On the table in the room, a dim candle burned.
The flame was tiny, and a faint strand of black smoke kept rising straight up with the heat, until it was disturbed by the airflow stirred by a soft cough.
Kakuzu opened his eyes and looked at the coughing child.
Oda Hideyoshi.
He was the target of Kakuzu and Hidan this time.
The mission was very simple, just make sure Oda Hideyoshi stayed in their hands, and wasn't snatched away by others.
The mission's deadline wasn't long either. Once the Water Festival ended, they could throw Oda Hideyoshi to Saito, and the mission would be over.
But such an extremely simple mission, one that could have been handed to a few genin, no, even servants could have done it, yet the Land of Water and the Land of Fire spent a huge sum to hire members of Akatsuki.
Hidan was stupid, but Kakuzu was not.
There had to be something fishy inside. Combining this with the fact that Ryosuke was invited to the Water Festival, Kakuzu had already guessed from the start that this was a trap targeting Ryosuke.
The financiers didn't bother hiding it from him either. They bluntly said they wanted to deal with Ryosuke, and Oda Hideyoshi was just one part of the plan. As long as Kakuzu completed the mission, he could ask for anything he wanted.
"Anything?"
"That's right, anything… we have money."
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, savoring the frankness with which the other side said those words.
It was intoxicating.
Just then, the formation carved on the table gave a faint poof.
Smoke spread out. Kakuzu waved his hand to disperse it, then picked up a scroll.
Opening it, reading through the information inside, Kakuzu let out a cold laugh.
"Hidan, time to get to work."
"Work?"
Hidan, who had been sleeping, sat up and gave a huge yawn, "Isn't our mission just to keep an eye on this brat?"
Kakuzu tossed the scroll over.
"The Daimyo of the Land of Water isn't dead. Their slander plan had a slip-up, and now they want us to wipe their ass."
"While making sure this brat doesn't get snatched, add Extra Mission One, kill the Daimyo of the Land of Water, Oda Ieyasu."
"Eh? No, wait. Isn't there an Extra Mission Two as well?"
Hidan flipped the scroll to the back and said, "Extra Mission Two, take out Ryosuke."
Kakuzu turned back and stared at Hidan in silence.
Anyone who had ever worked a job would understand exactly what Kakuzu's look meant.
Kakuzu really wanted to chop Hidan's head off, toss it in the river, scrub it with soap powder, and pound it with a stick, maybe then his brain would become a little smarter.
Kakuzu shook his head and gave up on explaining.
"Kill the Daimyo of the Land of Water. Keep this kid from being taken. That's our mission. Everything else is outside the scope of our work."
Hidan shrugged, not caring.
The only reason he wanted to kill Ryosuke was because Ryosuke had killed the White-Haired Cult Leader. It was just out of gratitude.
But Hidan also knew that even giving love had to depend on timing.
Since this wasn't the right time, there would always be another chance.
Hidan thought of another question, "But Ryosuke has that weird little vine, right? The one that can lock onto a target regardless of distance. How are we supposed to deal with that?"
"That thing, huh."
Kakuzu looked at the brown-haired man sitting in the corner with eyes closed, lightly chuckled, and said, "Don't we have our friend from Konoha here?"
"Isn't that right, Mr. Yamanaka?"
Yamanaka Inoichi slowly opened his eyes, sharp and cold.
"Don't get me wrong. We're not friends. The reason I'm helping you is only to…"
"Make Konoha great again."
———
Mei Terumi leaned closer, staring at the firelight, "Well?"
Ryosuke was using Oda Hideyoshi as the target to conduct Memory Tracing, but Oda Hideyoshi was shoved in a corner with a very limited field of view, plus the environment was too dim, without windows.
He could only determine that Akatsuki was involved in this, but he couldn't deduce the exact location through Memory Tracing, nor did he know who had come this time.
"Forget it, I'll go take a trip. I'll know once I see."
Ryosuke said to Mei Terumi, "You all stay behind and protect the Daimyo. Try not to let him get killed."
Zabuza, a pure-blooded shinobi, took missions for what they were, nothing more, nothing less. He scratched his head,
"What do you mean 'try'?"
"It means, if you can hide him, hide him. If you can't hide him, then fight. If you can't win, drop him and run."
Ryosuke said seriously, "To me, your lives are more important than his."
Oda Ieyasu gave two dry laughs, turned his head away, and tactfully pretended not to hear.
The safest option was of course to move all together, but the only one who could fly was Ryosuke. With so many people tagging along, his speed would definitely be affected.
It had been about ten minutes since the explosion at the Daimyo's mansion. The longer time dragged on, the more variables would appear.
The parade of the Water Festival was already underway, heading toward the Daimyo's mansion, after all, preparations had been going on for a year, and without orders from above, they could only continue as planned.
Once the people arrived at the Daimyo's mansion with the parade, the financiers' representative would announce to the whole world that the Daimyo was dead and that Ryosuke was the murderer. The planted instigators in the crowd would simultaneously hype up the danger Ryosuke posed.
If possible, Ryosuke hoped to resolve this mess before it happened.
"Hermit Purple."
Purple vines coiled around Ryosuke's arm. He bent his knees slightly, and the gravel nearby floated up, freed from gravity.
With a thunderous roar and raging winds, Ryosuke soared into the sky, chasing in the direction pointed by the vines.
From high above, the festive atmosphere of Kyoto was clearly visible, lights shining everywhere, as Ryosuke soared through the sky.
The vines roughly locked onto an area. Ryosuke landed there and began searching bit by bit for that dark little house.
Very soon, Ryosuke sensed something wrong.
"The target's moving?"
He realized they must have received news from the Daimyo's mansion. Thinking he would come, they had moved Oda Hideyoshi elsewhere.
Memory Tracing activated again.
As guessed, Oda Hideyoshi was wrapped in a gray robe, carried through the crowded streets. From the street's background…
Ryosuke's gaze swept below, skimming over one person after another.
'Found him!'
Gray robe. White tengu mask. Something bulky in his arms, clearly carrying something.
The moment Ryosuke's eyes locked on, the ninja's keen senses also picked up on the gaze from above. He jerked his head up,
Time stopped.
Ryosuke descended, snatching the "child" from his arms.
The instant he held it, he knew something was wrong.
'Too light.'
'How could a ten-year-old child be this light?!'
Ryosuke tore open the cloth covering the "child" and saw a scarecrow the size of a child, with a blank talisman stuck on its head.
A trick?
How had they deceived Hermit Purple?
Memory Tracing was a pure causality-based ability.
Just then, a ripple touched the scarecrow. Its "breath" transmitted over, and Ryosuke heard the lingering echo of a child's soul, "Help… help me…"
Ryosuke's pupils shrank. He stared at the scarecrow in his hands.
"Oda Hideyoshi's soul is inside this scarecrow! And…"
His palm felt sticky. Blood was seeping out of the scarecrow.
Ryosuke tore open the straw, and inside he saw a small heart, wrapped in many black threads of flesh, slowly beating.
The heart was tiny, definitely not an adult's heart.
Oda Hideyoshi's soul and heart… this was the enemy's trick to mislead him.
Kakuzu didn't know exactly what Hermit Purple's ability was, or how it tracked, but ninja methods were usually one of a few kinds.
Bloodline, soul, or something like Orochimaru's curse marks, or the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God seals.
Kakuzu had checked Oda Hideyoshi's body, no curse marks, no talismans. Clean. The only thing left was the bloodline and soul connection with Oda Ieyasu.
That sort of thing… maybe others wouldn't understand, but Kakuzu and Yamanaka Inoichi were experts.
Ryosuke cut the flesh threads, then used Ripple to maintain the small heart's slow beating, protecting the young soul inside. Afterward, he coldly fixed his gaze on the tengu mask.
"Star Platinum."
The towering figure of Star Platinum appeared.
"Smash him!"
Star Platinum drew a deep breath.
"Ora!!!"
A punch flew out, shattering the tengu mask.
But behind the mask was no face, only countless flesh threads.
"So it's Kakuzu."
Back when he had captured Konan, Ryosuke had already gotten intel on Akatsuki's old-timers from her memories.
Kakuzu was personally "invited" back by Pain as a combat accountant.
Star Platinum's second punch struck, smashing one of Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Hearts.
Time resumed its flow.
Blood melted into puddles on the ground, mingling with the delayed screams of the crowd. Holding the scarecrow in his arms, Ryosuke soared upward again.
Memory Tracing activated once more, this time using the scarecrow as the "cause" and its body as the "effect."
Hermit Purple pointed in a direction.
It was the same direction Ryosuke had come from.
They were after Oda Ieyasu. This was a classic case of luring the tiger from the mountain.
"Heh."
Ryosuke chuckled, rolling up his sleeves, and drew the Ruin Greatsword from the Rift.
Golden Ripple flames coiled around the Ruin Greatsword.
The storm howled. Ryosuke vanished from the spot. In the sky above, a streak of golden fire slashed across, igniting the clouds of night. Around the flames, the light spread outward…
Like a golden eye hanging in the heavens, slowly opening.
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