"Damn it!"
The Scarred Man stared intently at Ren, trying with all his might to bring his hands together to form a hand seal, but found himself completely unable to move.
"Don't struggle. Since you chose to assassinate us, you should be prepared to be counter-killed."
Ren said coldly, while using his free right hand to take out the Thunder God Sword from his waist. Under the other party's surprised gaze, he inserted the hilt into the water sphere.
"Goodbye."
Ren said softly, while injecting Chakra into the Thunder God Sword. A sword blade shimmering with electric arcs suddenly appeared, piercing directly through the other party's chest.
"Ugh!"
The Scarred Man's eyes widened, and the pain from his chest made his entire body tremble. But after a moment, he stopped trembling and lost his life in the water sphere.
Ren retracted the Thunder God Sword and pulled his left hand out of the water sphere. The water sphere then dispersed, and the Scarred Man's corpse fell to the ground.
Ren didn't waste time and immediately turned to run to the side.
Not far away, in an open space, the Muscular man was fighting Mori.
They exchanged blows, one with a knife, the other with a punch, making it difficult to determine a winner for a while.
"Damn it, that guy is really useless!"
The Muscular man looked at Ren, who was flying over, a look of shock and anger on his face.
He truly didn't expect that Scarred Man, a dignified Jonin, would be killed in just a few moves. With himself left to face these two, there was no chance of winning at all.
Seeing Ren already charging close, the Muscular man immediately became unsettled. After blocking Mori's knife, he immediately retreated, while shouting at the two of them.
"Wait!"
"Hmm?"
Ren and the other man were just about to press forward and take down the opponent in one go, but upon hearing the other party speak, they immediately stopped their steps. They then silently watched the opponent, while tightly gripping their weapons, ready to launch an attack at any moment.
"I say, gentlemen, you can take all these guys to exchange for bounty. How about letting me leave?"
The Muscular man narrowed his eyes, smiling ingratiatingly at the two.
"Hmm? Weren't you also here to assassinate us? Now you just throw out a sentence and want to leave? Wouldn't it be better if we kept you and exchanged you for bounty too?"
Ren scoffed, looking at the other party as if he were an idiot.
"Are you two so sure you can keep me?"
The Muscular man scanned the surroundings, then organized his thoughts before speaking in a deep voice.
"The strength of us three is quite similar. If we continue to fight, it will only result in both sides being injured. And I'm confident that before you kill me, I can drag one of you down with me, and we'll die together!"
"Uh…"
Ren was stunned, then looked at Mori, who was also a bit conflicted, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
The opponent's strength was indeed good; he could fight Mori, whose strength had already reached that of an elite Jonin, back and forth.
If a master of this level used his ultimate skills, even if he couldn't kill them, seriously injuring them wouldn't be worth it.
"Of course."
The Muscular man was very good at reading people. Noticing their hesitation, he quickly continued.
"To apologize to you two, I am willing to offer four million as compensation. I hope you two will let bygones be bygones."
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Ren's eyes immediately lit up. He turned and exchanged glances with Mori, instantly understanding the other party's meaning.
Ren turned his head and said to the other party with a troubled expression.
"Four million Ryo, that's very difficult for us!"
Seeing Ren rub his two fingers back and forth in front of him, the Muscular man immediately understood his meaning, and his heart couldn't help but ache.
One must know that his total assets were only about ten million Ryo, and half of it would be emptied in one go, which was truly a bit hard to accept.
But to save his life, he still gritted his teeth and said to the two in a deep voice.
"I'll add another one million Ryo. This is all my savings. If it's still not enough, then let's continue fighting!"
"Okay, deal!"
"..."
To the Muscular man's surprise, Ren immediately agreed, and this move instantly silenced the former.
"Alright, pay up."
Ren said cheerfully. The Muscular man had no choice but to rummage in his bosom for a long time, finally pulling out five banknotes and handing them to Ren with a pained expression.
"Hmm, please wait a moment."
Ren quickly took the banknotes and began to verify their authenticity. After confirming, he quickly put them away, waiting until all the money was in hand before distributing it equally with Mori.
"Alright, big brother, you can go now."
"Thank you, both of you!"
Upon hearing Ren's reply, the Muscular man immediately turned and hurried away into the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief, finally having saved his life.
Watching the other party's retreating figure, Ren shouted.
"Take care, big brother, we'll meet again next time!"
The Muscular man, upon hearing this, suddenly paused his steps, then immediately ran faster into the distance, disappearing into the jungle with a few Instantaneous Body Techniques.
"Sigh, people nowadays are really…"
Ren scratched his head, then turned around and looked at the few people still sleeping in the feathers not far away, saying with a light laugh.
"Since you chose to be a Bounty Hunter, you should always be prepared to be counter-killed.
You, you chose the wrong target."
The most cunning Bounty Hunter often appears as the prey.
...
"Welcome, hmm?"
Looking at the two people he had just received, the man was silent for a moment, but still asked softly.
"May I ask if you two have something to do at the Exchange again?"
"Of course we do."
Ren grinned, and he and Mori turned sideways together, revealing five or six corpses tied together behind them, and said to the other party.
"We're here to exchange for some bounty and buy some intelligence."
"Alright, please come in."
Although the man was somewhat surprised, he did not lose his composure. He turned and led the two inside.
A moment later, Ren and the other man arrived at the familiar hall again, but the hall was empty at this time. It was clear that everyone had followed Ren and the other man out just now, and now they had all returned in a different way.
"Please help me see how much these guys are worth, thank you."
Ren placed the corpses on the counter and nodded to the other party.
There were a total of seven people who came to assassinate Ren and the others. Aside from the Muscular man and the Scarred Man, who were Jonin, the others were all Chunin-level individuals, otherwise they wouldn't have been taken down by Ren's single genjutsu.
According to Ren's estimate, these guys combined should be worth around four to five million.
After a set procedure, the man reported the total price of the individuals to Ren: four million eight hundred thousand Ryo.
Although the Scarred Man was a Jonin, his strength was at the bottom among Jonin, so his bounty was only three million Ryo, while the others ranged from several hundred thousand.
However, Ren didn't care about such small amounts anymore. After receiving the money, he continued to ask the man.
"Excuse me, I want to find someone's whereabouts and get in touch with him. How much will that cost?"
The man, hearing that there was business, immediately said without thinking.
"This needs to be estimated based on the difficulty of the target you are looking for. Please first state the person you want to find."
Their Exchange was equivalent to the Ninja World's underground black market. Besides issuing bounties, buying and selling intelligence was even more common.
"I'm looking for…"
Ren looked at the other party and said in a deep voice.
"Kakuzu!"