Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 187 Unequal Distribution of Spoils

Faced with relentless ridicule, the short man remained incredibly thick-skinned:

"You can't say that. Let's leave aside the previous times, but this mission is just too risky. Before the mission, no one knew anything. We only found out when we were about to start that the target was the son of the daimyo of the Land of Fire. To be honest, when I learned the target's true identity, I was extremely resistant at first. After all, if things went wrong, I would be doomed. But for the sake of the two of you, I had to bite the bullet and go for it."

"Fortunately, we've succeeded now, so naturally we should ask for more. Of course, this isn't for my own personal gain, but rather to consider the issue from everyone's perspective."

The other person's eloquent remarks made Aokiji laugh.

This guy clearly wants to take more money for himself, yet he talks such high-sounding words. When pursuing his own personal interests, he even uses the collective interest as a cover. It's a waste of his talent that he's not in the officialdom.

Aokiji's eyes, peeking out from the hole in his mask, slowly drooped: "How much do you want?"

Kakuzu frowned as he listened, wondering if they were really going to make concessions. Just as he was about to express his opinion, Aokiji raised his hand to stop him, signaling him to let the other party finish speaking first.

The short man held up five fingers and stated bluntly, "Fifty percent."

Aokiji chuckled.

The short man, annoyed by the other's reaction, snapped, "What are you laughing at?"

Aokiji crossed his legs and clasped his hands together: "Do you know who's always the one leading the charge?"

"You."

"Then do you know who planned each kidnapping?"

"You."

So...

The short man's expression froze for a moment: "So?"

Aokiji suddenly spoke sharply, "And you still have the nerve to ask me for a bigger share of the profits?"

Kakuzu was relieved to hear this; as expected of him, giving up any benefits was out of the question.

The short man was displeased and started arguing, demanding a larger share of the money.

"Idiot, do you even know what intellectual property fees are? We two use our brains to earn money, and besides, we're the initiators, so of course we'll get more than you, a guy who only knows how to use brute force."

With Aokiji's definitive statement, the short man was rendered speechless and completely dumbfounded.

"What? If I don't give you a bigger share, do you want to fight me?"

Aokiji made a harsh statement.

The short man clenched his fist through his palm; he truly had this idea.

We're all kidnappers now, so we all need to be ruthless, otherwise we wouldn't be in this gang.

There's a saying that goes something like this: for a 50% profit, it's willing to take risks; for a 100% profit, it's willing to trample on all human laws; and for a 300% profit, it's willing to commit any crime, even risking being hanged.

At this moment, the money placed in front of him was not a few hundred million or a few billion, but tens of billions.

Naturally, he had to give it his all. Besides, he wasn't without confidence; the organization had long harbored resentment towards these two guys who always took the lion's share, and it hadn't been a matter of just a day or two.

If he were to start a fight now, these companions might just turn against him for the sake of their own interests.

Seeing that this guy really intended to take over the previous one, Kakuzu laughed: "If you want to give it a try, then go ahead and try. Don't blame me for not warning you, the price will be high."

If this guy dares to rebel, he wouldn't mind killing him on the spot, so that his share of the money would end up in Kakuzu's pocket.

As tensions rose and the atmosphere grew increasingly volatile, another member of the organization, a man with a pointed face and monkey-like features, spoke up: "Ji Guang, you should behave yourself a little. It's not like this is the only time we're doing this, why make things so tense?"

"After Brother Ye Wang and Brother Ding Xiu split the 500 billion, the eight of us will split 250 billion, which is quite a lot for each of us, with several billion left."

Ji Guang fell silent.

Xiao Fu continued to persuade, "How about this, to celebrate this successful kidnapping, I suggest we have a get-together at Heaven on Earth?"

With this excuse, Ji Guang, who had just been wearing a cold expression, suddenly grinned and said, "I was just joking. How about this, to show my sincerity, I'll cover all the expenses for this Heaven on Earth trip."

Seeing that Yoshimitsu had given in, Aokiji didn't seem to intend to let him off the hook. As if deliberately provoking him, he shook his index finger and said, "You're quite clever, kid. But let me tell you, a 50/50 split is absolutely impossible. Don't even think about it."

After saying that, he gave Kakuzu a look.

Kakuzu understood immediately, formed hand seals, and summoned a giant summoning beast. There was so much money that two people couldn't possibly carry it all, so a large summoning beast was very important at this time.

The spirit beast opened its huge mouth, swallowed the money, and then vanished in a flash.

After completing this set of actions, Aokiji and Kakuzu were unwilling to stay any longer. They only said that they would appear at the dinner party, and then they left.

After that, the organization members who had divided the money began to leave one after another.

Yoshimitsu and Xiaofu exchanged a glance, then left. Yoshimitsu walked alone down the street, found a bar, and booked a private room. He drank a few sips of alcohol in the room, and then the door opened, and a man with a livid mouth walked in. It was Xiaofu, an accomplice of the organization.

When he entered the private room, he closed the door behind him, seemingly unwilling to let the conversation inside be heard.

Only then did Ji Guang speak, cursing, "You saw it too, didn't you? Ye Wang and Ding Xiu have really gone too far."

Xiao Fu came here specifically not to hear him complain: "So what you mean?"

Ji Guang made a throat-slitting gesture, clearly indicating that he wanted to kill the two people.

Ji Guang wasn't just reckless; he knew Ye Wang's character and knew he would never give them a 50/50 chance. He had deliberately talked big with Ye Wang about a 50/50 chance just now to set up a trap for Xiao Fu, to win over other members of the group, and together they could take down Ye Wang and Yu Dingxiu and divide their assets.

After pulling off this heist, the powerful figures outside are frantically sending people to search for them. If they were to continue kidnapping, they would easily be caught. Therefore, they plan to divide their assets and retire from the life of abduction.

Ye Wang and Ding Xiu were used to being domineering and hadn't done a good job of building a strong grassroots foundation, which created an opportunity for them.

........................

On the other side, Aokiji, who was walking on the road, took the initiative to chat with Kakuzu: "You saw the expression on that guy's face just now. He was definitely up to something."

"It doesn't matter, I'll take action."

The horns didn't really take this person seriously. When selecting team members, their first consideration was whether they could control him.

Aokiji smiled and said, "After finishing this job, I want to do some wrap-up work."

Kakuzu sneered, "Doing nothing but unnecessary things."

"I'm a person of principle, and I only choose targets who aren't exactly good people, but they might be different."

Kakuzu paused for a moment, then asked, "Should we eliminate them?"

Aokiji responded, "Mm."

"Can."

Kakuzu readily agreed.

If he kills these people, the entire inheritance will be his.

Aokiji shook his head and said, "You don't need to do anything."

Kakuzu was taken aback.

"Through this dinner, I plan to catch all these people in one fell swoop."

"What should we do?"

Even if Kakuzu and Aokiji joined forces, it would be very difficult to wipe out everyone at once with their full strength.

"All we need to do is leak this information, and then people will be scrambling to take care of them for us."

Kakuzu understood immediately; this was a classic case of the thief crying "I'm in trouble!" and using someone else to do his dirty work: "You little devil, you're really cunning."

Aokiji, unconcerned with formalities, laughed and said, "As long as the result is good, the process doesn't matter."

"If one day I'm no longer of any use to you, will you treat me the same way?"

Kakuzu stared intently at Aokiji, trying to discern a flaw from his micro-expressions.

Aokiji remained calm and directly denied it: "I'm a really good person. I would never betray my comrades."

Kakuzu expressed his disbelief, sarcastically remarking, "The things you've done don't seem to have anything to do with being a good person."

Aokiji said humorously, "Well, because I'm a really good person."

"Is there any difference between this and being a good person?" Kakuzu sneered. "I think you're just trying to make yourself look good."

Aokiji answered decisively, "Yes, of course."

Kakuzu snorted, showing interest.

Aokiji organized his thoughts and slowly began, "If I help others by following established methods, or by helping others in the way we are doing now, who do you think is more helpful?"

Kakuzu thought for a moment: "The latter."

"That's it~" Aokiji shrugged. "After all, it's not my money, so I don't feel bad spending it, and it can help more people."

Kakuzu found the answer amusing and chuckled: "Why do you consider me a partner, but not the others in the organization? To outsiders, I'm no different from them."

Aokiji pondered for a moment: "I have one advantage, which is that I'm very good at judging people. I don't think Kakuzu is a bad person."

This isn't Aokiji bragging; after all, anyone who knows the original work can see the truth.

This was probably the biggest joke Kakuzu heard after becoming a rogue ninja: "Where's the evidence?"

"You're someone with a story. People with stories are rarely bad people. At least not purely bad people."

Kakuzu: "..."

"With such strength, you are always happy to keep making money. Logically speaking, the purpose of making money is nothing more than to enjoy it. Otherwise, why make money?"

"But you are strange. You have earned more money than you could spend in several lifetimes, but you never enjoy it. I think you would not have developed your current style of behavior without experiencing many things."

Kakuzu, unwilling for Aokiji to continue, said in a irritable tone, "I should have told you not to speculate about my affairs."

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything."

Aokiji raised his hands, looking as if he had admitted his mistake.

Kakuzu snorted coldly.

Aokiji sighed, thinking that the road to manipulating Kakuzu was truly long and arduous.

But never mind, he's rich now and can develop the second stage of immortal techniques. As long as he has the strength, any problem can be solved.

(End of this chapter)