Like a wronged husband meeting his nemesis, all of Kakuzu's accumulated grievances and resentment towards Uchiha Kaito erupted at this moment.
As for how he knew...It was purely through piecing together clues over the years in the Land of Fire that he finally found an old photograph in an ice cream shop next to a brothel after a full five years of searching.
At first, Kakuzu didn't think much of the photo, but when he saw the kid and the teenage girl in it, he was instantly reminded of a scene from the Hidden Rain Village.
There are no coincidences in this world. Kakuzu, who had vaguely sensed something amiss, indeed discovered traces of that kid outside every casino and brothel after thorough investigations.
Thus, the truth had come to light.
And Kakuzu realized that his sworn enemy had been living peacefully in Amegakure, right under his nose, for five whole years…
He nearly fainted from sheer rage.
This was too much!
This was absolutely too much!!
The more Kakuzu thought about it on his way here, the angrier he became. Somehow, he couldn't shake the humiliating feeling that his wife (money) had been stolen right from under his nose.
Upon arrival, he saw a notice at the village entrance announcing the upcoming construction of some "Cultivation of Immortality Divine Academy" in Amegakure.
The absurd name immediately put Kakuzu on high alert. He was one hundred percent certain this school was the brainchild of that leader who couldn't stop blabbering about "divinity."
Which raised the question—
Where did the leader get the money?
No need to think—it had to be his own hard-earned blood and sweat!!
Realizing the dire situation, Kakuzu stormed out of Konan's office with a darkened face, seething with resentment all the way to the base of the tower.
Originally intending to confront the leader, Kakuzu completely forgot his purpose the moment he spotted a certain familiar brat.
"Uchiha Kaito!!"
Kakuzu trembled with fury, his steps unsteady as he staggered toward Uchiha Kaito.
"?"
"What Uchiha Kaito? You've got the wrong person."
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke."
Seeing Kakuzu's enraged expression, Kaito instantly realized his cover was blown.
"Bullshit!!"
Kakuzu pointed at the girl eating ice cream nearby, shaking so violently he nearly lost his balance.
To think even now…
This despicable brat still had the audacity to lie to him?!
Kakuzu pulled out dozens of photos from his pocket and flung them into the air, determined to slap the truth into this kid's face.
Dozens of photos fluttered down around Kaito. Uchiha Hikari, who had been eating her ice cream, instinctively caught one and saw it was a picture of herself and Kaito from five years ago.
After staring at it for a few seconds, she silently tucked it into her pocket.
Honestly…
For a narrow-eyed bastard like Kakuzu, these photos…
Were surprisingly well-taken.
"Uchiha Kaito!!"
"You left me penniless!! All because of your damn schemes!!"
"You ruined my reputation beyond repair…"
Kakuzu jabbed a finger at Kaito's nose, recounting the hardships of his years of toil.
Judging by his twisted expression, Kakuzu had indeed suffered greatly.
But Kaito showed no remorse. He glanced at the fuming Kakuzu and calmly delivered a verbal counterattack.
"Can you honestly say you didn't rob anyone?"
Kaito's piercing stare made Kakuzu break out in cold sweat, his guilt unmistakable.
"I saw you robbing casinos and brothels yourself."
Nagato: ??
The clueless Nagato was stunned by this revelation, his gaze toward Kakuzu now filled with suspicion.
He had initially believed Kakuzu's righteous fury about catching the impostor and teaching them a lesson.
He'd even pitied Kakuzu for his suffering.
Turns out…
The guy had been enjoying himself all along?!
"Nonsense!"
"I was just…"Kakuzu's face flushed red as he argued, trying to justify that his actions were completely understandable, claiming everything he did was because he couldn't stand those imposters who lacked even a shred of professional ethics.
Those damn bastards didn't follow the basic rules when robbing people...
At least leave the victims some way out, so as not to completely cut off future income streams.
The old geezer rambled on endlessly, opening his mouth to say things like 'how can you call it robbery when it's about making money?' and closing it to mutter 'I'm different from the others.'
To put it bluntly, Kakuzu felt that the reason things had come to this was entirely because of this Uchiha Kaito impersonating him.
Otherwise, he'd still be happily completing missions at the bounty exchange, enjoying the wonderful pleasure of making money.
Of course...
Another major reason for his deep resentment toward this kid was that after carrying this black mark for so many years, he'd hardly made any real money.
The few times he did rob casinos and brothels, he got caught by two of the Legendary Sannin.
Kakuzu truly felt extremely wronged.
"Uchiha... brat." Realizing he might not win this argument, Kakuzu immediately assumed a combat stance, then with clumsy acting, revealed Kaito's identity.
"Mentioning your name reminds me of the most powerful ninja from your clan—Uchiha Madara."
"But even your clan's Uchiha Madara was slightly inferior to the God of Shinobi—Hashirama Senju."
Just saying that name seemed to trigger some mechanism in Kakuzu, as a look of reminiscence immediately flashed across his face.
He tilted his head at a 45-degree angle, let out a long, turbid sigh, and his gaze seemed to travel through time, returning to that battlefield from many years ago...
"This brings back memories of my battle with Hashirama Senju all those years ago."
Hikari: "..."
Uchiha Hikari had just finished collecting the photos from the ground. When she straightened up, she saw this beady-eyed guy blabbering on, his abnormal demeanor somewhat reminiscent of Kaito's.
It gave her goosebumps all over.
In her heart, she cried out helplessly...
Why has another abnormal guy appeared!?
Is there not a single normal person in the Akatsuki Organization??
"You're not worth a single hair from my ancestor."
Kaito had no interest in listening to Kakuzu's story about 'throwing shuriken from eight hundred miles away.' First expressing his opinion, he then gave Kakuzu the pinky finger to show his contempt.
Hearing this, Hikari inexplicably felt a hint of pride. To prove her strength and shut up this noisy guy, she immediately activated her Mangekyō and rewarded him with a Tsukuyomi.
Thud—
Before Kakuzu could even finish his wind-up, he took the Tsukuyomi head-on, immediately standing at attention before stiffly collapsing to the ground, sleeping more soundly than a baby.
"All hail our mighty ancestor!"
Seeing this, Kaito shouted loudly again. Hearing this strange praise from the boy, Hikari's face turned red as she turned her head away to show her disdain.
But the upward curve of her lips ultimately betrayed her smug expression.
Nagato nodded upon seeing this. He naturally knew Kakuzu's strength, and after seeing him get put to sleep in an instant, he offered genuine praise.
"As expected of the Sect's ancestor."
"You don't have to say it too!!!"
Hearing Nagato chime in, Hikari felt both embarrassed and angry, finally taking out her frustration on Kaito.
"Uchiha Kaito! Look at the mess you've made!!"
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