"I surrender!"
With a "swish—"
Zabuza, battered and covered in wounds, stabbed his massive sword into the ground.
One arm hung limply while the other raised high.
Half-kneeling on the ground, he voluntarily admitted defeat.
Seeing this, Riyō and the other three were slightly taken aback.
They stopped attacking, carefully disarmed Zabuza completely, and bound his hands.
Once they confirmed there was no threat,
they waved toward Shimoku in the distance.
...
Shimoku gently laid Haku, who had fainted, onto the ground.
Then, as an extra precaution, he cast [Letter Binding Jutsu - Control] on him to prevent him from suddenly waking up and escaping.
Afterward, he finally walked over toward Zabuza.
"Hmph, figured you'd go down swinging."
"At the very least, I thought you'd try fleeing now and regrouping later."
"Didn't think you'd give up this easily?"
"Why?"
Shimoku asked with a faint chuckle, somewhat amused.
Zabuza kept his head lowered, glancing only briefly at Haku lying unconscious far away, without saying much.
Although just moments ago, he had struggled internally countless times,
in the end, he still chose to surrender...
Meanwhile, Gin quickly stepped forward, eager to flatter.
"Naturally out of awe for Young Master's might!"
"The moment you appeared, you scared him out of his wits."
Shimoku shot Gin a glare and scoffed bitterly.
"Please, spare me the exaggeration."
"You four couldn't even pin him down after all that fighting."
"While I was just standing around giving tips."
"How embarrassing!"
At this, Riyō and the others slightly lowered their heads, feeling deeply ashamed.
"What do we do with these two? Off them?" Yueji asked coldly, showing no mercy.
Hearing that, Zabuza immediately responded.
"I know you're not ninja from Konoha! You're Uchiha traitors, descendants of the defectors, right?"
"If that's the case, I'm willing to buy my life with money."
"Please, show me some mercy!"
Zabuza pleaded desperately.
For someone like him, a hardened warrior, it was already extremely difficult to beg like this.
If not for his long-held wish—for Haku—
he probably wouldn't even flinch if someone chopped his head off.
"Pfft! How much could you possibly have?"
"If you had that much money, why would you keep taking these life-risking missions?"
"Wanna buy your life? So shameless!"
Shimoku scoffed disdainfully.
After seeing the Hidden Villages' vaults, his standards had clearly risen.
Zabuza's petty fortune naturally didn't impress him at all.
Now being mocked by such a little brat,
Zabuza flushed red with humiliation but held back his anger.
Then he barked, "Ten million ryō. Enough?!'
Shimoku's eyes lit up instantly.
"Someone, untie him—now!"
Well blow me down! Is Zabuza actually worth that much?
As a rogue ninja, has he really amassed ten million ryō?
Could this guy be a Pixiu (a mythical beast known for hoarding wealth) in a past life?!
...
"Young Master, are you seriously going to release him?"
"Just kidding."
"Restrain him first. This one still has his uses."
"Oh, and bring that brat over here too!"
"Now then, Riyō, you stay here and guard them both!"
"If they try anything funny, kill them on the spot!"
"I'll head to Gato Company's headquarters with the others. I'll come back for you later!"
Shimoku quickly issued orders.
That million ryo from Zabuza was tempting,
but compared to the entire Gato Corporation, it was just a drop in the bucket.
He knew which mattered more.
If they were late and let Gato escape, things would get messy all over again...
"At once!"
Riyō acknowledged with a bow, carried Haku over from afar,
then bound the two together and kept watch dutifully.
Meanwhile, Shimoku and the other three immediately rushed along the path toward Gato Company's stronghold.
...
Things went smoothly from there.
Shimoku and his three companions found the stronghold without trouble,
sliced right through the guards,
and wiped out the entire operation in no time—
ending the tyrant Gato's reign of terror.
Worth mentioning was this:
When Shimoku and his men stormed inside and found President Gato in his office,
the guy was still doing that thing where 'the secretary handles everything'!
Like he'd completely forgotten about the threat from Shimoku and his crew.
Who knew whether he had confidence in those twenty-some pathetic assassins or in that legendary 'Demon of the Hidden Mist'.
Anyway, though he'd committed countless crimes,
dying blissfully in the middle of paradise? That was actually pretty lucky for him.
Of course, given all his endless sins, hell awaited him after death.
So,
after wiping out Gato's leadership clique and a large number of merciless, criminal samurai assassins,
Shimoku and his companions refrained from harming the other company employees.
After all, when they assimilated this shipping company in the future,
they'd temporarily rely on these staff members to keep things running.
And besides, most of these lower-level workers were also victims of Gato's oppression.
They worked 996 — that's 9am to 9pm, six days a week,
with barely any time left to do anything else.
Poor souls.
...
Naturally, Shimoku hadn't come all this way just to play hero,
liberating exploited workers and freeing the people of Waves Country.
Cash in! We're here to hit the jackpot!
That was the real goal!
So Master Long, with all his management experience, quickly calmed the terrified employees — hundreds of them.
Then, led by company executives,
Shimoku's group soon arrived before the underground vault where Gato Corporation stored its funds.
The vault was massive, and its entrance specially locked,
accessible only to Gato and a select few who knew the password.
Too bad such defenses were useless against powerful ninja.
Shimoku drew his blade and swung.
The sturdy alloy lock was instantly cleaved in half by the Dragon-Weaving Blade.
In the next moment,
the vault doors swung open.
A blinding flash erupted suddenly, nearly blinding Shimoku and the others. They blinked like crazy to clear their vision.
As far as the eye could see—
Carts after carts, piles upon piles of glittering treasure and precious gems stretched across the vault.
It was a conservative estimate, but there had to be over one hundred million taels (a traditional Chinese unit of weight and currency) in cash alone.
And when factoring in those priceless jewels and diamonds, the total easily added up to several hundred million taels!
We're rolling in it! We're seriously rolling in it! This time—we've hit the jackpot!
What a score!
Gazing at the entire treasury, seeing nothing but mounds of silver coins stretching out before him, Shimoku couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, overwhelmed with joy.
His heart skipped a beat from excitement.
Whoa! Felt like a heart attack was coming on!
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