The sun is setting when Team Gai reaches the tower. Hoping there is a shower, or some kind of washing facilities, Tenten leads the way inside. Half of the tower is collapsed, so they head into the part that is still mostly they are inside they see a poster on the wall that says, "Open the scrolls now."
"Okay," says Neji, shrugging. "Usually there is a riddle. Oh well."
Tenten takes out the scroll she is carrying and Neji takes out his. They open them together and Kakuzu appears in a cloud of smoke.
"Passing this point costs five yen per person," says Kakuzu.
"I left my money back at the inn," says Lee. "Can I do an IOU?"
"No," says Kakuzu, crossing his arms. "Money now or no entry."
"Don't worry," says Tenten. "I have some emergency money in one of my seals. Hopefully I have enough for the three of us. You two can pay me back later." Tenten knows full well she has enough for all three of them, however, she knows what Kakuzu is like and does not want him to raise the price. Tenten pulls out five yen from her money seal, then five more yen, then pretends to fish around for the last five yen. Once she has the 15 yen, Tenten hands it over to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu stands to one side and lets them pass. "I hope a lot of teams pass this round," he mutters as he closes the door behind them.
"I wonder if he's allowed to hit us up for money," says Tenten.
"He only asked us for 5 yen each," says Neji. "I imagine that he was allowed to hit us up for no more than that amount, otherwise he would've asked for far more."
"That is true," says Tenten. "I hope the other teams have some loose change in their pockets otherwise the finals will be very short."
Karui and Omoi carry their team mate through the ruins to the central tower. The moon is high in the sky, half-hiding behind the rain clouds that are slowly taking over the sky. It will start raining by morning. Karui, Omoi and their team mate only barely managed to beat Team Shisui. Karui and Omoi are beat up, but they can walk. Their teammate is unconscious and has a broken leg thanks to Karin. They would stop and rest, but Omoi is afraid that Team Shisui will wake up and come after them.
"What if they are already awake," frets Omoi as he stumbles over a piece of rubble. "And they use Karin's healing kekkei genkai to recover and come after us? That jutsu is creepy."
"We can't let them take our scrolls," says Karui. For once she agrees with Omoi's fearfulness. "We need to pass this or Bee sensei will rap at us again."
"What if we pass and she composes a rap in honour of our victory?"
"...we can ask Lord A to make her stop," says Karui. "He made us listen last time because we got knocked out of the Second Round. If we make it to the finals, maybe Lord A will protect us from the rapping."
"Passing this round is our only hope," says Omoi. "Look, there's the tower! We might make it after all!"
Karui sees the tower ahead and feels a surge of hope. With renewed energy, Karui and Omoi drag their team mate the last few meters to the tower. When they get inside, they lay their teammate down and open the scrolls, as per the instructions.
Kakuzu appears, takes one look at them and laughs. "Who did you kids fight?" he asks.
"Team Shisui," says Omoi. "They could wake up and come after us wanting their scroll back any minute!"
"They can't fight you until the finals," says Kakuzu, shrugging. "And that's even if they pass this round. There aren't many scrolls left out there."
"Oh thank goodness," says Karui.
"Well then," says Kakuzu. "In order to pass this round, you need to cough up five yen per person."
"I knew this part was too simple," says Omoi. "See Karui? I knew there would be some trick or test we could never have anticipated."
"Oh just shut up and find some loose change!" says Karui. "I'm sure I have some somewhere, and we'd better see if our team mate has any." They go through their pockets and their team mate's pockets and manage to scrounge 15 yen between them. Karui hands it over to Kakuzu. "Is there a medic in here?" she asks.
"Of course," says Kakuzu. "I'm not allowed to ask you to pay for her services unfortunately."
"Oh thank goodness," says Omoi. "I was afraid there would be no medic and our team mate's wounds would go untreated for so long that he would get infection and die in our arms."
"Just shut up and go," says Kakuzu, shooing Karui and Omoi through the door behind him and depositing their team mate beside them. "Nono, you have patients!" he calls down the hallway. "One of them is a head case!"
Namiko enjoyed her fight with the Rain ninjas. It was challenging and she got a few cuts and bruises, but Team Akatsuki won. Now they are on their way to the central tower with the Rain Team's scroll. Now that the fighting is over, Namiko's head is spinning with questions that have been bothering her since her mother announced her pregnancy.
Maybe if Namiko gets Kakuzu alone and bribes him, he will answer her questions. Kakuzu knows lots of things because he's so old. And if she gives him money, he'll tell her anything.
They reach the tower and head inside. Once they open the scrolls, Kakuzu appears.
"How much?" asks Haku. "We know you'll want something."
"Nagato won't let me ask for more than five yen from each contestant," says Kakuzu. "Cough up."
"Huh," says Suigetsu. "We expected more. How much is he paying you?"
"Yahiko is subsidising the fee," says Kakuzu.
Team Akatsuki produces their money and a 100% tip and hands it over.
Namiko still has money left, and something she needs to know the answer to so she says, "You guys go on ahead. I need to ask Kakuzu something. I will catch up."
"Alright, don't be too long," says Haku. She and Suigetsu go, leaving Namiko alone with Kakuzu.
"What do you want, ankle-biter?" asks Kakuzu.
Namiko pulls out 1,000 yen and holds it up. "I have lots of questions, and you know lots of things. You can have this money if you let me ask you."
"You speak my language, kid," says Kakuzu, taking the money. "But I'll be charging you for the answers too."
"That's okay, I knew you would," says Namiko, and takes a deep breath. "So I've been wondering how my Mummy managed to get a baby stuck inside her body, and why it doesn't suffocate, and why no one is worried, and why Daddy is so pleased with himself, and where babies come from, and why Mummy is so fat - is that because of the baby?"
"Okay, that's enough, kid," says Kakuzu, cutting her off. "You want to know about the birds and the bees, huh? That's worth about 50,000 yen."
Namiko can tell Kakuzu thinks she doesn't have that much money. Thanks to the times Namiko has dressed up as a fairy for Hinata, Namiko does. Namiko pulls out 50,000 yen and holds it up. "Tell me."
Kakuzu looks torn. "Your parents will kill me if they find out I told you," he says.
"If you don't tell I won't either," says Namiko, pulling out another 100 yen. "Here's some more."
"Okay kid," says Kakuzu, taking the money. "Get comfortable, this is going to be a long biology lesson."
Team Gai has just finished eating the dinner they cooked over a campfire in the ruined tower when Team Bee turns up minus one member.
"Hello," says Tenten. "Where's your team mate?"
"He's with the medics," says Karui. "He passed this round, but his leg is broken pretty badly, so he has to forfeit the finals."
"That's sad, who did you fight?" asks Lee.
"Team Shisui," says Omoi. "If they pass this round they are going to have it in for us in the finals."
"Wow, Team Shisui are not pushovers," says Neji. "I'm impressed. Use our campfire if you want to - we are finished with it now."
"Thanks so much," says Karui. "We are too sore to gather firewood."
Team Gai starts laying out their bedrolls near the fire while Team Bee starts cooking themselves some dinner.
After a few minutes, another team arrives. It is Team Akatsuki, minus Namiko.
"May we join you?" asks Haku.
"Of course," says Tenten. "Where is Namiko?"
"She stayed behind to ask Kakuzu about something," says Suigetsu. "It's probably not important."
About fifteen minutes later, Namiko arrives looking rather dazed. "Hello everyone," she says and sits down by the campfire, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Team Akatsuki and Team Bee pool their food supplies and make a hearty stew to split between the five of them. When they are finished eating, they spread out their bedrolls and get ready to sleep.