Freelancer in Naruto

Madara suddenly brought up Black Zetsu because he'd thought of a few shady, quick-money schemes. With Black Zetsu's sneaky abilities, maybe he could break into some poorly guarded vaults.

When Madara asked about him, Obito's first reaction was: "He's probably off digging up your family graves." But that idea flashed through Obito's mind only for an instant. Right now, Madara was a dependable ally, and he couldn't allow a little comment like that to sour their relationship.

"Black Zetsu's been acting really odd for quite a while now," Obito explained. "He walks around all day lugging a big sack, scrounging up random junk."

Madara had previously heard Obito mention that in passing but hadn't paid much attention. This time, after hearing it again, he simply used the jutsu he had for controlling Black Zetsu.

Deep underground, "Diddy Zetsu" was in the middle of digging. Given how unique Zetsu was, he didn't need much prep work for something like that. Even if he ran into the legendary "corpses" underground, they have to be slimy—Zetsu was creepier than any corpse could be.

Right now, Black Zetsu was happily dumping handfuls of gold and silver treasure into a sack, while a White Zetsu carried the bag for him. He was in such a great mood that he hummed a little tune: "Making money, making money, can't ever spend it all, never can spend it all!"

The White Zetsu carrying the sack could only roll its eyes silently. Every time Black Zetsu found valuables, he said the same thing.

Then, once they hauled it all back, he'd claim they still didn't have nearly enough funds. People who understood realized he was saving up for hiring Senshi down the line. Those who didn't know assumed "Zetsu Khan" had big ambitions, like world domination through money or something.

"Huh?" But in the middle of his humming, Black Zetsu's face changed all of a sudden. A moment ago he was all "heehee," and the next second, he most certainly was not heehee.

"What in the world? Did that kid Obito already revive Madara?" Indeed, in his head he heard Madara's summons. That left him dumbstruck. He knew Obito could be outrageous, but he'd never guessed Obito would bring Madara back so fast. Sure, with Senshi around, Madara likely wouldn't be able to disrupt the effort to resurrect his mother—but he was still a hassle.

Given that he already had quite a bit of money stashed away, Black Zetsu even considered, if Madara ended up interfering with reviving his mother, maybe he should just hire Senshi to send Madara straight back to the Pure Land. Right now, the Madara who stayed in the Pure Land was definitely the best Madara.

…

Meanwhile, in Konoha, a swirling, dark-red vortex suddenly opened up.

Moments later, Senshi emerged from it with Naruto. Senshi had already treated Naruto's wounds on the spot. Though Senshi wasn't a specialized medic-nin, he had enough "cheats" to heal Naruto easily.

Shortly after arriving back in Konoha, Naruto gradually regained consciousness. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see Senshi.

"Huh? Sensei, why are you here?"

Senshi replied matter-of-factly, "A little while ago, Sasuke said you'd been abducted by some mysterious guy. Since you're my student, as well as part of my mercenary group, it's my responsibility to ensure your safety, so I went and got you back. Simple as that."

Senshi sounded nonchalant, but Naruto guessed it wasn't all that simple. The whole village seemed tense right now, and before he'd been captured, he'd had a huge fight with the masked man. Thinking of that battle, Naruto couldn't help asking, "Sensei, that guy said he was the one who killed my parents. Is that really true? Who is he?"

As he spoke, Naruto dug out his frog wallet. Inside were various checks; it looked like he intended to hire Senshi to go take out that "Soy Boy." Senshi waved him off and said, "Naruto, yes, that ninja is responsible for your parents' deaths, but for further details…"

At that point, Senshi turned his gaze to somewhere nearby. Behind one building, a ninja was hidden. Of course, it was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Senshi then said, "As for your background, let the old man Sarutobi explain. He knows better than anyone."

"The Third Grandpa?" Naruto scratched his head and followed Senshi's line of sight into the distance. Right then, he spotted the Third Hokage—wearing the Hokage's ceremonial hat—heading toward them.

Sarutobi, for his part, never imagined he could approach unnoticed with Senshi around. Since Senshi had now mentioned him, he stepped out of the shadows. Even so, he felt some reluctance; Naruto's lineage was a heavy subject.

Naruto watched Sarutobi approach and asked curiously, "Grandpa Third, do you know everything about my background?"

Sarutobi gave a bitter smile. He wanted to answer "I don't know anything," but at this juncture, he plainly had to explain. It was time Naruto learned the truth. With a sigh, Sarutobi began, "Naruto, your parents were truly exceptional ninjas of Konoha."

Hearing that, Naruto brightened at once. Even though he'd never known his parents, learning anything about them was a joy. Sarutobi quickly continued, "Your father was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Your mother, the previous Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki. Because your father was so outstanding in the Third Great Ninja War—striking fear into any enemy he faced—he gained the full approval of the village, and so became the Fourth Hokage."

"Wha—my dad was the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto stared at Sarutobi in shock. He'd assumed his parents might have been top ninjas at the level of Kakashi-sensei. He never dreamed his father was the Hokage. If he'd known that back when they had those "write about your parents" essays in ninja school, he would've had no problems! He could have written, "To My Hokage Dad—Thank You for Everything!"

So Naruto now started questioning Sarutobi about his parents in even greater detail. Sarutobi felt a bit overwhelmed, because Konoha truly hadn't done right by Naruto.

Both his parents had sacrificed themselves to protect the village, yet Naruto's childhood had been marked by cold stares and hardship. A range of factors had caused this, and Sarutobi tried to clarify them to Naruto as best as he could. He couldn't just shoulder the whole blame himself.

By the time Naruto finished learning about his background, he was both thrilled and angry. "I'll definitely get my revenge on the guy who killed my parents! And from now on, I'll train even harder to grow stronger!"

Sarutobi was taken aback. He ventured, "Naruto, you really don't blame the village at all? Especially the villagers who weren't nice to you before, or me for failing to protect your childhood better?"

Even before Naruto answered, Senshi inwardly shook his head—so naive, Third Hokage. Did he not realize the Child of the Prophecy's nature at all? At least with Naruto, little stuff is forgiven, big stuff is handled responsibly. Most other people couldn't manage that, but Naruto's personality is just that way.

Sure enough, Naruto scratched his head and said, "Gramps Third is great! When I was little, he even went fishing with me. And the villagers are good folks—like Teuchi at Ichiraku Ramen, who fed me for free when I had no money! And Sasuke, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, they're all awesome!"

Senshi: (O_O)???

Wait, who turned his Talk-no-Jutsu back on? Turn it off! He's about to talk the Third Hokage into confusion!

Sarutobi, however, felt a deep emotional stir. Minato Namikaze had been a hero who made huge sacrifices in the Third Great Ninja War, then died defending Konoha as the Fourth Hokage.

Their son, Naruto, grew up without any special care from the village. Konoha had a debt to him. Yet it was clear that Naruto's words were no façade; he was genuine.

Realizing this, Sarutobi sighed. "Naruto, the village did have our difficulties. The higher-ups had their own concerns. All that coldness during your upbringing was partly due to us. We tried to keep your identity a secret precisely so something like this kidnapping wouldn't happen."

Naruto nodded, tears of joy in his eyes, but grinning. "Even if I don't get it all yet, Gramps Third, I trust a village my parents guarded with their lives has to be worth defending. I don't blame you at all. Just knowing so much about my parents makes me really happy."

While Naruto and Sarutobi spoke, Senshi said nothing. Still, in Sarutobi's mind, Naruto's development was partly thanks to Senshi.

Without his mentorship, Naruto's attitude might not have been so optimistic. Sarutobi, as Hokage, was well aware of the countless cases of ninjas collapsing into darkness and taking a destructive path after major life tragedies.

Danzo in the hospital was a perfect example of that phenomenon. Obito might have joked with the Third about this, but he wasn't here right now.

So, acknowledging Senshi's role in guiding Naruto, Sarutobi formally expressed his gratitude. "Senshi, I'd like to thank you on behalf of Konoha. Without your proper guidance, Naruto wouldn't have grown the way he did."

Senshi waved a hand. "No, no, it wasn't my teaching." He silently added to himself that Naruto was simply in "Talk-no-Jutsu mode," showing off all his talk-no-jutsu. Sarutobi, of course, didn't know any of that and just assumed Senshi was being modest.

At that point, Naruto's "mode" finally switched off. "Sensei, how about some Ichiraku Ramen together? The moment I got back, I started craving it!"

Senshi shook his head. "I'll pass. I just popped over to take care of your problem. Now that you're safe, I should head back or I won't feel at ease."

Before coming to rescue Naruto, he'd repeatedly warned all his "rookie mercs" not to assassinate the Tsuchikage, not to assassinate any Daimyō, not to pick a fight with Iwagakure or the Land of Earth.

But who could tell if they'd find some loophole? He was strong, but he couldn't plan for every corner case in just a few words, so he needed to return.

…

In the Land of Earth, in Iwagakure's black market, things had been bustling lately.

Virtually all local employers chose to post missions at Iwasa's managed black market. Moreover, many big merchants and wealthy patrons from around the Land of Earth heard that Senshi's crew was actively taking jobs here and came in droves to issue commissions.

Some genuinely had urgent, high-level tasks needing reliable mercenaries. Others just wanted to catch a glimpse of the black-market legend—these days, the strongest ninja alive, Uzumaki Senshi.

No matter their reasons, Musen and his squad had a steady supply of jobs, and they'd all been grinding missions happily.

The Land of Earth deserved its reputation as a major nation—even with their high efficiency, the black market hall still offered them an ongoing stream of new missions.

Compared to Musen's group, however, Deidara found himself in an awkward position.

Ever since learning about the mercenary corps' wondrous scratch cards, Kurotsuchi had forcibly teamed up with him.

Though she didn't take a share of his pay or meddle in his missions, she merely observed him performing tasks and collecting scratch cards. Nevertheless, Deidara felt uneasy.

Right now, on their way back to the black market's mission hall, Deidara was thinking to himself, "As expected, Kurotsuchi's only slowing down my mission grind. I need to figure out how to get rid of her."

It wasn't just a complaint either—his mission pace had noticeably dropped. Although she didn't interfere, he couldn't exactly treat her like she was invisible.

Meanwhile, Kurotsuchi was outwardly calm, but inside her mind, wave after wave of shock was going off.

Over just these few days of observing, this future Tsuchikage had grasped why Senshi's mercenaries were so terrifyingly effective at missions.

Once you joined, besides everything else, every time you earned two million ryō, you automatically got one scratch card.

That was insanely overpowered—and the card was free, not something you had to buy with the two million. As long as you weren't abysmally unlucky, you usually got something useful out of each card.

Kurotsuchi had also seen Deidara learning a bunch of jutsu, his chakra skyrocketing day by day—frightening growth!

Meanwhile, because his "art" style was explosive clay, he found other explosive-type items unappealing. Whenever he scratched a reward like that, he simply gave it to her. After a few days together, Kurotsuchi and Deidara had become quite familiar.

On the route back to the black market, Kurotsuchi casually asked, "Deidara-nii, is there any chance I could join Lord Senshi's mercenary corps?"

Without even thinking, Deidara answered, "Absolutely not."

Kurotsuchi: (O_O)???

Her brow furrowed. "Why not?"

Deidara explained seriously, "Every member of Senshi-nii's corps has their own personal 'art.' You haven't truly stepped onto an artistic path yet, so he wouldn't allow you to join."

That left Kurotsuchi looking rather shell-shocked. She wondered whether Senshi was actually leading a mercenary corps or some kind of entertainment agency.

Why did mission-grinding require an 'artistic path'? Was Deidara messing with her? But she could put that aside for now—she had to get back to her village to deliver intel.

When they reached the black market's outer edge, Kurotsuchi said, "Deidara-nii, I've been gone from the village a long time. I should go back now, but I'll come again later."

Deidara was delighted. Finally, Kurotsuchi was leaving. Clearing his throat, he said, "Sis, next time you want to watch folks from Senshi-nii's mercenary corps doing missions, try Musen. He's been in the group longer and can probably share more intel than I can. I haven't been in the mercenaries that long—I've got nothing left to tell you."

Kurotsuchi promptly shook her head, gazing at him with innocent eyes. "Deidara-nii, it's not about intel. I'm just fascinated by your art. Yours is the most perfect!"

Deidara scratched his head awkwardly. "Oh, so that's it. Well, I still need to keep improving my art, of course…"

He'd intended to fool her, but his skill wasn't up to the task—she ended up fooling him. Having gathered enough info from him, Kurotsuchi then headed back to Iwagakure to report to her grandfather.

…

In the Tsuchikage's office in Iwagakure, Ōnoki had been at wit's end for days. If he weren't already too old to get any older, he might have aged a couple more decades from all this stress.

While pacing back and forth in the office, he looked up to see a happy Kurotsuchi entering. The moment she arrived, both Ōnoki and Akatsuchi locked their gazes on her.

"How did the intel-gathering go?" Ōnoki asked.

Kurotsuchi nodded once and then shook her head.

Ōnoki: (O_O)???

What was that supposed to mean? Did his beloved granddaughter hit her head?

Fortunately, she quickly clarified. "Apart from Deidara-nii, I couldn't get close to any of Lord Senshi's mercenaries. As for Karin, Lord Senshi's personal assistant—she presumably knows the most, but she's constantly popping in and out with space-time jutsu, so there's no tracking her down. And the rest of the mercenaries are pretty much nowhere to be found, either."

Hearing that, Ōnoki's face looked even grimmer. Akatsuchi asked anxiously, "So, what did you manage to find out?"

Kurotsuchi answered, "Plenty of stuff, like confirming that every time Deidara-nii and the others earn two million ryō, they automatically receive one of those magical scratch cards. These cards can grant ninja tools, ninjutsu, chakra, taijutsu, etc. Basically, if you join Lord Senshi's mercenary corps, it's like reserving yourself a spot at the top."

Ōnoki nodded. That aligned with his guesses. It was precisely why he'd told her to gather more info. After a moment's reflection, he asked, "Any clue what criteria are needed to sign up for Senshi's mercenary corps?"

Looking slightly awkward, Kurotsuchi answered, "Yes, but I haven't verified it. According to Deidara-nii, you've got to find your own 'artistic path.' If you don't, Lord Senshi won't accept you."

Ōnoki rubbed his chin. "Artistic path, huh? I wonder whether Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World might qualify…"

Kurotsuchi: (O_O)???

Akatsuchi: (O_O)???

What on earth? Was their teacher/grandfather really that eager to power up? He was already so old, and now he was pondering if he could qualify for Senshi's group? Spotting their looks, Ōnoki coughed. "Obviously, I'm not about to join Senshi's mercenaries. I was just saying—if our Dust Release counts as an 'art,' maybe we can train Iwa-nin who'd be suitable to join. That's all."

With that offhand clarification, he forcibly changed the subject: "Anyway, we'll discuss that later. For now, let's work with what Kurotsuchi found to see how we might collaborate with Senshi and solve the village's current crisis."

Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi naturally had no objections. Indeed, that was the top priority for Iwagakure at the moment.

…

Meanwhile, Senshi had returned to the Land of Earth's black market. Confirming that none of his mercs had caused any trouble in his absence, he relaxed a bit. There were so many missions in this black market that Musen's group had been busy without issues.

Back at the black market, Senshi started mulling over capturing the Four-Tails and Five-Tails. He thought, "Time to deal with them. Before, when I feared Tailed Beasts might go unsold, I wasn't in a hurry. But now things have changed—Madara and Obito will be scraping together money to buy more Tailed Beasts from me. According to my earlier pricing, Four-Tails plus Five-Tails is nine hundred million—big business! I've gotta take it seriously."

He decided he'd soon pick the right moment to target those two unlucky Tailed Beasts. It was best to keep them firmly in his own hands.

With that in mind, he glanced outside the black market's main hall and noticed a huge crowd milling around. Even more puzzling, a bunch of employers were clustered around Musen. Senshi found that odd—though Musen was strong, he was pretty… quirky. With so many skilled folks in his corps, why would all these new arrivals specifically seek out Musen?

Senshi turned to Iwasa. "Iwasa-san, how come so many clients are crowding around Musen?"

Iwasa, having come over when he noticed the commotion, was unsurprised to see Senshi back. "Lord Senshi," he explained respectfully, "the people around Lord Musen aren't posting urgent tasks. They're commissioning him because if they hire Lord Musen for a job, they get a free 'Wood-Style demonstration.'"

Senshi: (O_O)???

He nearly choked. What? People are hiring Musen just for a free Mokuton performance? He recognized every word in that sentence but couldn't process them in that order.

Wood Release was once the terrifying power wielded by the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, revered across the ninja world.

Konoha had poured unimaginable resources into reviving Wood Release and never fully succeeded. Now Musen was out here using it like a parlor trick to draw commissions?!

While Senshi inwardly griped at Musen, Lanyu was already storming over to Musen, clearly annoyed. "Musen, you're embarrassing Lord Senshi's mercenaries. I'm telling you, Senshi's come back after finishing his errand. If you keep messing around, he might come settle this with you."

Musen responded with great seriousness, "We're just out to make money—what's shameful about that?"

Rolling her eyes, Lanyu said angrily, "It's totally shameful—extremely shameful!"

Musen seemed unconcerned by her annoyance. He went on: "Would you rather stand around empty-handed or rake in commission fees?" And before Lanyu could retort, he added, "Look at this black market—it's not just us. We've also got Karin-chan, Deidara, Sasori, even the Raimon siblings, not to mention Lord Senshi's Wood Clone doing missions. If we don't adapt, we won't land many jobs."

Lanyu blocked him flatly, asking, "So you can't just earn money with some dignity?"

~~~

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