After Sora left, Raiga immediately suggested, "Jindai, our food has been terrible these days. We'll have two million ryō soon. Let's go have a good meal!"
Yahiko agreed enthusiastically, "That makes sense! Let's go!"
After returning to Konoha, Sora took out two million ryō from his personal treasury, then wrote a note asking his Summoning creature to go to Tanshu Street and deliver the money to Yahiko and the others.
Three days later.
Three figures that barely resembled human beings were sprawled across a bench on Tanshu Street.
These three questionable human beings were none other than Yahiko, Yakura, and Raiga.
Three days ago.
After Sora departed, Yahiko and his two companions went directly to a high-end sushi restaurant to celebrate the imminent arrival of two million ryō in organizational funds.
After the three ate and drank to their hearts' content, they spent a full 10,000 ryō.
The money Sora had given them, plus what Yahiko had on him, totaled only 11,000 ryō.
One meal had cost them 10,000 ryō.
The three of them had only the last 1,000 ryō left in their pockets.
When Yahiko and his companions emerged from the sushi restaurant, they were all shocked.
It normally takes two days to travel from Tanshu Street to Konoha, four days round trip, or three days if one hurries.
In other words, it would take at least three days before they could receive more funds, so they needed to make this thousand ryō last.
But the cheapest bowl of ramen on Tanshu Street costs 100 ryō. Three meals a day for three people would cost 900 ryō daily. With only a thousand ryō in their pockets, they could barely survive for one day, meaning they would have to starve for two days.
In reality, if these three were truly desperate—for example, if they shared a single bowl of noodles—they might manage to last three days.
But Tanshu Street was most famous for its casinos.
So the three decided to try their luck, transforming their situation from bad to potentially better by heading straight to the casino.
However, the result was obvious; otherwise, the three wouldn't be lying on the bench like piles of mud.
If it weren't for the Summoning beast they were waiting for from Sora, all three would have gone hunting for food.
Yakura stroked his hungry belly and asked, "Hey, Jindai, when will the leader's funds arrive?"
Yahiko replied weakly, "I don't know~"
Raiga said listlessly, "Hurry up, Shenshiro."
Yahiko sighed, "I contacted him and he said the Summoning beast is already on the way and can't move any faster. He seems suspicious. I'm worried we'll get scolded~"
Raiga said sadly, "I was once an Elite Jōnin of Kirigakure, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and yet here I am in such a pathetic situation. What a huge fall from grace."
Yahiko and Yakura sighed in unison.
At that moment, a sinister voice spoke up: "You three useless-looking men are companions of Lord Sora?"
Yahiko, Yakura, and Raiga suddenly jumped up from the bench, their eyes emitting a faint green light as they stared at the small green snake on the ground.
The green snake, seeing their glowing eyes, felt a wave of panic and took a step back.
"Why are you three losers looking at me like that?"
Yahiko grabbed the little green snake and demanded, "Are you Sora's Summoning beast? Give us the money quickly!"
The little green snake twisted frantically in Yahiko's grasp. "Let me go, you yellow-haired waste!"
Yakura said quietly, "Snakes... should be edible, right?"
Raiga swallowed audibly. "Yes, I've eaten snake before. It tastes very good!"
Large question marks appeared in the little green snake's eyes.
It finally understood that these three were desperate enough to eat it.
However, being a snake... it knew how to handle the situation: "No! I'm here to give you money! If you eat me, the money will be gone!"
Yahiko and his companions snapped back to reality and hurriedly placed the little green snake on the ground. They smiled apologetically as if they were addressing an esteemed elder: "Why would we want to eat you? It's just a misunderstanding. Where's the money? Please give us the money quickly."
"Wait!"
The belly of the little green snake squirmed uncomfortably. "Ugh~"
The little snake regurgitated a slimy scroll and said, "The money is in this scroll, you three big fools who wanted to eat me!"
Before Yahiko and the others could react, the little green snake transformed into smoke and disappeared.
Yahiko and his companions stood stunned for a moment.
"Did we just get insulted by a snake?"
"It wasn't just now—it called us trash from the beginning."
"This is too much!"
The three felt aggrieved, but there was nothing they could do.
After finishing its barrage of insults, the little green snake had returned directly to Ryūchi Cave.
Yahiko and his companions couldn't vent their frustration even if they wanted to.
But...
Yahiko and the others looked at the sticky scroll on the ground with gleaming eyes.
Ignoring the slimy residue on the scroll, Yahiko opened it and released the seal.
A large amount of money appeared from within.
Yahiko, Yakura, and Raiga all chuckled with delight.
However, they were still on a public street, and the money emerging from the scroll attracted considerable attention.
There were many thugs on Tanshu Street. Seeing so much money, they slowly gathered around like jackals that had caught the scent of meat.
When Raiga noticed a man trying to grab some of the money, he pulled out his thunder blade, Thunder Ya, and slashed at him with lightning crackling all over his body.
Fortunately, Raiga didn't truly intend to harm anyone; otherwise, that person's hand would have vanished.
Raiga spoke with murderous intent, "Whoever dares to touch this money, I will personally arrange their funeral!"
The people around realized that Raiga was not someone to be trifled with, so they all backed away to avoid trouble.
Meanwhile, Yahiko and Yakura had already collected all the money.
With funds secured, Yahiko, Yakura, and Raiga stood up straight and declared confidently, "Let's go! Let's go eat! And eat well!"
...
In Konoha.
Uzumaki Kushina asked Sora, "What's wrong? Why do you look so troubled?"
Sora forced a smile. "I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling."
Uzumaki Kushina sat beside Sora and whispered, "Is it about your organization? Didn't you say those three are quite strong? There should be no need to worry, right?"
Because he had promised Kushina not to hide anything anymore, Sora had already told her about the Owl Organization and his recent trip to Tanshu Street.
Sora shook his head. "I'm not worried about their strength. What concerns me is that they might spend money recklessly."
"Not long after I left Tanshu Street, Yahiko contacted me through the ring and asked when the money would arrive. But I had just given them more than 8,000 ryō and explained that if they were careful, it should last three or four days. He shouldn't have been in such a hurry to contact me."
"So I suspect they probably spent all the money immediately, which is why they were so desperate to reach me."
Uzumaki Kushina smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, maybe you're just being overly concerned."
Sora nodded and said, "Well, perhaps. After all, apart from Yahiko, Yakura and Raiga seem quite reliable."
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