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Kagaya, leading Haku, had originally been on his way to find Gato. However, he hadn't expected Gato to come looking for him first.
"Judging by the attire, there should be no mistake."
Two samurai approached together. One of them observed Kagaya and spoke.
Kagaya raised an eyebrow. Attire? So that guy Gato must have noticed something.
"Who are you?"
These two samurai were undoubtedly sent by Gato, but Kagaya asked out of habit.
Unlike the previous encounter, these samurai were somewhat more courteous. The one who had been observing Kagaya first gave a slight nod of respect before speaking.
"We are subordinates of Lord Gato, currently carrying out a task on his behalf. May I ask if you are a member of the Akatsuki?"
Kagaya nodded. "Yes."
It wasn't surprising that Gato could gather information about the Akatsuki. Within the underground world, the Akatsuki currently had a very significant reputation. Ordinary civilians might be unaware of their existence, but for someone like Gato, who operated in both legal and illegal spheres, learning about the Akatsuki wasn't difficult.
Upon hearing Kagaya's affirmation, the samurai smiled with relief. Although they had guessed based on the attire, getting confirmation from the person themselves was still reassuring. Gato had been berating them severely lately. If they didn't accomplish something soon, they'd truly lose their jobs.
"It's like this. Lord Gato has a matter he wishes to entrust to the Akatsuki. He is willing to offer a substantial reward. We are unsure if the Akatsuki would be willing to accept."
Kagaya was somewhat surprised. He could roughly guess the task Gato intended to delegate. It seemed his own arrival had caused Gato to change his plans. In the original story, Gato should have hired Zabuza, not the Akatsuki.
After all, within the underground world, the Akatsuki was an organization typically hired by major players—missions like assassinating important figures from various countries. A small-time operator like Gato, normally, wouldn't be qualified to hire the Akatsuki. Even though he was wealthy, there were many people richer and more powerful than him. Those were the ones worthy of hiring the Akatsuki.
That's why many of the Akatsuki's missions were related to the Five Great Nations—because only people from those nations had the standing to hire them. Of course, the Akatsuki also accepted more peculiar missions, like the one involving Hidan. That was just a mission from a small country, the Land of Hot Water. One could imagine the reward for that mission wasn't as high as those from the Great Nations, but the Akatsuki took it because of Hidan's unique nature.
So, for Gato to think of hiring the Akatsuki was somewhat overestimating himself. Perhaps Gato thought that since an Akatsuki member happened to be passing through the Land of Waves, if he made an offer now, this member might take on the job as a favor and not refuse him.
"What is the task?" Kagaya inquired. He didn't refuse immediately. Perhaps he could use Gato's resources to find Zabuza?
The samurai promptly answered, "The assassination of an old man named Tazuna. This is his photograph." As he spoke, he pulled a photo from his waist and handed it to Kagaya.
Kagaya took it and glanced at it casually. The task was indeed as he had imagined.
"Where is Gato?"
However, Kagaya's goal was to find Zabuza through Gato. He needed to meet Gato first.
"Lord Gato did not come personally."
"Can you take me to see him?"
The samurai frowned, hesitating for a moment. After all, the person before him was a missing-nin. Taking him to see Gato was somewhat risky. But after some thought, he decided to lead Kagaya to Gato. Gato had many samurai around him; he didn't believe one person could threaten Gato under such circumstances.
"Very well. Please follow us."
Not long after, the samurai brought Kagaya to an extremely lavish room. Gato sat sprawled on a sofa. Seeing Kagaya's arrival, he asked his samurai companion for a brief explanation. After understanding the situation, Gato addressed Kagaya.
"You wished to see me. Is there something else? Or do you doubt the reward I can offer? You need not worry about that."
As he spoke, Gato pulled out a suitcase from under the table and opened it. It was filled with banknotes.
"Is this enough?"
Kagaya shook his head. "No. I came to see you to ask about something, or rather, about a person."
"Oh? What person?"
"Momochi Zabuza. Do you know his current whereabouts?"
"No, I do not know his whereabouts."
Kagaya's brow furrowed slightly. It seemed Gato had attempted to hire him before hiring Zabuza. Thinking this, Kagaya couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He had thought finding Gato would lead him to Zabuza. It seemed he had arrived too early; he should have come a few days later.
"So, will you accept this task?" Gato patted the suitcase as he spoke. He and Kagaya had different priorities. Kagaya was most concerned with Zabuza's location and had no interest in Tazuna's fate. Gato, on the other hand, cared only about Tazuna's death and had no interest in Zabuza's whereabouts.
"No, I'm not interested. I'll take my leave now," Kagaya said with evident disappointment. Since he couldn't find Zabuza through Gato, he didn't want to waste any more time here. Although Gato's reward was substantial, for Kagaya at the moment, the upcoming plan to destroy Konoha was most important.
Gato's eyes turned cold. "Hmm?"
As someone who had long dominated the Land of Waves, Gato was accustomed to a position of superiority. Kagaya's outright refusal displeased him greatly.
Although the Land of Waves was a small country, it differed from other small nations constantly embroiled in war. It was an island nation, surrounded by sea. Wars between shinobi rarely reached its shores. As a result, most people in this country lacked a sense of awe towards shinobi.
The primary armed force in this country was still samurai. This was evident from Gato himself. As the most powerful man in the Land of Waves, he didn't have a single shinobi under his command—only samurai.
If this were a country like the Land of Rain, severely affected by wars between the great nations, Kagaya's attitude wouldn't have caused such offense. The people there possessed a deep-seated reverence and fear of shinobi.
But unfortunately, this was the Land of Waves, a land of samurai! This country lacked much of that awe towards shinobi.
"Hold it!" Gato commanded, stopping Kagaya. "You're just a member of an underground mercenary group. No matter how famous, you're still just a hired organization. I give you money; you do the job for me. What is there to be dissatisfied about?"
The surrounding samurai all placed their hands on their sword hilts, their eyes fixed on Kagaya.
There were about a dozen samurai in Gato's room. This was Gato's confidence.
Organizations like underground groups were like certain professions. No matter how well they performed, a portion of people would still look down on them.
Although the Akatsuki's name was renowned in the underground world, people like Gato, who thrived in both legal and illegal circles, looked down on organizations like the Akatsuki that could only wield influence in the shadows.
Kagaya's eyes remained utterly calm. He spoke indifferently, "Are you trying to stop me?"
Gato sneered. "How about accepting the task? My men are all samurai, not skilled in assassination. But for you shinobi, it must be a specialty, right?"
Kagaya replied, "And if I refuse?"
Gato glanced around the room, his tone threatening. "Samurai may not be adept at assassination, but in direct combat, they are far superior to you shinobi. You should consider this carefully."
At this, Kagaya was actually amused. "With just them?"
Seeing Kagaya's relaxed demeanor, Gato felt a twinge of unease, but ultimately spoke with full confidence. "With just them!"
A kunai appeared in Kagaya's hand.
"It seems you harbor many misconceptions about shinobi. Allow me to correct them for you."