"Spare me, I beg you! I'll give you all my money to save my life, as long as you're willing to spare me."
Corpses were strewn across the ground. Only the team's leader remained, groveling for his life.
"Fine," Uchiha Nagi said calmly. "I keep my word. As long as the money you give is sufficient, I will let you go."
This was the third bounty hunting squad that had tried to ambush him. Although Uchiha Nagi was in disguise, the black market network wasn't useless. Through various pieces of intelligence, they had deduced that he was in the Land of Iron.
So, there were always people coming to the Land of Iron to try their luck. And since Uchiha Nagi himself had been quite active in the black market lately, it was only natural that he'd run into them. This particular squad didn't know for sure if he was the wanted Uchiha Nagi, but they figured he had to be a high-value rogue ninja. And so, they courted death.
"Yes, yes, it's here!"
The leader frantically took out a scroll. Fearing Nagi would suspect a trap, he opened it himself, revealing seven or eight chests filled with cash.
"You can go. I keep my word," Uchiha Nagi said flatly.
"Thank you, thank you, my lord!" The bounty squad leader kowtowed several times and then ran, glancing back repeatedly as if worried Nagi would go back on his word.
Not long after he fled, an explosion ripped through the area.
BOOM!
A series of small mushroom clouds rose from where Uchiha Nagi had been standing. The bounty hunter, who had just been scrambling for his life, returned to the scene, laughing maniacally.
"Hahahaha, you utter fool! I hid a massive number of explosive tags in the money! That's what you get for being greedy!"
At that moment, a figure with black hair and black eyes appeared silently behind him.
Pfft!
Simple and direct. A single stab through the heart. The bounty hunter fell, a look of disbelief on his face, as if his dying thought was, Why weren't you blown to bits?
"You've got guts, I'll give you that. If I didn't have space-time ninjutsu, you might have actually succeeded."
Uchiha Nagi sighed in admiration. This bounty hunter was really something else. He had just blown up tens of millions of ryo without a second thought. Truly ruthless.
Nagi had genuinely intended to spare him. He never would have thought that a huge pile of money would be hiding explosive tags. He only noticed them the instant they were about to detonate. But no matter how fast an explosion was, it couldn't be faster than the Flying Thunder God. He had dodged it easily with a single space-time jump.
"Although the money is burned, your heads should be worth a little something."
After cleaning up, he packed the bodies of the ninja—who knew what their bounties were—into a storage scroll and headed toward the black market.
"Customer, be careful on your way out. A lot of unknown individuals have shown up at the Land of Iron's black market lately. They often wait outside the trading posts."
"Alright, I understand."
Uchiha Nagi nodded and counted his money. Tsk, not even a million. These ninja weren't worth much.
The black market only protected customers who were inside making trades. It wasn't responsible for what happened to them after they left. So, it wasn't strange that people liked to wait outside. But the recent influx was mainly because word had gotten out that Uchiha Nagi, with his two-hundred-million-ryo bounty, had appeared in the Land of Iron.
Damn that Third Hokage. He had raised the bounty again. Using Konoha's money to publicly avenge his son—didn't that count as misappropriation of public funds?
Still, skill begets boldness. If anyone dared to ambush him outside, he didn't mind cleaning up their corpses and making another trip back into the black market.
"Hm? There are actually some who aren't afraid to die?"
Just as he stepped out of the black market, Uchiha Nagi's brow furrowed. Someone was spying on him from the shadows. Since awakening his Mangekyo, his spiritual energy had become incredibly powerful. He could feel it whenever someone was watching him.
He quietly used his Seventh Form's spatial awareness to check. Two chakra signatures were watching him from the shadows. To Nagi's surprise, the two of them didn't seem to be planning an ambush or a trap. Instead, they were running straight toward him.
Hm?!
As they got closer, Uchiha Nagi realized they were familiar faces.
"It's you! What do you want with me?"
One had emerald-green eyes and long, crossed, brown curly hair that covered her right eye. The other had activated an eye that looked like a white cataract, with veins bulging around it.
It was none other than Mei Terumi and Ao from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their purpose for this trip, it seemed, was to find him.
"Mr. Nagi, we do indeed have business with you. How about we find another place to talk?" Ao glanced at Uchiha Nagi a few times and then nodded at Mei, seemingly confirming his identity, before deactivating his Byakugan.
Uchiha Nagi thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
He followed them to an empty clearing. Ao took out a storage scroll and opened it, revealing several kunai inscribed with jutsu formulas.
"Apologies. This matter is of great importance, so we must set up a barrier before we can speak. If you are uneasy, you can inspect it first. This barrier is only for soundproofing and defense. It is absolutely not a trap."
Ao openly handed the kunai and scroll for the barrier to Uchiha Nagi for inspection, but Nagi shook his head.
"That's unnecessary. You must have gotten my intel from the black market. With the Flying Thunder God Technique, no barrier can hold me."
A simple barrier like this certainly couldn't trap a space-time ninjutsu. Unless it was one of the Sage of Six Paths' ninja tools, like the one that killed Tobirama, which could likely seal space itself. Or a self-destructing technique, like the Four Symbols Seal that Danzo used.
Ao nodded in admiration. He planted the four kunai, activated his Byakugan to scan the surroundings, and then placed his hand on the scroll. As he channeled his chakra, a purple barrier, just like the one the Sound Four used, spread out around them. Ao finally let out a sigh of relief.
"My apologies for speaking with you in this manner. To be honest, we came for a specific reason. I heard you've been working as a bounty hunter in the black market recently?"
Uchiha Nagi smiled. "You can just say what's on your mind."
Mei, standing to the side, couldn't hold back any longer. Just like her abilities, she was fiery and impatient. "We want to hire you for a job. The price is negotiable!"
Ao was a little speechless. My lady, you have to ease into it. That's not how you do business.
"Ahem. The thing is, we happened to hear that you were short on cash recently, Mr. Nagi, and were taking jobs at the black market. And we just so happen to have a matter that requires the help of a powerful individual. We remembered our previous encounter with you, so we wanted to see if you were available."
Uchiha Nagi's interest was piqued. "Oh? Of course, I'm available. I wonder what kind of mission would require a great ninja village like the Village Hidden in the Mist to hire outside help?"
In truth, Uchiha Nagi already had a good idea, but he would wait for Ao to say it himself.
Mei blurted out impatiently, "Assassinate the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi. I wonder if you dare to take on such a mission?"
Ao stopped her from saying more. "Mei! Don't speak. Let me talk to Mr. Nagi."
"Last time, the intelligence you gave us, Mr. Nagi, we have confirmed it. The Fourth Mizukage is indeed being controlled by an enemy's genjutsu. But whether it was his intention or not, the fact is that he has been harming the village for years. The people of the Mist have reached their breaking point."
"Therefore, it's not enough for him to simply step down. He must pay the price, to comfort the spirits of our fallen comrades."
Uchiha Nagi's lips curved into a smile. "I'm afraid there's another reason. Yagura Karatachi is too powerful. He is a perfect jinchuriki. If he holds a grudge and seeks revenge on you in the future, I doubt anyone would be able to sleep peacefully. So, besides stepping down, he must also die. Only a dead man can put your minds at ease, am I right?"
Ao decided to be frank. "That's correct. Yagura is a jinchuriki. No one can feel safe leaving a Tailed Beast in the hands of a deposed Mizukage. No one can guarantee that after he's freed from the genjutsu, he won't harbor resentment over being forced from his position. So, he must die. Only when he is dead can everyone be at peace."
The reason Ao dared to be so open about such a momentous matter—the assassination of their own Mizukage—with an outsider was that the information about Yagura being controlled by genjutsu had come from Uchiha Nagi himself.
Therefore, hiring any other ninja ran the risk of an information leak. But hiring Uchiha Nagi to help assassinate the Fourth Mizukage was the safest option, because he was the source of the intelligence.
Plus, his reputation had skyrocketed recently. He had wreaked havoc in the Land of Fire, killed the Hokage's son, and mastered the Flying Thunder God space-time ninjutsu. Having a Mangekyo user who could use space-time ninjutsu on their side would greatly increase their chances of killing the Fourth Mizukage.
When the roof is leaking, someone delivers an umbrella?
Uchiha Nagi had just been agonizing over whether to go back to the Land of Wind to capture Shukaku or to go to Takigakure to capture the Seven-Tails. Which soft target should he choose? And now someone was delivering a Tailed Beast right to his doorstep.
Why am I even considering it? The Fourth Mizukage it is. He could accept their commission, earn a huge sum of money, and "borrow" a Tailed Beast to forge his sword.
Still, he couldn't agree too readily.
"I'll take this mission. I wonder how much you're planning to pay?" Uchiha Nagi said with a serious expression.
"Really? That's great! We are willing to offer three hundred million," Mei said happily.
The price was actually quite fair. The Hokage's son, Asuma, was worth thirty million. A Mizukage was worth ten times that. Three hundred million was a very reasonable price.
But—
Uchiha Nagi narrowed his eyes, revealing a wide, toothy grin.
"Not enough. You have to add more."
Ao: "..."
Mei continued, "How much more?"
"Five hundred million."
Ao reached out a hand to stop Mei. This young lady, who had grown up in a major clan, had no concept of the cost of living. She didn't run the household, so she didn't know the value of money.
But to his surprise, Mei stopped him first. "Uncle Ao, say no more. Compared to money, it is more important for the Mist Village to end its current tragic state. As long as we can resolve the Yagura situation quickly, restore peace to the village, and stop the bloodshed of our comrades, what's a little more money?"
She turned to Uchiha Nagi. "We agree. Five hundred million."