"Demon... A demon!"
Kado was utterly terrified by the sudden, hellish slaughter unfolding before his eyes. Extreme fear poured over him like ice water, instantly freezing his blood and thoughts.
His body trembled uncontrollably, and his pants quickly became soaked; he had been scared into incontinence.
Driven by the instinct for survival, he scrambled to turn around, using both hands and feet to frantically flee towards the bridge's entrance, emitting incomprehensible whimpers and wails.
However, a huge dark shadow suddenly sprang out from the shadows at the bridgehead! A massive, muscular paw covered in white fur mercilessly slammed Kado, who was trying to escape, onto the bridge deck!
It was Byakko, one of the Nine-Faced Beasts. It looked down at Kado, who was struggling like a worm beneath its paw, and let out a low growl.
Behind Byakko, eight other massive shadows, each with a different form but all emitting powerful Chakra fluctuations, slowly emerged from the mist or shadows, completely blocking the bridge's exit.
Menma had set up the Nine-Faced Beasts from the very beginning. They had already completely cut off all of Kado's escape routes.
"Let go of me! You bastard! Monster! Let go!"
Kado was terrified to the extreme, screaming and struggling hysterically, but to Byakko, who possessed the strength of an elite Jonin, his struggles were as weak as an infant's, completely futile.
Menma and Kakuzu slowly strolled towards Kado, who was pinned firmly to the ground by Byakko. Kado looked at the approaching fox mask and the green-eyed man, screaming, "Wait, wait a minute! What... what exactly do you want?! If you kill me... my Kado Group won't let you off! They will definitely track you down..."
Kado's threat was cut short as Menma raised his foot and brutally kicked Kado in the face!
"Bang!"
A dull thud! Menma had pulled back most of his strength at the last moment, afraid of accidentally kicking the guy to death.
But even so, Kado was still sent flying with a gush of nosebleed, and several teeth, mixed with blood foam, flew out of his mouth, making him shriek like a slaughtered pig.
"Shh..."
Menma lowered his head, "Quiet down. Don't worry, it's not me who will be 'happily spending time' with you next."
He pointed to Kakuzu, whose eyes were becoming increasingly dangerous, beside him.
"Our 'Cinder' organization's financial manager will have a good 'chat' with you about torture and asset transfer. In the precious remaining moments of your life, try to maintain some decorum and not make yourself too pathetic, okay?"
"I... I can give you all my money! All my assets! I'll give them all to you! You... if you want them... just take them all!"
Kado completely broke down, crying and snotting, "You... you let me live... I'll give you anything..."
"Ah—no no no no no no no no, no way."
Menma mercilessly interrupted Kado's plea with a rapid series of negative syllables.
"If you were just an ordinary greedy scumbag, I might consider sparing your life..."
Menma's voice suddenly became incredibly chilling, "But you personally dragged the entire Land of Waves into hell, crushing countless lives with capital and violence... The sins you have committed even give 'justification' to the killing happening at this moment."
"So, I will absolutely not let you go. Understood?"
With that, Menma turned around briskly. He still had real recruitment work to complete.
Kakuzu, eager, took Kado, who was like a pile of mud, from Byakko's massive claw and roughly dragged him by one leg towards the other end of the bridge. Next was the "wonderful" work he had been anticipating for several days, promised personally by Menma.
"Hehehehe... Let's go, Mr. Kado."
Kakuzu's voice was filled with almost joyful anticipation, and his eyes gleamed with greedy desire for immense wealth, "How exciting... one of the richest people in the world. The leader truly takes care of me, don't you agree? My boss is a really good person."
As he spoke, he unceremoniously dragged the limp Kado, preparing to head to the Kado Group's main headquarters for a long and "in-depth" financial interrogation.
On the other side, Zabuza still stood stiff as a statue before Haku. The huge hollow in the boy's chest was incredibly glaring, constantly reminding him of a cold fact—with such an injury, Haku was already dead... This desperate thought, like a maggot clinging to bone, had been wildly echoing in his mind, consuming his last bit of strength, ever since Kado and his thugs were instantly cleared out.
His original chosen method of ending things, a fight to the death with Kado, was completely disrupted by this sudden turn of events. At this moment, he could only stand helplessly before the boy he had spent day and night with, now silent and still, his eyes dim, his heart dead.
Haku... I'm sorry... All this time, you were by my side... And I... in the end, I couldn't do anything for you... If I could... I really... really want to go to a place with you...
Zabuza had a clear understanding of himself. He knew his hands were stained with blood, destined for hell. Unlike him, Haku, after death, would surely go to heaven...
"What an incredibly rare sight to behold."
Menma slowly walked up to Zabuza, his voice carrying a hint of playful mockery, "The so-called 'Demon Man', Zabuza Momochi, known throughout the Ninja World for his silent assassination techniques, is actually heartbroken over a person."
Zabuza slowly raised his head, looking at Menma with his hollow, lifeless eyes, offering no response, then silently returned his gaze to the pale face on the ground.
Seeing Zabuza, whose heart was dead and who didn't even bother to acknowledge his clearly provocative words, Menma was not displeased; on the contrary, he liked him even more.
What he valued was Zabuza's deep affection for Haku. Because this was enough to guarantee that Zabuza would absolutely not be able to refuse his upcoming proposal.
"This child... is a Bloodline Limit user of Ice Release, isn't he? What a pity." Menma feigned a sigh of regret, his gaze sweeping over Haku's body, "To possess such strength at such a young age, and to be so loyal to you... You really picked up a very useful 'tool'..."
"That's not true!!!"
Unexpectedly, the silent Zabuza suddenly looked up, hoarsely interrupting Menma's words! In his emotional state, he even coughed violently.
"Haku... he's not a tool!!" Tears once again uncontrollably welled up in Zabuza's eyes, mixing with bloodstains as they streamed down his stiff cheeks, "I... I couldn't do it... In the end... I couldn't do anything for him... I even... I even..."
He choked, unable to continue, completely overwhelmed by immense grief and helplessness. Menma spoke again.
"...Very well, Zabuza, a Ninja cannot be a tool. It seems you understand this point. Then let's make a deal."