Two hours passed.
By the end of it, Naruto was sweating, out of breath, and surrounded.
Clones moved in synchronized chaos, counting, stacking, re-counting, and reorganizing piles of ryo with mechanical precision.
Every flat surface in the apartment had been claimed. The kitchen table disappeared beneath layered bundles. The counter tops sagged under their weight. His bed was no longer a bed—it was a fortress of cash.
Money spilled into places it had no business being.
Stacks lined the floor in neat rows, filling every walkway. Bills were wedged into chairs, tucked behind doors, stuffed into cardboard boxes that had once held instant ramen.
Even the bathroom wasn't spared—bundles rested in the sink cabinet, stacked carefully on the closed toilet lid, balanced like offerings.
There wasn't a single inch of space untouched.
Naruto stood in the middle of it all, hands on his hips, slowly turning in a circle.
"…This is stupid," he muttered.
Each bundle was counted in ten-thousand ryo stacks. Clean. Methodical. No room for error. The clones finished the final tally and dispelled one by one, their memories flooding back into him in an instant.
The number hit him like a physical blow.
30,000,000,000 ryo.
Thirty.
Billion.
Naruto sank down onto the edge of what used to be his couch, staring blankly at the wall of money in front of him.
"…Yeah," he said quietly. "That tracks."
Kakuzu had been active for over seventy years. Decades of hunting only the highest-value targets. Elite jōnin. Missing-nin. Daimyō-level threats. People worth entire villages' annual budgets. And he never wasted effort on small bounties.
' Chiriku alone was worth millions,' Naruto thought. Now multiply that by seventy years of nonstop murder.
He let out a low whistle.
"Fucken hell… I'm set for life."
A grin spread across his face before he could stop it.
' I don't need Tsunade's allowance anymore.'
The thought was intoxicating—but reality set in just as fast.
He stood up and took a step. Several stacks wobbled dangerously.
Naruto froze.
"…Don't move," he whispered to no one.
The apartment was one wrong step away from turning into a money avalanche.
He rubbed his face with both hands. ' Okay. Okay. I am officially suffering from success. Where the hell do I put all this?'
He summoned more clones.
This time, the job wasn't counting—it was concealment.
They worked methodically, redistributing the money throughout the apartment. Stacks vanished into wardrobes, sealed beneath floorboards, hidden behind walls.
Entire bundles were carefully wrapped and placed beneath the bed. The bathroom cabinets were reinforced. Kitchen drawers were packed tight.
The largest share went under the floor, where Naruto carefully lifted planks and resealed them once the money was stored.
He even left the apartment briefly, returning with three heavy wooden chests. They groaned under the weight as he filled them, sealing each one carefully.
Hours later, the chaos was gone.
The apartment looked normal again.
Naruto stood there, exhausted, hands on his knees, breathing slowly.
' I'll rent the apartment next door later,' he thought. ' Break the wall. More space. Easy.'
For now…
He flopped backward onto his bed riddled with millions of cash. The mattress crinkled faintly beneath him.
Naruto stared at the ceiling, a relaxed smile spreading across his face.
' Guess I'm sleeping on my money tonight.'
.....
Naruto woke up the next morning feeling like he'd been beaten in his sleep.
His back ached. His neck was stiff. Something hard had been digging into his side all night—he was pretty sure it had been a bundle of money. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, groaning quietly.
"…Worst. Sleep. Ever."
Then his eyes shifted slightly.
Stacks of ryo peeked out from beneath the bed. The floorboards looked a little too neat. One of the wooden chests sat in the corner like a loyal guard dog.
Naruto smiled.
"…Totally worth it."
He rolled out of bed, took a long bath to work the stiffness out of his muscles, and let the hot water steam away the soreness. Breakfast was simple—eggs, toast, and tea—but it tasted better knowing he didn't have to count coins afterward.
Once dressed, he stood in front of the mirror, hands on his hips.
' Today I meet the owner,' he thought. ' Time to expand.'
The hallway downstairs smelled faintly of old wood and cleaning chemicals. Naruto stopped in front of the landlord's door and knocked once.
Hard.
The door creaked open, revealing an elderly woman with sharp eyes and a permanent scowl etched into her face.
"What do you want, brat?" she snapped.
Naruto didn't even blink.
He pulled out 1,000 ryo and held it up casually. "I'm renting the room next door for twelve months. Here's the rent."
Her eyes locked onto the money instantly—hunger flashing across her face before she masked it behind irritation.
"You can't rent two apartments at once," she said stiffly. "That's the rule."
Naruto tilted his head. "Oh?"
He smiled. "How much would it take for you to sell me this whole building?"
She burst out laughing. "Ten million ryo!"
Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "Really?"
He turned and walked upstairs.
Minutes later, he returned—pockets bulging unnaturally. Ignoring her protests, he walked straight into her apartment and dumped stacks of cash onto the table. The wood groaned under the sudden weight.
"That's ten million," Naruto said calmly. "You can count it if you want. But I'll need you out of the building by the time I get back. Thanks for your service."
Then he turned and left.
The old woman stared at the pile, hands trembling as she scooped it toward herself.
' Idiot,' she thought smugly. ' This isn't even ten million—maybe a hundred thousand at most. I'm rich! Time to buy myself some handsome men!'
---
Naruto walked down the street, completely unbothered.
' Worth it,' he thought.
He split into clones and sent them off to a hardware store for tools, another group to a furniture shop. Beds, shelves, reinforced flooring—nothing flashy. He didn't want to change the soul of the place. Naruto liked his apartment. He just wanted more of it.
With nothing else to do, he sat down on a park bench, leaning back and letting the sun warm his face.
' Yeah, ' he thought contentedly. ' I'm living the life.'
Footsteps approached. Fast. Light. Determined.
Sakura ran through the park, sweat glistening on her forehead as she pushed herself harder than usual. She slowed when she spotted Naruto—lounging on a bench like he had nowhere else to be.
' What's he doing?' she wondered, frowning.
She stopped right in front of him.
Naruto opened his eyes as the sunlight vanished, replaced by a shadow looming over his face.
"…Yo," he said lazily, looking up.
And that's when things got interesting.
TO BE CONTINUED