"You—what do you think you're doing?!"
The group of bounty hunters looked at the straw-hatted youth standing before them with faces full of fear; Scar-faced burly man's normally ruddy complexion went completely pale.
Most people present were at best on par with Scar-faced burly man in strength, and the vast majority were even weaker than him.
They all knew their fate wouldn't be any better than the scar-faced man's…
For a moment, fear and despair filled the entire exchange.
Renya's eyes shone as he stared at the bounty hunters in front of him—each one a pale stack of banknotes in his eyes.
They were bounty hunters; there was no doubt they were filthy rich.
Although he hadn't run into someone as wealthy as Kakuzu on this trip, robbing this lot would still be acceptable…
The tall, thin man with glasses from earlier could no longer stand Renya's greedy gaze. Gritting his teeth, he stepped forward and shouted at everyone.
"Don't be afraid, we'll break through together!"
"Even if he's strong, there's no way he can kill all of us. If we charge together, someone will get out!"
The tall man forced out the bravest words he could muster, but they were weak and cowardly.
Renya's mouth twitched at that; he felt a little helpless—he hadn't expected this guy to find his weakness…
If these bounty hunters followed the tall man's plan and all rushed out at once, a few might really slip through.
There were many of them; Renya, alone, could hardly stop them all.
At that, a few of the bounty hunters were clearly tempted. The tall man was right—no matter how strong the straw-hatted youth was, he couldn't possibly kill every single one of them!
If they mounted a joint attack, even if they couldn't kill the youth, they could take advantage of the chaos and escape the exchange.
"Everyone, charge together—let's give it everything!" The tall man, seeing his words had an effect, hurriedly rallied the others to attack.
But he quietly backed away himself, a calculating glint flashing beneath his glasses.
As long as those idiots attacked, the straw-hatted youth couldn't kill them all in a short time—and then he could slip away in the confusion!
No sooner had he spoken than a few reckless ones roared and launched themselves forward—then there was silence.
Those who charged out were no match for Renya; a few didn't even have time to form hand seals before they were dead.
"Why don't you all charge together? What are you doing?!" The tall man panicked when he saw what happened.
If these fools didn't all attack at once, how could he take advantage of the chaos to run?
"Why don't you go up?!" someone glared angrily at him.
The tall man: "..."
"You hand over all the money on you and I might spare you." Renya looked at them and said.
He had no desire to kill all these people—it was too troublesome.
Besides, his purpose here was robbery, not slaying every bounty hunter.
"All right, all right, I'll give it—take the money!"
Money could solve everything; buying one's life was the best deal. Money could be earned again, but if you lost your life you'd have nothing left.
They were terrified the straw-hatted youth shared their penchant for killing and looting—after all, they were the type who did immoral things for money.
Luckily for them, their luck held: Renya wanted only their money, not their lives…
He wasn't going to kill the goose that laid golden eggs—so long as they lived, they could keep supplying cash.
Dead, and everything was over—no repeat business.
At Renya's command, the bounty hunters hurriedly formed a line and paid to live. To prevent them from secretly keeping money on them, Renya made them strip off all their clothes, leaving only their underwear.
After paying, the bounty hunters clutched their groins and fled the exchange in a fluster…
If any of them had hidden money in their crotch, Renya would just have to accept it.
If someone had hidden money in their crotch, there was no way they could pull it out now, right?
…
The old shopkeeper murmured softly.
He had never expected such a young man to be so strong—strong enough to leave every bounty hunter without a chance to resist.
Bounty hunters were desperadoes who would do anything for money, and most of them were at least Jōnin-level…
For a crowd of Jōnin-level men to not even dare fart in front of the straw-hatted youth, and instead obediently hand over their money and leave—that sight was shocking.
In all his years as shopkeeper, he had never seen anyone this powerful.
This had to be reported to the boss!
While Renya busied himself collecting money, the old shopkeeper slipped into the backroom.
In the empty backroom, the old shopkeeper knelt and whispered.
"Sir, everyone in the exchange was attacked— the ninjas guarding the place are all dead!"
Those scar-faced burly men and the others had actually been the hidden guards of the exchange.
As soon as he finished speaking, a white humanoid figure appeared on the floor—the White Zetsu.
The exchange was one of Black Zetsu's business lines; after a thousand years of arranging things in the ninja world, it naturally needed some ways to make money.
"I will inform the boss. As for you… do what you can to save yourself."
With that, its form sank back into the ground…
The old shopkeeper sighed helplessly, hunched over, and returned to the counter.
When he came back out, Renya was the only one left inside the exchange.
"Sir, I'm only a worker—there really isn't any money here." The old shopkeeper forced a smile. "Do what you will—kill me if you must."
He had been taken in and raised by White Zetsu since childhood; when he grew up he became the exchange's shopkeeper.
He had done that job his whole life—living to this age was already satisfying enough.
Renya had no intention of killing the old man; instead he asked the question that had been nagging him.
"Why isn't there a bounty on me?"
Even Shīmurа Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen had bounty orders—why didn't he have one?!
Discrimination—blatant, in-your-face discrimination! The exchange just hadn't put this Konoha "deadly poison master" on the list!
The old shopkeeper looked at the straw-hatted youth with a complicated expression. Even with the wide hat shading him, the youth's barely suppressed anger was visible.
"May I ask your honorable name?"
...
...
Not far outside the exchange.
"My luck's amazing today—just stepped out and I found a target to assassinate." Kakuzu swung a bloodied head by its hair and smiled with satisfaction.
That filthy head would soon become a stack of white banknotes—just thinking about it excited him…
At that moment, Kakuzu saw a group of nearly naked people sprinting franticly toward where he stood; in the blink of an eye they passed him by.
"What's going on?"
A prudent man couldn't help but warn, "Don't go to the exchange—someone robbed it and took all our money!"
Having said that, he hurried away with his underwear clutched.
"A robbery at the exchange?" Kakuzu's eyes lit up.
Doesn't that mean—
If he killed the robbers, the money would be his?!
Kakuzu was the best at black-eat-black schemes.
Judging by how miserable that group looked, the robbers had been ruthless!
They'd even left people in only their underwear…