Kakuzu was on the verge of tears.

The money. Just saved. Gone again.

"I gave you everything! Can you let me go now?!"

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..."

minato namikaze started cackling.

That laugh sent a very bad feeling straight through Kakuzu's chest.

"I never said I was going to let you go. Honestly, your abilities are quite special — so I'm taking you back to the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Damn it! Dahuang! You fight dirty!"

"Fight dirty? I'm a ninja, what do I care about fighting dirty?! And another thing... my name is minato namikaze. I am not called Dahuang!"

Kakuzu went still.

"minato namikaze?! The Fourth Hokage, minato namikaze?!"

"That's right." minato namikaze flashed that signature radiant smile.

"Damn you, minato namikaze, you fight dirty!

Tricking me, ambushing me, an old ninja who survived from the Warring States era all the way to today! Young man, I'm telling you to watch yourself! In the Shinobi World we value harmony, don't go stirring up internal strife!"

minato namikaze had no interest in trading more words. Stepping forward, the sealing technique came down over the ball of threads, wrapping it up completely, leaving nothing on the outside but a single mouth.

With Hidan and Kakuzu dealt with, the group set out on the road back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

......

Inside the Hidden Leaf Village.

Hirofumi Ito stared at the people and things assembled before him, minato namikaze, Fugaku Uchiha, Zabuza Momochi, Haku, half a head with a mouth attached, and a ball of threads, and fell into deep thought.

"Uncle Minato, Uncle Fugaku... did you two go shopping at Akatsuki?!"

One look at the half a head and the ball of threads and Hirofumi Ito had already placed them. That was Hidan and Kakuzu.

minato namikaze gave a brief account of everything, how after wrapping up the situation in the Land of Waves, the two had crossed paths with Hidan and Kakuzu.

Hirofumi Ito genuinely had not expected things to go this far.

Then, right at that moment, the half a head in Fugaku Uchiha's grip exploded with excitement.

Hidan stared at Hirofumi Ito. Both eyes blazed with a dazzling golden light.

"Jashin! I finally get to see you, Jashin! I am your devoted follower Hidan! Your most loyal dog!

Damn it all... all these years I had no idea what Jashin needed most. Like a complete idiot, I kept offering up those filthy, tainted souls as sacrifices!

If I had known Jashin needed money, I would have looted Akatsuki's treasury for you long ago!"

Hirofumi Ito was completely baffled.

How had he randomly ended up becoming Jashin?!

Fugaku Uchiha sighed and explained it again from the side. After hearing it all, Hirofumi Ito understood, it was the Summoning System. Bringing all these dead people back to life had been enough for Hidan to decide he was Jashin.

"Look... I'm actually not Jashin."

Hirofumi Ito looked at Hidan with open resignation.

"No! You are Jashin!"

"I'm really not Jashin!"

"You must be Jashin!

Jashin, you must be so disappointed in me... After all these years as your most devout follower, I didn't even know what you needed most. I really am a worthless wretch!

Jashin, please — you must forgive my ignorance!

From now on I will bring Jashin so much money! I will offer up every last coin in the Shinobi World to Jashin!"

Hirofumi Ito paused.

"...If you're going to put it that way, then I really am Jashin. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..."

Hidan went absolutely electric.

"I knew it! You really are Jashin! That wicked laugh, only Jashin could produce a laugh like that! Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh...

Jashin! I never imagined that in my lifetime I would get to see your true face!

From this day on, Hidan is Jashin's most loyal dog!

Jashin, even if you told me to cut down my own father and mother, I wouldn't so much as furrow my brow!"

Hirofumi Ito nodded.

"Hmm... cutting down your parents won't be necessary. From now on you'll serve as a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, after all, I am the Fifth Hokage."

"Yes, Jashin! It is Hidan's honor to be your dog! Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..."

The ball of threads watched all of this and nearly lost its mind.

Kakuzu's thoughts were in complete disarray right now, not a tangled mess, but a tangled ball of threads.

Hidan, that thick-browed, honest-faced idiot, had actually defected?

The damned traitor. Betraying the organization like this was absolutely unforgivable.

After settling things with Hidan, Hirofumi Ito turned toward Kakuzu.

It had to be said, Kakuzu was someone Hirofumi Ito had long had an eye on. The combat ability wasn't anything special, but when it came to making money, Kakuzu was the single strongest existence in the entire Shinobi World.

The East Konoha Company had been in the planning stages for a while now, and there was still a company director position that needed filling. And here Kakuzu had just walked right through the door.

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh...

A mouth appeared on the ball of threads.

"You think you can make me surrender to the Hidden Leaf Village too?!

I'm telling you — impossible! Absolutely impossible!

These two damnable people robbed me twice in a row, and now I'm supposed to surrender to the Leaf?! Dream on! I don't care if you're some so-called Jashin, I will never surrender to you!

Today, Kakuzu would sooner jump from this Hokage Residence and smash into the ground before ever surrendering to your Hidden Leaf Village!"

Hirofumi Ito just smiled.

"Join the Hidden Leaf Village, work for me. Ten thousand ryo a month."

"LORD HOKAGE, PLEASE ACCEPT KAKUZU'S BOW!"

The word "salary" had barely landed before Kakuzu betrayed Akatsuki on the spot.

Because when you looked at it honestly, the Hidden Leaf Village was the better deal by a mile. In Akatsuki, every bit of accumulated wealth got handed over to the organization, the work never stopped, and any private savings that actually managed to build up eventually got collected by the leader anyway.

But the Hidden Leaf Village was going to pay a salary.

Sure, over two hundred million had been taken front to back, but ten thousand ryo a month, every month, and death wasn't even on the table. Keep working long enough and every last coin would eventually come back.

Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh...

➤ Next: Security Captain Hidan

Chapter 210 - Security Captain Hidan

Kakuzu's reaction caught everyone present completely off guard.

Even Hidan was staring at this teammate in disbelief, this damn guy had just been going on about how Kakuzu would never defect!

And the result?!

The result was that a monthly salary of ten thousand was all it took for Kakuzu to drop a "Lord Hokage, I am at your service"?!

Even minato namikaze and Fugaku Uchiha hadn't seen this coming. Kakuzu was no pushover, and that peculiar set of abilities made Kakuzu genuinely dangerous, yet a mere ten thousand ryo was enough to buy Kakuzu over?

Zabuza Momochi and Haku, standing to one side, watched the whole scene with completely blank expressions.

Honestly, Zabuza had been in a perpetual state of bewilderment over everything that had happened lately. Out of nowhere, Zabuza had run into two people who had come back from the dead, and then those two people decided to haul Zabuza back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

Then came an encounter with two members of Akatsuki.

Those two Akatsuki members were also taken back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

Then Zabuza got to witness the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village in person, at which point those same two Akatsuki members defected from their organization on the spot and joined up.

Unlike the stunned silence around them, Hirofumi Ito gave a satisfied nod the moment Kakuzu spoke. Ten thousand ryo a month in exchange for bringing Kakuzu on board? That was an absolute steal.

Besides, the final say on how much salary actually got paid rested with Hirofumi himself. Finding a couple of flimsy excuses to dock eight or nine thousand from the paycheck would be no problem at all.

From here on out, Kakuzu could just settle down and work for Hirofumi in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Hehehehehehehe.

"Kakuzu, I happen to be in the process of setting up a company, and that company is currently in need of someone to run it. I think you're a talented individual, so I intend to put you in charge.

Our company has one and only one objective: to earn every last bit of wealth in the Shinobi World!

I want the future Shinobi World to be such that even a coin falling from the sky would have the Ito name on it!"

Kakuzu's interest was immediately piqued. The one thing Kakuzu loved most in this life was money, and if there was a genuine chance to amass the entire wealth of the Shinobi World, Kakuzu would be willing to drop dead the very next day and die happy.

"Please rest assured, Lord Hokage. Kakuzu will not disappoint. Kakuzu will grow this company for you. I only wonder — how many people does our company currently have?"

Hirofumi Ito felt a moment of awkwardness at that.

"Right now? For the time being... just me. As the behind-the-scenes boss."

Kakuzu gave a nod and continued looking at Hirofumi Ito.

Hirofumi cleared his throat.

"Ahem. As for the rest of the management — other than me as the behind-the-scenes boss, you are the sole General Manager. All matters of the company fall entirely under your authority!"

For a moment, Kakuzu felt genuinely moved. Who would have thought that the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village would have such bold vision?!

Kakuzu had only just arrived, and already someone had spotted the shining qualities others always overlooked.

And without a second word, the reins of an entire company had been placed in Kakuzu's hands. All company affairs, entirely Kakuzu's to handle.

Such enormous authority, handed over right from the start?!

Something stirred deep in Kakuzu's chest, that old, rarely-felt impulse: to give everything for the one who truly recognizes your worth.

As for Akatsuki...

What was Akatsuki, some kind of cracker?

In Akatsuki, Kakuzu had been treated no better than a slave, scraping by with barely enough to eat, and on top of that, a massive organization that paid absolutely no salary.

Most importantly, half of the organization's operating funds had been provided by Kakuzu personally.

The fortune Kakuzu had been accumulating since the Warring States Period, not a small sum by any measure, every last bit of it, handed over.

And that still wasn't enough. Kakuzu had to keep earning nonstop to feed the organization's coffers, especially because that guy called Angel came pestering Kakuzu for money every other day.

Who even knew where it all went.

By comparison, the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village was simply a person of conscience.

With that settled in mind, Kakuzu pressed on.

"Boss, where is our company, and how many employees do we have? What do I need to do next?"

"Ahem. At the moment, you are the company's only employee. As for the address — pick any spot you like in the Hidden Leaf Village, and wherever you choose becomes the company's address. Everything else I leave entirely to you. I won't interfere. As long as money gets made."

Just moments ago Kakuzu had been deeply moved on the inside.

Now it turned out this so-called company was a hollow shell.

The entire company had exactly one employee, Kakuzu.

The company didn't even have an address.

"Boss... this... this..."

"My dear General Manager, I know you're anxious, but hold on just a moment! The company will come together. The employees will come. I know you have the ability. The only thing missing is a platform worthy of your talents!

That platform, I have now given you. From here on out, go all in, boldly, fearlessly. Don't you want the name of Kakuzu to resound throughout the entire Shinobi World?!

Think about it. Growing a company from nothing into the most powerful force in the Shinobi World, what an incredible undertaking that would be!

There is probably no one else in the entire Shinobi World who has the talent for it. That is precisely why I believe in you. Please, believe in yourself!"

Kakuzu had been fairly dazed when told the company had absolutely nothing to its name. Then Hirofumi Ito's words hit, and Kakuzu's head started spinning completely.

Dizzy. Light. The whole world felt like it was tilting upward.

That same impulse surged through Kakuzu's chest again, the one that made a person ready to give everything for the one who truly saw them.

"Please rest assured, Boss! Kakuzu will give everything until the very last breath!"

Nearby, Hidan's eyes were darting around thoughtfully. It seemed Jashin wasn't particularly bothered by all those filthy souls sacrificed in the past. Right now, if anything, Jashin seemed very fond of money.

If that was the case, then Hidan needed to figure out a way to earn money for Jashin too.

After all, as Jashin's most devoted believer, how could Hidan fall behind someone like Kakuzu?!

"Lord Jashin! Since the company has only just been founded, let me be the company's security guard!

I am a security guard! Protecting the peace of one and all!

Lord Jashin's company shall be guarded by me!

I will definitely earn even more money for Lord Jashin!"

Hirofumi Ito listened to Hidan's eager, unsolicited pitch, gave a nod, and turned to look at Kakuzu.

"See, the first employee has already shown up, hasn't it?! Starting today, Hidan is the Head of Security for our East Konoha Company! I'm leaving this company in the hands of you two. Whatever you do, don't disappoint me!"

"Yes! Boss!"

"Yes! Lord Jashin!"

➤ Next: Kakuzu's Shock