Kakuzu had accepted the first commission, but not the second.
The moment he sensed the presence of three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he turned and left without hesitation.
That did not mean Kakuzu feared Jinin Akebino and the other two.
It simply meant that, in Kakuzu's eyes, fighting three Ninja Swordsmen for Baki was a business deal that clearly was not worth the price.
So Baki was left alone.
The three stood in three different directions, hemming him in completely.
The young Baki gripped a short blade tightly.
Jinin Akebino looked at him, hatred apparent in his eyes.
"Well, well. Look what we found. A lone young Suna shinobi."
"Baki, was it? I've heard of you. Rasa's direct disciple."
"To think I'd run into you here, all by yourself. Looks like my luck is pretty good. Your teacher broke faith and ruined Kirigakure's plans again and again. I had wanted to settle the score with him."
"But he's been lucky. Every time, he slips away."
"Since I ran into you today, then you'll repay his debt in his place."
By then, Baki already understood something clearly.
No matter what he did, there was no chance he would survive.
Begging for mercy.
Surrendering.
Either way, he would still die.
And once he realized that, fear left him instead.
Facing Jinin Akebino, he merely let out a cold laugh.
"Jinin Akebino, can't beat my teacher, so now you're here bullying his disciple?"
"So this is what the Seven Ninja Swordsmen amount to?"
"One isn't enough, so you brought three?"
"Are all Kirigakure shinobi this useless?"
"No wonder you've been losing."
"You want to kill me? Fine. I, Baki, am right here."
"But remember this—once you kill me, my teacher will definitely avenge me."
"Not one of you will escape."
"Kirigakure will lose."
"And you will die too."
Jinin Akebino's expression darkened.
"The brat has some nerve. I wonder whether you'll still be this tough once my blunt blade starts breaking your bones."
"I'll shatter every single bone in your body, one by one."
Kushimaru Kuriarare added from the side,
"Then leave the brat's internal organs to me. I'll string them up like flowers."
Raiga Kurosuki said nothing.
He only bared his teeth in a grin.
Jinin Akebino drew his blunt blade.
Blade in one hand, hammer in the other, he began walking toward Baki step by step.
Baki tightened his grip on the hilt and stared at him without blinking.
Suddenly, Jinin accelerated.
The blunt blade in his hand rose high.
Baki lifted his own blade horizontally in front of him to block.
Jinin sneered.
"With that? How could you possibly stop my blunt blade?"
In the next instant, the weapon came down.
Clang!
A sharp metallic collision burst out.
Baki's blade snapped in two on the spot.
Jinin's blunt blade continued downward.
Then suddenly—
Boom!
A mass of gold dust exploded upward from the ground, dividing into two streams.
One surged toward Jinin Akebino.
The other wrapped around Baki and yanked him backward at high speed.
A figure landed.
One hand came to rest on Baki's shoulder.
"Baki, go to the side."
At the sound of that familiar voice, overwhelming joy flooded Baki's face.
"Teacher!"
"I'm sorry... I've caused you trouble again."
Rasa waved it off.
"It's not your fault. These Kirigakure people are like this. If it weren't you, it would've been someone else."
The moment Rasa saw the three Ninja Swordsmen hemming Baki in, a certain scene from the original story surfaced in his mind.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen, all seven gathered together, surrounding three young Konoha shinobi—Might Guy and the others.
Either the battlefield matchups between Konoha and Kirigakure had simply been absurd—
Or Guy's group had truly been miserably unlucky.
And there was yet another possibility.
That the Seven Ninja Swordsmen did such things on purpose.
Bullying the weak.
Outnumbering the few.
Treating their targets like mice and toying with them.
With the status of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, they did not find such acts shameful in the slightest.
If anything, they seemed to enjoy them.
Just like now, with Baki.
Jinin Akebino alone was already far stronger than the current Baki.
And yet he had still brought Kushimaru and Raiga.
They had not killed Baki immediately, either.
They were playing with him.
Their true purpose had not been killing.
It had been venting.
Still, in a sense, Rasa had to thank the three of them for that choice.
Otherwise, Baki would already be dead.
He never would have survived long enough for Rasa to arrive.
Rasa valued Baki quite highly.
In the past, Sunagakure had lacked talent.
In the present, Sunagakure still lacked talent.
And in the future, it would continue to lack talent.
Among the future generation of Sunagakure, Baki was already one of the better ones.
He lacked the makings of a Kazekage.
But as an advisor to the Kazekage, he was more than good enough.
A cloud of gold dust wrapped around Baki and rose visibly into the air.
In the next moment, he was lifted high above the ground.
Yatagarasu swooped closer and seized Baki in one claw.
Not hard enough to injure him—just enough to hurt a little.
"So this is Teacher's summoning beast..."
Then Baki looked downward again.
"Teacher... will he win?"
Baki had been away from Sunagakure for a while, but he still knew the major news spreading through the shinobi world.
The Kaguya Clan had rebelled in Kirigakure, and the Third Mizukage had been gravely wounded.
The Akayama Clan had rebelled in Sunagakure, and hundreds of clan shinobi had ambushed Rasa—only to be killed by him instead.
"I never thought the Akayama Clan would commit such treason and even sell out the village's intelligence. The reason the village fell into such a disadvantage against Kirigakure before must have had a lot to do with them."
"Disgusting to the extreme."
"Good thing Teacher hid his strength."
"He's really strong."
"I wonder if I'll ever be able to reach that level."
The moment Rasa appeared, the faces of Jinin Akebino, Kushimaru Kuriarare, and Raiga Kurosuki all turned ugly. They stared at him warily.
"The Fourth Kazekage... Rasa!"
Jinin's expression grew solemn.
"You came quickly. Because of that giant summoning beast of yours?"
"For the sake of one disciple, you ran this far alone. Looks like you really do value him."
"Aren't you afraid that you made it here... only to never make it back?"
"Or do you think that because you wiped out the Akayama Clan, you no longer need to fear the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
"We're not the same as those people."
"That technique of yours—and Yatagarasu too—won't be nearly as effective against us."
Jinin Akebino was deeply wary, but after mentally analyzing Rasa's abilities, some of his tension eased.
He even began to feel that this might be an opportunity.
A chance to kill Rasa.
Three against one.
No—soon enough, four against one.
"The advantage is mine."
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