While I had some money saved up, it wasn't enough to last me forever, and there was no way I would turn to banditry just to get by.
Which meant I had to find ways to earn money, and no, working wasn't an option; such things were beneath me.
Though this limited my options, I turned to the one thing that could earn me money and help me refine my use of Shikotsumyaku—bounty hunting.
It was either that, or take over some village or nation, and rule it as its God-Queen, but that would cause far more trouble than it was worth. Plus, being a bounty hunter came with a few benefits.
I hadn't forgotten my plan to ensure I would be restored to my full power and to deal with the only real threat that remained.
Ishiki Ōtsutsuki.
My former superior, until I stabbed him in the back, all to save this world from his hands.
I had thought him dead, certain I had killed him; few survive being stabbed and cut in half. However, while I nearly killed him, and left him weakened, it wasn't enough to finish him off for good.
Now, he was out there, hiding, building up his strength.
While I knew a lot about the plot leading up to Zetsu freeing my chakra from the moon, I knew frighteningly little about his plans, only that one day, he would fight Naruto and lose.
Other than that, I knew he was hiding and working through proxies, and that one of those worked, or would work, with Danzo Shimura.
It wasn't a lot to go off, but as a bounty hunter, I would have the opportunity to learn more about those who worked in the shadows. And Ishiki would need to recruit his servants somehow, and he would need to gather resources somehow.
In the end, he would have to interact with people, and those people with other people, and in the underworld, information flowed easily.
Plus, with the end of the war, Madara would have finally died, and Black Zetzu wouldn't have to stay hidden, which meant more chances for me to find him, without the risk of ruining his plan.
…
I couldn't help but grimace as I entered the black market hideout, a good place to gather information and money, but really… why did they hide themselves like this?
Under brothels and butcher shops, and worse.
As I stepped inside, everyone looked my way, the blindfold doing nothing to stop me from seeing them, the lust, greed, and fear in their eyes as those smart turned back to what they had been doing.
Only those foolish and ignorant continued to size me up. Clearly tempted to try and get the jump on me.
Still, for now, they stayed their hands, planning, but not acting, and that alone ensured their continued existence.
"Ahh, Miss Kaguya-hime, a pleasure to see you again, you here for a job?" The person in charge came up to me, fawning all over me. The people running the Black Market were smart enough to know who they should and shouldn't annoy.
As well as who brought them the real money.
I tilted my head slightly, my lips curving into the faintest suggestion of a smile. "A job," I said, my voice calm but commanding. "And information."
The man's smile stiffened. Information was always more dangerous than coin, and he knew it. But he bowed, oily and quick, ushering me past the rough tables and gamblers, deeper into the smoke-stained corridors. "Of course, of course. For Kaguya-hime, we have only the best. I have contracts fresh from the northern border, deserters and defectors with prices high enough to buy a mansion. And as for information… well, that depends on how much you're willing to pay."
I let the silence stretch until he began to sweat. His chakra fluttered nervously, like a moth trapped in glass. Finally, I said, "Payment will not be an issue. But if the information is false…" I let a bone needle slide from my fingertip, the sound sharp and clear in the still air—skrrch. The faint PCHK as it shot into the wooden post beside his head left the rest unsaid.
He swallowed, bowing lower. "Of course, Kaguya-hime. We would never dream of misleading you."
"Good." I sat gracefully on the offered cushion in his private room, the robe flowing around me like moonlight given form. The blindfold only deepened the effect; I knew the image I cast was deliberate, untouchable, terrifying. "Now. The contracts."
He slid a stack of scrolls across the low table. I skimmed them, my Byakugan piercing the ink and paper with ease, each word laid bare. Petty thieves, missing-nin too weak to warrant attention, even a few nobles with bounties on their heads from rivals.
While the money was good, killing nobles also came with plenty of downsides; only someone mad like Kakuzu would take that kind of mission.
"Not these," I said flatly, pushing them aside. "I want to go to Hot Spring, give me missions either leading there, or in Hot Spring, both would be best."
The man paused for a moment, looking at me deeply, and then at the stack of missions I had pushed aside. "That's not a common request, Miss. Hot Spring… It's not a place with many missions. Too many merchants, too many guards, and those baths attract pilgrims and nobles alike."
"I'm sure there is something, there is always something." I pressed him, making him squirm.
"Well… true, there is a subset of missions there, ones you would be particularly well suited for… it's just… I doubt someone like yourself would bother with that kind of mission, despite the pay."
His reluctance was curious, which only made me more interested in this category of missions. "Why don't you show me, then I can decide?"
He once more gave my face a look before sighing. "If that is what Miss wants, while you look over them, I will scan for some you can do on the road." He said with a resigned nod, before going into the back and returning with a large box.
He put it on the table and pulled out a large folder labelled 'Hot Spring'. "Here you go, and what is this information you want?"
"Money, who has a lot of it, but… prefers not to be known, someone who values privacy, and knows the cost of it." I said, not being too direct. That would be suspicious, and that wouldn't do.
Putting the folder down, he started thinking, tapping his chin a few times. "I might be able to get a bit of information, but it won't come cheap."
"Find the price and any missions leading to Hot Spring." I told him as I took the folder and started looking through the missions offered within.
And it didn't take long to realize why he had been so confident that those missions weren't for me. While also claiming that I would be perfect for them.
Those were very much Kunoichi missions, in the most classical sense.
Little more than glorified escort requests.
Merchants and nobles who wanted to enjoy the skills of a Kunoichi's seduction training. Men and women who wanted someone to win their hearts.
They paid well, in particular if someone of my appearance and skill were to take them, but I had no intention of engaging in prostitution.
I flipped through the pages and skimmed them. Flowery words wrapped around what was essentially a request for a companion to the baths, with the expectation of "politeness, conversation, and discretion." Another, even more blunt, demanded "a kunoichi of refinement and grace to instruct in the arts of affection."
My lip curled. They called these missions, as if bedding spoiled nobles and bored merchants was comparable to killing hardened shinobi. No doubt many kunoichi had done so in the past, trading body and smile for coin and information. It was not without tradition—but I was not many.
I put the stack down with a thunk. "I can see why you thought I wouldn't do these kinds of missions; you were indeed correct. These aren't for me."
The broker bowed his head. "Indeed, while your beauty and demeanor would have clients line up, you are… untouchable, of course. And this kind of work is beneath you."
I couldn't help but sigh. Thanks to my Byakugan, I noticed the drunk fool before he had a chance to open his mouth.
"Oh, you would do great at this kind of mission, but maybe you need some practice? Don't worry, I will help you out." One of the other bounty hunters had clearly been celebrating a successful mission a bit too hard.
The drunk's grin was wide, stupid, and full of yellowed teeth. He leaned against the doorway, swaying slightly, a cup still clutched in his hand. His chakra stank of rotgut and arrogance, thick and sluggish, but he still had enough of it to make the others glance nervously his way.
"You've got the look for it," he slurred, raising his hand toward me. "Silk, blindfold, that calm voice… mm, I'd pay to see you kneel."
The room froze. The broker's face went ashen, his lips twitching like a man praying for divine intervention. He tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat. He knew me, and more importantly, knew of my reputation.
These places changed their locations every few years, so I didn't know where to find a bounty office, which meant I had to find people willing to lead the way.
That hadn't been hard.
Within days, I found some fools who thought they could claim me, and I made them spill everything, their secrets, and their guts.
Showing up in a seedy place like this, dressed and looking like me, those who were sensitive to danger shied away from me, afraid to cause trouble.
But those unable to see that? That I was trouble?
The very first time I showed myself since my second… rebirth, it ended with a bloodbath.
Those who survived in the underworld for long weren't stupid; they quickly realized that, despite my beauty, despite my perceived weakness of blindness, I was anything but helpless.
I was as ruthless as I was beautiful, and as powerful as I was prideful.
And that power… made me absolutely fearless.
While my reputation was far from the whispered awe and fear that Kakuzu had earned over decades, I was quickly becoming a known powerhouse within the dark underworld.
Something this drunk fool clearly didn't realize.
I didn't even turn around, didn't bother looking at him.
Suddenly, his hand was reaching to grab me, the next.
PCHK!
A spear of bone shot out of my neck, pushing my hair aside as the man didn't even have a chance to blink, before the force of the bone projectile carried him across the room, the spear going through him and nailing him to the wall.
He gasped, a wet sound as blood flooded his lungs. He was clearly confused; his mind was struggling to accept reality, the fact that he was dead.
Honestly, nothing more than a Genin.
"I believe you were going to go find the things I asked for." I said, breaking the broker out of the stupor he had fallen into at the effortless display of power and skill.
The corpse twitched once, then sagged against the wall, the bone pin still holding him upright like a grotesque decoration. His cup shattered on the floor, spilling cheap liquor into the cracks of the wood, mixing with the red trickle dripping from his mouth.
No one breathed.
Even the gamblers outside the curtain went silent, the weight of death pressing down on the smoky air. The broker's lips trembled before he forced himself into a bow so deep his forehead nearly touched the floorboards.
"Y-yes, Miss Kaguya-hime. At once." His voice cracked. He scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over his own robe as he rushed to the back.
(End of chapter)
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