Amakusa Ryuji and Hyuga Keiko exchanged a glance. They did not recognize the man ahead of them, yet a chill crawled up their spines all the same.
At nearly the same instant, Kaede Kitahara slipped a Kunai etched with the Flying Thunder God mark from his pouch.
His teammates did not know who this was.
He did.
That unmistakable black cloak patterned with red clouds could belong to no one else. The financial overseer of Akatsuki. Once an elite Jonin of Takigakure.
Kakuzu.
The very man Kaede used to joke about, the one who had thrown a single Shuriken at the First Hokage from eight hundred miles away.
It had been a joke.
But the man standing there was no punchline.
He was a genuine Kage Level veteran who had lived for nearly a century.
"I didn't expect someone as insignificant as me to draw out someone like you," Kaede said calmly, pulling two more Flying Thunder God Kunai from his pouch and handing one to each of his teammates.
They did not quite understand why, nor did they lack weapons of their own. Still, the moment they took them, they realized these Kunai were different. Heavier than standard ones. Strange formula markings carved along the blade.
"Oh?" Kakuzu's eyes narrowed slightly. "Brat, you know me?"
He was not exactly low-profile over the years. But he was pushing a hundred. Anyone who had truly known him back then was long dead.
Even now, though he moved around as Akatsuki's financial officer and occasionally handled things personally, very few people could recognize him.
"Kakuzu. Former elite Jonin of Takigakure. Ordered by your village to assassinate the First Hokage."
Kaede looked at him with a faint smile.
"I've got to say, you and your village had guts. Trying to kill the God of Shinobi. And you actually survived. Came back, only to be declared a failure and punished. So you decided if you were going down, you'd take everyone with you. Slaughtered the higher-ups and became a Missing-nin. That about right?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Honestly, I think you got a raw deal. Risked your life for a backwater village. Failed against the God of Shinobi and still got punished. You of all people should know how strong the First Hokage really was."
Hyuga Keiko and Amakusa Ryuji stared at Kakuzu in disbelief.
Was that even possible?
The First Hokage had lived how many decades ago?
Did that mean this man was nearly a hundred years old?
Could a ninja even live that long?
No, forget that.
What kind of hundred-year-old was still out here grinding through missions?
That was just tragic.
And at Kaede's teasing tone, something flickered across Kakuzu's expression. A hint of agreement.
Damn right.
Was that a reasonable mission?
Go assassinate the God of Shinobi?
Even so, he had risked everything for his village.
He would never forget how it had gone.
He had been beaten like a child by Senju Hashirama. Completely overwhelmed. If Hashirama had harbored even a sliver of killing intent, he would not have escaped no matter how many lives he had.
Eight hundred would not have been enough.
Only then had he understood just how terrifying a ninja could become.
No wonder he had been called the God of Shinobi.
Back then, the era of hidden villages had only just begun. Information was scarce. Most conflicts were still between clans, rarely crossing national borders.
So even though Hashirama's strength was monstrous, to outsiders he was simply "very strong." No one imagined he was beyond the limits of comprehension.
Now?
Aside from Kaede, perhaps only Kakuzu truly understood what that title meant.
And after risking his life to return, what did he receive?
Punishment.
For failing.
As if anyone in this world could succeed in assassinating the God of Shinobi.
Enraged, he broke out of prison, seized the village's secret technique, Earth Grudge Fear, and used it to slaughter the leadership, ripping out their hearts.
That was his past.
What surprised him was that this brat in front of him knew it.
These were ancient memories, buried even in his own mind.
"The First Hokage… was a ninja worthy of respect," Kakuzu said after a pause.
Even as an enemy, he could not summon a trace of disrespect toward Senju Hashirama.
Hashirama had spared him once.
And that overwhelming power still haunted him.
Yes, after obtaining Earth Grudge Fear, his strength had risen sharply. He had stepped into Kage Level territory instead of merely elite Jonin.
But what did ordinary Kage Level amount to before Hashirama?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Amakusa Ryuji and Hyuga Keiko listened in silence.
No matter how they looked at it, Takigakure had been cruel.
A man who gambled his life for his village did not deserve that fate.
And sending someone to assassinate the First Hokage in the first place…
Whoever issued that order had to be insane.
Even among the Five Great Nations, which Kage could claim victory against him?
Still, admiration was one thing.
Right now, Kakuzu was their enemy.
"But why would someone like you go out of your way to target a nameless Chunin squad like us?" Kaede asked.
He knew more than he let on.
About Earth Grudge Fear.
About Akatsuki.
But he had no intention of revealing too much too early.
For the weak, knowing too much was rarely a blessing.
At the same time, he began sensing the positions of his Flying Thunder God Kunai, ready to teleport away at the first sign of trouble.
"I don't know what value you have," Kakuzu said flatly. "But the Bounty Station put ten million ryo on your head. I'll collect it for travel expenses."
Kaede's face twitched.
And here he had thought Kakuzu held some personal grudge strong enough to chase him into the middle of nowhere.
Turns out he was just convenient.
Then again, considering Kakuzu's personality in the original story, it made sense.
Greedy to the core.
Akatsuki had assigned him partners before. He killed most of them. It was not until Hidan, with his immortality, showed up that he finally had someone durable enough.
Even then, he would delay major missions to take on side bounties. Hidan hated it.
So for ten million ryo?
Of course he would "drop by."
That was how Akatsuki built its funds.
Little by little.
Only for it all to become six hundred billion Explosive Tags and blow everything sky-high.
Kaede almost felt sorry for him.
If Kakuzu had lived long enough to see that, he might have suffered simultaneous heart attacks in all five hearts.
"Ten million ryo?" Amakusa Ryuji muttered. "Kaede, Danzo really set a high price on you. That's practically Jonin-level."
Hyuga Keiko nodded.
Bounties over ten million were typically reserved for major figures at Jonin rank.
Elite Jonin could fetch over thirty million.
Ordinary Chunin were lucky to hit one or two million.
"All right. Enough talk." Kakuzu rolled his shoulders slightly. "I've already allowed you to live longer than necessary."
The brat had stirred up old memories. That had bought him a few extra minutes.
Now his patience was up.
And after today, another ten million would be in his pocket.
Just thinking about it put him in a good mood.
He even found Kaede more pleasing to look at.
Since the kid was bringing him such profit, maybe he would spare his heart today.
Kaede let out a quiet breath.
"You two go. He's not someone ordinary ninja can handle. Even Jonin are fragile in front of him."
He understood Kakuzu's strength clearly.
Even most elite Jonin were no match.
Hatake Kakashi himself had barely held on, and that was with reinforcements from Naruto and the others.
Replace him with an average elite Jonin, and they would be dead.
Take Sarutobi Asuma, for example.
Both were elite Jonin.
But Asuma had reached that rank by fully tapping into his own limits.
Kakashi had reached it while holding himself back.
They were not the same.
Some people score full marks because that is their ceiling.
Others score full marks because the test only goes that high.
"What about you?" Amakusa Ryuji asked, worry evident in his voice.
From the moment Kaede drew that marked Kunai, they had realized this enemy was no ordinary threat.
Since becoming a Chunin and leading missions, Kaede had never looked this serious.
He had not expected that a routine assignment would involve a Kage Level opponent.
Was that even reasonable?
A Kage Level monster accepting a mission to hunt down a Chunin squad?
Did top-tier powerhouses not have any pride?
Then again…
Maybe others did.
Kakuzu certainly did not.
He was a money-obsessed fanatic.
For ten million ryo, he would come personally.
For one million, he might still make the trip.
And all of this—
All of it traced back to that old schemer, Danzo.