Chapter 135: The Man Who Fought Hashirama
Before Naruko finished speaking, Kaguya had already moved.
No hand seals, no obvious chakra fluctuation. Yet muffled impacts suddenly erupted from the forest ahead, accompanied by the sharp crack of breaking branches.
Five figures seemed gripped by invisible hands around their throats, violently yanked from their hiding spots to dangle helplessly in midair.
Their limbs were bound by unseen force—they couldn't even move their fingertips, only stare wide-eyed in terror.
All of this occurred in a flash.
When the ambushers were slammed heavily onto the clearing, even Sasuko's pupils contracted involuntarily.
She couldn't discern how Kaguya had acted—the technique bore some resemblance to Yu's abilities, both requiring no hand seals.
The only difference was that when Kaguya activated her power, subtle chakra flow could still be detected, whereas Yu showed absolutely no indication whatsoever.
Naruko crouched to examine these immobilized ninja. They bore no injuries, as though merely restrained by the air itself.
"Do you know who we are?" The leader forced composure into his voice despite its tremor. "We work for Lord Kakuzu! If you know what's good for you, release us now!"
"Kakuzu?" Naruko frowned at her companions. "Anyone heard of him?"
Sasuko shook her head. Hinata blinked her white eyes in confusion. Kaguya remained expressionless, equally unresponsive to the name.
But Yoya, nestled against her mother, felt her heart stir.
Before leaving, she'd diverted substantial funds from the Akatsuki organization, much of which should have been under Kakuzu's management. The organization's finances must be quite strained by now.
As the former "Zetsu," Yoya knew this name all too well.
Kakuzu used the Earth Grudge Fear technique to continuously replace hearts and extend his life—an extremely difficult old monster to deal with. More importantly, he truly did operate in this region, notorious for accepting black market bounties and accumulating wealth.
These people were actually his subordinates... quite the coincidence, Yoya mused privately.
"Lord Kakuzu won't spare you!" Seeing the group's silence, another captive grew even more arrogant. "He's a legendary ninja who fought the First Hokage himself! The one called the God of Shinobi—Senju Hashirama!"
Naruko couldn't help laughing aloud. "Hey, hey, there's a limit to exaggeration! The First Hokage's era was nearly a hundred years ago!"
"It's true!" The lead ninja defended urgently. "Lord Kakuzu possesses an immortal body!"
Kaguya, who'd remained silent throughout, suddenly spoke softly. "Immortal?"
This word made all five captives shudder simultaneously. Those pure white eyes swept over them as though examining inferior objects.
"In this world, there's no true immortality." Kaguya's tone remained calm. "You're simply too ignorant."
"Let's hear it," Naruko tapped the ground lightly with a kunai. "What did this 'Lord Kakuzu' send you to do?"
The five ninja exchanged glances, showing hesitation.
Kaguya raised her eyes slightly. The next second, the lead ninja suddenly let out a suppressed cry of pain, his entire face contorting.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" He gasped urgently. "Lord Kakuzu has been desperately needing large sums of money lately. We all owed him gambling debts, and he placed curse marks on us..."
Naruko pressed her kunai lightly against his throat. "Explain clearly. What curse marks?"
"It's... heart curse marks." Another captive answered tremulously. "Kakuzu placed curse marks on our hearts. If we don't repay the money, he can detonate them remotely..."
Sasuko and Naruko exchanged glances, both seeing the gravity in each other's eyes. This method of controlling subordinates was truly vicious.
"What were you originally planning?" Sasuko demanded coldly.
"We... we just wanted to kidnap..." The lead ninja's voice grew quieter. "Kakuzu said well-dressed young women like you could fetch good prices on the black market..."
Anger flashed through Naruko's eyes. "How many times have you done this? Have other girls been victimized?"
The man shook his head repeatedly. "This is the first time! We truly know we were wrong—please spare us!"
But Naruko didn't believe him easily.
This kind of person didn't know he was wrong—he knew he was about to die.
She'd always possessed a strong sense of justice. Whenever encountering injustice during missions, she'd intervene. Now, she needed to eliminate this threat at its source.
Naruko sheathed her kunai and surveyed her companions. "Looks like we need to meet this Kakuzu. We can't let this menace continue harming people."
Sasuko nodded without hesitation. "I agree."
Though nervous, Hinata also softly concurred. "We can't let him hurt more innocent people..."
Everyone's gazes inevitably turned toward Kaguya. She remained standing to the side as though uninvolved.
"What does Miss Kaguya think?" Naruko asked.
Kaguya's gaze swept over the trembling captives on the ground, her pure white eyes revealing no emotion. She neither nodded nor shook her head, simply turning toward the ninja as barely perceptible ripples appeared in her eyes.
The next second, all five captives' gazes simultaneously became vacant. They stood mechanically like marionettes, turning toward the same direction.
"Lead the way." Kaguya's voice was soft yet carried undeniable authority.
The captives stiffly began walking toward a concealed forest path. This direct consciousness manipulation technique couldn't help but secretly alarm Naruko and the others.
Sasuko studied Kaguya's calm profile, her doubts deepening. The abilities this teammate displayed had far exceeded any ordinary ninja's scope.
"Let's follow." Naruko took the lead while remembering to remind, "Hinata, continue monitoring with your Byakugan."
The Hyuga girl immediately responded, blood vessels around her Byakugan bulging slightly. "No abnormalities within a hundred meters ahead."
The team proceeded through dense forest under the captives' guidance.
Yoya clutched her mother's hand tightly, her expression purely innocent as she asked softly, "Mother, is this Kakuzu... very powerful?"
---
After traveling for roughly fifteen minutes, the lead captive suddenly stopped and pointed toward a concealed cave ahead. "Lord Kakuzu... is inside."
Naruko signaled everyone to halt, carefully observing the cave entrance. The opening was covered in spiderwebs, appearing long abandoned, but Hinata's Byakugan discovered something amiss.
"There are strong chakra signatures inside... more than one."
Just then, a grim voice emerged from deep within the cave:
"I never expected... my subordinates would bring guests home."
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