The tremors inside the daimyō's estate rumbled for half an hour before finally settling. From afar, the entire mansion was shrouded in a thick purple poison mist, and the torrents of water had reduced the once-grand compound into a swamp-like ruin.
There were a few capable fighters in the estate—but none who could withstand Hanzō. He dispatched them effortlessly.
Once the mist settled, Hanzō probed the area with Sage Mode. Only after confirming that no living being remained did he turn to leave.
With this, the entire daimyō's lineage—the household, the guards, the attendants—had been wiped out to the last person.
In the underground escape tunnel, muffled footsteps approached. A shadow clone sat casually atop two corpses, flipping through a small booklet in boredom. When it sensed the original approaching, it snapped the book shut.
"So assassination no longer suits me… letting him escape for even a moment."
Hanzō shook his head as he stepped into the tunnel. "Good thing I used to work security for the Land of Rain daimyō. Otherwise, he really would've escaped."
The clone dispersed in a cloud of white smoke. A surge of memories flooded into Hanzō's mind.
"Ah… I almost forgot. The daimyō's bounty is no joke—and his estate should contain plenty of valuables. Good thing that fool mentioned something before dying… the secret chamber in the main hall. Let's find it."
He extended Sage Chakra through the ruins.
Within moments, he located a hidden room buried underground.
Inside were shelves lined with scrolls, chest after chest stacked neatly, to the point the spacious chamber felt cramped.
More than two hundred scrolls—missions ranging from C-rank to A-rank, and even two S-rank techniques:
After clearing the entire chamber, Hanzō sighed.
"With just the resources in this one room, you could found a village the size of Grass. The difference really is… depressing."
"At least there were plenty of storage scrolls. Otherwise I wouldn't even be able to carry everything."
By the time he finished loading the scrolls, the underground space was nearly empty. Seeing the towers of scrolls packed into sealing tags made him grin with genuine delight.
"Oh—right. The princes and other heirs."
And so, Hanzō made sure to search all the corpses as well…
Only when the sun rose did he finally finish dealing with the entire estate, having created several shadow clones along the way to speed things up.
"Summoning Jutsu."
Ibuse, the giant salamander, emerged.
Hanzō tossed an avalanche of storage scrolls into its maw.
"Take these back to the Ame."
Ibuse gave a low grunt and burrowed into the earth, heading toward Land of Rain.
Hanzō then looked down at the two bodies beneath his feet: the daimyō of the Land of Earth, and a traitorous samurai from the Land of Iron.
"Shame his heirs weren't worth a bounty yet. Could've made even more."
"Well then—time to visit the underground exchange."
Dragging both corpses, Hanzō set off toward the nearest bounty exchange.
If he wanted the world to believe that Ame had become a merciless, unhinged force—one that would rather shatter itself than submit—then acts like these were absolutely necessary.
Only by instilling fear could the Five Great Nations understand the drawbacks of provoking the Land of Rain.
And if one day they truly attempted to wipe out Amegakure… they would have to consider the possibility that some Ame ninja—and Hanzō of the Salamander himself—might escape.
As long as he lived, the heads of daimyō and Kage alike would never rest easy.
Before he realized it, he had already arrived at the exchange—a shabby hut tucked beside a tiny outhouse in the forest.
He placed his hand on the wall, and the illusion peeled away to reveal a spacious underground hall.
"Looks exactly like a morgue."
"Welcome, sir."
The two workers glanced at the corpses he carried and immediately understood his intent.
When they finally saw his face clearly, their jaws nearly fell off.
"H-H-H-Hanzō of the Salamander— Demigod!"
"M-May we ask whose bodies these are? We'll begin verification right away, and prepare the bounty payout."
"The daimyō of the Land of Earth. The other is a traitor from the Land of Iron—formerly under Mifune."
"A… a massive job…"
Cold sweat poured down their backs.
"Please wait just half an hour. We'll begin processing immediately."
---
So, Why does bounty exchanges exist anyway?
Certain tasks were too inconvenient—or politically dangerous—for the Great Nations and major villages to handle openly. That's where rogue ninjas and bounty hunters came in, with exchange centers acting as intermediaries.
These centers were incredibly profitable, and because some bounties involved daimyō or Kage, they also needed protection. Most exchanges received secret funding from nobles and shinobi villages.
This particular exchange, located closest to the daimyō's estate, happened to be under the direct control of the Land of Earth daimyō. These two workers had been placed here by him.
They were the ones who previously leaked intel that an assassination attempt was imminent.
Never did they imagine the daimyō's corpse would be delivered to them… by Hanzō of all people.
...
"Thank you for waiting. We've confirmed the identities," one worker said, pushing forward two large chests.
"The total is 3.2 billion ryō. After deducting our standard ten-percent handling fee, your payout is 2.88 billion."
'…These parasites took quite a sum of money in fees.' Hanzō clicked his tongue. 'Highway robbery!'
He sifted through the bills—then stopped.
"These two—are counterfeit."
The murderous aura radiating from him nearly made the workers collapse.
"S-Sorry! W-We'll replace them immediately!"
Before they could take a step, a scythe pressed against both their necks.
They turned mechanically, seeing Hanzō smiling pleasantly.
"I think I'll handle the money exchange myself. Wouldn't want another mistake. Don't you agree?"
They didn't dare breathe.
"I'll take your silence as a yes."
—
Several minutes later…
"So. Where's your real storage room? There's barely thirty million in this drawer. Speak. Where's the rest?"
Hanzō sat atop a heap of cash while the two workers knelt trembling before him.
"S-Sir, normally an exchange only holds around a hundred million in liquid funds. We only had this much because someone warned us the daimyō's assassination was imminent and wanted to withdraw his bounty in person."
"He's a highly reputable bounty hunter, so we prepared the money in advance!"
Both men were now crying openly.
"A-And if you rob the exchange, every bounty hunter will hunt you down! You'll be blacklisted across all exchange networks!"
Hanzō patted their cheeks lightly.
"Oh? What robbery?"
He grinned.
"I did a legitimate job. I killed the daimyō fair and square, then came here to exchange the bounty. That's called respecting your establishment."
"You two, however… tried to hand me counterfeit money."
His smile sharpened.
"Do I look like someone who can be cheated?"
"One fake bill equals fifteen million in damages. I'm being very polite."
The scythe returned to their throats.
"So tell me—does my solution sound unreasonable?"
"N-No! Not at all!"
"Good."
He leaned in.
"Since we understand each other… let's discuss how you slandered me earlier. When did I ever 'rob' an exchange? I simply took what was mine and charged a small reputation-damage fee. I'm not some criminal."
By the time he finished searching the entire exchange…
"Only fifty million? You two really are broke."
The workers wept harder.
Hanzō twirled his scythe again.
"Now—tell me where the extra funds came from. All of it."
When they finally confessed everything, Hanzō sheathed his weapon and stood up.
"Well, that completes our transaction. I didn't rob anything. You broke the rules; I just retrieved my property and collected minor compensation."
Before leaving, he added cheerfully:
"You two aren't bad. I'll visit again."
The two workers shivered violently.
---
Elsewhere, days later…
Each of the other four major shinobi villages held emergency meetings—almost identical in content.
(Konohagakure.)
"Hanzō assassinated the Land of Earth daimyō and dropped the corpse at a bounty exchange."
"The Land of Fire daimyō requests reinforcement—at least three jōnin as permanent escorts."
"He's also reactivating the Twelve Guardian Ninja system. Until it's formed, half of his elite guards must come from the Leaf."
—
(Sunagakure.)
The Third Kazekage, Chiyo, Ebizō, and other elders gathered.
Much like the Leaf's briefing, the message was the same:
"The daimyō requests additional shinobi escorts."
"But…" Ebizō frowned. "Couldn't someone have impersonated Hanzō? Poison mist and Water Style can be imitated. Would Hanzō really stoop to doing something like this?"
The Third Kazekage shook his head.
"There's more. After visiting the exchange, Hanzō cleaned it out—and when investigators inspected the estate at dawn, all bodies had been stripped clean. Not a coin, not a scrap of jewelry left. Even the gold-threaded curtains were torn off."
Chiyo added, "And the two exchange workers were also robbed of everything they owned."
Ebizō blinked. "So… how does this confirm it was Hanzō?"
"Because," the Kazekage replied, "Hanzō never leaves things unsqueezed."
---
Back in the forest, Hanzō stopped walking, resting a hand on his scythe.
"I've been wondering who was planning to assassinate the daimyō ahead of me. So it was you."
"Over seventy years old and still working. Admirable dedication… old man."
A pair of green eyes glinted in the shadows.
Hanzō smiled.
"Isn't that right… Immortal—Kakuzu?"
---------------------------///
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