"It sounds like a rather complicated story. If there are hidden circumstances that are difficult to speak of..."
"Hmm?"
"Please, by all means, share them with me."
Kitsuchi cursed inwardly.
At first, he had foolishly thought this cat had turned over a new leaf. In the end, the creature had simply circled back to stab him in the spine. The ones suffering the most, however, were undoubtedly Roshi and Son Goku beside him.
'You two are pontificating over there, could you maybe consider how the victims feel?'
Son Goku had fussed and raged for a while, but eventually gave up in helplessness, shrinking back to sulk in silence.
As for Roshi, his long road of defection had effectively ended here. Surprisingly, he had come to terms with it.
If he hadn't defected back then, he would have spent his life being cursed behind his back, a fate arguably worse than death. At least now, he had done something sensational. Even though he had been ruthlessly suppressed by a cat in the end, at least he had made his move.
If he died, he died. Hardly a tragedy.
It was just a pity.
He had originally planned to become a Wandering Monk next, to travel and witness the state of the Shinobi World. It seemed that dream was no longer in the cards...
Just as man and beast drifted into their own thoughts, a series of footsteps approached from the distance. Before long, the sound arrived in their vicinity, and in the blink of an eye, a figure stood perched on a high branch.
"So, it is Son Goku jinchuriki. No wonder you possess such powerful chakra..."
The voice was strange.
It grated on the ears, uncomfortable and distorted. Yet, the chakra radiating from the figure was potent, the signature of a true Kage tier.
However...
Takeshi turned his head. Upon seeing the newcomer, his eyes instantly lit up.
'Kakuzu!'
Although the real person looked quite different from the anime, with that distinct outfit, it couldn't be anyone else.
"Who are you?" Kitsuchi eyed the stranger cautiously.
After all, Kakuzu wasn't a legend on the level of Madara or Hashirama Senju. Although he was an infamous Missing-nin, few from the younger generation had actually seen him in the flesh. Kitsuchi, for instance, couldn't quite place the face.
"Who I am is trivial. But you all... Kitsuchi of Iwagakure, Four Tail's jinchuriki, and one more... hmm?"
When Kakuzu's gaze landed on the black cat, his eyelids gave a sudden twitch.
'A cat.'
Furthermore, looking at the state of Four Tail's jinchuriki, it definitely wasn't Kitsuchi who had suppressed him.
Currently, in the entire Shinobi World, there was only one entity capable of such a feat: the black cat Takeshi, one half of the recently infamous 'Konoha Kidnapper Duo.' That meant the second powerful chakra signature he had sensed earlier belonged to this animal.
A spike of wariness rose in Kakuzu's chest.
Although Takeshi's bounty on the black market was vastly higher than Kitsuchi's, his track record made the majority of bounty hunters steer clear.
Who would be dumb enough provoke someone capable of kidnapping the Mizukage from a army of shinobi? Originally, Kakuzu had assumed Takeshi lacked that kind of raw power and relied mostly on Minato's Flying Thunder God. But now, witnessing the cat's ability to forcefully suppress a Tailed Beast, he realized this creature was terrifyingly strong.
'Fight or flee?'
Kakuzu hesitated for only 5 heartbeats before making a decisive choice.
'Retreat!'
He didn't mind facing two enemies, but Takeshi's upper limit was unclear. Facing an unknown and powerful variable was a risk he was unwilling to take.
A Missing-nin operated differently from an ordinary shinobi.
Ordinary shinobi had a village backing them; if they were heavily injured, they had support. But as a Missing-nin, Kakuzu had to calculate every factor. If this cat truly possessed the combat power rumored to rival a Kage, and relied on the jutsu before him to suppress Tailed Beasts, then defeat might mean total annihilation. No escape.
Kakuzu turned and bolted.
"Meow! Moneybags, don't run!"
Kakuzu was completely bewildered as he fled faster.
'Moneybags? What does that mean?'
Kitsuchi didn't understand why Takeshi had given the ninja such a nickname either, but he knew one thing for certain: this uninvited guest was about to suffer some terrible luck.
In his view, the black cat was a creature who wouldn't get out of bed without a profit margin.
The last time Takeshi was this energetic, he had been fighting Kitsuchi's own father, the Tsuchikage. The cat had been fierce and proactive, beating the old man until he couldn't fight back, leaving Onoki no choice but to fire off Dust Release wildly into the air in desperation.
Kakuzu was fast. He had mastered all nature releases, provided he had the corresponding hearts.
An Earth Release heart was essential for survival.
After fleeing for a moment and realizing he couldn't outrun them on foot, he decisively wove signs and sank into the earth using an Earth Release Jutsu. But a second later, he discovered the cat had followed him underground. Although Takeshi's speed in the soil wasn't as fast as his sprint on land, it was still not slow, in fact, it was slightly faster than Kakuzu.
Kakuzu began to panic.
He launched a counterattack, unleashing one ninjutsu after another through the soil.
However, fighting within the earth made it difficult to land a solid hit. After a quick calculation, he simply burrowed up and surfaced, preparing to fight head-on.
There was no other choice.
If he couldn't escape, he had to fight. He couldn't just sit there and wait for death.
Kakuzu's hearts sank to rock bottom.
He regretted this deeply.
'Why did I have to look?' Even if a jinchuriki fetched a high price, the risk was astronomical. If he had known earlier, he would have steered clear. But regret was useless now.
Who could have predicted that one of the Konoha Kidnapper Duo would be embedded in an Iwa pursuit unit? And of all of them, it had to be the most disgusting, troublesome one, Takeshi. If it were Minato he would've prioritized the Jinchuriki.
Most importantly, he hadn't expected Takeshi's strength to be as legitimate as the rumors claimed. There was no exaggeration, no falsehood. If anything, he was more terrifying than the stories. With such power, let alone the current Kage, even Hashirama back in the day was only about this level, right?
Of course, the "Hashirama" in Kakuzu's memory referred to the one he had actually fought.
In reality, the opponent Kakuzu had battled was merely a wood clone.
There was no medicine for regret in this world. If he had known the situation, Kakuzu wouldn't have come within a mile of this place. However, he wasn't entirely without options.
Kakuzu steeled himself.
His hearts could serve as extra lives, intelligence that was extremely difficult for outsiders to obtain. As long as he utilized this secret effectively, he could ambush and kill even this black cat. He hadn't wanted to do this before simply because he despised the risk.
First, Takeshi was undeniably powerful.
Second, who knew if a cat's heart could be integrated into his own body? No matter how he looked at it, this was a losing business deal.
Still, Kakuzu wanted to attempt communication. As soon as he returned to the surface, the black cat burst out of the ground after him. Kakuzu took a deep breath.
"I am merely a passerby. My target is the Iwa ninja. It seems I have no major conflict with Your Excellency from Konoha, do I?"
"Meow! You're right. But you are very rich, and you are a Missing-nin." Takeshi nodded gently.
Who had the least human rights in the Shinobi World?
Missing-nin.
No matter how powerful they were, as long as you had the ability to kill them, no one would complain. In fact, the world would cheer. Taking Kakuzu's corpse to Takigakure might even yield a massive bounty.
Moreover, the man before him was 'Kakuzu'.
If one had to name Kakuzu's most famous ability, it was naturally making money. His hobby was hunting famous ninja on the black market and trading their heads for cash, so he was definitely filthy rich.
In the Akatsuki, he controlled the organization's finances, proof enough of his earning power. Without Konan's embezzlement, there wouldn't have been legendary of scene of exploding billions of explosive tags.
Takeshi had no fondness for the man, but he was very interested in his money. If he couldn't find him, that would be one thing, but now that Kakuzu had delivered himself to the doorstep, how could Takeshi let him go?
Kakuzu never expected that this prick was chasing him solely for money. The reason was absurdly grounded!
The key was, he couldn't even refute it.
Hadn't he killed those ninja on the black market lists for money? Kill and be killed, that was the rule of the trade. Usually, there wasn't much to say when the tables turned. But this time, he had just stopped to take a look! His target wasn't even Takeshi, yet he had stumbled into a disaster.
'What the hell kind of mess is this?'
However, Kakuzu felt he still had a chance. The opponent's combat ability might not be invincible. With his unique techniques, he could definitely turn the tables and kill the beast!
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