Mayuri Kurotsuchi Card Game, starting from Naruto

Chapter 88 Target Kakuzu

"Is there anything you'd like to ask, Shisui?"

After parting ways with the Akatsuki and starting anew, Shisui, looking at Shisui beside him with a hesitant expression, took the initiative to ask.

"Are you sure there won't be any problems? Giving this technology to this organization?" Hearing Shisui's words, Shisui didn't hide his doubts. "According to intelligence, the Akatsuki organization's status in the Land of Rain is not recognized."

"Are you worried about Hanzo?" Lu Nie heard Shisui's hint.

In Konoha, Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, was no less famous than the Kage of the other four great nations. After all, the three legendary Sannin, even when they joined forces in their youth, still suffered a crushing defeat against one of them. If Hanzo hadn't had his reservations at the end, and if Tsunade's medical ninjutsu hadn't been so outstanding, it's questionable whether the current Sannin would even exist.

"Yes." Shisui nodded.

Under the influence of Orochimaru and Shikaguchi, Shisui has matured in his character. In his view, Amegakure would never allow an organization like Akatsuki to grow strong and active, and the reason they haven't taken action yet might be due to other reasons.

But putting all that aside, Shisui had a very favorable impression of the three who founded Akatsuki, especially Yahiko. Yahiko's proposed peace ideals aligned with his own.

Moreover, the other party is putting its peace ideals into practice.

"If the village really needs that paper ninja, we should invite them to join Konoha," Shisui said after a pause.

He phrased it very tactfully, but even the easygoing Hongdou understood his true intention.

"This is kidnapping, Shisui!" Anko's words made Shisui's face freeze instantly.

His suggestion was to find a way to invite Konan to join Konoha and gain Konoha's protection. This would be difficult for other ninjas, but as Jiraiya's former student, with Jiraiya's endorsement, it wouldn't be difficult for the three of them to join Konoha and be considered as one of Konoha's own.

He could also see that Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan had a deep bond. If he could persuade one of them to join, the other two wouldn't stand in his way, and might even consider joining as well.

What Anko was thinking was the same as his plan to forcibly tie people up and take them to Konoha.

"It's difficult." Lu Nie shook his head. He didn't go into details about the troubles behind the three of them, but instead said from a different angle, "They won't give up the Akatsuki organization that they built from scratch and come back to Konoha with us."

Although Yahiko seems easy to talk to, he's probably quite stubborn. If Minami is willing to leave with us, he won't stop her; he might even wish her well. But he himself will never leave.

However, bound by emotional ties, Konan wouldn't separate from him and Nagato. Therefore, the invitation was destined to fail. As for taking action…”

"Are you worried about Lord Jiraiya?" Shisui thought he understood Shiranui's concerns. Given their status, it was indeed inappropriate for them to attack Jiraiya's disciple.

Lu Nie didn't correct Shisui's guess. They couldn't very well say that Nagato's eyes, hidden by his bangs, were the legendary Rinnegan. They might not be able to win against him.

He had no intention of completely severing ties with Yahiko and the other two.

"What about the Rain Ninja and Hanzo?" Anko suddenly asked. "If they continue like this, they'll inevitably clash with the Rain Ninja sooner or later, won't they?"

"That depends on their strength and whether our warnings are effective," Lu Nie said as he continued on his way.

"Where are we going next?" Shisui asked as he quickened his pace to keep up with Lu Nie, realizing that Lu Nie had no intention of returning to the village for the time being.

"Go find the underground gold exchange located at the border between the Land of Rain and Konoha," Lu Nie replied. "I need to find a ninja."

While the main employers in the ninja world are the five great ninja villages, there are many times when wandering ninjas and rogue ninjas from ninja villages also need money to make a living.

The underground gold exchange serves these ninjas who operate independently of the ninja villages. Their partners include not only nobles and merchants from various countries, but also bounties issued by other ninja villages.

The Third Tsuchikage was the one who made the most thorough use of the underground gold exchange. Especially during wartime, Iwagakure would hire a large number of wandering ninja and rogue ninja to attack and harass enemy ninja.

While the underground gold exchange is a mixed bag, it also contains powerful ninjas who are comparable to Jonin or even elite Jonin.

Kakuzu was such a powerful ninja.

As a long-standing figure in the underground gold exchange business, he has outlived many of its managers. As a regular customer, he enjoys top-tier intelligence treatment in the underground gold exchange industry.

Wherever there's a big bounty, that's where he'll be. His high mission completion rate and excellent reputation have made him a legend among the managers of underground gold exchange agencies.

Therefore, finding such a person is not difficult for a major ninja village like Konoha.

Or rather, even if Orochimaru used his own power, he could provide Shikane with relevant intelligence and information. Of course, this intelligence and information would be limited to his location and identity.

"Come out!"

After exchanging his money at the underground exchange, Kakuzu, carrying his suitcase, stopped in a dense forest.

Wartime was the time when rogue ninja like him worked the most. The war between Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Konoha, and Iwagakure caused a surge in the number of missions available in the underground black market.

During this period, Kakuzu almost always wandered around the area near the battlefield.

He had killed at least a dozen ninjas from various villages during this period, so it wasn't surprising that he was being targeted. Whether the information was leaked or not was irrelevant to him, since he never trusted anyone else.

"Is he a brat from Konoha?"

Upon seeing the three people appear before him, Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, glancing at their headbands. But the next moment, he turned and left without hesitation.

"Hey, why are you leaving like that?" Anko asked, somewhat bewildered, as she watched Kakuzu turn and leave without looking back. Are all these rogue ninjas this good-natured now?

"You want my head?" Kakuzu paused, turned around, and asked coldly.

Hongdou was somewhat taken aback by the question. She looked blankly at Lu Nie, as if to ask if they should make a move.

"Mr. Kakuzu, may I study you?" Ignoring the red bean looking at him, Lu Nie earnestly asked Kakuzu in front of him.

"Research?" Kakuzu's expression instantly turned cold.

"Let me see." Kakuzu carefully examined the stack of bounty mission lists in his hand. "What a pity, it seems my memory is not wrong! You guys are just a bunch of greenhorns. Either you don't even have any bounties, or the bounties are too low, and those guys didn't offer me any."

"Fighting you is a waste of my time. Time is money!" Kakuzu carefully and solemnly placed the box containing the money aside, walked back, and stretched. "It seems you won't amount to anything, so you're not worth sparing my life. In that case, I'll finish you off in one go!"

Fire Release: Head Carving!

As Kakuzu spoke, his fingers rapidly formed hand seals. Almost instantly, a spark burst from his mouth, transforming into a sea of ​​fire that surged toward Lu Nie and the other two.

Water Escape·Water Formation Wall!

At the same moment Kakuzu made his move, Shisui, who was standing next to Kakuzu, instantly appeared in front of him. At the same time, his hands formed a hand seal almost simultaneously with Kakuzu's, and a swirling water curtain rose from the ground beneath his feet, rotating to protect him and Kakuzu and Anko behind him in all directions.

The raging sea of ​​fire and the swirling water collided, producing a hissing sound.

The next moment, the swirling water curtain transformed into a water dragon in mid-air, roaring as it crashed down. The massive flow of water extinguished the sea of ​​fire. Within the rising steam, both sides instantly began moving at lightning speed.

"Those eyes...the Sharingan!"

Kakuzu's voice rang out from among the trees, and compared to his previous reluctant attitude, there was an unexpected hint of excitement in his tone.

"This reminds me of that man who was once on par with the First Hokage."

Fire Release: Red Phoenix Claw

Shisui ignored Kakuzu's somewhat nostalgic tone. After his Sharingan caught Kakuzu's movement, he immediately threw out more than a dozen shuriken. At the same time, his fingers formed hand seals, his chest and abdomen bulged, and in the next moment, he spewed out balls of fire, instantly enveloping the thrown shuriken.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

A gust of wind swept forward from in front of Kakuzu, causing Shisui's fire-style ninjutsu to falter and dissipate completely, but revealing the shuriken encased within the fireball.

Ding Ding Ding Ding!

More than a dozen shuriken struck Kakuzu's body, but they did not cause him any harm. They fell to the ground as if they had hit a hard rock.

With the Sharingan's insight, Shisui noticed that Kakuzu's skin had hardened. At the same time, he also saw a unique characteristic of Kakuzu's body that was unlike that of ordinary people!

The opponent's body did not have the meridians that a ninja possesses; instead, there were five unusually conspicuous chakra sources of different colors.

In Shisui's mind, the body of Kakuzu before him was a complete monster and an anomaly!

No wonder Lu Nie wanted to study his body.

A realization dawned on Shisui's mind. Based on his understanding of Lu Nie, this physique indeed held an extraordinary attraction for Lu Nie. It was like some kind of powerful bloodline limit!

"Is it a secret technique?"

Shisui guessed in his mind, but his actions and reactions did not slow down. His Sharingan spun rapidly in his eye sockets, and the surging Yin Release power directly crashed into Kakuzu's brain.

Kakuzu seemed to be under a spell for a moment, his face contorted in struggle, and he stopped on the ground. Shisui drew the short sword from his back and instantly appeared in front of him.

Just as Shisui was about to sever Kakuzu's limbs to capture him alive, he suddenly felt a strange sense of crisis. In the next instant, his body vanished from Kakuzu's sight.

At the same instant, Kakuzu's rock-colored arm slammed down heavily towards Shisui. If Shisui hadn't paused for some unknown reason, he might have faced this fist imbued with the power of rock.

The reason for the opponent's pause was also reflected in Shisui's Sharingan after he landed again.

A black shadow was connecting to Kakuzu's shadow.

"Surprisingly, an Uchiha and a Nara brat." Kakuzu's head turned to Shikane on the other side.

Hidden Shadows, Many Snake Hands!

Whoosh whoosh!

However, before Kakuzu could finish speaking, a sharp gust of wind whistled behind him, and snakes coiled and bit him from behind.

Bang!

Lightning flash!

The snake's body, bitten by the horn, could no longer maintain its form and transformed into a burst of intense lightning, vanishing completely. However, the paralysis caused by the lightning spread along the snake's body to Red Bean.

Even though Hongdou saw the situation was bad and cut off very quickly, her body was still affected by the numbness and she was temporarily unable to move.

A kunai seized the opportunity and slashed at Hongdou's neck in an instant.

Anko could even feel the chill of the kunai, but in the next instant, her body, which she couldn't control, regained its mobility. She leaned back, tilted her head back, and forcefully slammed into Kakuzu behind her while dodging his deadly attack.

snort!

Kakuzu, who was thrown backward by the impact, felt that his opponent's body was just as hard as stone.

"What kind of ninjutsu is this?" Kakuzu looked at the black patterns that were faintly appearing on Anko's body, then his gaze fell on her shadow, and finally his gaze fell on Shikano on the other side.

"You used shadow magic to forcibly control your teammates' bodies, like manipulating puppets, to evade my attacks? It seems you are not to be underestimated."

"My illusions have no effect on him." Shisui teleported to Lu Nie's side.

From the moment he activated his genjutsu to the moment Anko was controlled by Shiro to evade the attack, everything happened in an instant. He already understood that the Sharingan genjutsu he activated had no effect on Kakuzu.

"His body is somewhat special. You can think of him as a jinchūriki," Lu Nie replied.

"You mean the five chakra sources in his body?" Even though he already knew some information about Kakuzu from Shiro, experiencing it firsthand was still quite unbelievable.

"Let's just call it a day. Our fight is pointless." Kakuzu raised his hand. Facing three powerful individuals with no bounty, he had no motivation to engage in a life-or-death struggle.

"Can I examine your body?" Lu Nie asked again earnestly.

"Looks like you underestimated me!" Kakuzu's eyes narrowed again, but he didn't say anything about backing down. He clasped his hands together, his body undergoing a dramatic transformation, and slowly said, "After all, I was once the one who assassinated your First Hokage!"

Kakuzu's clothes ripped apart instantly, and black monsters burst out of his stitched-up body.

"What's that?" Seeing four monsters hovering around Kakuzu, his torn skin being stitched back together by black threads, Anko and Shisui widened their eyes in surprise.

"Earth Grudge Fear. A forbidden technique and secret treasure of Takigakure. It's also our target this time." Shika Nie stared at the slightly terrifying scene opposite him with shining eyes.

Hearing Shikane's words and seeing the uncomfortable gaze, Kakuzu felt offended and his heart sank. In the ninja world, those who covet others' secret techniques are the most shameless and the most hated.

(End of this chapter)