Naruto: Shinobi Payday-Chapter 44: Bounty on the Beast

Somewhere in the Black Market—Underground Nexus of Shadows and Ryo

If there was one place Kakuzu considered sacred, it wasn't a shrine. It was the bounty board.

He walked through the dimly lit corridors of the black market with the casual air of someone who had been here too many times to count and killed half the people on the posters.

Names. Ranks. Faces. All priceless—literally.

To most, this was a rogue's gallery.

To Kakuzu?

A menu.

"Low-tier. Dead. Broke. Already killed him. Huh... thought she was taller."

He moved with surgical precision until—

He stopped.

A single bounty poster glowed under the flickering lantern.

Kakuzu blinked. Slowly. Suspiciously.

"One... hundred million?" he muttered.

The price made even him pause.

He tore the poster off the wall like it owed him money. Which, technically, it did.

TARGET: ZELDRIS

STATUS: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

AFFILIATION: Unknown. Possibly self-

employed psychopath.

NOTES: Destroyed Sunagakure. Showed no mercy. May have smiled while doing it.

Kakuzu stared at the picture. Young. Calm eyes. A face you'd see in a teashop—not on a wanted list that could bankrupt a small country.

He grinned beneath his mask.

"So you're the one turning villages into job opportunities."

The Next Day – Border of the Land of Wind

A ruin of rock and wind carved out the desert's edge. And in the middle of it all, lounging like he was on a picnic...

Zeldris.

He sat cross-legged, toying with one of Sasori's puppet cores, turning it over like a puzzle cube.

Nearby, Gaara—the One-Tail's Jinchūriki—was unconscious, bound, and utterly irrelevant to the conversation at hand.

Sasori entered, dusting sand off his cloak and looking generally irritated with life.

"He's not here yet?"

Zeldris didn't even look up. "Nope. Still fashionably late."

Sasori narrowed his eyes.

"You sure he's not trying to screw us over?"

Zeldris shrugged. "If he is, he's welcome to try. I'm in a good mood."

That was a lie. He was just bored. But it sounded cooler.

Sasori crossed his arms, trying to look cool.

"The entire ninja world's talking about Sunagakure. You specifically. Your bounty makes mine look like chump change."

Zeldris gave a satisfied hum. "Finally. Some recognition. I was starting to think no one appreciated my art."

Sasori side-eyed him.

"...You know I'm the actual artist, right?"

Zeldris grinned. "Sure. But I'm the gallery fire."

Sasori sighed. He missed dealing with puppets. At least they didn't crack jokes during mission debriefs.

"Word is: the villages want your head. Kage-level lockdowns, intel-sharing across nations, joint tracking squads."

Zeldris chuckled, brushing some sand off his shoulder.

"Sounds like free advertising."

Before Sasori could reply, space twisted.

A swirling vortex formed—and out stepped Uchiha Obito.

Cloaked. Masked. Suspiciously dramatic.

Both mercenaries watched without flinching.

Zeldris gave him a lazy wave.

"Boss. You're late. Lose track of your eyeball again?"

Obito ignored the jab. His Sharingan was already scanning. It landed on Gaara's body.

Still alive. Barely.

Obito felt the faintest flicker of Shukaku's chakra—and a bigger flicker of worry.

Zeldris hadn't extracted the beast.

...Yet.

Sasori stepped forward.

"Let's keep this professional. Payment first. No tricks. You know the drill."

Obito sighed. "You think I climbed the Akatsuki food chain by skipping payments?"

Without waiting for a retort, he activated Kamui.

A new vortex opened.

Out floated a large, tightly-bound sack.

Clink.

Zeldris's eyes lit up. Not with greed, but with genuine admiration.

"That," he said softly, "is a beautiful sound."

"Fifty million," Obito said. "All there. Don't count it. I might take offense."

Zeldris nodded and patted the sack like it was an old friend.

"Pleasure doing business with morally grey employers."

Obito phased over to Gaara, pulled the boy into his dimension like luggage, and turned to leave—but paused mid-vortex.

Zeldris was still smiling.

"Next time you've got a high-stakes job, remember me. I give repeat-customer discounts."

Obito stared at him, that lone eye unreadable.

"...You know," he said, "that's what worries me."

And then he vanished.

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