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The nearly joking tone of her words did not stir any emotion in Ye Zi. Although Moko was serious when she said it, it was only because she didn't yet know the amount of money involved that she could be so flippant.
Calmly, Ye Zi looked at Moko and said, "I need 10 billion ryo."
Moko's cheerful expression gradually faded with that figure.
The Kumokawa family was indeed wealthy, but even for such a family, one billion ryo was no small amount—it was enough to strain their resources. Moko had thought that Ye Zi's request for a large sum might break the usual reward framework, perhaps reaching ten or even a hundred times the norm. That wouldn't have been a problem. But hearing this amount from Ye Zi now seemed utterly absurd.
Taking a deep breath, she looked seriously at Ye Zi's ever-calm expression and said, "What do you think I need right now that could justify that kind of amount?"
"This will be a long-term deal, of course. You don't need to deliver the funds all at once. You can do it in installments, by the billion," Ye Zi nodded. He knew the Yunhe family was very wealthy, and since he was familiar with Moko, he was determined to push for this.
Moko couldn't help rubbing her temples, feeling a bit helpless. Her earlier lighthearted mood of teasing Ye Zi had completely vanished. She understood now: from the moment Ye Zi arrived, it was clear he wouldn't be polite. His purpose here was obvious from the start—to carve out a large piece of the Kumokawa family's wealth at minimal cost, and she couldn't resist it.
According to confirmed reports, the Little White Fang of Konoha was dead, but the fact was, Ye Zi wasn't dead. Not only had he survived, but he had hidden his identity, not returned to Konoha, and now came to her asking for a huge sum of money.
There was a lot she could do with this information. She could even leak the news to Konoha, and all her problems might be solved.
But she would never do that, because it would be foolish.
Her mind quickly spun, and she swiftly came to terms with the situation. She began thinking about how to maximize the value of the ten billion ryo she was about to spend.
In her view, since Ye Zi had named that amount, it was already decided that the money would be spent. There was no room for negotiation.
"It's not that easy to mobilize such a large sum of money. I can only give you one billion at a time," Moko tilted her head slightly, looking up at Ye Zi, who was more than a head taller than her.
"Fine." A faint smile suddenly appeared on Ye Zi's otherwise expressionless face.
Seeing that smile, Moko was slightly startled—it seemed… she had never seen Ye Zi smile before.
"I've agreed to give you the money, but what can you do for me in return?" Moko asked calmly, suppressing her surprise.
Ye Zi's smile faded, and he answered in a low voice, "Of course... I'll kill for you."
To make the most of that much money, was there any other way besides murder?
In her heart, Moko would have preferred for Ye Zi to stay and protect her instead, but she knew better than to ask. It wasn't something that even needed to be spoken; she knew it was impossible.
Exchanging such a large sum of money for assassination was inherently an unfair deal, but Moko had no choice but to accept it.
"We can discuss the specifics of how to transfer the funds later. Since you can only kill for me, go ahead and kill someone now," Moko said, looking at Ye Zi with eyes as deep as ghostly flames, a melancholy melting away in the fire.
"Who?" Ye Zi asked.
"My dear father," Moko replied.
Ye Zi, with his usual calm expression, agreed without hesitation.
....
The next day, after discussing the method of fund transfer, Ye Zi left Kyoto. Everything that happened last night was just a trivial matter.
The first batch of funds was settled. Even if Nagato needed more in the future, Ye Zi wouldn't waste time on such matters.
After reuniting with White Zetsu, they returned together to Amegakure, the Village Hidden by Rain.
Since Hanzo's death, Nagato had taken full control of Amegakure and started the village's first reform plan.
Was this to create a barrier to rival the other ninja villages?
Ye Zi could only align his thoughts with Nagato's initial steps in this way.
Amegakure was in a weakened state due to its conflict with Akatsuki, so weak that it wasn't worth paying attention to. Training another generation of usable rain shinobi would require considerable time and effort.
So, instead of gathering wealth to rebuild the village, Ye Zi believed it was more important to gather manpower first. Collecting the Tailed Beasts was no task for an individual; the villages they would face were too powerful.
The priority was collecting the Tailed Beasts. That was why Ye Zi had taken the most straightforward approach to help Nagato achieve his first goal, to speed up the process of collecting the Tailed Beasts.
To put it bluntly, Nagato wasn't a pawn he was controlling; Ye Zi was merely guiding him to accelerate the collection of the Tailed Beasts.
After that, gathering more manpower would be a relatively difficult task, but definitely easier than spending time and effort building Amegakure.
Threats? Bribes? Or would some join voluntarily?
In any case, for Ye Zi to stay in the Land of Rain and watch the village's reconstruction process was a waste of time.
So, with the excuse of seeking manpower, Ye Zi left Amegakure again shortly after returning, this time without bringing White Zetsu.
Based on the intelligence White Zetsu provided, only the Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails was roaming freely; the other Jinchuriki were all under the control of the great ninja villages.
Ye Zi was eager to start collecting the Tailed Beasts, but since Nagato hadn't initiated the process, there wasn't much he could do. After all, only Nagato could summon the Gedo Statue, so the collection of Tailed Beasts had to follow Nagato's lead.
Since he couldn't collect the Tailed Beasts yet, Ye Zi decided to find manpower instead. His first target was the black market, a place full of bounty hunters.
If he was going to use bribes to recruit talent, the black market was the best place to go.
He arrived alone at the black market bounty station, leaning against a corner, silently observing the people coming and going.
His cloak and wide-brimmed hat, which concealed all his physical features, didn't attract any attention, as such attire was common in the underground world.
As he quietly watched the bounty hunters, none of them impressed him. Most were weak, and after spending most of the day there, this pattern didn't change.
"Did I come to the wrong place?"
He had thought that the black market, where bounty hunters were active for years, would have some strong individuals. But to his surprise, they were all weaker than the rogue ninjas from the major villages.
"It seems there's no suitable talent here. I guess I'll have to visit some notorious rogue ninjas next."
With that thought, he was preparing to leave the bounty station when he noticed a tall figure entering through the door.
Like Ye Zi, the newcomer was dressed in a black cloak, with a black mask covering his face, revealing only a pair of pupil-less eyes—it was Kakuzu.
"At least their is one," Ye Zi muttered as he gazed at Kakuzu, realizing that this trip hadn't been entirely in vain.
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Currently on Chapter 221 - A Reunion that Defied Logic