Konan and the others moved very quickly.
In just two days, they traveled through three countries: the Land of Wind, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Fire.
They targeted the Bounty Stations in these three countries and five border cities, accumulating 500 million ryo in total.
Of course, Hidan made sure to reclaim the handling fee too.
However, Konan didn't allow Hidan to steal any other money that wasn't part of Danzo's bounty.
This is what you could call "even thieves have a code of conduct."
Managers of the Bounty Stations: "You're such a nice person!"
When Black Zetsu, who was handling other matters, heard that Konan had robbed the Bounty Stations of 500 million ryo, he was completely shocked.
What's happening?
Could it be that the Akatsuki organization is now in such a desperate situation?
Do they really need to resort to fraud to secure funds?
The worst part is that the Bounty Stations are actually run by Black Zetsu.
Why are these Bounty Stations always so well-informed?
Isn't it because of Black Zetsu?
With all the White Zetsu it controls, gathering and selling information for money isn't too much of a stretch, right?
Konan's actions really infuriated him.
What is this? Stealing from your own people?
Of course, Black Zetsu couldn't directly question Konan.
After all, the Bounty Station managers had no idea.
Not only them, but no one in the entire ninja world, except for maybe two or three people in the Bounty Station, knew Black Zetsu's true identity.
But just because it couldn't question Konan doesn't mean it couldn't try to address the issue in other ways.
Remember, the Akatsuki organization is a gathering place for S-rank rogue ninjas.
What if Konan runs out of money one day and again comes along to swindle him again? That would be unacceptable.
"Konan, I heard you brought in a lot of money for the organization."
After returning to the Hidden Rain Village, Black Zetsu immediately sought out Konan.
At that moment, Konan was in the process of returning the Naraka Path to Nagato.
Because the Six Paths of Pain can't stray too far from Nagato, Konan didn't involve him in this money-gathering mission.
First of all, Nagato has difficulty moving.
Secondly, she only needs Danzo as a "prop." Whether this "prop" can move or not won't affect her next steps.
"Where did you hear that?"
Konan was just as cautious of Zetsu as she was of the masked man.
In the entire Akatsuki organization, there were only two people she couldn't stand.
Besides the masked man, Black Zetsu was one of them.
"Hehe, the whole ninja world is talking about how a female ninja is using Danzo's body to scam people for money."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes."
Konan showed a bit of regret, realizing she might need to lay low for a while.
Unfortunately, she still wanted to use Hidan's head to continue scamming for money.
Hidan's bounty isn't as high as Danzo's 100 million, but it's still at least 20 or 30 million.
Even if she pulls off a few more scams, it would still add up to a lot of money.
What a pity.
Seeing Konan's regretful expression, Black Zetsu's face darkened.
Luckily, it's naturally black, so no matter how ugly its expression is, others can't see it.
Black Zetsu thought: I need to find something to distract them, or I don't know when my little stash of money will be in trouble again.
Noticing that Black Zetsu hadn't left yet, Konan couldn't help but ask, "Is there something else you need?"
"Of course, I need to talk to Pain."
"Alright, follow me."
Konan brought Black Zetsu to meet Deva Path atop a tall tower.
"Pain, I need to talk to you about something."
"Hm?" Pain turned his head to face Black Zetsu and replied, "Go ahead, say what you need to."
Instead of getting straight to the point, Black Zetsu began indirectly, "Pain, don't you think something strange has been happening with Konoha recently?"
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it—consider the long-standing friendship between the Third Hokage and Danzo. What could have caused Danzo to defect from Konoha despite their bond?"
Black Zetsu's words made both Konan and Pain pause in thought.
Yes, the Third Hokage and Danzo Shimura had been allies for decades. According to the information they had, even when Danzo attempted to assassinate the Third Hokage, the punishment was light. Instead of a severe consequence, Danzo was simply told to reflect on his actions in isolation.
Isn't that hardly a punishment at all? When you think about it, Danzo's defection does seem odd.
But now that Danzo is dead and in the Pure Land, it's impossible to extract any more information from him.
"Black Zetsu, you're the organization's intelligence officer, so I'll leave this matter in your hands."
Black Zetsu was shocked: "???"
No way! I was just trying to give you something to think about, not take on a task myself! This is so frustrating!
They've already taken my resources, and now they want me to do more work. Life is truly unbearable.
But at this stage, Black Zetsu couldn't afford to turn against them. It still needed Nagato and the Akatsuki to help capture the tailed beasts.
"Fine, fine," it reluctantly agreed.
Of course, Black Zetsu had no intention of investigating on its own. Instead, it would send a few White Zetsu to handle it. After all, White Zetsu's spore technique was incredibly stealthy.
This mission seemed just right.
Two days later, in Konoha Village, Senju Tobirama was bidding farewell to Jiraiya and the others.
"Make sure you take the issue with White Zetsu seriously," Tobirama said.
"Don't worry, Second Hokage. We won't take it lightly," Jiraiya reassured him.
"Alright, everyone. See you next month," Tobirama said, ending the conversation.
During this time-travel mission, Senju Tobirama gained a lot of knowledge.
Not only did he trade cloning technology data for Orochimaru's technical parameters, but he also exchanged information and experimental data on White Zetsu, as well as a few Seal Tags to detect White Zetsu's possession, for Orochimaru's Forbidden Jutsu, the "Living Corpse Reincarnation."
He had been interested in this forbidden technique for a long time but didn't have anything valuable to trade for it until now.
With the resources he had gathered, he made the exchange immediately.
This was also why he set a five-day deadline for the time-travel mission. He wanted to use these five days to conduct more experiments on White Zetsu, so he could eventually use it for the Living Corpse Reincarnation.
During this time, he also secretly visited the cemetery where the village heroes were buried and collected some of Rin Nohara's tissue samples.
Tobirama thought, *I've gained a lot from this.*
Orochimaru didn't lose out either. White Zetsu was an excellent subject for experiments. When Orochimaru learned that White Zetsu contained Hashirama's cells, his interest grew even more.
"Jiraiya, Sarutobi-sensei, I'm heading back to the lab. Don't bother me unless it's important."
With Senju Tobirama and his group having traveled back in time, Orochimaru no longer needed to stay in the office.
He greeted Jiraiya and the Third Hokage, grabbed three more Seal Tags, and left the Hokage's office.
"Old man, the ninja world is getting more dangerous these days."
"Yeah."
The Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya, and the Third Hokage were well aware of the money scam that was making headlines in the ninja world.
Along with that, they knew about Danzo's death.
They were familiar with Danzo's strength. Even without counting the Sharingan and Izanagi, he was at least as strong as a jonin.
With the Sharingan and Izanagi, even if he couldn't win, he could always escape.
They found it hard to believe that someone as powerful as Danzo had died so quietly. They didn't even know who had killed him, only that it was likely a woman.
"We haven't figured out the truth behind Danzo's death yet, and now White Zetsu shows up. It's a real headache."
"Isn't that the truth?"
The two sat at their desks, silently analyzing the situation in the ninja world.
After a while, Jiraiya couldn't take it anymore.
Frustrated, he scratched his head and looked at the Seal Tag papers on the table. Without thinking much, he picked one up and slapped it onto himself.
"Jiraiya, what are you doing?"
"It's fine. I just want to see how this Seal Tag works."
"Didn't Lord Tobirama say that this Seal Tag is only for detecting if someone is possessed by White Zetsu? You're not possessed, so it won't show anything. What? Are you actually possessed?"
Under the Third Hokage's shocked gaze, a pale figure slowly crawled out of Jiraiya's body.
White Zetsu: "Surprise, Mother Faker!"
[Note: In the original story, it's unclear who the boss of the Bounty Station is, so we'll assume here that it's Black Zetsu.]
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