Naruto: Thrown Into the Leaf

Chapter 101: Chapter 100: Ninety Million Reasons to Die

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."

— Gordon Gekko, Wall Street

--

"Ninety million ryō," Kakuzu said, his voice almost fond. "...That’s more than double what Asuma of the Hidden Leaf Village is worth."

Hidan leaned over his shoulder, chewing loudly in Kakuzu’s ear.

"Huh... that’s a big number," he muttered, squinting at the grainy image. "Who did he piss off? Did he run away with the Daimyō’s daughter or something? Ughhh. He’s kinda ugly."

(Pic of Otis from Hidan’s point of view)

Kakuzu ignored him.

"Konoha jōnin. Earth-based combat," he continued. "And this height..."

Kakuzu folded the notice carefully and slid it into his coat.

"Heh... A giant," he muttered.

Of course, Kakuzu knew who they were. He had hunted them once, decades ago. Or tried to.

But they were supposed to be extinct, right?... So if they were walking around now, that meant trouble. Now he needed to know. Was this giant fully matured... or just a little chick?

Hidan grinned. "So are we killing him?"

"...Not immediately," Kakuzu said.

Hidan’s grin faltered.

"What?"

It was like the first time he had heard Kakuzu say no to money.

"Did you hit your head? It’s ninety million."

"If he’s worth ninety million," Kakuzu said flatly, "then charging at him blindly is how idiots die."

Hidan scoffed. "You’re boring."

I’m not alive all these years just because of my jutsu, Kakuzu thought. Maybe this mission could cause trouble. I even went after Hashirama Senju once... but let’s see. I have to test his capacity first. After all, who doesn’t want money?

Kakuzu folded the bounty and slipped it into his coat.

"But," he added, standing, "I am interested."

Hidan’s grin returned instantly. "I knew it."

Kakuzu adjusted his coat.

"We’ll wait a few days," he said calmly. "Let others try their hands first. If he’s strong, the news will travel."

Hidan snorted. "And if he dies?"

"Then someone else earns ninety million," Kakuzu said, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "And we hunt whoever took it."

Outside, the rain kept falling.

And far away, a man named Otis had just become very profitable.

...

Meanwhile, in Konoha...

The man whose name was on the lips of everyone in the ninja world

Otis himself was sitting calmly in the Hokage’s office like it was just another afternoon. Hands resting on his knees. His back was straight and his expression neutral.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, was not calm...

He was gripping his forehead like it had personally betrayed him. He looked at least ten years older than he had yesterday. His pipe lay forgotten. Papers were stacked everywhere. Reports. Complaints. Sealed messages from other villages. His eyes were unfocused, like he was staring straight into the future and didn’t like what he saw.

Behind Otis, Mikoto stood far too comfortably, fingers gently combing through his hair.

Snip

Otis frowned.

"...No."

Snip

"Mikoto-san."

"You’re molting, Otis," she added.

Otis raised his head to look at her. "Please don’t compare me to animals. It’s birds who molt. I do not"

Snip

"If this is your ’human’ form, I’m concerned, Otis," Mikoto replied. "Even stray cats carry themselves better than you."

(Pic of how Otis looked to her right now)

After that, Otis kept saying ’stop,’ but she just ignored him and kept trimming, not giving any answer, humming softly like this was a perfectly normal activity in the Hokage’s office, no less.

In the corner of the room, Shisui stood turned away, one hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking violently as he fought for his life not to laugh. If Hiruzen noticed, he was absolutely getting thrown out. Possibly through the window. And probably assigned desk duty until the end of time.

Hiruzen finally exhaled sharply as he composed himself.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA," he said, voice strained, "WHAT YOU’VE DONE, OTIS?"

Otis nodded once

"Yes."

That answer did not fucking help, Hiruzen thought. A vein throbbed on his forehead.

Hiruzen stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped over. He jabbed a finger at Otis.

"Then you know that killing a Daimyo is not a small matter," Hiruzen snapped.

Otis nodded again.

"Yes."

"You... know that every major land’s Daimyo will want your head. Every court will demand an explanation, reparations, or blood."

"Yes."

Hiruzen paused.

At least he is aware of what he did.

"Then you know what I am supposed to do when that happens?"

Otis shrugged.

"Yes?"

Hiruzen’s eye twitched.

Why does that sound like a question just now?

Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Explain. Now. Slowly. And if you leave out a single important detail, I swear..."

He didn’t finish the threat.

He just started pacing.

Back and forth... Hands clenched behind his back like he was trying not to strangle a jōnin.

Otis sighed.

Without standing, without changing his expression, he reached into his vest and tossed a thick file onto the Hokage’s desk.

It landed with a heavy

THUD

The sound echoed in the room.

Hiruzen blinked.

"...What is this?"

"Evidence," Otis replied calmly.

"Everything done in the Land of Grass. By order of the daimyō."

Hiruzen opened it.

He read the first page.

Then the second.

Then the third.

The room went quiet.

Except for the sound of pages turning...

Flip

Flip

Flip

Then the turning became faster.

Flipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflip

His brows drew together.

His jaw tightened.

The color drained from his face.

"...These are-"

"Transfer orders," Otis said. "Funding routes. Experiment logs. Names of labs. And the names of the victims."

Mikoto stopped trimming.

Scissors hung mid-air.

Shisui straightened in the corner, smile gone.

Otis continued.

"Everything that was happening in Kusagakure. Who approved it. Who funded it. Who benefited from it."

Shisui stepped closer, leaning over Hiruzen’s shoulder.

He examined the seals.

"These seals..." he murmured.

He touched one

"They’re authentic."

Otis nodded.

"I checked twice. Only a Daimyō could authorize those."

Hiruzen reached the end of the report and sat down.

He closed the file and stared at it for a long moment.

"...I see," he said at last.

He looked up at Otis, eyes sharp again.

"The other daimyō will howl," he admitted. "But with this..."

He tapped the folder.

"...they won’t dare bare their teeth."

--

Author’s Note:

That’s 100 Chapters down ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ🍰🍔🍕

My keyboard suddenly stopped working, and I had to order a new one. I tried using a simple membrane keyboard in the meantime, but I just couldn’t do it. I guess once you switch to a mechanical keyboard, there’s no going back to membrane. 🚬🗿

Thankfully, the delivery finally arrived, and I’m pretty satisfied with it.

🚀 Want to read ahead?

Join my P@treon and help keep the story alive! ❤️

/pacifist01

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!