"When a person dies, they can no longer make money."
As Kakuzu was flipping through the handbook in his hand and rushing along with Hidan, a clapping sound suddenly appeared in their ears.
"Well said!"
A voice floated down from the sky, gently clapping towards them: "An old person at home is like a treasure, Mr. Kakuzu's life experience is truly rich..."
"Who the hell are you?"
Hidan looked arrogantly at the young man descending from mid-air.
"..."
When Kakuzu saw the figure of the newcomer, a cold sweat immediately appeared on his forehead. His first thought was that the seven-billion or seventy-billion bounty from the Gold Exchange was coming, and his second thought was whether he should abandon Hidan and escape!
"Hey, Kakuzu, what's wrong with you?"
Hidan frowned, surprised as he glanced at Kakuzu, who was always reckless for money: "Do you two know each other? An old friend of yours?"
"Of course."
The newcomer nodded seriously, looking sincerely at Kakuzu: "Mr. Kakuzu and I are old friends. I've always admired Mr. Kakuzu's money-above-all philosophy. In the entire Akatsuki Organization, the person I like the most is Mr. Kakuzu..."
Many people in the Ninja World believe money is useless.
That's because these people have never been bound by money.
If Yakushi Nonou were to be asked, she'd risk her life to be a spy for a little money because a little more could give an orphan a full meal.
"Akihara Kagura..."
Kakuzu spoke the identity of the person coming, immediately notifying Hidan to retreat: "Don't let him touch your body, seize the opportunity to escape immediately!"
"That's Akihara Kagura?"
Hidan looked at Akihara Kagura before him, a manic excitement on his face: "Why run? The money you want has arrived, and so has the person I want to kill!"
Before the words finished...
Hidan swung his scythe and charged at Akihara Kagura!
"This idiot is really unreliable..."
Kakuzu tightly grasped the box full of money, quickly attempting to retreat. He didn't want to accompany Hidan to his death!
Even though Kakuzu knew Hidan's abilities, he didn't believe that this brainless fool could achieve victory in a situation of such a vast disparity in power!
"Wood Release: Woodman Jutsu!"
Akihara Kagura immediately produced a towering woodman, and with a single slap, it directly knocked the advancing Hidan into the ground, seemingly impossible to pull out!
"!!!"
Kakuzu leapt backward to retreat!
For Kakuzu, who had long been used to selling out his teammates, abandoning Hidan at this moment brought no sense of guilt!
"Leaving a companion like that isn't good, is it?"
Akihara Kagura's figure turned into a golden flash, appearing in front of Kakuzu. With a raised hand, he punched Kakuzu's chin, sending him flying backward!
"This guy..."
Kakuzu's eyes almost bulged out!
"Don't be hasty."
Akihara Kagura raised his hand, and a vine emerged from the ground, binding Kakuzu's body while draining his chakra: "I just happened to be passing by and never thought I'd run into Mr. Kakuzu..."
"Akihara Kagura, what do you intend to do..."
Kakuzu could only watch helplessly as he was tied to a tree, feeling his chakra continuously being drained by Akihara Kagura.
"You bastard!"
Hidan struggled to pry himself out of the ground, leaping into the air and swinging his scythe at Akihara Kagura!
"Too noisy."
Akihara Kagura lifted his hand.
A black rod appeared in his hand, and it abruptly flew from his palm, piercing Hidan's chest and nailing him back to the ground!
However...
This kind of fatal injury was nothing more than a minor nuisance for Hidan!
Hidan, while reaching to pull out the black rod from his chest, cursed and swore at Akihara Kagura: "It hurts like hell. I'm going to chop you to pieces!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four more black rods flew out from Akihara Kagura's hand!
This time, the four rods directly pinned Hidan's limbs, rendering him immobile, left to curse incessantly while lying on the ground!
"Let me go quickly!"
"God will protect me; I won't die!"
"You bastard think you can kill me!"
"..."
Kakuzu furrowed his brow, pondering the current situation.
Even if Hidan couldn't die, he couldn't pose any threat to Akihara Kagura. He couldn't even manage to be a nuisance.
Perhaps the only thing Hidan could do was contaminate Akihara Kagura's ears, unless Hidan could obtain Akihara Kagura's blood to use his bizarre ability, but the two of them were unlikely to injure Akihara Kagura...
"You're thinking about how to get him my blood, aren't you?"
Akihara Kagura looked at Kakuzu, seemingly reading Kakuzu's mind.
"How could I..."
Kakuzu looked at Akihara Kagura in disbelief. This guy knew what he was thinking, this guy knew the secret of that idiot Hidan!
But...
That seemed normal too.
"My subordinates long ago found out who that noisy guy is..."
Akihara Kagura glanced at Hidan, who was pinned to the ground in the distance, and slowly spoke: "Speaking of which, my main purpose here is also for him..."
On the way to the Land of Thunder, Akihara Kagura had intentionally been searching for the whereabouts of those who don't die, aiming specifically to capture Hidan.
On one hand...
Hidan's trait of being undying was quite useful.
Akihara Kagura had been collecting suitable candidates for the Six Paths Puppet with the Rinnegan, and the most important among them was the Hell Path Puppet.
As long as the Hell Path Puppet was alive, no matter how damaged the other puppets became in battle, they could still be restored through the Hell Path Puppet's resurrection ability.
Obviously.
Hidan was an extremely suitable candidate.
Hidan originated from a small sect that worshiped an unknown evil deity in the Ninja World, and they had performed a sacrificial ritual using Hidan.
Since then...
Hidan possessed an undying body.
No matter the method, Hidan could not be killed.
In addition, Hidan gained the ability to curse others. As long as he acquired a drop of the enemy's blood, he could use the curse to remotely curse the enemy, so the enemy attacking Hidan was like attacking themselves.
No one could kill him, yet he could kill anyone.
Perhaps that was why Hidan's brain became less flexible, and he'd recklessly charge into enemies, unable to distinguish between strong or weak foes. As long as he could secure the enemy's blood, he could instantly claim victory.
This method was very insidious.
Even many stronger ninjas than Hidan could fall for it.
"Let's get down to business first..."
Akihara Kagura's figure appeared beside Hidan, and he used the Soul Imprisonment Jutsu to immediately prevent Hidan's soul from leaving his body.
When it came to utilizing living people to create Six Paths Puppets, Akihara Kagura had long mastered the process. The Soul Imprisonment Jutsu inked the soul to prevent it from leaving the body, turning the person into a puppet. Even if the person died during the puppet creation, the soul would be sealed within the puppet.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"What are you going to do to me!"
"Let me go! It hurts, you bastard!"
Hidan continued cursing, but his body couldn't resist, forced to watch as black rods were inserted into his body.
"My body..."
Hidan's pupils widened, feeling his control over his body slipping away: "You... what do you want with my body..."
"I'm helping you gain a more powerful ability..."
After filling Hidan's body with black rods, Akihara Kagura raised his hand and left a curse seal mark on Hidan's body.
"From today on, you are Hell Path: Hidan."
Akihara Kagura raised a finger, controlling Hidan's body to stand up, attempting to have Hidan move a bit: "Before you can truly use this name, let's first test if the abilities you had in life remain?"
"What on earth... is happening?"
Hidan involuntarily lifted his scythe, step by step heading towards Kakuzu: "Wait, what do you intend to control me for..."
"Is there anyone more suitable for an experiment than the undying Mr. Kakuzu?"
Akihara Kagura looked at Kakuzu, who was tied to the tree, explaining softly: "Your ability is meant to kill, and I don't want to kill indiscriminately..."