Sasuke raised his right hand and handed Naruto a scroll.
"Here. Three million ryo. It's the hush money that 'Daikokuten Zen' tried to offer before he died."
Naruto didn't take the scroll. His voice was calm.
"Did you hesitate?"
Sasuke lowered his head slightly, feeling Naruto's masked gaze bearing down on him.
"I did, at first."
Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Then why did you kill him in the end? Was it because the money wasn't enough?"
Sasuke glanced at the blood splattered on the wall, now dried and blackened. The headless corpse lay in a pool of coagulated blood.
His eyes finally landed on the axe stuck in the puddle.
"The money was enough... but once you take a mission, you finish it. Besides, I understand now—this is just how the real world works."
Naruto's tone remained indifferent.
"Then why waste so much time?"
Whoosh!
Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say a word, Naruto had already teleported them back to the location where they'd first departed from the bounty station.
"Put the money away. We need to turn in the mission."
Sasuke had been wondering how to respond to Naruto's earlier question. At Naruto's instruction, he asked in confusion,
"You're not taking any of it? Didn't you come out to do missions?"
Naruto chuckled.
"Of course I'll take on missions. I just don't have to go as far to complete mine."
As he spoke, he pulled out a scroll from his sleeve and activated it, revealing a suitcase filled with money.
Sasuke blinked, not quite following. Hadn't Naruto said he needed to return to the village immediately after turning in the mission? But Naruto was already walking toward the public restroom, clearly not offering any explanations. Sasuke had no choice but to follow.
A few moments later, the two arrived at the large wooden door of the public restroom. As soon as the door creaked open, the middle-aged man who'd received them earlier wore a look of confusion.
There was no time limit on their missions, and only the body was needed to claim the reward—but these two had returned far too quickly.
Were they giving up the mission?
Still, that wouldn't be surprising. Plenty of people had abandoned their bounties in the past year.
As Naruto and Sasuke stepped inside, the man adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and greeted them with his usual signature smile.
"Are you two here to withdraw from the bounty mission?"
Naruto scanned the bounty hall. Besides the manager, only three masked individuals were flipping through the bounty registry.
"Two men, one woman… just three left, huh?"
After a brief pause, Naruto said flatly,
"No. We're here to turn in a mission."
The middle-aged man's expression stiffened.
"What? You've already completed it? Weren't your targets in the Land of Waves? How could it be so fast—"
Naruto patted the suitcase.
"We were originally assigned to escort a merchant caravan to the Land of Waves for a trade. That's why we picked this mission."
"But while we were on the way here, a group of bandits ambushed the caravan and stole thirty million ryo. Fortunately, we caught up to them quickly. And as luck would have it—the leader of the bandits happened to be our target."
"So, we got lucky. Not only did we recover the merchant's funds, we completed the mission as well."
Thirty million ryo!
The masked trio flipping through the registry stiffened at the number. Though their hands kept flipping pages, they discreetly kept their eyes on Naruto's suitcase.
The manager also stared in disbelief. Could such a convenient coincidence really happen?
Sasuke, too, was stunned. Just what was Naruto planning?
Was he...
As Sasuke silently speculated, Naruto added,
"We've brought back the body."
Sasuke reacted instantly, pulling out the scroll with the sealed corpse and activating it with a pop—a body dropped into his hands in a puff of smoke.
The man's pupils constricted.
"Please follow me."
They were led to a hidden chamber inside the public restroom. The man tapped the wall behind a row of urinals, revealing a secret door.
"Go in."
A short while later, they returned to the main hall. But just as they were about to leave, Naruto opened the suitcase full of money and posted a new bounty.
The target: Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin.
Reward: 20 million ryo for any accurate intel on his whereabouts.
The manager was thrilled, accepting the five million ryo deposit and eagerly jotting down Naruto's contact information. He subtly inquired about their future plans, hoping to recommend more missions along the way.
A client who casually issued a 20-million-ryo bounty for a Legendary Sannin? This was someone worth building a relationship with.
But Naruto declined the recommendations and strolled out with Sasuke.
The remaining trio immediately approached the manager, two men eagerly asking:
"What mission did those two post?"
"Are they headed to the Land of Waves again?"
The manager pushed up his glasses and answered seriously,
"Sorry, you all know the rules of the bounty hall."
The woman didn't wait—she brushed past him, flung open the door, and said coldly:
"Keep asking, and they'll be long gone."
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