Uchiha Rei believed that if Orochimaru had such an opportunity, he would also frame her without hesitation, so she was merely retaliating in advance.
"Hehe, I heard that Lord Kakuzu is very wealthy and benevolent. I am currently short on some research funds, so I hope Lord Kakuzu can be generous."
After listening to Orochimaru, Kakuzu looked dejected. He didn't expect Orochimaru to target his life savings, which was the fortune he had accumulated over decades.
"Hehe, no way? No way? Is Lord Kakuzu really unwilling to fund my research?"
Ame no Habakiri scratched at Kakuzu's last heart, leaving marks, as if it would be cut open by the sharp blade in the next second, the threat was self-evident.
"Orochimaru, are you that greedy? Can you even stomach it?" Kakuzu had practically admitted defeat, but he still subconsciously struggled and acted tough, representing his reluctance to part with his small fortune.
"You don't need to worry about that, Lord Kakuzu. You know, scientific research is a money-burning endeavor. No matter how much money you have, I can take it all."
"In my life, I've loved saving money, counting money, and never spending it. I never thought it would end up in your hands. Undo the seal and let me summon the sealing scroll."
Kakuzu, a miser, didn't trust keeping his money in a bank at all; only storing it himself was the safest.
Uchiha Rei unsealed a corner of Kakuzu, allowing him to use a trace of Chakra, while Ame no Habakiri remained pressed against Kakuzu's heart.
As Kakuzu formed hand seals to summon the sealing scroll, a giant scroll, as tall as a person, was placed before Uchiha Rei, indicating how much money Kakuzu had saved.
"This is my life's savings. A total of 143.268 billion Ryo. Now it's yours!"
Kakuzu turned his face away, not wanting to see this cruel scene. This parting was an eternal separation from his money and a reckoning and farewell to the first half of his life.
Wiping away a tear that overflowed from the corner of her eye, the sorrowful atmosphere made Uchiha Rei feel a bit embarrassed to just take the money and leave.
"No way? Is that all? Did you even try to earn money?" Uchiha Rei was afraid Kakuzu was playing tricks on her, so she continued to press him.
"You! Are you speaking like a human? Konoha's annual military budget is only 30 billion Ryo, and this is almost five years of Konoha's military budget!"
Kakuzu was about to spit blood. Although he was meticulous, he was absolutely trustworthy. Now that his means of existence and his very being were questioned by Orochimaru, it was a complete denial of his life.
"No! It's a Genjutsu! Humph! By relying on such despicable methods, I am not the kind of person who pretends to obey!" Kakuzu felt the chaos in his Chakra, and it was only when Uchiha Rei dispelled the Genjutsu that Kakuzu noticed the extremely refined Yin Release Chakra.
"Hehe, truly a trustworthy person. As expected of an old senior from the Sengoku period, his moral character is beyond doubt."
Uchiha Rei actually felt a bit of admiration for Kakuzu. It seemed she had misjudged him as a villain.
In truth, Kakuzu was not as noble as Uchiha Rei thought. His main consideration was that if he didn't hand over all the money at once, and it was later forced out of him by some means, then only death awaited him.
So, since he was going to lose all his savings anyway, it was better to hand over everything from the start to win himself a glimmer of hope.
"Can you let me go now?" Kakuzu asked tentatively, fearing Orochimaru would go back on his word.
"Hehe, of course not yet." Money alone wasn't enough; all of Kakuzu's resources had to be extracted.
"You! You are untrustworthy! Even if I go to the Pure Land, I will tell all of Konoha's ancestors that you, Orochimaru, are untrustworthy!"
Kakuzu's face was pale, his expression bleak, and the Earth Grudge Fear wriggling on his body had lost its vitality.
"Hehe, Lord Kakuzu, don't worry, I will naturally keep my promise and let you leave, but you know, my lifelong hope is Immortality and learning all Ninjutsu, so you understand."
All the Forbidden Technique and Ninjutsu Kakuzu had learned over the years, including the Earth Grudge Fear Forbidden Technique, were what Uchiha Rei wanted. This living fossil could not be let go so easily.
"Sigh, fine, take it!" Kakuzu had originally planned to sell the Ninjutsu he had accumulated over the years to recover some funds, but Orochimaru still targeted him.
Another puff of smoke appeared, and a scroll recording Forbidden Technique and Ninjutsu appeared in Kakuzu's hand. This was Kakuzu's lifelong collection.
Uchiha Rei took the scroll and unrolled it. It started with the five basic elemental Ninjutsu, then some very practical Forbidden Technique, then some high-level elemental Ninjutsu and Forbidden Technique, and finally, one Forbidden Technique was precisely the Earth Grudge Fear Forbidden Technique.
"Hehe, very good, I am very satisfied." With a sinister smile, Uchiha Rei slowly approached Kakuzu with Ame no Habakiri.
"You! What do you want to do? You're breaking your promise! Ah! Orochimaru, I curse you! Huh? How am I not dead yet?"
Kakuzu only saw Orochimaru swing his sword a few times, felt a pain in his chest, and instinctively screamed, only to find that he was not dead.
"Hehe, don't worry, I merely collected some of the innate Earth Grudge Fear around your heart. You know, I am a researcher, and a little curiosity is normal."
Uchiha Rei sealed these still wriggling and extremely robust Earth Grudge Fear into a scroll. The Earth Grudge Fear could not be mastered with just the Forbidden Technique; it required the innate Earth Grudge Fear.
Kakuzu stood up, carefully feeling his chest, his eyes showing the fear that had just faded.
"I wonder what other good things Lord Kakuzu has? Bring them all out? It can also be considered lightening your burden."
Yin Release Chakra continued to control and hypnotize Kakuzu. Uchiha Rei was going to thoroughly drain Kakuzu in the end.
"There are also some collected treasures, famous swords, Chakra Ninja Tools, some meteoric iron and refined iron, and just one Chakra crystal."
Kakuzu was controlled to summon a scroll. These were the valuable treasures Kakuzu had collected over the years. Now Kakuzu was completely destitute.
"Hehe, not bad, Nagamitsu Kunimitsu, the personal sword of the Thirteenth Generation Shogun of the Land of Iron. I didn't expect it to be in Kakuzu's hands."
"These Chakra Ninja Tools are just mediocre; their purity isn't as good as my frying pan. They're decent enough to be given as gifts."
"Meteoric iron and refined iron, a lump the size of a watermelon, not bad, keep it for forging Ninja Tools."
"Oh, a Water Release Chakra crystal? Good stuff, it's even bigger than the Earth Release Chakra crystal the Third Hokage gave me."
"What a pity, he's been drained this time. I don't know when I'll be able to harvest Kakuzu again."
Uchiha Rei felt a bit regretful. Such a lucrative opportunity was truly rare, but Uchiha Rei had enough patience to wait for Kakuzu to become wealthy again.
Looking at Kakuzu, who was still caught in the Genjutsu and hadn't woken up, Uchiha Rei faithfully unsealed him, then used Body Flicker Technique to leave the area.
A moment later, Kakuzu woke up. He knew what he had done while under the Genjutsu, and thinking of his decades of hard work, now lost in a single morning.
"Beast! You damn beast! Orochimaru! I will never rest until you are dead!" Kakuzu cursed and swore, shouting up at the sky.
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