Naruto: I'm in Konoha, my name is Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 17 An Encounter with Kakuzu at the Gold Exchange
The Land of Lightning, a port city on the coast.

Under the gloomy sky, Kakuzu, dressed in a black robe, walked slowly through the bustling street, exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay.

Those blue eyes coldly scanned the surrounding pedestrians, as if assessing their value.

His aura was intimidating, and passersby avoided him, not daring to meet his gaze.

After arriving at a toilet in the suburbs of the city, Kakuzu looked around for a while before entering the toilet.

After knocking on the toilet doors in order, a door appeared in the corner of the toilet, and a dark passage led to who-knows-where.

However, this wasn't Kakuzu's first time here, and he went in with practiced ease, following the stairs.

The space below suddenly opened up, and the two young women at the reception desk immediately gave a professional smile when they saw guests arrive: "Welcome."

"I've come to collect the bounty." Kakuzu's voice was hoarse and gloomy.

"Okay, please wait a moment." A young girl bowed and then immediately went to fetch the person in charge of the gold exchange.

A moment later, a bald man with a scar on his forehead came out, his face full of smiles: "So it's Lord Kakuzu. I've heard of your great name for a long time."

"Hmph." Kakuzu snorted coldly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the flattery.

"Enough with the nonsense, this time I'm going to exchange this person's bounty." Kakuzu took out a storage scroll from his pocket.

Then it was unleashed.

The corpse of a ninja wearing a Konoha headband appeared on the ground.

"Let me see." The bald man skillfully flipped through the bounty book, nodded after comparing it with the information.

After searching through the data on Konoha ninjas for a while, the bald man found this ninja.

"A special Jonin of the Sarutobi clan... with a bounty of eight million." The bald man recited all the information about the man, then squatted down to examine him.

To prevent people from using transformation or illusion magic to scam money.

While bounty hunters like Kakuzu might disdain such things, rules are rules.

"Confirmed, Lord Kakuzu." The bald man stood up, clapped his hands, and two receptionists came over carrying a box.

Kakuzu took the box, placed it on the counter, opened it, picked up the banknotes, and flipped them quickly with his fingertips, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Kakuzu seemed to be in a good mood, counting his money while occasionally letting out a soft hum.

The bald man then ordered his men to open a storage cabinet on the wall and put the body inside.

Then they waited quietly for Kakuzu to finish counting the money.

Having worked at the gold exchange for many years, he had heard of this powerful 'bounty hunter' who liked to count money on the spot, but this was the first time he had done business with Kakuzu.

Tread-tap-

Just as he was waiting for Kakuzu to count the money, a footstep came from the stairwell.

"Looks like there's still business today." The bald man looked up.

Kakuzu, who was counting money, stopped what he was doing and turned his blue pupils toward the source of the sound.

A mysterious figure wearing a white three-eyed fox mask descended the stairs, his long robe swaying gently, exuding an eerie aura.

"Tch, what a charlatan." Kakuzu chuckled under his breath, though he had already become interested in this mysterious man.

Many ninjas with bounties wear masks or face coverings to hide their true identities, which is why Kakuzu often pays close attention to such people.

"Hello, sir. This is the Third Gold Exchange in the Land of Lightning. Are you here to post a bounty?" the bald man greeted him. Uzumaki Menma's gaze lingered briefly on Kakuzu.

Although Kakuzu wore a loose robe and a mask, his blue eyes and money-obsessed style were still very distinctive in the ninja world.

"Let's see how much bounty this guy has." Mianma took out a storage scroll and formed hand seals.

Bang!
After the smoke cleared, the body of the Cloud Village envoy appeared on the ground.

“Twelve million.” Kakuzu couldn’t help but look over, recognizing the man’s value at a glance.

"Oh~ Lord Kakuzu's eye is indeed excellent." The bald man took out the bounty list of the Cloud Village ninjas and searched for the price range of twelve million, and sure enough, he found it.

"This is... Cloud Hidden Envoy, Kainu!" The bald man suddenly widened his eyes.

Just recently, Konoha claimed that Kainu, the leader of the Kumogakure special envoy, was killed by a mysterious ninja in Konoha and dumped in Hyuga territory, in an attempt to escalate the war between the two countries.

Then came the war of words between the two sides. The Hidden Cloud Village did not believe Konoha's explanation and insisted that Konoha hand over the murderer.

After all, they know best what they've done.

But Konoha insisted that a mysterious ninja had killed the Cloud Village envoy.

The bald man looked up at the mysterious masked man in front of him and felt a chill run down his spine.

How powerful must a ninja be to kill someone in Konoha, the village with the most powerful of the five great nations, and still be able to escape unscathed after being discovered?
Kakuzu was counting his money while sizing up the masked mystery man, wondering how much it would be worth if he also had a bounty.
"Sir, may I ask your name?" After checking the body and confirming that it was indeed him, the bald man ordered someone to fetch the money, while asking in a low voice.

The words from the other side made Menma think for a moment.

Knowing that he would likely be using this mask and outfit most of the time when operating in the ninja world, a code name would be essential.

“You can call me Shura.” So Menma casually picked out a code name.

"Alright, Lord Shura, this is our Gold Exchange's bounty list for this quarter. If you're interested, feel free to visit anytime." The bald man presented a bounty list with both hands.

Menma took the bounty list, thinking that since he was going to Kumogakure to deliver local specialties anyway, he might as well kill a few Kumogakure ninjas to exchange for money.

"Sir, this is the reward." Two young girls placed a heavy box on the ground and bowed deeply.

"Hmm." Menma picked up the large box from the ground, didn't count the money, and turned to leave.

The history of the Kin-Swap in the ninja world is unknown, and Menma believes they wouldn't stoop so low as to cheat him out of his money.

"Hey, aren't you going to count the money?" Kakuzu couldn't help but ask when he saw the other person pick up the box and leave without even checking the money.

As a top-performing employee, I've even developed obsessive-compulsive disorder.

They took the money but didn't even count it, and they didn't even open the box to check it?

Mianma tilted his head slightly, the white three-eyed fox mask reflecting a faint light in the dim light.

"I see you seem quite interested in my money. Why don't you go out and try your luck? If you win, you can take all this money with you." Menma gestured towards the exit.

According to the rules of the ninja world, the gold exchange office is a 'safe zone'. Killing someone in the gold exchange office will result in being wanted by the gold exchange office.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Kakuzu grinned, put down the money he hadn't finished counting, and closed his box.

He then followed the mysterious man out of the exchange, carrying the briefcase full of banknotes.

The two left the gold exchange one after the other, the air thick with tension.

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(End of this chapter)