Freelancer in the Ninja World

During this stretch of time, the two of them worked together to complete commissions with a 100% success rate, piquing the curiosity of potential clients far and wide. On the way to the Amegakure black market, Kakuzu finally refused to be hauled over S‐class–prisoner style by Senshi; the two simply walked there together, one in front and one behind.

Sure enough, as soon as they arrived, they instantly drew the attention of a crowd of employers. A swarm of people surrounded them.

"It's Kakuzu and Uzumaki Senshi!"

"Where? At last! I came here just to find them!"

"Their success rate is insanely high!"

"That's right. This is my second time hiring them."

"Amazing! Our village might really be saved now!"

In the Amegakure black market, talk buzzed among the many employers present. Everyone was discussing Kakuzu—the black market's legendary agent—and Uzumaki Senshi, its newest rising star. A team-up between the deathless legend of the underworld and its hottest newcomer felt like an instant guarantee of reliability. More astonishing yet, they had never once failed a job.

Watching the dense throng approach, Kakuzu's face twitched visibly.

"Ugh. Apart from that single-minded lunatic Senshi, no normal shinobi would take on all these random jobs. Some of these missions are so trivial they could be handled by a few genin in any average village… Sigh… That madman is throwing his life away for money."

He followed along behind Senshi, sighing in his heart. Thanks to their widespread fame, they didn't even need to visit the broker's counter—employers came flocking to them directly, mission slips in hand.

Unlike Kakuzu, who remained grumpy at the scene, Senshi was beaming ear to ear, practically shaking with excitement. He called out to all the eager clients:

"No need to crowd—line up and take turns!

Listen, whether your mission is high-paying or low-paying, whether it's extremely difficult or ridiculously easy—as long as the payment matches the difficulty, and it's a commission-type job, we'll probably accept."

"If you have questions during the contracting process, talk to Mr. Kakuzu here. If you're all set, just queue up, come to me, and hand me your mission slips one by one!"

With that, the crowd did exactly as told, forming two long lines. Upon reaching Kakuzu and Senshi, each client passed forward their slip and hashed out the fee and timeline. If a mission was open-ended and the pay suitable, it required only a quick discussion and confirmation.

Seeing this mass of people, Kakuzu's scalp tingled. In his mind, he was doing calculations:

"So many missions…how long will this take? A lot of them pay practically nothing. Under normal circumstances, I'd just pick a few big bounties. They're turning the Ame's black market into a catch-all request board—somebody's even got a job to find a missing cat! …Ugh."

Suddenly came the noise of crackling wood. A newly formed Wood Clone appeared by Senshi's side, who handed the clone one of the mission slips. Kakuzu just stared, hardly reacting to the surprise of seeing Wood Release in the first place.

"What are you doing now…?"

While flipping through more mission forms, Senshi explained without pause:

"I recall hearing about ninja who use Shadow Clones to go to the academy for them.

So if some tasks are trivial and time-consuming, why not use Wood Clones for those?"

He had just unlocked Wood Release and was keen to put Wood Clone Technique to use.

"That slip was from an employer who wants us to tutor a would-be genin in shuriken practice. Low-level stuff like that, I'll just send a Wood Clone to handle it. That'll free me up for more challenging missions."

As Senshi spoke with unrestrained enthusiasm, Kakuzu felt his head spinning. So the Wood Clone wasn't to reduce overall workload; it was to let Senshi focus on even tougher jobs.

Eventually the flow of employers tapered off. Kakuzu was left holding a tall stack of mission slips, feeling vaguely unreal. Meanwhile, Senshi had at least as many. Some clients that Kakuzu refused simply circled to the end of Senshi's line and successfully handed over their requests there.

"Kakuzu, hand over your slips."

Without thinking, Kakuzu gave him a bundle of dozens, inwardly cursing them as future headaches. But Senshi regarded them as dozens of new chances to become stronger.

"That's a good fifty-plus opportunities for me to keep pushing toward my 'human Ten-Tails' form!" he said with excitement, clapping the stack of papers in his hands. "Let's go all out—grind until we drop!!!"

Kakuzu: "!!!"

All he could do was stare at the sky in silent misery. In the old days, employers would typically go to a village—major or minor—to hire ninja. But with Senshi and Kakuzu making waves, everyone started treating the Ame black market as an alternative. Knowing these two completed missions fast and flawlessly, most found it easier to trust them than put in a formal request at a small hidden village.

Glancing at the near "dictionary-thick" file of mission slips in Senshi's hands, Kakuzu felt numb. Senshi alone had done as many missions as a small hidden village's entire staff might accomplish. It wasn't strange for Kakuzu to single-handedly annihilate such a minor village, but single-handedly matching its mission output? That blew his mind. And to top it off, Senshi had practically monopolized the entire black-market job supply.

"Kakuzu, you look awful," Senshi commented casually, holding Karin's hand as they walked.

Kakuzu responded grimly, "I think we can't keep this up. It's too—"

Senshi halted, considering briefly, then nodded seriously.

"You're right, Kakuzu. We really can't go on like this…"

Kakuzu exhaled in relief until he heard the rest:

"We've been too slack before now! We could totally come back here three times a day—morning, afternoon, and evening—to clear out new missions. Just thinking how some clients must be anxiously waiting for us makes my heart ache!"

Kakuzu's face went from miserable to pitch-black.

"That's not what I meant!"

All the while he mulled whether he could feasibly use his Combined Ninjutsu to kill Senshi; keeping this schedule, he would die from overexertion. Running missions at max load day after day for nearly a month had him exhausted. In the old days, Kakuzu fondly recalled, any bothersome partner he could eventually discard. But that wouldn't work here—Senshi was too powerful to dispatch so easily.

Nearby, Senshi and Karin were busily counting money. Having been around him for a while, Karin now also grasped the importance of money. Observing his obsession, she'd decided that seizing massive rewards through endless missions was the way to go.

"Hah…" Karin sighed after counting for a bit.

Senshi raised an eyebrow. "Hands cramping?"

She nodded pitifully. They had far too many coins and bills to count every day.

Senshi took hold of her small hands, gently massaging them. "Then take breaks in between counting, rest up, and continue after that."

Blushing a little, Karin turned her head away with a huff. Inside, though, she took his advice to heart. Senshi just smirked, reached over, and ruffled her hair again.

"Cut it out!" she yelped, pounding her fists against his back. She was unintentionally training her taijutsu on him—if one day she grew up and could throw a punch like that at an enemy… well, with Senshi's body surpassing even the Third Raikage's durability, he could handle her practice now.

Watching them bicker, Kakuzu let out a long sigh and once more tried reasoning with Senshi:

"I think…we need rest days. Going like this, 24/7, will kill us eventually. A little downtime is crucial for better mission performance!"

~~~

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