For Hinata, today had no other agenda. The reason was simple: her delivery had arrived.
"Ah~ for anyone waiting on a surprise, every package that shows up is something to daydream about."
She looked at the long cardboard box before her with measured satisfaction. Efficient work—no wonder the original story spoke of this organization in such glowing terms, even from the Tsuchikage's perspective. For an independent contractor network, a turnaround like this was genuinely worth praising. And now that she'd inadvertently made contact with the most capable rogue organization in the original story—through a black-market detour, no less—perhaps she'd be a repeat customer.
"My lady. I've confirmed it. The girl is alive—she appears to be a displaced kunoichi from the Fūma Clan."
Sai drew a short blade and cut along the surface of the box, peeling it open. Inside was a young girl—jet-black hair, wrists and ankles and mouth all firmly bound—conscious, awake, dark eyes darting frantically around her surroundings. Evidently she'd been caught completely off-guard—knocked out by Kakuzu or Hidan—and delivered here with no idea why.
"Any physical damage?"
Hinata had no interest in the girl's history. She was raw material—as long as she wasn't from Konoha and her body was whole, she served the purpose.
"None. I ran a preliminary check. Limbs, chakra channels—all intact. Chakra circulation clean."
Sai reached in and helped the girl sit upright for inspection. Hinata activated her Kekkei Genkai without ceremony and scanned methodically: no forbidden seals buried in the body, no explosive tags planted anywhere on her person, none of the various unpleasant surprises a paranoid shinobi world occasionally produced. After several dozen seconds, she closed the Byakugan and looked the girl over properly.
Kakuzu's professionalism held up. Classic jet-black hair in a slight hime cut, refined features—solid material, with a thread of ferocity behind the brows that marked someone who had already taken a life. Her shinobi instincts would be sharp.
Her figure was also—considerable.
For a girl roughly Hinata's age, the depth of her décolletage was frankly conspicuous. That probably explained why Kakuzu had singled her out. Slightly too noticeable.
"Very well. Let's begin."
Hinata peeled the adhesive strip from the girl's mouth. She wet her lips slightly. She had no intention of hiding what she was about to do from Sai—he was here to watch, after all. Performing it openly, from a position of unhurried command, was the correct approach. Better that than being spied on through a wall.
"Cough—cough—! You—you Byakugan freak! What do you think you're doing?!"
The girl coughed hard and glared at Hinata without any shortage of venom—enough to make Sai's expression flicker slightly. Hinata raised one hand: leave it.
"Who I am is irrelevant. What matters is that you are going to die here."
She held the girl's gaze without blinking. The corner of her mouth curved—a thin, knife-like arc. "So. Die now."
"You—! No—I—I don't want to die—"
That blunt, honest declaration made the girl flinch despite herself. However mature she might be, she was in no position to stand against Hinata—and whatever composure she'd been holding onto crumbled. Fear crept across her face like ink spreading through wet paper—fast, unstoppable, diffusing through her entire body.
"Forbidden jutsu—Soul Body Switch!"
Both hands flew through the seals. Hinata's pale eyes lit with cold light. The moment the seals locked, she shot her right hand forward, pressed it to the back of the girl's skull, and brought their foreheads together in a single sharp motion. Contact—and the girl's scream split the room. Her pupils lost coherence, scattered, and vanished from her eyes entirely, as though her soul had simply been erased.
A moment later: two ice-white irises materialized in those same eyes.
Simultaneously, the body that had been Hinata's went slack and toppled backward. Sai caught it before it hit the floor.
"Seems like it worked."
The voice from the girl's mouth was unmistakably Hinata's. She turned her head, took in the room from a new vantage point, and when her gaze landed on the body Sai was supporting—the "Hinata" with closed eyes—an involuntary flicker of absurdity passed through her. No question about it: her soul had overwhelmed this body's original consciousness and claimed the vessel.
"My... lady?"
Sai stared at the black-haired girl—speaking in Hinata's voice, carrying Hinata's composure—and felt something cold move through him. He had grown up in Root. He had seen things. But a soul hijack performed live, directly in front of him—this was something else entirely.
"It's me. Fire affinity—not bad. The most common chakra nature." Hinata flexed the borrowed fingers and analyzed with brisk detachment.
Then her right index finger flashed with a small flame—the fire effortlessly burning through the ropes binding her arms. But the next instant, a searing sting shot through that same finger. A blister was already forming.
"Interesting. The soul carries the knowledge, but the body imposes its own limits. Attempting the Sacred Fist techniques without the physical conditioning produces self-inflicted burns."
She filed the observation away. The disconnect between her soul's established patterns and this body's hardware was a more significant friction point than anticipated. The limbs responded with a slight lag—like operating through an imperfect relay.
Sai exhaled slowly. The purpose of the "delivery" was now fully clear: a spare body. A vessel for her soul to occupy.
"All right. We're going to that broker's office in person. I want to go myself."
Hinata turned to him, naturally pushing back a strand of dark hair at her neck. She glanced at the "Hinata" in Sai's arms, lips quirking. "As for her—bring her inside and let her rest."
"Yes, my lady."
A brief pause. Then Sai lowered his head and obeyed. Whatever she was planning—for now, his only role was to comply.
Slipping out of Konoha unseen was no obstacle for a Root operative. Sai knew the blind spots in every perimeter patrol route and barrier array by memory—the two of them passed through a hidden gap in the outer wall within minutes. For Hinata, this was the first time she'd left the village since her transmigration. She noted it as a non-event: every human settlement ran on the same underlying logic, with local jutsu serving as the main source of power.
"Ah—you'd like to see Kakuzu? Well, the thing is..."
The broker's agent looked awkward. Kakuzu was one of their most in-demand contractors—and consequently never free for long.
"I'm terribly sorry, miss. Kakuzu just accepted a job and departed—he likely won't be back for two weeks. Can I suggest someone else? I can recommend people comparable to him—"
Not the answer Hinata wanted. She was about to decline when a very familiar voice cut through from outside the door.
"Ugh—what a tedious job. Not even a single moment of artistic inspiration the whole time. Hmm~!"
"Quiet, Deidara. You dragged your feet the entire mission."
The first voice was young and sharp, with a distinctive verbal tic at every sentence's end that functioned like a personal signature. The second was low and unpleasant, accompanied by a soft dragging sound—as though its owner moved along the floor.
Only one pair in the ninja world matched that description.
"You're saying—other Akatsuki members also use this office?"
Hinata turned to the agent with renewed interest. The agent, reading the room, stepped back with a professional nod. "Ah—that would be Sasori and Deidara! Miss, your timing is excellent—they're from the same organization as Kakuzu!"
The door swung open. Two figures stepped in wearing black cloaks with red cloud patterns. The artistic pair of the Akatsuki:
Deidara—the Azure Dragon.
Sasori—the Jade Maiden—better known as Sasori of the Red Sand.
"Hey—here's the proof of completion for that last job. Check it." Deidara dropped a still-dripping bundle on the counter with undisguised impatience. He was clearly in a foul mood. Even exceptional shinobi had frustrating days.
The agent opened the bundle and examined the contents, then looked up. "Confirmed—this is the target specified in the commission. Excellent work as always. Truly befitting Akatsuki's finest!"
The agent delivered the compliment with practiced timing. Deidara accepted it with crossed arms and a lift of the chin. "Obviously. We are a team of unparalleled artistic sensibility. The rest of the rabble out there can't even compare. Hmm!"
He glanced over at Hinata and Sai. "Huh—wait. Are kids doing bounty hunting these days?"
"No, no—Deidara-kun, they're not hunters, they're clients. And actually, this young lady was specifically requesting an Akatsuki contractor."
The agent explained with crisp efficiency, then tactfully removed himself, leaving the four of them to negotiate.
"Oh?" Sasori's voice filtered through the puppet armor—measured and cold. He turned toward them. Beside him, Deidara puffed up with instinctive dignity, arms still crossed. "Well, you may have good taste—but commissioning us takes more than taste. It takes money."
"Exactly right~!" Deidara chimed in, having remembered he was important. "We are not at the beck and call of whatever little brats wander in off the street—Hmm!"
Neither of them unsettled Hinata in the slightest. If anything, the more she considered it, the more she liked the fit. The Immortal Pair would have served—but these two might be better suited to what she actually had in mind.
"Of course~ I do have a business proposal involving art, and I'd like to commission both of you for it."
She let the pause stretch one beat longer.
"I don't suppose either of you has heard of—figures?"