The payment mentioned by Homusubi is obviously the verbal agreement that Sandaime Hokage made to Amatsukami on the night the Akatsuki Organization attacked the village.

At that time, ‘Yama’, as the leader of the Amatsukami offered a price for rescuing each individual that was present at that valley on that night… Saving a Kage was worth 20 million Ryo each, saving a Jinchuriki was worth 15 million Ryo each, and saving a Jonin was worth 10 million Ryo each.

And just as Yama stated back then, he did consider it quite deeply before offering the appropriate prices for the lives of shinobi of each category.

In the Bingo book of the black market, or of any shinobi village per se, a Jonin level shinobi of any of the great shinobi villages is generally worth higher than 10 million Ryo, whereas some Jonin like Kuroto, Asuma, Kakashi, and Shisui is as worth as high as 30 million Ryo to more than 50 million Ryo, as such, 10 million is not that unreasonable.

The price of Jinchuriki need not be said as they are weapons of war and are worth very high, so 15 million Ryo is more than acceptable, as for the Kages? The Bingo book of the black market has no bounty or price for the heads of Kages of the five great shinobi villages, the reason is as simple as that killing the Kage of a Great Shinobi Village is equivalent to making that entire shinobi village your enemy, and Black Market just can’t afford to make the entire shinobi village it’s enemy if they want to continue to survive and function.

Therefore, the heads of Kages are worth zero in the Black Market, but Yama chose to offer 20 million Ryo for each Kage, and it too is more than reasonable.

When Homusubi mentioned the ‘payment’, Sandaime Hokage nodded and then passed her a piece of parchment that was already prepared.

Accepting the parchment, Homusubi swept her gaze at it.

Upon reading the content written on the piece of parchment, she found that it was a detailed list of the names, and ranking of each Shinobi Yama had saved on that night. Of course, not all the people Yama had saved managed to make it, and the parchment clearly divides the injured and the dead at the time of being rescued by him.

According to the enumeration on the parchment, Yama had rescued three Kages, including Raikage, Mizukage, and Kazekage, two Jinchuriki, one being Killer Bee, and the other was Mizukage, and finally, there were more than 47 Jonin Class Shinobi of the five great Shinobi Villages.

As for the others? They were all corpses at the time they were rescued by Yama, so they will not be counted.

Excluding the corpses, and the double count of the Mizukage, people rescued by Yama included three Kages, one Jinchuriki, and 47 Jonins. Hence, the total sum of money that the five great Shinobi Villages will have to pay the Amatsukami Organization is 545 million Ryo!

After seeing such a high number at the end of the list, Tsukihi’s face under the Homusubi mask was flushed with excitement, she didn’t even bother to care if the list given to her is genuine or not, because she was already more than satisfied with such a huge sum of money.

It’s not that Tsukihi has an addiction or love towards money or anything, for her, money has only one role, and that is to continue support and fund her research, but the more she has progressed in her research, the more Tsukihi has realized that the Project Godhood of hers’ is an incalculable bottomless pit that can never be filled no matter how much funds she continues to provide. Regardless, what she does know is that this huge sum of 545 million Ryo will relieve her of her worries in regard to funds for a while, and she will be able to implement many of her plans into practice that was only on paper up to now.

Sandaime obviously did not know Homusubi’s thoughts, and seeing that the other party was busy reading the list, he coughed light to bring Homusubi’s attention to himself, then said, “Homusubi-dono, you should be very clear that Konoha Village has just experienced such a catastrophe and is undergoing reconstruction, so, well, I am afraid… we… won’t be able…… to pay such a huge sum of money at once.”

Homusubi chuckled, “As far as I have heard, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire has expressed his intention of providing his help in the village reconstruction, so, Konoha shouldn’t be facing any problem in regards to lack of funds, at the same time, each of the other four great Shinobi Villages has also decided to divide to pay a part of the total payable sum… is that correct, Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen-dono?”

Because Yagura and Pakura are both her subordinates, so Homusubi is fairly clear about the exact contents that were discussed in the secret Five Kage Conference that took place just before the other four Kage left Konoha.

One of the important points discussed in the meeting was that each of the five great shinobi villages will pay one-fifth of the amount to be paid to the Amatsukami Organization. There were two reasons for such an agreement, first, Konoha was truly hit hard a few nights ago, so it wouldn’t be justified for Konoha Village alone to pay such a high sum of money, and second is that their pride and dignity as a Great Shinobi Village didn’t allow them to let Konoha pay the entire sum.

Since Homusubi was fully aware of these details, this is also the only reason why she did not wait too long and came to collect the payment, after all, the amount of 545 million when divided into five equal parts is only about 109 million Ryo per village, and this is not too much for Konoha, especially when the Daimyo of the Land of Fire is supporting Konoha’s reconstruction, and the other shinobi villages are also providing assistance within their abilities.

Sandaime frowned upon hearing Homusubi’s response and said tentatively, “It seems that your Amatsukami Organization is also cooperating with some of the Shinobi Villages.”

The contents of the Five Kage Conference that took place after the night of Akatsuki’s raid are of very high-level confidentiality and only known to the Five Kage, and their two guards. And the fact that Homusubi is aware and mentioned such a matter of confidentiality quite casually must mean that Konoha is not the only Village Amatsukami is in contact with, and whichever that village is, their level of trust in Amatsukami is quite high considering the fact that even the contents of the Five Kage Conference were also relayed to Amatsukami by them.

Homusubi was silent for a while, then stated in a noncommittal tone, “That matter has nothing to do with why I am here, and I have nothing to say about it, you are free to assume whatever you wish to Sandaime Hokage-dono.”

Feeling that they were not going anywhere in such a way, Hiruzen and Koharu glanced at each other, then said, “You are right, the five great shinobi villages have indeed made an agreement to jointly pay the amount, but the thing is, other villages haven’t yet sent their part of payment… and Konoha Village alone won’t be able to pay the entire sum at once.”

Homusubi saw the small actions of Sandaime and Advisor Koharu and understood what they are trying to do.

It’s not that the village is unable to pay the entire amount at once, nor is it that they don’t want to pay and cheat Amatsukami, they have every intention of paying, but they want to use this opportunity as an excuse to achieve some other goal.

‘Well, that’s what a politician is I suppose.’ Thinking so in her heart, Homusubi bluntly stated, “Playing around won’t lead us anywhere Hokage-dono, if you have something to say, then I’d prefer if you say it directly, my time is precious and I don’t have the entire day to sit here and discussed the ‘payment’ with you.”

Sandaime silently looked at Homusubi for a while, then said in a deep voice, “I wish to meet the leader of the Amatsukami Organization, Yama, and talk about something in regard to the Akatsuki Organization.”

Homusubi shook her head, “It’s not the right time yet.”

Before Sandaime could speak anything, Elder Koharu, who was on the side got up from the sofa and questioned, “What do you mean?”

Homusubi phrased the right words in her mouth, and said, “I know what you people want to do, but now is not the best time to eradicate Akatsuki Organization, there are various other factors involved in this, and, I don’t have enough time to list them all one by one here.”

Of course, that’s what Homusubi said outside, but internally she was thinking, ‘All this is just a pretext, there is only one reason, and that is, I am just not strong enough to be to kill Nagato as of yet!’

Without the support of the Giant Tenseigan Chakra on the Moon, Yama is not strong enough to overwhelm Nagato, but Yama can’t risk using the Chakra of the Giant Tenseigan on the moon, as that might lead to Earth’s destruction at the hands of those crazy Otsutsuki Clansmen on the moon.

The current Nagato has surpassed Yama’s strength level, and unless Yama manages to combine his Tenseigan Chakra Mode with his Sage Chakra Mode, then there is no hope of winning against Nagato, so, Yama wants to avoid fighting against Nagato for now.

Sandaime asked with a solemn expression, “Many factors? I need to at least know what factors are involved!”

Homusubi pondered a little, then threw out the name of their worst nightmare, “Uchiha Madara!”

Sandaime Hokage was shocked, and questioned, “You mean to say… the masked Uchiha of the Akatsuki who claims to be ‘Uchiha Madara’ is really Uchiha Madara? He… is that man still alive?”

Homusubi stated in a serious tone, “Of course, he is… not! That masked Uchiha is not the real Uchiha Madara, but you can say that he is the successor of Uchiha Madara’s ‘will’, as for the real Uchiha Madara? His threat still exists… I don’t think I need to emphasize, what that means, but I will say it clearly, even Nagato, who has become so strong and has started to master the true power of those eyes is far less dangerous compared to Uchiha Madara, so it would be in your best interest to not act rashly.”

What Homusubi has said is not the truth, but it’s also not a lie… The reason he said so is to deliberately frighten Sandaime Hokage, and make sure he doesn’t make any careless move… After all, the fear of Uchiha Madara has been deeply etched into the hearts of senior management of Konoha, so using the deterrence of ‘Uchiha Madara’ is the best choice to avoid unnecessary conflict with Akatsuki Organization, for the time being at least.

Homusubi’s main focus at this moment is developing and improving the Chimera Buds, and since the funds are about to be received, her research and Project Godhood can smoothly progress to the next stage, as such, Homusubi doesn’t want to distract herself in non-important things to waste her time, because the time is what’s most important for her. What she needs is a peaceful period to continue to carry on her plans.

How long will the deterrence of Yama last? No one can say at present, not even Homusubi, but one thing Homusubi can say with certainty is that Nagato who has just experienced such a big defeat will definitely stay dormant for a while.

But that is only if they are not stimulated… If the Five Great Shinobi Villages were to recklessly attack the Akatsuki Organization, Nagato will definitely make his move, and if he moves, the situation will get out of control, which is not something Homusubi wishes to see.