After emerging from the Bounty Station, Menma and Kakuzu relocated to a desolate, open clearing.
"Kid, if there's no bounty on your head, leave the money and walk away. I might spare your life," Kakuzu warned. He sealed his own briefcase into a storage scroll, his voice a dry rasp muffled by his mask.
Kakuzu was a man of immense ego. After all, he was a powerhouse from the era of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju—a man who had once 'assassinated' the God of Shinobi himself. Though he had been nearly beaten to death by Hashirama's Wood Style, he never missed an opportunity to boast: "I am the man who once traded blows with the God of Shinobi."
Since defecting from Takigakure decades ago, Kakuzu had survived as a mercenary, his only true passion being the cold, hard count of currency. Having tasted the sting of his village's distrust and his partners' betrayals, he lived by a singular creed: Only money never betrays you.
"Do you really think a man capable of killing a Cloud Envoy isn't worth a fortune?" Menma stood several meters away, setting his heavy briefcase down. A soft chuckle drifted from behind his mask.
"Fair point. Even without an official bounty, the Hidden Cloud would pay handsomely for your corpse. Heh." Kakuzu's eyes narrowed as his hands blurred into seals.
"Earth Style: Earth Pillar Spears!"
Jagged, spear-like rock formations erupted from the ground surrounding Menma, thrusting upward with lethal intent. Menma leaped into the air, his robes snapping in the wind.
'Perfect! Right where I want you!' A flash of calculation crossed Kakuzu's eyes. His right arm suddenly detached, launched by the Earth Grudge Fear!
Black threads uncoiled from his joints like striking vipers, propelling his fist forward to impale his opponent. It was his signature "Initial Kill" tactic—force the enemy into the air where they cannot maneuver, then strike directly for the heart. This move had claimed the lives of countless elite ninjas.
However, Kakuzu's pupils suddenly contracted.
Menma didn't fall. He remained suspended in mid-air, looking down at him with an effortless, divine grace.
"This is going to be troublesome..." Kakuzu muttered, his voice a low growl. In all his years of wandering the world, he had rarely encountered an enemy capable of sustained flight.
The black threads of Kakuzu's right arm danced, weaving a dense web of Earth Grudge Fear filaments in the air, attempting to cage his opponent. Menma casually flicked several kunai through the gaps in the web, sending them whistling toward the ground.
"Is that all, brat?" Kakuzu sneered, shifting his body to easily dodge the projectiles.
But as the words left his mouth, a roar of thunder erupted behind him. He spun around, but a sharp, agonizing sting had already pierced his back.
A hand wreathed in crackling, dark-purple lightning had lunged through his torso. To Kakuzu's absolute shock, the strike directly pulverized one of his hearts.
"When did—?!" Kakuzu gasped. As one of his masks crumbled and dissolved, he realized he had lost a life. He swung his thread-linked arm to seize the attacker, only for the figure to dissipate into a cloud of white smoke.
A Shadow Clone.
"AAAGH!" Kakuzu collapsed to the ground with a guttural howl.
The clearing fell into a heavy silence.
"That move really is quite handy," Menma said, idly twirling a kunai.
Transforming a clone or his own body into a kunai, throwing it behind the enemy, and then launching a high-speed ambush—it was a tactic Naruto Uzumaki would eventually make famous. Simple in theory, but devastatingly effective due to its layers of misdirection. In the heat of high-tension combat, no ninja can track every single "missed" projectile.
On the ground, Kakuzu remained motionless.
An ordinary ninja might have assumed the battle was over and walked over to claim the body. But Menma knew better. He knew about the five hearts; he knew "playing dead" was Kakuzu's favorite counter-trap. Kakashi Hatake had once made the mistake of lowering his guard after a Chidori strike, only to be nearly killed by a "dead" Kakuzu.
Floating above, Menma spoke with a chilling, absolute certainty: "If you continue to play dead, I won't hesitate to crush the remaining four."
!!!
Kakuzu's green eyes snapped open, trembling with shock. He pushed himself off the ground, his body hunched as a massive bulge shifted under the back of his cloak.
Crr-ack!
A black masked creature tore through his robes, but as its mask shattered, the creature dissolved into ash.
Hah... Hah...
Kakuzu panted, all trace of contempt gone from his gaze. He looked at the hovering Menma with deep, wary dread. "How do you know..."
"The secret of Takigakure?" Menma loomed in the sky like a minor deity. "There are no secrets in this world hidden from me."
"Now, I give you two choices. You can work for me, or I can crush your remaining four hearts right here." Menma's killing intent flared, cold and sharp.
"Do I even have a choice?" Kakuzu forced a bitter, raspy laugh. He sank to one knee.
Kakuzu was nothing if not a pragmatist. This boy knew his deepest secrets and possessed the power to destroy him effortlessly. If he didn't submit, he wouldn't live to see another sunset.
——————
A Port City in the Land of Lightning
Several merchant ships belonging to the Gato Company were moored at the docks. Workers in short-sleeved tunics were frantically loading cargo under the harsh barks of their foremen.
Gato stood on the prow of the lead ship, watching the progress and occasionally erupting into a rage at a slow worker. Suddenly, his small eyes caught sight of two figures approaching from the distance.
His entire body shuddered. He scrambled down the gangplank as fast as his short legs could carry him.
On the pier, the newly recruited Kakuzu followed silently behind Menma. His green eyes were filled with a look of pure confusion as he processed his new situation.
"My Lord! My Lord!" Gato ran up, bowing deeply before Menma. "You've returned!"
Gato then glanced at the tall, imposing man behind Menma, who radiated a terrifying 'stay away' aura. "And this is...?"
"Kakuzu. This is Gato, the member responsible for the organization's finances. Your temporary assignment is to protect him and ensure his company's operations across the nations are uninterrupted," Menma said, glancing back at Kakuzu.
"I will pay you a fixed salary. You will also have the authority to audit Gato's books. Of course, you may still take freelance bounty contracts on the side—provided you don't leak any organizational intelligence."
"Hmph. The terms aren't bad," Kakuzu grunted. Behind his mask, the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
A fixed salary, the power to audit a massive corporation, and the freedom to hunt bounties? For Kakuzu, losing to Menma suddenly didn't feel so bad.
After sending Gato and Kakuzu on their way out of the Land of Lightning, Menma turned his sights toward the Hidden Cloud Village.
It was time to deliver those 'local specialties.'