I still rember my words to Mifune, a promise to be careful and to stay out of trouble. He did care for Kanna and Karin, so of the last living Uzumaki.
And I had fully intended to stay out of trouble; I didn't mindlessly seek out such things. Though I also wasn't afraid of it.
Yet, barely had we set foot into the Land of Rice Paddies before I noticed an ambush.
I couldn't help but admit I was impressed by the intelligence network's efficiency, which allowed soone to prepare on such short notice.
After all, it wasn't like I told everyone that we would be leaving the Land of Iron weeks in advance. Kanna and Karin only knew two days before we left, and Mifune was only inford the day before we finally set out.
And yes, while they had a good week to find out and get to the border before we reached it—sothing that was far from impossible at shinobi speed—it was still within the realms of impressive.
Now, normally, I wouldn't care about an ambush; few people in this world could make take them seriously, and fewer still made worried.
In fact, I was confident that as long as Pain and Might Guy didn't decide to kill at all costs, I would be safe.
And even then, I could still escape thanks to the Flying Thunder God ninjutsu. It would truly require a lot of planning to take down, which would require them to know about many of my hidden cards.
Yes, fear I didn't feel. It was more surprise, and a feeling of disbelief that this happened.
I should properly have expected it, but really…
That unique chakra signature I saw closing in on our location—that could only belong to a single person.
Kakuzu of the Five Hearts.
A missing-nin from Takigakure, a mber of Akatsuki, though I didn't believe he had joined them just yet, and a man who had once tried to assassinate the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.
I had watched that fight from my prison within the moon, and it really hadn't gone well for the poor Taki shinobi.
First, he had tried to sneak up on Hashirama, only to be found before he could even try to attack him.
Still, one had to respect his discipline; even after getting caught nearly red-handed, he had thick enough skin to lie to the face of the God of Shinobi himself.
Worse yet, Hashirama had believed him—no doubt about his words at all. He had believed every word, sothing that likely surprised Kakuzu as much as it had , the only secret witness to that fight.
He had claid he had heard about his na and wanted to test himself against him, asking for a spar and likely hoping to kill him during it with so underhanded ans.
Yet Hashirama hadn't even had to use his Wood Release, defeating Kakuzu with nothing but taijutsu despite the man trying everything he could to kill his opponent; Hashirama had never even gotten serious.
It was a massive blow to Kakuzu's pride.
Honestly, the truly stupid had been the Takigakure elders, who had chosen to bla and sacrifice Kakuzu by throwing all the bla at him, slandering him for trying to assassinate the Hokage, despite said Hokage never knowing there was an assassination attempt.
Was it any wonder that Kakuzu went crazy and slaughtered them all?
First, his pride had been trampled into the dust by soone too thick to even realize he did that, and then his own village just threw him away like garbage, trampling over his loyalty. I would have gone crazy as well.
But none of that was what I was focused on; I was more interested in his unique ability.
Earth Grudge Fear.
It was a kinjutsu that turned one's body into a mass of thick black threads, which granted immortality, allowing Kakuzu to survive any attack and reattach his severed body parts.
Intriguingly, the threads were also capable of piercing the flesh and organs of opponents, stealing their hearts and integrating them into himself. He was limited to four extra hearts, and these extra hearts allowed him to combine the nature transformations of the stolen hearts with his own.
This not only allowed him to use all five elental releases, but it also massively increased his total amount of chakra, as he had five hearts producing it, making him one of the shinobi with the most chakra in the world.
Add on his decades of experience, and it made him a truly dangerous opponent for any but the absolute strongest.
He was the kind of shinobi who could easily wipe out a whole team of jōnin and walk away as if he had gone on a light jog.
After all, he was a master of sneak attacks; his favorite thod was to let himself get "killed" and then, when their guard was down, turn around and kill them. Not many would suspect soone they killed once to suddenly spring back up as if nothing had happened.
Though this wasn't sothing he needed to do when fighting weak enemies.
Still, from the five hearts currently beating inside his body, it was clear that he had killed so powerful and talented elite jōnin to steal their hearts, giving him more chakra than even the Third Hokage, who had a fair amount himself.
He was, after all, a ninjutsu specialist, but in front of Kakuzu, I wasn't sure he would co out on top.
Not that it was that monkey who was about to face him, but .
It wasn't hard to imagine why Kakuzu had his eyes on .
Because while my own bounty likely wasn't worth the trouble, the fact that I was traveling with both Kanna and Karin—and the price on them—that package combined to a sum that was enough to tempt even this man.
After all, Kakuzu believed only in money, sothing that would never betray him. Sothing that couldn't die like people, that wouldn't leave like people. A selfish, yet understandable mindset.
He was a greedy, arrogant, and powerful bounty hunter who saw my group as nothing more than a big payday.
I wouldn't run, even if it would be easy enough, but no, that wouldn't get rid of him; he would just try his luck another ti.
It was best if he was dealt with once and for all. Or maybe not.
I wouldn't kill him. He could be useful—would be useful once he joined the Akatsuki. There, he would work for , even if he wouldn't know.
So the task was simple: defeat him, or at least make him realize that I wasn't worth the money, that the current bounty just wasn't worth the risk.
That would probably be the best option—make him give up without having to kill him.
It would also be a good chance to get a bit of real combat experience again. I hadn't really fought anything powerful since leaving Konoha, and I had many more skills now that I needed to test.
I didn't let my thoughts show on my face, not wanting to alert Kanna and Karin about the upcoming fight; there was no need.
Their heads were only worth anything as long as they were connected to their bodies; they were wanted alive and unhurt. So Kakuzu wouldn't hurt them.
That much I was sure about, because Kakuzu cared about money above all else.
I adjusted my pace by a fraction.
Not enough for Kanna to notice. Not enough for Karin to complain. Just enough to put myself half a step ahead of them.
The road through the Land of Rice Paddies was narrow here, packed earth bordered by reeds and shallow water channels. Fog clung low to the ground, a thin mist that didn't block the sun, but did add to the atmosphere.
Beyond the mists, walking on the sa road as we were, was Kakuzu, slowly making his way toward us, while we, in turn, walked toward him.
He knew we were here, just as I knew he was there.
He knew I was a sensor, though he didn't know by which ans, but even still, he wasn't foolish enough to think he could easily ambush .
A large sudden attack was a possibility, but with Kanna and Karin by my side, it was far too risky. He wouldn't risk his payday like that.
And so, there was only one option: a face-to-face eting, a fight, and a victor.
And so, we walked.
Step for step, asured, unhurried.
The fog parted as we closed the distance, revealing him fully—tall, broad-shouldered, posture loose in the way of soone who had survived too many battles to stand rigid. His cloak hung heavy, reinforced in places that had seen repeated damage. His head tilted slightly as he studied us, eyes dull, predatory, already assigning values.
Kakuzu's gaze lingered on Karin a mont longer, then shifted—slow, deliberate—to Kanna. Finally, it settled on .
His eyes unfocused slightly.
Not fear.
Calculation.
"Kanna Uzumaki," he said at last, voice flat. "Ten million. Alive only. Dead, you're scrap."
Kanna stiffened.
"Karin Uzumaki," he continued, eyes flicking down to the child. "Fifteen million. Alive. Worthless dead."
Karin frowned. "That's rude."
Kakuzu didn't react.
Then his gaze returned to .
"Kaguya-hi," he said. "Ten million alive. Five million dead."
"Far too low if you ask ," I half-joked.
Kakuzu, however, didn't take it as a joke; he nodded seriously. "Indeed. I wish you had more bounties on your head as well, but sadly, those cowards are too afraid to increase it."
I honestly didn't know what to say to that.
Kakuzu clearly wasn't bothered by my lack of response. "I don't care who you are," Kakuzu continued. "I don't care what you've done. I don't care how strong you think you are." His eyes hardened. "I care about returns."
He shifted his stance, clearly indicating that we weren't getting past him.
"Kakuzu, forrly of Takigakure, a man said to have once attempted to assassinate the Shodai Hokage of Konohagakure," I introduced, letting him know that I, too, knew who he was.
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed a fraction.
"You know your history," he said. "Most don't."
"I have had a long ti to learn it," I replied evenly. "Including what ca after."
His threads stirred beneath his cloak—not attacking, not yet—but restless, like muscles flexing before exertion.
"Doesn't change the numbers," he said. "Nas don't add value."
Karin tugged lightly on Kanna's sleeve. "Mom… is he the bad guy?"
Kanna hesitated; she had read the Bingo Book, so she knew that this man was an S-rank bounty hunter, the sa rank as Kaguya herself. She didn't know who was stronger of the two, but she was worried when she finally answered carefully. "He's… dangerous."
Kakuzu glanced at Karin again. "Danger is relative. You're profitable."
"I doubt we can just part ways and pretend we didn't et one another?" I asked, despite knowing it was impossible, and not even wanting that outco myself.
"Impossible," Kakuzu agreed.
I nodded as I slowly and calmly ford a few hand signs. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I said, letting him know what ninjutsu I was using, as a clone of appeared in a cloud of smoke. "Kanna, take Karin and follow my clone. Staying here will be too dangerous," I spoke.
Kakuzu watched it all happen.
"I trust that is alright with you? Neither of us can fight properly with them around."
Kakuzu watched the clone for a long mont as it took position beside Kanna and Karin.
Then he nodded.
"That's acceptable," he said. "Their value drops sharply if they're caught in crossfire."
Karin bristled at that. "Hey!"
Kanna placed a hand on her shoulder. "Karin," she said quietly, eyes never leaving Kakuzu, "do as Kaguya says."
The clone rested a hand on Karin's head. "We'll go sowhere safe," it promised. "I'll show you sothing interesting along the way."
That did it.
Karin's fear evaporated instantly. "Really?"
"Really."
With one last look back at , Kanna turned and followed the clone off the road, disappearing into the fog and reeds without another word. She trusted . Completely.
Only then did I release a slow breath.
"Now," I said, stepping back to give myself room. "Shall we?"
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