Chapter 124: Extortion is Also an Art
"We have to answer all of these? Is it okay if we don't?"
Stelle crossed her arms, her smile gentle yet utterly unyielding. "No!"
Takei, a man whose every movement oozed slick, practiced charm, pulled a thick stack of bills from his wallet. He slid the cash over the registration form, pushing it discreetly toward Stelle's side of the desk.
"Ninja-sama, please cut us some slack," he wheedled, his tone dripping with faux humility. "We really don't know how to answer these questions."
The instant the paper currency entered Stelle's field of vision, her golden eyes practically ignited. Without missing a beat, her hand darted out, snatching the bribe and stuffing it deep into her uniform pocket in broad daylight.
Sensing his grease-the-wheels tactic had landed perfectly, Takei leaned in with a fawning grin. "So, can we head on through now?"
One second, Stelle was beaming like a saint. The next, her expression flatlined into a mask of bureaucratic apathy. It was a flawless, one-second face-change.
"No. According to Konoha's strict rules and regulations, you must fill out this information before entering the village. Otherwise, please return the way you came."
Takei's ingratiating smile shattered. Behind him, the muscles in his companions' faces twitched, their expressions twisting into something fierce and distinctly murderous. Takei quickly threw up a hand, shooting them a warning glare to stand down. "Stay calm," he hissed under his breath.
Turning back to Stelle, he forced the corners of his mouth upward. "Fine. We'll write."
For the next twenty minutes, the group of supposed merchants huddled around the absurd registration forms, engaged in a heated, whispered debate that rivaled the intensity of a high-stakes Chunin Exam.
'Who the hell knows what a central theme is?'
Finally, prodded by a gaunt man in their ranks who looked as though he had long since renounced all worldly desires, the group managed to scribble down their answers. The resulting paragraphs made absolutely zero logical sense, but ink was on the paper.
Stelle plucked the forms from the desk. She didn't even drop her gaze to read a single syllable before tossing them back. "Failed," she announced, her voice dripping with casual cruelty. "Rewrite."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the gate. These travelers had been marching through the wilderness for days. Now, blocked at the very threshold of Konoha without so much as a sip of water, their mental fortitude was fracturing.
"Are you fucking playing with us?" one of the burly guards snarled, his hand twitching toward his waist.
Stelle didn't flinch. She simply maintained her perfectly plastic customer-service smile. "I'm terribly sorry, but these are Konoha's regulations. Please comply."
Takei and his crew exchanged incredulous looks. They had never imagined that the legendary, peaceful, and beautifully prosperous Hidden Leaf Village everyone praised would operate like a corrupt toll booth.
They were being blatantly harassed. Yet, if they actually drew their weapons and caused a scene, the resulting commotion would summon the Anbu. Once they drew that kind of heat, their actual mission would be dead in the water.
Swallowing their pride, the entire group bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
"We are deeply sorry," Takei gritted out, a vein throbbing at his temple. "It is our first time visiting Konoha. We are inevitably a bit nervous and ignorant of the local customs. Please forgive our outburst."
Stelle's eyes narrowed a fraction. 'These people definitely have problems. They're likely spies from another country. Let's test their bottom line one more time.'
A wickedly bright, almost predatory grin stretched across her face. Embodying the phrase that the ignorant are fearless, she stepped out from behind the desk and casually patted Takei on the shoulder.
"Oh dear, I just dropped something," she gasped in mock distress. "Could you help me find it? It was exactly two hundred thousand Ryo. I clearly left it on the table, but it mysteriously vanished the moment you fine folks arrived. Did you accidentally knock it onto the floor?"
The sheer audacity of it left the group reeling. Openly extorting money—this was Konoha? These were the legendary Konoha shinobi?
'Such a corrupt military village shouldn't even exist! Only the Daimyo is legitimate! The Daimyo's rule is the only correct path!' Takei roared in the confines of his own mind.
With hands trembling from suppressed rage, he dug into his pockets. It wasn't enough. He turned to his subordinates, aggressively gesturing for them to empty their wallets. Pooling the crumpled bills together, he placed the wad of cash into Stelle's waiting palm.
"Yes," Takei choked out, his voice strained. "I must have knocked this money onto the floor. I am returning it to you now."
"Oh, thank you! But wait, I also lost a thumb ring. You know, the kind with a massive emerald..." Stelle paused, her eyes locking onto a piece of jewelry on one of the men. "Oh, look! This handsome guy found it! And hold on, how did this gemstone pendant end up in my hand? Goodness, it must be raining gems from the sky... My, my, you guys even picked up my gemstone necklace and my spare ring..."
Under Stelle's relentless, shameless maneuvering, the group was thoroughly fleeced. Aside from the clothes on their backs, anything remotely shiny or valuable ended up stuffed into Stelle's pockets.
Finally, stripped of their dignity and their funds, the group trudged into the village, literal tears of frustration pricking the corners of their eyes.
"Hey, Takei," one of the men whispered, his voice cracking. "We've been stripped of almost all our money. How are we going to eat these next few days?"
"See what valuables we have left buried in the luggage," Takei muttered darkly. "Go trade them for food."
"Damn it. That woman is too ruthless. I swear, I'll kill her eventually."
Back outside the towering wooden gates, Stelle casually tossed the group's registration forms into a drawer. If they could endure that level of blatant humiliation and robbery without snapping, there was absolutely something wrong with them.
However, if these were just disposable pawns tricked by Black Zetsu, what could they possibly accomplish?
Beside her, Hyuga Gen stood frozen, his pale eyes wide with shock. He felt as though he finally understood why his new friend had been banished to gate duty. Was she secretly transferred from the Finance Department's debt collection branch?
"Tsukiki... this isn't very good," Gen stammered, glancing nervously around. "If you're short on money, I have some here. Take my allowance for now, but please don't do things like this again. You'll end up thrown in the Disciplinary Room."
"Then I'll just have to ask you to keep my little secret," Stelle replied, flashing him a light, breezy smile.
"I... I will certainly keep it a secret for you. Don't worry!" Gen's tone was incredibly solemn, as if he were swearing an oath to protect the village from a major crisis.
Stelle sighed internally and tapped the desk. "Those people didn't look right, Gen. Remember to file a report on them."
'When the time comes to assign blame, you—the guy who didn't notice anything unusual despite having your Byakugan active and just let them walk in—will be in deep trouble again.'
"What?" Gen blinked, his posture straightening. "Does Tsukiki suspect they are spies? Alright! Let's go investigate them together tonight and see what's wrong with them."
"Together?" Stelle tilted her head. She definitely hadn't volunteered for extra work.
"That's right, together! If we find solid evidence against them, we won't have to guard the gate anymore. We could be promoted together and become patrol officers for the Police Force!"
Stelle stared at him. '...I've already spoon-fed you the intel, and you still want me to provide free labor? In your dreams, kid. Goodbye.'
"By the way," Gen continued, oblivious to her deadpan stare, "this afternoon, a shinobi from the Shimura clan is going to have a chili-eating contest with a guy from the Aburame clan. The winner gets to pursue their mutual crush, and the loser has to go to the border and stay on guard duty for a year. I'm planning to go watch the fun. Want to come, Tsukiki? We can grab some bento boxes and eat while watching the match."
Those words made Stelle, who had already turned her body to leave, stop dead in her tracks. She loved a good trainwreck.
"Is your daily life always this interesting? There's a literal soap opera to watch every day."
Gen handed the heavy handover logbook to the relief guard who had just arrived, then jogged to catch up with Stelle.
"The village is just this lively! It's all thanks to Hokage-sama's wise and divine leadership that everyone can live such leisurely lives. By the way, Tsukiki, what do you usually do? I feel like your life is rather dull."
Stelle thought back on her routine. 'Dull?' She supposed it looked that way to an outsider. In reality, she was constantly scheming, endlessly calculating new ways to farm mood values from the populace. Though, she had to admit, tormenting Black Zetsu lately had provided a fantastic source of entertainment.
Still, since she rarely had a chance to sit back and watch local gossip unfold, she figured she might as well tag along.
Later that evening, after thoroughly enjoying the spicy drama and devouring a luxury barbecue set meal—fully paid for by the naive Hyuga Gen—Stelle felt a tiny twinge of guilt about just ditching him.
She made a quick detour to Jia's residence, exchanged a few cryptic words with him, and set up her next trap for Black Zetsu.
Only after securing her board did she head to the agreed-upon location to meet Gen. Together, they crouched on a rooftop, monitoring the inn where Takei's merchant caravan had settled.
Hiding within the dense canopy of a nearby tree, Stelle began to calculate her next move. 'If I were Black Zetsu, what would I do to test whether I'm actually injured? Naturally, he would send someone to assassinate me the moment I'm alone.'
To pull that off, the enemy would first need to cause a massive commotion elsewhere to draw the attention of the Patrol Teams, luring away large numbers of active shinobi. They would pick a highly vulnerable target, forcing everyone to focus on rescue operations.
Secondly, the people immediately surrounding her would have to be baited away.
Since his ultimate target was her, she was the walking bullseye. She didn't need to worry about collateral damage in other districts.
'Tomorrow morning, I'll put out a public notice and force the Civilian Area to conduct a sudden fire drill. That should throw a wrench in his diversion tactics.'
"That woman named Saito has come out," Gen suddenly whispered, pulling Stelle from her thoughts.
Stelle shifted her gaze toward the dimly lit street. Down below, the female spy from the gate was slipping out of the inn's back door, her footsteps light and stealthy. The two Konoha shinobi quietly shadowed her through the winding alleys.
They watched as Saito headed straight toward the district housing the local Orphanage. Stelle's muscles tensed, assuming the spy was planning to sneak in and plant explosives or take hostages.
To her absolute bewilderment, the woman suddenly leaped into a towering apple tree bordering the property. Grabbing several ripe fruits, Saito bypassed all ninja decorum and began devouring them ravenously, not even bothering to wipe the dirt off the skin.
"That damn Konoha ninja!" Saito muttered between aggressive, wet bites, her voice thick with misery. "She took all my money and left me with absolutely nothing to eat today! Damn it all!"
Stelle stared blankly from her hiding spot.
'...Can't you spies have some basic dignity? You get extorted for a little bit of pocket change, and now you're hungry enough to steal fruit from an orphanage's tree?''Don't you even have the basic survival skills to make a quick buck?''That's just too pathetic. Do us all a favor and don't come to Konoha next time. Go hang out in the Land of Earth or something. You're seriously dragging down the industry standard for spies.'
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