readsfreenovel Chapter 417 Blinded by Money
Chapter 417 Blinded by Money
"What do I want to do? I'd like to ask the Daimyo of the Land of Earth what he wants to do? Why did he demolish my Iwagakure without my consent?"
"And what I want to do is none of your business!" Onoki retorted angrily, about to make a move at any moment.
Kakuzu immediately replied, "Of course it's related, very related. Because this entire project was funded by our Takigakure Village."
"And they demolished your village?" Kakuzu looked puzzled. "Onoki, are you mistaken? Taimei kindly helped you build Iwagakure, and you destroyed it?"
His words were tinged with concern, yet also contained a degree of sincerity—well, at least they sounded sincere.
"Do you know how much those buildings you just destroyed were worth? Those newly built houses, newly repaired roads, newly installed water pipes... they all cost real money! And you, you destroyed them all with a single dust escape technique."
Onoki sneered, "Help me build? You think I don't know your scheme?"
His voice grew louder and louder, his anger erupting like a volcano: "I understand, I understand now! You just wanted to gradually usurp our territory and sideline us! So, our Hidden Stone Village was your second target! How vicious your schemes are!"
Kakuzu frowned: "What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'cuckoo taking over someone else's nest'?"
"No need to pretend anymore!"
Onoki raised his hands again, and Dust Release light once more condensed between his palms: "All schemes and tricks are nothing but paper in the face of absolute power!"
The light of Dust Release grew brighter and brighter, and just before Ōnoki was about to unleash it, Kakuzu suddenly spoke.
"Onoki, look down there. This is a town! Do you even care about ordinary people and civilians? Does someone like you deserve to be the Kage of the Land of Earth?"
Upon hearing this, Onoki was instantly speechless. He looked down and saw tens of thousands of people in the town below looking up at him.
His face showed both anger and fear, leaving him in a dilemma: whether to act or not!
Finally, he could only snort coldly and withdraw his dust escape technique. "Well, at least you dared to threaten me with the common people. If you have the guts, let's go outside and fight."
"Excuse me, how much do you think you can sell it for?" Kakuzu said with a grin. "Lord Ōnoki, although we did not inform you of our actions and offended you, we apologize to the two daimyo. Their actions were indeed inappropriate."
"Actually, the reason I came to stop you this time is because I have good intentions."
"Sincerity?" Upon hearing the word "sincerity," Onoki's eyes lit up slightly, and the anger in his heart lessened by a third.
"Hmph! Is this another attempt to appease me? I've seen this trick too many times. Don't think I'll fall for it."
He lowered his hands and looked coldly at Kakuzu. "You're finished! I, Ōnoki, hereby formally sever ties with you."
"Now—" Onoki held up two fingers, "Give us the place, and we want it back. And compensate us… two billion ryo. No, five billion ryo! Otherwise, this isn't over! Then I won't care about anything anymore, don't blame me for going on a killing spree!"
Du Du's eyelids twitched. "Fifty billion? You're really asking for the moon! Do you know how much those buildings you just destroyed were worth? And the large machinery and the people you trained only amount to fifty billion."
Kakuzu took a deep breath, as if calming himself: "Fifty billion? That's our Takigawa Country's net tax revenue for January!"
These words struck Onoki's mind like a bolt of lightning. "Ah!"
"What?!" Onoki's eyes widened in disbelief. "Your Takigakure can earn five billion yen a month?"
Kakuzu realized he had let something slip and his expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Of course it's not net profit, it's... turnover. Yes, turnover."
But Onoki couldn't listen anymore; only one sentence echoed in his mind: "The Land of Waterfalls can earn a net profit of 5 billion yen a month."
Meanwhile, Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, led the entire Iwagakure village of ninja to the desert to build roads, relocate people, and carry out infrastructure construction. They worked themselves to the bone, enduring wind and rain, and the total amount of contracts they signed was only 23 billion.
Recently, the price of boxed lunches has gone up, and they are not even making as much as others make in a month. Onoki felt like he had been hit hard, not physically, but emotionally.
At that moment, he really wanted to fight these real estate businessmen. If he killed them all, wouldn't all that money be his? But he quickly stopped himself from having such thoughts.
Money is just paper if you talk too much about it. If other ninjas follow suit, the ruling system will collapse and the money will eventually become a pile of waste paper.
At that moment, he suddenly realized something.
He is Onoki, a Kage-level ninja, the Third Hokage of Iwagakure, and a top-tier ninja recognized throughout the ninja world.
In the eyes of others, it might not even be as valuable as a tax revenue item.
Jealousy, like a venomous snake, coiled around his heart. Shame, anger, resentment, grievance... a mix of emotions swirled together, making his mind buzz.
"Ten billion."
Onoki suddenly changed his mind: "No, 50 billion! Not a penny less!"
He wasn't really sure when he said that. Five hundred billion—he didn't know why he'd said such a huge number; he was probably just blinded by anger.
"Why don't you just rob someone if you have 500 billion?!" Kakuzu was so angry he almost yelled.
Now that things have turned ugly, Onoki has no shame left. "That's right, I'm robbing you. You're rich, aren't you? Since you're rich, then compensate us properly. Iwagakure is our territory after all. If you're not satisfied, I'll risk my life to cause trouble. I want to see if you can kill me faster, or if I can kill someone faster."
"Let me tell you, I'm only giving you one month. If the money isn't paid by then, don't blame me for massacring the entire Daming Prefecture. Remember, this is what you owe me!"
After saying this, Onoki felt a surge of satisfaction; he should have done this a long time ago.
With such strength, why can't he enjoy the treatment he deserves? He could have just robbed it, but he insisted on working instead. He must have been senile before.
At that moment, Onoki seemed to have been enlightened.
Kakuzu remained silent, staring at Onoki for a long time before finally sighing with a pained expression, "Fine, we can give you the money. But I hope you keep your promise and stop causing trouble. And sign and seal the document, handing over the right to use Iwagakure to us."
Onoki's eyes darted around, and after thinking about it carefully, he realized it was just a piece of land.
Once he has these 500 billion, he can buy a piece of land anywhere to rebuild Iwagakure. With Onoki's influence, his disciples won't even need to spend money to buy it. After all, the former Iwagakure has been bulldozed by machines and turned into a pile of ruins, so let them have it.