On a deserted island in the Land of Water, two figures, heavily cloaked, stood face to face. One wore a hat, the other a mask.
"Danzo Shimura, aren't you afraid I'll kill you! I hate you just as much."
"Shut up. I'm here to discuss a collaboration with you, to deal with the Water Country Daimyo together."
"What conflict do you have with him?"
"He's making money from Konoha Village, and his methods of making money cannot be for me!"
"Hahaha, good! I hope our cooperation is pleasant."
Two months later.
"Shimotsuki-sama, in recent days, stores in various countries have simultaneously been troubled. I suspect someone is planning this behind the scenes."
Kakuzu rushed to Mitsuki Kōmei.
"Hmm, you go investigate and kill them."
In the Short-Tailed Street of the Land of Fire, at the Haidilao restaurant, Mitsuki Kōmei sat in a private room eating hotpot. He wanted to see who was causing him trouble.
Suddenly, a quarrel erupted in the main hall. Mitsuki Kōmei looked down through the window.
Several unruly thugs grabbed the shopkeeper, pointing at a fly's hair in the dish.
"Shopkeeper, you explain to me clearly, why is there a fly in the dish?"
"Customer, please don't be unreasonable. You put the fly in yourselves. Be careful, I'll report you to the authorities!" The shopkeeper had seen them put it in with his own eyes.
"We put it in? Do you have evidence? Did you see it?" One of them pulled out a dagger from his waist and menacingly asked the surrounding diners, "Who saw it? Stand out."
The customers, threatened by the thugs, all lowered their heads.
"No one's standing out? Cowards. Shopkeeper, no one saw me put the fly in, so what do you say we do?"
The thug leader stepped on the table and slapped the shopkeeper's face with the flat of his knife, while the other thugs loudly banged on the tables, shouting and jeering.
"Your meal is free, please leave quickly." The shopkeeper said helplessly.
"Tch, you think you can just send me away like that? Brothers, what do you say?"
The subordinate thugs roamed around the entire store, scaring other customers into paying and leaving.
"Hahaha, of course not. We found a fly in our food, so the shop must compensate us."
Mitsuki Kōmei jumped out the window, found the leader of the largest Gang in Short-Tailed Street, and threw a wad of money in front of him.
"For every thug causing trouble at Haidilao, one million taels per life."
"Understood, I'll take care of it right away." The Gang leader said, bowing obsequiously. After speaking, he turned around, "What are you standing around for? Go get it done, don't you want the money?"
At the Haidilao restaurant, the shopkeeper was forced to pay the group some money, and the thugs took it.
"It would have been better to do this earlier. We'll be back tomorrow, remember to have the money ready in advance."
As he finished speaking, the store door was pushed open, and several tattooed men walked in. Without a word, they dragged the thugs out, money scattering across the floor.
In a seldom-used alley, the thugs were dragged to this spot, kneeling on the ground, bruised and swollen.
"Sirs, what is it you want with us?"
"You did something you shouldn't have, and someone wants your dog lives!"
Upon hearing this, the thugs broke out in a cold sweat, and yellow liquid flowed to the ground. "Sirs, spare our lives, we'll never dare again."
"In your next life, be more observant. Not everything can be done, and not all money can be taken. Do it."
A few minutes later, at the alley entrance.
"Sir, the people have been dealt with," the Gang leader said, making a slicing motion across his neck.
Mitsuki Kōmei, smelling the faint scent of blood in the air, disappeared into the night.
Tonight, countless ignorant lives paid the price for their actions.
Kakuzu followed the clues, destroying two strongholds and killing over a dozen Ninja.
"Danzo, your method isn't working at all! What do we do next?"
"If causing trouble doesn't work, then kill people! Kill until they're terrified, kill until no one dares to work for Mitsuki Kōmei."
In a city in the Land of Wind, at midnight, when the night was quiet, several figures appeared outside a "Fast Foodism" store. They violently broke open the door and rushed in.
They brutally killed the shopkeeper and five employees inside. They looted the money from the store, taking all the goods, and vanished without a trace.
Over a dozen stores were ransacked in one night, more than ten shopkeepers were killed, and over a hundred employees perished.
Mitsuki Kōmei was furious when he heard the news. He gave a lavish burial to the deceased shopkeepers and employees and distributed large sums of condolence money to their families. He once again used his money-based strategy, offering one million taels for a reliable piece of information.
"Shimotsuki-sama, I'll go hunt them down immediately, ensuring no one is left alive."
"Jianghu is not about fighting and killing; it's about human relations. Invite each Ninja Village to send people to protect the stores, and three-tenths of the store's profits will be their commission."
Mitsuki Kōmei gave up a portion of the profits to protect the stores, and at the same time, formed a bond of interest with the various Ninja Villages.
At the Underground Exchange, every Ninja involved in the attack had a bounty of ten million taels on their head, and those with a bounty could be spared death if they brought three heads.
"Captain, what should we do? We are only Chunin, and the bounty is even higher than for Jonin. We can't escape the endless pursuit."
"I regret it so much! Why couldn't I resist being Gu-ded by others? What do we do now?"
"Is regret useful? You showed no mercy when you killed the shopkeepers and employees, one slice each!"
At night, the captain, while his teammates slept, raised his butcher's knife against them. If he killed them and gathered three heads, he could live.
His teammates had the same idea as him, and a great battle was inevitable. Everyone fought with all their might for victory. Could the victors truly live?
Mitsuki Kōmei's blanket bounty meant that even Genin were worth ten million taels. Killing one was equivalent to completing at least ten S-rank missions. Few were unmoved, and Ninja running around for bounties could be seen everywhere in the Ninja World.
"Useless, you've failed again. Danzo, your method is vulnerable in the face of Mitsuki Kōmei's financial offensive."
The Mizukage was very agitated now. The conspiracies had failed one after another, and dozens of ANBU Ninja had already been lost.
Mitsuki Kōmei's stores were still doing well, and large sums of money flowed into that bastard's pockets.
"I have it!"
"What method? Speak quickly."
"Spread the 'Mitsuki Kōmei threat theory,' guiding the emotions of the Common People. If they boycott Land of Water goods, Mitsuki Kōmei won't make money, and our goal will be achieved."
"Doing that, won't we lose a lot of subordinates?"
"To achieve great things, there must be trade-offs; sacrifice is unavoidable."
"Alright, I'll trust you one last time!"
A few days later, a group of people appeared in various countries and villages, scattering flyers everywhere, then running away, afraid of being discovered by a certain person.
"Taro, is what the flyer says true? The Land of Water buys our grain at a low price, processes it slightly, and then sells it back to us at a high price?"
"I don't understand either. The flyer also says that job opportunities in Grass Country are becoming fewer and fewer, and we will lose our jobs."
"That makes sense. Think about it, if we buy self-heating ramen, will the ramen master lose his job?"
"You're right. Let's boycott Land of Water goods together and save our jobs."
Mitsuki Kōmei looked at Kakuzu, who was covered in dust. In recent days, Kakuzu had been running around like crazy.
"Kakuzu, what are you doing? What happened again?"
"Shimotsuki-sama, some bastard is spreading rumors all over the world, saying that we are stealing the Common People's job opportunities. Now, the Common People in many countries are boycotting our goods."
Kakuzu's anger did not subside, "I'm going to hunt down these bastards. I can't kill them all; it's impossible. If I kill one batch, another will appear."
Mitsuki Kōmei listened to Kakuzu's account of the events with an indifferent expression, even a little happy.
"No need to worry, this is actually a great thing for us!"
"A good thing?" Kakuzu looked bewildered.