aside to fetch the manager of the bounty exchange.

A moment later, a bald man with a scar on his forehead walked out, his face covered in smiles: "So it is Lord Kakuzu. I have heard of your great name long ago."

"Hmph." Kakuzu gave a cold snort, indifferent to the flattery.

"Cut the nonsense. I want to exchange the bounty for this person this time." Kakuzu pulled a storage scroll from his pocket.

He then unfurled it.

The corpse of a ninja wearing a Konoha headband appeared on the floor.

"Let me see." The bald man skillfully flipped through the bounty booklet, nodding after cross-referencing the data.

After searching through the Konoha ninja records for a while, the bald man found the individual.

"A Special Jonin of the Sarutobi clan... the bounty is eight million." The bald man recited all the details of the person's information before crouching down to perform an inspection.

This was to prevent anyone from using Transformation or Genjutsu to scam the money.

While a bounty hunter like Kakuzu would find such tricks beneath him, rules were rules.

"Confirmed, Lord Kakuzu." The bald man stood up and clapped his hands; two receptionists approached carrying a chest.

Kakuzu took the chest, placed it on the counter, and opened it. He picked up the banknotes, flipping through them rapidly with his fingertips, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

It seemed Kakuzu was in a good mood; as he counted the money, he occasionally let out soft hums of satisfaction.

The bald man ordered someone to open a storage locker on the side wall to store the corpse.

Then, he waited quietly for Kakuzu to finish counting.

Having worked at the exchange for many years, he had heard of this powerful "bounty hunter" who loved to count money on the spot, but this was his first time doing business with Kakuzu.

*Tap, tap, tap—*

While he was waiting for Kakuzu to finish, the sound of footsteps came from the top of the stairs.

"Looks like there's more business today," the bald man looked up.

Kakuzu, who was counting money, also stopped his movements, his teal eyes turning toward the source of the sound.

A mysterious figure wearing a white, three-eyed fox mask descended the stairs, their robes swaying slightly, exuding an eerie temperament.

"Tch, playing the mysterious type," Kakuzu sneered inwardly, though he had already become interested in this stranger.

Many wanteded ninjas wore masks or face coverings to hide their true identities, so Kakuzu often paid close attention to such people.

"Greetings, guest. This is the Third Bounty Exchange of the Land of Lightning. Are you here to post a bounty, or...?" The bald man stepped forward to greet him.

Menma Uzumaki's gaze lingered briefly on Kakuzu.

Although Kakuzu wore loose robes and a mask, those teal eyes and his habit of counting money were very distinctive in the shinobi world.

"See how much the bounty is for this person." Menma produced a storage scroll and performed hand signs.

*Poof!*

As the smoke cleared, the corpse of a Cloud Village envoy appeared on the ground.

"Twelve million." Even Kakuzu couldn't help but look over, recognizing the value at a glance.

"Oh~ Lord Kakuzu's eye for value is indeed excellent." The bald man pulled out the Cloud Village ninja bounty booklet and searched according to the twelve-million price point; sure enough, he found it.

"This is... the Cloud Envoy, Kainu!" The bald man's eyes suddenly widened.

This was because, not long ago, Konoha had claimed that Kainu, the leader of the Cloud Envoy mission, had been killed by a mysterious ninja in Konoha Village and his body dumped in the Hyuga compound in an attempt to escalate the war between the two nations.

This had led to a war of words between the two sides; the Cloud Village refused to believe Konoha's story and insisted that Konoha hand over the killer.

After all, they knew exactly what they themselves had been up to.

But Konoha remained steadfast, insisting that a mysterious ninja had killed the Cloud Envoy.

The bald man looked up at the masked stranger before him, feeling a sudden surge of trepidation.

To be able to kill someone in Konoha, the village at the head of the Five Great Nations, and escape unscathed after being discovered—just how powerful must this ninja be?

Meanwhile, Kakuzu continued counting his money while sizing up the masked stranger, estimating how much his bounty would be if he had one.

"Sir, how may I address you?" After confirming the corpse was correct, the bald man ordered someone to fetch the money while asking quietly.

The question gave Menma a moment of thought.

Thinking that he would likely use this mask and attire for most of his activities in the shinobi world, a codename was essential.

"You can call me, Shura." Thus, Menma chose a random codename.

"Understood, Lord Shura. This is our exchange's bounty booklet for this quarter. If you are interested, please feel free to visit anytime." The bald man presented a bounty booklet with both hands.

Menma took the booklet, thinking that since he was heading to the Cloud Village to deliver some "local specialties" anyway, it wouldn't hurt to kill a few Cloud ninjas to make some extra cash.

"Sir, here is your bounty." The two young women placed a heavy chest on the ground and bowed deeply.

"Mm." Menma picked up the large chest and turned to leave without even counting the money.

The bounty exchanges had existed in the shinobi world for an unknown amount of time; Menma believed they wouldn't be foolish enough to cheat him.

"Hey, hey, aren't you going to count the money?" Seeing the other party walk away with the chest without even glancing at the cash, Kakuzu couldn't help but speak up.

As a professional worker, his perfectionism was acting up.

It was one thing to not count the money after receiving it, but to not even open the chest to look?

Menma turned his head slightly, the white three-eyed fox mask reflecting a faint glimmer under the dim lights.

"You seem quite interested in my money. Want to go outside and test it? If you win, you can take all of it." Menma tilted his head toward the exit.

According to the rules of the shinobi world, the bounty exchange was a "safe zone." Killing someone inside would result in being hunted by the exchange itself.

"That's exactly what I had in mind." Kakuzu grinned, putting down his uncounted money and closing his own chest.

He then picked up his suitcase full of banknotes and followed the mysterious man out of the exchange.

The two left the building one after the other, the air thick with a tense, combative atmosphere.