Naruto: IY Ch. 41

Black Zetsu only felt that reviving Kaguya was hopeless.

He was hiding in the shadow.

He discovered that the thing Madara did most every day was ordering White Zetsu to find a good view so he could watch the old men at the nursing home play chess.

Just like an addiction, he'd watch it from time to time.

Sigh...

What a headache!

The next morning, bright and early, Tobi changed into his clothes, a simple black staff uniform. Before leaving, he said to Madara, "I'm heading out to work. Anything you'd like for dinner tonight?"

Work, seriously?

You're White Zetsu!

Black Zetsu felt his head was about to explode.

Madara, as usual, remained cool and aloof, ignoring Tobi.

---

News Agency.

Tobi walked in, picked up his ID badge hanging behind the door. His employee number was "001", and he hung it around his neck.

This job was introduced to him by Yahiko.

Even Kakuzu himself had personally received him.

Ten ryō a day, paid daily.

No food or lodging included, otherwise, they wouldn't pay that much.

Currently, the news agency had only two people working: him and Kakuzu.

But today, he didn't see Kakuzu. He heard that guy was also assigned to the prison and the construction department.

What a diligent man!

Alright, today he would also give it his all.

He picked up a mini camera, one that had been made several times smaller thanks to Hiruko's modifications, hung it around his neck, and went out to hunt for news.

---

On the streets, dust were flying.

Yoake was doing more construction again, rumor had it that they were buying iron ore from the Land of Rain.

Ahead, Tobi spotted Kakuzu, who had turned his hands into binoculars to look ahead.

It was a construction site.

At that moment, Kakuzu, wearing a red safety helmet, was holding a roster and supervising the work.

Standing in front of him were workers from Ame who had joined the construction team.

Everyone was hard at work.

"Who gave you permission not to wear a helmet? Are you playing games with your life?"

Kakuzu grabbed a guy who was screwing bolts into a steel frame. His face full of fury, he almost slapped the man on the spot.

"I..." In Ame, construction work didn't usually require helmets. The man wasn't used to it and was caught off guard.

"Fine of 1 ryō. Next time, use your head! Understand? If something falls and kills you, no one's gonna feel sorry!"

Kakuzu pointed at him angrily, clearly disappointed.

"Yes! I won't make the same mistake again!" The man was moved to tears. It was the first time anyone had shown this much care for him.

"Hm." Kakuzu nodded.

He looked around for a bit, and soon caught another one.

"Idiot! Who the hell told you to weld without goggles? Trying to go blind?"

"Fine of 1 ryō. Learn your lesson next time."

"Yes!"

Tobi silently approached, click, and captured every moment with his camera.

White Zetsu was born for intelligence gathering.

But as a journalist, Tobi, surprisingly, wasn't being a pervert for once.

This was Yahiko's true leadership skill: putting the right people in the right positions.

Next stop: School.

Tobi went to do an interview with three of his little contacts.

Upon entering the school, today there were club activities.

To prevent another "Kakashi situation" from occurring among the Yoake children, Yahiko issued a directive: every Wednesday, kids must be taken outside by their teachers for fieldwork all day.

"I see." Tobi could only watch from afar.

Huh?

He actually saw Kakuzu again.

On the playground, three classes lined up according to height.

"Your mission today is to clean the streets. Be careful and don't get separated from the group, got it?"

Kakuzu had taken off his safety helmet and was now wearing a mask, giving instructions to the children.

"Understood."

The children from all three classes responded in unison, dragging out the word in chorus.

The teachers standing at the back of the schoolyard observed. Konan felt a rare sense of relief, though Kakuzu was stingy most of the time, he had a good attitude toward the kids. That deserved some praise.

Ikkaku and the others thought, Maybe Kakuzu isn't as bad as people say?

"The dust outside is heavy... okay, kids who aren't wearing masks, please raise your hands," Kakuzu said.

On the playground, quite a few children raised their hands.

"One, two, three, four, five..."

Kakuzu counted as he handed out the masks he'd prepared to the kids who didn't have one, muttering to himself the whole time.

Konan smiled gently. "Yahiko, you once said people should have more trust in each other. I think you were right." Turns out Kakuzu wasn't completely heartless.

"Konan, please handle the payment, five ryō per mask. Twenty-three kids didn't wear one."

...And Kakuzu still bared his fangs.

Konan: "..."

She had never been this speechless in her life.

Click. 

The camera shutter went off. Not far away, Tobi recorded all of Kakuzu's "business practices."

On the street, Tobi continued following him, he was looking for a highlight, something to earn him the employee bonus... so he could buy communication devices for Madara.

The kids were scattered along the street, sweeping.

As for Kakuzu, he walked into a toy shop, found the owner right away, and said: "Cleaning fee."

The store owner reluctantly handed over one ryō.

A moment later, a few children entered the toy shop to help clean.

Kakuzu then proceeded to visit all the other shops along the street, one by one.

It was a bit hot.

Later, he bought each child a syrup popsicle, one ryō each.

The teachers who didn't help with cleaning weren't allowed to have any, so he didn't buy them any.

All the teachers: "....."

Tobi didn't get it, but he was stunned. You're already buying ten... and you still negotiated for three more from the owner?

Kakuzu was still quite responsible, he stayed with the children all afternoon, collecting "fees" from the whole street for just as long.

---

It was already evening.

Minato had already returned to Konoha, but he would attend the premiere of the movie.

After all, it was the first movie of his life, he had feelings for it and hoped it would succeed.

Back in Yoake, Kakuzu had snuck in somehow, and Tobi had also infiltrated the premiere using his Mayfly Technique.

"Want some photos?"

A noble lady from the Land of Water looked confused at the man in front of her. He mysteriously pulled out two photos from his coat.

One was a still of Minato playing the protagonist, and the other was a candid photo of Yahiko in real life.

"!"

Of course she knew a new movie was being filmed next door, it had been all over the papers. But she didn't expect the new actor to be so handsome too?

One was gentle. The other, sunny.

Can she... have both?

"How much?"

"One thousand ryō each," Kakuzu said while holding up one finger.

The noble lady frowned.

Kakuzu was startled, it was a bit expensive. Even a whole year's salary was barely ten thousand ryō. Maybe he should lower the price by ten?

Just as he was hesitating to speak...

"Do you have more? I'll take them all!"

Click.

Not just the shutter, Tobi's heart broke too.

A thousand ryō each? If he just sold ten photos, he could buy a camera for Madara.

---

Tobi continued tailing Kakuzu. As long as he wanted to, Kakuzu would never notice him.

"This plot's mine... this one too... hmm, good... looks like next year I can..."

Kakuzu had arrived at the farming area. The villagers had already cultivated the land.

He was inspecting the plots carefully and in detail.

Tobi didn't understand what Kakuzu was mumbling, but he had a voice recorder, so he could capture everything Kakuzu said.

"The newspaper is weekly. What intel did you gather today?"

Back at the office, Kakuzu looked at the only other staff member there, Tobi, who had snuck back early with the Mayfly Technique.

"Ah! Hahaha... Good question, good question. I fell asleep today."

Tobi scratched his head and gave a goofy laugh.

"Then you're not getting paid!"

Kakuzu took back the ten ryō he nearly handed over.

"Damn it!"

Tobi came home.

Madara looked up at the empty-handed Tobi, a flash of disappointment flickering in his eyes.

"Hmm." He closed his eyes and gave a calm response.

Tobi turned his back and sat down, silently reviewing the photos on his camera.