"Kill me if you want. I don't have any money."
"Are you sure?"
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Nagi raised his Nichirin Blade and, without the slightest hesitation, plunged it down, destroying another of Kakuzu's hearts. Including the previous ones, that made a total of three hearts he had lost.
"Argh..." Kakuzu cried out in pain, his eyes blazing with fury as he glared at Uchiha Nagi.
"To think that I, after living for so long, would fall at your hands. Back in the day, not even Hashirama Senju could kill me. I can't accept this..."
Uchiha Nagi rolled his eyes and pulled out his blade. "Cut the crap. Didn't you just throw a shuriken at him from a few thousand meters away and then run for it? What do you mean 'he couldn't kill you'? Let's stop beating around the bush. Are you going to pay to save your own skin or not?"
Kakuzu didn't hesitate for a second. "I have no money. If I did, I wouldn't be a bounty hunter."
Like hell I believe you, you crafty old bastard.
Uchiha Nagi decided to search him himself. He opened all of Kakuzu's storage scrolls, only to find a meager amount of cash—just a few tens of thousands of ryo, likely for lodging and food during his travels.
Without a shred of politeness, Uchiha Nagi stuffed the small sum into his own pocket. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kakuzu's eyes widen, a look of pure heartache on his face.
"Ahem, hey, Brother Kakuzu... Uncle Kakuzu, do you know what the greatest tragedy in the world is?"
"Hmph!" Kakuzu was completely uncooperative, refusing to play along. Nagi had no choice but to sigh and continue his monologue.
"The greatest tragedy in the world is when a man dies, but his money isn't spent. Just think about it. You've spent your whole life earning so much money, and now you're about to die without having spent it all. Isn't that sad?" Nagi said.
"Hmph. If I don't have money, I'd rather be dead," Kakuzu retorted, stubborn as a mule. In short: no money, just my life.
What now?
Uchiha Nagi scratched his head. He couldn't just stare at a mountain of treasure and walk away empty-handed. Kakuzu had lived for over a century and been a bounty hunter for just as long. The amount of money he possessed was likely just a string of numbers. With his personality, Nagi would sooner die than believe he would willingly give all his hard-earned cash to Konan.
It was more likely the Akatsuki paid him a salary.
"Ahem, old brother Kakuzu, let me run some numbers for you. Let's say, just hypothetically, that you take on a few missions at the black market every year. You'd make over ten million, right? In ten years, that's over a hundred million. In a hundred years, that's over a billion. But if you die now, you'll have nothing."
"In other words, by dying now, you're losing out on over a billion ryo. And if you worked a bit harder, say, setting a small goal of earning a hundred million a year, then in a hundred years, that's one hundred of those small goals. Don't you feel the pain of watching all that money slip through your fingers?"
Kakuzu was a mathematical expert. He was an amateur at counting other things, but when it came to counting money, he was an expert among experts. As Nagi spoke, an abacus started clicking away in his mind.
He has a point. If I die now, it's a huge loss. All those billions, just vanishing before my eyes...
After a moment of silence, Kakuzu finally spoke. "How much will it take for you to let me go?"
"A billion?"
"Just kill me."
"Hey, don't be like that. Even buying things involves some haggling. How about five hundred million?"
"Just kill me."
"Two hundred million? Don't be unreasonable. I've already lowered the price so much."
"Just kill me."
Faced with the impenetrable Kakuzu, Uchiha Nagi lost his temper. "Then how much are you offering?"
"One million, at most."
"Heh heh. Is your life only worth one million?" Nagi sneered.
"Of course not. My bounty at the black market is only a hundred thousand. Offering one million is already ten times that."
"..."
The two of them haggled for a long, long time. In the end, Kakuzu managed to slash the price from one billion all the way down to twenty million. Mentally exhausted, Uchiha Nagi agreed. He had no choice. The guy wasn't afraid to die and valued his money more than his life.
"You're not going to kill me after you get the money, are you?" Kakuzu asked suspiciously.
"Do you kill the black market merchants after you get paid?" Nagi retorted.
I would...
If the merchants kept the money on them, Kakuzu really would double-cross them. Unfortunately, they always verified the kill and then used a summoning jutsu to deliver the bounty, leaving no opportunity for foul play. What was the use in killing the merchant and stealing the corpse? You couldn't just take it to another black market for cash.
After thinking for a long time, Kakuzu finally nodded in agreement. It was only twenty million, after all. A single S-rank ninja, like Chiriku or Asuma, would make that back.
Uchiha Nagi released the seal. Kakuzu stood up, stretched his limbs, and, once he could use his chakra again, performed a summoning jutsu. A golden toad appeared and spat out two chests from its mouth.
"One chest is ten million. You can count it."
Uchiha Nagi's eyes lit up. Another Asuma's worth of cash. He opened the two chests, and a quick scan with his Sharingan was enough to confirm the amount was correct.
"Good, the amount is right. Our transaction is complete."
"So..." Kakuzu probed cautiously, "I can go?"
Uchiha Nagi nodded. "Don't worry. My word is as good as yours. I won't go back on it."
"However..."
Kakuzu, who had just begun to relax, tensed up again. He sneered, "However what? You want to ask for more?"
Uchiha Nagi smiled and shook his head. "A misunderstanding. I was just wondering if you had any interest in lending? Lending me money, that is."
Hm?!
"What do you mean?" A flicker of interest sparked in Kakuzu's eyes. Of course, it was just a flicker.
"I need a large amount of money for my technological research and to forge my own custom weapon. So, I'm asking if you're interested in lending me money. How about five percent annual interest?" Uchiha Nagi asked.
"Five percent interest?" Kakuzu's brain started calculating at high speed again. The flicker of interest was now being infinitely magnified by the allure of money.
"That's right. A powerhouse of my caliber wouldn't deign to lie. If I borrow your money, I will definitely pay it back. Meanwhile, your money is just sitting there, constantly depreciating. Think about it. Compared to ten years ago, haven't prices for everything gone up quite a bit? The more you earn, the more you lose to depreciation each year. But if you lend it out and collect some interest, you won't have to worry about that, will you?"
Hearing Nagi's words, Kakuzu thought it over. He wasn't a banker, but he understood inflation. The price of goods always seemed to creep up a little every year, even if it wasn't by much. Nagi's reminder made him realize that he had lost a lot of his hard-earned money to this invisible depreciation. No wonder something had felt off all these years.
Seeing Kakuzu hesitate, Uchiha Nagi pressed his advantage. "Six percent. How about six percent a year?"
Without even thinking, Kakuzu subconsciously haggled back, "Twenty percent."
Uchiha Nagi turned to leave. "Goodbye."
Twenty percent? That's more predatory than the loan sharks from my past life! They only charged eighteen percent. Six percent is already generous. A house only appreciates by about five percent a year...
Seeing his big client about to walk away, Kakuzu hurriedly called out, "Wait, let's discuss this! How much do you want to borrow?"
"One hundred million. If you think that's too much, fifty million is also fine."
"Wait, we can talk about this!"
Seeing this, Uchiha Nagi stopped and turned to see what Kakuzu had to say.
"What I mean is, isn't one hundred million a bit too little? How about I lend you five hundred million?"
"Huh? Five hundred million?"
Kakuzu quickly explained, "Just as you said, six percent a year. How about it? If you think that's too much, then five percent is fine..."
Uchiha Nagi blinked. Did I reply too quickly just now? Maybe if I had asked for a larger amount, Kakuzu would have agreed to three percent?
"Deal."
The two shared a knowing smile. Just moments ago, they were fighting to the death. Now, they were a client and a provider who had just completed a perfect transaction.
Having made money, Kakuzu let all the previous unpleasantness fade away. He now understood that Uchiha Nagi had never intended to kill him from the start. His only goal was to borrow money.
Since he had the money, and he was confident the other party wasn't the type to default or double-cross him, Kakuzu agreed. What business venture didn't come with a little risk?
If he dares not to pay me back... I'll just ask Leader Pain to come collect the debt. We'll see how he dies then.
Kakuzu once again summoned his money-storing golden toad.
The toad spat out a pile of cash boxes. This time, Uchiha Nagi wasn't in a hurry. He counted the money with Kakuzu, wrote an IOU, and then stored the cash in his storage scrolls. Earning five hundred million on a single trip out wasn't bad at all. As for paying it back?
I borrowed this money with my own skill. Heh...
Besides, Kakuzu would be dead at the hands of Prince Naruto in a few years. If the creditor is gone, does the debt still need to be paid?
Both parties were extremely satisfied with the transaction. One wasn't worried about the other not paying, and the other wasn't worried about the creditor coming to collect.
Uchiha Nagi suddenly asked, "Oh, right, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you. Why is there no red cloud on your black robe?"
Kakuzu looked at Uchiha Nagi as if he were an idiot. "Do you never change or wash your clothes?" he retorted.
Uchiha Nagi: "..."
He had jumped to conclusions. The red cloud cloak was the Akatsuki's uniform, but that didn't mean its members had to wear it twenty-four-seven. If Kakuzu's got dirty or damaged in a fight, it was perfectly normal for him to change.
"Right, I almost forgot. I came to find you for a reason. I was wondering if you had any interest in joining our organization. We're called the Akatsuki," Kakuzu said suddenly.
Normally, Akatsuki members operated in pairs. Coincidentally, Kakuzu had just killed his partner for bounty money. Furthermore, as the Akatsuki's treasurer, Pain trusted him more than many of the other rogue ninja.
From this, one could also infer that Kakuzu belonged to Konan's faction, not Obito's.