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Inside the forge, Akio swung a heavy hamr for the first ti in a long while.
"What am I even doing..." Akio sighed, glancing at the pile of hundreds of damaged shuriken and kunai that needed to be reforged. He felt deeply conflicted.
"How did I end up doing grunt work just because I had a sudden lapse in judgnt? Sure, this is a way to stay in Kumogakure... but with this workload, what's the point of staying?"
"I ca all the way to Kumogakure just to do free labor? Maybe infiltrating like this isn't my thing after all... or maybe I just haven't found the right thod."
Akio was already losing patience, preparing to sneak away. Fortunately, not many people here knew "Minato Namikaze" yet, so retreating now would cause fewer complications.
"Hm? Why is he coming here?" Akio sensed a familiar chakra approaching.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…"
It was Bee—the sa Bee he had fought earlier.
"Minato Namikaze, co with ..." Bee said bluntly.
Akio sighed but didn't refuse. At this point, he'd resigned himself to whatever ca next. Worst case, he could just make a flashy escape—after all, he could fly.
Bee remained silent along the way, and Akio didn't bother asking questions. The two walked quietly to the Raikage's Tower.
Akio found himself face-to-face with the Second Raikage once again. The last ti they t was during the Five Kage Summit, when Akio had accompanied the First Raikage as a bodyguard. Of course, the Raikage couldn't recognize him now—Akio had transford his appearance.
Akio could clearly sense that there were many hidden ninja nearby, all at least elite jonin level. It seed the Raikage had mobilized all the top forces who weren't out on missions.
"Looks like things might really kick off here in Kumogakure... Hopefully the Fourth Great Ninja War doesn't start because of ," Akio sighed inwardly.
The Second Raikage said nothing at first, rely staring intently at him.
"What a pity... If only the Gold and Silver Brothers were here too. I could have taken them out while I was at it..." Akio frowned slightly, already preparing for battle.
But what happened next completely took him by surprise.
The Raikage pulled a katana from behind his desk and tossed it to Akio—the sa blade that had been pawned at the gambling den.
"Minato Namikaze, I redeed your sword for you. I also paid off your one-million-ryo debt. So now, I'm your creditor... I heard from Bee that you're quite skilled. You'll work for Kumogakure for a year to pay off your debt. Of course, you can choose to go back to the forge instead."
Akio was stunned. Was there really such a good deal?
He had been racking his brain trying to infiltrate Kumogakure, thinking the opportunity was gone—only for the perfect chance to fall right into his lap. Just as he was about to accept, he suddenly realized sothing was off.
"All these ninja lurking nearby... Heh, he's trying to play like a fool. If I agree too quickly, wouldn't that basically admit I ca here specifically to infiltrate Kumogakure?"
Akio blinked, then rubbed his fingers together, saying with a greedy look, "Raikage-sama, hiring a ninja like for a year... I think two million ryo isn't enough."
The Second Raikage froze. He had anticipated all sorts of reactions and prepared counterasures, but he wasn't expecting this greedy attitude.
"How much do you want then?" he asked coolly after a mont's pause.
"At least two and a half million ryo," Akio said after thinking for a mont.
The Raikage frowned, muttering under his breath, "That's not too bad..."
Then, to Akio's surprise, he handed over another fifty thousand ryo without argunt.
Akio sighed inwardly.
"He didn't even catch the joke about 'two-fifty'... Boring."
Still, he happily accepted the extra silver notes.
"Then, it's settled. You'll start taking missions for Kumogakure tomorrow!" the Raikage declared.
"No problem," Akio replied with a bright smile as he left.
After Akio was out of earshot, Bee spoke up, "Big bro, about that guy..."
The Raikage waved him off. "I know we can't trust him."
"We'll assign him so tough but low-priority missions and observe. If he's really just a wandering ninja... we might even use him to keep those two brothers in check. They've been acting suspicious lately, and I'm getting worried."
Bee nodded in agreent, and the two of them got to work selecting missions for Akio.
But half an hour later, just as they finished making their plans, Akio returned, grinning from ear to ear.
"Raikage-sama, thanks for the extra fifty thousand ryo! I used it to turn things around at the gambling den. Here's three million ryo—keep the change!"
Akio bead.
"That ends our employnt relationship. I'm a free man again! Goodbye, gentlen!"
Without waiting for a response, Akio strutted out of the tower, muttering to himself:
"Hmph! You think you can outsmart ? I was pulling tricks before you were even weaned... Er, wait, that doesn't sound quite right..."
Inside the Raikage's office, the two brothers stood frozen, dumbfounded.
If they had been transmigrators too, they probably would've shouted in unison:
"MMP, what kind of move is that?!"
After a long mont, Bee finally spoke. "Big bro... I think I overthought things."
The Second Raikage nodded and sighed.
"I think I did too..."
anwhile, Akio humd a little tune as he walked back to the inn, feeling pretty pleased with himself. It had been a crazy few days, but he had finally found so enjoynt.
"Wait a minute... didn't I just blow a perfect chance to infiltrate Kumogakure?"
Akio paused at the entrance of the inn, suddenly realizing.
"Oh well. Using the na Minato Namikaze here isn't very convenient anyway. I'll co back with a new identity next ti..." he muttered.
Just as he was about to enter, the broker from earlier ca rushing out.
The two of them froze for a second before the broker exclaid in relief, "Big bro, you're back! I heard you were sent to the forge because of gambling debts?"
Akio's face darkened slightly. Even though he had thrown the match on purpose, hearing it said out loud still stung a little.
Just as he was about to brush it off, the broker quickly unwrapped a bundle from his back, pulling out several stacks of silver notes.
"Big bro, I borrowed this from the company president. Use it to pay off your debts first!"
Akio fell silent for a mont before accepting the money and giving it a quick count.
Exactly two million ryo. Not a coin more or less.
"This kid probably had to sell himself to get this..." Akio thought with a sigh.
A mont later, Akio smiled and said,
"You really think your big bro needs your help? I have people lining up to pay off my debts. Take this back. Tomorrow, we'll head back to the Land of Hot Water. I'll even teach you a couple of jutsu."
"Really?!" The broker's face lit up with excitent, and he imdiately started chattering nonstop.
It took Akio quite a while to finally get him to leave.
Then, Akio collapsed back into the hot spring, letting out a long sigh.
After a while, he chuckled to himself, "That kid... I almost got a little touched, old as I am."
Thinking about it so more, he sighed again.
"That kid's got a lot of good qualities... just talks too much. But I guess I've half-adopted a disciple now. Maybe soday I'll bring him back to Konoha. The Land of Hot Water is peaceful, but it's way too laid-back... I have a bad feeling about that."
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