"Akatsuki…?"
Natsuhiko narrowed his eyes as he took in the black cloaks adorned with red clouds. Even without seeing their faces, he already knew exactly who they were.
Still, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
It wasn't as if he hadn't had… pleasant and friendly exchanges with members of the Akatsuki before.
He had snatched a kill right out from under Kakuzu, then done the same to Sasori, and to top it all off, he had even cut off one of Obito's arms.
And yet, throughout all of that, he had never revealed his true identity. Even now, having quietly come to Rōran, he hadn't exposed who he was.
So why… were these people blocking his path?
"Who are they?" Sara had already noticed the shift in his expression, her gaze following his toward the distant figures. "Are they from Sunagakure?"
"No." Natsuhiko shook his head, though a thought quickly crossed his mind. "Or rather… I'm not sure. I don't even know if they count as enemies."
"Then what should we do? Go around them?" Sara asked quietly. No matter how she looked at them, those figures didn't seem like people anyone would want to provoke.
"Have your people detour and keep moving," Natsuhiko said after a moment's thought. "I'll go take a look. Prepare for the worst—if a fight breaks out, run as far as you can and stay out of the affected area. Understood?"
Sara nodded seriously before quickly turning back toward the caravan to relay his instructions.
Meanwhile, Natsuhiko walked forward alone, heading straight toward the Akatsuki members. Truthfully, he was quite curious himself—just who exactly had come.
Having already clashed with the Akatsuki before, he had no reason to avoid another confrontation. If anything, he knew their conflicts would only escalate in the future.
But as he drew closer, his brows slowly knit together.
They weren't strangers at all.
There were three of them—Sasori and Kakuzu among them.
Natsuhiko couldn't quite figure out how those two had ended up together. As far as he remembered, they had never been partners.
However, when his gaze shifted to the woman standing beside them, realization dawned on him.
Konan… is she here to recruit Sasori?
He murmured inwardly. While this particular detail hadn't been explicitly mentioned in the original story, he had seen a similar scene in the games—Konan recruiting Sasori in the Land of Wind.
Could it be… I just happened to run into it?
The more he thought about it, the more certain he became.
As for Kakuzu's presence, that wasn't particularly surprising. A man driven by money would travel anywhere in the shinobi world if the reward was right.
And there was no way Nagato would let Konan handle something this dangerous alone. Having Kakuzu accompany her under the guise of a mission made perfect sense—it was protection, plain and simple.
By the time these thoughts settled, Natsuhiko had already approached the three of them.
He smiled faintly, sweeping his gaze across Konan, Kakuzu, and Sasori before giving a slight nod.
"Hello," he greeted calmly. "May I ask what brings the three of you here?"
"It's nothing particularly important," Sasori replied, his eyes fixed on Natsuhiko. For some reason, the man in front of him felt strangely familiar.
He wasn't the only one who felt that way.
Kakuzu, too, frowned slightly, studying Natsuhiko with a hint of suspicion, as if trying to recall where he had seen him before.
There was something about his tone—his manner of speaking—that stirred up faintly unpleasant memories in both Sasori and Kakuzu.
As it turned out, the reason the three of them had come together was almost exactly as Natsuhiko had guessed.
Konan had come to the Land of Wind to recruit Sasori, while Kakuzu had accompanied her in secret as protection. Sasori was far too dangerous an individual, and although Konan was strong in her own right, Kakuzu had no intention of letting her face unnecessary risk.
Once their objective was complete, they had originally planned to return directly to the Land of Rain.
But then, an overwhelming surge of chakra had erupted, forcing them to stop in their tracks.
The sheer intensity of that chakra had shocked even them, compelling them to investigate what exactly had happened.
Sasori, in particular, had shown great interest. He had already determined the direction of the chakra surge—it had come from Rōran, the ancient city that had long remained within the Land of Wind.
And within Rōran… lay the Ryūmyaku.
That was something Sasori knew very well.
Which only made him more eager to uncover the truth.
However, when they arrived, they found the city deserted. The place where the Ryūmyaku had been sealed was utterly destroyed, reduced to ruins.
At the same time, quite a number of Sunagakure shinobi had also gathered to investigate, with small squads beginning to mobilize.
The situation struck Sasori as odd.
He even began to suspect that perhaps Sunagakure itself had stolen the Ryūmyaku. Otherwise, why would they only deploy such limited forces? Their reaction felt far too subdued, almost as if they didn't truly care.
"And the people of this place have all vanished," Sasori had remarked, sharing his thoughts with Konan and Kakuzu. "Judging by the traces outside, they left on their own. If we follow them, we might learn what really happened."
The three of them had agreed and set off in pursuit.
And by sheer coincidence, they arrived just in time to witness Natsuhiko effortlessly wiping out a small squad of Suna shinobi.
That eerie speed… and the clean, decisive execution—it was enough to make even them frown.
They were all seasoned fighters. It was obvious at a glance that Natsuhiko hadn't used much strength at all, and the ease with which he acted suggested that he had long since grown accustomed to killing.
Someone like that… could never be an unknown nobody.
...
"Ah, I see," Natsuhiko said, unaware of their thoughts, maintaining his calm smile. "In that case, I won't disturb you any further. I still have an escort mission to complete."
"Just an escort mission?" Sasori spoke up suddenly, his voice indifferent. "Those people are residents of Rōran, and not long ago, a peculiar surge of power occurred there. I imagine you must know something about it."
"What are you talking about?" Natsuhiko feigned confusion, his expression perfectly composed. "I don't understand what you mean, nor what you're implying. My apologies, but I'm in a hurry."
"I'm afraid we can't allow that," Kakuzu said as he stepped forward, his tone cold. "Not unless you explain a few things first."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because whatever you took… we're very interested in it."
Kakuzu's gaze sharpened, and after a brief pause, he added in a low voice:
"And for some reason… just looking at you makes me feel uneasy."
The desert winds howled endlessly, sand swirling through the air in restless currents.
Amid that shifting veil of dust, Natsuhiko stood facing the three members of the Akatsuki, the atmosphere growing heavy and oppressive.
Then, suddenly, he let out a soft chuckle.
The sound cut through the tension like a blade, and in that instant, his chakra began to surge violently.
Kakuzu… he's sharper than I thought.
Even without his mask, the man had still sensed something.
In the end, this man had simply lived too long. Time had worn him down, leaving him numb and directionless, with no real goal to speak of. In the end, the only thing that still drove him forward was money.
And now… Natsuhiko had taken a "head" right out from under him.
For Kakuzu, obstructing someone's financial gain was no different from killing their parents. That belief was etched into him so deeply that it had become almost instinct.
Even if he hadn't recognized who Natsuhiko was, the irritation in his heart was undeniable—and more importantly, he had no intention of suppressing it.
"It seems we're going to have to fight," Natsuhiko sighed helplessly. "I don't really know who you people are, and I don't want to waste time, but—"
"It won't be a waste of time." Sasori interrupted as he stepped forward.
With a casual wave of his hand, a puff of smoke burst into the air, and the Third Kazekage's puppet appeared before him.
"We'll make this quick. It's not just him—you're getting on my nerves too."
"I understand," Natsuhiko replied with a resigned nod. "Looks like there's no avoiding it after all."
The moment his words fell, Kakuzu moved.
His fist shot forward like a cannonball, tearing through the air toward Natsuhiko's head. But Natsuhiko simply leapt upward, narrowly evading the strike.
He didn't use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
It wasn't that he lacked the opportunity to set it up—ever since obtaining the intermediate sealing-type fruit, his mastery of the technique had far surpassed its previous limits. If he wished, he could now inscribe seals anywhere at will, without needing Wood Release seeds as support.
But the Flying Thunder God Technique had already become the signature of "Konoha Nightingale." At least for now, he wasn't ready to reveal that identity-related information to them.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
While retreating through the air, Natsuhiko brought two fingers together and completed a hand seal in an instant.
From his mouth erupted a high-pressure stream of water, compressed into a razor-sharp jet that shot straight toward the three Akatsuki members.
Even in such an arid environment, he had still managed to unleash a Water Release technique of this caliber—a fact that briefly surprised them.
But their reactions were just as fast as ever. Without hesitation, all three of them evaded the attack.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The water jet missed its targets, but the compressed chakra water blade carved violently through the sand where they had stood, shredding the desert surface and blasting apart the hidden rock beneath, sending shockwaves through the ground.
The three landed smoothly, glancing back at the destruction left behind—and their expressions grew serious.
Konan's chakra surged as paper wings unfolded from her back.
Sasori manipulated the Third Kazekage's puppet, black iron sand scattering into the air like a storm of death.
Kakuzu, meanwhile, grabbed the edges of his cloak and tore it open, revealing a body stitched together with countless seams.
With a low, beast-like growl, four masked entities burst out from his body—each one formed of writhing black threads—and dispersed into the surrounding area.
"Looks like they're taking this seriously," Natsuhiko muttered, shaking his head slightly.
Their reaction was far beyond what he had expected. If he were to face them with only his current baseline strength, things would become troublesome—even with his vast chakra reserves.
In that case, I'll try Sage Mode first. And if that's not enough—
As he thought this, his sage chakra began to circulate within him.
And then—
"Natsuhiko… do you want to try resonance with me?"
The Nine-Tails' voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Hm?" He paused slightly. Weren't you the one who said it wasn't possible yet?
"That's not what I meant," the Nine-Tails replied. "What I meant was that I can't fully control my current power on my own."
The young Nine-Tails quickly responded, and fortunately, within the mental space, their exchange took place in an instant—no time at all had passed in the outside world.
"In this state, full synchronization of our power isn't possible. But you can perfectly utilize my chakra."
"You mean… I can use your chakra independently, without fully synchronizing with you?"
Natsuhiko immediately grasped the Nine-Tails' intent, and in the next moment, several memories surfaced in his mind.
He suddenly realized that Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode actually had multiple stages.
The first was a basic chakra cloak form—back then, Naruto hadn't yet gained the Nine-Tails' acknowledgment. He was simply borrowing its chakra.
The second stage was true acknowledgment: full resonance between human and beast, elevating him into a perfect jinchūriki.
In that state, Naruto could even combine it with Sage Mode, further amplifying his strength to an extraordinary degree.
What Natsuhiko had originally envisioned was jumping straight to that second stage.
After all, the young Nine-Tails already trusted him completely, and it had been nurtured through his own chakra and the system itself. In theory, chakra resonance between them should have been even smoother and easier.
But now it seemed the Nine-Tails' current evolution had become too volatile, making it impossible for it to fully stabilize its power.
Under these conditions, reaching the second stage was simply unrealistic.
However, the first stage… that didn't seem to be a problem at all. The little guy had never been stingy with its chakra.
So in the end, I've basically swapped roles with Naruto…
A wry smile surfaced in Natsuhiko's mind.
He had to earn the Nine-Tails' trust, while I have to wait for the Nine-Tails to learn how to control its own power.
At that moment, he leapt again, narrowly avoiding the coordinated assault from the three Akatsuki members.
No matter how fast their mental exchange was, in reality, enemies would never stand still and wait.
These three were veterans—there was no way they would give him any breathing room.
But Natsuhiko didn't need much time to adjust.
The moment he landed, he formed a single-handed seal, and his chakra surged violently within him.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Instantly, a massive earthen barrier erupted from the ground, separating Natsuhiko from the three Akatsuki members.
Although it wouldn't hold for long, it was more than enough.
"Now!" Natsuhiko called inwardly.
"Got it. Brace yourself—my chakra isn't exactly gentle," the Nine-Tails replied.
Before Natsuhiko could even react, a torrent of overwhelming chakra erupted from within him and surged through his body.
In an instant, a crimson chakra cloak formed around him, growing denser and darker by the second. He could even feel a tail manifesting behind him.
"…Why is it this form?"
Natsuhiko blinked in slight disbelief, glancing toward the earth wall that was already beginning to crack.
For most jinchūriki, a half-beast transformation was already the standard method of utilizing a Tailed Beast's power.
Only someone like Naruto had ever reached the level of a perfect jinchūriki, freely using the Nine-Tails' chakra as a stable combat state.
For ordinary jinchūriki, such a thing was almost unthinkable.
To achieve that level required not only mutual acknowledgment from the Tailed Beast, but also absolute control over its chakra.
The first requirement alone had driven countless jinchūriki to despair, and most never even had the chance to attempt the second.
But Natsuhiko was different. He and the Nine-Tails shared an almost absolute level of trust.
Which was exactly why he had never even considered using a half-transformation state against these opponents.
Moreover, anyone who saw a half-tailed-beast transformation would immediately understand what was going on, whereas a chakra mode—unless someone was extremely familiar with Tailed Beasts—was not so easily recognized.
"You need to control my chakra and merge it with your own chakra," the young Nine-Tails quickly said in Natsuhiko's mind, its voice carrying a hint of urgency.
"Only then can you form the chakra mode. You have to fuse it, control it, and then use it!"
"I see," Natsuhiko said as he took a deep breath, his expression turning serious. "So it's like Sage Mode?"
Without hesitation, he began to guide the Nine-Tails' chakra into fusion with his own.
In a sense, the process really was similar to Sage Mode. Sage Mode involved drawing in natural energy and merging it with one's chakra to create senjutsu chakra.
Now, Natsuhiko was treating the Nine-Tails' chakra as if it were natural energy. What he needed to do was control it, integrate it, and then refine it into a usable power.
It was far from a simple process—but fortunately, he had extensive experience with Sage Mode.
Combined with the "Jinchūriki" trait displayed on his system panel, the fusion was completed in an extremely short time.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion rang out as the Earth-Style Wall he had erected shattered completely. Thick smoke and dust flooded the battlefield, swallowing Natsuhiko's figure entirely.
But even in the midst of it, he remained completely calm. At this point, he had already begun actively manipulating the chakra within him.
And as the fusion stabilized, he could clearly feel his strength rising once again.
The enhancement felt very similar to Sage Mode—but instinctively, Natsuhiko felt that this state might actually surpass it.
It wasn't that Sage Mode was inferior. In fact, Naruto had already proven its value.
When Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode faced Obito in his Six Paths state, it had been unable to deal significant damage—but Sage Mode still allowed him to injure Obito's Six Paths body.
In terms of versatility and overall tier, senjutsu was arguably higher than the Nine-Tails' chakra alone.
Unless Tailed Beast chakra reached the level of the Ten-Tails, it simply couldn't compare at a fundamental level.
"But in terms of raw quantity and explosive enhancement, Tailed Beast chakra is overwhelmingly dominant—and its boost to individual strength is absurd."
Natsuhiko rapidly analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of both Sage Mode and the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
At that moment, his body began to change dramatically.
The crimson chakra cloak around him gradually transformed into a faint golden hue. At the same time, strange markings resembling tomoe-like seals began to emerge across his body.
In that instant, his perception expanded—he could now sense things he had never been able to perceive before.
Not physical objects, but something deeper—emotions, or perhaps a clear distinction between the concepts of good and evil hidden within the human heart.
Good and evil intent…?
He murmured softly.
And in that very moment—
A massive black spike-like structure shot violently toward him.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted as sand and dust were blown into the air. In the sky above, the Third Kazekage puppet appeared silently.
It was clearly Sasori's attack.
But unfortunately for them, Natsuhiko's sensory ability had already surpassed his previous limits.
More importantly, in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, his speed had reached an unimaginable level.
While he still couldn't match space-time techniques like Flying Thunder God, he had already reached the level of the Fourth Raikage.
And the moment he touched down again—
A bolt of lightning slammed straight toward him.
Natsuhiko instantly recognized it as Kakuzu's attack and blurred his body, vanishing from the spot once more.
But almost immediately, he noticed countless sheets of white paper surging toward him from every direction.
Within those white paper sheets, there was also a terrifying surge of chakra—clearly enough to ignite them or even trigger explosions.
"Paper Release? Interesting," Natsuhiko muttered.
He leapt once more, instantly evading the papers infused with dangerous chakra and rendering their attack useless.
Landing lightly on the ground, he paused for a brief moment of thought before pulling out a kunai. In an instant, chakra surged across its blade, and his gaze locked firmly onto the three Akatsuki members ahead.
Up until now, evasion had been a necessity. But that was no longer the case.
Now, he intended to properly test the power of this Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
...
"So fast… just what is this guy?" Konan hovered in midair, staring at the golden-chakra-clad figure in the distance. Her expression was grim.
"First, he used that kind of terrifying Water Release in the middle of the desert. Then he displayed this kind of speed. And now he's covered in a golden chakra cloak…"
"Kakuzu, you've lived a long time, haven't you? And you two both seem to have issues with him. Can you give me an answer?"
"To be honest, I'm surprised too," Kakuzu replied with a dark expression. Even he had been genuinely taken aback.
"To unleash that level of Water Release in a place like this—where there's no water source at all…"
"In my seventy-plus years of life, very few people have been capable of something like that."
"As for his current state… I don't really know. Everything about this kid is bizarre beyond comprehension."
"And as for disliking him… I can't even explain it. I just feel like I've seen him before… and maybe even suffered losses because of him."
"I feel the same," Sasori added immediately, his brow furrowing as well.
"I also feel like I've encountered him somewhere before… and probably even taken a small loss. But I can't remember where."
"With someone like that, you don't just forget him easily."
Indeed—it was hard to forget.
That kind of speed, that level of ninjutsu… he was clearly no ordinary opponent.
And especially that golden chakra cloak—such a distinctive presence made him impossible to ignore.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, all three of them changed expression at the same time, each instinctively leaping away in different directions.
But a golden blur had already appeared between them.
A kunai wrapped in pale gold chakra stabbed violently toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu's expression shifted slightly. The speed was absurd.
But he was, after all, a veteran shinobi. In an instant, he switched his chakra nature, earth-style chakra surging through his body.
"Ha!"
With a roar, he swung his fist directly at the incoming kunai.
In the past, even when Natsuhiko had struck him with a full-powered blade, he had suffered no damage at all.
But this time—
The kunai pierced straight through his fist.
"—Ah!!"
Kakuzu let out a furious roar. The pain of having his hand pierced was excruciating. Fortunately, Konan and Sasori had already moved.
"Paper Release: Paper Shuriken!"
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Giant Needles!"
Both techniques surged toward Natsuhiko simultaneously.
Kakuzu grit his teeth. One of his masked hearts quickly retreated, while another extended its arm, grabbing tightly onto Natsuhiko—clearly intending to pin him down and prevent any escape.
At that critical moment, Kakuzu's veteran instincts and decisiveness were on full display.
"BOOM!"
When the Paper and Iron Sand finally engulfed both him and Kakuzu, a deafening explosion erupted once more. Dust and debris surged outward in every direction, filling the battlefield.
It took a long while before the swirling sand and smoke gradually settled, revealing two figures—both battered and pinned firmly to the ground by massive iron sand spears.
Kakuzu was no longer breathing.
His luck had been terrible; one of the iron sand needles had pierced straight through his back and into his heart.
And yet, his body was still connected by Earth Grudge Fear—he still possessed enough spare hearts to avoid true death.
As for Natsuhiko, his condition looked far worse on the surface. Several iron sand needles had pierced his body, pinning him tightly to the ground.
However, it seemed that in the instant he was struck, he had shifted ever so slightly—just enough to avoid all fatal injuries.
"Is it over?"
Sasori observed from a distance, showing no intention of approaching.
"I don't know," Konan said as she slowly descended from the sky, maintaining a careful distance from the area. "Maybe it's over… or maybe it isn't."
Ninjas were not to be underestimated. Especially not someone as bizarre as this man.
Even Kakuzu, who appeared to be dead, had not "revived," as if he too was waiting for confirmation from Konan and Sasori before making any further move.
These people… none of them were easy to deal with. Their caution and vigilance were truly infuriatingly thorough.
"So it seems my plan has failed," a voice suddenly rang out.
The seemingly dying Natsuhiko slowly raised his head, sounding faintly resigned—but there was no trace of weakness in him anymore.
POOF!
With a dull burst of sound, the pierced "Natsuhiko" vanished completely.
At a distance, the real him stepped forward calmly.
He looked slightly frustrated.
Originally, he had planned to give the Akatsuki members a little "surprise"—for example, using a Shadow Clone to draw them in, then detonating it the moment they closed in, while his real body launched a follow-up ambush from behind.
Unfortunately, none of them took the bait.
Not a single one.
His carefully prepared surprise had gone completely to waste.
"As expected, someone like you wouldn't be taken down so easily."
Sasori turned toward him. His expression remained unchanged, but his gaze had grown noticeably more guarded.
"Though I would have preferred it if you had died. It would have saved us a lot of trouble."
"But since you're still alive, that just means we'll be able to extract even more information from you. That's not bad either."
"Hmph! It is a pity you didn't die—but now I'm even more interested in you!"
After confirming the situation, Kakuzu had fully revived as well. His gaze locked onto Natsuhiko with a chilling intensity, his green eyes filled with violent greed.
"Since you're not dead, I can rip out your heart myself!"
"You're clearly skilled in Water Release and Earth Release. Perfect—I just lost an Earth Release heart. Yours will replace it nicely!"
"You won't get the chance."
Konan rose once more into the air. Cold and composed, she looked down at Natsuhiko as white sheets of paper began to swirl around her again.
"While I don't want unnecessary trouble, and I don't agree with their approach…"
"But things have already reached this point. There's nothing more to say. We won't give you any opening."
Facing the three of them and sensing the turbulent chakra rising from their bodies, Natsuhiko showed no sign of fear.
Konan, at least, was interesting. From the beginning, he had not sensed any hostility from her.
But whether there was hostility or not no longer mattered.
It was time to get serious.
After all, such excellent sparring partners… it would be a shame to let them go to waste.
Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Natsuhiko's face as he slowly rotated the kunai in his hand.
Then he asked lightly,
"How many of you do you think… will still be alive when this is over?"