The Days of Being the Richest Man in the Ninja World-Chapter 384 - 30. Black History

[V2] - 30. Black History

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"Who are you chatting with?"

"N-No one!" The now-grown and handsome Deidara, hearing the voice of old man Kakuzu beside him, immediately averted his eyes, clearly trying to change the subject. "Just some salesman!"

However—

"???" Kakuzu looked suspiciously at the sneaky Deidara, who was practically pressing his phone to his face, and said, "Salesman? Why would you bother responding to a salesman? Don't tell me you've been scammed by some pyramid scheme!"

"I-I... I just thought he was pitiful! He said his family sells tea leaves, and now his grandfather died, and his uncles and siblings are all trying to seize the tea plantation left to him. They say if he can't sell the tea leaves, he'll end up homeless. He hoped I could help him!"

"You can't even help yourself, and you want to help others?"

"Oh! Mind your own business!" Deidara casually made up an excuse and tried to brush it off, clearly irritated with Kakuzu's persistent questioning. "I'm just chatting a bit!"

Seriously.

An ancient acquaintance shows up early in the morning, and the first thing he says is "Boss!"

At first, Deidara thought it was one of his fans!

But it turned out—

It was some random net friend he added when he was a kid. They chatted briefly back then.

Apparently, the guy was born blind, came from a poor family, and had never even touched a computer.

Really pitiful!

Back then, because he was young and dumb, Deidara had bragged a bunch of nonsense... things like being the protagonist, defying fate, "my destiny is mine alone," "Thirty years in the east," "eternal art," and all that!

Anyway, if any of his acquaintances saw those messages now, Deidara figured he'd have to go into hiding under a new name!

So embarrassing!

He didn't expect that—

So many years later, the guy still remembers it?!

And from what he just said, it seemed like he had only just gotten internet access at home.

After all these years—finally connected to the internet.

It looks like he lived in a very remote and poor place!

"Sigh~" Deidara's eyes got a little red as he looked at those pure and innocent words, and he sighed emotionally, mumbling, "No wonder... after all this time, nothing's changed!"

Maybe only someone from such a remote place, who knows nothing and has been untouched by the outside world, could stay so innocent!

He is still holding onto what Deidara said back then! freewebnøvel.com

So—

He thought for a moment and quickly typed out a message:

[Don't contact me again!]

Then—

Without any hesitation, he deleted the friend, blocked him, all in one go.

Finally, he let out a sigh of relief.

[I've never talked to anyone about such an embarrassing topic in my life!]

He decided to bury this past in history.

However—

Not long after—

Thinking about that innocent, comfort-seeking child from back then, he sighed helplessly, opened his online wallet, and sent him... 188,888.

Still, this part of history is his past!

Shonen!

This is all I can do for you!

That was money he'd been secretly saving for a long time!

With that miser Kakuzu around, even hiding a single coin was nearly impossible!

"What the heck are you doing?" Kakuzu looked at Deidara beside him—sometimes emotional, sometimes guilty, sometimes sighing, and now even looking sorrowful and melancholic. He frowned and said, "Why are you acting so shady?!"

"I-I... it's nothing!" Deidara quickly snapped out of it and replied seriously, "Just feeling a bit sentimental."

"..."

So, what exactly are you being sentimental about?

That tea-selling guy really got kicked out of his house?

Kakuzu curled his lips. After living with this kid for so many years, how could he not know him?

At the beginning, he was always arrogant and full of himself, constantly causing trouble, almost made Kakuzu lose his entire life savings!

Then—

After being tempered by society over the past few years, he had finally grown up.

He had seen more of the world, become more mature, and no longer said things that made people want to strangle him. He had learned a lot about how people and the world worked!

Kakuzu looked him up and down with satisfaction.

"???" Deidara noticed Kakuzu's scrutinizing gaze and instantly felt uncomfortable all over. Especially after just cutting ties with his black history—being stared at like this now, he couldn't help but wonder if Kakuzu had found something out!

Awkward and uneasy, he asked, "What's wrong?"

However—

That bashful and embarrassed expression made Kakuzu seem to understand something in his heart. He sighed, patted Deidara's shoulder, and said, "I get it."

"???" Deidara was shocked, looking at Kakuzu in a mix of panic and shame. "You... you know?"

"Don't be embarrassed! I've been there too! Back in the day... with all the chaos in the Ninja World, it was hard enough just to survive—who had time to worry about things like that?!" Kakuzu sighed wistfully, his eyes full of old memories. Then he looked down at Deidara, a faint smile on his lips. "You've grown up, kid."

"??? Are you misunderstanding something?"

"How could I be misunderstanding? With something like this, you think I wouldn't know? Don't be shy about it!" Kakuzu gave a cold snort, but soon sighed again. "Forget it! We really can't keep living like this."

Though they hadn't done any shady, no-cost business in recent years...

The Ninja World still wasn't peaceful. There were always some lunatics trying to start wars, so whenever the villages couldn't find the culprits themselves, they would post bounty missions.

Stuff like: "Walking 5 million," "50 million," etc.

Just search online and the wanted posters pop up.

This time—

Their target was the recently infamous pyramid scheme leader, whose bounty had gone from 500 million to now 5 billion, surpassing even the once highest bounty of the Ninja World—Shimura Danzo. Now, the top bounty was held by none other than Otsutsuki Urashiki!

Kakuzu looked at the bounty poster of Otsutsuki Urashiki holding a fishing rod, then turned to Deidara, who was still pretending to be clueless and embarrassed. His expression firmed up. "Once we finish this job, we're done! Add to that the money I've saved for you over the years, it should be enough for you to live a stable life. Then... go propose to the girl you like. I believe, with that much money, even if you're a wandering ninja, her father will say yes!"

"???"

Kakuzu... are you seriously misunderstanding something here?

But hearing that Kakuzu was willing to hand over all the money he'd saved for him, Deidara was moved, looking emotionally at him.

"Kakuzu..."

"Alright, you kid! You've grown up now. Live your life properly when the time comes! What are you getting emotional for?"

"That's not what I meant! It's just... can you transfer the money to me now? It's going to be mine anyway!"

"...Get lost!"

What the hell are you dreaming about?

...

At the same time—

Staring at the popup: [You are no longer friends with this user], Otsutsuki Toneri was completely stunned.

Right now...

Had the boss abandoned him?

His eyes widened, voice low and filled with pain, "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west... I swear I will—"

Ding Ding!

Before he could finish—

Another popup appeared: Recharge received: 188,888.

He froze again, staring in a daze.

As if suddenly understanding something, he murmured to himself with guilt, "The boss didn't abandon me... he must have run into trouble and didn't want to drag me down!"

The protagonist always goes through trials—surely the boss was enduring one now too!

[Don't worry, boss. I'll definitely find you! And help you get through this!]

After all—

He was definitely a protagonist too!

At that moment—

Ding Ding!

The game he had downloaded earlier had finally installed.

Otsutsuki Toneri trembled all over. "Damn! This was a new game that released a few years ago! I'm only getting to play it now!"

Don't worry, Boss!

Let me play a few rounds first, then I'll start training hard and come to rescue you!

And then—

He eagerly launched the game...

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Read upto [V2] Chapter 90 in patreon.com/kurato6180