Chapter 0098: The Power of Boasting

Orochimaru and Kimimaro arrived at the appointed place and waited. It was a small drink shop, and the two of them sat there sipping their beverages in rare comfort.

Kimimaro glanced at the people coming and going, puzzled. With their status, they could have simply ordered their subordinates to arrange everything.

Kabuto Yakushi had taken the main force away, but Sound Ninja members were still scattered everywhere in the world. They were not the only ones left.

A single command would have made things much easier.

Orochimaru took another sip and said that he wanted to give himself some time to rest.

Ever since his rebirth, he had been endlessly occupied, with very little chance to relax. Now, while he had the opportunity, he wanted to let both body and mind ease.

Besides, the matter of the ancient kingdom of Loulan was no small affair. It had to be handled in person.

Perhaps they might even encounter an opponent there.

That person was the only one in this world who could truly fight Orochimaru to a standstill.

Kimimaro nodded. He did not care either way; as long as he could remain at Orochimaru's side, he was willing to do anything.

"How should we deal with that Anzu?" Kimimaro had already sentenced the man to death in his heart.

Not only had he dared to boast that he could trample Kabuto Yakushi beneath his fist and kick Kimimaro underfoot, he had even claimed that he had only narrowly lost to Orochimaru.

What was even more intolerable was that he had dared to seize Orochimaru's money pouch by force. Kimimaro could not forgive that.

Orochimaru merely smiled. He felt nothing much about it. To him, it was no different from seeing a child baring its teeth and claws at him. If he was in a good mood, he might even tease the child a little.

If his mood was poor, then only the child's family would have to mourn.

Still, since Kimimaro already meant to kill him, then kill him they would.

"But he knows the ancient kingdom of Loulan very well. Let him lead us there first, and deal with him afterward," Orochimaru said.

Kimimaro nodded to show that he understood.

---

Walking out of the bounty hunter guild in high spirits, Anzu felt as though he had discovered a whole new world. He had never expected that bluffing could be so useful.

Then surely this skill could be used on his old friends as well.

After all, that technique of his had been developed by one of those old friends.

Money, money, money...

Normally, he would not rob commoners. This was a city, after all, and it had its own rules. Anyone who broke them would pay a price.

One of those rules was that a ninja could not attack civilians without reason.

But times had changed. Everything had come together at once, and he really was a little short of cash. So robbing them it was.

Once he obtained the power of the Dragon Vein, would the world not be his to command?

As for the likes of Orochimaru and the rest, he would simply make them his underlings.

He had never met Orochimaru and assumed that Orochimaru was only a little stronger than a Kage-level ninja.

Relying on the advantages of being a ninja, he repeatedly slipped into civilians' homes. If anyone was inside, he would knock them unconscious or kill them on the spot, then sweep away their possessions.

Anzu believed he had left no trace at all, but in truth his movements had been under the bounty hunters' constant surveillance. Two upper ninja skilled in tracking were following him.

"This Anzu is killing people at will. He's too arrogant. Should we take him out?"

"Leave it. We don't want to alert him. We only need to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"If we move, we'll tip him off. After all, this Anzu is only a puppet, not the real body."

So when Anzu realized that someone had taken notice of him, he would surely flee. That would be very different from what he had told Orochimaru earlier.

The two of them were merely small fry in the bounty hunter guild. If anything went wrong, the guild would no doubt kill them both to make amends.

And neither of them wanted to die.

Anzu carried out fourteen home invasions in total, and at last he had gathered enough money. Satisfied, he nodded, thinking that today must be his lucky day.

To go fourteen times in a row without being discovered by a single person—he was practically the favored son of fortune.

In truth, everyone who might have caused trouble along Anzu's route had already been cleared away.

He simply did not know it.

Anzu sent his puppet back to the room where his true body was hiding, then had his real body shoulder a small sack of loot and hurry eagerly toward his old friend's house.

The money was enough. The technique could now be exchanged for it.

When Anzu arrived, the door to his old friend's house was open.

That struck him as odd. His old friend did business, but he never kept the door open. Perhaps gifted people all had strange temperaments. In any case, ordinary people seldom saw his friend at all; Anzu himself had been turned away more than once.

So why was the door open today?

He walked in with some doubt, only to see his old friend sitting in the room as though he had been waiting for him on purpose. The moment he noticed Anzu enter, he even stood up first.

Anzu could tell at once that his friend's expression was off.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

His friend forced a smile. "Nothing."

Anzu eyed him suspiciously. "You don't look like someone who's fine."

His friend's face was pale, and his expression was strained. No matter how one looked at it, he seemed to be hiding something.

His friend's mouth twitched. How could he not be pale? How could he not look strained? This fellow had offended those two people, and not only offended them, but now intended to settle scores with them.

It was absurd.

Just moments earlier, someone had come to warn him that regardless of old grudges or new, no one was to make things difficult for Anzu. Anzu had to be handed over for those two people to deal with personally.

He was terrified. He and Anzu were only connected by money, and he feared being dragged into it.

"You're here for the technique, aren't you?" he asked.

At the mention of business, Anzu dismissed his friend's strange behavior from his mind. He set down the sack on his back, and it thudded heavily against the table with a clang.

Inside were many gold coins.

Anzu smiled and patted the sack. "Old friend, this has both paper money and gold coins. It's the final payment."

Yet his friend gave no real reaction at the sight of the money. He only said, "I'll finish the technique for you right now. Wait a moment."

He opened a square box beside him. Inside were ink, brushes, and several scrolls.

Anzu truly felt that something was wrong now. His old friend was acting far too oddly today. In the past, handling such matters had always been a pain.

And every time he collected payment, he had always tried to squeeze out as much as possible. This time, he did not even bother to count the money.

Anzu said, "Old friend, what exactly are you hiding from me?"

His friend was unrolling a scroll. At the question, his hand trembled slightly. "Nothing."

Seeing this, Anzu's expression gradually turned cold. This man was clearly hiding something, yet refused to tell him. Very well. Once he obtained the Dragon Vein and defeated Orochimaru, he would settle this account as well.

Then he thought back to what had happened in the bounty hunter hall and said, "I'm chasing two people."

He gave a fierce smile. "Those two offended me. Hah. They dared to offend me? I'll kill them both."

"What?"

His friend's hand shook, and his whole body seemed to quiver.

Anzu thought to himself, Ha. Is bluffing really this effective? Even my good friend is backing down.

He went on saying harsh things. Little by little, his friend's entire body began trembling.

"Hahaha, these people are so cowardly. Just a bit of boasting and some harsh words, and they're already scared senseless. Pathetic..."

His friend completed the final step, then used the scroll to infuse the technique into Anzu's body.

"It's done. You have one chance to absorb objects into your own body."

Anzu nodded. "Thanks."

With the matter finished, he rose to leave, taking the money pouch from the table with him as well. He had no intention of paying.

He even deliberately watched his friend's expression, but his friend did not seem to care about the money at all. If anything, he looked relieved.

"So that was enough to scare you?" Anzu sneered. "Coward."

And with that, he strode off in grand style, ready to head to the two men's drink shop and use the same trick again, threatening them into submission with harsh words.