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Winter Snow Casino.
Located on the outskirts of Tanzaku Town.
Usually, it didn't get many customers.
Sasame chose this place to avoid attracting unwanted attention—say, from Konoha shinobi.
After all, members of the Akatsuki were all extraordinary individuals. Scaring innocent bystanders wouldn't be ideal.
7:00 PM sharp.
Sasame arrived on time to find two men who were clearly not ordinary waiting for him.
Kakuzu and Sasori.
Both wore the Akatsuki's signature black cloaks with red clouds.
Kakuzu, at least, still looked somewhat human—just a mask covering his face, revealing only eerie green eyes.
Sasori, on the other hand, was… abstract.
Cloaked in his puppet, Hiruko, he resembled a hunchbacked dwarf with a scorpion-like tail.
In truth, neither of them was truly human anymore.
Sasori, the genius puppeteer from Sunagakure, grandson of Chiyo, had not only mastered puppetry—he had turned himself into a puppet.
Kakuzu, the missing-nin from Takigakure, possessed five hearts (and thus five lives) through the forbidden kinjutsu Jiongu.
His most infamous claim to fame? Throwing a shuriken at the First Hokage from 800 miles away.
In the original timeline, Sasori's partner was Deidara ("Art is an explosion!"), while Kakuzu teamed up with Hidan, the immortal zealot of Jashin.
But at this point, neither had joined Akatsuki yet—hence their temporary pairing.
Sasame had been slightly worried about running into Obito Uchiha (disguised as Tobi).
But upon reflection, Obito wouldn't join Akatsuki until much later.
Right now, he was still busy drowning Kirigakure in bloodshed, avenging his beloved Rin Nohara.
During the Third Shinobi World War, Kiri had taken advantage of Konoha's exhaustion after battling Kumogakure and launched a surprise attack.
Two key battles defined that conflict:
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen raided Konoha's rear—only to meet Might Dai, who opened the Eight Gates and turned them into the "Lucky Three Survivors."
Kiri kidnapped Rin, forcibly implanted the Three-Tails into her, and sent her back to Konoha as a living bomb.
To thwart their plan, Rin deliberately impaled herself on Kakashi's Lightning Cutter—and died.
From that moment on, Obito held an eternal grudge against Kiri.
What he didn't know was that Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu had orchestrated the entire tragedy.
Rin's death was inevitable—a calculated move to awaken Obito's Mangekyō and groom him as the executor of the Moon's Eye Plan (aka Black Zetsu's "Save Mom" scheme).
"You're the employer?"
Kakuzu scrutinized Sasame—a complete stranger.
"Yes."
Sasame didn't bother hiding it. "I'm a clone, so I'll need your protection on the journey."
A clone could persist indefinitely as long as it wasn't damaged and had sufficient chakra.
"Protect you?"
Kakuzu's voice turned icy. "The mission details didn't mention escort duty—let alone for a clone. That increases the difficulty."
"Extra pay."
Sasame raised two fingers. "Twenty million ryō more—for both of you."
"Deal."
Kakuzu's eyes gleamed.
Two hundred twenty million ryō for a trip to Kusagakure? Highway robbery.
Bounties worth tens of millions were rare. Most of Akatsuki's income came from missions—and S-ranks weren't exactly plentiful.
Two hundred twenty million was a windfall.
Escorting a clone? Child's play.
"There's a second task."
Sasame wanted to avoid future disputes, so he laid it out upfront.
"Another one?"
Kakuzu's brow furrowed.
Since when did employers lack basic etiquette? Don't they know the rules?
"I'll pay extra."
Sasame smiled. "I have a deal with Orochimaru. I need you to meet him and retrieve something for me."
Kakuzu reassessed Sasame.
The Sannin's reputation still carried weight. Anyone doing business with Orochimaru wasn't ordinary.
Not that Kakuzu cared.
Sannin? Overrated.
Money, however? Now that's interesting.
"Your offer?"
"Two hundred million."
Sasame raised two fingers again.
"A simple exchange is fine," Kakuzu said, "but you're avoiding him in person. That implies Orochimaru might attack—which changes the price. As one of the legendary Sannin, he's no pushover. You'll need to pay more."
Damn, he saw through that.
Sasame had hoped to save money, but now…
He raised a third finger. "Fine. One billion more."
Asuma Sarutobi's bounty was thirty-five million. Orochimaru's would be comparable.
But this was a trade, not an assassination. One billion was more than fair.
Kakuzu's eyes lit up.
Now that's a generous employer!
An extra billion ryō? An absolute windfall.
And if Orochimaru tried anything… well, his head would fetch a pretty sum on the black market too.
Double profit.
Kakuzu glanced at Sasori.
The puppeteer remained motionless, like an actual inanimate doll.
Knowing his temperament, Kakuzu spoke for him: "We accept both missions."
"Pleasure doing business."
Sasame grinned. "Let's depart now—though I should warn you, I'm… not fast."
Finally, Sasori stirred.
With a flick of his wrist, a puppet materialized before him.
What in the abomination—?
Tattered cloak, ant-like body, crimson demon horns, six arms, and two legs.
You can't possibly expect me to ride that thing.
Sasame's horrified gaze met Sasori's impassive one.
Three words:
"Get on it."
Holy hell, I'm gonna die.
Did I underpay?! Since when do you torture your employer like this?!
Where's your Third Kazekage puppet? At least let me ride a floating iron-sand platform like a civilized person!
The trio set off.
Kakuzu and Sasori ran in the standard shinobi sprint.
Sasame?
He got the luxury mount—a bone-rattling, six-armed monstrosity that, aside from nearly shaking his soul loose, was technically functional.
And very combat-ready.
Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass.
Located in the Land of Grass, which bordered the Land of Fire to the northwest.
According to lore, Kusagakure shinobi excelled at studying and replicating foreign ninjutsu—a very diplomatic way of saying they were professional thieves.
Petty, ignorant, and shameless—the perfect descriptors.
Kusagakure had little screen time outside filler arcs.
Apart from movies, its only notable figures were Karin and her mother.
After the Uzumaki clan's extermination, they fled to Kusagakure—only to be treated as living blood bags.
Their innate vitality and massive chakra reserves made their bites heal wounds.
The Uzumaki could've been invaluable as jinchūriki, seal masters, or medics.
But Kusagakure? They chose the stupidest option: draining them dry.
Karin's mother died from chakra depletion.
Had Orochimaru not intervened, Karin would've shared her fate—or worse, been bred like livestock to produce more "healers."
And yet, Karin still ended up a tool—this time for Sasuke Uchiha.
(Slightly better treatment, but still.)
A running joke in Sasame's past life:
"Sasuke's motto: 'If I feel like it, I'll let Karin die.'"
Every time Sasuke power-spiked, he'd show off, get wrecked, and need rescuing.
Two days later.
Thanks to their speed, the trio reached Kusagakure in under 48 hours.
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 40 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 25 power stones I will publish the next chapter.