When Anya's spirit arrived, Sasori was already surrounded. A barrage of ninjutsu techniques struck toward him in unison.
Calmly, Sasori activated four puppets. With a casual motion, he deflected each incoming attack one by one, while still having the capacity to launch counterattacks. Suddenly, a water spout formed between the four puppets—water without fixed form assumed shapes accordingly, soft and yielding yet transformed through puppet manipulation into an incredibly sharp "blade" with extreme cutting precision. In an instant, the water blades sprayed out, striking accurately without missing a single target. The surrounding Mist ninja were all swept away, collapsing unconscious.
"Sasori, I didn't expect your swordsmanship to be this impressive too. One strike incapacitating all opponents while still holding back—that's amazing," Anya said, entering Sasori's spiritual space.
Because of Anya's influence, Sasori had naturally studied sword techniques before. However, since his fighting style wasn't suited for close-range combat, he applied his understanding of sword art onto his puppets, achieving excellent results. When he saw Anya appear within his spiritual space, his face lit up in happiness as he spoke, "Big Brother Kurotsuchi, so you really are here."
"Yes, I originally wrote you a letter to notify you, but I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly."
Sasori asked curiously, "I heard from Orochimaru that you were trapped by a woman—who exactly was she?"
Anya replied helplessly, "Uh... my first wife, Kurotsuchi, lives here, and she refused to let me leave. I plan to stay with her in Kiri for some time."
This didn't surprise Sasori at all; he nodded knowingly, saying, "So that's what happened..."
"Stop right there," Anya interrupted. "Since you're already here, just meet her then. Don't start any fights."
"Alright."
As the two were talking, Terumi Mei and Anya had already arrived at the scene.
Seeing many injured Mist ninja lying on the ground, Mei couldn't help but show an unusual expression. Before coming, Anya had introduced Sasori to her, but she hadn't expected his strength to be this overwhelming.
Mei sensed around briefly, noticing nobody had died, which eased her anxiety somewhat. She turned to Anya beside her and said, "Your brother-in-arms is no ordinary person—and quite handsome, too."
When he saw them, Sasori quickly dismissed his puppets and approached Mei with a smile. "Hello, sister-in-law!" he greeted respectfully.
Mei's face blushed slightly. As she was about to respond, Anya spoke first, "Sasori, why did you go so hard? Remember to pay their medical fees later."
A faint smile appeared on Sasori's face as he calmly replied, "No problem."
"Let's go; this isn't a suitable place to talk."
Without another word, a green light flashed across Anya's body. Sage Chakra rained down like a gentle blessing, instantly benefiting those fallen Mist ninja who regained mobility immediately—their previous wounds even disappeared completely.
The trio reached the Mizukage's office. Anya gave a meaningful glance toward Sasori and spoke first, "Did you bring money?"
"Of course."
Sasori took out several scrolls, from which row after row of Wooden Bull Transport Puppets emerged, completely filling up the entire room.
"What are these?" Mei asked, puzzled as she looked at these puppets.
With a sweep of his hand, Sasori activated the mechanical contraptions on the wooden bulls' backs—they opened to reveal they were packed full of gold.
The golden treasure emitted a radiance so dazzling it could pierce any barrier and touch the very core of the soul.
The glow bathed the three faces in gold. Terumi Mei's mouth hung open in disbelief. Even though she didn't care much for money, the sheer overwhelming impact was indescribable.
Anya knew exactly what was going on. If Sasori brought out this much gold at once, there was only one explanation—the inheritance was secured. Poor Uncle Kakuzu must have died. Luckily, he had kept some countermeasures prepared.
After a while, Terumi finally took several deep breaths to calm herself and asked, pointing at the room full of gold, "Is all this…for me?"
Anya corrected her, "Let's get this straight—we're lending it to you. You'll need to pay it back."
He emphasized the word "back" deliberately.
How could one possibly return so much gold?
Terumi recalled Anya's words from last night and immediately flushed red, casting him a coy glare filled with feminine charm before boldly declaring, "Then I'll accept it."
"You should think about how to use this money wisely. Sasori and I will leave you to it for now."
At that moment, Terumi was completely absorbed in the sea of gold and had no time for them. She simply waved half-heartedly as they left.
Hmph, women...
Anya didn't mind. He turned and walked away with Sasori toward his little cottage.
As soon as they arrived, Sasori couldn't help saying excitedly, "Big Brother Kurotsuchi, can you imagine how rich Kakuzu was? His treasury couldn't even be described as 'rich enough to rival a nation'—the Zero-Organization's earnings over recent years don't amount to even a fraction of his fortune. It took me three entire days to empty everything using the Wooden Bull Puppet."
Anya blinked and asked, "Empty? You left him absolutely nothing?"
Sasori replied naturally, "I figured there was no need to leave anything behind. Some of the gold we saw looked like it was decades old. Clearly, he never spent any money—it would just be wasted sitting there. Money needs to be spent to have value; otherwise, it's worse than scrap iron."
"I agree with that," Anya analyzed, "It doesn't surprise me that he had so much. Ever since mastering Earth Grudge Fear, he became a bounty hunter. During the Second Battle and the Third Battle, he profited massively off warfare—especially during the Third Battle, where nobody knows how much he blackmailed the great nations for. They were furious but desperate enough to stop fighting entirely just to catch him first. He became the first ninja ever to single-handedly stop a war. After entering the peaceful era, he controlled the finances of two major organizations. I previously estimated that his treasury alone could support the entire Ninja World."
"Now that you mention it," Sasori recalled, "that explains why he'd disappear for several days every month within the Akatsuki Organization. Looking back now, those must have been the days when he used the Rasa puppet I gave him to produce Gold Dust. He must have calculated precisely how long the puppet took to produce the Gold Dust. He'd make timely trips every month to refill his treasury without interruption—nobody could find him during those periods."
Anya curiously asked, "Where did he hide all the money?"
"You won't believe this," Sasori exclaimed, "on an unremarkable island—he hollowed out the entire landmass beneath it, creating an underwater treasure chamber buried beneath the sea. When I saw it, I truly admired him immensely."
Anya suggested, "Since Uncle Kakuzu has made such a significant contribution to the entire Ninja World, I plan to build him a statue someday and place it in the most prominent location. What do you think?"
Sasori said with an odd expression, "Sure."
"Oh, by the way, where is his corpse now?"
"It was retrieved by Konoha, probably for research on his secret techniques."
"Did you get his treasures?"
"I already got them. My soul fragment was already in Konoha and grabbed them right away, then Ma Bu Yi used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to send them over."
As he spoke, Sasori pulled out a scroll marked with the words "Rasa."
Anya nodded and said, "Let him keep this safe."
"He must have memorized my puppet's care guide completely—he didn't damage it at all." Sasori sighed, "I bet he never even considered using this puppet in battle until the moment he died. After all, it's a Kage-rank puppet, with amazing defense."
Anya couldn't help but laugh and said, "That's normal. Would you let Tenten interfere when you're fighting?"
After sharing a laugh, Sasori suddenly recalled something: "There's one strange thing. I asked Orochimaru about your whereabouts before, but he refused to tell me at first, as if he didn't want me to find you. Do you know why?"
Anya stayed quiet for a moment before his expression shifted—"Oh crap..."
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