Kakuzu was a bit surprised by how fast they reacted.
In just a blink, they were already going for the kill, attacking with everything they had.
But if this was all they had—just a few Anbu—it was nowhere near enough.
"Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear."
From the ground, a web of black threads quickly shot out, instantly wrapping around the water whip and cutting off the flowing water with brute force.
With a splash, puddles of water fell to the ground.
Seeing the black threads creeping upward, the masked Anbu frowned slightly and jumped back, landing on top of the cashier counter.
But those threads on the ground didn't need to grab onto anything—they rose up straight from the floor and rushed at the Anbu.
This is bad!
From a distance, those threads looked soft and harmless, but up close, they were clearly sharp like blades.
Just when it seemed like there was no way out, a light, playful voice suddenly rang out.
"Don't make things hard for them in a place like this~ With money lying around everywhere, even I wouldn't want to fight."
In the next instant, all the threads were slammed down against the ground—not retracted, but forced down by some unknown power.
The floor cracked with small splits, like it couldn't handle the pressure.
The Anbu, who had pretty much given up hope, stumbled back a couple steps, gasping for breath.
It felt like they'd just walked away from death.
Hatake Satoru had used teleportation to get there. Even though he wasted a bit of time looking for the staff entrance, he still arrived at just the right moment.
What kind of weird jutsu was that!?
Kakuzu frowned slightly, looking at Satoru's open hand.
He had never seen this kind of ability before.
Kakuzu withdrew his power, and all the black threads instantly pulled back.
The black eye patch, the strange technique—based on how he looked, Hatake Satoru didn't even seem like a regular ninja.
"After I take care of you, I'm taking all the money here with me."
Right after saying that, Kakuzu grabbed the box with one hand and aimed the other straight at Hatake Satoru, who was still smiling.
Thin black threads suddenly shot out from his arm, and one of his arms detached and flew at high speed toward Satoru's chest.
That punch would definitely go right through his heart.
"Ah—nope, that's not going to happen."
"I mean, this place was built by me and Teuchi. If someone just comes in and robs it, wouldn't that be super embarrassing for me?"
Hatake Satoru didn't even try to dodge. He just tilted his head slightly and raised a finger toward the flying punch.
"No way!?"
Kakuzu watched in disbelief as his fast, deadly punch got completely stopped in front of this guy.
He couldn't hold back his shock and muttered in surprise.
Even though the punch still looked like it had full force, it couldn't touch the guy's body at all. It was like there was an invisible wall in front of him that couldn't be broken.
Even now, with all his strength, the punch wasn't moving at all.
But there didn't seem to be any kind of shield or barrier around him. How did he stop it?
Before Kakuzu could pull his arm back, Hatake Satoru's eyes moved to the box Kakuzu was holding.
That box, which he hadn't let go of the entire time—just looking at it, you could tell there was something important inside.
Satoru's face suddenly lit up with a bright smile.
"But you said you had no money. Were you really telling the truth~?"
As his light voice rang out, the box in Kakuzu's hand suddenly flew up like it was being pulled by something.
"Pulling force?!"
Kakuzu finally realized what had felt wrong.
But before he could react, he was suddenly thrown back and slammed into the wall behind him.
*Bang!*
The back door dented deeply, and Kakuzu was almost completely stuck in the wall.
This strange power—what this boy just used—felt oddly similar to the move Pain used, Shinra Tensei.
Even though it wasn't exactly the same, it had a very similar feeling.
"Damn… I didn't expect someone like this to be in Kirigakure."
Kakuzu's pupils shrank. His battle experience was way beyond anyone else here.
Even if he didn't fight Hatake Satoru all the way to the end, he could already tell the gap between them was huge.
Sure, the battlefield limited both of them and neither was using their full power, but this guy's ease and that strange ability weren't fake…
There was probably a big reason why Kirigakure could afford to be so open—running a theme park on the surface and a shelter in secret.
And it likely had something to do with this kid.
"Hey—there's a lot of money in here!"
Hatake Satoru sat down at the cash register and with a *click*, opened the black box.
It was stuffed full, and a few bills even spilled out as soon as it opened.
He quickly glanced at the amount—this might be over ten million ryo.
Even if Akatsuki had lots of missions and money, there's no way this much came from just one job.
This money was probably stuff Kakuzu had picked up along the way.
"Gotta say, when it comes to making money, you really are good at it~"
Too bad after you died, Konan took all this money and burned it on Explosive Tags. Not a single hair left of you after ten minutes.
Well, money is just money. Whether it gets burned in ten minutes or ends up in my hands, it doesn't really matter.
With a *snap*, Hatake Satoru closed the box, propped his cheek on his hand, and looked at Kakuzu, who was still stuck in the wall, legs crossed on the counter.
"This money's more than enough to buy your life. If you come back next time, I'll even give you a 10% discount~"
"But... you're not really thinking of fighting me again, are you?"
Even though Hatake Satoru still had a smile on his face, the air around him suddenly felt heavier and colder.
He was wearing an eye mask, yet you could clearly sense his gaze had changed.
"..."
Usually, it's Kakuzu tricking others for money—when has anyone ever tricked him instead? It was just ridiculous.
But there wasn't much he could do. He couldn't really go all-out and fight over some money, could he?
He was the one in charge of finances, yet this kind of thing happened. Luckily, no one else knew about the money issue yet.
Chances were, he'd have to take on missions himself to make up for the loss. It just wasn't worth it.
Hatake Satoru, clearly seeing Kakuzu's dark expression and silent response, cheerfully clapped his hands and said to the nearby Anbu:
"Alright then, the guest has paid, so make sure to see him out nicely~"
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