Naruto: The Sage Body of Konoha

"My turn."

A large, fat man stepped forward and glanced at Uzumaki Haruna's arm. Immediately, a look of disgust appeared on his face. Without a word, he reached into the cage and grabbed Kiyomi Uzumaki.

"Please... spare my child."

Uzumaki Haruna fell to her knees, desperately clinging to the fatty's sleeve with tears streaming down her face.

"Get lost!"

The fat man shouted impatiently, shoved Uzumaki Haruna aside, then turned toward the terrified little girl, Kiyomi Uzumaki, with menace in his eyes.

Just then, a commotion erupted from the crowd behind him—a disturbance was clearly unfolding.

Suddenly, the fat man felt someone give him a shove from behind.

"Who the hell dares?!"

Still furious from turning around, he received a solid punch right in the stomach from Heiyan. With a loud *thud*, the blow landed squarely.

The fat man's expression twisted instantly, as though wearing a mask of pain. Holding his stomach, he dropped to his knees with a heavy *plop* before finally face-planting onto the ground.

He dropped unconscious.

"Kid, what's your meaning?"

Beside the iron cage, two men in suits approached—one from the left, one from the right—coldly interrogating him.

"I'll speak plainly. I want to buy this mother and daughter pair. Name your price."

Heiyan said evenly.

"Heh heh."

Upon hearing this, both suit-clad men couldn't help but chuckle. One of them shook his head and said, "Our boss already made it clear—they're non-saleable goods. Pay enough and you can do whatever you want with them—just no selling. Got it?"

"Also, you cut in line just now. Fork over one million ryo first for the cutting fee."

The other one sneered threateningly, "If you can't pay, don't expect to walk out of here."

"Is that so?"

Heiyan glanced around. Besides the two suited men, all the bounty hunters he had cut in front of were also surrounding him hostilely.

Normally, he wouldn't have hesitated—he'd just fight his way out. But now, he couldn't guarantee absolute safety for both Haruna and Kiyomi Uzumaki during an escape attempt.

Besides, he still had another objective—to assassinate Gato. So it was especially important not to alert their suspicions yet.

It wasn't quite time to act.

At this moment, the same worker from earlier arrived, carrying a suitcase full of money toward Heiyan.

So Heiyan took the case and immediately hurled it straight at the two suited men while speaking:

"You can probably tell yourselves—the mother and daughter of the Uzumaki clan are covered in bite marks already. Their chakra has been completely drained, and they won't live much longer. Hardly worth making any profit either."

"Why not sell them to me instead? Let me use them for human experiments and research the physiological secrets of the Uzumaki clan."

"There's twenty million ryo inside. I imagine if your boss later finds out you two turned down a deal worth twenty million ryo, he wouldn't be too happy with you, would he?"

His offer—and the pile of cash inside—left the two suited men stunned.

Who the hell was this reckless kid anyway?

"You... just wait."

After a moment of silence, one of the suited men finally came to his senses. He hurled those words at Heiyan, grabbed his briefcase, and hurried up the stairs toward the private booths on the second floor of the Golden Exchange.

Inside the iron cage, Uzumaki Haruna and her mother Kiyomi had finally caught their breath, but there was no joy on their faces. Instead, they looked at Heiyan in sheer terror, shivering violently.

Given a choice, they'd rather die a violent death than be sold to this mysterious hooded man for cruel human experiments.

Inside the private booth on the second floor,

Now seated on the sofa with his legs crossed was a short, brown-haired teenager around seventeen or eighteen, dressed in a sharp suit and dark sunglasses.

If not for witnessing it firsthand, it would be hard to believe that the infamous boss of the Gato Corporation could actually be so young.

What was even harder to believe was just how rotten this innocent-looking kid really was—he was ruthless by nature and willing to do absolutely anything to get what he wanted.

Gato—what a born villain he was.

Yet sitting across from Gato on another sofa was an even more dangerous criminal.

He was a ninja wearing a Mist Village forehead protector. His eyes were filled with cruelty, and his pupils darted around constantly—a volatile presence, like an active volcano about to erupt at any second.

Clearly, this man's mental state was extremely unstable.

"Tail Master, what's our next move?" Gato asked cautiously.

Even someone like him didn't dare make a sound near this man because—

Tail Master was Saiken's Jinchuriki of the Mist Village.

And he was insane.

"Immediately hire a large number of ninjas to cause destruction throughout Uzu Country, drawing attention away from the Uzumaki clan," Tail Master said impatiently. "This time I must infiltrate the treasure vault of Uzugakure and steal all their sealing techniques."

His face twisted with insatiable greed when he mentioned the Uzumaki sealing techniques.

After all, the Mist Village had been far behind in its research on Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki for a long time.

Although Tail Master had become the host of Saiken, the beast within him continued to erode his sanity through an unstable seal. The Six-Tail constantly corroded his mind, pushing him closer and closer to the brink of losing control.

To Tail Master, forbidden techniques like the Uzumaki Clan's Locking Tail Seal, Four Symbols Seal, and Adamantine Sealing Chains were literal lifelines he craved desperately.

What he needed most was the Uzumaki sealing techniques—to suppress the Six-Tails inside him and restore stability to his rapidly deteriorating mind.

That was why he had already kidnapped Haruna and Kiyomi of the Uzumaki clan, though he had failed to extract any useful information from them during interrogation.

"Alright, I'll get started right away," said Gato upon hearing this. He wasted no time and sprang into action to carry out Tail Master's orders. However, just as he stepped out of the room, he collided with the same suited subordinate.

About to lose his temper, Gato was quickly handed a suitcase full of cash.

"Boss, someone offered twenty million to buy that Uzumaki mother and daughter pair. They want to use them for human experiments aimed at studying the Uzumaki Clan," the suited man explained hastily.

"Oh? Is that so?" Gato replied with sudden interest. After taking the case, he added, "Go downstairs and take a look."

"Wait, I'm coming too."

When Tashigi heard the news, she frowned and followed them.

Both Gato and Tashigi had clear motives.

One wanted money, the other sought intelligence on the Uzumaki clan.

Soon enough, the group reached the ground floor.

"So you're the one buying these Uzumaki mother and daughter?"

Gato walked up to Heiyan, cast a glance at the mask covering the latter's face, then immediately demanded more money. "Two million isn't enough—you need to pay extra."

"You must be Gato?"

Rather than directly responding to Gato's demand, Heiyan asked a question instead, staring at him closely.

If you want my money... that can be arranged.

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