Chapter 556: Bounty Station
The villagers never appeared.
On the bridge, the only sounds were the groans and pleas for mercy coming from Gato's defeated thugs.
When Gato had been swept away by Kakashi's Water Release: Great Waterfall Jutsu, two samurai he had hired desperately tried to protect him. They had been caught in the torrent as well, knocked unconscious, and were now lying motionless on the bridge.
Kenichi looked at the crumbling plot before him with a mixture of amusement and frustration.
It seemed the self-correcting ability of this timeline was nothing special.
But that was probably for the best.
If events always found some way to return to the original plot no matter what Kenichi changed, he would seriously begin to suspect that some powerful supernatural entity was secretly controlling the world from behind the scenes.
"Sensei, do ordinary people have absolutely no way to resist when they face ninja?"
Naruto looked curiously at the calm Kakashi.
Kenichi curled his lips.
When he had first read Naruto in his previous life, he had felt that although ordinary people clearly could not take direct attacks from ninja, they still seemed capable of putting up some resistance.
They had not yet felt like creatures existing in completely different dimensions.
Even Zabuza, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, had performed rather poorly compared with many jonin who appeared later.
Kakashi had also contributed that famous moment where he broke into a cold sweat and did not dare move against Orochimaru.
That scene had become one of the classic moments people often brought up whenever discussing Kakashi.
"Not necessarily."
Kakashi shook his head.
"If ordinary people obtain powerful poisons prepared by a skilled physician, even ninja can be killed if they're caught off guard."
It was not quite as simple as saying ordinary people were completely powerless.
However, it was still true that most civilians had almost no ability to resist a trained ninja in direct combat.
"Naruto, didn't the academy teachers tell you about that incident where ordinary people poisoned and killed ninja?"
Kiba casually slapped Naruto on the shoulder.
His sense of smell was exceptionally sharp, comparable to a dog's.
Unfortunately, that had worked against him earlier when Naruto threw quicklime.
Kiba had rushed straight into the spreading cloud and immediately started sneezing uncontrollably.
"I know about that."
Naruto nodded.
He really had heard about the incident Kiba mentioned.
According to his teacher, during the war, a three-person Konoha ninja squad had passed through a small town in a minor country while carrying out a mission.
The three failed to remain cautious about the food and drinks offered by the locals and were poisoned.
The two male ninja were captured and tortured to death.
The female ninja survived long enough for Konoha to realize the team had gone missing and send people to search for them. After she was rescued, however, she later took her own life because of the abuse she had suffered while imprisoned.
The enraged Konoha commander responded by massacring the entire town.
The incident was eventually recorded in ninja textbooks and became required reading intended to teach young ninja never to lower their guard while on missions.
Kiba, meanwhile, suddenly leaned closer to Naruto and sniffed the air again.
"Naruto, what is that smell?"
Naruto instinctively stepped back.
Kiba was acting less like a teammate casually putting an arm around his shoulder and more like a tracking dog that had found an interesting scent.
Shino silently pushed up his glasses and moved a few steps away.
He now suspected that his teammate's sense of smell had completely taken over his brain.
Kiba looked exactly like Akamaru whenever the dog caught the scent of food.
Shino glanced toward Hinata.
She was occasionally sneaking looks at Naruto, then immediately lowering her head with a blush.
Being on this team really was exhausting.
"Kiba, what are you doing?"
Naruto stared at him strangely.
"Something around you smells really good," Kiba said without thinking.
The entire area abruptly fell silent.
Kakashi scratched his hair, unsure how he was supposed to respond.
Kurenai glanced at her student with an increasingly strange expression.
Hinata blinked.
Naruto was certainly clean, but she had never noticed him carrying any particularly strong scent.
Sasuke, meanwhile, failed to understand why everyone had suddenly gone quiet.
His mind was almost entirely occupied with becoming stronger and taking revenge.
Shino silently rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.
Hinata was still stealing glances at Naruto.
"...Wait. You're smelling this, aren't you?"
Naruto scratched his head as realization struck him.
He immediately searched through one of the pouches he carried and pulled out a packet of beef jerky.
Kenichi had made it himself.
Long journeys made fresh ingredients difficult to preserve, so Kenichi had turned some beef into jerky and seasoned it with sesame seeds and other spices.
It was an excellent snack for traveling.
Kenichi had casually given a pack to Naruto.
Naruto liked it very much and often ate some along the road.
However, his big brother had warned him not to eat too much because excessive amounts would not be good for him.
Naruto had obediently followed that instruction.
He usually ate only one or two pieces at a time, three times a day.
In Kenichi's previous life, this kind of food had been surprisingly expensive.
Even when Kenichi had his own income, he had never been willing to buy large quantities.
Beef jerky was delicious, but it was undeniably extravagant.
Beef itself was already expensive.
Once processed into jerky, the price climbed even higher.
Kenichi remembered that before he transmigrated, one pound of beef jerky had cost roughly 190 RMB.
The price had been suffocating.
Achieving true "beef jerky freedom" had still been a distant dream.
"That's it!"
Kiba nodded enthusiastically.
The moment Naruto opened the packet, the smell became even stronger.
Kiba's mouth nearly started watering.
Sometimes possessing an extremely powerful sense of smell was not necessarily an advantage.
Naruto looked reluctant.
Still, he shared a small portion with Kiba.
After thanking him repeatedly, Kiba tossed one piece to Akamaru and then happily began chewing another himself.
After being interrupted by Kiba, Kenichi lost interest in continuing to think about the broader contradictions of the Shinobi World.
He shook his head and walked over to Gato.
Then he crouched down and placed two fingers against the man's neck.
Good.
Still alive.
"What are you planning to do?"
Kakashi walked over.
Naturally, he had noticed Kenichi's movements.
His gaze shifted toward the unconscious fat man.
Gato's sunglasses had shattered, and fragments from the broken lenses had left several bloody cuts across his face.
"Obviously, I'm going to make some extra money."
Kenichi glanced at Kakashi without much concern.
Kakashi probably would not make an issue out of something this minor.
Kenichi's status in Konoha was already highly unusual.
Even if the Third Hokage learned what happened, he most likely would not object.
"Normally, spoils from a mission are divided. A portion goes to the village, and the rest can be retained by the ninja involved."
Kakashi looked at Gato and immediately understood what Kenichi intended.
"What if he's my personal captive?"
Kenichi asked.
"And what about unexpected money I squeeze out of him myself?"
"This one is mine," Kakashi corrected him.
Then he watched Kenichi casually place a foot on Gato's crotch and apply pressure.
The unconscious Gato's entire body twitched before falling still again.
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
"Fine. He's yours."
For some reason, he suddenly thought of his teacher.
Kakashi did not particularly object to Kenichi's methods.
Although Gato was a famous and wealthy merchant throughout the Shinobi World, the moment he deliberately ordered an attack against ninja, few people would care about his safety anymore.
In the Shinobi World, when an ordinary person deliberately provoked a ninja, their death was often ignored.
It had nearly become an unwritten rule.
The situation was different only when the civilian possessed exceptionally high status.
For example, the daimyo of a country.
If a daimyo offended a ninja, the daimyo would generally request protection from the ninja village belonging to his own country.
Of course, most daimyo were not foolish enough to casually antagonize ninja in the first place.
"What exactly is Kenichi's identity?"
Kurenai moved closer to Kakashi and asked quietly.
She knew a little about Kenichi through Asuma.
However, Kenichi's position was so unusual that even Asuma did not know much.
All Asuma knew was that his father had personally warned him never to offend Kenichi.
Hiruzen had even told him that if Asuma provoked Kenichi, not even the Hokage would necessarily be able to protect him.
Because of that, Asuma had some complaints about Kenichi but deliberately kept his distance.
His reasoning was simple.
If he never interacted with Kenichi, he would never have the opportunity to offend him.
"I don't know."
Kakashi shook his head.
The Third Hokage had never explained Kenichi's actual background.
He had only said that unless Kenichi intended to betray Konoha, he could essentially do whatever he wanted inside the village.
That was also why Kakashi could only pretend not to notice Kenichi following Team 7 everywhere.
Although Hiruzen had never explicitly explained anything, Kakashi had already understood the message.
Kenichi occupied an extraordinarily special position within Konoha.
And so Kakashi could only watch as Kenichi dragged the unconscious Gato away like a dead dog to seize his wealth.
Afterward, Kenichi even casually told Kakashi and the others to continue without him.
He needed to make a trip to a Bounty Station.
He said it so openly and naturally that Kakashi's mouth twitched again.
Kurenai, standing nearby, was stunned.
Everyone knew what Bounty Stations were used for.
Generally speaking, even if village ninja visited one, they would not announce it so openly.
An exception might be someone who had killed a wanted rogue ninja during a mission and intended to collect the bounty.
Otherwise, village ninja generally entered such places discreetly.
Kenichi, however, did not seem to care.
After informing Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, he left.
His destination was a Bounty Station located near the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waves.
The establishment operated openly without the slightest attempt at concealment.
Technically, the Bounty Station stood inside the Land of Waves, but its main entrance faced toward the Land of Fire.
Kenichi was not surprised.
For an underground organization like the Bounty Stations to survive for so many years, they naturally had their own methods of doing business.
Every country and hidden village required places like this for certain matters.
Even if one opened directly inside the Land of Fire, Konoha would most likely pretend not to notice.
Of course, despite their unusual status, Bounty Stations were careful not to deliberately provoke hidden villages.
In that sense, they were relatively well behaved.
When Kenichi walked inside, he immediately saw numerous rough looking men drinking at tables.
Behind the counter, a man resembling a bartender was calmly wiping a glass.
"Sir, are you here to post a bounty or accept one?"
The man looked at Kenichi and smiled.
Several ninja inside also glanced over.
After studying Kenichi's face and confirming that he did not appear on any bounty list they recognized, they quickly lost interest and returned to drinking and boasting.
Most of these rogue ninja and bounty hunters lived with death constantly hanging over their heads.
Whenever they earned money from a bounty, many of them immediately squandered it.
"I'm posting one."
Kenichi ignored the others and placed a sheet of paper on the counter.
"I'm looking for an object. Its general appearance is something like this."
He had drawn the sketch during the journey.
When he fought Otsutsuki Isshiki, Kenichi had caught only a brief glimpse of the object before it struck him.
He had not seen much.
However, the Mangekyo Sharingan had granted him exceptional eyesight and dynamic vision.
After carefully searching his memories, he had recovered several details and produced a rough drawing.
"Anyone who finds an object resembling this receives ten thousand ryo."
Kenichi tapped the paper.
"If it's confirmed to be the exact object I'm searching for, and I personally verify it, the reward is twenty million ryo."
His tone was calm, but the amount immediately attracted attention.
Ten thousand ryo was not an enormous reward.
However, that payment required only finding something similar in appearance.
If someone actually located the real object, they would receive twenty million ryo.
Asuma Sarutobi's bounty was only a little over thirty million.
Twenty million ryo for finding an object was almost free money.
Sure enough, many of the ninja inside immediately became interested.
Then a heavily muscled ninja who resembled a bodybuilder stood and approached.
He examined the drawing.
Then he casually grabbed a piece of wood, pulled out a knife, carved it into something vaguely similar to the sketch, and threw it in front of Kenichi.
"Pay up!"
The muscular man spoke as though his demand were completely reasonable.
The surrounding bounty hunters burst into laughter.
Kenichi did not look particularly intimidating.
The muscular man, however, was a rogue ninja from Kumogakure whose strength had reached roughly the level of a special jonin.
Kenichi looked at him.
What kind of ridiculous cliché was this?
The Mangekyo Sharingan flashed in Kenichi's eyes.
The laughter stopped.
The muscular man's expression instantly became vacant.
Under the horrified gazes of everyone around him, he drew his own kunai and fatally cut his throat.
His body collapsed to the floor.
Kenichi did not even look down.
Instead, he calmly turned back toward the bartender.
"Can you accept the bounty?"
The bartender swallowed and nodded quickly.
"Yes."
....
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