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"Here's the corpse you wanted!"
A ninja clad in a black cloak embroidered with red clouds slammed a body onto the counter, startling the employee who had been dozing off.
The worker quickly raised his head and saw a figure dressed almost identically to White Mask, with one key difference—while White Mask wore a mask, this man's face was entirely wrapped in grayish-white cloth, concealing not only his features but also his hair. Only his eyes were visible, and they were strikingly unusual.
Normal human eyes consist of pupils and whites, but this ninja's irises were green, and the sclera were a deep, solid red.
A single glance from him was enough to send chills down one's spine.
"Y-yes…" The employee hurriedly grabbed the records and cross-checked them with the corpse. After confirming the details, he stammered, "This is an S-class wanted criminal, the rogue ninja Koga Yu from Kumogakure. The bounty is… 5 million ryo."
As he spoke, he filled out the paperwork in duplicate and handed it to the black-clad man for his signature before rushing into the supervisor's office.
When he returned, he carried a money case and another set of documents, both of which he handed to the ninja.
"Are there any higher-value bounties available?" the ninja asked.
"Oh, absolutely!" The employee perked up immediately, pulling out a notebook and spreading it open on the counter. "But the higher-paying jobs are also much harder. Take this 50 million ryo mission, for example—it's been posted for two months now, and no one's completed it yet. Of course, the difficulty is extreme. The target is a deputy minister from Kirigakure…"
The ninja's eyes locked onto the number "50 million ryo," and his fists clenched tightly.
That was 50 million—equivalent to ten standard S-rank missions. But as tempting as it was, he had no choice but to pass. What a damn shame.
With a sigh, his gaze drifted to another bounty—25 million ryo.
"Midorima Asachi?" The ninja skimmed the details on the wanted poster and suddenly understood. "This one, then."
After collecting the mission details from the bounty office, he grabbed the money case and stepped outside.
His teammate was crouched on the ground, eyes wandering aimlessly. When he spotted the ninja emerging, he asked, "How much this time, Kakuzu?"
"Only five million," Kakuzu grumbled.
"Still, I gotta ask—why are you so obsessed with money?" his companion stood up.
"Don't forget our plan!" Kakuzu hissed under his breath.
"I know, I know. It's expensive. But these small-time five-million jobs? I'm sick of them. Half the time, the travel costs eat up most of the profit," the teammate complained. Seeing Kakuzu's silence, he quickly added, "Okay, fine, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But these tiny bounties? They're just not satisfying."
"Bigger bounties mean nothing if we can't even find the targets," Kakuzu muttered, equally frustrated.
That Igawa Bu bounty had been perfect—weak target, huge payout. With Kirigakure in its current sorry state, taking out a deputy minister wouldn't have been hard. But no—both the Six Paths and Uchiha Madara had outright forbidden it. Infuriating.
His teammate clicked his tongue but said nothing.
High-value targets either had powerful backing (like the major ninja villages) or were masters of hiding their tracks.
Finding S-class fugitives was mostly a matter of luck.
Kakuzu slapped a bounty poster against his teammate's face. "Here's a 25 million ryo job. This is our next target."
"Midorima Asachi? Is he strong?"
"Probably a pushover," Kakuzu said.
"Where is he?"
Kakuzu fell silent. That was the critical question. After a long pause, he finally said, "We'll have to ask the organization for intel. Even if he's using a fake identity, there's gotta be some kind of lead."
"Guess that's our only option for now."
---
Midorima Asachi had spent the entire day performing a full-body examination on the largest building materials merchant in the Land of Fire, draining the blood clots from the man's body.
The merchant also suffered from poor eyesight, so Midorima took the opportunity to improve his vision.
After all, improvements to other parts of the body were far less noticeable than restored eyesight.
After a grueling day's work, his payment wasn't bad—1 million ryo.
Combined with his nonstop efforts over the past two months, Midorima had finally scraped together 20 million ryo. After delivering the sum to Iwasaki Kazuichi, he still had a little left over.
Iwasaki was a decent guy—he'd provided Midorima with a fake identity, allowing him to live freely in the Land of Fire without constantly worrying about his background.
After all, wealthy clients wouldn't hire some shady, unknown doctor.
Once Midorima repaid the loan (plus interest), he still had a small amount left—about two or three million ryo.
That might sound like a lot, but considering the cost of ninja supplies—explosive tags starting at 1,000 ryo each, not to mention kunai, shuriken, scrolls, and the like—those funds would vanish quickly.
And because Midorima was a "lone wolf," he often faced multiple enemies alone, with no backup. That meant he burned through supplies even faster.
After settling his debt, Midorima bid farewell to Iwasaki. Just then, Iwasaki dropped a bombshell.
"You know, Tsunade's been looking for you."
"Huh?" Midorima froze. "She knows about me?"
He hadn't expected Tsunade to be aware of his existence.
"Of course she does. The name 'Ida Hideo' carries some weight in certain merchant circles in the Land of Fire," Iwasaki said with a laugh.
Ida Hideo was the fake identity Iwasaki had created for Midorima Asachi.
"Wait, what?"
"Her income must've taken a nosedive lately," Iwasaki mused.
"…"
Midorima 's face darkened.
Though Tsunade was one of the legendary "Sannin," her combat prowess undeniable—even surpassing many jōnin in raw strength—the three Great Ninja Wars had taken a brutal toll. The consecutive deaths of those closest to her had left her with hemophobia.
That meant she couldn't take on certain missions, like assassinating wanted criminals.
High expenses, limited income sources—no wonder she was struggling to make ends meet.
Midorima never imagined he'd catch Tsunade's attention over money.
For the past two months, weighed down by the crushing 20 million ryo debt, Midorima had operated like a machine—treating patients by day, hunting bounties by night.
Thankfully, now that the debt was cleared, financial pressure had eased. He needed to plan his next moves carefully, focusing on improving his strength.
After all, one function in the [Cell Laboratory] remained locked.
Lost in thought about his next steps, Midorima reached the village gates. Just as he resolved to center his operations around Konoha, someone called out to him.
"Hey! You're Ida Hideo, right?"
A woman's voice.
Midorima turned toward the sound and nearly short-circuited.
A beauty—no, not just any beauty, but one of the most stunning women in the entire Naruto series.
Golden hair, twin ponytails, radiant and mature, exuding confidence from head to toe.
She held a photo in one hand, her eyes locking onto his.
Tsunade!!
Midorima knew her all too well.
Just ten minutes ago, he'd parted ways with Iwasaki. And now, here she was at the village gates.
What were the odds?