"Don't call me boss." Kakuzu tossed his patched-up coat to the ground. "Your dumb idea cost me a fortune."

  Shirohebi blinked. "What, your cosmetic clinic isn’t getting customers?"

  That made no sense!

  Kakuzu had the heart of a craftsman—every face he made was stitched from natural materials with meticulous precision, priced to bleed wallets dry.

  He even offered custom jobs. Limb repcement? No problem.

  "Except for you," Kakuzu grumbled.

  "Seems like you’ve got no business sense. Not cut out to run a shop," Shirohebi shook his head. "Once I take care of my own mess, I’ll help you set it up. We’ll make a killing together."

  "Let’s not get ahead of ourselves." Kakuzu held out his right hand. "Where’s my money?"

  "Where’s my face?" Shirohebi dispelled his transformation jutsu and tore off the false face he’d been wearing.

  Kakuzu reached into his satchel and pulled out half a stitched-up human face.

  This wasn’t human skin—it was a full facial structure, complete with jawbone and muscle tissue.

  Kakuzu’s facial reconstruction techniques were leagues beyond Orochimaru’s Face Stealing Jutsu. Once a new face was attached, it became real—injuries would heal as if it had always been yours.

  "We’re missing a lip," Shirohebi frowned.

  Six months, and the bottom half of his face was still incomplete.

  "Tch. That ugly lip wasn’t easy to find," Kakuzu muttered, shaking his head. He had tried his best.

  Shirohebi fell silent.

  The experimental subject he’d swapped bodies with… wasn’t exactly a looker.

  The rest of the facial features were passable when combined, but the mouth? It absolutely tanked the face’s aesthetic, dragging it into hideous territory.

  "But I’ve got a lead," Kakuzu said, his voice muffled behind his mask—low and indistinct, but still ced with glee.

  "Who?" Shirohebi asked, raising two fingers to perform a sensory jutsu, scanning the surroundings for eavesdroppers.

  This was a basic perception technique he already knew—he hadn’t even started on the more advanced one Orochimaru had passed on to him.

  But it was good enough to sniff out unwanted listeners.

  Kakuzu waited a few seconds, then finally spoke.

  "The eldest son of the Daimyō of the Land of Fire. Heir to the title."

  Shirohebi’s entire face scrunched like he’d just eaten a cockroach.

  "Why the Daimyō again? If we kill this one too, won’t that line go extinct?"

  In the tattered memories left behind by this body’s previous owner, the Daimyō’s offspring weren’t the most dangerous targets…

  But they were the ones that brought the most trouble.

  Originally, he was only wanted by the Five Great Ninja Vilges and a few smaller ones—and even then, he wasn’t a high-priority target.

  But after offing a whole string of nobles—including the Daimyō’s second son—well…

  Now he was wanted across the entire shinobi world. Highest priority. Dead or alive.

  If someone could capture him alive and deliver him to the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, they’d not only collect a staggering bounty, but also be granted the hereditary title of “Imperial Bodyguard.”

  That was the highest honor short of nobility itself—above even some minor nobles, since these guards sometimes acted as the Daimyō’s direct envoys. Their status could rival even the Hokage.

  For a commoner with no bloodline, it was the pinnacle of glory.

  Not that Shirohebi gave a damn about glory.

  Even if you didn’t bring him to the Fire Daimyō, other countries' lords would still pay handsomely for his head.

  If not for the Yamanaka Cn’s ability to read the brains of the dead—and other nations having ninja capable of confirming identities—he would’ve had Kakuzu sew his face onto a corpse and turn it in for the reward himself.

  "So, what do you say? You in?" Kakuzu leaned forward.

  "In? Why wouldn’t I be?" Shirohebi chuckled. "I’m already a wanted man. What’s one more bounty?"

  Then, his expression shifted. His eyes narrowed. "But you’re going to help."

  "No way. My secret to a long life? Stay far away from nobility," Kakuzu said firmly.

  Shirohebi leaned in as well, their faces nearly touching. "And my secret to a long life? Always pay generously."

  He tapped the tatami mat. "Thirty-five million ryo."

  "That’s the Daimyō’s heir we’re talking about. Kill him, and the whole Land of Fire could descend into chaos... That’ll cost extra." Kakuzu raised five fingers.

  "Fifty million? Deal," Shirohebi agreed immediately.

  He didn’t have the money yet, but he had gold transmutation. Once his soul recovered, his chakra reserves would return to normal.

  Then he could crank out daily quotas. Making money would be easy.

  "Five billion," Kakuzu corrected him, shaking his head and naming an outrageous figure.

  "You robbing idiots now? The entire Land of Fire’s GDP isn’t that high," Shirohebi sneered.

  Sure, Kakuzu’s price was high—but Shirohebi had used a little sleight of hand.

  “GDP” sounded impressive, as if having that amount would make someone as rich as a nation.

  But reality was different. The Land of Fire had massive wealth disparity, and war wounds that hadn’t healed. Refugees and the starving still roamed in droves.

  Its actual GDP wasn’t high—and it kept dropping every year.

  "Fifty million. That’s my ceiling. He’s just the Daimyō’s son."

  Shirohebi wasn’t about to haggle. He id his cards on the table.

  "Fine. Pay up," Kakuzu agreed.

  Shirohebi instantly regretted offering so much. He had a feeling Kakuzu would’ve accepted the thirty-five million.

  "I’ll owe you for now. I’ve been hiding in Konoha tely. Too many eyes. Can’t risk going all-out just yet," Shirohebi said with a calm smile.

  Kakuzu gave him a long, searching look, then nodded. "I can lend you manpower—but I’m not showing up myself."

  There was a reason Kakuzu had survived this long. He was a “reasonable” man.

  He didn’t care about being wanted by a few vilges. The shinobi world was big. If one pce hunted him, he just moved somewhere else.

  But nobles? Daimyō? Cross them, and there’d be nowhere left to run.

  Shirohebi had expected that. He didn’t press him, and instead brought up something else.

  He was searching for something that could nourish the soul—or at least strengthen his mental energy. Some kind of secret medicine or jutsu.

  He was confident Kakuzu hadn’t spent these past 80–90 years twiddling his thumbs.

  Kakuzu chuckled darkly. "So that’s why you insisted on hiding in Konoha."

  He sounded pleased with himself for figuring it out. After a brief ugh, he grew serious.

  "I only know two possible methods.

  "First is something you already know. A forbidden Konoha technique—Spirit Transformation Jutsu.

  "We’ve both seen it before. If the user can send out their soul to perform unavoidable attacks, then the training process likely enhances mental energy."

  "And the second…?"

  Kakuzu paused. "Remember that undead old man from the Hidden Waterfall who suddenly had a chakra surge?"

  Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "I looked into it. Turns out those geezers had a secret weapon all along. Hmph—if not for that, they might’ve tried to brainwash me into one of their death soldiers."

  His voice held the faintest trace of bitterness, which quickly vanished.

  "It’s called Hero Water. Drink it, and your chakra multiplies tenfold. You know what that means."

  Shirohebi nodded slowly.

  Thanks to Kakuzu’s reminder, he remembered that little-known canon detail.

  Just like Kakuzu said, it multiplied chakra output several times over.

  And since chakra was a fusion of spiritual and physical energy…

  If your spiritual and physical reserves didn’t actually grow, no amount of extraction could produce more chakra.

  "If it’s that good, and the Waterfall Vilge hasn’t conquered the world, the side effects must be…"

  A smirk tugged at the corner of Kakuzu’s mouth beneath his mask.

  "Smart. Anyone who drinks it has a ten-out-of-ten chance of dying."

  "So? If you want it, I’ll guide you there. And I’ll even give you a 1% discount."

  Shirohebi grinned. "How generous."

  His thoughts raced. The Spirit Transformation Jutsu had only appeared once in the original series—but he wasn’t about to gamble everything on it.

  If it was beled a “forbidden technique,” it had to be either insanely hard to master or dangerously risky.

  And since it dealt directly with the soul, he could end up worsening his current injuries during training.

  It might not actually be a better option than Hero Water.

  "We’ll talk about this ter. Once I finish this mission and kill the Daimyō’s son, I’m heading back to Konoha."

  Hunting down Kaiki wasn’t a hard mission. But if it dragged on too long, it’d look suspicious.

  As one of the most hunted S-rank criminals in the entire shinobi world, the st thing he needed was to raise any red fgs.

  So he pnned to hand off the Hero Water heist to Kakuzu before returning to the vilge.

  He just didn’t want to bring it up yet—not before the job was done.

  That way, he wouldn’t reveal his urgency. Wouldn’t let Kakuzu see how desperate—or how weak—he really was.

  And once the Daimyō’s son was dead, even if Kakuzu didn’t want to let his prior investment go to waste, he’d have no choice but to get the Hero Water for him.