Chapter 72: Sorry, We Specialize in Being Cold-blooded and Efficient
The next day, the southern border of the Land of Rain.
The Sunagakure vanguard had just crossed the border when they caught a whiff of a muddy, fishy scent mixed with the smell of rust.
It was blood.
Raindrops pelted their sand-gold cloaks, and what splashed off wasn't water, but dark red.
"Halt."
The Sunagakure leader was an experienced veteran. He raised his hand in a signal, his gaze locked firmly ahead.
Not far away, three men wearing black robes with red clouds stood there, as if they were waiting specifically for them.
"What were the Leader's exact words again?"
Biwa Jūzō thrust the massive kubikiribōchō into the mud and wiped the blade with a rag. The scraping sound was spine-chilling.
"The Leader said: Armed neutrality, focus on deterrence, and break the legs of those who cross the line."
Orochimaru tilted his head, his golden snake pupils full of mockery. The small white snake coiled around his fingertip flicked its tongue at the distant Suna ninja.
Kakuzu's voice came from beneath his mask, dull and suppressed: "After breaking the legs of those who cross the line, the valuable heads belong to me. That's fair, right? Earning some extra cash at the Bounty Station while I'm out shouldn't count as a violation."
He raised his hand as if taking inventory of goods on a shelf, pointing at the group of Sunagakure Ninjas who were on high alert.
"Thirty-two. All elites. The quality of their hearts should be good. The black market prices have been rising lately; killing them all should bring in a decent sum."
Jūzō stopped wiping his blade. "Is that appropriate? The Leader said the focus is on deterrence."
"Kill them, take the hearts, and throw the bodies into the swamp. This way, it serves as a deterrent and saves their medical resources. Logically speaking, this is called maximizing efficiency," Kakuzu said as if it were a matter of course.
Orochimaru chuckled softly.
"In that case, Kakuzu-kun, don't kill them all. Leave a few alive for me. My new lab is still short on 'consumables.' You see, Yahiko-kun only said 'break their legs,' he didn't say whether to send them back after their legs are broken."
He stuck out his terrifyingly long tongue and licked his lips.
Jūzō's head throbbed. As a swordsman, he didn't understand these convoluted schemes.
"Enough, enough with the chatter! I just want a good slaughter! Let's do this!"
He gripped the handle of the kubikiribōchō and walked straight forward, rain washing over the rogue Ninja scar on his face.
The three of them began dividing up the heads right in front of dozens of Sunagakure elites.
This scene made the veteran Suna ninja opposite them feel a humiliation unlike any he had ever experienced.
"Arrogance! Just three of you dare to block our path?"
The veteran waved his hand sharply. "First Squad, fan-shaped encirclement! Puppet Team, release the poison gas! Crush them!"
Boom!
Mud exploded as dozens of Sunagakure Ninjas turned into afterimages, shooting forward across the water's surface.
In mid-air, over a dozen Puppets opened their mouths and spat out a vast cloud of purple poison mist.
Jūzō was the first to charge.
No flashy moves, only pure violence.
The door-sized kubikiribōchō sliced a blood-red arc through the air.
The Suna ninja at the front tried to parry with a Kunai, but the high-carbon steel Kunai didn't even last a second before snapping in two.
Puchi!
No parrying, no technique.
The kubikiribōchō cleaved through a Suna ninja's left shoulder and out through his right waist.
His upper body flew off, red and white organs spilling all over the ground.
"First one."
Jūzō rampaged through the blood mist, every swing of the great sword accompanied by the boom of displaced air.
Meanwhile, behind Kakuzu, four Mask Monsters roared as they lunged out.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
The wind fanned the flames, and the purple poison mist was instantly ignited, turning into a hellish sea of fire!
The screams of the Sunagakure Ninjas rose one after another within the sea of flames.
"Ah! My eyes!"
"Save me! Save..."
A Suna ninja, covered in flames, rolled into a mud pit, only to have his neck ensnared by a black tentacle erupting from the ground.
Kakuzu walked slowly through the burning field.
His right hand transformed into a cluster of writhing tentacles that pierced accurately into the opponent's chest and pulled hard.
A still-beating heart was ripped out alive.
"Tsk, average quality. Two hundred thousand Ryo at most."
Kakuzu casually stuffed the heart into a scroll, like a butcher picking through pork at a wet market.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru simply formed a hand seal.
The ground churned violently as several giant snakes as thick as barrels burst out of the silt.
They didn't bite; instead, they used their massive bodies to crush several Suna ninjas deep into the mud pit.
"Don't struggle; it will damage the integrity of the specimen."
Orochimaru moved through the snakes, holding several specially-made steel needles.
Passing a subdued Ninja, he conveniently thrust a steel needle into the back of their neck.
The Ninja, who had been screaming, instantly froze, eyes going hollow, and was swallowed by a giant snake like a Puppet.
That was a one-way ticket to the laboratory; even death was a luxury.
In less than ten minutes, the Sunagakure vanguard completely collapsed.
This wasn't a battle.
This was three monsters at the top of the food chain picking out dinner and pocket change from a flock of lambs.
By the time Lady Chiyo of Sunagakure arrived, she almost fainted on the spot.
How could this even look like a battlefield anymore?
It was clearly a slaughterhouse!
Shattered Puppets, broken bones, and corpses with their hearts gouged out emitted a pungent smell of rust in the red rain.
And atop that pile of corpses...
A masked freak was squatting on the ground, counting blood-stained bills one by one.
A man carrying a broadsword was letting his blade drink its fill of the corpses' blood.
And the one known as the 'Sannin,' Orochimaru, was elegantly stuffing the last twitching Suna ninja into a giant snake's mouth.
Orochimaru sensed a gaze.
He turned his head, his golden vertical pupils meeting Chiyo's gaze across dozens of meters of rain.
"Ah... if it isn't Elder Chiyo?"
Orochimaru smiled, his voice sounding like a venomous snake slithering over dry leaves.
"Your subordinates were very welcoming. As a return gesture, I've already sent them to my new laboratory as guests."
Chiyo remained silent. She had fought all her life and seen countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood, but she had never seen such a... leisurely massacre.
To these people, killing wasn't about hatred or politics.
It was a perfectly natural form of 'labor.'
Like a farmer mowing grass, or a butcher slaughtering pigs.
What the hell... what kind of monsters are these?!
"Orochimaru, you actually..."
Chiyo's voice was already trembling with rage.
"The Leader said that from now on, the Land of Rain will maintain armed neutrality."
Kakuzu interrupted the condemnation Chiyo was about to voice, put away his scroll, and looked up, his eyes full of a businessman's calculation.
"Old woman, your head fetches a sky-high price on the black market. However, the Leader gave orders today not to suggest expanding our scope of business."
He sighed with a hint of regret.
"So, weigh it for yourself whether you still want to cross this line."
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