"Ridiculous!"
"If I kill you, the money will still be mine!"
When Kakuzu saw the yellow-haired young man take out a piece of gold the size of a brick, his five hearts trembled uncontrollably.
But then it occurred to him and realized that if he killed this guy, not only would he get the bounty, but he'd also take the gold. On top of that, he'd complete the leader's mission.
'Three birds with one stone!'
'Perfect!'
'Did this brat really think he could bribe me, Kakuzu, with money?'
'Since when was I a man without principles?'
Naruto didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled out another gold brick and placed it in his palm.
Under the sunlight, the gold reflected a dazzling glare, attracting the attention of others in the bounty station to the yellow-haired young man.
At that moment, everyone was consumed by greed.
They no longer cared about anything at this moment, and they just wanted to kill the guy in front of them and steal the gold bricks.
Kakuzu's expression darkened and he cursed in his heart.
'Damn it!'
'Why the hell did you have to pull out my gold in front of all these people?'
"Senpai..."
"What should I do? These people seem like they want to kill me…"
"I'm so scared."
Naruto took a small step back, but his acting was indeed very poor as he didn't look scared at all.
Kakuzu: "..."
'This Kyubi's Jinchuriki is indeed sick!'
'You're literally Konoha's strongest weapon, and you're telling me you're scared of these trashes?!'
"Fine, I'll kill them for you."
"Give me the gold."
Kakuzu looked at the guys around them who kept taking out weapons, and while thinking about how to deal with all of them, he did not forget to find an opportunity to take the gold from Naruto's hands.
Of course, he said this only because he didn't want the Kyubi's Jinchuriki to escape in the chaos.
"The gold is mine!"
"Dream on!"
"Kid, hand over the gold... maybe I'll spare your life."
The people around roared and rushed forward with weapons in hand. Kakuzu, the man who loved money more than his own life, was forced to become Naruto's temporary bodyguard.
"Like hell!"
"Both the gold and the kid belong to me!"
After saying this, Kakuzu formed hand seals and plunged into the crowd, unleashing Ninjutsu with brutal efficiency.
Every Ninjutsu he used would claim several lives.
Naruto stood there motionless, quietly watching his 'bodyguard' killing everyone, and nodded with satisfaction.
Before setting off, he had thought about it. Currently, within Akatsuki, Sasori could be considered his ally. And with some maneuvering, Deidara might also be counted as one.
If he could add Kakuzu to the mix, Naruto felt there was a good chance he could become the new leader of the righteous Akatsuki.
"Kid!"
"Give me the gold!"
After dealing with the bad guys in the bounty station, Kakuzu spoke with barely suppressed fury. The more he killed, the more he thought something was wrong.
He worked so hard to kill someone, but this guy just sat there and watched the show.
'Damn it!'
'Since when was I this brat's bodyguard?!'
'Besides, my original plan was to kill this guy and take the gold!!'
Upon hearing this, Naruto was very straightforward and threw the two gold bricks to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu caught them, then brought the gold to his nose and took a deep inhale. The scent of money immediately made him forget everything.
He even felt that the yellow-haired young man in front of him became somewhat pleasing to the eye.
Seeing Kakuzu's money-obsessed expression, Naruto pulled out yet another gold brick like a magician and continued, "Senpai, I really want to join your organization."
Kakuzu looked at the Kyubi's Jinchuriki, then looked at the gold in his hand. After a long silence, he finally spoke, "Although you are rich, our organization doesn't accept Jinchuriki."
Naruto was dumbfounded when he saw that four gold bricks couldn't sway Kakuzu.
'Seriously...?'
'This old bastard actually has principles??'
Thinking of this, Naruto continued to take out gold bricks and threw them in front of Kakuzu one by one.
By the time he threw out the sixth brick, Kakuzu finally cracked.
"Don't even think about it!"
"Our Akatsuki's goal is to capture all the Biju in the Shinobi World."
"Take my advice..."
"Boss, if you join the organization, you're giving up your life!"
Holding the gold bricks, Kakuzu directly revealed the secret of Akatsuki, and he seemed to not care at all about his leader's warning not to leak the secret.
Not only that, but Kakuzu's way of addressing Naruto had shifted from 'brat' to 'boss'...
However, Naruto didn't react at all when he heard Kakuzu's words and continued to dig out gold bricks.
But this time, Naruto didn't give them to Kakuzu directly, but placed it at his feet, letting Kakuzu stare at it longingly.
Kakuzu swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "Boss…"
"Our organization isn't some righteous group. Saving the world is purely coincidental."
"I would never betray the organization!"
Naruto smiled faintly at.
"Oh? Since when does someone like you care about that?"
The moment these words left his mouth, Kakuzu's expression twisted again. A second later, he said through gritted teeth, "You have to pay more!"
"I'll find a way to get you into the organization..."
"But you can't reveal that you're the Kyubi's Jinchuriki."
"Deal."
Without hesitation, Naruto tossed two more gold bricks at him, which made Kakuzu's knees go weak and he almost dropped to the ground in worship.
"Boss!"
"Just give the orders from now on!"
Kakuzu fawned shamelessly as he pulled out a sealing scroll to store away the ten gold bricks now in his possession.
At this moment, Kakuzu, the man who loved money more than his own life, had undergone a complete 180-degree shift in loyalty.
Pain?
Sorry, but as far as he was concerned, Uzumaki Naruto was his leader now.
"Boss, follow me."
"I'll personally take you to the organization."
After stashing his newfound wealth, Kakuzu immediately adopted the demeanor of a groveling lackey in front of Naruto.
"But…"
"Boss, you'd better find a way to conceal your identity."
In order to satisfy his new boss, Kakuzu was already thinking from Naruto's perspective.
After all…
Aside from his name, nothing about Naruto's appearance would fool anyone who had ever been to Konoha or heard of the Kyubi's Jinchuriki.
And that included his former leader, Pain.
"Got it."
Naruto formed hand seals and activated a Transformation Technique to turn his yellow hair orange. The whisker marks on his cheeks also vanished, and his clothes changed into a black haori.
For the finishing touch, he took out an unsheathed blade and fastened it at his waist, looking like the Shinobi Version of Kurosaki Ichigo.
Considering that Nagato's Rinnegan might be able to see through his disguise, Naruto also asked Kurama to use the power of the Gelel's Stone to cover his body with a layer of energy.
Now, even the Sensor Shinobi would think he was just an ordinary person.
"Alright, let's go."
After getting everything ready, Naruto followed his newly acquired subordinate toward the Akatsuki's hideout.
…
Meanwhile, far away in Amegakure, in Akatsuki's hideout, Deidara and Sasori were standing in front of Pain.
"When exactly are you bringing the Ichibi's Jinchuriki to me?"
Pain was this close to losing it.
A few years ago, these two guys told him that they would be able to capture the Ichibi's Jinchuriki in the near future by infiltrating the enemy's ranks.
However, it has been two years, but not only are Sasori and Deidara nowhere to be seen all day, they also often ask for leave and miss meetings within the organization.
When asked when they would be able to bring back the Ichibi's Jinchuriki back, they kept saying things like 'soon', 'almost done', 'just a few more days', etc.
It's very infuriating.
"Leader, we will be able to bring back the Ichibi's Jinchuriki soon!"
Nagato: "…"
'Damn it!'
'Here we go again!'
'Do they really think I'm this easy to fool?!'
Nagato was very angry, but decided to give these two one last chance.
"Three days!"
"If I don't see the Ichibi's Jinchuriki by then..."
"You know the consequences!!"