"What do you mean, 'cut off the beard'?" Rasa asked, genuinely confused.
He'd spent the past few days investigating the rebellion, chasing down every lead. What did any of that have to do with Kakuzu?
Kakuzu's anger only intensified at the sight of his bewilderment. "I didn't expect you, Kazekage Rasa, to play dumb. You steal my shipment and act like you don't know what I'm talking about?"
Rasa's confusion deepened. "Hold on. I've been tracking rebels in this region the entire time. I haven't left the area. I couldn't possibly have stolen your cargo."
"Then explain this gold dust." Kakuzu's voice dropped to something colder, sharper. "Is there anyone else besides you who can manipulate Magnet Release?"
The question hit like a stone. Rasa's mind raced. Someone else wielding Magnet Release? Someone using gold dust identical to his own? The thought sent ice through his veins. Could it be his exiled brother?
"I have ironclad evidence, Rasa," Kakuzu continued, his tone brooking no argument. "You're a prominent figure. You wouldn't dare—or so I thought."
Rasa's jaw clenched hard enough to crack teeth. "I have witnesses. My subordinates can testify I've been here the entire time."
"Your own people. How convenient."
"There are black market intelligence agencies. Dozens of mercenaries saw me—"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
"You—!" The words died in Rasa's throat. His blood pressure spiked, his vision blurring with frustration. Kakuzu had already decided he was guilty. No amount of explanation would penetrate that wall.
Fighting rose in his mind like a tide. His Magnet Release was no joke, and he had Sand shinobi at his back. He could take this man if it came to it.
Kakuzu saw the calculation in his eyes and smiled coldly. "I'd think twice if I were you. When I fought the First Hokage, your father wasn't even born yet."
The words landed like a physical blow.
The Sand shinobi beside Rasa exchanged terrified glances, their courage evaporating in an instant. The First Hokage—the God of Shinobi himself—had single-handedly shaped the entire modern ninja world. A warrior who'd lived through that era, who'd actually fought that legend...
The weight of that reputation was crushing.
Kakuzu seemed pleased with their reactions. Whenever someone dared challenge him, he simply invoked that ancient victory, and they crumbled. It was almost reliable at this point.
This trash thinks he can move against me? He's not fit to shine the God of Shinobi's sandals.
Back then, I was... wait, how exactly did that fight go again?
Well, we fought. That's what matters.
"Have you thought it over?" Kakuzu asked, his gaze heavy with impatience. "Is my time valuable or not?"
Rasa's expression flickered through a dozen emotions before settling into grim defeat. "How much was your shipment worth? I'll pay for it."
There was no point fighting this. The outcome was unpredictable, and Sunagakure had already suffered too many losses. If payment could make Kakuzu disappear, then perhaps this wasn't a complete disaster.
Besides, they hadn't brought much cash on this mission—they were here to suppress the rebellion and gather materials, not to carry fortune.
"Sixty million ryo," Kakuzu stated flatly.
Rasa's eyes shot wide. "Sixty million?!" His voice cracked with disbelief. "There's no sixty million bounty mission in the black market! You're extorting me!"
---
High above on a branch, Hyuga Seiran watched from the shadows, equally shocked by the number despite his carefully constructed plan.
Sixty million? That's pure robbery.
That rogue ninja was worth twenty million at most. Three times that price... He had to suppress a laugh.
As Kakuzu stormed off with his prize, Seiran felt the satisfaction of a perfectly executed scheme. It hadn't been complicated—just precisely targeted at a single weakness.
Only Rasa could manipulate Magnet Release with gold dust. The entire shinobi world knew this fact. The moment Kakuzu learned about the theft near where Rasa was stationed, confrontation became inevitable.
The real art had been in the intelligence work. Rasa's intelligence network was too obvious, his subordinates too local to draw outside attention. Meanwhile, Seiran's disguise—a special shape-shifting weapon, carefully seeded misinformation—had left no trail pointing in his direction.
The advantage of good intelligence was that your enemy never even knew to look for you.
And even if his electromagnetic abilities were eventually exposed, he'd be strong enough by then. If Kakuzu came with Rasa in tow, he'd handle it.
The more Rasa suffered, the better Seiran's future became. After all, Rasa had sparked the Third Shinobi World War. The lower the chance of him becoming Fourth Kazekage, the more that war would be delayed—and every day of delay was another day for Seiran to grow stronger and prepare.
---
Rasa's expression had turned apocalyptic.
In all his years as a disciple of the Third Kazekage, he'd never known such humiliation. But his opponent was a man he simply couldn't afford to oppose. Those words—I fought the First Hokage—hung over him like a stone, crushing any thought of resistance.
"Sixty million is impossible," Rasa said, his voice tight as wire. "No bounty mission in the black market commands that price."
"Then what about the time I wasted?" Kakuzu's eyes gleamed. "If it weren't for you, I would have completed several more missions by now. Doesn't that constitute loss?"
The unfairness of it burned through Rasa like acid. He yanked a scroll from his robes and hurled it at Kakuzu. "There's sixty million in there. That's enough!"
Kakuzu caught it, opened it, and began counting—meticulously, methodically. He even wet his finger with saliva before handling each bill. The deliberate humiliation of it made Rasa's teeth grind.
"Fifty-nine million, seven hundred twenty-two thousand, eight hundred ryo," Kakuzu announced. "You're short two hundred seventy-seven thousand, two hundred."
He extended his hand.
Rasa's blood pressure spiked again. His subordinates scrambled, gathering crumpled bills and loose change into a messy heap that they threw forward.
"It's all here! Definitely more than two hundred seventy thousand!"
Kakuzu collected it, satisfied, and walked away without another word.
Rasa stood motionless, watching him disappear into the distance. Trembling—whether from rage or humiliation, he couldn't tell—his knees nearly buckled. His Sand shinobi rushed to steady him.
The rebellion remained unsuppressed. His clan's reserves had been decimated. And his pockets were now emptier than his pride.
"I, Rasa—a man of reputation..." His voice climbed, raw with anguish. "Who?! Who would dare humiliate me this way?!"
His roar tore across the forest, scattering birds into the sky like scattered thoughts.
----
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