Chapter 030: The First Time His Wallet Got Full — Naruto Cries, Minato Cries!
In the face of absolute strength, resistance was futile.
Zabuza was captured by the current Mizukage candidate.
Terumi Mei easily took full command of the situation. Not only did she not ask for any money, but she also ordered Zabuza to return and kill Gato, and demanded an overnight audit of Gato's finances.
In other words, they would take the blame.
Normally, when a ninja kills and loots, it's a serious blow to their honor.
But Kirigakure had long been rotten, so getting a bit more rotten didn't matter.
Besides, Zabuza was a rogue ninja.
So for Terumi Mei, there was no shame in this.
However, she did have conditions.
She demanded that Zabuza's life be spared, and after completing the mission, that he contact other rogue ninjas and try to bring them back to Kirigakure.
A way to make use of them.
"You're serious?" Zabuza looked at the future Fifth Mizukage in disbelief.
Because Terumi Mei's words meant correcting past mistakes and reintegrating former Kirigakure ninjas.
Pardoning so many rogue ninjas and gathering them all back—it was unbelievable.
"I'm serious," said Terumi Mei.
"First of all, you're not stronger than me. You can't beat me."
"Secondly… there's someone named Haku in your rogue team, right? He uses Ice Release."
"If he keeps following you, his talent will be wasted."
"But if he returns to Kirigakure, he'll have a proper identity and receive formal training."
"After all, Ice Release is recorded in our village's history."
"And you've noticed, right? That kid has more talent than you," Terumi Mei said.
This information had actually been obtained through the small chat group, where two manipulated Chunin from Kirigakure betrayed Zabuza and spilled everything.
Terumi Mei had heard it back then.
But now, she could use it as leverage against Zabuza.
"Tch…"
"Looks like those two idiots revealed too much!" Zabuza said with annoyance.
But his figure disappeared with a poof.
Clearly, he accepted the outcome.
Because…
He became a rogue ninja due to the Bloody Mist Village.
And the reason he took on missions and accumulated wealth was so he could build a force and take revenge against the rotten Kirigakure.
But Terumi Mei had achieved his goal…
What meaning was left in his life now?
So aside from accepting it, he had no other option.
After all…
That brat Haku was always saying he wanted to be Zabuza's tool…
That kid really did have talent.
Sticking with him would've been a waste.
Giving Haku a proper direction was the only thing Zabuza could do now that he had lost his bigger goal.
··········
The others looked at Terumi Mei.
She appeared a little embarrassed.
"Our Kirigakure had a dark era. Generally speaking, many rogue ninjas wanted to restore the village and bring it back to glory."
"Someone like Zabuza likely wanted to gather power and strike back to prove himself."
"As for me…"
"I rose to power by killing the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura."
"The Bloody Mist era is over now," Terumi Mei introduced herself.
"..."
"Uh, what…" Naruto was shocked.
So this beautiful blue-haired big sister had actually taken down her own Kage?!
"This was setting things right," Terumi Mei said. "So I have no regrets. Otherwise, Kirigakure would've been lost forever."
"In other words… if a Kage makes a mistake, you have to take action too…" Sasuke muttered.
"By the way…" Sasuke suddenly said, "You're discussing such confidential matters—what if the client, Tazuna, overheard?"
"..." He had a point.
They were literally just talking about sending Zabuza to kill and loot Gato.
They'd said all that sensitive stuff out loud.
"Don't worry." Kitahara Kaede walked out from behind a tree.
Everyone then realized that old man Tazuna had been asleep under the tree for a while.
He had knocked out Tazuna.
"..." Everyone.
As expected of you.
············
Fifteen minutes later, the 3-hour small group livestream ended.
The Descendant Chat Group (^_-) also closed.
But everyone had already arrived at the outskirts of the Land of Waves.
They stayed at Tazuna's house. Since it was a fishing village, there was plenty of seafood—which was a treat for the group from Konoha.
Aside from that…
"Here, eat some more."
Terumi Mei peeled shrimp for Kitahara Kaede.
Kitahara tried to refuse, but she moved on to peeling mantis shrimp.
"Sasuke, I'm so jealous…" Naruto said. "I want to peel shrimp for Kaede too, to express my gratitude."
"I owe him so much—I don't even know how to repay him," Naruto said while shoveling rice into his mouth.
"..." Sasuke.
Sasuke felt something was off about Naruto.
"..." Kakashi.
Kakashi thought Terumi Mei was being way too obvious.
But since Lord Tobirama wasn't available and the chat group was closed, Kakashi could only behave himself.
After all, he couldn't beat Terumi Mei.
And… after being scolded so harshly by Lord Tobirama today, Kakashi deeply doubted his own talent.
Without Obito's Sharingan, was he just trash?
Would his legacy be something like Asuma's at best?
He was feeling very down.
And then the next morning—
News came.
Zabuza had returned with three scrolls. He had completed the mission, and the scrolls contained what Kitahara Kaede's group had been after—Gato's assets.
"These are sealing scrolls," Kakashi explained.
Today's chat group session had reopened, and Minato-sensei had comforted him.
So Kakashi was in a more stable mood.
He remembered his duties and began explaining ninja tools.
"For ninjas, combat is direct."
"So carrying too much gear is troublesome."
"Thus, those skilled in sealing techniques developed sealing scrolls."
"You can directly seal items into the scrolls."
Kakashi said.
Then—
"Release!"
Kakashi spread out the three scrolls and released the seals.
"Wait—"
Haku, the masked boy beside Zabuza, seemed to reach out in alarm.
But it was too late.
Poof!
In an instant—
The room was filled with money. The windows burst open from the sheer volume.
"..." Everyone.
[Descendant Chat Group (^_-)]
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: That's insane.
[Senju Tobirama]: Do merchants really have that much money?
[Mizukage Candidate - Terumi Mei]: How should I put it… Gato was a bad guy who exploited the Land of Waves, but… what we saw was only a portion. He had already exploited many places.
[Minato Namikaze]: But this means… Naruto finally has money.
Minato's focus was on his son.
At this moment, Naruto—
"Hah…"
"So much… money…"
"Eh… this amount…"
Naruto sat on the floor, a banknote fluttering into his hand.
He didn't seem to understand the number on it.
"That's a ten-thousand ryo bill," Sasuke said.
"Eh? There's money worth ten thousand ryo?" Naruto said.
[Minato Namikaze]:Sniff My Naruto… he's never even seen a ten-thousand ryo bill…