An S-class rogue ninja, plus that Akatsuki title—no matter what village Kakuzu showed up in,
he'd always have some Anbu secretly tailing him.
Then again, if you're going to dress that loud, that's the price you pay.
Kakuzu didn't care about being followed. Honestly, he was used to it by now.
Besides, these Anbu wouldn't make a move until they were sure, so if they wanted to watch, let them.
This place was full of women in bikinis, walking around with trays of fruit and juice in every flavor.
"Better have some juice before you get in the hot spring, okay?"
"Ah—come on, don't just stare like that."
"These fruits are really tasty too! Are you sure you don't want some?"
A bunch of guys didn't even make it into the hot springs—they got stuck hanging around the women at the entrance.
All that pale skin really grabbed attention. Maybe this was part of the service too.
But more than anything, Kakuzu was curious about the person who came up with all of this.
From the second cup of orange juice, they started charging. The fruit and even the water cost more than outside, but it was all still within a reasonable range.
Everything here was a little more expensive than usual, but not so much that people wouldn't buy.
Even details like this were planned out? In a way, it was all pretty well thought out.
Kakuzu sat in the hot spring, glancing at the price list stuck on the wall.
There were women handing out fruit everywhere outside, but the price list was posted inside the hot spring area after the entrance.
It wasn't exactly a scam, but it definitely felt a bit sneaky.
Kakuzu couldn't help but smile a little—maybe this was the kind of connection only shady businessmen feel.
No one had ever turned a village into a cultural tourism business before, and this kind of money-making method was new even to him.
Still, once you've seen something, you've learned it. Who knows when it might come in handy.
You can never have too many ways to make money.
But the stuff posted around here right now wasn't really useful to him.
It's not like he planned to actually pay for anything.
He was just here to see how things worked.
If they wanted him to make money for them, fine. But if they expected him to *spend* money here, that was a different story.
When Kakuzu came out of the changing room carrying a box, the Anbu hiding nearby all let out a silent sigh of relief.
"Looks like everything's okay..."
"Let's not relax until he's fully gone. He is still an S-rank ninja."
"If something goes wrong and someone gets hurt, Lord Satoru might blow us all to bits."
A few Anbu paused, thinking about the way Hatake Satoru smiled while using his bloodline ability.
They all sighed quietly, picked their cameras back up, and aimed the lenses at Kakuzu.
The woman at the counter was just a regular civilian. She kept her polite customer service smile and quickly totaled the bill.
"Thank you for visiting."
"Your total today is 653,000 yen. Please pay with cash, or we also accept checks."
A long receipt printed out, filled with tiny text listing all sorts of items.
Well, if the point was to understand how they make money here...
Then the best way was to try every single thing that costs money.
So spending that much wasn't really that strange.
Kakuzu said calmly and steadily:
"I don't have any money."
"?"
The woman at the counter clearly hadn't processed what was going on.
What... what was this guy saying so confidently?
As Kakuzu turned to leave, box in hand, she finally snapped out of it.
"Wait, sir? You can't leave without paying."
She hurried around the counter, took two quick steps forward, and tried to stop him.
But the moment her hand touched Kakuzu's shoulder, he slightly lifted his eyes.
Suddenly, a bunch of black threads shot out from Kakuzu's arm, flying straight toward her face.
"Ah—!"
The cashier, who had never seen anything like that before, screamed and crouched down with her hands over her head.
The nearby Anbu quickly swung water whips, slicing through the black threads midair. One of them silently slipped away and rushed toward the Mizukage's office.
The hallway from the hot spring area to the checkout was instantly shut down, and a red warning light turned on above the door.
The alarm system was meant to be noticeable, but honestly, the sound it made was way too stressful for people.
·················
If it went off too suddenly, it wouldn't just scare people—it might even make some of the rich, cautious customers never come back.
That's why Hatake Satoru only used the warning lights. There were also emergency buttons installed nearby that could quickly seal off dangerous areas. Then they'd just tell the public it was under maintenance.
One of the Anbu patrolling near the hot springs saw the situation immediately and explained to the people soaking nearby:
"There's a small issue with the checkout machine. After you finish, please don't rush to pay. You can wait in the rest area for now."
The red light was a quiet signal—it meant that Lord Hatake Satoru or the Mizukage had already been notified, and that a very dangerous rogue ninja was inside.
The green lights were actually the real repair lights.
But for most of the regular visitors, this was their first time here.
They didn't really notice these things. Whatever the Anbu said, they just accepted it, since it didn't affect their fun anyway.
If the repairs didn't work out, even better—they might get in for free.
Right after that, the Anbu who got the message used the staff passage to enter the cashier area where Izumi was.
The civilian in charge of the register was hiding under the desk.
Several Anbu who had used water whips to cut off the tentacles were now rushing toward Kakuzu from all directions.
Behind Kakuzu was the sealed gate that had been closed off.
Kunai and all kinds of elemental jutsu flew toward him. They didn't have to save chakra. Their only goal was to trap Kakuzu in this spot.
Even though the area was shut off, it was still close to the cashier area.
If Kakuzu moved away from the sealed gate, they might not be able to go all out.
All they could do now was hope that the Mizukage had gotten the message and would show up soon.
Boom boom boom—
Attacks from Vacuum Sphere and Water Wave Strike hit the sealed door, making loud, sharp sounds. Several dents quickly appeared on the metal.
Kakuzu dodged the attacks in an instant.
As soon as he stepped away from the sealed gate, one of the Anbu spun a kunai around in their hand and charged straight at him.
"Not bad reactions. But if it's just a few Anbu…"
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed slightly.
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