"Please help us… we're being hunted. He's already killed so many of our people."
The Hancock clone spoke in a soft, alluring voice. The moment she activated Desire of Beauty on the eight ninja before her, she did not even need to amplify their desires. They were already completely captivated.
"Miss Hancock, my name is Sarutobi Makoto. Could you tell us who's chasing you? This is absolutely outrageous."
The other seven quickly echoed him.
They had already recognized the clone. After all, she was the woman with a combined bounty of fifteen million on the black market.
If it had been ordinary travelers passing through, they would not have shown themselves at all. But the Hancock clone and her seven companions were hurrying forward in obvious panic. From their speed alone, it was clear that every one of them was at least comparable to a chunin.
That was why the Konoha ninja had stepped in.
Unfortunately for them, they had no idea that the Hancock clone had come precisely for them.
The Hancock clone had already taken their measure. She could not even be bothered to speak further, instead putting on a proud and distant air. The six desperate followers traveling with her hurriedly explained just how terrifying Kakuzu was.
Ordinary people, when treated like that, would at least feel irritated, if not outright offended.
But Sarutobi Makoto and the others felt nothing of the sort.
Instead, they smiled apologetically, eager to please.
That was the horror of Tomie's charm.
It was almost like a causality-defying weapon.
"Miss Hancock, please don't worry. There are so many of us here. Forcing him back won't be a problem. And we're Konoha ninja. Once he realizes that, he may retreat on his own."
After hearing the explanation, Sarutobi Makoto felt only disdain for Kakuzu.
He had never heard the man's name before. How strong could he really be?
Clearly, these wandering ninja were just trash.
Their chakra wasn't bad, and their Body Flicker Technique was passable, but in terms of actual combat methods, they could never compare to ninja from a great village like Konoha.
On that point, Sarutobi Makoto was not entirely wrong.
Those wandering ninja had at most one or two B-rank techniques. In that regard, they truly were inferior to the major villages.
If they had not recently exchanged techniques among themselves, even more of them would have died.
Still, the fact that they had survived Kakuzu's pursuit for this long proved their abilities were not nearly as poor as Sarutobi Makoto imagined.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu had already spotted the Hancock clone.
She was still some distance away, but he recognized her instantly.
After all, that was money.
"Can't waste any more time. The time I've already wasted on Hancock could have earned me ten million elsewhere. Still… those people really are lunatics. Just to help her escape, they're throwing away their lives. This woman is strange. No wonder the black market calls her the Witch."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kakuzu used the Body Flicker Technique and shot toward the Hancock clone.
He could tell there were a lot of people gathered around her.
But he wasn't afraid.
There were only a little over ten ninja.
Even if there had been over ten jonin, he still would not have cared.
He was a man who had once fought Hashirama Senju.
In truth, if the Hancock clone's bounty had not risen to fifteen million, Kakuzu might actually have given up on her.
What Kakuzu didn't know was that the Hancock clone had arranged for that increase herself through the Aizen clone.
The reason was simple.
She was afraid Kakuzu might lose interest halfway through.
The other clones could not produce that kind of money, but the Aizen clone—having already taken control of the son of the Land of Rice Fields' daimyo—could.
When Kakuzu drew near and saw the Konoha ninja, his face remained expressionless.
Konoha ninja meant nothing to him.
As long as the price was right, he would even dare assassinate the Third Hokage himself.
"This time, I won't give you a chance to escape. Combined Ninjutsu: Searing Migraine."
Kakuzu attacked immediately.
This time, there would be no pointless conversation first.
While moving with the Body Flicker Technique, he summoned the Earth Grudge Fear Fire Mask and Wind Mask onto his shoulders.
The two masks unleashed Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work and Wind Release: Pressure Damage at the same time.
Fueled by wind, the flames became even hotter and spread even farther.
A sea of fire capable of incinerating everything came roaring toward the Hancock clone and the others.
Even one of the Five Kage could not afford to take such an attack lightly.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" ×6
The six wandering ninja accompanying the Hancock clone all used the Water Release technique together.
But the gap was far too great.
Six little streams against an ocean of fire.
Even though water restrained fire, their side was hopelessly outmatched.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" ×4
Four earth walls rose from the ground.
The Konoha ninja had not been standing there in a daze either.
At the same time, worry filled their hearts.
They might be able to block this one attack, but what about the next?
How many times could they defend themselves?
Those wandering ninja were all wounded already.
The Hancock clone raised her voice.
"You all need to run! He's after me. There's no need for you to throw your lives away because of me!"
Under normal circumstances, Sarutobi Makoto and the others should have retreated.
If nothing else, they should have gone for reinforcements.
But under the influence of Desire of Beauty, all their usual intelligence had vanished.
Each one of them had turned into an utter fool.
"Miss Hancock, please rest assured. Even if we die, we won't let that monster touch a single hair on your head."
As soon as Sarutobi Makoto and the others finished speaking, they charged at Kakuzu like they had been injected with some kind of madness.
Shuriken and explosive tags flew wildly. They threw out everything they had.
When they used ninjutsu, they did so without any rhythm or restraint, casting one after another with no concern whatsoever for chakra consumption.
The Hancock clone curled her lips into a smile.
The show had begun.
Perhaps Sarutobi Makoto and the others were not truly evil people.
But what did that matter?
Among the Uchiha clan, how many children and infants had been slaughtered—children who knew nothing of rebellion, children who were utterly innocent?
Were they not innocent too?
"Damn it. I can't keep wasting time."
Kakuzu's senses were sharp.
He had already detected more ninja approaching.
Most likely Konoha reinforcements.
The power of that combined ninjutsu from earlier had not been small. There was no way the Konoha ninja stationed here would fail to notice it.
The Earth Grudge Fear masks separated from Kakuzu's body.
He kept the wind-attribute and fire-attribute hearts for himself, while the other three hearts detached from his main body.
Now the real fight was beginning.
Kakuzu had truly made up his mind.
Even if he had to lose three or four hearts, he would still kill the Hancock clone.
Her power of seduction was simply too terrifying.
Those Konoha ninja had spoken with her for only a short while, yet they had already become so insane that they would give up everything for her.
In the distance, the Aizen clone watched the battle and shook his head, unable to understand the Hancock clone's approach.
Yes, this was the original body's mission.
But did she really have to act so shamelessly manipulative?
The reason the Aizen clone had come to the Land of Rice Fields and chosen to control it indirectly was all for Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's research abilities were unmatched in the Naruto world.
Otherwise, why would the Aizen clone not go manipulate major nations like the Land of Fire or the Land of Lightning instead?
With enough time and some indirect maneuvering, doing so would not have been difficult at all.
Controlling those daimyo was far easier than controlling a Kage.
Dozens of times easier.
That was because Tomie's abilities were simply too absurd.
If Uchiha Fujie truly wanted to, then given enough time, he could unify the entire ninja world.
And there was more than one way to do it.
The Aizen clone did not linger any longer.
The border was a fine place.
Before this small battle ended, he intended to find more ninja and continue tempering his genjutsu through combat.
The reason he remained in the Land of Rice Fields was because Orochimaru would eventually establish Otogakure there.
But the time to meet Orochimaru had not yet come.
"Looks like I'll have to step in myself after all."
The Hancock clone had assumed that the Konoha ninja would be stronger than the wandering ninja.
In the end, they were only this much.
If she did not take action, then by the time reinforcements arrived, nearly everyone here would be dead.
At that point, she would have no choice but to flee miserably all over again.
Even though this was all for completing the original body's mission, there was no way she could go through such a long pursuit without building up some anger.
She wanted the Konoha reinforcements to arrive and join forces with the people here.
Then Kakuzu would finally be forced to pay a price.