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"Kakuzu, here is a confidential mission for you."
Inside a room, a man whose face was impossible to make out handed a thin sheet of paper to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu knelt on one knee and received the paper with the utmost respect, then prepared to stow it away in his chest pocket. As a rigorously trained elite Jonin, Kakuzu understood perfectly well that it would be far too disrespectful to read the mission contents directly while receiving orders from the esteemed personage before him.
However, that esteemed personage, whose face remained indistinct, spoke thusly:
"Kakuzu, there's no need to put it away. Read it now. The very reason I prepared such a thin sheet of paper for you is so that you can destroy it immediately after reading. I did just say, didn't I? This is a confidential mission."
Kakuzu showed no surprise, no questions. He didn't even utter a single sound. A shinobi simply needed to follow orders.
Kakuzu retrieved the paper from his chest and began reading it carefully.
Yet, even he... was stunned. Composed as he was, at this moment, he couldn't fully control himself.
"Th-this..."
"Kakuzu! Don't lose focus!"
Pain's voice suddenly pierced into Kakuzu's ears, snapping him back to his senses.
As if he had just jolted awake from a dream, Kakuzu's eyes were filled with bewilderment. But very quickly, that bewilderment vanished, as if it had never existed. He nodded toward Pain.
"I understand, Leader."
Immediately after, Kakuzu refocused entirely on sealing the Tailed Beast.
But... what had that been just now?
In truth, Kakuzu knew perfectly well. Or rather... it was a memory that someone like Kakuzu could never possibly forget. It was the event that had forever altered the entire course of his life.
That event was so profoundly important that Kakuzu dared not ever forget it.
Yet, even though it was important, even though Kakuzu would never forget it... if one were to ask Kakuzu to comment on that event, he would probably only say this: it was merely a trivial matter, no longer worth dwelling upon now.
Yes. Even though Kakuzu had always remembered that event, he believed it was no longer worth dwelling upon.
Actually, the more accurate way to put it shouldn't have been what Kakuzu said. It should have been: that event no longer matters, because I've already made my choice.
The ritual of the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals continued. The Tailed Beast chakra within Gaara's body was still being ceaselessly drawn into the body of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
And the matter that Kakuzu had recalled in his momentary lapse of focus just now—like this Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals—it too... had not yet truly ended.
Kakuzu held the paper. He rarely felt flustered, but this time, his hand still trembled involuntarily, just once.
The mission described on that paper was very simple. It was merely one of the countless assassination missions Kakuzu had seen before. The only difference... was the target of the assassination—Senju Hashirama.
This mission... was for Kakuzu to assassinate Senju Hashirama.
The man whose face was impossible to make out spoke again.
"You can accomplish this, can't you, Kakuzu?"
Kakuzu suppressed the terror rising within his heart and nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"I can."
This was not confidence. Nor was it Kakuzu underestimating the God of Shinobi. It was because... Kakuzu was a shinobi. In Kakuzu's philosophy, a shinobi simply needed to follow orders. No matter how absurd those orders might be.
Thus, even while his heart was still brewing with emotions of fear, his body had already reflexively answered, "I can."
Several days later.
Kakuzu set out. As an elite Jonin, he easily infiltrated the borders of the Land of Fire. And then... he carried out his plan to assassinate Senju Hashirama!
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
His arm turned pitch black, transforming into a spear of indestructible sharpness, and thrust directly toward Senju Hashirama's heart!
And then... the power that Kakuzu wielded, sufficient to kill a Jonin, was casually blocked by the man before him with his bare hand. Without unleashing any ninjutsu, he simply, purely, blocked it with his hand.
"Who's there?"
That man looked at Kakuzu with an utterly innocent expression.
"Someone trying to assassinate me? Did I do something wrong? Ah... it seems I'll have to properly reflect on this later. Sigh..."
That man named Senju Hashirama... didn't take his assassination attempt seriously in the slightest. It was as if he were watching a child play.
Kakuzu showed no expression whatsoever. Since he had come here, since he had resolved to assassinate this God of Shinobi... he had long since abandoned any thought of survival. He needed no reservations. He had already regarded himself as a dead man!
His other hand... struck again!
The battle erupted in an instant.
No... perhaps calling it a "battle" was overestimating Kakuzu. If one had to describe it, "child's play" would be more fitting.
The white-haired man crouched before Kakuzu, who lay on the ground covered in wounds.
"You've got some nerve. Which nation sent you? To dare assassinate my brother! I will make your entire village pay a colossal price for this act! I will carve the memory of never daring to defy the Leaf Village into your very bones!"
Kakuzu looked at the white-haired man before him. He knew this man—renowned as the fastest shinobi in the world, the younger brother of Senju Hashirama. Unlike Senju Hashirama, this younger brother's methods were exceedingly ruthless and heavy-handed. He was an extremely domineering individual. Speaking such words... was perfectly in line with his style.
"I won't tell you."
Kakuzu spoke with a completely impassive expression. He wouldn't reveal his village. He had long since removed his forehead protector before even coming here.
There was nothing on his person that could prove which nation or hidden village he hailed from.
Tobirama gave a cold snort.
"Unnecessary! All that awaits you now is to die in agony at the hands of the interrogation unit. Incidentally, you must have sensed it by now—you've been placed under my genjutsu. You cannot commit suicide. Alright, enough talk. It's time to set off for hell."
"Tobirama!"
It was at that very moment that Hashirama, standing behind him, spoke up.
"What are you doing?! I only asked you to help me find out which hidden village sent him to assassinate me, and what I did wrong, so that I could go and apologize! What are you doing?! Let him go!"
Tobirama furrowed his brow.
"Big brother! Apologizing is absolutely out of the question!"
Hashirama paused. In truth, Hashirama also knew that in matters of intellect and strategy, his younger brother far surpassed him. Therefore, as long as it didn't violate his principles, Hashirama would still listen to Tobirama's counsel.
For matters like killing Madara, which violated his principles, Hashirama would use his unparalleled strength and authority as the elder brother to firmly suppress Tobirama. But for something like "apologizing or not"—a matter that didn't touch upon his principles—Hashirama would act just like a big, goofy simpleton, scratching his head and asking,
"Huh? I don't need to apologize?"
Tobirama pressed a hand to his forehead.
"He came to assassinate you, big brother! If someone comes to assassinate you and you still go and apologize... isn't that practically encouraging others to assassinate you?! Even if you're not afraid... as the Hokage, being constantly targeted for assassination—what kind of situation is that?!"
Hashirama nodded, half understanding, half not.
"I see... I understand now. Then I won't go and apologize. But you still have to let him go, Tobirama! He might be a shinobi from a minor nation. It's extremely difficult for a minor nation to cultivate an elite Jonin. We can't kill him!"
Tobirama saw the resolute determination in Hashirama's eyes and sighed. He knew his elder brother wouldn't back down on this matter, so he nodded.
"I understand, big brother. I'll release him. And along the way, I'll have someone escort him out of the Land of Fire, to demonstrate our magnanimity."
"Mm! Very good!"
Hashirama nodded with satisfaction.
And just like that, Kakuzu concluded this mission with an assassination attempt that posed no threat whatsoever. He was even escorted out of the Land of Fire by the very people he had tried to kill.
Of course, calling it an "escort" was merely a pretense; it was surveillance. Tobirama wasn't nearly that kind-hearted.
Kakuzu returned to his village without incident. His mission had failed, but he wasn't overly worried. Anyone would know that this mission was practically impossible to complete. Surely the higher-ups had already prepared for failure.
At least... that was what he thought before he was thrown into prison. Before he was tortured to a state worse than death.
The experiences he hadn't suffered in the Leaf Village... he experienced every single one of them upon returning to his own village.
Sitting in that dark, shadowy cage, the scent of blood wafted from every part of his body. It was his own blood.
Truly... it hurt so much.
And so, Kakuzu stole his village's secret technique—the Earth Grudge Fear. And using this technique, he killed the high-ranking officials of his village.
Mm... why had he done such a thing?
It must have been because... in the end, resentment had also sprouted within that shinobi's heart. Perhaps, from the very moment he had accepted the mission to assassinate Hashirama... that resentment had already begun to form. A mission like that... how could it possibly be completed?
What followed afterward... merely served to amplify that resentment.
From that day onward, the Hidden Waterfall shinobi named Kakuzu... became a rogue ninja.
Two giant birds—white bodies traced with black lines—soared through the sky above. Like birds that had leaped straight out of a painting, the very first glance at them was enough to make anyone clearly feel one thing: these two birds were far too unreal.
It was the same sensation as a two-dimensional object appearing in a three-dimensional world—everywhere, there was a sense of incongruity.
Jiraiya sat atop one of these birds and laughed heartily.
"To think Tsunade's Anbu had someone like you! Such a convenient ability! Not bad! Not bad!"
On the other bird sat a figure clad in Anbu attire, wearing an Anbu mask. At that moment, he dipped his head slightly toward Jiraiya.
"Lord Jiraiya flatters me. Only... forgive my ignorance, but may I ask where we are heading next? Although, in my training, a shinobi should not ask such questions... under the current circumstances, if I do not know, I cannot control our direction of flight. Or perhaps... is the intention to simply fly aimlessly? I humbly request Lord Jiraiya's explicit instructions."
Jiraiya stroked his chin, adopting a pensive posture.
"Let me think... indeed, we can't just fly around aimlessly. But I'm not entirely unprepared either."
The Anbu spoke with delight.
"Is that so! If Lord Jiraiya knows our exact destination, that would be truly excellent!"
Jiraiya laughed boisterously.
"That's right! My preparation is this: fly forward! Keep flying straight ahead! After all, I have no idea where the destination is either. I can only try my luck."
The Anbu: "..."
Jiraiya didn't know the location of Ryuchi Cave. And even if he did, he wouldn't know that Kagaya was there.
Thus, he could only rely on luck. Fortunately, with the assistance of these flying birds, their search range was quite extensive.
Kagaya stared at the ring on his hand, feeling that something was definitely off. If it had been anything else, he might have let it go. But this object... was one of the rings distributed by the Akatsuki. There were only ten in existence. For it to suddenly flash like that... it couldn't possibly be something as simple as "it's broken."
Besides, what kind of malfunction would cause a ring to flash? It couldn't be flashing an SOS right before dying, could it?
Alright, jokes aside.
Kagaya walked over to a large tree and sat down, leaning his back against it. He was going to seriously ponder why this ring had lit up.
Why was he going to seriously ponder this matter?
Mm... there were many reasons for it, all kinds of reasons. Among them, the most important one was—Kagaya was bored!
Or rather... this reason was perhaps the sole reason. It was precisely because he was bored that such a "supernatural ring incident" had caught his interest so deeply.
As for that "Inorganic Reanimation" technique?
Was that technique even something a human could learn?!
For the first time since childhood, Kagaya had expended such tremendous effort on a ninjutsu for which he had no talent... and then he tasted despair.
This thing, from what Kagaya could feel, was fundamentally impossible to master.
Yet, the fact that Kabuto in the later parts of the original story had casually learned this technique kept dealing blow after blow to Kagaya.
It had to be said... the difference between having talent and not having talent was truly like the difference between heaven and earth.
By now, Kagaya had basically given up on Inorganic Reanimation. He only practiced it occasionally. So Kagaya currently had an enormous amount of free time. This, in turn... made Kagaya incredibly, mind-numbingly bored.
As luck would have it, right at this moment, the ring suddenly flashed. And it just so happened to catch Kagaya in his state of utter, desperate boredom. How could he possibly let this rest without thoroughly investigating it?
Having finally found something to do, Kagaya decided he was going to have a nice, long talk with this ring in his hand.
He took off the ring and placed it on the ground. Kagaya resolved to use the ancestral method of fixing machinery passed down from his previous life!
A top-secret method never to be disclosed to outsiders!
Taking a deep breath, his Susanoo materialized. Kagaya raised the Susanoo's fist and brought it smashing down furiously onto the ring!
If it's broken, just give it a good whack. That'll fix it.
******
Two days later.
Naruto and his group arrived outside the Five-Seal Barrier.
Since this time they didn't need to help detoxify Kankuro as in the original story, Naruto's group had advanced their departure by one day.
This advancement of one day meant that the Akatsuki's sealing process wasn't yet complete when Naruto and the others arrived!
In the original story, the Akatsuki had only just finished sealing the Tailed Beast after three full days when Naruto and the others showed up.
However, this one-day advancement also had its downsides. For instance, Team Guy hadn't arrived yet. After all, this time it was Naruto's group who had advanced their schedule, but Team Guy's mission hadn't been advanced. So Team Guy still needed one more day to arrive.
Thus, Naruto and his group would have to face this Five-Seal Barrier on their own.
It all depended on whether Naruto and his group could break the Five-Seal Barrier within a single day.
If they could... they might truly be able to save Gaara. If they couldn't... then I'm afraid it would be impossible.
After trying for two days, Kagaya discovered that his ancestral repair method didn't seem to be working very well.
So, Kagaya put the ring back on his finger and began carefully sensing it.
"Mm..."
The moment he sensed it, Kagaya noticed something was off.
The technique the Akatsuki used to meet in projected form was called the "Astral Projection Jutsu."
Simply put, the Akatsuki members used the rings on their fingers to emit "thought waves." Then, Pain, acting as the "command tower," would receive these "thought waves," allowing the projections to be realized.
And now... Kagaya had discovered through his ring that Pain was currently receiving "thought waves"! This kind of thing had actually been frequently perceptible before. But Kagaya had no desire to participate in the Akatsuki's gatherings, and he already knew what the Akatsuki was up to. So, over time, he had gradually ignored it.
Only now, upon careful sensing, did Kagaya finally recall this matter. He possessed an Akatsuki ring. Therefore, he could participate in the Akatsuki's gatherings. Of course, the prerequisite was that Pain, the "command tower," had to be willing to accept Kagaya's "thought waves."
"Alright then. Let's test whether you'll let me in or not."
And so, Kagaya used the ring and began emitting thought waves.
Don't forget—Kagaya had also come from the Akatsuki! He still knew how to do this much.
Several seconds later.
Bzzz!
Accompanied by a faint, subtle sound, Kagaya's projection materialized on the left pinky finger of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, filling the very last vacant spot.
Mm...
The nine members of the Akatsuki instantly turned their gazes over. Kagaya also looked back at them.
Ten people locked eyes. Every single one of them was utterly stupefied.
There's a traitor among us!