Chapter 163: Gato's End
"Gone...?"
Kakashi's Sharingan stared intently at the spot where Menma, Zabuza, and Haku had vanished. He immediately recognized that signature technique—Flying Thunder God.
This realization instantly deflated his nerves that had been stretched to the breaking point. Flying Thunder God had left... this meant he wouldn't attack them, right? That Ember organization leader with both destructive and regenerative powers whose thoughts were impossible to fathom seemed to have truly come only to complete his "transaction" and "cleanup," with no intention of silencing these "witnesses."
Though he still couldn't understand why Menma had specifically cleaned up those corpses—was it to conceal the existence of that restoration ability? Or simply because he didn't want to leave unsightly filth behind?—the moment he confirmed the threat was temporarily lifted, enormous relief finally flowed back like a tide, replacing the fear that had nearly crushed his heart.
He let out an almost exhausted breath as his hand that had been covering Sakura's eyes finally dropped weakly. Simultaneously, the prolonged use of his Sharingan for high-level perception, the intense battle with Momochi Zabuza, and the enormous psychological pressure and adrenaline spike of the past few minutes followed by its sharp drop—all the accumulated strain rebounded at once.
Kakashi felt his legs go weak, his vision slightly darkening. His body swayed beyond his control before he collapsed to the ground with a "thud," breathing heavily.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Sakura, whose vision had just been restored and hadn't had time to clearly see her surroundings, immediately noticed the collapsed Kakashi. She quickly crouched down, carefully supporting his nearly toppling body. "What's wrong? Are you injured? Where do you feel unwell?"
On the other side, Naruto also removed his hand from covering Satsuki's eyes. Almost the moment she regained her vision, Satsuki had no time to observe her surroundings—all her attention immediately focused on Naruto.
"Naruto!" She urgently grabbed his arm, her dark eyes filled with undisguised anxiety and tension as she began carefully examining his body from top to bottom, front to back. "What exactly happened just now? You're not hurt, are you?! Do you feel anything wrong anywhere?"
Watching Satsuki "manhandling" him, Naruto felt a warm feeling rise in his heart. He quickly made reassuring gestures. "I'm fine, I'm fine, Satsuki. Other than still being a bit tired from using that chakra earlier, I'm really okay. That new guy who showed up later... uh, the one with the fox mask, he didn't attack us. Instead, he cleaned up all those bad guys and corpses."
His explanation temporarily calmed Satsuki's emotions, but she still gripped his sleeve tightly, unwilling to completely let go.
Meanwhile, Tazuna looked toward where Kakuzu had dragged Gato away with complex emotions, his face mixing shock, lingering fear, and an indescribable confusion.
He too had heard those vague and terrifying legends about the Ember organization—a mysterious and powerful group that even the Five Great Nations feared.
But in his imagination, that was perhaps just another version of "Gato Corporation"—a larger-scale, more ruthless criminal organization.
However, what he witnessed today completely overturned his understanding.
That Gato who had dragged the entire Land of Waves into hell, crushed countless lives with capital and violence, and made him feel utterly desperate and powerful... before that organization called Ember, in the eyes of that fox-masked leader, was actually as insignificant as an ant?
Just one subordinate could drag Gato away like a dead dog? And Gato's seemingly massive forces and gang of thugs were completely eliminated with a casual gesture...
This absolute disparity in power levels brought Tazuna unprecedented shock.
He couldn't help but feel a complex melancholy—the sense of his own insignificance before absolute power. But more than that was a near-ecstatic relief!
That organization's leader had personally said... he absolutely wouldn't spare Gato!
This meant... the suffocating dark cloud named "Gato" hanging over the Land of Waves was truly... going to be completely dispersed!
After the incident on the bridge temporarily concluded, Tazuna didn't immediately return to the construction site to continue building. After safely escorting the exhausted Team Seven back home to rest, he immediately gathered a group of fellow workers. Armed with various tools and complex emotions, they headed toward that place they normally avoided at all costs—the symbol of oppression and despair, Gato Corporation's headquarters.
When they carefully approached that sinister building, the sounds coming from within made them shudder, yet they couldn't help but stop and listen.
Inside Gato Corporation's headquarters, Kakuzu's "work" was proceeding efficiently and coldly. Those remaining thugs who had been throwing their weight around using Gato's influence were like paper toys before Kakuzu.
For Kakuzu, it wasn't even a warm-up before they were completely "cleaned up."
Then the real "main course" began. Kakuzu started his dreaded financial interrogation of Gato. He didn't use too many fancy instruments—for a ninja well-versed in human anatomy and fear psychology, the simplest direct methods were often most effective.
Tazuna and the workers didn't dare enter to witness it firsthand, only hiding far outside the building. But those heart-rending, inhuman shrieks of agony still clearly penetrated the walls and drilled into their ears, making their scalps crawl.
However, for Tazuna, an old man who had personally witnessed his son-in-law Kaiza's public execution by Gato, these painful wails from his enemy didn't seem terrifying—instead, they were like heavenly music!
Each scream made his clenched fists tremble slightly, not from fear, but because the long-suppressed grief and rage finally had an outlet for release.
In the room, Kakuzu expressionlessly watched Gato writhing and rolling in agony. Just by demonstrating one or two methods that maximized pain nerve response without causing immediate unconsciousness, he made this pampered tycoon completely collapse.
Kakuzu pulled out an old mechanical alarm clock, wound it a few times, and placed it on the nearby table where it made an ominous "tick-tock" sound.
"Speak. Safe combinations, property deeds, hidden accounts... where are all the valuable things hidden?" Kakuzu's voice was as flat as if he were checking accounts. "If you can't speak within the allotted time, or if I discover any concealment... we'll switch to a more 'thorough' interrogation technique."
"Waaahhhh!!!" Gato sobbed and lost control of his bladder, crying incoherently.
"Crying? Crying counts as time too."
Under extreme terror and Kakuzu's "carrot and stick" approach—"If you honestly tell me about all your assets, I might consider... secretly sparing your life, after all I'm only after money"—
Gato, having lost all dignity and reason like a drowning man grasping at the last straw, revealed everything without reservation: his bank accounts scattered across the world, secret vault locations, hidden jewels, all properties and land deeds under his name... every bit of convertible asset information.
It had to be said, this guy truly deserved his reputation as one of the world's richest men—his accumulated wealth reached staggering levels. Using Gato's confessions and "cooperation," Kakuzu spent several full days using various ninja techniques and underground channels to receive, transfer, and liquidate these surprisingly massive assets.
After Menma had properly settled Zabuza and Haku, he returned to the Land of Waves using Flying Thunder God. Seeing the cash-filled crates, gold bars, and priceless jewels and contracts that Kakuzu had organized—almost filling a small warehouse—he used Flying Thunder God to safely transport and store this enormous wealth capable of shaking a small nation's economy at the Ember organization's secret underground base in the Land of Hot Water.
After Kakuzu repeatedly confirmed that this "fat sheep" Gato had been completely drained with not a single coin left to squeeze out, he also "kept his promise" and fulfilled his "vow" to Gato—he did indeed spare Gato's life, not personally taking it.
Of course, Kakuzu would never disobey Menma's order to "clean things up." Not doing it himself didn't mean others wouldn't.
So shortly after Kakuzu left Gato Corporation's headquarters, well-informed Land of Waves residents—especially those who had received definitive confirmation from Tazuna and the workers and harbored accumulated fury and hatred—swarmed from all directions, numbering in the thousands!
They wielded farm tools, fishing spears, and kitchen knives, capturing Gato, who had just barely survived financial interrogation but was now penniless with all subordinates eliminated, completely reduced to a man alone.
Gato's desperate pleas and screams were instantly drowned in the ocean of popular anger. What followed was predictable—having lost all protection, Gato paid the most brutal price for the countless crimes he had committed in the Land of Waves. He was completely overwhelmed by the furious crowd, meeting an utterly miserable end.
It seemed Tazuna's timely and reliable propaganda that "Gato has completely fallen" was very effective. The nightmare hanging over the Land of Waves finally came to a new beginning with the complete destruction of the old ruler.