Chapter 36

When Kuzo was sure that no one was around, he grabbed his scroll and started opening it.

Karin, who had followed him, said, "You shouldn't open it."

Puff

From the scroll, a puff of smoke appeared. From the middle, Anko appeared. She looked over his shoulder and said, "What has taken you so long?" She then looked behind his shoulder, "And who is that red girl? Could it be that you are helping her because she's cute?"

Kuzo sighed, looked at her chest, and said, "You know what I prefer. But forget it. Take Kabuto with you. And take this girl to the Hokage, tell him it's a personal request from me. Have her join the village."

"Personal request? She's from the grass, no?"

"Report her dead and create a new identity," replied Kuzo, "She's from the Uzumaki clan, and I can see that she's smart. She can be on your previous teacher's league when it comes to intelligence. She's also a very talented sensor shinobi."

"The snake?" Anko questioned when she heard Kuzo speaking about Orochimaru.

Kuzo nodded. He then put his hand on Anko's back and smiled at Karin. "Karin, now follow this lady. And Anko, leave Kabuto for some time, I have an idea."

He thought about a way to transfer Kabuto's knowledge to her. First, he could act as a medium of mind transfer jutsu and let her read his mind. Two, he could seal part of Kabuto's spirit in her and force him to reveal his knowledge. For that to work, he needed to use Karin's chakra to make his not disappear. But since she's an Uzumaki, it won't be a trouble.

After Kuzo is finished, he would end up his life.

Kabuto had very interesting Jutsus. One of them is regenerating. His medical jutsu was so strong that he could recover from Rasengan, which destroyed his internal system. And in the show, no one was shown to get hit by Rasengan and survive — except for that random non-shinobi thug who got hit by Jiraya.

"Since it's a request from you, I can't refuse. I don't know about the old man. But I'll try," Anko said, walking to Karin and putting her hand around her.

Kuzo then vanished, traveling in high speed to the end of the exam. He already had the two scrolls, so no one would question why he was in the second stage of the exam.

Kuzo was the second to arrive at the end of the test after Team Gaara. When he reached there, Team Gaara stared at him strangely.

"Where is your team?" asked the blonde girl.

Kuzo ignored her. Knowing that the Hokage would be somewhere here, he looked over the walls. He jumped and put his face on a camera, saying, "I'll be resting in my room."

"And he ignored me, just like that," Temari said, her cheeks turning quite red.

"I don't think you are going to earn anything if I told you," he then jumped, "By the way, good job getting first here, weaklings."

An intense bloodlust was shot toward him.

Kuzo looked at Gaara, locking eyes on his.

"In these people, those who are meant to be preyed on don't realize their places," said Gaara. "I'm going to kill you."

"I'd like to see you trying," Kuzo walked to Gaara, hands in his pocket, chest full of air. "I won't even budge from my place."

"Gaara, don't hear his provocation," said Kankuro, placing a hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"Take your hand off, or you'll die in his stead," Gaara said.

Kankuro, gasping widely and sweating from his forehead, retracted his hand.

He then looked at Kuzo, smiling. "One day, I'll kill you."

'So this is Gaara before Naruto talked some sense into him.'

"I'd like to see you trying." Smiling, Kuzo bent down a bit and pet Gaara on the head. Since he wasn't intending him any harm, the sand didn't act.

Kuzo then walked away, leaving Gaara opening his eyes widely.

-x-X-x-

Gaara the sand. He'd seen many eyes on him before. Most were of disdain, hate, and disgust. Fear included. But what he had just seen were the eyes of pity? Gaara knew that since he saw how the sand shinobis looked at the people he killed. Not only that, but he was looking at him with mockery.

Gaara started boiling inside. The Konoha fool must be pitying him because he didn't know how scary Gaara was.

Someone dared to mock his existence, which was only meant to kill people.

But he didn't dare to underestimate this shinobi. After all, he hadn't managed to break his wrist with his sands. Had it been another shinobi, their bones would have shattered.

"Interesting," muttered Gaara.

-x-X-x-

Kuzo was in his new room. He was certain the Hokage was somewhere in this building as he would have to give a speech in the third phase of the exam.

Kuzo didn't need to go more than this. After all, he had done his job of capturing Kabuto and destroying the village of the Sound. What mattered now was to discuss the Uzumaki girl.

'He'd probably ask her to move in with me since I'm the one who brought her.' Kuzo frowned. 'And I'm not living alone.'

He sat up from his bed, legs crossed, hand under his chin.

"Guess it's time for me to move out," he said. With his capabilities, and from the last missions he had committed from hunting missing nins, he'd earned himself quite a sum of money. He couldn't buy a house yet, but he could comfortably afford renting a big house. Also, he could always teach someone a jutsu for an exchange of money. He had invented many variations from the C and B rank jutsus he had. Also, the people he'd killed during the explosion of Fury, albeit not powerful, many had very interesting jutsus.

'To make money, you need to solve someone's problems.'

'Academy Ninja has a trouble learning jutsus that help them survive outside.'

'I can always be a private tutor, for money, and make a big sum without having to leave.' He was certain many rich people in Konoha would pay big money for their kids to learn worthy jutsus.

"I need to find a place to rent," he said.

"I think you do," replied the Hokage's voice as someone opened the door. What entered was a young pretty lady.

Puff.

The lady vanished, getting replaced by the look of the old Hokage.

"And why is that?" Kuzo asked back.

"Because you've just forced my hand to report Karin dead and invent a new identity for her. And she's your responsibility now," he replied. He then sighed. "She's a daughter of our Uzumaki allies, and she seemed to be abused in her village from all the bite marks."

Kuzo was about to thank the old man. But the Hokage didn't let him.

"Though, it's not free," continued Hiruzen.

Kuzo asked, "Is there something else you want?"

"You know what's the purpose of the Chunin exam?"

'So the Senju kids could kill the Uchiha.' Kuzo replied, "I believe it's for villages to display strength. In the final battle, many daimyos and riches would come and see each village's power. The winners would get picked up for jobs."

The Hokage nodded, "Sharp as always."

Kuzo could tell what Hiruzen wanted.

"You want me to show my power in the final exam. But ain't that cheating? I'm a Jonin, after all." Kuzo said. With his power, if he decided to fight, he would make an entertaining show.

"They don't know that yet," Hiruzen replied, "besides, cheating is the ninja way. Direct confrontation is the samurai's."

Kuzo thought about it. Many people would come and watch the final match, which would be announced a month beforehand.

Many riches and people watched, and organized fights meant one thing.

Bets.

People would bet money.

'If I acted weak in the first exam, then the odds would be against me in the last test.'

'I need money. So, If I make my odds higher, I could bet on myself and make money.'

"Why are you smiling, Kuzo-san?" asked Hiruzen.

"Hokage-san." Kuzo's smile became wider. He asked, "Can I borrow a few million Ryo?"

Hiruzen frowned and lowered his head, hiding a chuckle.

"I didn't even tell you I was planning to make money with you." He reached his pocket, picked up his pipe, and lit it up. "That's not a bad idea you have. Don't show your power in the next fights. Just act normal, or weak who barely won. This would make the stakes against you. You would multiply your money folds that way."

So, this meant Konoha was participating in the bets. Or they organized them.

"So, this is my mission, officially."

The Hokage nodded at Kuzo's question.

"What rank?" Kuzo asked.

"A."

"Good. It means I'm getting paid handsomely."

"This guy." The Hokage shook his head before vanishing from sight.